Controversial S#!T

Longtime MLB announcer Jim Kaat is in some scalding hot water ... after he shockingly made a slavery reference while calling the Astros vs. White Sox ALDS playoff game Friday.

Kaat's comment came in the 2nd inning of Game 2 as Chicago infielder Yoan Moncada stepped up to the plate ... when co-announcer Buck Showalter shared a story about the first time he saw the 26-year-old Cuban star in person.

The ex-Orioles manager said he remembered asking the Baltimore front office, "Can we have one of those" ... to which Kaat replied, "Get a 40-acre field full of 'em."

82-year-old Kaat apologized for the comment a few innings later ... saying, "Earlier in the game, when Yoan Moncada was at the plate, in an attempt to compliment the great player that he is, I used a poor choice of words that resulted in an insensitive and hurtful remark and I'm sorry for that."

Kaat is getting grilled for the cookie cutter apology ... with many calling him out for apparently reading the statement off a piece of paper.

The comment comes just months after Detroit Tigers announcer Jack Morris was suspended for using a mocking accent during a Shohei Ohtani at-bat.

Bill Cosby is way off with his R. Kelly theory about the singer getting a raw deal in his federal sex crimes case ... according to one of Kelly's victims.

Faith Rodgers, who previously testified she's a victim of Kelly's sexual misconduct, spoke out Friday for the first time since the singer was convicted on all 9 federal counts ... and she says Kelly tried to threaten her into silence.

With attorney Gloria Allred by her side, Faith ripped Cosby's spokesman, Andrew Wyatt, for telling TMZ ... his client's reaction to Kelly's conviction was, "The guy was railroaded."

Faith says that line of thinking, and terminology, is "beyond insulting" to all of Kelly's victims.

What's more, she claims Kelly threatened her multiple times after she decided to come forward as a victim. She says the alleged threats included publishing nude pictures and videos of her.

As we reported ... Kelly was found guilty last month on 9 federal counts, including sex crimes, human trafficking, kidnapping, racketeering and obstruction of justice and human trafficking. He's looking at 10 years to life when he gets sentenced next year.

Jon Gruden says he's sorry for sending an email back in 2011 that contained racist language ... saying the comment he wrote was "horrible."

The email, according to the Wall Street Journal, was sent to Washington Football Team exec Bruce Allen ... and it contained a nasty remark about NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith.

"Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of michellin tires," Gruden wrote, according to the report.

The email was sent at a time when the NFLPA and the NFL owners were feuding over the league's collective bargaining agreement.

Gruden, who at the time was a broadcaster for ESPN, told the WSJ he didn't "specifically recall writing the email" -- but he added he was still "really sorry" for it.

"I was upset," 58-year-old Gruden said. "I used a horrible way of explaining it."

"I don't think he's dumb. I don't think he's a liar,” Gruden added. "I don't have a racial bone in my body, and I've proven that for 58 years."

Gruden went on to say he had, in the past, called liars "rubber lips" and went "too far" in his message about Smith to Allen.

What's interesting, NFL sources tell TMZ Sports the email was found by league investigators while they were conducting a probe into allegations of workplace misconduct in the Washington Football Team organization.

They added the league is currently investigating the matter.

Smith, meanwhile, told the WSJ he was disappointed to learn of the comments Gruden wrote behind his back ... explaining, "Racism like this comes from the fact that I'm at the same table as they are and they don't think someone who looks like me belongs."

"I'm sorry my family has to see something like this but I would rather they know. I will not let it define me."

The Raiders -- who hired Gruden away from ESPN to be their head coach in 2018 -- have yet to comment.

The Kenosha PD officer who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times -- and who's avoided state prosecution -- will also not face federal charges.

The U.S. Justice Department said Friday it will not pursue federal criminal charges against Rusten Sheskey. The feds say "the evidence obtained is insufficient to prove that the KPD officer willfully used excessive force."

