Controversial S#!T

The Patagonia clothing brand taking a political stand is nothing new ... but the tags in its organic shorts are, and the message they're pushing is change.

The company is now confirming it's indeed putting a tag that reads, "VOTE THE ASSHOLES OUT" in some of its clothing. A pic of the tag spread like wildfire on Twitter last week, but no one knew if it was legit.

Brad Wieners, the company's director of copy, says ... "With an assist fm @BallotReady we've got a widget to help folks folo thru on that advice, too" followed by a link directing consumers to its website calling for Americans to vote climate deniers out of office.

Hmmm ... think they might be referring to President Trump?

You'll recall the current occupant of the White House most recently laughed off climate change during a wildfires briefing with California Governor Gavin Newsom.

Patagonia -- which closes its stores on Election Day -- and the Trump administration have been at odds for some time now. The company sued the administration in 2017 to protect national monuments. The company also donated the money it got from tax cuts to environmental groups.

Emmitt Smith says if he were still playing today, he'd take a knee for the national anthem ... saying he's been a victim of social injustice despite being an NFL legend.

The Dallas Cowboys all-time leading rusher spelled it all out in a lengthy interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, saying he wishes he'd been more vocal about racial equality when he played in the '90s.

"I have been a victim of it," Emmitt said of social injustice. "It’s not like I am talking because something happened to George Floyd. Something happened to me more than one time, a couple of times it happened right here in Dallas."

Emmitt didn't elaborate on the alleged racist incidents, but continued ... "I’m talking from experience, not something I read in a book and saw on CNN.”

Emmitt once famously took a knee at Texas Stadium in 2000 ... but it was to defend the Cowboys' midfield logo -- which had just been celebrated on by then-49ers star Terrell Owens.

The move cemented Smith as a Dallas icon ... and Emmitt says he wishes he had done the same thing when it came to protests during the anthem.

“Why not?" Smith said when asked if he'd kneel if he were playing today. "If I can defend the star, I definitely can defend the right for everybody to have equal justice."

Smith's son, EJ Smith -- a star H.S. football recruit who's set to play at Stanford whenever the Pac-12 kicks off again -- has already knelt for the anthem during his H.S. career, and Dad seems proud as hell of that.

In fact, Smith is advocating for more players to take knees ... and he's sending a strong message to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to continue to let it happen.

"Jerry needs to cut it out," Smith said of the owner's previous stance that kneeling disrespected the flag. "He needs to cut it out. Don’t distort the message because of the flag. It is bigger than the flag."

President Trump's a big step closer to going through with his threat to cancel TikTok, but another Chinese-owned app -- WeChat -- is being dealt a more significant blow first ... perhaps as a warning shot.

The Trump administration announced Friday TikTok and WeChat -- which have more than 100 million American users -- will be yanked from U.S. app stores starting Sunday. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the move shows POTUS "will do everything in his power to guarantee our national security and protect Americans from the threats of the Chinese Communist Party."

Ross added the new ban will hurt WeChat way more at first because it means U.S. users will no longer be able to transfer funds or process payments using the app -- and it will severely cripple any business the app can do with U.S. companies.

The administration is giving TikTok until November 12 before it's dealt the same restrictions as WeChat. Wilbur says the only major change Sunday for Tiktok is users won't have access to updated or upgraded versions of the app or maintenance.

Of course, it will also no longer be on the app store ... so new users can't download it either.

As we've reported ... TikTok is currently in talks with American software maker Oracle to be acquired by the company, which could help it dodge Trump's national security concerns.

Trump is expected to speak on the potential Oracle deal later Friday.

James Otis -- best known as the guy who destroyed Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star right before he was elected president -- is trying to do his part to make sure DT doesn't get re-elected ... by littering NYC with Trump's lies.

Otis -- who's also an heir to the Otis Elevator Company fortune -- made his way to the top of the Empire State Building Thursday morning and dropped thousands of gold flyers down upon the city.

