Controversial S#!T

New Mexico's governor temporarily banned Albuquerque's citizens from carrying guns in public -- this after a surge in shootings -- and defended her controversial decision on video.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham made the move Friday, issuing an order to suspend open and concealed carry of firearms in this one city specifically -- for a total of 30 days -- after citing a public health emergency pertaining to the number of gun violence incidents of late.

The story that broke the camel's back ... the shooting death of an 11-year-old boy on Wednesday named Froylan Villegas -- who was killed after leaving a park with his family, which police now say emanated from a road rage matter. He got caught in the crossfire.

Tragic as that is, many are outraged ... calling the Gov's order a blatant violation of the Constitution. She disagrees with that -- explaining to the press Friday why she felt she had the unilateral power on this issue ... noting not every Constitutional right is absolute.

Check out how she explains this ... Gov. Lujan Grisham says she has a duty to protect the people of her state, and if gun violence starts to present a serious public health problem -- she says she's within her right and powers to do what she needs to stop the bleeding.

Worth noting, NM is an open-carry state in general -- meaning people can walk around with pistols in their holster in most public areas ... so that's why it's ruffling a lot of feathers.

As far what repercussions people face during this month-long ban ... it's not all that serious -- they amount to civil penalties and a fine of up to $5,000. So we'll see who abides or not.

Zach Bryan's praises are being sung by an organization that advocates for cops nationwide ... this after the country singer apologized for his behavior during his recent arrest.

Retired Sgt. Betsy Branter Smith, a spokesperson for nonprofit org National Police Association, tells TMZ ... what officers appreciate is that Zach came out quickly to say sorry for what went down, adding his apology felt very earnest.

Smith isn't alone here -- she says other cops she's talked to are feeling the same thing about Zach's apology.

According to Smith, it isn't uncommon for officers to run into folks with an entitled attitude, similar to Bryan. But, she's grateful a celeb of Bryan's status is showing it's okay to admit fault and say they support the police.

TMZ was first to obtain the report dash cam footage of Bryan's arrest, where he stated, "f***ing cops are out of hand, truly," and stated the officers were a bunch of middle-aged white dudes arresting people.

Sgt. Smith is letting Bryan's comments slide, though, adding, "This is a very frustrated young man and he had some inappropriate things to say, but he complied with the officers. He didn't try to fight them or attack them. He mouthed off. And he apologized."

She says some country stars have lately been speaking out against law enforcement, so Zach's apology video was refreshing -- moving forward, Smith hopes he'll use his status to help support American police officers.

As we reported, Zach took all the blame in his explanation video ... posted after his dramatic arrest that went down in Oklahoma on Thursday.

Sean Strickland is upset Natan Levy didn't really kick the crap out of his troll last month ... telling TMZ Sports if he had been in the same situation, he would've straight-up carved a "J" on the guy's forehead with his elbow.

Levy, who's Jewish, knocked the dog snot out of a social media heckler in Las Vegas in August after the guy had defended an antisemite in an exchange on X ... but Strickland says he wished the beatdown had gone even further.

"Like, if that was me, broken bones in the face, blood," the UFC star said. "But, Natan's a nice guy. I think we're gonna have to work on him to be a little bit more savage."

Strickland, who's teammates with Levy at Xtreme Couture in Nevada, said the troll's actions were so disrespectful, he would've tried to permanently scar the guy if he were wearing Natan's gloves.

"Like if it was me," Strickland said, "I would've tried to carve a big ol' f***ing 'J' in the forehead."

Of course, Strickland hasn't had much time to devote to the issue recently ... he's been preparing for a title fight with Israel Adesanya that will go down later Saturday night.

Polo G's September 15 release date for his upcoming "Hood Poet" album is no longer a thing ... having endured not one, but two eye-popping arrests in the last few months that have prevented him from promoting the music.

The Chicago rap star made the somber announcement Friday, calling it a minor setback.

Sources close to Polo tell TMZ Hip Hop ... as of now, the album delay won't affect his current touring schedule.

He's scheduled to perform in New Mexico in October, blitz through Europe for much of November and also has a concert in Canada in December.

Polo's wild chain of events last month got us to this point. We broke the story ... Polo and his brother Trench Baby were arrested twice in a 24-hour span around August 23, resulting in a gun possession charge for Polo and a robbery charge for his brother.

Cops claim they found tons of guns and even a small bag of drugs following their raid of Polo's home.

Danny Masterson had 2 of his "That '70s Show" costars in his corner ahead of his sentencing ... Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis wrote letters of support for the actor.

The letters, obtained by Tony Ortega, were sent to Judge Olmedo before Masterson received his 30-year to life sentence in L.A. -- and both outlined the long-running friendship they've shared with the actor, going back to them working together on the sitcom.

