Controversial S#!T

Gwendolyn Osborne is applauding Vanna White for holding out for a bigger slice of the TV game show pie ... telling us the "Wheel of Fortune" staple deserves way more money.

The former "Price Is Right" model joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked about Vanna's salary demand -- at least half of the salary Pat Sajak gets -- $7.5M.

Gwendolyn is fully on board, saying Vanna deserves it, and in the process, she's helping lots of other women.

But, then we asked, what if Sony says final offer -- $4.5M -- should Vanna take it or walk? Watch the wheels turn in Gwendolyn's head.

TMZ broke the story ... Vanna has made $3 million a year for the last 18 years, without a single raise, and wants a big payday when Ryan Seacrest comes aboard as the new host.

Isaiah Rodgers will be away from an NFL field for the foreseeable future ... the league just suspended the Indianapolis Colts defensive back indefinitely for violating its gambling policy.

NFL officials announced the ruling on Thursday morning ... adding that two other players -- Colts tight end Rashod Berry and free agent defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor -- were also hit with the same punishments.

Titans offensive lineman Nicholas Petit-Frere, meanwhile, was banned six games for gambling policy violations as well.

Rodgers' punishment had been looming for weeks ... after he admitted earlier this month that he had broken the league's betting rules.

It's unclear exactly what all of the guys' violations specifically were -- the NFL didn't say when making its announcement -- but it did reveal Rodgers, Berry and Taylor will only be able to return to the gridiron if they petition for reinstatement at the end of this season.

While Berry and Taylor were viewed as more of role players ... the loss of Rodgers is a big one -- he's played in 45 games for the Colts the last three years, and has been a special teams ace in addition to a productive cornerback.

"I am very sorry for all of this," Rodgers said in a statement earlier this month.

Thursday's bans for gambling violations are hardly the first the NFL has doled out in the last year or so -- stars like Lions wideout Jameson Williams and Jaguars receiver Calvin Ridley have also been punished recently over the betting policy.

Vanna White has got Sony spinning these days because she won't continue on "Wheel of Fortune" unless she makes at least half of what Pat Sajak has been making ... sources tell TMZ.

Sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations say Vanna is clear -- she's the cohost of the long-running show, so the pay disparity between her and Pat needs to be squarely addressed. Point of fact ... they're introduced this way on 'Wheel' -- "Here are the stars of our show, Pat Sajak and Vanna White."

So they're introduced as equals, but their salaries are anything but. We've confirmed Vanna's salary -- $3 million a year. And get this -- we've confirmed that's what she's made for the last 18 YEARS. She has not gotten a single pay increase in all that time.

Pat reportedly makes around $15 million a year. Vanna isn't asking for that, but we're told her lawyer, Bryan Freedman, is demanding half the amount Pat makes.

One source connected to Vanna put it this way ... "After 41 years as a model employee and more the face of that show than him [Pat], asking for 50% of what he makes seems like a no-brainer."

Sony, we're told, is not on board, at least not yet. One source with direct knowledge described the negotiations as "very difficult."

Our sources also say Vanna feels like the issue is bigger than her. As one source says, "She feels like it's a statement for all women."

We're told Vanna wants to stay on the show, but if she doesn't get what she believes is "a minimum of what is fair," that's a real possibility.

Sony may be in a tough spot here because Vanna provides continuity when Ryan Seacrest takes over for Pat a year from September. It's pretty clear ... they don't want to lose Pat and Vanna at the same time.

We covered it all on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Kanye West's behavior, both publicly and behind the scenes clearly tore his estranged wife, Kim Kardashian, and their family apart ... as evidenced in scenes recorded right around the time of his antisemitic attacks.

In a preview for next week's episode of "The Kardashians" Kim sobs in Khloe Kardashian's arms -- explaining the Kanye of today is not the one she married back in 2014 -- and she'd do anything to try and get the old version of Kanye back.

While the preview doesn't specify exactly which Kanye incident led to Kim's breakdown, the timing of other events in the episode line up with when Kanye launched his online attacks, including a tweet where he claimed he was going "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE."

It was also in the middle of Kanye's attack on Jewish people that their divorce, which she filed in February 2021, was finalized ... so there's also a chance she's sobbing over the weight of the entire situation.

Remember, Kanye faced a TON of hate after his comments about the Jewish community -- after his shocking tweet, he tried clarifying, telling Piers Morgan he only wished harm on Jewish people that did him dirty in the music industry ... which really didn't help.

He went on to deny parts of the Holocaust on Alex Jones' "Infowars," bizarrely claiming to love Hitler -- digging the hole even deeper.

