Controversial S#!T

Like it or not, it seems Aaron Rodgers will HAVE to play for the Packers this season ... 'cause the team's GM said Thursday night Green Bay has zero plans to trade the QB.

Brian Gutekunst, who took over GM duties for the Pack back in 2018, acknowledged there is a bit of a rift with their star signal-caller at the moment ... though he insisted the issues won't be resolved with a trade.

"We're not going to trade Aaron Rodgers," Gutekunst said after the 2021 NFL Draft's first round wrapped up.

"The value that he adds to our football is really immeasurable, you know what I mean?" Gutekunst added. "He brings so much to the table not only as a player but as a leader."

Of course, Rodgers has reportedly reached his breaking point with the team ... with multiple reports saying Thursday Aaron wants out BADLY.

Rodgers has been upset with his contract ... and he's made it clear he hasn't loved some of the team's personnel moves -- including when the Packers drafted a quarterback (Jordan Love) in the 2020 NFL Draft's 1st round instead of a wideout.

But, Gutekunst seemed confident both sides will work things out for the 2021 season ... telling reporters, "I do think he'll play for us again."

"We're going to work towards that and we've been working towards that on a number of different fronts."

In fact, the Packers have already rebuked trade offers from at least one team ... 49ers GM John Lynch told reporters Thursday he inquired about the QB before the draft -- but added, "It wasn't happening."

Michael Blackson says he's a big fan of actors wearing fat suits -- like Sarah Paulson is to play Linda Tripp -- and he's got a message for folks who think Hollywood's too fatphobic.

We got the comedian at LAX and asked him about the controversy on the set of "Impeachment: American Crime Story," where Sarah's use of a fat suit is triggering critics.

Michael says he's all for Hollywood using fat suits ... and he thinks it would be hilarious to take the skinniest person in the world and make them fat.

One problem with Michael's take ... 'American Crime Story' isn't exactly looking for laughs.

As we reported ... Sarah's slipping her slim figure into a fat suit to get in character as Tripp, and a lot of people on social media, and in Hollywood, think Ryan Murphy and his team should've cast a bigger actor ... one who wouldn't need prosthetic assistance.

Michael says the outrage is way overblown, because as he tells our photog ... "let the skinny guys get some work!!!"

Joe Rogan's walking back his COVID-19 comments suggesting young, healthy people don't need to get vaccinated, and he wants to make it clear he's not a doctor, not an anti-vaxxer ... but he IS a "f***ing moron."

The immensely popular podcast host and UFC commentator addressed the backlash he got this week on Thursday's episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," saying ... "I am not an anti-vaxx person. In fact, I said I believe they are safe and I encourage many people to take them."

Rogan explained that he felt if you're a young healthy person, you don't need it -- something widely refuted by experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci -- but Joe now concedes what he said was misguided amid the pandemic.

Joe says ... "Their argument was you need it for other people. That makes more sense, but that's a different argument. That's a different conversation." He later repeated it makes sense to consider other people's health and safety.

He went on to blame media "clickbait" for blowing the whole thing out of proportion, but added ... "I'm not a doctor. I am a f***ing moron. And, I'm a cage-fighting commentator who's a dirty standup comedian ... I'm not a respected source of information even for me."

Rudy Giuliani just went on his radio show in an effort to set the record straight about what led the FBI to raid his NYC pad and office.

Rudy said Thursday on his WABC radio show that reports the search warrant's tied to allegations he played middle man between Ukrainian officials and Donald Trump ... are FALSE.

Instead, he claims the feds came knocking because he allegedly failed to file as a foreign agent prior to dealing with Ukraine -- which he said was also false.

What's more ... Giuliani claimed he tried to clear this up with the Justice Department for the last 2 years, but they ignored him. Rudy said that over the last 2 years he was willing to prove as much ... but claims the Justice Department ignored him.

