Controversial S#!T

Cardi B's microphone throw during a live performance has spurred a lot of debate on the internet -- but one is taking shape that's invoking an infamous musical duo ... Milli Vanilli.

A lot of folks noticed that after Cardi stopped the show Saturday to retaliate against a woman who threw a drink on her from the crowd ... the music/song she was rapping to, 'Bodak Yellow,' kept going, and many have assumed that Cardi was just lip syncing.

It was quite noticeable ... but, obviously, more people focused on what was going down between Cardi and the lady -- who appears to have been hit with Cardi's mic (good aim).

Now, in the aftermath, the jokes are flying at Cardi's expense ... 'cause some trolls are (falsely) equating her to Milli's Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan -- who were notoriously caught lip syncing back in 1990 during a live performance ... when their record skipped mid-show.

Not only were the Milli Vanilli dudes exposed as in a lip sync sense -- but it was later revealed that they weren't the ones singing in the first place. Indeed, very scandalous.

In the wake of CB's dustup ... some are throwing her into the same category, but it's apples to oranges for a whole bunch of reasons -- which many on Twitter are rightly pointing out.

For starters, it's common these days for artists to use backing tracks for their performances. In fact, it's SOP when it comes to modern-day shows ... especially rappers. All the big acts do this, and they simply chime in on top of it live -- often deviating for added entertainment value. In Cardi's case, there's no evidence she wasn't rapping *with* the backing track.

And just for the sake of argument, even if she was lip syncing here ... it's NBD, really.

Sharon Stone says "Basic Instinct" turned her into a sex symbol overnight -- and people wanted a piece of her, it seems ... 'cause they were crawling all over her whip!

The actress dished to CNN's Chris Wallace about the impact of that film and how it affected her celebrity at the time. As she says, she went into that weekend as a relative nobody in Hollywood ... and emerged as a massive star come Tuesday, after everyone had seen it.

Of course, what she's referring to specifically is the infamous interrogation scene ... where she flashed her vagina on camera, and which undoubtedly went down in cinematic history.

As Wallace rightly notes, that changed her life forever ... but little did we know to what extent, until now. Watch -- Sharon describes going out to run an errand the week after 'BI' was released, and says people were literally leaping at her in the streets of Los Angeles.

Not just at her person though, as SS explains ... she claims folks were dogpiling her actual car at stoplights. It got so bad, apparently, that she didn't know if she should drive away!

Now, this is far from the first time Sharon's talked "Basic Instinct" -- which she's publicly said she had mixed feelings about. At the time, she says she felt duped into the vagina moment ... allegedly having been reassured by the crew/producers that they couldn't see anything.

Volodymyr Zelensky has said Ukraine is taking the fight in the ongoing war to Russia's doorstep -- and now, it appears like that's manifesting ... in the nation's capital, no less.

A viral video shows an explosion that went down in Moscow Sunday -- right in the heart of the financial district, it seems -- and it's pretty wild to see. You hear a woman who's filming, and she's got her camera aimed at a bunch of skyscrapers off in the not-too-far distance.

Suddenly, you see a massive ball of fire erupt near one of those buildings ... and it absolutely shocks the bystanders, who start to scream in a panic ... and even cry.

The Russian Defense Ministry is saying this was actually a Ukrainian drone ... and it was apparently just one of three that they say they took down before they could make impact. In this instance, RDM says the drone blew up near skyscrapers that housed government offices.

The Russian government also says there were no injuries or casualties here ... only minor damage to the façade of the two buildings. Still, people on the ground are reeling from this. BTW, this is the second reported attack on Russian soil in a week ... so they're escalating.

During a Sunday address, Zelensky is quoted as having said ... "Russian aggression has gone bankrupt on the battlefield. Today is the 522nd day of the so-called 'special military operation,' which the Russian leadership expected to last for a week or two. Ukraine is getting stronger. Gradually, the war is returning to the territory of Russia — to its symbolic centers and military bases, and this is an inevitable, natural, and absolutely fair process."

Zachery Ty Bryan is experiencing déjà vu in the worst way possible -- 'cause the guy found himself in an Oregon jail, yet again, for alleged domestic violence.