What was most frightening about the whole thing was the minority of people who supported Ye in the wake of his comments, including a group of people over an L.A. freeway performing a Nazi salute and hanging a banner reading, "Kanye is right about the Jews."

Ye was dropped from brands left and right -- including millions in losses from Adidas -- and was even named "Antisemite of the Year" by watchdog group StopAntisemitism ... so it's easy to see the pain and frustration Kim was facing during the downfall.

YouTube star Colleen Ballinger, best known for her Internet character Miranda Sings, is denying grooming allegations against her with a song ... and for some folks, it's falling flat.

Colleen picked up a ukulele and recorded a 10-minute video where she sings about the disturbing claims against her being nothing but gossip and lies.

In case you missed it ... Colleen's been accused of grooming a teenage boy, who grew up to be YouTube star Adam McIntyre. She broke her silence Wednesday with her singing video.

Colleen says her team strongly advised her not to say what she wants to say, but she says that doesn't mean she can't sing about her reaction ... so here we are.

In the song, Colleen puts it bluntly, "The only thing I've ever groomed is my two Persian cats."

She adds ... "I'm not a groomer, just a loser / who didn't understand I shouldn't respond to fans / and I'm not a predator even a lot of you think so / because five years ago I made a fart joke."

Colleen's song isn't going over so well online ... folks are blasting her on social media, with some fans telling her this wasn't the right way to address the serious allegations.

Tom Hanks had a relative go on national TV and melt down in dramatic fashion -- but the woman herself has no shame to her game ... and she says her uncle doesn't either.

We talked to Carly Reeves -- Tom and Rita Wilson's niece -- on "TMZ Live" Wednesday ... this after her freak out for the ages was caught on camera and aired Monday on a new ABC show called "Claim to Fame," which is all about finding who's related to a celeb.

Unfortunately for her, Carly was found out in episode one ... and when she got the boot, she didn't take it particularly well -- with her exit playing out in a full-blown temper tantrum.

You gotta see it for yourself ... she's cursing, hurling insults at fellow contestants and blasting showrunners for what she believes was a raw deal in exposing her connection to TH.

In the aftermath of this explosion of rage, Carly caught a lot of flak online -- with many people calling her entitled, overly dramatic and a bit of a drama queen/crybaby ... and some felt it, perhaps, even reflected poorly on Tom and Rita -- who are the real stars here.

Welp, we asked Carly about all of that ... and her response was essentially -- I am what I am, and this was what it was. As she explains to us, her emotions here were raw and authentic ... and she wasn't hamming it up for the cameras.

Carly does regret the way things played out in hindsight, but all things considered ... she says she's not ashamed -- because this is simply who she is sometimes ... something she says her famous uncle and aunt were well aware of when they cosigned her appearance.

As for how Forrest Gump reacted ... sounds like it ain't no thing for Tommy boy. She says this isn't gonna hurt his image -- and that's probably accurate. He's proven to keep it pretty real himself in recent years ... including his rare flash of anger at fans bombarding his wife.

Taylor Swift asking her fans to chill out on John Mayer is having quite the opposite effect ... because her ex-boyfriend is seeing tons of hate come his way online.

Here's the deal ... Taylor pled with Swifties to take it easy on John when she performed "Dear John" at her recent 'Eras' tour stop in Minneapolis, as the song takes shots at her ex-flame.

But, as it turns out ... Taylor's fans are instead going after John on social media ... and there seems to be no letup in sight.

Look no further than John's most recent Instagram posts ... they are being flooded with negative comments from Taylor supporters, with some even blaming him for Taylor's call for a cease-fire.

Over on TikTok, Swifties are posting videos of themselves saying how they are going to go against Taylor's wishes ... promising to cyberbully John.

Twitter's also awash with negative comments -- as is usually the case on the bird app -- so John's getting heat from all angles.

Remember ... John's on the record saying Taylor's song is humiliating, and he's previously ripped it as "cheap songwriting" and a "lousy thing for her to do."

Looks like Taylor may have unintentionally poked the bear.

DJ Envy is barking back at Bow Wow's shots at the current year's output of hip hop music ... but is also predicting the tide will turn for taste buds all the same.

We caught "The Breakfast Club" host on the move at LAX and he had plenty of explanation as to why hip hop hasn't had a #1 anything for the first time in 30 years.

Envy put out a compilation with all the top rappers 20 years ago ... but notes how times have changed. He says today's volume of music releases makes it hard for songs to stick, as opposed to the past when people had time to memorize the music.

