Controversial S#!T

Jon Stewart going off about COVID-19 originating from a Chinese lab -- seemingly embracing that unproven theory -- could have a negative impact on scientists working to combat future pandemics ... so says vaccine expert Dr. Peter Hotez.

Dr. Hotez, co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, takes serious issue with Stewart's Monday night rant on Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' -- the first episode in-studio since the pandemic began, no less.

ICYMI ... Jon shared his thoughts with his late night buddy on where the virus might've come from, making a big show and strongly suggesting what he thinks is obvious -- namely that it leaked from a lab in Wuhan that studies the virus.

It's certainly a possibility that's that's been given more legitimacy in recent weeks from the scientific community -- this after largely being written off as a conspiracy theory at first.

Despite that, Dr. Hotez told us on "TMZ Live" that Jon really needs to check himself before putting that theory out as gospel ... at least until a full investigation can be done, which many have been calling for lately.

He says Jon's words will become fodder for unwarranted attacks against legit scientists.

Check out the doc's rationale here -- you can understand why he and his colleagues might wanna rein in this theory before it gets prematurely taken as fact. As he notes, scientists are being demonized over this, and worse yet ... they're being harassed and threatened.

The Black woman dragged from a Washington, D.C. bar by her hair says management has A LOT more work to do to be good in her book ... starting with contrition, and a heart-to-heart on race.

Keisha Young's attorney, Brandon Burrell, tells TMZ ... his client feels she was singled out, in part, because of her skin color. She alluded to this during her on-the-street interview, saying she felt profiled when the rationale that surfaced for the brutal dragging was .... she "fit the description" of someone who'd broken the rules Saturday night in Nellie's Sports Bar.

To Keisha and co. ... this reeks of racial profiling, despite the fact that the guard who pulled her out was Black himself. Her suspicion here is that, he and the security team at large, were under strict orders, which Keisha feels helped put a target on her back -- and protesters outside the bar seem to agree.

That leads us to what Keisha wants now, and -- as you'd imagine -- Burrell says, first and foremost, the bar owners and upper management need to apologize to her directly.

We're told their statement simply wasn't enough to right their wrongs ... and they didn't even bother addressing Keisha by name. Not just that, but we're told the Nellie's team hasn't spoken to her personally since the incident.

Beyond that, Burrell says Nellie's needs to seriously look at itself in the mirror ... and honestly discuss how they're treating patrons who are BIPOC. And BTW, we're told that if they want Keisha in on that conversation, she's more than willing to come to the table.

As for how Keisha's doing ... we're told she's mentally shaken up and, physically, suffered bruises -- but Burrell says they'll be getting official word from doctors on her prognosis. It sounds like they're ramping up to sue.

Charles Barkley says his days of mocking the "big ol' women down in San Antonio" on TV are over ... and he's blaming cancel culture.

For YEARS, Barkley has talked about the "big ass women" of San Antonio on "Inside The NBA" ... but has repeatedly said it's just a joke, and he has nothing but love for his larger fans.

However, Charles says show producers have finally put the kibosh on the fat jokes -- after a recent article on MySanAntonio.com took aim at Barkley and his "fat-shaming shtick."

"They won't even let me talk about San Antonio anymore," Barkley said this week during an appearance on the "Grant & Danny" show on 106.7 The Fan.

"They're like, 'Charles, we got one lady wrote an article.' I'm like first of all, I didn't call anybody PERSONALLY fat in San Antonio. I was just joking around and when this one lady wrote this article ... we've been having fun with this for probably 10, 15 years!"

Barkley says the outrage is a product of cancel culture -- saying, "You can't even have fun nowadays without these jackasses trying to get you canceled and things like that."

The 58-year-old says he's not too worried -- because he plans on retiring in a few years anyway.

"I'm trying to hang on for another couple of years until I'm 60 and then they can kiss my ass."

Not-so-fun fact about Batman -- he doesn't go down ... or so we've learned after DC Comics dropped the hammer on an oral sex scene in the "Harley Quinn" animated series.