Ashton says, "Danny has been nothing but a positive influence on me. He's an extraordinarily honest and intentional human being." He goes on to gush over Masterson's ability to be there for him over the years, citing Masterson as the reason why he never slipped into the "typical Hollywood life of drugs."

He even recalls a time when Masterson came to a random woman's defense as she was getting berated by her boyfriend at a pizza parlor, ending the letter by saying, "having his daughter raised without a present father would [be] a tertiary injustice in and of itself."

Mila echoed Ashton's claims, adding it has been a "privilege" to be a part of Masterson's life ... and saying his role as a dad and husband has been "nothing short of extraordinary."

As we reported, Masterson was sentenced to three decades behind bars on Thursday for his two rape convictions.

His team told us they spotted "a number of significant evidentiary and constitutional issues" in the trial and will be bringing up these arguments on appeal. We also learned he's being watched like a hawk while locked up for signs of mental distress.

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

Do you believe 30 years is a fair sentence for Danny Masterson? Sound off by answering the question in our game below.

Las cartas —obtenidas por Tony Ortega— fueron enviadas al juez Olmedo antes de que Masterson recibiera su sentencia de 30 años a cadena perpetua en Los Ángeles. Ambos destacaron la larga amistad que han compartido con el actor, la cual se remonta a cuando trabajaban juntos en la comedia.

Ashton dice: "Danny no ha sido más que una influencia positiva para mí. Es un ser humano extraordinariamente honesto y bien intencionado". Continúa elogiando la capacidad de Masterson para estar a su lado a lo largo de los años, citando a Masterson como la razón por la que nunca cayó en la "típica vida de drogas de Hollywood".

Incluso recuerda una ocasión en la que Masterson salió en defensa de una mujer cualquiera que estaba siendo reprendida por su novio en una pizzería, y termina la carta diciendo que "criar a su hija sin un padre presente sería una injusticia terciaria".

Mila hizo eco de las afirmaciones de Ashton añadiendo que ha sido un "privilegio" ser parte de la vida de Masterson, y diciendo que su papel como padre y esposo ha sido "nada menos que extraordinario."

Como informamos, Masterson fue sentenciado a tres décadas tras las rejas el jueves por sus dos condenas por violación.

Su equipo nos dijo que habían detectado "una serie de importantes problemas constitucionales y de pruebas" en el juicio y que plantearán estos argumentos en la apelación. También nos enteramos de que está siendo vigilado como un halcón mientras está encerrado para detectar signos de estrés mental.

Now that she's cleared of any potential charges, Cardi B is popping her ish over that Vegas mic-throwing incident, and she's standing by her actions!!!

Cardi popped up on "The Breakfast Club" Friday, and recalled the violent July incident with much detail ... but admitted she was initially quiet because she thought the incident would land her in jail!!! 😬

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story, Cardi was cleared in August after the criminal investigation determined there was no reason to charge her.

Cardi recalled the scorching Vegas temperatures playing a factor in her asking the crowd to splash her with water, while also warning them not to hit her face.

After performing several songs Cardi says she was met with a face full of ice and thinks the fan did it on purpose, so she retaliated by throwing the mic like a javelin.

Country singer Maren Morris is firing shots at Jason Aldean, or it sure seems like it ... because she referenced his hit song, "Try That in a Small Town," in a teaser for her new music video.

Maren shared a quick clip Thursday night from what appears to be a video for a new song, which shows a glimpse at a miniature billboard reading, "Welcome to Our Perfect SMALL TOWN From Sunrise to Sundown."

She captioned the post, "I'm done filling a cup with a hole in the bottom." Unclear if those are lyrics to the song or not, but it's obvious she's taking a dig at Aldean.

As we reported, JA came under fire in July for the 'Small Town' music video imagery -- showing riots and Black Lives Matter rallies -- and the song's lyrics, which some feel promotes vigilante violence. He insisted he didn't have racist intent, and denied the song was an attack on BLM.

He ended up having to remove BLM rally news coverage from the video after not getting permission to use it.

A protester glued his bare feet to the concrete in the stands of the US Open on Thursday night ... and it caused such a commotion, it delayed Coco Gauff's huge semifinal match for nearly an hour.

The bizarre scene unfolded just minutes into Gauff's tilt with Karolina Muchova at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York ... when a quartet of environmental activists created a massive ruckus in the crowd.

The four, wearing tees with the words "End Fossil Fuels" printed on them, began chanting, leading authorities to quickly spring into action.

Three of the four were taken into custody after just a few moments without issue ... but the fourth required about 49 minutes of attention to remove due to the glue at the bottom of his feet.

