Controversial S#!T

Bill Maher delivered again Friday night, with a blistering review of America ... a "silly country" he says, especially when compared to China.

The 'Real Time' host dissected the American psyche ... a country that is now obsessed with Dr. Suess' books. By contrast, he notes China couldn't give "a crouching tiger, flying f***," because they're not "silly people."

The "silly people" reference is from "Lawrence of Arabia," but Bill said the moniker fits like a glove in the U S of A.

Maher concedes China does a lot of "bad stuff," but then he lowers the boom, grousing, “We all know China does bad stuff" ... but there’s got to be something between a totalitarian government that knows what to do and a representative government that can’t do anything at all.”

He wasn't done. Bill divides the country into 2 groups -- half the U.S. is consumed with whether Mr. Potato Head has a d***, and the other half is obsessed with wacky conspiracy theories.

But, wait -- there's more. Bill goes after the movement to favor equity over merit in college admissions, and while he's on the subject, he references a few classes filled with silly students ... The Philosophy of Star Trek at Indiana State University, The Sociology of Seinfeld at SUNY Oswego, and Surviving the Coming Zombie Apocalypse at Michigan State.

Chris Harrison isn't getting back to hosting duties for the 'Bachelor' franchise just yet ... he's being replaced by two women on the upcoming 'Bachelorette' season.

Tayshia Adams is co-hosting the reality show with Kaitlyn Bristowe. a rep for the show tells us, "As we continue the dialogue around achieving greater equity and inclusion within ‘The Bachelor’ franchise, we are dedicated to improving the BIPOC representation of our crew, including among the executive producer ranks."

Our sources say the new hosts arrived Friday at New Mexico's Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa -- outside Albuquerque -- to quarantine for a week with the rest of the cast and crew.

Of the move to include Tayshia and Kaitlyn, the rep says, "These are important steps in effecting fundamental change so that our franchise is a celebration of love that is reflective of our world."

TMZ broke the story ... Chris was not among those going into the resort bubble ... and now we know why -- he's not the host.

As you know ... Chris' future as a host is up in the air in the wake of the racism controversy hanging over this season of "The Bachelor."

Chris has already been replaced for 'After the Final Rose' by Emmanuel Acho, and now he's going to be away from the franchise a little while longer, unless producers throw a curveball.

This is disgusting.

A high school basketball announcer in Oklahoma called players "f***ing n*****s" for kneeling during the national anthem before a game this week ... and it was all caught on a hot mic.

It all went down before the Norman HS girls hoops team faced off against Midwest City during the Oklahoma 6A state basketball tournament Thursday night.

Every player from Norman elected to kneel for the duration of the anthem ... which led to the announcer's outburst on the National Federation of State High School Association Network's official live stream. Here's what we heard in the clip ...

"They're kneeling? F***ing n*****s. I hope Norman gets their ass kicked. F*** them. I  hope they lose. They're gonna kneel like that?"

The clip has since made rounds on social media .. with NFL stars like Kenny Stills -- who also kneels for the anthem -- and Gerald McCoy speaking out against the blatant racism.

"Amerikkka," Stills tweeted Friday morning ... while McCoy added, "See why we do it!?! They still think it’s about the flag."

Players from the Norman girls hoops team also spoke out against the announcer's comments ... saying, "This is why we kneel."

Norman superintendent Dr. Nick Migliorino ripped the "racist and hateful" comments in a scathing statement ... saying, "We condemn and will not tolerate the disgusting words and attitudes of these announcers."

"This type of hate speech has no place in our society and we are outraged that it would be directed at any human being, and particularly at our students."

He added ... "We fully support our students’ right to freedom of expression and our immediate focus is to support these girls and their coaches and families, particularly our Black students and coaching staff."

"It is tragic that the hard work and skill of this team is being overshadowed by the vile, malignant words of these individuals. We will do everything in our power to support and uplift our team and everyone affected by this incident."

Migliorino says Norman will use a different live streaming service for the remainder of the tournament ... "as we have full confidence in their proven ability to respectfully support our student athletes."

The NFHS Network also released a statement Friday morning ... saying it is "aggressively investigating" the incident and will cut ties with any individuals responsible.