Producers of the HBO Max adult animated series really tried to push the envelope, but co-creator Justin Halpern says he was told by DC he "absolutely cannot do that" because a) heroes don't do that, and b) how are they supposed to sell Batman toys if the hero's performing oral sex?

Halpern told Variety they get a lot more creative freedom when it comes to writing and developing villains -- they can do pretty much anything -- but there are all kinds of rules for the superheroes.

He says the cunnilingus confrontation went down during production of the upcoming third season of 'Harley.' BTW, you gotta love their retort to the DC suits. According to Justin, "So, we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’"

You might notice DJ Khaled is now trending, with many fans joking that he's actually the Caped Crusader. If you're wondering why, look it up -- there's only so much we can say here.

Lights, camera, PAYTON!

That's New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton getting all Hollywood in Louisiana ... where he's shooting a new movie based on the fallout from the NFL's "Bountygate" scandal.

Kevin James is playing Sean Payton in the flick, called "Home Team" -- and even though they don't look exactly alike, you get the point.

Payton has a cameo in the film -- looks like he's playing a mechanic or something?!

As for the movie itself ... here's the backstory.

Payton received a 1-year suspension from the NFL in 2012 for Bountygate  -- when Saints players were getting cash payouts from 2009 to 2011 for targeting and injuring opponents during games.

During his suspension, Payton coached his son's youth football team -- and reportedly used the time away from the league to "reassess his life and put it in some perspective."

The movie will focus on Payton's time away from his job -- and how he grew as a person because of the experience.

The movie is being produced by Adam Sandler's Happy Madison Productions -- so it seems the flick will be a lighthearted, family-friendly depiction of the situation ... despite the heavy and despicable nature of the suspension in the first place.

The cast includes stars like Taylor Lautner and Rob Schneider -- as well as Isaiah Mustafa ... aka the Old Spice guy!!

Shelby Houlihan -- arguably the USA's best female runner -- is insisting she is NOT a cheater despite a recent positive steroid test ... claiming it's all a mixup caused by a pork burrito.

The 28-year-old Olympian spelled it all out in a social media post Monday ... explaining she believes she's been wrongfully hit with a 4-year suspension due to a trip to an "authentic Mexican food truck" in Oregon several months ago.

Shelby says back on Jan. 14, the Athletics Integrity Unit informed her a sample she submitted on Dec. 15, 2020 had contained the banned substance Nandrolone.

The anabolic steroid is considered a performance enhancer, and Shelby says she was immediately suspended for having it in her system.

But, Houlihan says after she did her research ... she found the substance can wrongfully show up in tests if the person consumes pork products prior to giving out their sample.

And, Houlihan says just 10 hours before she gave her December sample ... she had gotten a pork burrito from a local stand near her house in Beaverton.

The problem for Shelby? She says despite a mountain of evidence proving the Mexican food feast was the reason for the positive test -- the World Anti-Doping Agency denied her appeal and formally hit her with a 4-year ban from competitive running last Friday.

Of course, that means Houlihan -- who owns U.S. records in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs -- will now be barred from competing in this summer's Tokyo Olympics.

"I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I've loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was," Houlihan said.

"I want to be very clear. I have never taken any performance enhancing substances. And that includes that of which I am being accused," Houlihan wrote. "I believe in the sport and pushing your body to the limit just to see where the limit is. I'm not interested in cheating. I don't do this for the accolades, money, or for people to know my name. I do this because I love it. I have so much fun doing it and it's always the best part of my day."

Cristiano Ronaldo HATES processed drinks so much, he removed Coke bottles from his podium Monday ... all while imploring people to drink water instead.

Ronaldo's rejection of the sweet stuff went down just before a meeting with the media ahead of Portugal's UEFA Euro 2020 game with Hungary ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

You can see in the footage, just before reporters fired questions at the soccer star, he noticed Cokes placed in front of him (Coke is a sponsor of Euro 2020) and immediately gave them a look of disdain.

But, rather than just keeping the products there like tournament officials no doubt wanted -- Ronaldo straight-up grabbed the bottles and moved them out of his sight.

