Controversial S#!T

Morgan Wallen says when he used the n-word after partying with his friends, he thought it was "playful" ... but he admits that's ignorant, and he now knows it's wrong.

The country music star gave his first interview about the scandal, the result of a video shot by a neighbor on January 31 in Nashville and obtained by TMZ ... showing Wallen casually dropping the slur while making fun of one of his friends.

Morgan tells Michael Strahan on "Good Morning America" ... he wasn't using the racial epithet in a derogatory manner, because he insists up until that point in his life he had never thought about it being wrong.

He repeats he was simply ignorant about what it meant, but says he knows now ... after conversations with Black leaders.

Wallen admits he can't fully understand why it makes Black people so upset because he's not in their shoes ... but says he's done a lot of thinking and soul-searching about it, along with a 30-day stint in rehab.

Morgan may have stirred up one more controversy before he was done answering questions, too. He told Strahan "it would seem" that country music has a race problem ... but he hasn't thought about it too much.

As we've reported ... the country singer has mostly remained out of the public eye since the video came out, but has gotten back to performing a little in recent weeks.

The wife of the Alabama politician who hurled the n-word at a city council meeting says they've been bombarded by threatening calls ... and they're living in fear of retaliation.

Nancy Mahler Bryant tells TMZ ... ever since her husband, John "Tommy" Bryant, went viral for blurting out the slur, she's been terrified someone is going to try to kill him and is worried about the rest of her family, too.

Nancy says they've received at least 400 calls to their home over the past few days from people all over the country who scream at them, call them racists and make threats.

ICYMI ... Bryant pointed at Veronica Freeman -- a Black councilwoman -- while asking if there's "a house n***er" in the room during a city council meeting.

She tells us Tommy always wears a bulletproof vest when he leaves the house, but he's also given her a pistol to have with her in case she needs to go somewhere ... or if someone tries to break into their home.

Nancy says, for now, she's not leaving the house though, and same goes for her 92-year-old mother who lives with them -- they aren't even letting her go outside to her garden over safety concerns.

She says they are also keeping the blinds closed all day for fear that if someone sees Councilman Bryant inside, they might try to shoot him.

As for Bryant ... he tells us the threats have him a little worried. However, he's steadfast he did nothing wrong in saying the n-word, and would not apologize for "doing what is right."

Ben & Jerry's decision to stop selling ice cream in the Israeli-occupied West Bank is its prerogative, but it also means people can decide to stop buying B&J's ... so says Senator James Lankford.

The GOP Congressman from Oklahoma made headlines this week calling for a boycott of the famed ice cream brand in his state due to its boycott of Israel ... but he tells us the company actually did this to itself.

As he explains ... Oklahoma has a law in place that says if companies boycott Israel, the state won't do business with them. Taking it one step further, though, Lankford's suggested the general public should also give up Ben & Jerry's.

What's interesting ... Sen. Lankford doesn't consider his call to cancel B&J's a "cancel culture" situation -- instead, he says it's a human rights issue.

However, you gotta see his response when we bring up the very similar situation with Chick-fil-A. As you know, some states want to ban the fast-food chain because of its owner's track record on LGBTQ+ issues -- which most would say is also about "human rights."

Dr. Alex Khadavi -- a famous cosmetic dermatologist in L.A. -- allegedly went on a homophobic tirade about his neighbors, threatening to "blow their f***ing heads off" ... and his rant was captured on security footage.

The video, obtained by TMZ, is from Khadavi's condo complex in West Hollywood, and it shows him approaching the front desk concierge in a hostile manner while ranting about people who live in the building ... referring to them with the homophobic f-word.

He goes on to say he'll shoot these people and later threatens to kill them ... before taking his dog outside. When Khadavi returns to the lobby, he continues yelling at the front desk guy.

According to legal docs ... this incident went down on July 7, and resulted in one of Khadavi's neighbors -- who is a gay man -- filing for a restraining order against Khadavi for himself and his husband.

In the docs, the neighbor claims the concierge told him Khadavi made threats about killing gay people, and specifically asked about him and his husband and implied he was going to kill them.

