Controversial S#!T

Bill Maher llegó casi a las lágrimas el viernes por la noche, llamando a los progresistas y académicos que critican a Israel como un "puesto de avanzada de la civilización occidental", porque, a su juicio, la civilización occidental es la esponsable de las libertades y oportunidades que supuestamente apreciamos.

El presentador de "Real Time" piensa que el creciente movimiento en Estados Unidos que justifica lo que hizo Hamás en Israel es absurdo. Si apoyan a Hamás, postula Bill Maher, entonces están de acuerdo con la violencia doméstica, con la homofobia, con el matrimonio infantil y así sucesivamente, porque ese es el libro de jugadas de Hamás.

Bill no está despotricando contra los palestinos. Hay muchas pruebas de que la mayoría de ellos NO apoya a Hamás, sino que está comparando el terrorismo en el núcleo de Hamás con las libertades que han sido el corazón de la civilización occidental durante siglos: libertad de expresión, libertad de religión, derecho a un juicio justo, derechos de la mujer, y un largo etcétera. Ah, y en la civilización occidental, existe el crimen de guerra.

Maher lo ve de esta manera: "La civilización occidental para los progresistas y académicos es la abreviatura de "los blancos lo arruinan todo".

Russell Brand exposed his penis to a woman on a movie set then sexually assaulted her in a bathroom on the same day ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Russell is being sued by an actress who claims he made her time on the set of the movie "Arthur" a living hell -- and BTW, this does indeed mark a new accuser.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the woman claims she was on set in July 2010 when Russell exposed his penis to her "in full view of the cast and crew" of the Warner Bros. movie.

Russell's accuser, who is suing as a Jane Doe, claims prior to the alleged assault he "appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol, and was carrying a bottle of vodka on set."

In the docs, the woman claims Russell followed her into a bathroom later that same day ... where he sexually assaulted her while "a member of the production crew guarded the door from the outside."

The woman claims she still suffers extreme fear, shame and embarrassment as a result of the alleged incident.

In the suit, the woman claims she was hired to work on the movie for 3 days ... but after the alleged assault happened on the first day, she was not brought back for the second or third day and was only paid for one day of work.

The woman says she's terrified of becoming blacklisted in Hollywood if her name is associated with a sexual assault lawsuit against a big-name celebrity ... and she says she fears retaliation from RB's loyal following.

As we reported ... Russell's already been accused of sexual misconduct by at least 4 other women ... and he's under criminal investigation in the United Kingdom.

Kate Bush is being ushered into rock and roll history alongside some great artists who'll share the honor ... but they won't share the stage with her, 'cause she's bowing out.

The British singer-songwriter -- who was huge in the '80s, and who recently gained popularity again through "Stranger Things" -- is one of many who are set to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Friday night in Brooklyn ... but she seems to be the only one who won't be there in person.

Kate posted a lengthy statement addressing her being included in this year's class, saying she's completely grateful and humbled ... noting her hit song, "Running Up That Hill," put her back in the spotlight again thanks to Netflix.

She writes, "Last year was such a surprisingly successful time for my track ['RUTH'] and I’m sure that a lot of you who’ve voted me in to the RRHOF also drove that track up the charts. Thank you!" Then, she hits everyone with somewhat unsurprising news.

KB adds, "I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend the ceremony tonight, but for me the real honour is knowing that you felt I deserved it." Kate doesn't address why she's bailing -- but she does extend a lot of compliments to the other artists who'll be enshrined ... specifically pointing out Bernie Taupin, Elton John's writing partner, as one who's quite deserving.

The other inductees, aside from the above-mentioned ones, include ... Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and The Spinners. As far as we can tell, they're all expected to show face ... but unfortunately, Kate's seat will be empty.

Of course, Kate does have a bit of a rep for being elusive/reclusive -- so the fact she's opting out here might not be a total shocker for longtime fans of hers. It's funny ... not even a fan fave like 'ST' could bring her out of her shell. Just goes to show -- Kate stays true!

Jason Aldean's song, "Try That In a Small Town," might've been a hit, objectively, but it sure isn't worthy of any real accolades, including Grammys -- and Shooter Jennings isn't afraid to say it.