He then held up a bottle of water, screamed, "agua!" ... and then appeared to mumble something about the sodas.

Of course, Ronaldo's famous for his perfect body -- one that was built off of eating healthy and limiting processed foods ... and it's clear, the guy takes that all VERY seriously.

In fact, Ronaldo's been on record saying he absolutely HATES when his son drinks Cokes and eats fries!!

'Cause, after all, abs (and apparently great soccer players too) are made in the kitchen.

"His ankles is f**ked up and Lucky got his ass!"

That's Glen "Big Baby" Davis doubling down on his attack on Kyrie Irving -- saying Kyrie's ankle injury is "karma" for stepping on the Celtics during the playoffs.

Actually, what Glen specifically said was ... "Karma is a motherf**ker!"

Here's the backstory ... Kyrie made a point to step on Lucky the Leprechaun after the Brooklyn Nets beat Boston in Game 4 of their playoff series.

Kyrie famously played for the Celtics from 2017 to 2019 -- but clearly doesn't feel love for the city.

Big Baby, on the other hand, won a championship with the Celtics in 2008 and LOOOOOVESSSS all things Boston.

So, when Kyrie suffered a sprained ankle Sunday while playing the Milwaukee Bucks, Davis sounded off on social media ... saying the whole thing was "karma."

Davis got some pushback on social media -- but he's not fazed, and made a VIDEO going scorched-earth on Kyrie for the disrespect toward his beloved Celtics.

"Everybody mad at me 'cause Kyrie Irving stepped on Lucky and Lucky got his get back," Davis said ... "Don't get mad at me because Lucky got his get back!"

"Karma is a motherf**ker!!"

"You do right by people, people do right by you and I don't care if it's a logo. I don't even care if it's a logo! It means something to me!"

"Like, you know what I'm saying, for example, countries that have flags! You go and step on a logo flag, what is that?! That's disrespect!"

Davis continued, "I played for the Celtics, I'm a Celtic forever!!! So, it don't matter! It don't f**king matter! Stop getting mad because your man got weak ankles!"

Chrissy Teigen insists she's a changed woman who's become more empathetic since her days of Internet trolling ... but she's still trying to own up to her mistakes and better herself.

Chrissy's issued a more in-depth apology on the heels of the backlash she received last month when old tweets resurfaced ... in which she was mean and demeaning to Courtney Stodden.

Much like the last time around when Teigen publicly said sorry for her past behavior, she acknowledges she was "a troll, full stop," and is ashamed ... but she also admits it wasn't just Courtney who deserves an apology.

Chrissy doesn't name names, but says she's reaching out privately to other people she insulted in an attempt to make amends. Along with Stodden ... folks have pointed out that Lindsay Lohan and Farrah Abraham were past targets of Teigen's trolling.

Chrissy says ... "Many of them needed empathy, kindness, understanding and support, not my meanness masquerading as a kind of casual, edgy humor."

She goes on to offer an explanation for why she used to behave online the way she did, but says it's no excuse and was simply a manifestation of her own insecurities and immaturity.

Chrissy adds that she's done a lot of growing up since then, gotten a lot of therapy, and gone through many life experiences she claims have made her more empathetic and understanding ... and hopes people will give her a second chance.

A good chunk of Billie Eilish's fandom appears to be disavowing her -- all over what they perceive as queerbaiting ... but, truthfully, it's just A LOT of assumptions and expectations.

If you saw the hashtag "#youlikegirls" trending Sunday evening and dove in ... you probably saw a whole bunch of folks up in arms over Billie's recent social media activity/love life, with many saying they were done with her and her music because they consider her problematic.

Long story short ... Billie has recently been romantically linked to actor Matthew Tyler Vorce, who she's been seen out with on what some took as dates -- including this past week, when they were spotted getting cozy at Disneyland. Some are straight up calling him the BF.

That kinda threw some of her fans for a loop in and of itself, it seems, as there appears to have been some speculation that Billie might've been on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. We can't say why people thought that -- other than good old-fashioned conclusion-jumping.