Remember, Blake was unarmed, back in August 2020, when Sheskey opened fire at point-blank range. Video of the shooting sparked racial justice protests across the country, and led to the Kyle Rittenhouse shooting.

According to the feds ... a team of experienced federal prosecutors from the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office reviewed the evidence to determine whether the police officer violated any federal laws.

The feds added that "a detailed and lengthy analysis of numerous materials, including police reports, law enforcement accounts, witness statements, affidavits of witnesses, dispatch logs, physical evidence reports, photographs and videos of some portions of the incident."

In essence ... prosecutors say they couldn't establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the officer "willfully" deprived Jacob of his constitutional rights. The feds say "neither accident, mistake, fear, negligence, nor bad judgment is sufficient to establish a willful federal criminal civil rights violation."

As we reported ... Kenosha County District Attorney Michael D. Graveley also announced back in January that Sheskey would not be charged for the shooting. Graveley said Sheskey acted in self-defense, and it was necessary for the officer to use lethal force to stop Jacob from potentially harming him or others.

The shooting left Jacob paralyzed. The Justice Dept. says it's already informed his family about the decision not to charge Sheskey.

The Waffle House employee holding a baby while she worked didn't just take heat online, but an online scammer also made up a backstory about the incident for financial gain ... TMZ has learned.

As you may know ... a TikTok of the Waffle House worker went viral last weekend, because she was holding a baby while it appeared she was helping the cooks prepare meals.

In researching the incident, a person contacted us claiming to be the employee and gave us a tragic backstory explaining why she was holding the child in the video -- claiming the baby was the child of her dead brother.

This person posing as the employee also told us she was suspended for a week by Waffle House ... all of which we now know is NOT TRUE.

Waffle House's VP of Public Relations, Njeri Boss, tells TMZ ... they investigated the TikTok video and "have determined that the media portrayals and social media posts are not accurate."

Boss adds ... "While an employee of ours was recorded holding a baby at work, she is not related to that baby in any manner, never identified herself as the person in the TikTok video, never provided a CashApp account to receive any donations, never gave an interview to any media outlet, and never was suspended from her job."

Fortunately, TMZ did not include any of the scammer's CashApp info in our story, but some people out there did ... and likely donated to a phony cause.

Waffle House further explains that the employee in the TikTok vid held a baby belonging to her co-worker in an attempt to quickly settle the crying child ... and she's been coached and re-trained on proper safety guidelines going forward.

The restaurant chain adds ... "We caution against further dissemination of that false story and the damages that might result, not to mention the help that might give to support an apparent fraud on the public."

"If this is what being canceled is like, I love it."

That's how Dave Chappelle greeted the audience Thursday night at the star-studded screening of his new documentary at L.A.'s Hollywood Bowl ... after receiving a standing ovation despite the swirling controversy over his new Netflix special, "The Closer."

Dave also railed on Twitter, the media and "all these stupid-ass networks" to the celeb-packed crowd that included Brad Pitt, Tiffany Haddish, Donnell Rawlings and more ... saying, "I’m not talking to them. I’m talking to you. This is real life."

Along with Chappelle dismissing cancel culture in wake of being called out for transphobic jokes and offending the LGBTQ+ community in his new stand-up special, Stevie Wonder also took the stage following the premiere of Dave's 'Untitled' doc to chide the idea of being canceled.

Instead, Stevie said society needs to work on canceling hate and fear and focus on loving each other. Interestingly enough, Chappelle also promoted coming together as people and trusting one another again, and spoke of a "kindness conspiracy" to get it going.

Along with Dave addressing his adoring crowd, other guest performers included Jeff Ross, Michael Buffer, Snoop Dogg, Nas, Jon Hamm and others before Chappelle closed things out by saying ... "Thank god I'm canceled because f**k this shit anyway. I bet you I'll be someone better than you think."

Donald Trump ramped up his anti-immigration rhetoric on TV Thursday night ... telling Sean Hannity the thousands of Haitian migrants believed to be heading to America's border likely have AIDS.