The singer-songwriter lived up to his name Thursday when we got him at LAX, 'cause the dude gave it to us straight when we asked if JA's controversial track should be considered for a prestigious golden statuette next year.

With Grammy nomination announcements just around the corner -- next Friday, to be exact -- Shooter told us quite clearly. 'Try That' shouldn't be in the mix, whatsoever.

Give it a watch for yourself, 'cause it's pretty interesting -- SJ's rationale has nothing to do with the politics of the song, but more so ... on the substance, or lack thereof in songwriting.

BTW, Aldean is not one of the 4 songwriters credited on the track.

Shooter -- son of country legend Waylon Jennings -- says he doesn't find Jason's song to be all that compelling in terms of lyrics or even music, and suggests it's a shallow message-anthem lacking artistry ... and certainly isn't deserving of recognition from the Recording Academy.

Even on the streaming front, he's dubious, saying he suspects 'Try That' wasn't as successful as the charts seem to indicate.

Khloe Kardashian seems to be responding to the backlash over what many took as her blackfishing for Halloween ... and assuming she is, you could argue she's keeping calm and carrying on.

The youngest Kardashian sister took to IG late Thursday with a handful of cryptic quotes that appear to address the controversy head-on ... and based on the words she's throwing up, it sounds like she's saying this indignation is up for debate and in the eye of the beholder.

The quote reads, "You can't control how others interpret your actions our words. Everyone perceives things based on their current situations and mindset. Just keep acting with honesty, love and a good heart." In other words ... Khloe's intimating she meant no harm.

There are additional quotes she posted that seemed to further elaborate ... including one where she references answering the universe's call to help people and another that says not to entertain negativity while choosing inner peace over turmoil. Very kumbaya, indeed.

It might not be the reaction some were seeking from Khloe ... but she appears content with letting this outrage fizzle out, 'cause from her POV -- or at least, from what we can glean here -- her conscience is clear when it comes to intent.

Worth noting ... Khloe tends to post these kinds of enlightening quotes all the time on her social media -- so this could just be her regular dump, but considering the latest noise aimed at her, it could easily be meant to speak on that as well. Eye of the beholder, right?

Remember, this isn't the first time Khloe and her sisters have been accused of blackfishing -- which is, perhaps, why there was so much uproar this time around for the Bratz lineup.

We'd be remiss not to mention this ... there are some who feel like the heat she took was unfair, but by and large -- the majority of people seemed to take offense over this.

Khloe Kardashian parece estar respondiendo a las violentas reacciones de los usuarios en las redes, que tomaron su disfraz de Halloween como blackfishing, y suponiendo que lo fue, podríamos decir que Khloe se lo está tomando con mucha calma y quiere seguir adelante.

La más joven de las Kardashian utilizó su cuenta de Instagram a última hora del jueves, en donde compartió un puñado de citas crípticas que parecen hacer referencia a la controversia, y de acuerdo a esas palabras, pareciera que piensa que la indignación es objeto de debate y depende del ojo del espectador.

La cita dice: "No puedes controlar cómo los demás interpretan tus acciones, nuestras palabras. Todo el mundo percibe las cosas en función de su situación actual y su forma de pensar. Solo sigue actuando con honestidad, amor y buen corazón". En otras palabras, Khloe está dando a entender que no quería hacer daño a nadie.

Publicó otras citas que parecen dar más detalles, incluyendo una en la que habla de responder a la llamada del universo para ayudar a las personas y otra que dice que no hay que entretener a la negatividad, sino elegir la paz interior sobre la agitación.

Muy kumbaya, de hecho.

Puede que no sea la reacción que algunos estaban buscando, pero ella parece contenta con dejar que este escándalo se desvanezca, porque desde su punto de vista -o al menos por lo que podemos deducir aquí- su conciencia está tranquila cuando se trata de la intención.

Vale la pena señalar, Khloe tiende a publicar este tipo de citas esclarecedoras todo el tiempo en sus redes sociales, por lo que se podría decir que este es solo su estilo regular, pero teniendo en cuenta el último ruido en torno a ella, podría fácilmente haberlo subido con la intención de hablar de eso también. El ojo del que mira, ¿verdad?

Recuerden, esta no es la primera vez que Khloe y sus hermanas son acusadas de blackfishing -que es, tal vez, el motivo de tanto alboroto por la línea Bratz.

