Controversial S#!T

Mystikal insisted he wasn’t guilty of rape ... and now it looks like a grand jury agreed with him 'cause TMZ's learned his rape charges have been dismissed.

A spokesperson with the Caddo Parish District Attorney's Office tells TMZ ... a grand jury found there wasn't enough evidence to move forward with the charges and decided to dismiss the charges against Mystikal.

Mystikal's attorney, Joel Peace, tells TMZ ... the charges went away because “new scientific evidence emerged causing the Grand Jury to take a second look at the rape allegations made against [him]."

As we reported .... Mystikal turned himself in back in August 2017 when he was booked for first-degree rape and second-degree kidnapping stemming from a 2016 incident involving a woman at a casino where he was performing. He spent 18 months behind bars but, thanks to a new recording deal, he finally posted $3 million bond in February to secure his release from a Louisiana prison.

Prosecutors offered a plea deal before the case ever went to trial but Mystikal rejected the offer. Why? Mystikal's defense teams believed the alleged victim had major credibility issues and were more than ready to battle it out in court.

A Black man, who's a former police officer himself, is suing a Kansas deputy who ran him over with his patrol truck, and he believes this dramatic dashcam video proves his civil rights were violated.

Lionel Womack filed the federal suit Thursday, claiming he was surrounded by 4 cop cars during the August traffic stop. Womack says he was so frightened by the number of Kiowa County Sheriff's deputies responding for a simple traffic stop ... he took off running into an open field.

The dashcam footage shows Deputy Jeremy Rodriguez giving chase in his patrol truck, and eventually driving right over Womack.

Womack, who was a police detective in Kansas City, claims he initially complied when he was pulled over by one patrol vehicle ... presenting a valid driver's license, registration and proof of insurance.

Womack says when 3 more Sheriff's Dept. vehicles arrived ... he feared for his life. He describes it as a "fight-or-flight" moment, and took off running into the field.

Womack's suing Rodriguez for excessive force, claiming his civil rights were violated when he got hit by the truck. He says he suffered serious injuries to his back, pelvis, right knee, ankle and foot.

Tom Cruise isn't always a super stickler for COVID protocols -- not based on some on-set pics of him with his 'Mission: Impossible 7' costar.

'M.I. 7' has been filming for months all over Europe, and we found these images from October of Tom and Hayley Atwell shooting in Rome. In one of them, Tom is wearing a face mask and talking to Hayley, who's also got a mask on, but she's not up to CDC snuff. You can see hers is down below her nose, and as we all know by now ... that does not protect people from droplets that can transmit the virus.

Hayley's showing the same bad form in another shot where Tom doesn't have one on at all -- although it's possible he was about to shoot a scene.

As you know, Tom went nuclear on his crew recently while filming on a studio lot in England. He was pissed off at 2 crew members for breaking COVID protocols, standing less than 6 feet apart to look at a monitor.

Tom Cruise won't have to fire a bunch of people for breaking COVID protocols on the "Mission: Impossible 7" set, 'cause a lot of them are leaving on their own.

Tom's raging tirade seems to have sparked an exodus among ticked-off crew members. The Sun, which got the ranting audio, says at least 5 staffers have quit after Tom's outburst.

As you know, TC went nuclear on the UK set, tearing into crew members for breaking COVID protocols and warning them they'd be "f****** gone" if they did so again. He was reportedly set off by 2 crew members standing within 6 feet of each other around a monitor.

Apparently, things haven't cooled off around set since the epic rant heard round the world. The Sun says Tom had another meltdown Tuesday after audio of his first eruption leaked.

A UPS driver is now out of a job after a customer claimed she caught him spitting on a package on her doorstep -- but whether he actually hocked one or not is up for debate.

This incident went down last Thursday at the home of Ann Patton in Ocala, FL -- where the homeowner says she saw something on a surveillance camera that led her to believe a bitter UPS driver got petty revenge by spitting on one of her packages.

UPS was apparently scheduled to come by that day and pick up a separate package that was supposed to be ready for the driver ... but wasn't. Patton tells us she was never notified of any UPS pickup, so that's why nothing was left out.

Anyway, Patton claims when the driver arrived and realized what he'd been sent there to get was nowhere to be found ... he tried getting back at them by picking up an Amazon package that'd been left earlier in the day and spitting on it ... at least that's what happened in Patton's eyes, who caught the alleged spitting on video.

Of course, the Pattons freaked and called up UPS in a rage ... saying they were told the driver would be canned, but claim the company refused to replace their Amazon package. Naturally, there's a lot to be concerned about if it spat on ... COVID comes to mind.

