Controversial S#!T

Dog the Bounty Hunter says he has more Black friends than Eminem, claims "the brothers" gave him a pass to use the n-word and says using the term doesn't make him racist.

The reality TV star made the comments during an interview with ET's Kevin Frazier, pushing back on allegations from his daughter, Bonnie Chapman, who claimed her dad is a racist, homophobic cheater.

Dog says he's never been a racist and says he gets labeled as such because of an "Achilles' heel" from back in the day ... a leaked phone call with his son where he used the n-word at least 6 times in a rant that got him canceled at A&E.

Dog says he used the n-word so freely because, "I thought I had a pass in the Black tribe to use it, kind of like Eminem."

Kevin, who is Black, asks Dog point-blank who gave him the pass ... with Dog saying "the brothers." When pressed, Dog says "the brothers" were Black inmates he interacted with when he was behind bars way back in the day, when the n-word got tossed around in what he saw as a "compliment."

Dog admits his alleged pass expired, but says no one told him so. He also says he's got tons of Black friends, more than even Eminem, and then gets ripped by Kevin.

As we reported ... Dog's daughter claims she didn't get invited to his wedding because she supports BLM, but Dog says he supports the movement too and says he's not a racist just because he uses the n-word.

Oscar De La Hoya is opening up on one of the most traumatic experiences of his life ... revealing he was raped at age 13 by an "older woman" -- something he's still struggling to come to terms with today.

The 48-year-old boxing legend detailed the alleged incident for the first time this week ... claiming it happened at a boxing tournament in Hawaii with a woman who was "over 35."

"I was raped at 13, from a woman, an older woman," ODLH told the L.A. Times. "13, lost my virginity over being, you know, being raped, basically."

De La Hoya says he used fighting to cope with the trauma from his childhood ... which included the experience in Hawaii.

"You suppress everything," he added. "You’re living this life, the 'Golden Boy,' but, oh s***, wait, that’s still there. Like, I never thought about it, I never processed it, I never really thought how my feelings are ... until one day it just comes out, and you don’t know how to deal with it."

ODLH -- who has previously dealt with drug and alcohol abuse -- says he has been working on improving his health ... because he felt he was "going to throw my life away."

De La Hoya himself has faced sexual assault accusations in the past -- he was accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in 1996 when he was 23, which reportedly resulted in a settlement outside of court ... and another woman claimed he raped her in 1999, which he's adamantly denied.

In 2019, a woman sued ODLH for sexual assault and battery -- but he told us at the time the allegations were "completely false."

Now, De La Hoya is preparing to make his return to the boxing ring for the first time since 2008 ... going up against UFC star Vitor Belfort on September 11.

Ben Crump, flanked by co-counsel Mark T. Harris, just revealed 2 of the officers they filed claims against -- Dowling and Asst. Police Chief Marc Coopwood -- have resigned.

Crump said this case is not over following their resignations and wants to see them held accountable. One of the plaintiffs in the suit, Khalil, also spoke and said he spent a night in jail as a result of his arrest. He called the experience he and Jasmine endured traumatizing.

For its part ... Beverly Hills Police Chief Dominick Rivetti said Khalil and Jasmine were warned on the day in question that riding a scooter on the sidewalk in Bev Hills is prohibited.

Rivetti said at that time no enforcement action was taken but "when committing the same violation later the same day" cops took action. Rivetti claims Khalil and Jasmine were taken into custody after they provided false information to a police officer.

The police chief also defended the task force ... claiming that in a 5-week span the team recovered 13 loaded firearms from individuals on Rodeo Drive, over a quarter-million dollars in cash and fraudulent unemployment benefit cards with a potential value of $3 million.

Crump joined "TMZ Live" and said if discrimination in policing isn't addressed it leads to the George Floyds, Breonna Taylors and Jacob Blakes of the world. He said, "Unchecked implicit bias, unchecked racism leads to death for Black people."

Simply put ... Crump says he's trying to send a message to the Beverly Hills PD "that it is not OK to arrest Black people for being Black on Rodeo Drive."

The Beverly Hills police are being sued over allegations it targeted almost nothing but black people on Rodeo Drive to arrest ... in some cases, for minor infractions.

Renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump claims in a new lawsuit ... the City of Beverly Hills created a police task force to patrol the famed street for violations of law, and the result was 106 arrests ... and 105 of those taken into custody were black.  The one remaining arrestee was Latino. BTW, Crump says the Latino could have easily been mistaken as black.

The 2 named plaintiffs in the lawsuit -- Jasmine Williams and Khalil White -- say they were visiting Bev Hills a year ago and riding scooters on the sidewalk, when they were stopped by Bev Hills cops. They were handcuffed and taken into custody.  According to the suit, prosecutors dropped the case.

The lawsuit claims examples of other "crimes" for which people were arrested included roller skating, jaywalking and traffic infractions in Beverly Hills.

The lawsuit references another incident last October involving Salehe Bembury -- VP of Sneakers and Men's Footwear at Versace -- who claimed he was detained for jaywalking.

According to the suit, BHPD Captain Scott Dowling, who is also named as a defendant, directed officers "to seize, interrogate, use force, falsely arrest, and maliciously prosecute any African-Americans who traveled on Rodeo Drive" with the sole purpose of "keep[ing] out African-Americans, who were deemed as 'criminals.".

We've reached out to the Beverly Hills PD for comment, so far no word back.

Abortion rights are now squarely on the chopping block after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to stop the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the country from going into effect.

The Texas law prohibits abortions after the 6th week of pregnancy. As you know, many/most women don't even know they're pregnant during the first 6 weeks. What's more, if an abortion is performed after the 6th week, any citizen in the country -- not just Texas, but the entire country -- can sue anyone who helps facilitate the abortion for $10,000 plus attorney's fees.

That means someone could sue not only the clinic, but the Uber driver who took the woman to the facility, a friend who made a call to the clinic on the woman's behalf, a counselor who advised the woman, the spouse of the woman, etc.

The Supreme Court was asked to put the law on ice Tuesday night, before it went into effect at midnight, but SCOTUS was silent ... and in this case, silence speaks volumes. If the justices didn't feel this law squarely violated Roe vs. Wade, it's a loud, screaming signal about their feelings toward Roe.

There are 5 justices -- and possibly 6 -- who have strongly indicated they would be inclined to overturning Roe, and they will have a shot at that soon, because a Mississippi anti-abortion law is a direct challenge to the 1973 precedent that gives women the right to an abortion.

A gay couple in Nashville was told they couldn't get married at the venue they wanted because of their sexual orientation, and the venue's owner certainly had an awkward way of turning them down.

Mike Gill tells us he recently got in touch with Jackie Daniel, who owns Barn in the Bend. Mike tells us he and his partner, Coty, thought the spot would be perfect, but it didn't take long for things between him and Jackie in email exchanges to get weird.

Mike says at some point, Jackie apparently figured out he was going to be marrying another man. She sent Mike an email, but it clearly stated the opposite of what she actually wanted to say -- It read, "We offer same sex marriage ceremonies only."

Jackie apparently figured out her mistake and fired off another email about an hour later with a different signature, saying, "We do not offer same sex marriage ceremonies."

Mike told Jackie he'd let everyone in the area know that BITB was bigoted, but Jackie let him know her decision was based on her religious beliefs, saying, "I wish you the best in life and the best future in all that you do."

While Mike and Coty are pissed -- they may be fighting an uphill battle. You'll recall the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it was permissible for a baker to refuse to decorate a cake for a gay couple based on religious convictions. That case isn't the same as Mike and Coty's, and it's unclear how SCOTUS would rule.

As for Mike and Coty, they tell us they don't want anything from Jackie and BITB -- just to make it known gay couples aren't welcome at the venue -- and are working to lock down a more inclusive spot.

DaBaby's answered the call of a number of HIV organizations for him to become educated on HIV following his homophobic comments ... so he did, and then delivered an apology.

According to the U.S. HIV awareness orgs ... DaBaby met with 9 groups to discuss HIV and share personal stories of folks who are living with the virus. The orgs had sent him a letter earlier this month "to call him in instead of calling him out" and have a thoughtful conversation about his recent comments at the Rolling Loud festival.

DaBaby made gross, homophobic remarks on stage about gay people and people living with HIV, and his subsequent attempts at saying sorry seemed half-hearted and misguided at best.