No podemos dejar de mencionar que hay algunos que sienten que la controversia que generó fue injusta, pero en general, la mayoría de la gente parecía ofendida por esto.

Sheryl Crow is NOT a fan of the new The Beatles' AI-restored song -- and she ain't digging all the use of AI in showbiz, generally, either ... saying there's no soul in computer music.

The country singer was chopping it up with Jimmy Fallon Thursday on 'The Tonight Show' when she made her feelings on artificial intelligence clear -- long story short, she isn't feeling it ... and actually finds the use of the tech in songwriting/recording quite daunting.

Check it out ... Sheryl says AI has gotten so good at recreating an artist's voice and style that it's disturbing -- and she apparently channeled these feelings in a new track, 'Evolution.'

During this rant on AI she gives ... SC references the new Beatles ditty -- 'Now and Then,' which just dropped yesterday -- but she doesn't really elaborate ... other than to point out it was created with the help of AI.

One thing she doesn't seem to acknowledge, though, is that AI was only used to enhance John Lennon's vocals ... as opposed to completely making new/fake ones from scratch.

Anyway, another example backing her fears ... a young songwriter paying $5 to put John Mayer's vocals on her new track to pitch to male singers in Nashville. Sheryl said she couldn't tell the difference at all when it was played to her!

As we all know, AI has been the subject of much debate over the past several months -- especially as it pertains to music. The Beatles are the latest group to get involved ... but some other artists have been roped into the convo against their will ... aka, Drake.

Sheryl Crow no es fan de la nueva canción de The Beatles restaurada con inteligencia artificial, y no es que no le guste cualquier uso de la IA en el mundo del espectáculo... más bien está diciendo que no hay alma en la música hecha por un computador.

La cantante de country estuvo conversando con Jimmy Fallon el jueves en "The Tonight Show" cuando dejó en claro sus sentimientos sobre la inteligencia artificial. En pocas palabras, no siente nada y en realidad encuentra que el uso de la tecnología en la composición de canciones o grabaciones es bastante desalentador.

Echa un vistazo a sus palabras, Sheryl dice que la IA se ha vuelto tan buena en la recreación de las voces de los artistas y su estilo que es inquietante. Y al parecer, ha canalizado estos sentimientos en una nueva canción llamada "Evolución".

Durante esta perorata sobre la IA, la cantante hizo referencia a la nueva cancioncilla de los Beatles, "Now and Then", que acaba de lanzarse ayer, aunque realmente no elabora mucho además de decir que fue creada con la ayuda de inteligencia artificial.

Una cosa que parece no reconocer, sin embargo, es que la IA solo se utilizó para mejorar la voz de John Lennon, en lugar de hacerla completamente desde cero.

De todos modos, hay otros ejemplos que respaldan sus temores. Una joven compositora está pagando $5 para poner la voz de John Mayer en su nueva pista para lanzar a los cantantes masculinos en Nashville. Sheryl dijo que no notó la diferencia en absoluto cuando se la pusieron.

Como todos sabemos, la IA ha sido objeto de mucho debate en los últimos meses, sobre todo en lo que respecta a la música. Los Beatles son solo la última banda que está haciendo noticia por ello, pero otros artistas, como Drake, se han visto envueltos en la conversación en contra de su voluntad.

Lisa Marie Presley was practically begging Sofia Coppola not to put her new movie about her mom and dad not long before she suddenly died -- slamming the flick as a hit piece.

The late daughter of Elvis Presley fired off 2 emails to the director four months prior to January -- when she suffered cardiac arrest and passed away -- in which she pled with her to stop down on her feature and reconsider putting it out ... which she didn't, of course.

According to Variety, which obtained the correspondence, LMP called Coppola's script "shockingly vengeful and contemptuous" ... and went on to slam the way Elvis is portrayed.

She writes, "My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?"

Lisa added, "I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly."

In response, Coppola answered ... "I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity."

It sounds like Coppola actually toned her movie down compared to the source material it's based on -- Priscilla Presley's 'Elvis and Me' -- which apparently contained even more scandalous stories about Elvis courting the very young PP at the time ... something that has come under a lot of scrutiny in the years following his own famous death.