Naturally, an employee caught him in the act and told him to stop and leave immediately, but as you can see ... the damage was already done.

We got the anti-Trump vandal after his stunt, and he tells us he didn't get in any serious trouble for the flyer drop ... suggesting he talked his way out of it.

Otis says he explained to the building authorities that what he did was a non-violent act to spread the word about President Trump's incessant lying ... and they were "cordial."

However, on the downside ... he says he's now banned for life from the Empire State Building.

As for the flyers, Otis says they were printed on both sides with more than 20,000 examples of lies Trump has told in office ... along with the fact-checking to refute them.

Examples include Trump quotes about tax-cutting, the economy, Joe Biden, protests and the VA Choice bill ... and those are just from the past few months. James says he dropped at least a couple thousand flyers.

As you'll recall ... Otis was charged with vandalism for the pickax stunt he pulled on October 26, 2016, to protest then-candidate Trump. He pled no contest in February 2017 and was sentenced to 3 years probation, community service and ordered to pay $4,400.

"Right now, this is an absolute disgrace!"

That's N.Y. congressman Max Rose going IN on Knicks owner James Dolan ... saying the dude should sell the team ASAP -- and adding he believes even our TMZ Sports camera guy could do a better job!!!

"They don't make the playoffs. Nothing's happening," Rose told us in an angry rant on Capitol Hill in D.C. "Every year that they don't make the playoffs, New York City loses out."

"We lose a piece of our soul. Sell tomorrow. Sell today. Do it for the good of all of us, brother!"

Rose continued, "Look, the Knicks got to stay. Dolan's just got to sell. Drives the team into the ground, man! It's disgraceful!"

Of course, Rose's remarks now beg the question ... will Dolan go after a congressman?!?!

You'll recall ... James does NOT take criticism lightly -- and has punted multiple fans recently from Madison Square Garden, including a "sell the team" heckler back in 2019.

Seems Rose's comments could put him in perma-ban territory as well ... which would make for an incredible storyline -- given, you know, Rose is a decorated war hero in addition to a congressman.

Raptors president Masai Ujiri says he really struggled mentally in the days after the cop shoving video was released ... even though the footage completely exonerated him.

"This was very hard for me," Ujiri told the media Thursday ... "When the video came out, I didn't sleep for a few days."

So, what bothered Ujiru -- who was clearly shoved by a white cop TWICE for no reason in June 2019 while trying to get on the court to celebrate his team's championship???

Two things ...

First, Ujiri says the false allegations that he was the instigator of that incident really started to mess with his mind.

"[After the incident] you question yourself and as time goes on you begin to doubt yourself. I doubted myself and what really happened there."

Obviously, the video clearly shows Ujiri calmly trying to show his ID badge to the officer -- and it was the officer who CLEARLY overreacted by putting his hands on Masai twice.

But, Masai says his mind would run wild about the incident -- especially while he was alone in the NBA Bubble -- and he began to wonder if he was misremembering how things really went down.

Secondly ... when the video was released, he started feeling horrible for other Black people who don't have the money, power, clout and other resources to fight back against false allegations.

"That began to bother me as a person."

Ujiri says the incident has not made him hate white people -- he says there are many white families he would trust with his own kids.

Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Maurkice Pouncey is expressing remorse over wearing a helmet tribute to a 17-year-old who was shot and killed by police ... saying he didn't know the whole story.

"I want to personally clarify what transpired this past Monday night in regard to having Antwon Rose's name on the back of my helmet," Pouncey says.

"I was given limited information on the situation regarding Antwon, and I was unaware of the whole story surrounding his death and what transpired during the trial following the tragedy."

Remember, on Monday the Steelers announced the entire team and coaching staff would honor Rose on helmets and sideline hats for the entire 2020 season.

