Controversial S#!T

Meyers Leonard is continuing his fight against anti-Semitism -- teaming up with a top anti-hate organization to speak at a virtual seminar ... just months after the NBA player dropped a slur while gaming online.

We're told 29-year-old Meyers has joined forces with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) ... and is set to speak at a webinar on August 19 ... with the hopes of stemming the rise in hateful speech.

The class -- which will also feature 2-time WNBA champ and Israel national basketball team member Alysha Clark -- will focus on the importance of education on anti-Semitism.

The speakers will also discuss the Holocaust.

It's just the latest way Leonard -- who is currently an NBA free agent -- is trying to repent ... by spreading awareness about the horrors of hate language.

Back in June, Meyers got emotional when speaking to a group of Jewish kids at a synagogue in Florida ... saying, "I owe everybody, truly, a sincere apology."

Of course, the apology came after Leonard found himself in some scalding-hot water after using an anti-Semitic slur while playing "Call of Duty: Warzone on Twitch back in March.

Meyers was immediately placed on indefinite leave by the Miami Heat and lost out on a ton of business deals -- including his relationship with gaming juggernaut, FaZe Clan.

The judge overseeing Britney Spears' conservatorship case isn't just unpopular with Britney's fans -- the woman is having her life threatened ... a scary development that's now on law enforcement's radar.

The #freebritney crowd's outrage started bubbling over after Judge Brenda Penny's ruling last week ... you'll recall she decided against immediately suspending Jamie Spears from the conservatorship, and denied Brit's request for an emergency hearing on the matter. We're told scores of death threats against Judge Penny were posted online ... with many people calling for her to lose her life and "die."

As a result, our law enforcement sources tell us the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. is keeping an eye on the online activity -- as we're told they've seen some of the posts and indeed found them to be concerning.

It looks like some of the comments were vague, while others were more direct -- like one user who wrote, "I have a feeling this judge Brenda Penny is going to have a horrible mysterious death #freebritney." There've also been some racial slurs hurled at the judge, who is Black.

The hashtag #BrendaPennyIsCorrupt was also trending after her rulings.

We're told none of the posted threats appear to rise to the level of criminality -- not yet anyway, but LASD will continue monitoring.

As for the ruling that apparently angered many people, Judge Penny didn't give any specific reasoning, but, logically, it seems -- based on what's been filed in court -- she didn't see an urgent need to call the hearing on Jamie's future as conservator of Britney's estate.

Ben Crump is now taking on another civil rights case ... this time seeking justice for a Black realtor who was wrongfully detained in Michigan during a house showing.

Crump tells us he is considering a lawsuit against the City of Wyoming PD for what he says was the false imprisonment and unlawful detention of realtor Eric Brown and his client Roy Thorne.

As we reported, cops detained and handcuffed Brown, Thorne and his 15-year-old son during a house showing. They detained the 2 men after a neighbor made a call to cops that they fit the description of someone who allegedly broke into a nearby house. The description was incredibly vague.

The Wyoming PD has since apologized for the incident, but says race had nothing to do with how officers responded to the situation. The department explained the call came in as a possible home invasion, and their officers responded as trained.

But, Brown and Thorne claim the ordeal caused them to suffer mental trauma, and they're saying the whole incident was rooted in racial profiling. What's more ... Thorne's son, Sammie, now suffers from anxiety and has trouble sleeping from the incident.

Ex-NBA coach George Karl says more than 100 hoops fans want to see him 6-feet under ... revealing he's been on the receiving end of death wishes for bashing Carmelo Anthony on Twitter.

Karl coached Melo on the Nuggets from 2005-2011 ... and while Denver made the playoffs for most of their time together, the two never really got along.

Of course, 70-year-old Karl hasn't held back when criticizing Melo in the past ... saying he was selfish and a liability on defense, which ruined the Nuggets' chances at an NBA title.

Now that Melo is hoping to help LeBron James and the Lakers win a championship in 2022, Karl has fired off some shots at the 37-year-old ... trolling Anthony's comments about losing sleep over his quest for a ring.

But, Karl wasn't all negative about the guy ... backpedaling a bit and saying, "I've said it before -- one of the great scorers the game has ever seen. He’s a HOFer and his Jersey should hang in Denver."

And then, Karl went right back to critique mode ... even referencing his battles with neck and throat cancer.