Now, as for UPS ... they have a slightly different version of events. The company tells us that, yes, they did fire the guy -- who was a temporary holiday driver -- but only did so out of an abundance of caution, because in their eyes ... it's not clear if he spit or not.

Decide for yourself ... UPS said it looked like their dude mistakenly thought it was the package he was there to pick up and was simply following protocol by blowing on the label to clean it off so he could apply the UPS label. They think when he realized it was the wrong package, he just left.

As if losing the election wasn't enough, folks can stick it to Donald Trump again by pushing the button to blow up one of his old casinos.

Here's the deal ... the former Trump Plaza casino in Atlantic City is scheduled for demolition next month -- pretty close to when Trump leaves the White House -- and for the right price, someone gets to bring down the joint.

The auction is doubling as a fundraiser benefiting the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City, and the mayor's hoping the big prize hauls in over $1 million.

Yeah, politicians think people hate Trump that much -- and there are roughly 80 million people who'd agree with that.

Trump's former casino opened its doors way back in 1984, when AC was actually popping, but it shuttered in 2014 and the property has descended into such a bad state that demolition work is already underway.

The rest of the crumbling structure will be demolished Jan. 29 -- 9 days after Trump's Presidential run comes to an end. Boy, January's gonna suck for him.

Atlantic City's got a love-hate relationship with Trump ... the mayor remembers some of the city's iconic moments happening at the Trump Plaza casino, including tons of big boxing matches, but he also didn't forget Trump mocking AC on his way out of town ... so the auction makes sense.

Bodycam video showing Chicago cops bursting into a home to arrest a naked, confused and innocent woman is a total shock to the city's Mayor ... who says she was totally in the dark about the botched raid.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot says she was "blindsided" by the video of the raid which went down 2 years ago, and is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit against CPD. The bodycam video went public this week ... showing police using a battering ram to knock down the door of Anjanette Young.

Once inside the heavily armed officers found Anjanette completely naked, and she was forced to stand in her living room that way while the cops frantically searched her home. Anjanette, who says she was terrified and humiliated, repeatedly asked what was going on ... because it turns out the cops raided the wrong home.

She says the city of Chicago has blocked her from getting the video for years, but her lawyers were finally able to get it this week.

Adam Carolla's got another option the next time he wants to stick it to Gov. Gavin Newsom by sitting down at an L.A. restaurant to dine-in ... and this one's got ocean views.

Mastro's Ocean Club Malibu, one of L.A.'s biggest celeb hot-spots, is still very much open for business despite L.A. County's ban on indoor and outdoor dining ... and it's pretty easy to defy the law and snag a table.

A source tells TMZ ... Mastro's is still operating as "underground open" with patrons wining and dining underneath a big, white tent set up outside the fancy restaurant.

Folks hankering to dine-out during the pandemic can make reservations by phone ... we're told there's no password or anything like that ... and there are plenty of reservations available every day this month on OpenTable.

The video we got was shot Tuesday night inside the makeshift dining room, and it shows all staffers wearing face coverings ... adhering to the same regulations established when outdoor dining returned earlier this year.

As you know ... outdoor and indoor dining was suspended in L.A. County -- and all of SoCal under Newsom's order -- at the end of November when ICU capacity at local hospitals dipped below 15 percent.

The change has pissed off a lot of people who don't understand what's changed to suddenly make outdoor dining less safe.

We reached out to Mastro's multiple times for comment, as well as the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and the L.A. County Health Department ... so far, no word back.

The decision to stay open certainly is a risky one, with Governor Newsom stating some places could lose their liquor license for violating the rules.

As we told you ... Adam's supporting the recall effort against Newsom, saying the shutdowns are ridiculous and folks going along with it are sheep.

Faith Stowers -- the former Black cast member on "Vanderpump Rules" -- is glad Bravo isn't cutting checks for Jax Taylor ... and she says he needs to bone up on Black culture.

We got Faith outside of BurgerRock Media in Downtown Los Angeles and asked her reaction to Jax and his wife, Brittany Cartwright, leaving the show amid tons of controversy.

Faith, who has a long history of beef with Jax, says he's not a good fit for Bravo and she's glad the network finally agrees.

Remember, Jax accused Faith of stealing, and ripped her on the show and off-air. He's the latest 'Rules' star to leave, following Stassi Schroeder, Max Boyens, Brett Caprioni and Kristen Doute out the door ... that foursome was 86'd after racist comments and behavior surfaced.

