Controversial S#!T

Sacha Baron Cohen says it's pretty clear to him what was on Rudy Giuliani's mind during his notorious scene in the 'Borat' sequel ... but urges everyone to judge for themselves.

Borat himself, along with Maria Bakalova -- who plays his daughter, Tutar, in "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" -- addressed Rudy's compromising appearance in the movie ... in which he puts a hand in his pants after being duped into a fake interview by Bakalova's character.

Giuliani denies any inappropriate behavior and claims he was simply tucking in his shirt after taking off recording equipment ... but Cohen calls BS.

The actor tells "Good Morning America" ... "If the president’s lawyer found what he did there appropriate behavior then heaven knows what he’s done with other female journalists in hotel rooms."

The movie was released Thursday night, so everyone can judge for themselves.

Bakalova says she's thankful Cohen busted in to save her when things started getting dicey, and he claims he was "quite concerned" during the scene ... and felt the need to protect her.

Registered Democrats are being targeted and threatened by a disinformation campaign ... the question -- who's it supposed to hurt and who's behind it?

An email has gone out to an untold number of Democrats ... supposedly sent by the Proud Boys -- the white supremacist group Trump told to "stand back and stand by."

The email reads, "We are in possession of all your information (email, address, telephone ... everything). You are currently registered as a Democrat and we know this because we have gained access into the entire voting infrastructure. You will vote for Trump on Election Day or we will come after you. Change your party affiliation to Republican to let us know you received our message and will comply. We will know which candidate you voted for. I would take this seriously if I were you."

What's especially unnerving ... the email has the voter's home address. In other words -- they know where you live.

The Director of National Intelligence came out Wednesday and said Iran and Russia were actively trying to interfere and said it was to hurt Trump. It's puzzling ... the threat is against Democrats. The only way it would hurt Trump is if people recoil because it looks like it's coming from a radical group Trump seems to support.

There's another letter going around to registered Republicans threatening to burn down their homes if Biden wins and Trump doesn't concede. Some think this is actually anti-Biden because the point is scaring Republicans, so they go to the polls and vote for Trump in larger numbers. Whatever the motive, it's clearly threatening.

President Trump might be having a change of heart -- he's acknowledging systemic racism exists in police forces ... or, at least, he guesses it's there.

The President, who has repeatedly denied racism is a problem in America's policing, was asked about the topic during a town hall taped for Sinclair TV stations. The moderator, Eric Bolling, said, "Is there systemic racism within police departments and is there any sort of retraining they need?"

Well, ya really gotta see how POTUS hemmed and hawed -- "Is there? I guess there probably is, and that's very sad. There is, and I think there's not much. Hopefully there's not much."

He went on like that for a bit before finally settling on this statement ... "I guess there always is, and it's a shame."

Now, it's really interesting because what's glaringly obvious is while he danced around his answer, Trump never actually said the words "systemic racism."

On the other hand, he did -- in the end -- say it does exist. That's a shift from everything Trump has said since George Floyd was killed, sparking anti-police brutality marches around the world. He's also denied it when questioned about Breonna Taylor's death.

Just last month in Kenosha, Wisconsin -- in the wake of police shooting Jacob Blake -- the President said, "I don't believe that," when a reporter asked if racism is an inherent issue in policing.

The question ... is Trump truly changing his view on racism in policing, or pandering to Black voters 12 days before Election Day?

Penn State basketball coach Pat Chambers resigned Wednesday -- following an investigation into new allegations of misconduct.

The University says the new allegations were made following a report by The Undefeated back in July that Chambers made racially insensitive comments to a black player.

The player, Rasir Bolton, told The Undefeated that Chambers made a comment to him referencing a metaphorical "noose" back in 2019.

Bolton claims Chambers approached him and said, "I want to be a stress reliever for you. You can talk to me about anything. I need to get some of this pressure off you. I want to loosen the noose that's around your neck."

