Controversial S#!T

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.

The Maryland police officer who was spotted kissing a woman, and then getting into the back of a patrol car with her, has been suspended ... and his wife is slamming both of them.

The Prince George's County Police Department said late Tuesday -- not long after the video clip went viral -- it was aware of the video, and immediately launched an investigation. An update hours later said the officer had been suspended.

The officer in question is Francesco Marlett, according to CBS News Baltimore ... and a woman named Paula Marlett -- who says she's Francesco's wife -- has been goin' off on him and the other woman.

She wrote on Facebook ... "There goes my husband and his Mistress," and told someone in the comments she's "Not doing OK" -- partly because the video "constantly pops up on my f***ing newsfeed and I have to constantly re-watch it over and over again."

Paula later thanked folks for the well-wishes during a "very tough time" for her and her kids ... before going off a bit more.

Jake Paul says Dillon Danis is doing exactly what Logan expected by spewing nonstop trash talk leading up to their boxing match ... telling TMZ Sports lines have been crossed, but at the end of the day -- it's only making his brother richer.

The Problem Child joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs on FS1) ... and he got into all things boxing, Betr ... and, of course, Logan's current arch nemesis.

In case you've been hiding under a rock, Danis has been unloading on Logan and his fiancée, Nina Agdal, on social media ... posting hundreds of pictures of the model with her previous boyfriends and other random men in an attempt to embarrass his opponent.

Many critics are going after Danis for bringing an innocent bystander into the prefight antics ... and while Jake agrees the former Bellator MMA fighter has sometimes gone too far, Logan is ultimately winning.

"My brother could've fought anybody, and he picks this kid who he knows is gonna make the fight massive," Jake said. "And right now, everybody wants to see the fight because of the things that are being said."

"So, all of that, all the pay-per-views are going directly into my brother's pocket, and that's why Dillon was picked. At the end of the day, Dillon's a puppet."

As for Paul's boomin' Betr business, he also talked about its new fantasy vertical, Betr Picks ... which is here just in time for NFL Week 1.

Jake explained Betr -- which also just launched in Virginia -- is way more than just a money-making opportunity for him ... as he's truly passionate about putting together the best possible user experience.

"Our goal is to make the product the best in the space, and the fans are the ones who are really gonna win here."

We're finally getting a first look at the Delta flight that was covered in crap mid-air -- and based on this footage ... it looks like a helluva mess.

A video surfaced Tuesday on Twitter that purports to show what was left behind after a passenger experienced explosive diarrhea Friday on a plane that was going from Atlanta to Barcelona -- and which had to turn around and land back in America to deal with it.

The clip -- posted by a user that goes by "Xansby Swanson" -- shows somebody walking down an aisle of the airplane ... recording from their phone as they're exiting/deplaning.

Indeed, they capture all the disgusting doo-doo that was left behind on the floor ... and it looks like quite a long trail of liquid feces -- which the cabin crew attempted to cover up with paper towels. Unfortunately, they didn't have enough coverage to hide this carnage.

This Twitter user says his little brother was on this plane, and he explains what went down this way ... "Pretty much how Ned explained. Haven’t laughed harder than his phone call to me at midnight to explain why he was still in America. He said it was the funniest thing he’s ever experienced."

While it certainly looks like a nightmare for anyone who may have been sitting anywhere near that disaster zone -- it sounds like it provided some laughs for folks watching from afar.

Of course, the Delta people themselves certainly took it seriously enough to turn around STAT and get everyone the hell out of there immediately ... in fact, the Air Traffic Control audio reveals they were characterizing this as a biohazard in the making.

A uniformed police officer in Maryland was caught allegedly making out with a young woman in broad daylight, and seemingly on the job -- only to go into his cruiser with her shortly thereafter.

The video is absolutely wild, and it's going viral for good reason. The footage -- which was posted on TikTok Monday -- shows a Prince George's County cop with his arms wrapped around a female in the parking lot of a park ... where other people are out and about.

They appear to be engaged in an intimate moment, which was only punctuated by the fact that the two of them then proceed to hop into the back of his marked vehicle ... closing the door behind them. On its face, it sure looks like something inappropriate is going down.

Obviously, this is causing a stir for a lot of reasons. Namely, it seems to be showing an officer of the law engaged in unbecoming conduct -- especially if he's working a shift.

BTW, there's a 2nd clip that appears to show yet another Prince George's County cruiser pulled up/parked at the park too ... and another young woman is seen running in and out of the vehicle, although the officer doesn't show up in that one. No word if it's the same guy.

Blueface's mother has made a bombshell claim -- suggesting her son and his new baby mama, Chrisean Rock, are actually related ... although it's hard to tell exactly how.

The rapper's mom, Karlissa Saffold, made the allegation on social media over the weekend -- not long after Chrisean gave birth to her and Blueface's newborn baby boy. She says Blueface and Chrisean could possibly be cousins -- in fact, she totally believes it.

Check out her rationale for yourself ... Karlissa seems to believe there's a bloodline connection in the surname of Chrisean's own mother -- which is apparently Dorsey. Karlissa says there are Dorseys in her own family as well ... but doesn't explain who has that last name in her family. Obviously, she doesn't have that last name ... nor does Blue himself.

Again, we have no idea who the "Dorsey" in her brood is ... but Karlissa insists all Dorseys are connected, and that they all act the way Chrisean does -- with strong personalities, etc.

Clearly, this isn't exactly science ... it's literally just a theory Karlissa's floating, without much hard evidence to back it up -- let alone a proper explanation ... and yet, it's disturbing.

She half-jokingly says they need to have the baby's DNA tested to find out for sure ... but it sounds like she's already convinced. In her mind, her son did some inbreeding in the family.