Eugene PD tells TMZ that the 'Home Improvement' star was arrested Friday for felony assault, in violation of the Abuse Prevention Act. That's when someone is accused of attacking somebody else who'd previously been granted a restraining order in relation to DV.

Unfortunately, this appears to be a bit of a repeat of what happened 3 years ago in the same town -- at least that's what it sounds like based on what cops say. We're told police got a call for a reported physical dispute between a male and female at a Eugene residence.

When they arrived, we're told Zach was long gone ... but they eventually tracked him down and took him to jail, where he was booked ... and where he currently remains in custody.

The details of the latest alleged incident remain unclear for now ... but remember, back in 2020 -- Zach was also arrested for 4th-degree assault ... in addition to strangulation and interfering with making a report. At the time, he was accused of roughing up his then-girlfriend.

In the end, he ended up pleading guilty to two lesser charges ... misdemeanor menacing, and misdemeanor assault. He's also publicly said the incident was blown out of proportion.

Jason Aldean says the folks at his Boston concert are kindred spirits ... they understand the lyrics of "Try That in a Small Town," because they've experienced the violence to which he is referring.

Aldean performed Saturday night at the Mansfield Xfinity Center and told concertgoers how their experience with the Boston Marathon bombings aligned with his song. He says Boston stood up to defend their City with the mantra, "Boston Strong."

Jason made his case again ... that the song is not about race but, as he put it, common sense. He said the song is about violence ... burning down buildings, etc.

Selena Gomez and Hailey Bieber's non-feud is once again being resurrected via their overeager fans -- this time ... it's Hailey's supporters on the attack, calling Selena a copycat.

As you might notice ... Hailey is trending right now, and it all has to with stans of hers ripping into this innocent clip that Selena is featured in -- one posted by one of her good friends, Connar Franklin, who was the star at her own bachelorette party Friday.

What Twitter's bickering about now ... the fact Connar posted this video of her, Selena and other friends doing that catwalk lineup thing -- something Hailey also did earlier this month.

As you might recall ... Hailey and a bunch of her girlfriends pulled off a similar video during 4th of July weekend -- and it had tons of celebs in it, including Kim, Kylie, Kendall and Lori Harvey. BTW, this was Lori's video ... which is important.

Now, in the wake of Connar's vid -- which we suppose is kinda similar -- people (aka, Selena haters) are accusing SG of riding Hailey's wave ... suggesting Hailey would be slammed if the roles were reversed (namely, if Selena had done this first, and if Hailey had done it after). In other words, they're indicating there's a double standard at play in this ongoing dynamic.

What these "stans" fail to realize (or acknowledge) on both fronts is that neither video was carried out or posted by their respective idols -- they're both simply *in* the freakin' videos!

So, if this sounds like stupid high school s*** ... well, that's because it is -- and, in this case, the celebs themselves have absolutely nothing to do with it. Per usual, it's their fanbase that's running with BS ... trying to pit these two women against each other.

Funny enough, Selena had to call off her loyalists not too long ago -- telling them to back off of Hailey, as it appears they were dogpiling her during that whole "Mean Girl" thing.

She explicitly asked them to leave Hailey alone -- and Hailey thanked Selena afterward for speaking up on it. While their fans seem to think she's still bad blood between them, Selena and Hailey have, time and again, stamped that notion out ... and have even hung out.

Viola Davis might be setting a tone for A-listers -- because, despite recently receiving an independent film waiver, she's stopping down on her new movie ... all to support the strike.

The actress told Deadline Saturday that she was bowing out of her Amazon flick, "G20," for now -- saying ... "I love this movie, but I do not feel that it would be appropriate for this production to move forward during the strike."

She adds, "I appreciate that the producers on the project agree with this decision. JuVee Productions and I stand in solidarity with actors, SAG/AFTRA and the WGA."

It's a bold move, and speaks volumes on where Viola's priorities are. Like we said, just the other day ... the producers behind "G20" got the green light to go ahead and continue with production -- even though Amazon is obviously a major studio. The fact an independent production company, MRC, is also behind it appears to be the reason it got a pass.