As we reported ... Lisa's cry for the film to be shut down echoes what Elvis' own estate said about the film as it was being worked on -- which, at the time, called it a travesty. Priscilla herself, however, was very much on board from day one ... speaking to the fracture here.

Lisa Marie Presley estuvo prácticamente rogándole a Sofia Coppola que no hiciera la nueva película sobre su mamá y su papá, no mucho antes de que muriera repentinamente.

La difunta hija de Elvis Presley envió dos correos electrónicos a la directora cuatro meses antes de que sufriera un paro cardíaco y falleciera, en los que le rogaba que detuviera el filme y reconsiderara suspenderlo... cosa que no hizo, por supuesto.

Según Variety, que obtuvo la correspondencia entre ambas partes, Lisa Marie Presley calificó el guion de Coppola de "escandalosamente vengativo y despectivo", y criticó especialmente la forma en que era retratado Elvis.

Escribe: "Mi padre solo aparece como un depredador y un manipulador. Como su hija, no veo nada de mi padre en este personaje al leerlo. No veo la perspectiva de mi madre sobre mi padre al leerlo. Leo esto y veo su perspectiva escandalosamente vengativa y despectiva y no entiendo por qué..."

Lisa añadió: "Me veré obligada a estar en una posición en la que tendré que decir abiertamente lo que siento sobre la película e ir en contra de ti, de mi madre y de esta película públicamente".

En respuesta, Coppola contestó: "Espero que cuando veas la película final te sientas diferente, y entiendas que estoy teniendo mucho cuidado en honrar a tu madre, mientras que también presento a tu padre con sensibilidad y complejidad".

Suena como que Coppola realmente suavizó el tono de su película en comparación al material original en que se basa -Priscilla Presley 'Elvis y yo'- que al parecer contenía historias aún más escandalosas sobre Elvis cortejando a la joven Priscilla en su momento, lo que ha sido objeto de mucho escrutinio en los años posteriores a la muerte del cantante.

Como informamos, la llamada de auxilio de Lisa para que se cancelara la película se hace eco de lo que el propio patrimonio de Elvis dijo sobre esta cuando se estaba trabajando en ella. En ese momento, se calificó de parodia. Priscilla, en cambio, estuvo muy a bordo en el proyecto desde el primer día.

Dan Dakich spent 16 years with Bob Knight as a star player and coach, and while "The General" was certainly a hardass many times, his former pupil revealed another side of the legendary Indiana University coach ... the funny side!

"The dude was hilarious. He comes off as this big, mean, 'I'm gonna go crazy on everybody,' and he did. Let's be honest, he did. The man would go nuts on you and make you do things you never thought your body was capable of doing, but he was hilarious, honest to God," the Outkick host told TMZ Sports.

The 61-year-old continued ... "He was a guy's guy. You could crack on him if he was in the right mood. If we won a few games. And he was certainly gonna crack on you."

As for his prowess on the bench, Dan says Knight's "the best basketball coach I've seen."

Dakich played for Bobby at IU from 1981 to 1985 ... where he served as a team captain during his junior and senior seasons.

Right after graduating, DD went to work with Knight as a graduate assistant until 1987, when he became a full-time assistant coach. Dan remained with Indiana until 1997 when he left to become the head coach at Bowling Green.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is not going to the moon, instead he appears headed for prison ... he's been found guilty on all counts against him in his federal cryptocurrency fraud case.

Federal law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a jury in New York City convicted the disgraced "Crypto King" on all seven counts of fraud, money laundering and conspiracy ... the latest development in one of the largest financial fraud cases in U.S. history.

The jury verdict came back Thursday ... SBF was found guilty on two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, two counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering ... each carries a maximum 20-year prison sentence.

Sam was also convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud ... each carries a maximum 5-year prison sentence.

All told, SBF is facing up to 110 years behind bars.

Our sources say after the guilty verdict came down, Sam appeared despondent and sort of upset ... starting to tear up.

Following the weeks-long trial, all 12 jurors were in agreement on convicting SBF on each of the 7 charges.

As we reported ... Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas back on Dec. 12 before federal prosecutors in New York hit him with a slew of charges.

SBF was accused of taking billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits and using the money to fund investments, make political donations and buy luxury real estate.