The concierge also claims that 2 months before this incident ... Khadavi showed him a handgun he was carrying while taking his dog for a walk. The neighbors say they fear for their lives.

This is not the first time Dr. Khadavi has been in the news for something like this. We broke the story ... the 'Million Dollar Listing' guys got a restraining order against him back in 2016, claiming he made death threats and anti-Semitic, homophobic and racist comments.

Khadavi has had many famous celeb clients over the years, including Scott Disick and Lance Bass.

No, Kim Kardashian and Kylie Jenner did NOT apply for unemployment benefits ... but some goon in Michigan managed to defraud the state out of thousands of dollars using the famous names.

So, check this out ... someone filed a couple of unemployment claims back in May 2020 under "Kimberly Kardashian" and "Kylie Jenner" with an address in Traverse City ... four hours northwest of Detroit.

Thing is ... nobody checked if the claims were legit before paying "Kimberly" and "Kylie" some 8 weeks of backdated unemployment pay ... to the tune of more than $7,000 each.

The payouts, BTW, hit the bank accounts just days before the state's fraud management software flagged the claims because the agency needed additional ID verification. But by then it was too little, too late.

Apparently, the unemployment agency's been rife with fraud. As the Detroit News first reported ... the agency approved thousands of claims at the height of the pandemic well knowing nearly 10% would be fraudulent claims.

So, why approve all the claims? Because if the agency had to sort through it all and ID fraudulent claims it would have held up thousands of legit claims.

And that's how this "Kardashian" and "Jenner" got paid ... not to mention some other goofball's fraudulent claim ... which included copies of a fake ID with a photo of "The Office" star John Krasinski.

Rachel Uchitel says Seeking Arrangement dropped her like a bad habit as spokesperson for the dating site in the wake of the Matt Gatez scandal ... so she claims in a new lawsuit.

Tiger Woods' ex-mistress filed legal docs claiming Seeking Arrangement terminated her contract as the company's mouthpiece just 3 months into the deal ... claiming it only happened because the company ran scared after the congressman from Florida was linked to the dating service.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Uchitel says she and Seeking Arrangement entered into a 6-month deal back in February to be the company's spokesperson. She says the deal called for $20k per month in return for de-stigmatizing the sugar daddy concept.

Uchitel says she did her job just fine ... and got paid the first few months. But, then came Gaetz's investigation by the feds over allegations he paid young women for sexual encounters with an underage female ... linking him with Seeking Arrangement and alleging he's a member of the site.

Uchitel says she had no connection to Gaetz, and the honchos at Seeking Arrangement told her to stay mum on Gaetz during interviews. She says she was told the scandal was "a very serious crisis for the company."

She says the CEO asked her to get 4 young women who used the site to make videos attesting that the site wasn't exploiting them. She says she followed orders but was then told the company was going through a re-branding and that required terminating her contract.

Uchitel says 6 days after terminating her contract the company came back to her and said they would pay her in full if she signed an NDA.  Uchitel told them to pound sand, presumably because she didn't want in any way to become part of the Gaetz scandal.

She's suing Seeking Arrangement for the balance owed, along with damages for tarnishing her reputation. She also wants money for emotional distress.

The man in charge of directing Friday's Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony has just been fired hours before the start of the event ... after it was discovered he made a Holocaust joke in 1998.

Kentaro Kobayashi was canned Thursday after video surfaced of him making the wildly gross and inappropriate comment during a comedy act over two decades ago.

In the old clip, Kobayashi reportedly can be heard bringing up the Holocaust and saying, "Let's play the genocide of Jews."

Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said Thursday when the footage was brought to his attention ... he and other officials acted swiftly, removing Kobayashi from his high-ranking role.

"We found out that Mr. Kobayashi, in his own performance, has used a phrase ridiculing a historical tragedy," Hashimoto said.

"We deeply apologize for causing such a development the day before the opening ceremony and for causing troubles and concerns to many involved parties as well as the people in Tokyo and the rest of the country."