"He Wasn’t a team first player or good defender here in Denver," he added. "And it upset us when he asked for a trade especially after I was sick."

Karl faced a ton of backlash from Melo stans for his jabs ... and addressed the angry fans with yet another tweet Tuesday night.

"I think at least 100 people told me on here to die or rot in hell in the past 24 hours," Karl said. "Cmon folks. That’s not kind or cool."

"Lighten up and celebrate life!!"

When a user asked what he said, Karl didn't mince his words.

"That Melo was a ball hog and s****y defender in Denver."

Melo fans are known for being some of the most passionate backers out there ... so who knows if they'll take Karl's advice.

FC Barcelona ain't wasting any time moving on from the Lionel Messi era ... the soccer squad just scrubbed a giant pic of the legend off a huge mural on its stadium wall.

The photo of the 34-year-old former Barca superstar had been front and center at Camp Nou in Spain for a long time ... but less than a week after Messi's departure was confirmed, stadium workers got to removing it.

Two men in hard hats jumped in a crane and ripped down the photo piece-by-piece ... leaving -- perhaps fittingly -- a giant empty space on the wall.

As we previously reported ... Messi and Barcelona officially went their separate ways back on Aug. 5, after the team said financial obstacles prevented a new contract from being hammered out.

Messi -- who called leaving Barcelona "very difficult" -- has since signed with Paris Saint-German, and he was treated like an absolute rockstar upon arriving at his new home Tuesday.

The soccer star was showered with cheers and chants ... and the city even popped off fireworks after his signing became official.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is about to address the elephant in the room -- the growing pressure for him to step down in the wake of the NY Attorney General's finding he sexually harassed several women.

The 10-year N.Y. guv is holding a news conference Tuesday morning. It will be his first public comment since last week when NY AG Letitia James announced the results of her office's investigation -- saying Cuomo had sexually harassed former and current female staffers, dating back to 2013 all the way up to 2020.

It's unclear if he's announcing his resignation, but last week he remained defiant ... saying he would not. Just about every prominent Democrat you can imagine, including President Joe Biden, was calling on Cuomo to step down, and the NY State Legislature has been meeting to discuss impeachment if he doesn't.

Some of the alleged behavior, per A.G. James, included groping, kissing, hugging and inappropriate comments -- some of which could possibly amount to criminal charges, she added. Charges may actually arise from this -- as one of Cuomo's accusers has already filed a police report out of Albany County ... and they say they're investigating it now.

Cuomo, for his part, had denied wrongdoing ... claiming he'd never touched anyone in the ways described by the A.G.. He'd previously said he might've been too familiar with some of his staffers in the past -- but chalked it up to him mistakenly not recognizing boundaries.

He had also adamantly refused to resign, saying he wasn't going to let the allegations get in the way of his duties as Governor.

Cuomo's been acting as NY's chief executive since 2011 ... and was mostly beloved during that time.

Nick Cannon and Kevin Hart are celebrating Nick's return to hosting "Wild 'N Out" after ViacomCBS fired him over anti-Semitic remarks -- and all the bad blood's been replaced by some sweet-ass cake!

Nick's back to his old job, and with season 16 returning to TV sets Tuesday night, Monday called for a special celebration ... complete with a surprise for NC!!!

As you can see, Nick was totally caught off guard when production wheeled in a huge custom cake and folks started singing.

Nick, dressed in a suit and red turban, made a short speech ... and Kevin hilariously tried to take credit for the surprise, even though he struggled to understand the cake's design.

It's clear there are no lingering hard feelings about the controversy that led to Nick's 2020 firing.

Imagine having the audacity to go to a neighbor's front door, ask them how they are doing, and then immediately complain about a flag saluting -- of all things -- Winnie the Pooh's pal.

Yeah, we're talking about a flag featuring Tigger, the lovable, bouncing tiger ... but the latest "Karen" (still a thing, apparently) to go viral just wasn't having it, which makes this video completely absurd!!!

The older white woman's issue with the Tigger flag is simply that she doesn't like it and thinks it makes the neighborhood look tacky. She does compliment the American flag hanging above it, though!

We don't know exactly where this went down, but the woman who approaches her Black neighbor suggests her flag violates the community rules ... and mentions "Williamsburg."

When the home's resident -- TikToker Ambrosia -- points out there isn't a home owner's association with any such rule ... "Karen" isn't having it, and says she's going to go look them up.