FTX was once one of the world's biggest crypto exchanges, being valued at $30 billion before ultimately becoming insolvent and filing for bankruptcy.

Selena Gomez dice que necesita un descanso de Instagram y va a eliminar su cuenta después de ser criticada por sus comentarios sobre el conflicto entre Israel y Palestina.

Selena publicó y luego borró una historia de Instagram el jueves, donde reveló sus planes de salirse de la red, explicando: "Estoy harta de esto. No apoyo nada de lo que está pasando".

La decisión se produjo solo unos días después de que Selena publicara un post sobre la guerra en Gaza y luego fuera aplastada por los usuarios.

Como informamos, Selena se refirió este lunes a la guerra en Medio Oriente, condenando el asesinato y la tortura y diciendo: "Eso es lo que me enferma. Me gustaría poder cambiar el mundo. Pero un post no lo hará".

El post de Selena sobre Israel-Palestina fue recibido con toneladas de odio en la red, con la gente acusándola de no hacer todo lo posible por ayudar a los más necesitados, por tratar de hacerse la víctima y criticándola por decir que su plataforma es inútil.

Como hemos informado, otras celebridades han enfrentado reacciones negativas por sus opiniones sobre el conflicto en curso. La ex estrella del cine para adultos Mia Khalifa perdió su trabajo con Playboy después de defender a Hamás, mientras que toda la familia Hadid está recibiendo amenazas de muerte por sus comentarios.

Selena Gomez says she needs a break from Instagram and is going to delete her account ... after being blasted for her comments about the conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Selena posted and then deleted an IG story Thursday where she revealed her plans to get off IG, explaining ... "I'm done. I do not support any of what's going on."

The decision came only days after Selena posted about the Gaza war and then got dragged.

As we reported ... Selena spoke out Monday about the war in the Middle East, condemning murder and torture and saying, "That's what makes me sick. I wish I could change the world. But a post won't."

Selena's Israel-Palestine post was met with tons of hate online ... with folks accusing her of not doing all she can to help those in need, dragging her for trying to be a victim and blasting her for claiming her platform was useless.

As we've reported ... other celebs have faced backlash for their takes on the ongoing conflict ... former adult film star Mia Khalifa lost her gig with Playboy after defending Hamas, and the entire Hadid family is getting death threats.

An Australian woman accused of poisoning her ex-husband's family with death cap mushrooms has been charged with murder ... after officials say her deadly meal killed three of the four people who ate it.

According to reports, Erin Patterson hosted the ill-fated lunch July 29 at her home in Victoria, Australia ... serving a beef Wellington dish she cooked, which is alleged to have contained deadly death cap mushrooms.

Patterson allegedly served the poisonous food to her ex-husband's parents, sister and brother-in-law ... three of them died within a week of the lunch from symptoms police say are consistent with mushroom poisoning.

Meanwhile, the ex-husband's dad was hospitalized for nearly two months with a severe illness.

On Thursday, over three months after the meal in question, Patterson was charged with three counts of murder. She was arrested Wednesday, and on Friday she's expected to appear in an Australian court.

Death cap mushroom is one of the deadliest varieties of mushroom ... and it's found in Victoria, where Patterson lives and where she served the food.

For her part, Patterson has denied any foul play ... she told cops she prepared the beef Wellington dish using fresh mushrooms from a local supermarket and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store in Melbourne, about 85 miles from her home.

Ja'Marr Chase could look more like Ja'Marr Uno this weekend ... 'cause after striking an agreement with Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson this week -- he's promised to recreate one of the Bengals legend's epic touchdown celebrations!!

The deal was consummated on Thursday afternoon ... after the Cincinnati superstar initially offered it to Johnson during his media availability earlier in the day.

Chase told reporters if the former Bengals wideout would pay the fine, he'd go and grab a broadcast camera after scoring a TD just like Johnson did nearly 16 years ago.

And, it didn't take for Johnson to shake on the pact ... because just minutes after he became aware of Chase's words, he tweeted out, "Say less I’ll pay the fine."

Chase, of course, will now have to find the endzone against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in order to try to duplicate the celly ... though it shouldn't be too hard for him, considering the tear he's currently on.

Chase has recorded 31 catches in his last three games ... and he's scored four times in that time frame as well.