Fortunately, officials were able to eventually extricate the man ... and play resumed.

Gauff ended up shaking off the delay no problem ... beating Muchova to advance to the tournament's final. She'll meet Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to play for the championship.

The protest, of course, was hardly the first one major tennis has seen this year ... back in July, several people rushed the court at Wimbledon, hurling confetti all over the place.

Paqui, the company responsible for the viral "One Chip Challenge," is yanking the product off of store shelves ... in response to a teenager who died after eating the product.

The company has a statement at the top of its website, saying the challenge "is intended for adults only, with clear and prominent labeling highlighting the chip is not for children or anyone sensitive to spicy foods."

Paqui says it's seen an uptick in minors jumping in on the challenge, despite the warning label on the packaging -- adding the company's now "working with our retailers to remove the product from shelves."

The company is even offering refunds to folks who have already purchased the challenge. Unclear if it's the end of the product, or if the plan is to ditch the product and come up with a new option ... but Paqui says the product already adheres to food safety standards.

As we reported, 14-year-old Harris Wolobah died in Massachusetts last week -- according to his mother, his passing was a result of complications he suffered from consuming the chip at school.

While Harris' official cause of death is still pending, his mother claims the school contacted her on Friday about a stomach ache he had after eating the Paqui chip, but allegedly was feeling better when he got home. However, she says he collapsed and was rushed to a hospital not long after, where he was pronounced dead.

Harris' mom has been pointing fingers at Harris' school -- mainly for not taking him straight to the hospital when his stomach started hurting, which potentially could've saved his life.

The highly-anticipated Mark Zuckerberg vs. Elon Musk fight is all but cooked ... 'cause Dana White says the billionaire brawl is "probably" never going to happen.

The UFC honcho -- who got involved in negotiations after the two tech nerds agreed to take their beef to the cage -- was pessimistic when asked Thursday about whether the potential matchup would actually happen ... pretty much killing all hope of seeing the bout come to fruition.

“I never say never, but probably not," Dana told Charly Arnolt on "OutKick The Morning."

The fight would have undoubtedly been massive ... and there were even talks of hosting it at the Roman Colosseum.

Of course, Zuck said he was moving on from Musk last month ... claiming the Tesla CEO is all talk, no action, and never serious about duking it out in an MMA fight.

The hype has fizzled out since then ... as the two sides have calmed down their social media trash talk. Zuck said he's now focused on taking a REAL opponent -- and he's been training his ass off with some of the biggest names in UFC.

While it's a major bummer, White says the real losers in the situation are the charities that would've benefited from the event, as it would have raised a ton of money for good causes.

"Let me tell you who would win in that fight -- would be whatever charities were picked to donate the money to," White added. "They would be the absolute winners because I think that thing would do a billion dollars in revenue, and they wanted 90% of the money to go to charity."

"So, it would have been the biggest charity event ever held in history, especially for one night. It would have helped a lot of people."

Blueface and Chrisean Rock probably aren't cousins after all -- so says his mother in a much-needed clarification -- but she's got plenty of other beefs with the mother of her new grandson.

We talked to Karlissa Saffold Wednesday in L.A. and asked what she meant by claiming Blue and Chrisean might be related. As she explains, there are Dorseys in her extended fam, and once she learned Chrisean's mother has that same maiden name ... she thought there could be a blood connection.

However, after some more research, Karlissa says she no longer believes her son and Chrisean are actually cuzzos ... although, she'd still like a DNA test done, just in case.

With that family tree crisis averted ... we asked her about how the birth went down -- namely, the fact Blueface was partying in Miami, and not with Chrisean for the delivery.

That got him a lot of heat online, many called him rude and insensitive, but Karlissa defends her son ... accusing Chrisean of bolting to Maryland to give birth without giving Blue a heads up. She says Blueface is a great dad, and most certainly wanted to be there to bring his latest child into the world.

Karlissa has more barbs for Chrisean here too, including how she came up with the baby boy's name.

We should also note, Karlissa's got her own family reality show in the works with Blueface, his siblings and Karlissa herself called "CixoT" ... and you gotta imagine they'll bring up Chrisean in the mix.

Mom is squarely in Blueface's corner -- despite some ugly history -- and it doesn't sound like a big, happy family Thanksgiving dinner with Chrisean is in the future.

Bill Maher is wondering why California's Governor is standing on the sidelines during Hollywood's economy-crushing labor disputes, and he's calling on Gavin Newsom to help hammer out a deal.

The 'Real Time' host joined us on "TMZ Live" and we asked him about the strike that's put his, and every other TV host's, staffs out of work for months now. Bill says this should be Gov. Newsom's time to shine by getting both sides in a room to find a quicker path to ending the work stoppage.