Lewis Brinson says it's time to retire "Dinger" -- or at least change the Rockies mascot's name -- explaining the Colorado character's moniker is just too similar to the n-word.

The Miami Marlins outfielder spoke in-depth with reporters on Monday for the first time since Sunday's drama in Denver ... and it seems his solution to the issues that were created at Coors Field would be for the Rockies to just move on from the mascot's current name.

"Maybe change the mascot's name," Brinson said. "It sounds a little similar, especially on video."

If you missed it ... many believed a fan behind home plate repeatedly called Brinson the n-word during one of his at-bats in Sunday's Marlins vs. Rockies tilt.

Both teams' broadcasts picked up the audio ... and it seemed BAD.

After an investigation, though, the Rockies said they confirmed the fan did NOT say the n-word ... but was rather screaming out for the team's mascot, Dinger.

Brinson was asked about all of that before his game against the Padres on Monday ... and it appears he isn't necessarily buying that explanation.

Brinson told reporters when he watched back the video, the n-word seems clear to him.

"So I watched the video at least 50 times in the past 15-16 hours," Brinson said. "I watched it a lot, especially when I heard that he said 'Dinger' instead of the n-word.''

"I personally -- this is, again, my personal opinion -- I personally keep hearing the n-word. It's not that I want to hear it, I never want to hear it."

But, Brinson did add, "If he was yelling for the mascot, I am sorry for any backlash or any unnecessary attention he's getting right now."

The Rockies have said there is no punishment coming for the fan. They've also added they have no plans to change their mascot's name.

Ex-NBA star Jermaine O'Neal says the backlash following the infamous 'Malice At The Palace' was brutal and wrong ... claiming he and his teammates were labeled "thugs" after the brawl.

The 2004 incident between the Pacers, Pistons and fans in attendance is one of the most memorable moments in NBA history -- Metta Sandiford-Artest (Ron Artest at the time) rushed into the stands and fought a spectator after a drink was thrown at him ... and absolute chaos ensued.

Metta was suspended the rest of the season, Stephen Jackson was hit with a 30-game ban and O'Neal received a 15-game punishment for their involvement in the fight ... the biggest suspensions in NBA history.

Now, Stak and JO are reflecting on the brawl for the new Netflix series 'Untold' (which debuts Tuesday) ... saying the criticism they received after the event was unfair.

"Ron, Steve, JO, it's their fault," Jackson said. "They were being thugs! They were acting out of line!"

O'Neal added ... "Like all of a sudden, my character is in question."

"These are thugs and everybody else signing off, 'yeah, rap music' and this -- well they're not saying that when hockey is beating the hell out of each for decades."

O'Neal is seemingly highlighting the double standard that exists between the reaction to black basketball players getting in a fight and the same thing happening in a predominantly white sport.

Even though the incident happened nearly 20 years ago, the points O'Neal raises remain significant.

No, O.J. Simpson does not need to fear running into the person who murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown, and Ron Goldman in 1994, because DNA evidence doesn't lie ... so says Nicole's sister.

Tanya Brown tells TMZ ... O.J.'s recent comments about not wanting to go to L.A. because he "might be sitting next to whoever did it" are absurd and disrespectful, but they prove how delusional he really is.

According to Tanya ... all one has to do is look back at the DNA evidence from the murders, which shows the only blood at the crime scene belonged to Nicole, Ron and O.J.

Tanya says, obviously, she does not believe there's another killer out there, but suggests O.J.'s been feeding himself his own lies for so many years ... he likely believes them now.

She says of O.J.'s recent interview with The Athletic -- in which he added, "I really don't know who did this," but claimed to have a suspect in mind -- he's probably doing it to redeem himself, but it's unfortunate and sad he can't admit his wrongdoing.

Netflix and Ava DuVernay will continue to battle Linda Fairstein's defamation lawsuit over her portrayal in "When They See Us" ... a judge just denied their bid to toss the suit out of court.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... a federal judge in Manhattan ruled Monday Linda's defamation suit plausibly alleged defamation in 5 scenes of the critically acclaimed series about the Central Park 5 case.

Remember ... Linda was the woman who helped prosecute the now-vindicated Central Park 5, and Felicity Huffman plays her in the Netflix series.