The ex-President did his best DaBaby impression by spewing out ignorant claims about the disease, suggesting on "Hannity" that because Haiti has a "tremendous AIDS problem" ... accepting people from there is "like a death wish for our country."

What Trump's comments ignore, however, is that while there may be a large number of people living with HIV/AIDs in Haiti ... it's impossible to know if those trying to flee the country are afflicted.

Likewise, even if migrants with AIDS are admitted to the U.S. ... it does not equate to a "death wish."

Later in his chat with Hannity, Trump also alleged other countries are "emptying out their prisons into the United States."

Meyers Leonard is breaking his silence and giving his first on-camera interview to TMZ Sports after using an anti-Semitic slur ... addressing the bonds he's formed with the Jewish community, death threats he's received, and his desire to return to the basketball court.

"It's hard to explain," Leonard told us out in Beverly Hills. "The people who have been the most loving and the most compassionate, showing the most grace, have been so many people from the Jewish community."

Remember, 29-year-old Meyers -- the 11th overall pick in the 2012 draft -- dropped the k-word while streaming on Twitch back in March. He was almost immediately traded to the OKC Thunder, who cut him.

Since being released, Leonard has been incredibly active within the Jewish community, including meeting a bunch of kids at a synagogue in Boca Raton ... where he got emotional while discussing the incident with the students.

It's just one of many things Leonard's done to educate himself ... in the process, forging tight bonds with Jewish people of all ages.

"I can honestly sit and talk for an hour about this. About all the different experiences with little kids in the Jewish community, to teenagers, all the way up to Rabbis, who have just been so generous with their time and so understanding."

Meyers says in the wake of the comments, both he and his family had to deal with terrible abuse online, including people threatening to sexually assault and murder his spouse.

"It's been a very, very long and hard process," Leonard says ... "When the death threats, and my wife is being told 'don't leave your house, we're gonna rape you.' And, these things. It was hard. So, a lot of these things are difficult to share, but over time I've been able to heal."

As for Meyers' hoops career, he's gunning to get back in the league ... and says it'd be a dream come true to return to Pat Riley's team.

"I would be ecstatic if I could play for the Miami Heat again. I fell in love with that place, I really did. My wife and I love it there."

Meyers continued ... "There's something about the culture there that's just me."

Whether it's back in South Florida or in another NBA city ... Leonard -- a 9 year NBA vet -- just hopes he has a chance to return to the game he loves.

LSU head coach Ed Orgeron made an eye-opening comment toward a prank caller on his radio show this week ... when he seemingly threatened to make the guy disappear -- and people are pissed.

Here's how it went down ... Coach O was taking calls from listeners on his weekly show on Wednesday, when one person asked the 60-year-old to wish his sister a happy birthday.

When Orgeron asked for more details about the fake birthday girl, the caller described her as "a little blonde-headed girl" ... and then dropped the line, "Try not to have sex with her," before getting cut off. That got O worked up.

While the hosts tried to brush it off and move on to the next topic, Orgeron wanted to address the heckler.

"You know, down the bayou, we got a nice little fishing hole for people like that," O said.

The phrase is a popular term in Louisiana (ask a local) ... and once Orgeron's comment started to spread around social media, it didn't take long for people to sound off on Twitter.

Some users are going as far as to say Orgeron should be fired for the comment.

"Coach O should be terminated immediately for cause because if this call," one user said. "He is the highest paid State employee and just threatened to kill a man. He is not mature enough for this job. I am formally calling for his termination"

"Should've called a timeout Coach ...," another user added.

Kings and Suns fans ain't going to love this ...

Jerry West says he cannot believe both Phoenix and Sacramento passed on Luka Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft, saying he was straight-up convinced the kid was going to be a superstar.

"Oh my God," Jerry said this week. "I can't believe that someone let him go. I can't."

The L.A. Clippers exec revealed his love for the Dallas Mavericks point guard on the "Getcha Popcorn Ready with T.O. and Hatch" show on Fubo Sports Network ... saying when he first saw Luka, he noticed some Kobe Bryant-esque traits to his game.