At any rate ... some of those same fans were even more confused with her latest musical offering, which they say sends mixed signals. It's Billie's music video for her new single, "Lost Cause," which sees her dancing in somewhat suggestive fashion with other women.

The true smoking gun for their queerbaiting case -- as the fandom has insisted -- was a follow-up post Billie threw up after this video, which featured the caption "i love girls."

Some took that as Billie toying with her fans, as well as pre-conceived notions about her sexuality -- which many have called counterproductive/harmfully misleading. Basically, they're suggesting she's doing more hurting than helping in the LGBTQ+ movement ... during Pride months, no less. That, coupled with her apparent interest in men, is causing an uproar.

We're gonna bust out the soapbox here for a minute and just say ... Billie doesn't owe anyone anything when it comes to all this speculation and projecting that's been thrust on her -- not before, not now, and not even in the future (that is, if she doesn't want to).

As many have rightly pointed out, there's nothing inherently sexual about Bilile's dancing in the music vid -- and her caption could've been nothing more than just promoting her single.

Benjamin Netanyahu -- Israel's longest-standing Prime Minister in their history -- has officially been given the boot by his own government ... this amid a tumultuous past few years.

Bibi was ousted Sunday after Israel's parliament, known as the Knesset, voted to remove him from power and to form a new coalition of government ... with Naftali Bennett -- an ultra-conservative politician himself -- narrowly being voted in to take the reins for the time being, now leading a diverse group of minds, who range from liberal to moderate on Israeli policies.

BN is said to have looked pretty down and out during the vote ... sitting by silently, and eventually shaking hands with Bennett before getting out of there with his team.

Despite the 8 different parties that make up this new alliance not seeing eye to eye on many issues -- the one thing they seemed to be in agreeance with was that it was time for Ben to go ... this after a historic 12-year tenure, albeit one that was full of ups and downs, especially lately with the most recent escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine.

Netanyahu is also on trial right now, facing corruption charges -- and yet, he refused to resign and forged on, much to the chagrin of several political bigwigs there. Not just that, but Israel's been through a whopping FOUR elections in the past two years.

Safe to say ... the country appears ready for a change, and they finally made it happen. Ben -- who was first voted into office way back in 2009 -- isn't going away, however ... he'll just become the opposition party's leader, and attempt to get a grip on his cohorts once more.

In the meantime, it's a new day in the Middle East -- and a lot of people seem happy about it ... as scores of Israelis hit the streets to celebrate the news of Netanyahu's ousting.

Kelsey Salmon wants the lash tech whose dog bit off her eyelid to take responsibility, starting with covering a mountain of medical bills -- but instead, she says the woman's ducking her.

Kelsey tells us the lash tech hasn't reached out to her even once since the woman's chihuahua jumped up and bit off Kelsey's eyelid, complete with her new lashes.

She says the tech's already blocked her on Instagram, but the 23-year-old from Atlanta wants to make it clear ... she's not trying to get rich with a lawsuit. Kelsey says she just wants her medical bills paid. Not to say that will be cheap -- Kelsey estimates the total could be $20k-$30k, based on the 2 ambulance trips she's already taken and the reattachment surgery.

What she doesn't want is her family getting stuck with the bill, because she says a previous medical drama -- involving blood clots, a stroke and open-heart surgery -- ended up costing them $4 million. She says that's the only reason her family might sue.

The other issue at hand is the dog -- we asked if she thought it should be put down, and you can tell she's really on the fence. Kelsey says she's a dog lover, but also knows she doesn't want anyone else to endure the hell she is right now.

Somebody took to the skies of Los Angeles to ask for a woman's hand in marriage -- but apparently, they shelled out a little extra to make fun of ... Joe Rogan.

A skywriting message marriage proposal was seen up above West Hollywood and the surrounding areas Saturday, which asked somebody named Mollie Pratt to marry them ... reportedly followed up with "SHE SAID YES" ... and then one last random train of thought.