In all, he claims he made 3 attempts to squash the whole Ukraine drama -- 2 years ago, 1 year ago and 6 months ago. What's interesting about all of those dates is that they were all under President Trump's administration.

Rudy, who in November 2019 said anyone that tries locking him up will come away embarrassed, the feds instead decided to raid his home at 6 in the morning.

Sarah Paulson's slipping her slim frame into a fat suit in order to play Linda Tripp ... and it's got lots of folks pissed off over Hollywood's casting decisions.

The actress was all done up as Linda this week on the set of "Impeachment: American Crime Story," and her need for a fat suit is triggering critics ... including a journalist who says Tinseltown is doing plus-sized actors dirty.

The criticism, in a nutshell, is that roles for bigger actresses are few and far between in Hollywood, and it shows the industry's fatphobia when slim actresses like Sarah are cast to play a role like Linda Tripp.

Journalist Kristin Chirico wrote, "This could have been a fat actor. This could have been their big breakout role. This could have been their Golden Globe or their Emmy nod. This could have been their paid off student loans or their first house. Instead it's Sarah Paulson in a fat suit."

Another person tweeted, "So here’s a reminder: fat suits are incredibly anti-fat and perpetuate anti-fat bias. Here’s what you should do instead: hire an actual fat person!"

On the other hand, Sarah is a vet on the 'American Crime Story' anthology ... she was also cast as prosecutor Marcia Clark in 'The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story', and just as she's doing with Linda, nailed the look.

A "Jeopardy!" winner flashing a hand gesture associated with "white power groups" is outraging hundreds of past players, who are calling out their beloved game show, but he insists they've got him all wrong.

The group of 467 former "Jeopardy!" contestants issued an open letter Wednesday, demanding "a statement and a disavowal" of the actions of Kelly Donohue ... who it accuses of racist messaging "either intentionally or unintentionally" on 2 separate occasions this week.

According to the letter, posted on Medium, the most egregious incident happened Tuesday, when Donohue made a 3-finger gesture to the camera that's extremely similar to the gesture "co-opted by white power groups, alt-right groups, and an anti-government group that calls itself the Three Percenters."

Donahue insists his hand signal was simply to indicate he'd won 3 games. In fact, Thursday morning he posted a long response to the backlash, saying, "I deeply regret this terrible misunderstanding. I never meant to hurt a soul and I assure you I am no friend of racists or white supremacists."

Even if that's true, the past players are still pissed "Jeopardy!" allowed the gesture to air without censoring it, and they point to a past example.

"A couple of years ago, a contestant unintentionally wagered a monetary amount that used numerical values coopted by white supremacist groups and, since the total didn’t affect the outcome of the game, 'Jeopardy!' digitally altered the numbers in the version that aired."

It should also be noted that Donahue held up one and two fingers after his first and second wins ... seemingly supporting his explanation that there was no hate behind it.

Even so, the former contestants believe it was on the production team to similarly catch Donohue's gesture and make an edit. The letter also alleges Kelly responded to a clue on Monday with a term for the Romani culture that's considered a slur.

A Louisiana State Rep. had the audacity to suggest, out loud, that if a school is going to teach slavery it should talk about all parts of it ... including the "good." Seriously.

If there wasn't video of State Rep. Ray Garofalo making the argument this week, we wouldn't believe this ... but there is. While debating his controversial education bill that critics say aims to ban the acknowledgment of institutional racism, another legislator asked Garofalo what he considers a "larger course of academic instruction."

That's when he spewed, "If you're having a discussion on whatever the case may be, on slavery -- then you can talk about everything dealing with slavery. The good, the bad, the ugly."

Mind you ... Garofalo said this while a Black man, presumably another legislator, was sitting right next to him.

You gotta see how most of the legislative body reacted to the outlandish remark and, to her credit, Rep. Stephanie Hilferty quickly fired back a response.

Tommy Tuberville tells TMZ Sports ... Thursday's NFL draft picks should avoid speaking publicly about politics, saying the rookies should straight-up "talk about what you know about."

