Controversial S#!T

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... security camera captured the vandalism in the act this morning around 10 AM ET, when a male was seen mixing something while ducking behind the John Lewis statue. We're told he then hopped on a skateboard and cruised past the Floyd statue, chucking whatever mixture he had in hand, and fled.

Our sources say eyewitnesses were on the scene, but didn't react to what had happened. The NYPD is investigating.

A statue of George Floyd in Union Square has been vandalized with paint not even 48 hours after it was unveiled to the public in an emotional ceremony.

The statue, which is one of 3 -- including Breonna Taylor and John Lewis -- was smeared with what appears to be grey paint ... it's currently unclear who carried out the attack on the art, but it seems to have happened Saturday night into Sunday morning.

A photo posted by reporter Shannan Ferry shows the extent of the damage.

Floyd's brother, Terrence, was part of a ceremony on Friday to premiere the statue ... the Union Square installation is called "#SeeInjustice" and the three pieces each stand at 6 feet tall. They're made from layers of African mahogany plywood and then finished with bronze paint.

It was of course Floyd's killing at the hands of Minneapolis cop, Derek Chauvin, that catapulted the civil justice movement across the United States. Chauvin was sentenced to 22.5 years in prison for the murder.

At the time of this post, there have not yet been any arrests made in connection to the vandalism.

Lil Nas X appears to have teased the possibility of being bisexual -- or even toying with the idea he isn't really gay at all ... but context matters, and it's clear he's joking after a breakup.

The rapper tweeted Friday, "this gay s*** was fun at first. i miss p**** now," while adding a sad face emoji. On its face, it's a pretty shocking statement and could be interpreted as potential big news ... that is, if you took it literally. He seems to be saying, at first glance, him being gay was just a little experiment, and that he wants to go back to being straight.

However, he followed up that tweet with another ... "nevermind he texted back." So, it was obviously written in jest -- and when you learn about a recent split of his, it all makes sense.

Here's the deal ... LNX revealed this week that he had, in fact, been dating the dude he got cozy with in his "That's What I Want" music video -- actor-dancer Yai Ariza -- but also noted they'd already broken up ... yet remained on good terms, and could even get back together.

It's unclear how long they dated or when, but in any case ... Nas X likened the relationship to the best he'd ever had, and went so far as to say he was still in love with Yai.

This "p****" remark comes on the heels of that ... and if you're familiar with his Twitter antics, you know he's trolling, which he confirmed soon after. It's almost like when straight women jokingly say they're becoming lesbian after ending things with a guy. Same idea.

Still ... the original sentiment in and of itself could be seen as problematic, and actually has been called out, of late, by the LGBT community. Just ask Miley Cyrus, who sparked criticism 2 years ago when she said sucky men forced her to be gay ... something she apologized for.

Interestingly, there doesn't seem to be the same fury at Nas X here -- perhaps because he covered his bases and made clear ... he's still gay, confirming sexuality isn't a choice.

Andrew Gallery -- one of Britney Spears' close confidants from early on in the conservatorship -- says the #FreeBritney crowd deserves a lot of the credit for where her sitch is today.

We spoke to the filmmaker this week in L.A. and asked for his thoughts on how things landed this week during Brit's conservatorship case ... which saw her father, Jamie, get the boot and her conservatorship at large possibly on the chopping block next.

The dude is obviously happy for her -- makes sense, he helped create her tell-all doc way back in 2008, and is considered someone who got really close to her, and who's been dropping hints that she's wanted out for a long time now. But, watch who he shouts out.

AG gives it up for the fans who've relentlessly hit the streets in protest, and who've shined a very public light on this whole saga. He says without them, much of this might not have been possible.

Andrew also weighs in on whether Britney needs to remain in the conservatorship -- telling us it's clear to him that she doesn't meet the requirements of someone who does. That's to be determined by the judge, obviously -- she's gotta decide if Brit needs a mental evaluation or not before being cut loose.

In the meantime, though, Andrew has some suggestions on what she should do going forward ... namely, whatever the hell she wants.

One last interesting question we fired off about why he thinks it might've taken this long for changes to come for Britney -- and he takes aim at the deluge of lawyers and business people who've been in and out of overseeing the conservatorship over the years ... some of whom were brought up by name in the past few Britney Spears docs on Hulu and Netflix.

Joan Collins has gone all Katie Couric in her new memoir, slamming the Kardashians for their penchant for plastic surgery ... and that's just for starters.

Collins took aim in her memoir, "My Unapologetic Diaries," first saying she's a friend of Kris Jenner's, but goes on to blast those who got cosmetic surgery ... "Those lips people have done, I think they look ludicrous ... I'm sorry. And, if people want to go round looking like that I'm going to laugh at it."