Like Kobe, West said, Luka dominated older competition at a young age ... and was clearly the best player in his draft class.

"He was a unique kid," West explained to Terrell Owens and Matthew Hatchette. "At 15 years of age, he was competing against men in Europe."

Still, the Suns drafted Deandre Ayton and the Kings went with Marvin Bagley Jr.

Even the Atlanta Hawks, who drafted Doncic at #3 overall, later sent him to the Mavs in exchange for Trae Young -- which all clearly had West shaking his head.

"He was 15 years old," West said of Luka, "but not competing, excelling!"

There's more, West also told the guys what made him so intrigued about Bryant before the 1996 draft ... and he also revealed what two football players really stand out to him.

If Ben Simmons wants out of town, it certainly seems mutual with the fans ... 'cause spectators ripped into the NBA star during a taping of AEW Rampage in Philly on Wednesday -- chanting, "F*** Ben Simmons!!"

Of course, Sixers fans ain't happy with the former #1 overall pick amid reports he'd rather lose out on his $33 MILLION salary this season than suit up for Philly ever again.

Considering fans may not get a chance to express their anger towards Simmons at a Sixers game -- assuming he won't show up -- they found an opportunity at the AEW event ... and man, they went at the guy HARD.

Several fans in the audience captured it on video -- you can hear the huge crowd joining together to shout out the NSFW chant as the event goes on.

While the Sixers star's trade demand is still on the table, the team is still trying to make things work ... so it could get really awk with fans if he ends up staying in Philly.

The 76ers' first preseason game at home is Thursday -- let's see if the chants continue.

Dave Chappelle couldn't care less what anyone thinks about his controversial LGBTQ comments in his Netflix stand-up special ... Dude's all smiles.

The comedian hit up Peppermint Club in Hollywood Wednesday night where he performed ... and a throng of paps got him and his entourage on their way out. Dave's chill despite feeling the heat following his latest stand-up special, "The Closer."

The photogs are peppering him with questions about the blowback over his comments about the LGBTQ community, but he doesn't answer. He does, however, offer a parting shot as he drives away ... "Dumb-ass questions."

Dave came under fire after, among other things, joking the gay community cared more about torpedoing DaBaby's career for his homophobic rant than the fact he shot and killed someone at a Walmart. BTW ... DaBaby allegedly fired in self-defense and was never charged.

He kicked it off with, "In our country, you can shoot and kill a n****, but you better not hurt a gay person's feelings. And this is precisely the disparity that I wish to discuss."

Dave also said "Gender is a fact" because "every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth."

Omarion says Lil Fizz owning up to his mistake in public was the right thing to do -- and seems ready to move past it ... something he also thinks needs to apply to Chris Brown.

The B2K singer reflected on the poignant moment from over the weekend with us at LAX, when Omarion got a mea culpa from his bandmate ... for going out with this baby mama a couple years ago, while still going on tour with Omarion around the same time.

Check out how he characterizes it now after the fact ... O says the apology wasn't necessarily expected, but firmly notes it was "appropriate" all things considered.

Still, sounds like it's all water under a bridge now -- seeing how these two guys will continue performing together as the Millennium Tour rolls on. Also, ya gotta figure Omarion knew Fizz would be saying sorry ... 'cause, c'mon, he's running point on this whole reunion.

Anyway, our photog also asked about another controversy that surfaced during the L.A. stop of the Millennium Tour -- namely, Lizzo catching heat for fangirling over CB backstage.

The ultimate question, of course, is do people need to move on and cut Chris some slack after the 2009 Rihanna beating -- something she herself appears to have moved past.

One of the biggest stars in the National Women's Soccer League is calling out the organization's failures to address serious allegations of sexual harassment ... with Alex Morgan demanding major changes.

As we previously reported, the North Carolina Courage fired coach Paul Riley amid allegations of sexual coercion spanning multiple teams and leagues dating back to 2010.