He also pointed out the obvious -- showbiz is one of California's biggest industries, so Gov. Newsom absolutely has a vested interest in fixing it.

Now, Bill says he is supportive of the writers -- hell, he IS one, and says he's not shooting his show out of solidarity -- but he also tells us some of the union demands get under his skin ... and lays out exactly why.

The HBO host also has strong thoughts on what's going on at college campuses around the country ... explaining why he's not surprised Harvard was just ranked the worst school for free speech.

Bill says it's part of an ever-growing echo chamber of sorts, calling it an extension of what has been playing out at corporate media outlets for decades, but he's got some solutions.

As always, Bill is equal parts funny, practical and blunt, and he's got a lot to say before he heads out to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for a series of standup shows on Sept. 15-16 and Nov. 3-4.

Tens of thousands of mini Julio Uriases will NOT be handed out to Dodger fans in a few weeks -- the team has elected to scrap its bobblehead promotion following the star pitcher's domestic violence arrest.

The Dodgers announced the move just minutes after the ace was placed on administrative leave Wednesday ... as the league investigates allegations he got physical with a woman at the LAFC vs. Inter Miami game Sunday night.

Sept. 21's game against the San Francisco Giants was slated to honor Urias' participation in the World Baseball Classic this past offseason ... with the collectibles showing him in a throwing motion in a Team Mexico jersey.

L.A. said in a statement the team will now hand out "select premium bobbleheads" to the first 30,000 fans at the ballpark instead of the Urias giveaways.

It's not the first time the Dodgers have elected to go a different route with a player promotion amid controversy ... the team did the same thing after sexual assault allegations were made against Trevor Bauer in 2021.

Drake and The Weeknd already don't rock with the Grammys, so the possibility of their unauthorized AI collaboration winning an award likely won't mend any fences.

Still, that's the scenario Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. is floating when it comes to the controversial "Heart on My Sleeve" -- the AI-generated track that surfaced in April featuring faux vocals from the Canadian megastars, but convincing enough to be a hit.

Ghostwriter -- the anonymous human creator behind the track -- submitted it for both Song of The Year and Best Rap Song for the 66th Grammy Awards next year.

Mason tells the New York Times he was impressed with "Heart on My Sleeve" as it opened up possibilities for their business and declared it suitable for nomination ... "As far as the creative side, it's absolutely eligible because it was written by a human."

If Ghostwriter earned just a nomination, it could spearhead the next evolution of artists: human songwriters who use other people's artificially-generated voices!

Drake and Weeknd's record label Universal Music Group doesn't share Mason's enthusiasm. When the track was released, the label had it pulled from DSPs ... leaving it to lurk in the internet's dark recesses. This Grammy development offers the song, and others like it, a new light.

The Weeknd and Drake have been boycotting the Grammys for years, going as far as to withdraw nominations and refuse to submit heir own music.

On the other hand, Ghostwriter isn't letting up off the digital throttle in the wake of his new career strides.

He released a new AI concoction Wednesday titled "Whiplash," featuring CPU-generated soundalikes for Travis Scott and 21 Savage -- 2 more artists to piss off, but also another possible path to the Grammys!!!

For more viral news, tune in to the TMZ Verified Podcast. Dropping every Thursday on all podcast platforms.

Perhaps LeBron James wasn't kidding when he said he'd play in Saudi Arabia if the bag was big enough ... 'cause the King was spotted in the country, just weeks after he made the comment on social media.

Bron was in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, earlier this week. The exact reason for the trip is unclear, but James was seen hanging out in a gymnasium with a banner that said "Welcome to Arabia" and "Ministry of Sport."

LeBron was invited to watch a match between Saudi prospects at the AZM Academy, according to an online report.

So, while Lakers fans shouldn't worry (for now, at least) ... it doesn't seem impossible that James could play in Saudi for a massive amount of money after his NBA career is over.

In July, the Lakers superstar used a Tom Hanks' Forrest Gump GIF to show how fast he'd go to the Middle Eastern company if he got Kylian Mbappe-type money (the French soccer superstar got a staggering $776 million offer to play for Al-Hilal, but turned the money down).

Many fans perceived LBJ's tweet as a joke, but ... maybe not.

LeBron's not alone. We talked to Giannis Antetokounmpo a few weeks ago about the same subject ... and the Milwaukee Bucks superstar told us he'd be down to suit up in Saudi if the cash was right.

Just James visiting the country will likely be enough to spark a debate ... considering Saudi Arabia's history of human rights violations.

Despite the controversy, Saudi Arabia, with their enormous wealth, has lured some of the world's biggest athletes to their country, including Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo. Golfers like Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, among others, also bolted for Saudi.