Bolton said of Chambers' comment, "Due to other interactions with Coach, I knew this was no slip of the tongue."

At the time the article came out, Chambers issued a statement saying, "I failed to comprehend the experiences of others, and the reference I made was hurtful, insensitive and unacceptable. I cannot apologize enough for what I said, and I will carry that forever."

The player transferred from PSU to Iowa State shortly after the incident.

Penn State says "new allegations surfaced shortly after" the article came out -- so an investigation was launched into Chambers by Penn State's Affirmative Action and Athletics Integrity offices.

The school did not release the details regarding the new allegations.

But, Chambers issued a statement Wednesday saying he would be resigning.

"This has been an incredibly difficult year for me and my family, and we are in need of a break to reset and chart our path forward," chambers said.

"So, I’m taking a step back to prepare myself for the next 20 years."

The 49-year-old coach had been at Penn State since 2011.

Rudy Giuliani might have some 'splaining to do about an apparently compromising scene in Sacha Baron Cohen's new 'Borat' installment.

President Trump's adviser admits he got duped into shooting the scene back in July -- he'd agreed to be interviewed in NYC by a conservative news outlet, which was really just a setup for "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm." Well, now we know what happened in the scene and it's jaw-dropping.

According to Vanity Fair -- which has seen the movie in advance -- Giuliani meets up with Borat's daughter, who's posing as a journalist, for an interview in a hotel room. At one point, he holds her hands, compliments her looks and she suggests they go to the bedroom for a drink.

Then she "elaborately" takes off their microphones, Rudy lies down on the bed, and puts his hand in his pants ... according to VF.

That's when Cohen, as Borat, busts in to the room to interrupt. To be clear, Giuliani's not seen doing anything illegal -- but the report about the scene sounds embarrassing, at the least.

We knew Rudy was in the movie because he made a big deal about it when it was filmed. You might recall, he called NYPD on Cohen at the time ... claiming the actor busted in the room wearing "a pink transgender outfit."

Rudy boasted to reporters afterward, "I thought about all the people he previously fooled, and I felt good about myself because he didn’t get me." He also stated he was a fan of Borat and didn't hold a grudge over the prank.

Let's see if that holds up when Amazon Prime releases 'Borat 2' on Friday.

Breonna Taylor's family attorney says the Louisville cop speaking out has a major advantage to dispute her truth ... and claims the officer's own words reveal a bias against Black people.

Civil rights lawyer Ben Crump came on "TMZ Live" Wednesday to discuss Jonathan Mattingly's claim he, nor his fellow LMPD officers, did anything illegal or racist the night they raided her apartment and shot her dead.

Crump says Mattingly is benefitting greatly from being alive to tell his version of the story ... while poor Breonna can't do the same.

As for Mattingly's insistence the cops knocked and identify themselves as law enforcement -- Crump says Kenneth Walker, Breonna's BF, has stuck to the same story since the beginning ... that they did NOT hear anyone say "police."

There's also the fact that several surrounding neighbors say they didn't hear any knocking or announcing, which Crump also thinks works against Mattingly. For his part, Mattingly says the neighbors not hearing doesn't square with the fact Walker admits he did hear knocking.

Mattingly told GMA nobody wishes more than him there was body camera footage of the raid, but Crump begs to differ. As he put it to us, Breonna's mother, Tamika Palmer, probably would like to see it way more than LMPD ... to prove her daughter was executed.

A small group of angry adults destroyed "Black Lives Matter" artwork made by kids outside a Portland school, but the children are undeterred.

The 3 women tore down the BLM art hanging in front of The Cottonwood School on Sunday, while one of them -- appearing to be wearing a bulletproof vest -- expressed her disdain for the messaging on the signs.

According to the school ... the woman recording the incident is a community member, and despite her pleas for the 3 women to stop -- or at the very least not steal the kids' signs -- they ripped it all down and took off ... but not before the woman in sunglasses had a freak-out.