Faith tells us what Jax and Stassi did is not in line with what Bravo stands for ... and she thinks folks who watch the network are also glad they're gone.

There's some debate about whether Bravo fired Jax or they mutually decided to part ways ... a source close to him told us he wasn't fired ... but Faith thinks Jax was probably canned, and says he got what he deserved.

Newly released police video shows Travis McMichael covered in blood as he talked to cops, moments after he'd shot Ahmaud Arbery -- something he claimed he had no choice but to do.

In the footage, recorded on body cams from Glynn County cops in Georgia, you see Travis tell an officer, "I mean, I just shot a man. Last thing I've ever wanted to do in my life."

This was moments after McMichael shot and killed Ahmaud, and you can see blood all over his arms as he paced back and forth while talking to a cop -- all of this just feet away from Ahmaud's body.

What's interesting is how freely McMichael was allowed to move about the scene, and how calmly law enforcement was in dealing with him. He wasn't handcuffed or thrown into a patrol car. You hear officers tell him they recognized his father, Greg McMichael -- a retired investigator for the local district attorney -- who was also arrested and charged with murdering Ahmaud.

The younger McMichael told cops Arbery hit him in the face during their confrontation, and the officer took photos of Travis' alleged injuries. He said he would cooperate with cops to ensure the investigation was "done right, because this doesn't look good."

As we've reported ... Travis and Greg were denied bond last month, and the judge said previously released police body cam footage showed "significant danger" in the McMichaels' actions.

Joe Exotic's legal team is throwing a Hail Mary in hopes of getting his pardon request in front of Donald Trump before he leaves office -- and they want a judge to force the issue.

The 'Tiger King's' legal team just filed new docs asking a court to compel the Office of the Pardon Attorney -- the wing of the White House that vets pardon requests -- to get Joe's application on Trump's desk for a final decision, as they say only he can make it.

It's kinda technical, but long story short ... Joe's team says they initially filed for a pardon in early September, and also a waiver to be exempt from a rule that says you have to wait 5 years after being convicted before you can ask for a pardon.

Joe was convicted for the murder-to-hire plot against Carole Baskin in 2019 ... so he's very early in his ask.

Joe's lawyers claim that no more than a few days after Joe filed, the Pardon Attorney's office got back to him with a flat-out denial of his request to get that waiver. No explanation was provided, and the decision was final ... according to Joe's team.

They believe Joe's application never went through the normal screening process ... which would have POTUS weigh-in for a final decision, with the Pardon Attorney's recommendation attached for consideration.

In their docs, Joe's team cries foul ... claiming the Pardon Attorney overstepped their authority and tried sweeping Joe's application under the rug due to the 5-year rule. In the docs, the team doesn't explain under what grounds Joe should be exempt, but they want his app pushed through to the Oval.

Remember, Joe's team seemed confident earlier this year they'd be able to get Trump's say-so springing Joe from prison. They'd made a couple trips to D.C. and circled the White House in a huge tour bus.

Alas, sounds like that was all done in vain, because the paperwork never even got to Trump.

Of course, Trump is well aware of Joe Exotic -- since he mentioned him by name in a press conference once -- but it's kinda now or never.

Adam Carolla supports the recall effort gaining steam against Gov. Gavin Newsom -- because he says the guy's a tyrant, and that Californians should snap out of his BS spell.

We talked to the comedian Tuesday in Burbank, CA, where he was about to head into a restaurant his friend owns for a little sit-down meal ... almost out of protest, it seems. It's pretty clear ... Adam thinks the new shutdown orders are ridiculous, and he explains why.

In his eyes, there's just no proof to connect outdoor dining to massive outbreaks of coronavirus cases -- he thinks Newsom's just throwing crap at a wall and doing what he wants ... behavior of an unhinged king, which Adam says Newsom is not.

He also speaks to Californians, telling them to stop acting like sheep by blindly taking orders ... without thinking about the logic, or lack thereof, behind them.

Adam then pivots to a recall effort that's been picking steam in recent days. It's a grassroots movement started by people who are furious with Newsom over his closing of small businesses -- especially restaurants -- as well as what many call hypocritical behavior, as he was recently spotted maskless at a ritzy indoor shindig in Napa.

Might sound crazy, but the petition already has more than half the necessary signatures needed to get the issue on a ballot soon -- and word is Newsom's camp is nervous.

'Insecure' star Kendrick Sampson says police brutality is a global issue ... and he has some video evidence after a scary encounter in Cartagena, Colombia.