"The NFHS Network firmly condemns racism, hate, and discrimination, and there is no room for this in high school sports or anywhere," the network said.

"We sincerely apologize to the students, their families and the entire community for having such ignorant comments expressed during the broadcast."

Megyn Kelly is apparently amused by the image of Queen Elizabeth packing heat to settle the beef with Meghan Markle ... at least based on Megyn's Twitter account.

As you can see, the meme -- which Megyn retweeted -- shows the Queen holding a handgun with a silencer, with the caption, "When you spend £32 million on your grandsons wedding and his wife starts bitching about you to Oprah."

Her review of the threatening meme was ... "So good." She, or someone on her team, has since deleted the tweet -- but she's already made her position known on Harry and Meghan's interview.

Kelly played Monday morning QB, criticizing Oprah for not asking the couple to be more specific about the racist allegations -- and made it clear she didn't buy Meghan's claim she didn't know anything about the Royal family before hooking up with Harry.

We reached out to Megyn's camp about the tweet ... so far, no word back.

Prince William insists the Royals are "very much not a racist family," but photos of him and his wife being carried on elevated thrones don't exactly reflect that.

The pictures resurfaced Thursday after the Duke of Cambridge emphatically denied the allegations of racism made by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during their Oprah interview.

They show him and Kate Middleton being carried on thrones back in 2012 by people of color in the Solomon Islands. William and Kate were on their Diamond Jubilee tour of the British Commonwealth nations in the South Pacific at the time.

During the tour, they were carried on the backs of locals several times ... including in the nearby country of Tuvalu.

Understandably, these images juxtaposed with both William's and Buckingham Palace's statements about alleged racism have people wondering ... if the British monarchy has an issue with white supremacy.

While one could say the throne carrying ceremony is tradition, one would also have to look at why and how that tradition began -- and that's where race and colonization become an issue.

The woman who is about to be arrested for coughing on and attacking an Uber driver has proven to be just as dangerous when she's in the driver's seat.

Arna Kimiai has once again incriminated herself, this time with a video she shot last June behind the wheel of a McLaren sports car ... hitting speeds topping 122 MPH. Kimiai is more focused on posing for the camera than safe driving -- blasting music, losing her ponytail and claiming, "This sh** is getting too colossal."

Speaking of colossal ... Kimiai became infamous this week after a video of her and one other friend assaulting and coughing on an Uber driver went viral ... telling him they had COVID-19, and that got the attention of San Francisco cops.

One of the passengers from the video, Malaysia King, in red, was arrested Thursday for assault with a caustic chemical, assault and battery, conspiracy and for violating health and safety code.

Meghan Markle’s friend is calling BS on the Royal Family's claim it didn't fully understand the challenges Meghan and Prince Harry were going through ... and she says she has receipts.

"The Morning Show" actress, Janina Gavankar, has been friends with Meghan for almost 2 decades, and she spoke out earlier this week to support her pal and call out Buckingham Palace for essentially playing dumb about her mental health struggles.

Janina says she has emails and texts proving the Queen's family and staff were all fully aware of what the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were going through ... which contradicts Buckingham Palace saying they didn't know the "full extent."

Though Janina says she's happy Queen Elizabeth's people are finally publicly acknowledging Meghan and Harry's issues, she adds ... "Though their recollections may vary, ours don’t because we lived through it with them."

If you're looking for a clear answer about Chris Harrison's future as 'Bachelor' host, it's not in New Mexico, where the upcoming 'Bachelorette' cast is quarantining ... with no Chris in sight.

Sources close to production tell TMZ ... the entire cast and crew arrived at the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort and Spa -- outside Albuquerque -- for quarantine bubble time, but so far, Harrison's not among them.

We're told pre-production has already begun via virtual meetings and calls, and the plan is to begin shooting in late March ... but nobody knows for sure who will be hosting the show.

Our sources say the internal speculation is 'Bachelor' honchos want to wait and see how the 'After the Final Rose' show plays out with the fill-in host, Emmanuel Acho, before any decisions are made.

Harrison, meanwhile, spent some time this past week at a golf course in L.A., and sources connected to him tell us while he's not in New Mexico right now ... that doesn't mean he's been axed from the gig.