According to the orgs ... he was much different in the meeting -- "genuinely engaged" they say. The rapper apologized for what he called his inaccurate and hurtful comments about HIV and the impact it had on black and LGBTQ+ communities.

Marnina Miller of the Southern AIDS Coalition says DaBaby's willingness to attend the meeting and learn and grow from his experience could set a positive example.

Other orgs at the meeting included the Black AIDS Institute, GLAAD, Positive Women's Network and Transinclusive Group.

In the wake of his Rolling Loud controversy, DaBaby had several performances canceled -- including headlining Lollapalooza -- but he did make a surprise appearance at Kanye West's latest "Donda" listening party ... which sparked more outrage.

Mike Richards is reportedly leaving "Jeopardy!" altogether ... after stepping down as the host who would replace Alex Trebek, he's now also leaving his role as the show's executive producer ... TMZ has confirmed.

An email sent to staffers Tuesday read, "Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately.  We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened."

Richards' departure ties a bow on a whirlwind month for him and the famous game show ... he was tapped as the new day-to-day host, then went on the defensive after controversial comments from his old podcast were dredged up.

The email, sent by EVP Suzanne Prete revealed Michael Davies from Embassy Row will take over Richards' duties on an interim basis.

Prete says, "I know this has been a challenging time for the entire team, and I want to thank you all for your cooperation and professionalism over these last few weeks ... I will be more involved in the day-to-day on our shows moving forward and I am looking forward to working closely with all of you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything."

As we reported ... Mike resigned as the show's new daily host after the remarks from "The Randumb Show" podcast resurfaced -- featuring misogynistic cracks to his female co-host, and a disparaging comment about Jewish people's noses.

Richards apologized a few times to the "Jeopardy!" staff ... but it obviously wasn't enough to save his skin. He initially remained as EP, but now he's completely gone from the show.

Deadline was first to report he's leaving the program entirely.

Here's a painfully dramatic picture ... the last U.S. soldier leaving war-torn Afghanistan following a 20-year battle that's, arguably, changed nothing in the country.

His name is Maj. Gen. Chris Donahue, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, XVIII Airborne Corps. His unit's based out of Fort Bragg, N.C. and on Monday he became the final soldier to board a C-17 cargo plane out of Kabul airport to officially end the U.S. mission.

The night vision image shows Chris carrying his firearm and a look of resignation as the pullout ended under cover of darkness.

According to the Pentagon ... this 20-year war saw more than 775,000 American troops serve and more than 2,400 of them were killed in combat. The departure of Donahue's unit officially brings an end to America's longest war, and meets the August 31 deadline.

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden on Sunday attended a ceremony at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to honor the 13 U.S. troops killed during last week's terrorist attack in Kabul as their bodies arrived in caskets wrapped with U.S. flags. The President vowed to hunt down those responsible for the attack.

With the U.S. now out of Afghanistan, the Taliban has taken over the entire country ... including Kabul airport. An L.A. Times reporter captured the moment Taliban fighters entered a Hangar at the airport to examine Chinook helicopters and other equipment.

P!nk seems quite concerned a teen influencer is being used by her parents in an unsettling way -- but the kid's speaking for herself, saying she is in the driver's seat here.

Piper Rockelle -- a YouTuber who just turned 14 -- tells TMZ ... "The first thing I want everyone to know is that my mom doesn't make me do anything. Quite the opposite, I'm a kid who had a dream and my mom is amazing enough to help me live it out."

She adds this of P!nk's worries ... "I don't think P!nk has ever seen one of my YouTube videos because if she did she'd see it's just my friends and me having fun and acting like ourselves. The content we make is the kind of stuff anyone can watch."

ICYMI ... P!nk took to social media over the weekend to address what she considered the over-sexualization of children -- and specifically name-dropped Piper to make her point. The singer seemed to take exception with a bikini photo posted to Piper's IG recently.

Piper touches on that too, telling us she rocked the bikini 'cause ... well, it's summer, adding she doesn't see anything sexual about a 14-year-old wearing a 2-piece in and of itself.

The YT'er told us she just did a crash course on P!nk, and learned she started following her dreams for stardom right around the same age Piper is now ... so, she questions why P!nk's giving her flak for doing the same thing.