48-year-old Kobayashi later released an apology in a statement ... saying, "Entertainment should not make people feel uncomfortable. I understand that my stupid choice of words at that time was wrong, and I regret it."

The troubling news comes just days after one of the composers for the opening ceremony, Keigo Oyamada, pulled out of the event after he admitted to bullying a disabled classmate in the 1990s.

Hashimoto, though, insisted the opening ceremony will go on as planned despite it all ... saying Thursday, "we are going to open the Games tomorrow under this difficult situation."

As we previously reported, spectators will NOT be allowed at the ceremony ... as officials hope empty stadiums will help keep coronavirus from spreading.

Michaela Coel is rumored to be in the new "Black Panther" sequel -- now being filmed after Chadwick Boseman's death -- and it's got fans wondering ... curtains for Letitia Wright???

Word of the casting just came down Wednesday via Variety, which says the "I May Destroy You" star is definitely in it ... but that her role, for now, is unknown/unnamed and being kept under wraps. The studio itself isn't confirming either ... SOP for stories like this.

The report -- assuming it's true -- might not seem like much on its face ... but there's a lot of background here causing some eyebrows to be raised in suspicion. Fact is, Marvel's been slow to formally announce who the heck is actually going to be in the new movie, like for sure for sure -- which is weird, because the flick is literally filming in Atlanta right now.

The assumption is that a majority of the cast from Pt. 1 will return -- like Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, etc. -- but none of them, including Letitia (who had a major role the first time around) are sure things at this point ... and in light of this news, it's giving folks pause for LW's sake.

Here's the deal ... Letitia is the only member of the OG cast who's been embroiled in controversy lately -- and there's a ton of circumstantial evidence that seems to point to her having bad blood with Marvel and perhaps Disney at large.

Based on tweets she's liked in the recent past -- before scrubbing all her social media entirely not too long ago -- all signs point to her possibly not returning ... and that recasting her might be on the horizon, which is why the Michaela addition is fueling theories.

Pile on the fact she was accused of being an anti-vaxxer just this past December -- this after retweeting what many called conspiracy theory videos questioning the legitimacy of the jab -- it just adds even more reason to believe that Letitia may be done with the franchise.

That's a huge deal, and a potential huge blow (for Letitia) if it turns out Michaela is, in fact, going to play an older version of Shuri (T'Challa's sister in 'BP'). The reason ... Shuri actually becomes the new Black Panther after T'Challa passes on the torch in the comic book series.

While the plot details of the "Black Panther" sequel have yet to surface -- ya gotta imagine they're going to go that route since their lead man isn't around to do it anymore.

The Philadelphia police officer who allegedly deleted witness video during an arrest just got hauled in by his own boys in blue over the incident ... now he's facing criminal charges and is soon to be out of a job.

Officer Burnett -- the Philly PD cop identified as the one who allegedly scrubbed Jacob Giddings' footage during a gas station stop in March -- was arrested and arraigned Wednesday on several charges ... according to the Philadelphia D.A.'s Office.

The D.A. tells us Burnett's been charged with evidence tampering, attempted official oppression and obstruction of justice. It's unclear at this point how exactly the arrest went down -- be it Burnett turning himself in, or cops coming to nab him.

Burnett was first placed on administrative leave, launching an internal investigation, not to mention a civil suit filed against him -- and now ... criminal charges against the officer.

Of course, the smoking gun seems to be the body cam video. You'll recall ... his body camera was rolling while he was attempting to get Giddings out of the car -- capturing what Giddings claims is brutality and assault -- and it was also rolling when he appeared to delete video Giddings was taking of him in the run-up to the actual detainment and arrest.

Giddings provided even more videos that he says help his case ... offering extra photos from other body cameras which show Burnett fiddling with the phone.

No word on whether Burnett has entered a plea or not. As for Philly PD ... they say their Commissioner, Danielle Outlaw, has suspended Burnett for 30 days -- and plans to dismiss him entirely as soon as that's up. They also say he's been on the force for all of 4 years.