We're told there are still a lot of moving parts, and the network's not rushing its decision. Perhaps, as Acho recently said, it's trying to determine what's in the best interest of everyone involved.

Piers Morgan's fuming after claiming his friend, Sharon Osbourne, was shamed into making an apology for defending him ... and now he wants her 'Talk' cohorts to say sorry to him!

The ex-"Good Morning Britain" host said early Friday morning he can't believe "this is where we've reached" after Sharon posted a lengthy apology Thursday night for the on-air spat she had with her cohosts.

If ya missed it, Sharon went to bat for Piers against claims his criticism of Meghan Markle was rooted in racism.

In her mea culpa, Sharon said, "To anyone of color that I offended and/or to anyone that feels confused or let down by what I said, I am truly sorry. I panicked, felt blindsided, got defensive & allowed my fear & horror of being accused of being racist take over."

She added she doesn't condone racism, misogyny or bullying, and ... "There are very few things that hurt my heart more than racism so to feel associated with that spun me fast!!"

Piers, however, is adamant Sharon herself got bullied into posting that apology, and stood up for himself ... insisting that just because he "doesn't believe Meghan Markle's bulls**t" ... that doesn't make him a racist.

He added, "I demand an apology from those @TheTalkCBS bullies for their disgraceful slurs against ME."

The Black choir that sang at Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's wedding has a hard time believing Prince Charles is racist, because he personally invited them to perform.

Ms. Karen Gibson, founder and conductor of the Kingdom's Choir, tells TMZ ... Charles came off as very sincere in his invitation, and he's gone out of his way to personally congratulate them on their success since the wedding.

As you know, there's widespread speculation Charles or Prince William is the Royal Family member Harry and Meghan claim was worried Archie's skin might be too dark. Harry told Oprah it wasn't Queen Elizabeth or Prince Philip.

But, Karen tells us every interaction between her Black choir and Prince Charles has been gracious. So, she's finding it hard to believe he would have said such a thing about Meghan and Harry's firstborn.

Plus, the fact Charles invited the choir certainly makes it seem like he made an effort to make Meghan feel included.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has just signed a bill that will ban transgender athletes from competing in women's sports ... insisting the future law will help keep competition fair.

LGBTQ+ leaders, however, say the governor's actions Thursday could cause serious problems ... including the encouragement of bullying and discrimination.

The bill is titled Senate Bill 2536 in Mississippi, and after Reeves' signature this week, it's slated to become law on July 1.

While it can still face a legal challenge in the courts even after Reeves' decision -- the law will force all public schools in the state to "designate its athletic teams or sports according to biological sex."

Reeves -- a Republican with daughters who play sports -- had said earlier this month he believes the law is necessary ... explaining it will "protect young girls from being forced to compete with biological males for athletic opportunities."

Human Rights Campaign President Alphonso David, however, strongly disagreed with the governor's decision ... calling it all an "appalling" "anti-transgender push."

"While transgender athletes have been competing at every level for years without incident," David said in a statement Thursday, "Governor Reeves is signing this bill while Mississippians continue to suffer and real issues go unaddressed."

"Bullying transgender kids is no way to govern the state out of the crises they face ... Transgender kids deserve better and so does Mississippi."

The NBA has suspended Miami Heat player Meyers Leonard for ONE WEEK for hurling an anti-Semitic comment during a video game sesh ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Leonard was also fined $50,000.

For the record, Leonard will make more than $9 million in contract money this season.

There's more ... the NBA says Leonard will be required to participate in a cultural diversity program.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Leonard's comment was "inexcusable and hurtful and such an offensive term has no place in the NBA or in our society. "

Silver continued, "Yesterday, he spoke to representatives of the Anti-Defamation League to better understand the impact of his words and we accept that he is genuinely remorseful."

"We have further communicated to Meyers that derogatory comments like this will not be tolerated and that he will be expected to uphold the core values of our league -- equality, tolerance, inclusion and respect -- at all times moving forward."

Leonard's Miami Heat teammates and coaches spoke about the situation during a media session on Wednesday.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra said he's been in touch with Leonard -- who he considers a "good human being."