The Alabama Senator -- who coached future NFL draft picks for YEARS during his tenure as a college headman -- tells us he wants to see less political chatter from athletes, and more playing.

"Nobody's looking for an outspoken person," Tuberville said on Capitol Hill this week of the advice he'd give to his players if they were heading into Thursday's draft. "We're too divided as it is."

Tuberville clearly believes the sports landscape would be better off if players -- particularly younger ones who are just arriving in their respective leagues -- avoided polarizing subjects altogether.

"Everybody wants to make an opinion and that's fine," Tuberville tells us. "But, I think, especially for young people to get involved in something that maybe they might not understand as much, I think they need to let people that, whatever they do for a living, justify it."

Tuberville added, "I'd just like to see our country be more settled down in terms of people getting into politics or in sports and vice versa."

What's interesting ... the draft's projected top overall pick, former Clemson star Trevor Lawrence, has made it clear he's already comfortable commenting on hot-button topics outside of the gridiron.

Chrishell Stause is hoping Britney Spears' request to speak to the judge in her conservatorship means the singer's about to get exactly what she wants -- the power to tell her father to kick rocks.

We got the "Selling Sunset' star Wednesday evening in L.A. and she told us why she's all aboard the #FreeBritney movement. Chrishell's adamant Britney should be able to choose who's in charge of her estate.

The high-end real estate agent also thinks it ridiculous Britney's had to jump through hoops just to get to this point where she can tell the judge herself -- and she firmly believes a man would never be put in this position.

We also ask her about the comment she left on one of Britney's posts last month ... which was deleted. In case you missed it ... Chrishell says she left a comment on one of Britney's dancing vids -- the one where Brit included the caption, "I didn't watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in."

This led some people to believe Britney didn't write her own captions ... including Chrishell, who commented, "Instead of dancing can we get a video of you typing your own captions next time? I want to believe you it's you speaking for yourself, but I am skeptical. We love you!"

A movie about Dionne Warwick's incredible life could be collateral damage in film and theater producer Scott Rudin's workplace bullying scandal ... because biopic talks are on pause following the allegations against him.

Sources familiar with the project tell TMZ ... Rudin reached out to Dionne's team earlier this year after the singer playfully tweeted a pitch for a Netflix series about her life and career, but the Hollywood honcho had a movie in mind instead.

We're told Scott first met with Warwick's son to present his vision for the biopic -- something in tune with "The Social Network," another film he produced about a famous person -- then spoke with Dionne directly and they all agreed ... he was the right man for the job.

Our sources say since January, Rudin's been working on developing the movie and had even begun hiring writers, but before he and Dionne's team could ink a deal ... the story broke about Scott allegedly abusing his employees.

ICYMI ... Rudin's been accused of mistreating and bullying staffers for years. The allegations include sexist and racist behavior, as well as claims that he threw items -- like glass bowls and potatoes -- at his colleagues and assistants, causing injury.

In light of that news ... we're told Dionne and her team have backed away from the deal with Rudin for now, and are waiting to see how things pan out. We've reached out to Scott's team too ... so far, no word back.

Rudy Giuliani's apartment and office in Manhattan were crawling with federal investigators Wednesday ... we've confirmed they just executed search warrants as part of a criminal investigation.

Our law enforcement sources tell us federal investigators seized Giuliani's electronic devices from his home and his Park Ave. office space as part of a criminal probe involving his alleged dealings with Ukraine.

As you know, the feds are looking to see if Rudy, the former New York City Mayor and Donald Trump's attorney, illegally lobbied the Trump administration in 2019 on behalf of officials and oligarchs in Ukraine ... while those same folks were allegedly helping Giuliani dig up dirt on Joe Biden and other Trump political rivals.

The FBI and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office had no comment on the raids. BTW, this is the same prosecutors' office Rudy once headed up back in the '80s.