The MLS just released a statement to TMZ Sports ... saying, "Ms. Travieso’s allegations have no merit as her job, along with her entire department and 20 percent of League Office positions, was eliminated in November of 2020 as a result of the dramatic impact of the pandemic on Major League Soccer’s business."

"Ms. Travieso was not removed from her job duties for any other reason. Major League Soccer is committed to providing a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment and takes these allegations very seriously."

"We are constantly working to ensure our employees feel safe and supported in the workplace."

A former media executive for Major League Soccer claims she lost her job for speaking up about racial issues within the organization following the killing of George Floyd ... so she's suing.

Karine Travieso, who is Black, has filed suit against MLS along with 2 of her former bosses, alleging she was removed from job duties, excluded from meetings and unjustly blamed for other employee's mistakes after speaking at a Juneteenth event in 2020.

According to the legal docs, obtained by TMZ Sports ... Travieso began working for MLS in 2017 and worked her way up to a role of prominence ... despite what she describes as a work environment lacking diversity and inclusion.

She also describes multiple incidents of perceived racial stereotypes, such as one of her bosses allegedly implying in 2018 that there needed to be extra security at the 2 Chainz MLS All-Star Concert because Black people would be attending.

According to Travieso ... she mostly stayed silent about stuff like this until George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020, sparked nationwide protests and raised awareness about the plight of Black people.

She claims she encouraged MLS honchos to release a statement about Floyd's death like other major sports leagues after several days of silence, and they finally did ... but she points to it as another example of the soccer org dropping the ball.

Then, according to the docs, Travieso spoke at the Juneteenth event and "opened her heart about racial discrimination" and how she felt she couldn't raise race issues with MLS execs.

She says she cited the 2 Chainz incident as a reason MLS needed to incorporate unconscious bias training, called on "white allies" within the org to help, and pointed out there was "little to no Black representation in the decision-making positions and upper echelon of MLS."

According to Travieso ... her speech was met with praise by colleagues, but MLS did nothing to follow up on it. Instead, she claims she began to be treated differently by her bosses, was no longer invited to meetings she'd previously been a part of, and was removed from certain roles within the company.

She says she reported this to HR in October, and then a month later ... she was informed she was being laid off due to the circumstances with COVID-19 and some business restructuring.

Travieso's suing for race discrimination and retaliation, and she's seeking damages. We reached out to MLS ... no word back so far.

Harvey Weinstein's back on the West Coast, and just faced the judge in his L.A. sexual assault case -- he's now been formally indicted, and denied wrongdoing ... with an official plea.

The one-time movie producer appeared in person for a hearing Wednesday in an L.A. County courthouse where the 11 charges he's facing were read to him, one by one.

The charges are for alleged sexual assaults over several years, involving 5 different women. In response, Weinstein entered a not guilty plea -- something he was expected to do based on how he'd pled in the recent past.

Now, we're told Weinstein will remain in the custody of L.A. authorities while the case is pending. If it ends up going to trial -- which it appears it will at this point -- that could mean he'll be here for a long time.

As we reported ... Weinstein was extradited from NY to L.A. Tuesday. TMZ posted the first shots of HW getting off the plane, and he appeared to be in civilian clothes ... not a prison jumpsuit. Remember, he's already doing hard time in a NY state prison for sexual assault.

Athletes wasted no time making a statement against injustice as the Olympic competition kicked off this week ... with soccer players taking a knee before their matches on Wednesday.

Earlier this year, the International Olympic Committee released a strict policy for the 2020 Games ... banning any sort of demonstrations or protests on the field of play, during ceremonies or at the podium ... and anyone who broke the guidelines would face severe sanctions.

But, the IOC eased up on its rules leading up to Tokyo ... allowing athletes to "express their views" before or after the competition, as long as it is not disruptive or targeted against specific people, countries or organizations.

Members of Great Britain's and Chile's women's soccer teams took advantage of the relaxed policy by getting on one knee before their opening match at the Sapporo Dome hours ago ... a demonstration that would have resulted in harsh punishment if the amended rules didn't come into play.