The good news -- the video's making the rounds, and members of the Portland community gathered Tuesday to support the students at the K-8 school with brand new signs ... while the students are working on making more of their own.

Cottonwood says that it "stands in solidarity with our Black families. Our goal is to nurture compassionate and confident students who possess the skills needed to confront racism in our community and beyond."

It continues ... "We are committed to fighting systemic racism, especially within our schools and neighborhoods, and we strive to model humility and non-violence for our children."

By the way ... the original artwork hung by the students went up in June. The school says the Oregon State Board of Education recently passed a resolution encouraging districts to support Black students, educators, and community members ... including renewing their commitment to anti-racism.

The officer who was shot on the night cops busted into Breonna Taylor's apartment and fatally shot her says he and his fellow cops were just doing their job ... and he's frustrated the case has been compared to the killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Arbery.

Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly was shot in the leg during the raid on March 13, and he's giving his account to Michael Strahan on "Good Morning America" of what went down before Taylor was killed ... claiming he wants to clear up all the disinformation out there.

For starters, Mattingly describes how he banged on the door and insists that he -- along with several other officers -- announced their presence before entering. This is the key to the case, because if the police didn't announce themselves, they would not be entitled to use self-defense once inside. Mattingly insists they repeatedly said "Police, search warrant, open the door." He says they banged 6 times and repeated their announcement.

This, of course, contradicts what Breonna's boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, claims ... as well as several neighbors. Mattingly says the neighbors have to be discounted, because they said they didn't even hear banging on the door, and Walker acknowledges he heard it.

Though Mattingly concedes Walker and Taylor may not have heard them, he refutes that Walker only fired a warning shot at the cops after they busted the door open. He says Walker had a gun pointed right at him ... and fired 4 times, hitting him once.

When Strahan presses Mattingly on whether things would have been different if the cops involved had body cams, Mattingly says yes ... because it would have shown they did nothing wrong ... and nobody would even know about Breonna Taylor.

The sergeant does suggest they could have done something different to avoid the tragedy, though -- bust in right away next time, thus preventing the people inside from grabbing a gun.

Finally ... Mattingly insists Breonna's death did not involve race, adding the case is nothing like what happened to George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery. He clearly feels he and his fellow officers have received unfair treatment from the public at large ... and says he's a victim too.

One of Michael Jackson's "Leaving Neverland" accusers just suffered a huge defeat in court ... the judge threw out his revived lawsuit over alleged abuse.

James Safechuck's 2014 lawsuit against MJ's companies -- MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures Inc. -- was brought back to life by the State of California earlier this year ... when Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law extending the statute of limitations for alleged victims.

The upshot of the judge's opinion is that Safechuck and his legal team presented no facts to support their key argument -- namely, that honchos at MJJ Productions and MJJ Ventures Inc. had a legal obligation to supervise MJ's behavior in the '90s ... when he allegedly abused James as a child back then.

The judge wasn't buying it, concluding MJ was the owner and sole shareholder of both of these companies, so how could his employees rein in their own boss?

The court found that since Mike was essentially the top dog, there was no evidence his subordinates had the power to supervise him. Safechuck had also argued ... while he was hanging out with MJ, the companies served a quasi-parental role -- meaning they would have had a duty to protect him.

The judge didn't bite on that either, finding James' side didn't lay out enough facts to support that claim.

James can appeal the ruling if he wants -- as it stands, however, he's lost this case against MJ's companies.

Bill Cosby is doing a lot better than what his latest mug shot might suggest -- this according to his team ... which wants to reassure folks who are concerned about his well-being.

A new photo of the incarcerated comic popped up late Tuesday, which shows him smiling and looking a lot more put-together than how he appeared in his latest portrait from the State Correctional Institution in Collegeville, PA ... where he's currently serving out his sentence.