In any case, it would seem moving forward while thousands of other actors are on the picket lines wasn't sitting well with her ... which is interesting, because a lot of other big stars are also attached to independent flicks right now that got SAG waivers as well.

Those names include ... Anne Hathaway, Jenna Ortega, Paul Rudd, Matthew McConaughey, Mark Wahlberg, Sigourney Weaver, Mads Mikkelsen, Ben Kingsley, Dave Bautista, Ice Cube, Dakota Fanning, John Malkovich, Sean Bean, Rebel Wilson ... to name a few.

Again, them being attached to indie films -- with no direct ties to AMPTP -- is why they can keep trucking (especially overseas) ... but some have raised an eyebrow regardless -- viewing their continued work as a betrayal. That's, perhaps, unfair, but it's a real POV out there.

Now that Viola is putting her foot down ... it may be a signal for other mega stars to do the same -- even though they can technically proceed through the SAG indie loophole.

The principle of the matter could be why Brad Pitt reportedly stood down on filming as well. There was word that his F1 movie, "Apex," was continuing to film in Hungary last week -- with some claiming BP himself even got behind the wheel at one point for some scenes.

Oliver Stone thinks President Biden is leading us right into a looming Armageddon as it relates to Russia's war with Ukraine -- while also lamenting ever having voted for the guy.

The famed director went off on POTUS during a recent interview he did with Russell Brand -- who has tended to lean right in his political views these days. That was echoed in Oliver's diatribe ... where he accused Biden of being on the verge of starting World War III.

Check it out ... OS says Joe is repeating historical missteps with his foreign policy, especially as it relates to how he and his administration are dealing with the ongoing conflict.

He doesn't really get into specifics -- at least not in this lone clip -- but he seems to be alluding to the fact that the U.S. continues to support Ukraine through funding and weaponry ... which he seems to think is only further antagonizing Putin, maybe for the worse.

Stone also had this to say about having buyer's remorse on election night ... "I voted for him – I made a mistake, I was thinking he was an old man now that he would calm down, that he would be more mellow and so-forth, I didn’t see that at all. I see a man who maybe is not in charge of his own administration. Who knows."

Stephen A. Smith deleted a tweet where he rhetorically asked if Kim Kardashian/Kris Jenner were involved in turning tricks -- despite talking about exactly that in his latest podcast.

Here's the deal ... SAS went live Friday night with the latest episode of "The Stephen A. Smith Show" -- where the ESPN personality talks about a number of issues, unrelated to sports. In the one from last night ... he decided to bring up Kim and Kris as a topic.

Specifically, he discussed a clip from back in September -- in which Candace Owens was digging into Ray J's claims that Kris brokered the infamous sex tape between him and Km.

You'll recall ... he went into all the alleged nitty-gritty about what he claims went down way back then -- saying Kris was fully privy to what they were doing, and claiming she essentially orchestrated it all behind the scenes. Ditto for Kim, he says ... alleging she was in on it too.

At the time, Candace talked about that on her own show (again, back in September) ... and she floated the blunt allegation that, in her view, Kris had operated as a "pimp" in that instance. She also called Kim a "prostitute" in that clip ... and now, for some, reason Stephen thought it'd be a good time to weigh in on this himself. Objectively, it's old news.

He got into a little bit of trouble, though ... because, in teasing this episode, he tweeted ... "Is Kim Kardashian a 'prostitute'? Is Kris Jenner a 'pimp'?" He followed that tweet up with yet another, trying to add context, in which he explained that's what Candace Owens thinks.

Unfortunately, the damage was done ... because none other than Patrick Beverly came to Kim's defense -- saying she's a mother, and that SAS shouldn't talk about her like that.

Stephen replied, saying Pat was right ... and attributing his tweet to a "clerical error." He deleted the tweet -- but the actual clip of him talking about this exact topic is still up on YouTube ... and guess what ... the dude appears to somewhat agree with Candace, assuming what Ray J says is, in fact, true ... as he clarifies in his breakdown of her argument.

His sister, who was on as a guest, also kind of agreed on that front. She said if the claims against Kris were true ... she can see where Candace was coming from. She does defend Kim though. All in all ... it's not a great look. Not only do they entertain the topic, but they seem to support Candace's take.