In one of the passages, obtained by Daily Mail, she writes, "Kris Jenner, the mother, is a good friend of mine and I don't want to be rude about her children, but there's an awful lot of surgery there and I've talked to my friends about it, as I'm sure you have, the bottoms, the tiny waists."  She's definitely not a fan.

Collins trashed her "Dynasty" co-star Linda Evans whom she says was a fan of going under the knife, saying, "Are you supposed to ignore somebody when they come in with tape on their eyelid?" adding, "Every one of the other actors was saying, 'What do you think she had done?'"

Bill Maher has a point ... "Brian Laundrie was not an interesting person until he became a person of interest" ... an example of what the "Real Time" host believes is a cultural crisis.

Maher railed on #VanLife ... where young people meander around the country, chronicling every boring move ... as if it can substitute for meaningful work.

He's merciless in his criticism ... "You've figured out how to monetize f****** off."

Maher notes ... content creators and influencers are the fastest-growing small business out there ... 52 million around the globe.

He clearly has beef with the coverage of the Gabby Petito murder, and sets his sights on Laundrie, who he says by all rights should be working at a Del Taco drive-thru. He thinks the videos he and Gabby shot during their travels were mind-numbingly uninteresting.

Joe Rogan believes Joe Biden did NOT get a COVID vaccine booster shot on live TV this week ... saying, "I don't think they would take the chance."

The comedian and UFC commentator delivered the wild claim on his "Joe Rogan Experience" podcast Thursday ... explaining he believes the President faked it all when he claimed to have received his third dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.

“I think if they were going to give him a booster shot," Rogan said, "the last thing they would do is give it to him live on television.”

“What if he dies?" Rogan added. "What if he blacks out? What if he like gets it and faints? Like, because people have had very bad reactions like in the moment for whatever reason."

For his part, Biden says the shot was, in fact, very real ... writing on Twitter after getting the jab, "just like my first and second dose, it was safe and easy."

"Get vaccinated," Biden added. "Together, can we save lives and beat this virus."

It's not the first (or second) time Rogan's been involved in a COVID controversy. He previously suggested young people shouldn't get the vax. He also kicked up a stir when he revealed he was taking controversial medication, Ivermectin, when he had the virus.

Biden, doctors and health officials across the country have insisted COVID vaccines are safe ... and risks of extreme side effects are very rare.

Gabby Petito told a Utah police officer that Brian Laundrie hit her during their August 12 dispute in Moab, but then quickly walked it back and said he actually grabbed her face after she hit him first.

New bodycam footage from a second police officer sheds new light on the incident, in which Gabby and Brian were separated after cops were called because they were seen fighting in public.

The new video is far more audible than the one released earlier ... and this one provides a much more detailed account by Gabby ... the key moments can be clearly heard.

The officer notices various marks on Gabby -- on her face and her arm, and gently asks what happened.

Listen for yourself -- when the cop asks Gabby bluntly if Brian hit her, she says "I guess, yeah, but I hit him first." She then explains he grabbed her face and demonstrates how his fingernail may have scratched her cheek.

Gabby says Brian did not punch or hit her in the face, though.

As we reported ... two 911 callers did report that Brian struck Gabby's face. However, in the initial police report released a couple weeks ago ... police wrote that both Gabby and Brian claimed that she began slapping him first, and he grabbed her face and pushed her away.

There's another eerie video ... where 2 cops involved in the incident try to determine if it rises to the level of domestic assault, but ultimately seem to decide on the spot that it doesn't.

One of the officers even implies that Brian may be the one at risk of becoming a "battered man" ... but he doesn't think that's the case.

The general manager of the Ukrainian Hockey League is now out of a job ... he was just fired -- and he claims it's all because of the way he reacted to a player's racist, on-ice gesture.

Eugene Kolychev revealed he was canned in a series of tweets Thursday ... appearing to say he and the league did not see eye-to-eye over the way he spoke out against Andrei Deniskin's abhorrent banana-peeling gesture and subsequent suspension.

"I have spoken openly about #racism in Ukrainian hockey and the Ukrainian Hockey Federation FIRED me as General Manager of the #UHL today," Kolychev said.

"Will it solve the problem? No. Will it silence me? NO!"

Kolychev continued, "My voice has been ignored in the decision over the penalty against Andrei Deniskin, who showed a racist gesture to @jalen_smereck"

Kolychev was unhappy with Deniskin from the get-go ... blasting the hockey player immediately after he taunted Jalen Smereck, who is Black, with a banana-eating motion during their game last Sunday.

And, when the league suspended Deniskin only a handful of games as punishment for the gesture, Kolychev did not seem happy about that on his social media page, either.

Kolychev, though, said despite losing his job ... he's still going to forge on in his battle to help stop racism.

"I am publicly appealing to the @IIHFHockey to conduct its own investigation of the incident and help #endracism. Jalen, we got your back!"