Team USA and Sweden also dropped to one knee before their match ... as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Britney Spears publicly beefing with her little sister, Jamie Lynn, is having no impact on the "Zoey 101" reboot moving forward ... so says Chris Massey.

We got the former Nickelodeon star -- and Jamie Lynn's costar -- Tuesday in L.A., where he told us he's heard the exact opposite of what his fellow 'Zoey' alum, Paul Butcher, said online the other day ... about the #FreeBritney drama potentially derailing the show's revival.

Check it out, Chris tells us he's been in touch with Jamie Lynn fairly recently, and that as far as he knows -- the plan is still to bring back the show ... even though he admits they have been somewhat delayed.

However, he also acknowledges JLS is going through some family drama -- namely Brit crushing her little sis on social media over the conservatorship and an old award show beef.

Chris says he's not sure why Paul made it seem like the reboot was off ... and even has a message for his old pal. He wants to have a little chat to clear the air, and any rumors he might've inadvertently caused with his TikTok post.

BTW, Chris gives us a bit of insight into what he remembers about Britney and Jamie Lynn's relationship ... albeit from many years past. Although Britney's making it seem like it's no love lost between them, he remembers a time it was clearly much different.

Chrissy Teigen says she's learned a valuable lesson following her bullying scandal, and it goes like this ... stay out of other people's s**t!!!

Chrissy was heading to pick up her daughter in WeHo Tuesday and attracted a gaggle of photogs because, let's face it ... public Chrissy sightings are a rarity these days. Anyway, one of 'em asked what she thought about Addison Rae catching flak for introducing herself to Donald Trump at UFC 264.

Check out Chrissy in action ... she had an answer locked and loaded, one that seems to be part of her plan to get out of what she dubbed "cancel club."

As for that club, we ask Chrissy how long she anticipates being a member, and it's clear she hasn't lost her sense of humor ... or reality. For now, she says she's focused on living her life and taking care of her family.

As you know ... Chrissy's current situation stems from Courtney Stodden revealing they were the victim of Chrissy's cyberbullying years ago. Then, more bullying claims followed, and Chrissy vented that being "canceled" has been an awful experience.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is tearing Jeff Bezos a new one after he thanked Amazon employees and customers for footing the bill for his trip to space.

We got the Congresswoman Tuesday on Capitol Hill, and asked what she made of the richest man in the world giving major props to workers and online consumers for literally paying for his roughly 10-minute rocket voyage this morning.

ICYMI ... it was an awkward moment, and one Jeff didn't seem to realize came off as tone-deaf. There wasn't much context to his comment, but AOC thinks she has a good idea of what he meant -- as she says that's right up Amazon's alley (AKA, free rides on the backs of others).

You gotta watch her go off here ... it's beyond scathing, this is downright brutal -- calling Bezos out for allegedly overworking employees, busting unions and, of course, avoiding paying taxes via loopholes in the law.

We asked her if there was a silver lining in the fact that Bezos made a $100 million donation to Van Jones and organizations/causes he sees fit -- but it sounds like she thinks it's mostly an empty gesture.

Norway's women's beach handball players gave a big middle finger to their sport's uniform double standards over the weekend ... ditching their required bikini bottoms for shorts during a game -- and the stunt resulted in a fine.

The team had reportedly been planning the protest for weeks ... hoping to put the spotlight on the differences in what the men and women are told to wear during competition -- men can wear much longer shorts, while women are forced to wear skimpy bottoms.

The players decided on Sunday's game to make their statement ... with the whole team rocking shorts during their bronze medal matchup with Spain at the European Beach Handball Championships in Bulgaria.

The European Handball Federation fined each player 150 euros -- a tad short of $177 -- for the uniform violation ... which the Norwegian Handball Federation has vowed to pay.

Norway officials claim they've been pleading with the higher-ups for YEARS to adjust the regulations ... but the EHF says any change has to come down from the International Handball Federation.

There's been plenty of controversy surrounding what women can and cannot wear during competition -- as we previously reported, Paralympic star Olivia Breen claimed an official called her sprint shorts "inappropriate" during an event over the weekend.