Spoelstra says Meyers "feels really bad" about using the anti-Semitic K-work during a video game streaming session and is getting a better understanding of why the word is hurtful and dangerous.

Miami Heat star Udonis Haslem also spoke out about Leonard's comment -- saying he has a bunch of Jewish friends and reached out to make sure they know hate speech is NOT tolerated within the Heat organization.

"I have a lot of Jewish friends and ya know, they call me Udonis Haslem-berg sometimes," he joked.

A law professor at Georgetown University is under fire for comments she made about Black students doing poorly in her class ... with some calling her racist and demanding she be fired.

Ya gotta see the video ... the professor is discussing student performance when she says, "I end up having this angst every semester that a lot of my lower ones are Blacks. Happens almost every semester."

The Georgetown Black Law Students Association says the professor is Sandra Sellers ... and the organization says she should be fired for "blatant and shameless racism."

The BLSA also says Sellers was talking about a Black student when she said their answers were "a bit jumbled." The org says David Batson is the other professor in the video seen nodding in agreement.

GU says it's investigating and law school dean Bill Treanor says the video is "abhorrent" and "reprehensible."

Prince William is a man of few words, but the words are revealing ... super revealing.

Harry's older brother visited a school in London Thursday when a reporter asked point-blank if the Royals were a racist family. William addressed it head-on ... "We are very much not a racist family."

There has not been such a declaration from the Royals up to this point ... not even close. The Queen said Harry and Meghan's revelation was concerning ... that someone from the family worried about the color of Archie's skin, but William went further.

It's interesting he placed emphasis on his statement ... "We are VERY MUCH not a racist family."

William clearly knows ... there's lots of speculation that the comment about Archie's skin tone might have been made by him, or his dad, Prince Charles. The reason -- Harry apparently told Oprah the comment was not made by the Queen or Prince Philip. He apparently did not eliminate William and Charles, which adds to the speculation.

That said, William also revealed he has not spoken to Harry since the interview, adding he intends to do so.  That's a little weird ... what's he waiting for? It underscores the fractured relationship between William and Harry.

As we reported, they have hardly spoken since even before Meghan and Harry left England, and Harry made it clear during the interview ... they are still estranged, at least for now.

As you know, the Palace has said the racism allegations were being taken "very seriously." The statement went on to say, "The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan."

Sharon Osbourne's going to bat for her pal Piers Morgan, and his right to sound off about Meghan Markle -- but doing so has her feeling "like I'm about to be put in the electric chair."

Yeah, things got that heated when Sharon squared off with her co-host Sheryl Underwood on "The Talk," and demanded to know how in the world Piers is racist for simply criticizing Meghan.

Wednesday's argument brought Sheryl close to tears ... while Sharon was pissed she actually had to defend herself as not being racist.

Sharon begged Sheryl to explain how anything Piers said about Meghan was racist, and not just his opinion about the Oprah interview. Watch the clip, Sheryl made a calm and passionate attempt to explain ... but Sharon wasn't having it.

As you'll recall ... Piers dragged Meghan over her and Prince Harry's interview with Oprah ... calling her a liar over her claims of racism against the Royal Family, among other things.

He doubled down on "Good Morning Britain" before he quit the show. Since then, the UK's media regulator said it received over 41k complaints over Piers' comments.

Chris Harrison's 'Bachelor' host replacement, Emmanuel Acho, isn't down with Chris being canceled, but he's not fully endorsing his return to the show either.

Acho has a super interesting take on the controversy involving Harrison -- which as we've reported, began when Chris tried defending Rachael Kirkconnell to Rachel Lindsay for attending an Antebellum South party in 2018.

Emmanuel told Stephen Colbert on Wednesday's 'Late Show' that Harrison is taking accountability for his actions, and suggests he's doing everything right to make amends ... but he stopped short of saying Chris should get his job back.

Instead, Acho says there needs to more consideration about whether this would be the best move -- not just for Harrison ... but for the producers, the cast, and the 'Bachelor' franchise as a whole.

Of course, Emmanuel's in a unique position here too -- he's filling in for Chris for the "After the Final Rose" special next week ... after "The Bachelor" finale, in which Matt James will potentially choose a bride, and Kirkconnell is one of the finalists.