Shaquille O’Neal is fed up with Kyrie Irving ... saying the Brooklyn Nets should cut ties with the star if he won't be able to play home games due to being unvaccinated.

Irving has been under attack for reportedly not getting vaccinated as the pandemic rages on ... and he currently won't be able to play home games due to NYC's COVID-19 mandate.

With the Nets poised for a title run with KI, Kevin Durant and James Harden in 2021-22, Shaq was asked what he'd do if Kyrie misses half the season ... and he's not holding back.

"I would go upstairs and say, 'Get him up out of here,'" Shaq told "Tiki and Tierney" this week. "We can win with a two-punch and a great shooter and some rebounders like we got. Get his ass up out of here."

"Of course, if I played with him, I’d be in charge all the way, all day," Shaq added.

"Whoever owns the Brooklyn Nets, get him up out of here."

But, Shaq wasn't done sharing his thoughts on the topic -- he expanded on his take on "The Big Podcast" on Thursday ... saying he is not going to "knock" Irving's right to have an opinion, but the hooper has to think about the bigger picture.

"In this game of ours, sometimes you have to think about others instead of yourself," he said. "Now, Kyrie has his own views and his opinions. I’m not going to knock that."

"He does have an obligation because he took that $200 million. Once you sign up for this life there is no privacy. And you have to accept it."

FYI -- some of that 200 milli will disappear if Kyrie misses all the home games this season ... with the guard reportedly set to lose out on $17.5 million.

Dog the Bounty Hunter has only been on the Brian Laundrie case for a few days, but TMZ has learned he now says Laundrie is alive, and Dog feels he's close to capturing him.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Dog is rolling to a remote site where he says Laundrie is hiding. Dog says he'll be at the site in less than an hour. We're told Dog had obtained information that leads him to believe Laundrie was alive and moving around as of 10 PM on Tuesday.

Dog says his latest information -- 12 hours old -- is that Laundrie is alive and evading capture.

Dog is working with a team that includes skilled ground and boat crews.

Obviously, we cannot confirm Laundrie's location or whether he's even alive, but we're reporting what Dog is saying. We will obviously update once Dog gets to the location.

The Ukrainian Hockey League player who made a wildly offensive and racist gesture toward his Black opponent during a game last weekend has gotten off easy ... only being hit with a 3-game suspension for the vile act.

The UHL announced Andrei Deniskin's punishment on Wednesday ... saying in addition to the 3-game ban, the HC Kremenchuk player could also face an additional 10-game suspension as well.

The league, though, said Deniskin could pay a fine instead of serving the extra 10 games ... making the whole thing feel like nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

Of course, many believed Deniskin's punishment should've been way more harsh ... considering he crossed every line imaginable during his game against HC Donbass on Sunday.

Cameras caught the hockey player directing a banana peeling and eating gesture with his hands toward Jalen Smereck ... after the two had gotten into an altercation on the ice.

The taunt was appalling ... and, in fact, Smereck was so offended by it, he said he would not play another game in the UHL unless Deniskin was booted from the league.

Officials attempted to explain Deniskin's punishment was not more severe due to an agreement between the country's hockey governing bodies.

"The matter was given to the @IIHFHockey of Ukraine’s Disciplinary Committee by the #UHL in accordance with a long-standing agreement between the Federation and the Ukrainian Hockey League," said Eugene Kolychev, the general manager of the UHL.

"The Ukrainian Hockey League and I stand with Jalen #Smereck and thank all of the fans and media who have offered their support to him. The @uhlua believes that there is no place for racism in the world in which we live, let along in the hockey community."

Jesse Palmer is the new permanent host of "The Bachelor" ... replacing Chris Harrison, who was cut loose after his racism scandal.

The move keeps it all in the family, so to speak ... because Jesse's a former 'Bachelor' himself, and now he'll be the face of the ABC franchise for its upcoming 26th season.

Jesse says he's humbled by the opportunity to return to the show as host, and he's looking forward to offering the next 'Bachelor' advice as production is about to begin.

Some of that advice might involve being certain about names of the women in the rose ceremony -- something Jesse learned the hard way in 2005 in one of the show's most infamous moments.

TMZ broke the story ... Chris says he has no hard feelings over his 'Bachelor' exit, telling us he's happy to have his Mondays back and seems at peace with the end of his era.

Chris hosted both shows in the franchise for 2 decades, but he found himself embroiled in scandal this year after he excused historical racism during an interview with ex-'Bachelorette' Rachel Lindsay.

Bill Cosby thinks R. Kelly got a raw deal with a guilty verdict in his federal sex crimes case ... and he's blaming Gloria Allred and systemic racism.

We got Cosby's spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, at Avra in Beverly Hills and asked what his client's reaction was to Kelly's conviction on all 9 counts. He told us Cosby said, "The guy was railroaded."