The family's legal team is "deeply disappointed" by the judge's decision to keep the police footage from the public, saying ... "In this modern civil rights crisis where we see Black people killed by the police everywhere we look, video evidence is the key to discerning the truth and getting well-deserved justice for victims of senseless murders."

It adds ... "Just look at the murder of George Floyd – if the world had not seen that clear and disturbing footage, there might not have even been an ounce of accountability for those officers."

Brown's family lawyers vow to keep the pressure on until the body cam videos are made public and they "get to the truth."

All police body cam videos of Andrew Brown Jr.'s fatal encounter with cops in North Carolina will be viewed, but only by his family and not the media ... a judge just ruled.

The Pasquotank County judge just made the highly-anticipated and controversial decision after hearing arguments for the release of police video in the case of Brown's killing ... in which an autopsy revealed he was shot 5 times.

The judge ruled the footage should be available to the family within 10 days, but also ordered that the faces of any deputies and other identifying information in the video be blurred. The judge will reevaluate making it available to more eyes in 30-45 days.

As we reported ... Brown's family says it was one bullet to the back of his head that killed him, and the findings of the private autopsy released Tuesday show he also suffered 4 gunshot wounds to his right arm.

Brown's family and their legal team have been calling for the release of the full police body cam footage from last week's fatal shooting, claiming he was gunned down in an "execution" while cops were trying to execute a search warrant.

So far, the family says they've only seen a "snippet" of police body cam ... just 20 seconds of one deputy's body cam with the faces blurred of other deputies on the scene.

The family claims what they did see only confirms their belief Brown was murdered by cops. Since his killing, peaceful protests and demonstrations in Elizabeth City have continued daily ... with the mayor there declaring a state of emergency.

Floyd Mayweather is zeroing in on a date and location to fight Logan Paul -- and multiple sources tell us the target is Sunday, June 6 in Miami.

We're told the date is not set in stone -- but Floyd's camp is really pushing for the Sunday date.

So, why not shoot for Saturday night like most major Pay-Per-View boxing events?

We're told the hope of having a bunch of live fans at the venue for the fight is playing a key role.

One source tells us the Sunday date works better with the intended venue in Miami -- a venue that would be able to hold a large crowd, which is very important to Floyd.

Floyd and Logan Paul were originally scheduled to fight on February 20th -- but the event was postponed due to "COVID and other things."

Since then, there have been questions about if the fight was ever going to happen -- but we're told Floyd is 100% in and can't wait to get it on.

The fight would technically be considered an exhibition -- which means it would not count on either fighters' professional record.

26-year-old Logan is 0-1 record as a pro -- but he's full of confidence ... especially after his brother Jake Paul obliterated MMA star Ben Askren.

Plus, the Paul brothers have proven to be legitimate PPV draws -- which we're certain is appealing to Floyd.

44-year-old Mayweather is 50-0 and widely considered one of the greatest boxers of all time with wins over legends like Oscar De La Hoya, Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao.

And we all remember what he did to Conor McGregor ...

This is gonna be stomach-churning for some ... video of NRA exec Wayne LaPierre and his wife hunting elephants in Africa, and his lack of marksmanship at crunch time made the brutal event even more inhumane.

The disturbing footage shows the LaPierres in Botswana during a 2013 trip, and as they trek through the bush with guides and a couple of friends, they find what they came to kill -- an adult elephant grazing nearby.

The New Yorker and The Trace obtained this video of Wayne taking aim at the animal and taking it down with a single rifle shot -- but one of the guides said the bull wasn't dead, and instructed Wayne on where to aim for the kill shot. The National Rifle Association's Executive VP took 3 more shots -- from about 20 feet away -- but couldn't put the poor elephant out of its misery.

The guide finally asked someone else in the group to make the shot.

Later that day, it was Wayne's wife, Susan's turn, and she killed an even bigger elephant from closer range ... as it seemed to be staring right at her. It's hard to see any "sport" in what happens in this video.