The U.S. Marine who got relieved of his duties for criticizing the U.S. Afghanistan pull-out is beating his bosses to the punch by quitting -- but not before going off about a psych evaluation he says he was asked to undergo, and lots more.

Lt. Colonel Stuart Scheller is getting his feelings out on social media after his dramatic announcement -- that he'd been disciplined for speaking out on the way the U.S. handled the withdrawal.

In a new YouTube vid he said he'd actually be resigning, and turning down a lucrative retirement he's owed to avoid being silenced -- but he also pointed out this was far from dishonorable as some might suggest. He dared superiors to ask anyone he served with about about his rep in battle.

While Scheller repeatedly says he's not considering legal action just yet ... it sure sounds like he might be soon, because he ominously warns this is far from over.

Then on FB, he addressed another issue Monday ... claiming his commanding officer asked him to get a mental health checkup, because they were apparently worried about his first video last week.

Scheller says he gets why that request was made, but he feels reducing behavior like this to a PTSD claim is perhaps the biggest disservice the U.S. military can do to any of its members.

He goes on to say all he wanted from leadership was accountability and a confession that the mission was botched -- but because of what he characterizes as a system of silence and following orders no matter what, he didn't get that ... so he's exiting on his own terms.

A Southern California teacher is in the hot seat for suggesting her students pledge allegiance to the Pride flag ... instead of the American flag.

The lady's name is Kristin Pitzen, and she works for the Newport Mesa School District in Orange County -- which can lean pretty conservative compared to L.A. To that point, she apparently pissed off a lot of parents and Twitter users over this video she posted.

Check it out ... Pitzen says she packed away the U.S. flag in her classroom during COVID -- because it made her uncomfortable -- and hasn't been able to find it (nor does she seem to want to). The lady's giggling through her story pretty much the whole way through.

Fast-forward to the 2021 school year, where she says some students -- at least those who've chosen to partake, that is -- have asked what they're supposed to pledge allegiance to during the morning announcements ... seeing how Pitzen still hasn't gotten Old Glory back up yet.

She jokingly says she told one of the students who asked her that ... well, there's one flag they could pledge to if they wanted -- and pans to the rainbow flag behind her.

The video has reportedly triggered outrage in the community for a variety of reasons -- some feel like she's "indoctrinating" their children while others feel she was just outright disrespectful to the flag and the U.S. by extension ... especially hurtful during this Afghanistan moment.

JuJu ... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?!

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver and influencer JuJu Smith-Schuster just joined the biggest craze on the internet -- the milk crate challenge -- days before the NFL season is about to kick off ... and we're concerned.

If you've been living under a rock, the crate challenge is when people try to climb unstable stacks of plastic bins ... balancing on as many as 7 at one time.

It's a seriously dangerous act -- some people have reported major injuries from trying it -- and even social media platform TikTok has banned the content due to safety concerns.

But, that hasn't stopped JuJu from getting in on the action ... with video surfacing Monday of the 24-year-old recently attempting the challenge.

Thankfully, JuJu was able to make it across the line of crates without a problem ... but the big issue is that there's a chance it could NOT have ended well.

Granted, it looks like there were a couple of guys ready to catch him if he fell ... but still, who knows what coulda happened.

BTW -- JuJu recently signed a 1-year, $8,000,000 deal with the Steelers ... and plays an important role in the team's offense.

He's come under fire in the past for antics like posting TikToks in the locker room and dancing on opposing teams' logos.

With Week 1 approaching, it sure seems like there are much safer ways to pass the time.

Korn lead singer Jonathan Davis is gutting it out onstage as he continues to recover from the coronavirus -- he needed an oxygen mask onstage just to get through a performance.

Jonathan and Korn returned to the stage Friday night in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park after canceling a bunch of shows when he contracted COVID-19 earlier this month -- and it's clear he's still struggling with the lingering aftereffects.

Video shows Jonathan taking occasional breaks to suck in SOME pure O2 between songs, and he spent the majority of the concert sitting down on a huge throne.

Korn guitarist Brian Welch says Jonathan's still feeling "physically weak and having a mental battle" ... and he's drawing on the energy from fans.