Naturally, Gloria is drawing most of Cosby and Wyatt's ire ... she represented alleged victims in both Cosby's case and Kelly's, and Andrew says she's running a familiar playbook.

As we reported ... R. Kelly was found guilty Monday on 9 federal counts, including racketeering, sex crimes, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and human trafficking.

While, Kelly's looking at 10 years to life when he gets sentenced in May, Wyatt told us he doesn't think the disgraced singer will actually be sentenced, because an appeals court will overturn the conviction.

He's confident Kelly will walk free one day, just like Cosby, but there's a big difference between their cases.

Cosby's release from prison wasn't about his guilt or innocence -- it happened because the D.A. screwed him on a deal he'd made to avoid prosecution. Far as we know, Kelly didn't have any such deal.

On the eve of Britney Spears' biggest conservatorship hearing, her father is loudly objecting to the guy she wants to replace him -- claiming he lacks the experience and wisdom needed to manage her $60 million fortune.

Jamie Spears has filed docs calling out John Zabel, the certified public accountant Brit and her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, have nominated to become temporary conservator of her estate. Jamie's objection is two-fold, the first part focusing on Zabel's resume.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jamie says the only information Britney's team has provided about Zabel is that he's a CPA with senior "executive experience in finance and in the entertainment industry" -- and that just isn't cutting it for Jamie. He claims just because Zabel is an accountant, it doesn't make him “highly qualified” to be a fiduciary, especially as a conservator.

He goes on to warn that Britney's estate could be at significant risk, because Zabel would have to "hit the ground running" ... but since he lacks experience, he might royally screw it up.

In relation to that lack of experience ... Jamie takes a shot at Zabel for losing $1 million of his own money in a fraudulent real estate investment. It feels like a low bow, but Jamie's point is if he can't do due diligence for his own money, the court shouldn't entrust him with Britney's estate.

The other reason Jamie wants the judge to reject Zabel is ... he believes there's no reason for anyone at all to replace him, because there's no evidence he's done a bad job. As we've reported, Britney and Rosengart strongly disagree with that, and intend to lay out Jamie's alleged on-the-job failings Wednesday in court.

However, Jamie says in the docs, the judge's first order of biz should be dismantling the entire conservatorship, as he and Britney's team -- including her personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery -- have officially requested.

Jamie's logic is clear ... there's no need to name a replacement conservator, IF the judge simply does away with the whole conservatorship. That's a big if, especially because Britney, her father and her attorney want it done without a medical evaluation.

Congressman Danny Davis believes in second chances, and says after R. Kelly does his time ... he'll be given one in his hometown of Chicago.

The Representative from Illinois' 7th congressional district was on Capitol Hill Monday on the heels of the disgraced singer being found guilty on all counts in his federal sex crimes trial ... and offered an interesting perspective on the potential for Kelly to redeem himself.

Rep. Davis tells us because Kelly's a gifted, talented artist ... he believes he'll be welcomed back after serving his prison sentence and offered a chance for redemption.

If you don't know ... Rep. Davis was responsible for submitting the Second Chance Act of 2007, which supports the re-entry of offenders into their communities after they've been incarcerated.

According to Davis ... this law was meant for people exactly like R. Kelly, but he points out that what the singer does with his second chance is entirely up to him.

The Congressman also has some advice for Kelly as he deals with his legal woes and his upcoming sentencing -- which as we reported, ranges from 10 years to life.

Britney Spears is warning fans and viewers of a new documentary about her conservatorship to take it with a grain of salt ... because she claims a lot of the information is untrue.

According to our sources ... Britney's latest Instagram post is specifically calling out the CNN special -- "Toxic: Britney Spears' Battle For Freedom" -- that debuted Sunday night, and she has a list of reasons why she's not down with it.

Aside from Britney claiming it's loaded with inaccuracies -- even though she says she's only watched a little bit of it -- she suggests that it's all about stuff that happened in the past ... and she's trying to move forward.

Brit also seems to take issue with the dialogue not being very "classy," doesn't like the footage they used of her ... and implies the general tone of the special is unkind.

Now, while we're told she's referring to the CNN special, it's actually another one -- the new NYT documentary, "Controlling Britney Spears" -- that made more headlines for the allegation her father, Jamie Spears, recorded her bedroom conversations.

So far, at least, Britney's staying mum on that claim, but as we reported ... her attorney Mathew Rosengart will almost certainly raise the alleged recordings during Wednesday's conservatorship hearing.

Strangely, the singer's IG post takes a left turn where she focuses on her "Rose Project" and how she once kissed Madonna and suffers from social anxiety.

Then, she reveals she's wearing white for her post for "new beginnings" ... which possibly alludes to her huge court hearing and her father finally stepping down as her conservator.