According to the New Yorker, the video was supposed to be used for a TV show called "Under Wild Skies," but never saw the light of day ... due to the NRA's concerns about a PR blowback. Both Wayne and his wife celebrated with smiles, hugs and high fives after their kills. Susan is seen cutting off the elephant's tail and shouting, "Victory!"

Jeff Lowe claims Carole and Howard Baskin are spying on him with drones, and when he went to confront them, a fight allegedly broke out with his neighbors and the cops had to respond.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the Lowes called cops Tuesday morning to report a disturbance at their property in Thackerville, and when deputies showed up they discovered Jeff had gotten in a fight with a neighbor -- not Carole and Howard.

Jeff says it all started when his son saw a drone flying over the zoo, and when he went to investigate he claims he saw Carole, Howard and his neighbors, a couple, hanging with a film crew.

The way Jeff tells it ... the Baskins and his neighbors took off when they saw him, and when he tried to stop a car leaving the neighbors' property -- thinking Carole might be inside -- the neighbors' son got out and they tussled.

Our law enforcement sources say Carole was in the area, but was not on Jeff's property and she broke no laws.

Howard tells TMZ ... they were flying a drone in the area to monitor conditions at the zoo, and he says the initial drone footage shows a significant amount of what appears to be stress-related or "stereotypic" pacing among the animals.

Carole's husband says they had a film crew there to record what they were doing, and the Baskins were visiting with Lowe's neighbors for a different reason altogether.

Jeff claims it was the neighbor's son who started the fight, throwing coffee at his car and pushing him. However, Howard claims Jeff started the fight with the neighbor's son ... he says Jeff attacked unexpectedly and dragged the guy to the ground.

The incident is far from over ... our law enforcement sources say the police report will be sent to the local District Attorney, who will determine whether Jeff or the man he was fighting will be charged.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump -- who's repping Andrew Brown Jr.'s family -- came on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to discuss the private autopsy results ... which he says jibes with what the family has seen, a flat-out execution.

Crump suggests there's a major cover-up at hand with this ... and it all seems to have started with what deputies told dispatchers when this all unfolded last week -- that Andrew was shot in the back, and not in the back of the head, which is what ultimately killed him.

It's just one more piece of an ugly puzzle that Crump says is coming together slowly but surely. Speaking of time, he made a point to explain why the Brown family is trying to get this body cam video uncovered publicly ASAP ... as opposed to letting it trickle out at the County's discretion.

He says he doesn't want people to forget Andrew Brown Jr. ... like so many other Black people who've been shot fleeing the police, whose stories came to light much later, after the fact.

Andrew Brown Jr. was shot 5 times during his fatal interaction with police, according to the autopsy ... and his family says it was one bullet to the back of the head that killed him.

Brown's family and attorneys released the findings of a private autopsy Tuesday, and they say he suffered 4 gunshot wounds to his right arm and one to his head.

The autopsy, performed Monday, says Brown died from the gunshot wounds ... and while the docs don't say which bullet killed him, the family believes it had to be the one to the head.

As we reported ... Brown's family is calling for the release of the full police body cam footage from last week's fatal shooting at the hands of sheriff's deputies in North Carolina.

The family says Brown, who was gunned down while police were trying to execute a search warrant, was killed in an "execution."

So far, the family has only seen a "snippet" of police body cam ... just 20 seconds of one deputy's body cam with the faces blurred of other deputies on the scene.

One family attorney says the video begins with Brown sitting in his car in his driveway, blocked in by police, with his hands on the steering wheel and deputies demanding to see his hands.

The fam says multiple cops were shooting at Andrew, and he tried backing out of the driveway to escape a hail of bullets, but ended up slamming into a tree.

Brown's killing has sparked protests and demonstrations in Elizabeth City and surrounding areas, with the mayor there declaring a state of emergency.

There's still no official word on when the shooting video will be revealed to the public, but 7 deputies were already placed on administrative leave, 2 resigned and one retired.