At least one of Travis Scott's attorneys believes Houston police intentionally timed the release of their report on the Astroworld tragedy ... in order to hurt sales of his new "Utopia" album.

Kent Schaffer tells TMZ ... it's no coincidence Houston's PD's full investigation report came out Friday, the same day as Travis' latest album.

Travis' lawyers says cops were well aware "Utopia" was dropping Friday -- it was highly publicized as Travis made an official announcement early in the week. Schaffer believes their motive for precisely timing the 1,266-page release was to hurt Travis' sales, and take some heat off law enforcement for not charging Travis with a crime.

For the record, Houston PD has said it is simply a "coincidence."

While Schaffer isn't buying that, he thinks the report won't have much impact on Travis' fans ... or hurt his album sales, for that matter.

Travis' lawyer is also pushing back on some of the report's contents ... including a statement from a security guard who claims he tried to get Travis' team to stop the show during Drake's set, but was told Drake had to finish first.

Schaffer flat out denies that, claiming all the crowd injuries happened 30 minutes before Drake hit the stage, but no one brought it to Travis' attention ... and he says police could have stopped the concert sooner if they wanted.

Travis told police he was told in his earpiece to stop the show after Drake left the stage ... and his attorney says Travis followed all directions and that's one reason he was not charged with a crime.

Travis' attorney says he was in communication with HPD throughout the investigation, which lasted over 18 months, and the opinions expressed to him were that police did not see any criminal liability on Travis' part.

That's exactly what a grand jury decided last month, refusing to indict the rapper for the 10 deaths at Astroworld. However, he's still facing several lawsuits from victims and families of victims.

Schaffer says the size and scope of the released documents is unusual ... and he thinks police wanted to show the public and the victims' families that they conducted a very thorough investigation.

Meanwhile, an attorney for a family whose child died at the concert tells TMZ ... "The release of this report only reminds the family about the terror, the devastation and the horror which took away their child. The feelings are mixed between sadness, anger and determination to continue pursuing justice regardless of whether it’s in a criminal courthouse or a civil courthouse."

Carlee Russell is now facing criminal prosecution, and it's all because police say she completely fabricated that wild kidnapping story ... prompting a massive, and expensive, search.

Prosecutors in Hoover, Alabama just charged Carlee with 2 misdemeanors -- false reporting to law enforcement authorities and falsely reporting of an incident. Each charge carries up to one year in jail.

Hoover Police Chief, Nick Derzis, said Carlee turned herself in and was released from jail Friday after posting $2,000 bond.

As you know, Carlee called 911 earlier this month when she was driving down the interstate to report a toddler wandering alone on the roadside. She got out of her car and then disappeared for 2 days ... before showing up at her parents' house without so much as a scratch on her.

Since then, police have said their investigation shows there was no toddler on the highway, and Carlee was not abducted -- as she and her parents claimed -- and then Carlee finally admitted it was all a phony story.

Prosecutors tell us they still don't know where Carlee was during the roughly 48-hour period she was off the grid -- ditto for police, who spent tons of money and resources searching for her.

After Carlee copped to the load of BS, her boyfriend slammed her for her lies, and said he's now her ex-BF -- a move that came after he initially defended her, as he also bought her kidnapping lie.

Travis Scott is casting an early vote for the 2024 presidential election ... saying on his latest album he'd choose his bud Kanye West over current Prez Joe Biden.

TS took a dig at Biden on his track, "Skitzo" -- a hit from his "Utopia" album, which came out on Friday. In the song, he says, "Crazy how they love to talk s*** and got no Trident / I’m loyal, bitch, I got Ye over Biden."

As we reported, Ye's been talking quite a bit about sliding into the Oval Office next year, although he hasn't officially thrown his hat in the ring.

Worth noting Kanye's got producing or songwriting credits on a few tracks for Travis' album, and they've been close friends for a while ... so this could be just a friendly shout-out -- but it sure doesn't sound like it.

ICYMI, Kanye supporters have been selling "Ye24" merch for a while, with things like phone cases and hoodies for fans to scoop up and show their support.