Two of Riley’s former players -- Meleana "Mana" Shim and Sinead Farrelly -- were among some of the players who came forward to detail their alleged experiences with Riley over the years ... and on Tuesday, Morgan joined them on "Today" to discuss the toxic culture within the league.

"I'm here to support Mana and Sinead and to continue to amplify their voices, and just show the systemic failure from the league and how wrong they did in handling Mana's case and complaint and investigation and where they failed Mana and Sinead, and probably many other women," Morgan said.

Morgan claims there were times when the league didn't even have an anti-harassment policy, human resources department, anonymous hotline or any other way to report alleged incidents ... which made it challenging for players to speak up.

Shim also detailed her experiences with Riley, saying ... "He's a predator. He sexually harassed me, he sexually coerced Sinead, and he took away our careers."

"From early on, there was a possession not just from Paul, but from the team that I was playing for. They silenced me for multiple issues, my sexuality being the most important one, and I was just very, very uncomfortable the whole time."

She added ... "And, every day I showed up to work, every day I practiced, every game I played, I didn't have confidence and I was scared. The only thing that got me through was my teammates."

Riley is now out of the job ... and so is NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird, who resigned amid the backlash.

Mark Zuckerberg has sounded off on the Facebook whistleblower, saying her testimony blatantly misrepresents what his company does ... and he's listed several examples he believes prove how her allegations "don't make any sense."

The Facebook founder responded late Tuesday to claims made by Frances Haugen in front of Congress earlier in the day, with an outright denial and series of counterpoints to her overall belief that Facebook puts profits over people, deepens divides and damages the mental health of the youth.

Zuckerberg writes ... "We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health. It's difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives."

He then goes on to pick apart Haugen's points one by one, by listing all the ways he says Facebook prioritizes research, fighting harmful content, transparency and bringing people together.

Zuckerberg also refutes Haugen's most damaging allegation by saying, "At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That's just not true."

He adds ... "The argument that we deliberately push content that makes people angry for profit is deeply illogical. We make money from ads, and advertisers consistently tell us they don't want their ads next to harmful or angry content."

The Facebook founder also responds in great detail to Haugen's claims regarding teenage mental health and how social media negatively affects it. Zuckerberg claims the company is deeply committed to creating the opposite experience for young people, and even offers statistics to back it up.

He says ... "The research actually demonstrated that many teens we heard from feel that using Instagram helps them when they are struggling with the kinds of hard moments and issues teenagers have always faced."

Finally, Zuckerberg puts some heat on Congress to update internet regulations to aid in some of the problem areas of social media ... essentially saying it shouldn't be all on Facebook.

As we reported ... Haugen likened Facebook to Big Tobacco during her Tuesday testimony, and called on the government to step in.

'15 Minutes of Shame' documentary subject Emmanuel Cafferty says he was canceled after fidgeting with his fingers got misinterpreted as him throwing up the "white power" hand gesture ... and he says his life's been derailed ever since.

Cafferty joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday ... 16 months after he was unceremoniously axed from his dream job at the San Diego Gas & Electric company, mere hours after someone took a picture of him while his arm was hanging out the window of his company truck.

The picture, Cafferty says, caught him cracking his knuckles one by one and fidgeting with them -- but the person who took the picture posted it, accusing Cafferty of making the "OK" sign that's been adopted by white supremacists.

The picture was also taken less than 2 miles from a Black Lives Matter protest, and just days after George Floyd was killed.

Cafferty, who is Mexican-American, says he was swiftly suspended without pay before ultimately getting fired. He says he's furious this all happened even after the person who originally posted the photo deleted his account along with the picture, and later admitted he might have misinterpreted the gesture.

The ordeal Cafferty, and many other people, have gone through is the subject of the new HBO Max documentary produced by Monica Lewinsky. It's an in-depth look at what she calls the public shaming epidemic ... aka cancel culture.