The actor and BLM activist posted a video he says shows a cop detaining him, punching him and pulling out his gun. The officer even cocks the weapon, and appears to point it at Kendrick.

The video -- recorded by someone across the street -- ends there, but Kendrick claims he was taken away in handcuffs.

Kendrick, who spearheaded several recent protests in L.A., says the police in Colombia had been hounding him nonstop -- he claims this was his 6th encounter with them in 5 days.

The caption to the video he posted included, "It happens to Black Colombians often. I’m told stopping is policy but what is NOT is they reached down my underwear aggressively, slap my arms 5 times hard, punch me in my jaw and pull his gun on me. He then cuffed me and dragged me through the streets."

It's unclear when exactly this encounter went down ... but the video was first posted by a friend of his on Tuesday. Kendrick says the police held him for nearly 10 hours before letting him go.

A Denny's employee is fed up with having to deal with anti-maskers -- 2 of them pushed her to the point, she threw down her metaphorical apron and quit on the spot.

This apparently went down at an Illinois Denny's ... a hostess at the front counter greets a couple of dudes looking to be seated. Only problem is they weren't wearing face coverings and refused to do so.

The guys claimed to have a legit exemption, but the hostess tells them they have to put masks on no matter what in their establishment.

That's where things get testy ... the guys invoke the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and cite their religion -- and that's when the hostess slams her menus down and declares she can't deal with this and starts storming out.

She tells the guys she doesn't wanna have to deal with anti-maskers anymore, and her manager tries to calm her down ... before laying down the law with the customers.

Washington's NFL team, Cleveland's MLB team ... and now the Vancouver Canucks?

The NHL squad is now feeling pressure to change ... this after an Indigenous Studies expert claims the main logo featured on the team's uniforms is cultural appropriation.

Sean Carleton -- a University of Manitoba history professor -- spelled out his concerns in a lengthy social media thread this week ... explaining why he feels the team's orca logo should be replaced.

Carleton says the whale -- which was created nearly 3 decades ago and has elements of artwork designed by Haida in it -- is hurting indigenous people.

Carleton explains he essentially believes the Canucks took the design and now are making money hand over fist with it -- all while diminishing indigenous people's art.

"How can you continue to develop meaningful relations with Coast Salish nations when you continue to profit from branding that is appropriating their art style," Carleton wrote on Twitter on Monday.

"People will say, but Sean the imagery is a 'a sign of respect.' How respectful is continuing to make piles of money from a business you operate on stolen land all the while branding that business with stolen imagery. That's the logic of colonial capitalism for you."

Carleton says the Canucks should do a better job of working with indigenous people and allowing them to be part of the team's design processes going forward.

"[The Canucks should] work with Indigenous peoples to develop iconography in appropriate ways, giving Indigenous artists a platform and a way to participate and benefit."

We've reached out to the Canucks for comment ... but so far, no word back.

Previously, back in 2019, Canucks owner Francesco Aquilini had said the team isn't considering a logo change ... telling reporters at the time, "It’s indigenous to the region. We’re going to keep it."

It should be noted the Canucks have worn alternate uniforms -- throwback-inspired threads -- over the past few seasons that do NOT have the orca design on them.

A racehorse owner who named a 3-year-old filly "Jungle Bunny" has been ordered to pick a new name ASAP ... because the old one is racist as hell!!!

Owner David Evans -- who's also the horse trainer -- entered the horse to run at the Wolverhampton Racecourse in the U.K. on Saturday ... and as soon as "JB" hit the track, there was outrage on social media.

FYI, the term "JB" is a super racist term for Black people that racists have been using for decades.

But, Evans insists racism played no role in how the horse got its name -- instead, he claims his daughter innocently came up with the moniker, inspired by a video game.

"David's daughter gave us the horse and there's a computer game called Jungle Bunny Run," his wife Emma told The Daily Mail.

"I just thought, that'll do. I had no idea. It was completely innocent and that is the gospel truth. None of the staff said anything, nobody else said anything and I'm totally flabbergasted."

The British Horseracing Authority is PISSED the name wasn't flagged before Saturday's race -- and claims it's now taking proper action.

"This name is deeply offensive and should not have been permitted," the BHA said on Twitter.

The BHA later issued a 2nd statement saying, "We have taken steps to ensure the horse was renamed immediately. It is now called Jungle Bells. This will be reflected in records of the race result and horse form."

"We are deeply concerned as to how this happened and are reviewing the processes for approving the names of racehorses."