Here's the explanation from the Steelers official team website:

"On the night of June 19, 2018, the car Antwon Rose Jr., who is black, was a passenger in was pulled over by the East Pittsburgh Police. While the driver was being handcuffed on suspicion of being involved in an incident that happened earlier that evening, a frightened Rose fled from the car. The cell phone video a bystander captured showed Rose running, and then you could hear gunshots and see as he was fatally shot in the back three times by a white East Pittsburgh Police Officer."

The "incident" that occurred earlier that evening was a drive-by shooting -- and the victim who was shot told cops Antwon was the trigger man.

The officer who shot and killed Antwon was later found not guilty of all criminal charges that were filed against him -- including 1st-degree murder.

Pouncey is clearly uncomfortable honoring a person who may have been involved in a drive-by shooting ... and says, "I should have done more research to fully understand what occurred in its entirety."

Moving forward, Pouncey says, "I will make my own decision about what to wear on the back of my helmet."

"Make no mistake, I am against racism and I believe the best thing I can do is to continue helping repair relationships between the police and their communities. System racism issues have occurred in our country for too long, and that needs to stop."

Pouncey's teammate Alejandro Villanueva made headlines this week when he decided NOT to honor Antwon -- instead writing the name of an Army Sgt. who was killed while serving in Iraq.

Villanueva is an Army Ranger and felt it was more appropriate for him to pay tribute to Alwyn Cashe, who died while rescuing soldiers from a burning vehicle that was rocked by an explosive device.

Attorney General Bill Barr believes the calls for nationwide lockdowns and stay-at-home orders to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are the "greatest intrusion on civil liberties" of all time ... you know, other than slavery.

Barr made the unbelievably tone-deaf claim Wednesday at a Constitution Day celebration hosted by Hillsdale College in Michigan, after he was asked about constitutional hurdles in blocking churchgoers during a pandemic.

This led to a lengthy response in which Barr blasted state governors -- claiming they're stifling citizens and businesses from returning to work -- and compared coronavirus lockdowns to house arrest and slavery.

The offensive parallel has pissed off politicians, celebs and journalists ... all of whom are going off on the AG.

Now, Barr did qualify his comment by saying slavery "was a different kind of restraint." Gee, thanks for pointing that out, Bill.

Carole Baskin says she's totally on board with the commercial seeking to find Don Lewis ... even though her missing husband's fam thinks she might have something to do with his disappearance.

We got Carole leaving rehearsals Wednesday for "Dancing With The Stars," and our photog asked her about the spot that aired during her 'DWTS' debut ... begging the public for help finding Don, and asking if Carole was involved.

Carole's answer is pretty interesting -- she told us it would be "wonderful" if the Don mystery was solved, especially if the clue came as a result of her being on 'Dancing.' In fact, she sees it as a "side benefit."

As we reported ... Don's daughters, former assistant and family attorney appeared in the commercial Monday, mentioning Carole by name, asking the public to send tips to their hotline and reiterating the $100,000 reward.

John Phillips, the Lewis family attorney, and law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... since the commercial aired, lots of people have called in to their tip line, but there's nothing solid yet.

As you know ... Carole, who has always maintained her innocence in Don's case, also told us someone made certain she knew about the spot 10 minutes before she hit the dance floor ... but she said the news didn't rattle her ballroom game.

We did ask her one question about her 'Tiger King' nemesis, Joe Exotic ... and  Donald Trump potentially pardoning him. You can guess her response, but ya gotta see how she expressed it.

Kanye West isn't easing up off his push for Black ownership in enterprise, or his gripes about not getting a chance to own the masters to his songs.

Ye was going off again early Wednesday about African-Americans, by and large, not getting their fair share of the pie -- instead, he says they're mostly used by companies run by whites. He again points to the NBA and the music biz as examples.

In his new Twitter rant, he says, "We sat back and watched Nick Cannon get canceled and we go to play ball in a bubble with black lives matter on our backs ... brothers let’s stand together for real ... there is no NBA or music industry without black people ... fair contracts matter ... ownership matters."