The rapper's also been restructuring his presidential campaign team -- bringing his frequent collaborator Milo Yiannopoulos back on board in May as his Director of Political Operations ... giving the boot to the controversial former man in charge, Nick Fuentes.

From there, Milo started "cleaning house," according to him ... the campaign committee's treasurer resigned and Ali Alexander also got the boot around the same time.

Kanye also saw sponsors and companies drop him amid his antisemitic rants last year, so it seemed like all support for the guy was lost.

Ethan Slater may be done with his marriage, but he "desperately" wants to co-parent his nearly 1-year-old child with soon-to-be ex-wife Lilly Jay ... sources connected to Ethan tell TMZ.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Ethan has been talking to Lilly daily, mostly about their little boy. We're told Ethan spent a lot of time with his son in London after he had split with Lilly, and is determined to have a major presence in the boy's life.

Our sources say Lilly told Ethan repeatedly she was down with co-parenting. Ethan, we're told, asked Lilly about issuing a joint statement saying they were committed to co-parenting their son, but Lilly wanted to defer releasing the statement, at least for now.

We're also told Lilly had assured Ethan she didn't know where various media leaks were emanating from, so he was more than surprised to read Thursday that Lilly spoke with Page Six, calling Ariana Grande "not a girl's girl," adding her family was "collateral damage."

Sources tell us Lilly told Ethan she did not understand what it meant that she was on the record when she made the comments.

It's unclear what Lilly's position is regarding co-parenting, but Ethan adamantly wants to raise his son.

TMZ broke the story ... Ethan filed for divorce on Wednesday. If they're at odds on who raises the child, ultimately a judge will decide.

Selena Gomez's organ donor says there's no bad blood between them ... but as for their relationship status, it's not so cut and dry.

Francia Raisa was in West Hollywood on Thursday when a photog asked her about Selena wishing her a happy birthday the day before ... which seemed to be an olive branch amid their falling out.

Francia says she got a lot of birthday messages and appreciates everyone who sent one ... but she's not singling out Selena here.

When Selena posted the birthday note on Instagram, Francia was not following her fellow former child actor ... but she's since followed Selena back.

Check out the video ... Francia initially laughs off a question about them being on good terms ... but when asked again later, she tells the photog there is no beef between them.

Remember ... Francia revealed their friendship was broken once Selena said in an interview that the only person in Hollywood she was close to is Taylor Swift.

Francia, who donated a kidney to Selena in 2017, took offense and unfollowed Gomez ... and later claimed she was being bullied online by Selena fans.

Megan Fox is firing back at the people who are blasting her for sharing a GoFundMe for her friend's cancer-stricken father ... saying the haters don't understand the full story or her relationship with the friend.

The actress took to social media Thursday to explain why she is helping crowdfund for her nail technician's ailing father ... instead of ponying up the money herself, as some folks online think she should.

Megan says her nail tech didn't want her money because it would create an uncomfortable dynamic in their working relationship ... and ditto for the woman's other celeb clients.

In her IG story, Megan also questions her haters' emotional intelligence ... and ends by calling them psychos.

As we reported ... after Megan shared the GoFundMe, donations started to pour in ... but some folks questioned why Megan was asking other people for money instead of just covering all the medical expenses herself.

Lando Norris is issuing a mea culpa after accidentally destroying Max Verstappen's Hungarian Grand Prix trophy last weekend ... vowing to be more cautious with his celebrations moving forward.

The 23-year-old McLaren driver -- who finished second in Sunday's race -- went viral when he knocked the reigning champ's new hardware off a platform after slamming down his champagne bottle during their podium party.

Lando initially cracked jokes about the whole mishap ... saying Max should've been more careful with his prize.

But the young star has since had a change of heart ... owning up to his mistake in an interview ahead of this weekend's Belgian GP.

"I obviously had no intention in ever doing such a thing," Lando said Thursday. "I know how much it means to the Hungarians and part of their culture and so forth ... and I did apologize to Max."

Lando acknowledged he probably shouldn't have made funny comments after the incident ... admitting he'd be annoyed if it happened to his trophy.

"I do apologize for it and obviously to the people who put the time and effort into making it, I really didn't mean for it to happen. I'll make sure I'm a lot more careful next time."