His veteran expertise picks Young Nudy, Toosii and Lola Brooke to be amongst the leaders of the new school ... but thinks Drake is set to blow the summer up with his upcoming album "For All the Dogs" ... a point Bow Wow also made during his red carpet rant.

All hopes are not lost like Envy said. There are also confirmed albums from Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert and Nicki Minaj ... and Future is swearing he's in "mixtape mode."

Kim Zolciak's family friend, who was accused by Kroy Biermann of kidnapping their son, is speaking out ... claiming Kroy's getting desperate in his attempt to keep custody of his kids.

Elise, who says she's the one who took 12-year-old KJ to the rodeo earlier this month, spoke out on Instagram Wednesday, denying the kidnapping claims from Kroy -- backing up the story Kim initially told the Alpharetta Police dispatcher.

Elise blasts Kroy, saying he's "desperately trying to control every move to ensure he gets full custody and child support so he falsely accused me of kidnapping KJ so he can appear as the only parent who takes the kids out."

She ends her post by asking for people to pray for Kim and her kids -- adding they'll need it to "navigate Kroy's narcissistic, controlling behavior."

As we reported, in the 911 call audio, obtained by TMZ, Kim told the dispatcher she gave  KJ permission to go to the rodeo with his friend, with Elise chaperoning the outing. Sources told us Kroy doesn't trust Elise and had no idea Kim let their kid go with her.

What's more, sources said Kroy asked Elise over the phone to bring KJ back, but she allegedly hung up on him. Kim then told cops Kroy threatened to file kidnapping charges against her friend ... although our sources say he never filed.

Cops were dispatched to the Duggar home in Arkansas just hours after Jim Bob's uncle died of a heart attack ... TMZ has learned.

Officers arrived at Jim Bob and Michelle's compound around 8:30 Sunday morning for a "follow-up investigation" about 2 hours after Jim Bob's uncle Tommy died.

According to a police report, obtained by TMZ, officers spoke to Tommy's husband, Lawrence, who told them Tommy had felt ill the night before and had fallen over multiple times. Lawrence claimed 75-year-old Tommy refused to go to the hospital because he was afraid he'd be put in a nursing home.

However, when he was in the bathroom Sunday morning, Lawrence claimed Tommy yelled for help before collapsing against the door unresponsive. Tommy was pronounced dead at home, and the report states he died of natural causes.

What's puzzling is why police went to Jim Bob and Michelle's home if Lawrence was already aware of the death. In fact, we've never known a case where cops paid a visit to other than next of kin to inform them someone died.

Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial kicked off Wednesday ... but the Oscar-winning actor looked more like he was arriving at an awards show, smiling and waving at the crowd.

Spacey rolled up in a taxi to London's Southwark Crown Court, got out in a navy suit and pink tie and greeted a throng of people assembled outside, cordially saying, "Good morning." He then casually walked inside the courthouse as media from around the world covered his every move.

The four-week trial could have major implications for Spacey given that he faces a maximum punishment of life in prison if convicted.

As we reported, Spacey was accused of committing a dozen sexual offenses against four men from 2001 to 2013 in the capital of England. Prosecutors charged Spacey with 12 counts of sexual assault, indecent assault and causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. Spacey has pled not guilty.

Roseanne Barr is taking a lot of heat for seemingly denying the Holocaust ... but her son says her controversial podcast comments are being taken out of context, and she was just being sarcastic.

Here's the deal ... Roseanne went on Theo Von's podcast, "This Past Weekend," and a clip from their conversation is going viral, with folks accusing her of being antisemitic.

In the clip, which Roseanne's son says lacks context, she says ... "And, that is the truth. And, nobody died in the Holocaust either. That's the truth. It should happen. Six million Jews should die right now cause they cause all the problems in the world. But, it never happened."

Roseanne goes on to say she is Jewish. Leading up to her Holocaust remarks, Roseanne is talking to Theo about how people believe things that aren't true, like the 2020 election being fixed.

The comedian's son, Jake Pentland, tells TMZ ... "We are embarrassed that people are stupid enough not to recognize Roseanne is being sarcastic."

Theo is also defending Roseanne ... quote tweeting the viral clip and saying, "This Roseanne Barr clip was sarcasm folks. A clip taken out of a long sarcastic rant she had during our chat. Can we not recognize sarcasm anymore?"

Roseanne's son also says anyone who watched or listed to the full podcast knows it was sarcasm, telling us ... "We think it's funny that people are so stupid. Let's stop doing this clickbait s***, we need to focus on big problems in America. Focusing on out-of-context clips is what morons do."