Insisting he's made "multi billions," Kanye says he's one of the few who can openly speak on this issue without repercussion -- the implication being he's rich enough to where he doesn't have to worry about a record label trying to muzzle him.

Speaking of that ... Ye brings the convo back to himself and his own fight for ownership of his master recordings, blasting Universal Music Group and alleging they won't even give him a chance to buy them outright -- because he feels they know he can probably afford them.

Of course, this is the same argument his nemesis, Taylor Swift, made not too long ago ... as one of Kanye's associates pointed out to him on Tuesday morning.

Ye and Taylor on the same page??? 2020 strikes again.

"Would you look at that? It's the first time Paul George has been on fire all night!"

One angry L.A. Clippers fan was SO heated over his team's epic collapse in the 2nd-round of the playoffs ... he took a flame to his own Paul George jersey!!

It's no secret -- losing to the Denver Nuggets is NOT what the Clips had in mind this season ... with many expecting Kawhi Leonard and PG13 to lead the team to its first title.

This fan decided he'd had enough of repping George on Tuesday night ... destroying his jersey and ripping the baller in the process.

FYI -- Playoff P had just 10 points and 4 rebounds in the loss.

This isn't the first time we've seen George jerseys set ablaze ... some angry Indiana Pacers fans did the act back in 2017 when their All-Star announced he would be leaving in free agency the following season.

This reaction is CLEARLY a bit of an overreaction ... but the frustration is understandable -- after all, Kawhi and George combined for 0 points in the 4th quarter as the Clips were eliminated from the playoffs.

But hey, there's always next year!!

Saints WR Emmanuel Sanders says Drew Brees cried HARD during his apology to the team in the wake of his controversial anthem comments ... and now, Sanders says N.O. players have moved on.

The 33-year-old revealed on ESPN's "First Take" on Wednesday that he was initially pissed back in June when Brees said anthem kneelers were "disrespecting the flag."

But, Sanders claims the Saints had a team meeting over it all shortly after the QB's comments ... and he says Brees apologized vehemently through a mountain of tears.

"As he talked, the more and more he talked, you just see a guy with just tears rolling down his face," Sanders said.

"I mean, I've never seen that. You could just tell that he was hurt by his comments and the things that people were saying about him because he was unaware of it."

Emmanuel added, "I mean just tears flowing down his face."

Sanders says after that team conversation ... Saints players knew that Brees understood his mistake -- and have since moved on.

"We understood where he was coming from and we were able to move past it," Sanders says. "I don't see any weird energy going on in the locker room."

Caitlyn Jenner is angry at a joke Joe Rogan told about her transition, claiming it's simply transphobic and hurtful to the entire trans community.

Caitlyn's on "TMZ Live" Wednesday ... talking about Rogan's podcast last week, in which he recounted a bit he once told in 2016 about her transition ... and likened it to her being driven crazy by living with the Kardashian women, whom he calls "crazy bitches."

Joe broke down his joke-writing process to Tim Kennedy about the Caitlyn bit that he used in his Netflix special, "Triggered," explaining in his eyes some people are born trapped in the wrong gender, while and others become that due to their environment.

He joked Caitlyn might be the latter ... using the "he" pronoun and calling her "Bruce." Caitlyn's upset at that, but even more upset at Joe's characterization of her daughters.

Caitlyn takes her own shots at Joe -- who is super successful -- saying her daughters have done better in every department.

BTW, Caitlyn just launched her own YouTube channel. It's seriously worth a watch.

Kim Kardashian, Leonardo DiCaprio and a bunch of other celebs are banning together to make Facebook stop and listen ... by putting its biggest attraction on ice for a bit.

A massive amount of stars are participating in a 24-hour Instagram freeze Wednesday in partnership with Stop Hate for Profit ... which is leading the charge. It's a pretty simple idea ... a one-day moratorium on posting ANYTHING on Instagram, to stick it to Mark Zuckerberg and co.