The judge ruled several scenes depicting Linda as racist while directing a police roundup of potential suspects in Harlem, withholding DNA evidence from the defense and coercing confessions could prove to be defamatory and can't be tossed out at this stage of litigation.

As we reported ... Linda sued Netflix and the series director for defamation back in March 2020, claiming the show portrayed her as a "racist, unethical villain who is determined to jail innocent children of color at any cost."

Netflix initially called the suit frivolous and without merit and tried to get it tossed by arguing the series is protected by the First Amendment. Although some of Fairstein's claims were tossed, the judge ruled the case could go forward on her claims concerning some critical scenes in the series.

The Kid LAROI revealed he's been locked in a room for 7 days because he has COVID ... only to scrub that announcement from his social media a short time later.

The teenage singer revealed the news in a now-edited Instagram caption Monday in which he was celebrating his #1 hit with Justin Bieber, "Stay," and thanking all of his fans for their support.

LAROI, who hails from Australia, wrote that all he ever wanted was to "make it big" in America and show everyone what folks Down Under have to offer.

He then said he hasn't been home in awhile because of COVID, adding ... "which I currently have rn and have been locked in a room for the past 7 days."

The singer quickly deleted that line in his IG caption, but if it's true -- it means he could have performed at the huge July 29 concert at Lollapalooza in Chicago with Miley Cyrus while infected -- or contracted it while at the festival.

We've reached out to LAROI's rep for some clarification ... so far, no word back.

Britney Spears didn't want to wait until September to ask a judge to boot her dad from her conservatorship, but the judge just shut down her request.

The singer's request to move up the hearing to sometime this month or to at least suspend Jamie immediately until the final hearing, was denied ... according to a new court order, obtained by TMZ. There's no specific reason given for the legal "no" ... but it was denied without prejudice, meaning she can bring it up again.

But, at the moment, Jamie's going to stay on.

As for why ... typically the issue is whether waiting for the scheduled hearing would cause irreparable harm to Britney. Her lawyer, Mat Rosengart, said Jamie's presence was taking a toll on Britney's mental health, and he says doctors felt that way as well. But, the judge apparently didn't think there was enough proof that waiting would cause such damage.

Bam Margera's going after his old friends over his ousting from the 'Jackass' franchise he's been a part of for decades ... claiming he was forced to sign an agreement that he claims amounted to psychological torture.

According to the legal docs ... Bam's suing Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze, Jeffrey Tremaine along with Paramount Pictures, MTV, Dickhouse Entertainment and Gorilla Flicks for his firing.

He claims the 3 men pressured him into signing a "wellness agreement" while he was in rehab in 2019 in order to participate in the upcoming 'Jackass Forever' movie ... but Bam claims he didn't have a chance to run it by an attorney.

According to Bam ... the agreement subjected him to regular drug and alcohol tests and he was forced to take a cocktail of prescription drugs that left him depressed and drained, and restricted his ability to travel, work and live his life.

Ultimately, Bam was booted from the fourth installment of 'Jackass' for failing to abide by the conditions in the agreement, but according to the docs ... Bam got the axe for testing positive for Adderall -- something he says he's been prescribed to take for 10 years.

The lawsuit alleges Bam's treatment at the hands of Paramount and the 'Jackass' team was "inhumane" and "discriminatory." He also likens it to Britney Spears' conservatorship case.

As we've covered ... the past few months have been very rocky for Bam, as he's publicly attacked the 'Jackass' crew and had a restraining order filed against him by Tremaine.

He also previously told us he was "tortured" by his former co-stars before he was fired. Bam's suing for damages and asking for an injunction to block release of the upcoming movie.

Jason Isbell has a simple reason for requiring proof of COVID inoculation or a negative test result to attend his shows ... he wants people to feel safe and survive the virus.

The country star joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and told us about the new precautions in effect on his tour, and why he's not afraid to do something that might piss off a large portion of his fan base.

Jason says he just wants concertgoers to feel a little safer in a large crowd of strangers and he doesn't want any blood on his hands ... hence the vaccine or negative test requirements.

Naturally, Jason is getting tons of pushback from country music fans who live in areas with low vaccination rates -- but he's also getting heat from other artists after a year that saw them lose concert revenue.

Jason and singer-songwriter Marc Broussard got in a Twitter war over his COVID protocols ... but Jason says he's just trying to help prevent another shutdown so artists don't have to cancel shows in droves as they did in 2020.