The pic of Bill behind plexiglass was apparently taken by his publicist, Andrew Wyatt, last week during their first video chat together ... i.e. 'Rona. The caption reads, "We are posting this to reassure his family and supporters that he is doing ok during this pandemic."

Here, BC's hair is combed and he's in high spirits -- a stark contrast to what we posted straight from the prison's updated inmate yearbook. In his latest mug shot, Bill looks unkempt and somewhat disoriented as he cracks a coy smile and looks away from the camera.

While Wyatt might've picked up on people sympathizing with Bill online -- and there's certainly some of that happening on the bird app -- lots of others felt the opposite ... saying his mug served as proof he hadn't learned his lesson and was contemptuous to the process, while doubling down that he was rightly convicted for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand.

Tory Lanez says he still considers Megan Thee Stallion a friend despite her claim he shot her ... but Meg doesn't sound too friendly.

The rapper proclaimed his innocence for the first time on video Tuesday, hopping on Instagram Live to defend himself against Megan's accusations, and he really raised eyebrows when he said, in his book, they're still pals.

The friendship sounds like news to Meg ... she says Tory is "genuinely crazy."

It's not like they can hang out as friends anymore anyways ... Tory was ordered to stay the hell away from MTS after a hearing on his felony assault charge in connection with the shooting.

Tory's now calling the shooting a "debacle" and says the only people who really know what happened are him and Meg. Seems he's forgetting Meg's friend and his chauffeur were also there when a gun went off during an argument.

Troy Aikman is speaking out about his "hot mic" comments about a military flyover at an NFL game over the weekend ... saying he was NOT trying to disparage the armed forces.

Aikman and his broadcasting partner, Joe Buck, were critical of the flyover before the Bucs vs. Packers game at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bat on Sunday ... and the audio later was posted by Defector.com.

"That’s a lot of jet fuel just to do a little flyover,” Aikman said.

“That’s your hard-earned money and your tax dollars at work!” Buck added.

Aikman followed up -- "That stuff ain’t happening with [a] Kamala-Biden ticket. I’ll tell you that right now, partner."

Aikman and Buck took some heat on social media for the comments -- but Troy broke his silence Tuesday afternoon.

"I love a flyover but It was odd to see one over a mostly empty stadium," Aikman said.

"But I am an unwavering patriot that loves this country, has always respected our flag, supported the men and women in the armed forces as well as those in uniform who serve & protect and for anyone to suggest otherwise doesn’t know me, my beliefs or what I have stood for my entire life."

DJ Paul says Three 6 Mafia's indoor concert -- the first such U.S. show in the COVID era -- won't play out like the infamous Chainsmokers gig this summer ... the fun ends if fans don't follow the rules.

The Memphis MC joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to talk about his group's upcoming performance in Lexington, Kentucky. Paul says they had extensive discussions with the Kentucky Governor's Office to get approval for the show, and he's not about to risk breaking the established safety rules.

He told us they'll have no problem pulling the plug if some folks break free from their social distancing pods to try to bum-rush the stage.

As we reported ... the Chainsmokers had a drive-in concert in the Hamptons and videos showed fans packed like sardines near the front of the stage, despite guidelines in place to stop just that. The concert drew an investigation, fine and scolding from NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

But, DJ Paul doesn't think a similar scene will play out Dec. 11 in Rupp Arena, where capacity will be limited and folks will be required to stay in groups of 4 or less and wear masks ... as he puts it, "I don't think Lexington, Kentucky gonna play that."

Just in case, though, he says security will be extra tight and they'll remove fans from the venue if they're not wearing face coverings.

If all goes according to plan, DJ Paul says it's gonna be super cool ... and he tells us how Three 6 Mafia fans could be rewarded if they play ball.

It's lights, camera, action for Jussie Smollett ... he's back to work after the alleged attack in Chicago, but this time he's behind the camera.

The former "Empire" star has a new showbiz gig after allegedly staging a hate crime last year ... and in what could be the future for Jussie, he's taking a shot at directing instead of acting.