Their ultimate goal is to let FB, which owns IG, know people are sick of them not running a tighter ship on their platform ... which, as you may have heard, has become home to a lot of misinformation and unchecked hate speech -- all in the name of "fairness."

SHFP isn't buying that "fairness" argument, and neither are its famous supporters like Katy Perry, Jamie Foxx, Ashton Kutcher, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael B. Jordan, Sacha Baron Cohen, Naomi Campbell ... and many, many more.

Obviously, the campaign goes beyond just the A-listers ... so far, this message has been shared by over 200 million accounts across different media platforms ... and it's growing by the hour.

So, you can imagine -- IG will probably be pretty quiet come midnight. No stories, no hashtags, no foodie posts ... nothin', at least from those who are committed to this.

And, if you're wondering if SHFP has a specific list of demands, it does. Among the changes it would like to see happen ... removing FB groups promoting violence, militia groups, white supremacy, conspiracy theories and other harmful content; remove misinformation posts and slap people with fact checks ... just to name a few.

The real issue here for Facebook is about the First Amendment and how far is too far when it comes to censorship ... even of ideas with which you disagree.

Now, we know what you might be thinking ... if these celebs are really about this cause, why just "freeze" activity for a day? Why not a week?? Or ... forever?!?

Conor McGregor says he will dig in and fight the "bullsh*t" allegations against him in Corsica -- and refuses to pay a dime "to anyone coming at me with vicious lies."

The UFC superstar unleashed on his private Facebook page (which a source close to Conor confirmed to us is legit) ... addressing several allegations that have made against him over the years, including the most recent situation in Corsica.

"Try set me up all yous f*cking want over and over and over the truth will always set me free! Be it baby father claims, rape, indecent exposure, bullsh*t WhatsApp group sh*t. You f*cking name it. Never will I fold!"

He continued, "The truth is the truth and it gives me wings. I know my character!"

"God bless DNA! God bless Cctv! God bless Eye witness! God bless the truth! The truth is power! I am free!"

"Never will a dime be paid to anyone coming at me with vicious lies! Not now not f*cking ever! I will fight! And I am only beginning my fight!"

"All these past incidents you will see! They will not be forgotten! I will not allow these people to just accuse me and then disappear into the dark to attempt to ruin someone else life! No f*cking way!”

He also added this line -- "I will never kill myself no matter how many wish for it."

As we previously reported, McGregor is facing allegations of attempted sexual assault and indecent exposure in Corsica. Reports out of France say he's accused of exposing himself to a woman at a bar on Sept. 6.

Additionally, McGregor has reportedly been questioned over two alleged sexual assault incidents in Dublin ... but not much is publicly known about those cases.

What we do know ... Conor has been captured on camera breaking the law multiple times -- from throwing a steel dolly at a UFC bus to punching an older man at a pub in Ireland.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was NOT upset one of his players knelt for the national anthem ... in fact, he says he was actually pleased with the way his team handled it.

Defensive lineman Dontari Poe became the first person in team history to kneel for the pregame song Sunday ... and cameras appeared to catch Jones anxious over the scene.

But, speaking Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan for the first time since the demonstration ... Jones says he actually really liked the way Poe and the rest of the Cowboys handled the situation.

"I thought our players, I thought they gave it the sensitivity," Jones said. "They showed respect to Poe's decision there."

Of course, the comments are a complete 180 from just a few years ago ... when Jones threatened to fire any player who didn't stand "toe on the line" for the anthem.

Jones, though, had vowed to relax his stance before this season ... and he clearly kept that promise to his team this month.

"All in all," Jerry said, "I thought our team was very real, very genuine in the way it approached it."

Unclear how Cowboys players plan to handle the song going forward ... but seems Jones is fine with the demonstrations if others choose to join in.