Jonathan confirmed as much to the crowd, saying ... "I'm f****** feeling very weak but I f****** refuse to f****** cancel!!!"

Mets exec Sandy Alderson is furious with Javy Baez and other players for giving thumbs down gestures to fans this weekend ... with the team prez calling the moves "unprofessional."

Baez, Kevin Pillar and Francisco Lindor all made the hand movements during their win over the Washington Nationals on Sunday ... with Baez later explaining it's all 'cause NY fans have booed them during their recent slump.

"They gotta be better," Baez said of Mets fans after saying he does hear the jeers after poor at-bats at the plate.

"I play for the fans and I love the fans, but if they're going to do that, they're just putting more pressure on the team and that's not what we want."

"We’re not machines," Baez added. "We’re going to struggle. We’re going to struggle seven times out of 10"

Not long after Baez finished giving those comments ... Alderson made it known he would NOT accept the gesture from the team's new superstar or anyone else on the squad going forward.

"These comments, and any gestures by him or other players with a similar intent, are totally unacceptable and will not be tolerated," Alderson said.

"Mets fans are understandably frustrated over the team’s recent performance. The players and the organization are equally frustrated, but fans at Citi Field have every right to express their own disappointment. Booing is every fan’s right."

73-year-old Alderson added he will be meeting with Baez and the rest of the team and staff to make sure they get the message.

"The Mets will not tolerate any player gesture that is unprofessional in its meaning or is directed in a negative way toward our fans," Alderson said, adding, "Mets fans are loyal, passionate, knowledgeable and more than willing to express themselves."

"We love them for every one of these qualities."

Scott Zolak is issuing an apology for saying Cam Newton is "distracted" by rap music at Patriots practice ... saying on-air he should have never made the "racially insensitive" remarks.

The ex-New England QB issued the mea culpa on the 98.5 The Sports Hub pregame show just before the Patriots played the Giants in their preseason game ... adding that he had spoken with Newton in person over it all.

"I'm sorry for that comment," said Zolak, who played QB for New England from 1992 through 1998. "I didn't need to make that comment."

Of his conversation with Cam, Zolak said, "I got a chance to talk to him, and Cam's nothing but class. Great guy. He handled it perfectly."

If you missed it, while Zolak was reporting from Patriots practice last Thursday ... he said he believed rap music blaring over the speakers was hurting Cam's game.

Zolak then urged his former team to turn the music off.

"I think it's distracting for Cam here," Zolak said. "Because in between every throw he's dancing."

Zolak continued, "He can't help himself."

Newton played sparingly in the Pats' preseason finale Sunday ... completing just 2 of his 5 passes while throwing an interception. He's expected to be the team's starter when the Pats open up regular season play on Sept. 12 against Miami.

Lizzo has weighed in on the King/Queen of Pop debate -- and she's stirring the pot big time by crowning the great Janet Jackson as the latter ... which has Madonna fans up in arms.

The singer dished her rankings Sunday -- this after Justin Bieber took the title of Prince of Pop among his fanbase following a milestone Spotify record -- and she seems to concur ... saying that the Biebs is, indeed, the Prince ... still behind Michael Jackson, the King.

Then, Lizzo threw a wrench in things with her Queen bestowment -- saying Mike's sister is actually right alongside him on the pop throne ... and that was met with pushback.

Of course, music fans had to interject and point out that Madge has long claimed that title for herself -- as she's an iconic artist who did A LOT for the genre in her heyday, and just in general over the years. Some feel Lizzo's putting her head in the sand on this one.

We should point out -- before people start getting too crazy on this whole thing -- that this is simply Lizzo's opinion ... and that none of these titles are all that official anyway. Still, Lizzo seems to have taken notice of the online ruckus she caused ... writing "Ruhruoh."

She clarified later saying that there's a new generation of up-and-coming artists who might take these folks' place one day -- but, for now, Lizzo considers this the standard.

As for the rest of her list -- she thinks Britney's the PoP, Rihanna's the PP, and Beyonce's in her own category. Honorable mentions for other genres include Usher (R&B King), Aretha Franklin (Soul), Mariah (R&B Queen), Tina Turner (Rock and Roll) and Mary J (Hip-Hop/Soul).