Jussie's got a full cast and crew behind him in New York City, where he's directing the film adaptation of "B-Boy Blues."

As you can see, Jussie looks super focused ... getting hands-on with the cast, which stars Ledisi, Brandon Evans and Broderick Hunter.

Jussie pulled down his face-covering to give a few directions and watched intently behind the camera with a huge pair of headphones and some Starbucks to keep the creative juices flowing. Seems he's taking a liking to directing.

While many in the industry assumed he would never work again after the "attack," Jussie's proving a comeback's almost always possible ... it just requires some evolving, and a hit doesn't hurt either.

For his part, Jussie still insists the "attack" was not a hoax, and says he has new evidence to back it up. He'll get a chance to present because he's still facing criminal charges and a civil lawsuit from the City of Chicago.

"Glee" star Amber Riley says she nearly beat the crap out of a Trump supporter who blocked her car, and then spit on it ... before cooler heads prevailed.

The actress is pissed about what recently happened to her while on her way to a store. Amber says she was driving into the parking lot when an older white man in a MAGA hat jumped in front of her car and "takes his Trump hat off and uses it as some kind of badge as if I need to stop."

She says she blew it off at first, telling the guy to move it along but what really got her riled up was when he spit on her car. Amber fumed ... "In 2020, he saw a Black woman, decided he was gonna punk me and the mother f**ker spit on my car. I don't have words for this."

As for why she didn't shoot video of the altercation, Amber says she's not one of those people to take out her phone and record a racist to make him famous. You gotta see her alternate plan, 'cause it's awesome to hear it in her words.

Let's just say it involves beating his ass. Amber says, "If I would have found him in the store, I would have been in jail right now."

The actress mentioned she was FaceTiming Selena Gomez's kidney donor, Francia Raisa, when she herself was recently tormented by Trump supporters on the 405 freeway.

Amber says she doesn't care who anyone supports but, "I care about you keeping your hands to yourself, I care about you keeping your comments to yourself and I care about you keeping your bodily fluids to yourself."

The Astros are STILL employing a bunch of cheatin'-ass cheaters ... despite having "pretty clear" evidence of who the bad apples are -- so says the team's ex-GM, Jeff Luhnow.

The 53-year-old -- who was fired for his alleged role in the team's 2017 sign-stealing scandal -- made the revelation in a lengthy interview with KPRC 2 that aired Monday.

"It’s pretty clear who was involved in the video decoding scheme, when it started, how often it happened, and basically when it ended," Luhnow said.

"And it’s also pretty clear who was not involved. And I don’t know why that information, that evidence, wasn’t discussed in the ruling, wasn’t used."

Luhnow continued, "The people who were involved that didn’t leave naturally to go to other teams are all still employed by the Astros."

In fact, Luhnow claims one of the "intimately involved" cheaters that he had demoted during his time as GM was actually re-promoted in the aftermath of MLB's punishments.

"None of those people faced any repercussions," Luhnow said. "They weren’t discussed in the report, but the evidence is all there that they were involved.”

As we previously reported ... MLB officials dropped the hammer on Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch after the probe into cheating allegations was completed in January -- with the league suspending both men from the game each for one year.

The suspensions ultimately led to their firings from the 'Stros ... but Luhnow claims he got a raw deal in it all.

Luhnow says he has tons of documents, emails and messages proving he had NO awareness of a cheating scandal ... and he even says he offered to take a lie-detector test to prove it.

But, Jeff says he believes commissioner Rob Manfred overlooked it all to make him a fall guy for the scandal ... and he's clearly pissed about it.

"I think the investigation was not attempting to really uncover who did what, and who was really responsible," Luhnow said. "The goal of the investigation was to deliver punishments that Rob could feel good about and that would calm the panic."

Jeff added, "They had to create a case they felt good enough about in order to punish me.”

FYI, players received immunity from punishment for their cooperation in the investigation.