After the Mollie stuff flew by -- which purportedly had trailing messages like "I LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING" and "UNTIL DEATH DO US PART" ... the writing followed with something to the effect of, "ONE MORE THING ... JOE ROGAN IS LITEALLY (sic) 5 FOOT 3."

Indeed, several different photos and videos capture that last part ... and it has left a lot of people equally confused and amused. For one -- why bring up JR in a proposal at all???

Of course, his listed height here is wrong ... the guy's pegged at 5'7" -- so it's clear whoever commissioned this did it to slight Joe and to chide, in the most extra way possible. The party responsible is still a mystery -- but they definitely shelled out big time for the stunt.

Skywriting messages cost thousands of dollars per message -- and it sounds like this person had a whole bunch of them as part of their engagement announcement, on top of the Rogan shot. We're guessing this whole thing might've cost upwards of $10k, or around there.

Bill Maher went deep Friday night with blistering words for young people, super-woke folks and Kevin Hart ... diagnosing all of them with a severe case of "progress-o-phobia."

Maher -- a take-no-prisoners liberal who is not afraid to call out like-minded individuals who he says go way too far -- lambasts Americans who complain things have never been worse.

The 'Real Time' host makes a solid case ... we have achieved progress in race relations, gay rights, drug policies, and on and on, yet there's a sizable contingent who believe we've hit rock bottom.

Bill calls out Kevin Hart in particular, who told the NY Times, "You're witnessing white power and privilege at an all-time high." Maher tears that apart with examples of past atrocities like Tulsa, KKK violence and massive, forced segregation.

He's quick to mention ... there's still racism, police violence, the works, but things are better than before.

And, this is where B.M. tears into Gen Z, informing them there was actually a world before they were born, yet they are unwilling or unable to contextualize their grievances.

BTS vs. The Dictator ... that's the new battlefront for Kim Jong-un, who reportedly sees the rise of K-Pop and its fans as a serious threat to North Korean socialism.

Leaked documents from the North Korean government show Kim is running an anti-K-Pop campaign against what he calls the "vicious cancer" of South Korean pop groups. The docs, detailed in the New York Times, rip K-Pop for spreading "anti-socialist" sentiment and corrupting the "attire, hairstyles, speech, behaviors" of the youth.

On the surface, it sounds eerily similar to what American parents once said about Elvis and the Beatles. Of course, the punishment back then was grounding -- but Kim, known as a brutal dictator, is ordering a crackdown against K-Pop fans.

The scary part is it's hard to say how far Kim would go to stem what he sees as a cultural invasion from South Korea and its boy bands.

While BTS and other K-pop groups are hurling infectious hits like "Dynamite" ... Kim Jong-un has actual explosives.

An official in China has died -- seemingly taking his own life -- amid an investigation into an ultramarathon tragedy last month that killed 21 elite runners.

The Chinese state-controlled media confirmed Li Zuobi died on Wednesday -- after leaping from his apartment building.

Zuobi was the Jingtai County Communist Party Secretary -- and oversaw a team that was involved with the planning of the 62-mile Yellow River Stone Forest Trail Race which took place on May 22 in the province of Gansu.

As we previously reported, 172 elite athletes participated in the event -- but tragedy struck when a freezing cold storm suddenly moved in just a few miles into the race, punishing the runners with a barrage of hailstones, rain and icy winds.

A 1,200-person search party was launched -- but 21 runners ultimately died due to the severe weather conditions. Several more were hospitalized.

The Chinese government launched a formal investigation into the incident -- and ultimately punished 27 officials for major failures in the race planning.

Among the issues, officials determined the emergency response protocols in place to tackle to serious weather issues were unsatisfactory.

Li was not held personally responsible for the issues -- but his deputy, Zhang Wenling, was fired ... along with other lower-level officials.

As for Li's death, CCTV (the Chinese state-controlled broadcaster) says investigators do NOT believe he was killed ... and have ruled out homicide.

The families of the 21 runners who lost their lives were offered $150k in compensation following the tragedy ... but some have reportedly declined the offer.