Michael Jackson will effectively be tried for allegedly molesting choreographer Wade Robson when he was a child ... TMZ has learned.

The California Court of Appeal just cleared the way for Robson to make his case -- alleging MJ molested him at the Neverland Ranch when Robson was between the ages of 7 and 14.

The issue -- Robson is suing Michael Jackson's corporation -- MJJ Productions, Inc. Jackson's company lawyers argued the company had no legal duty to protect Robson or anyone else from MJ because it had no ability to control him.

The trial court bought the Estate's argument, but the Court of Appeal begged to differ, and according to a tentative ruling -- which almost always becomes final -- the case will be sent back down for trial.

Robson claims when he came to the U.S. from Australia as a young boy, Jackson befriended him and sexually abused him.

In 2005, when Jackson was on trial for molesting another boy, Robson testified that he slept in MJ's bed with the singer but nothing happened.  He changed his story in 2013, filing a lawsuit against the company. He said he had testified falsely on behalf of Jackson due to "complete manipulation and brainwashing."

Another man, James Safechuck, filed a similar lawsuit against MJJ Productions and it too is before the Court of Appeal. Given today's tentative ruling, it appears Safechuck will also have his day in court.

Sources close to the MJJ Productions legal team tell TMZ ... the ruling has nothing to do with the merits of the case and they fully expect to prevail at trial.

Dennis Rodman pulled up to Houston's Pride parade on Sunday rockin' a skirt ... a move that apparently didn't sit right with some "fans," prompting the NBA legend to clap back online!

62-year-old Rodman shared several photos from the event along with the caption ... "Love will Always Win🌈Happy Pride #gaypride #loveislove #pridemonth"

The 5x NBA champ was wearing a green, pleated schoolgirl skirt, along with a black t-shirt, featuring a photo of Rodman's head, complete with his rainbow hair.

As you might expect given the current climate, some people weren't thrilled with Dennis' attire at the parade.

The Hall of Famer clearly heard some of the criticism ... and responded online, writing "Do your research guys #beenhim🦍," pointing to other times he's worn women's clothing, including the time he put on a wedding dress in 1996 to "marry himself."

While things were a little testy online, Dennis was all smiles at the Pride event ... taking pics and giving autographs to fans!

Paige Spiranac says the reaction a pair of shirtless baseball players got for a viral video over the weekend showed off a sexist double standard ... and she wasn't one bit pleased to see it.

The golf star -- who's gained fame for both her swing and her looks -- unloaded on the situation in a fiery tweet on Saturday morning.

She reposted footage of the Savannah Bananas players dancing on the diamond without their tops on ... and said female commenters who praised the men in the clip but bash her when she wears revealing clothing are nothing more than hypocrites.

"Interesting how different the reaction is online when men choose to show off their bodies," the 30-year-old said.

"Not one comment on this video calling them attention whores or sluts. Just a ton of women saying baseball is now their favorite sport but those same women harshly judge me."

"The hypocrisy," she added. "lol."

In her meteoric rise to becoming the most-followed golfer on Instagram -- Spiranac has had to deal with trolls in her comments regularly. They often go after her for the low-cut tops she wears -- and the photos that she posts in them.

But, she's made it a point to call them out frequently -- usually taking to Twitter to defend herself.

Ice Cube says he is not part of the elite Hollywood "club" that so many others apparently are -- and he's airing some grievances about challenges he says he faces because of it.

The rapper posted an ominous video Sunday where he's talking directly to the camera ... and the dude goes on this long rant about being on the outs with the elites and "gatekeepers" in showbiz and sports ... at least that's what it sounds like he's referring to.

Ice says flatly ... he's not part of that crowd, nor does he want to be -- and goes on to say that that fact actually makes folk on the inside angry, 'cause he's resisting a mainstream thing for someone in his position.

It also seems Cube might be talking politics here too ... 'cause he references his contract with Black America -- something he put forth ahead of the 2020 presidential race, and which he said he felt Donald Trump actually appeared to take more seriously than Joe Biden.

In the wake of that, IC says certain groups have been "f***ing" with him -- and the way he's describing it ... it sounds like he believes certain hurdles have been thrown up around as backlash to his stance. Cube says he doesn't care though, 'cause he vows to overcome.

He mentions his Big3 league ... and says it's grown prosperous despite what he characterizes as getting the cold shoulder from powerful institutions -- like the NBA, for example.

Cube also says he's planning to do a massive podcast tour in the near future where he talks to "everybody" -- and he makes it seem like that itself is going to ruffle feathers as well.