Controversial S#!T

It's somehow getting worse for Jon Gruden, because his emails don't just include racist language ... now there's a report he also used homophobic slurs aimed at Roger Goodell.

Gruden, who already apologized for a racially insensitive email he fired off in 2011, reportedly referred to the NFL Commissioner as a "f*****" and "clueless anti-football p****" ... according to emails obtained by The New York Times.

Gruden also reportedly wrote Goodell should not have pressured former NFL coach, Jeff Fisher, to draft "queers" in 2014 ... referencing Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL.

The alleged homophobic language might not sit well in Gruden's locker room ... he's currently the coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, who have defensive lineman Carl Nassib on the roster, the first active player who is openly gay.

According to The New York Times, Gruden fired off the emails from 2010 to 2018, when he was out of pro football and working as an analyst for "Monday Night Football" on ESPN.

Gruden reportedly aimed homophobic slurs at Goodell in several instances, as well as using other offensive language to describe NFL owners, coaches and media.

Even Barack Obama and Joe Biden were reportedly mentioned in Gruden's emails ... with Gruden ripping Obama during his 2012 re-election campaign and referring to Biden as a "nervous clueless p****."

As we reported ... Gruden's been on the hot seat since a 2011 email was uncovered, where he says NFL Players Association president, DeMaurice Smith, had "lips the size of Michelin tires."

Gruden apologized for the racist email a second time Sunday, after his team lost to the Chicago Bears, saying he doesn't "have an ounce of racism in me."

The new report also says Gruden mocked Caitlyn Jenner in his emails, after she received an award from ESPN in 2015 following her transition.

Gruden's currently in the 4th year of a 10-year, $100 million contract to coach the Raiders ... and it's unclear if he faces any discipline.

Dave Chappelle is now the great emancipator of comedians thanks to his latest Netflix special -- so says Damon Wayans, who drew a parallel to slavery while praising Dave.

We ran into the comic and actor Monday at LAX and got his take on Dave's standup special, 'The Closer' ... which is STILL being hotly debated nearly a week after its release. As for where Damon lands ... count him as firmly in Chappelle's camp.

You gotta watch how DW breaks this down for us ... saying Dave "freed the slaves" as it pertains to other comics who might be fearful to speak on certain subjects in a PC/woke culture world.

He also goes on to call him the van Gogh of the comedy game -- saying he cut off his ear, in a sacrificial sense, to let the others know ... you can still joke, be yourself and operate without fear of being canceled. Or at least, you should be able to in Damon's view.

Our photog asks about the actual content of the special -- namely, the jokes that have deeply offended folks in the LGBT community (especially transgender people) but Dame won't touch on that.

Jon Gruden apologized for his racially insensitive 2011 email once again on Sunday ... insisting he's not a racist and telling reporters, "I can't tell you how sick I am."

The Las Vegas head coach met with media members just minutes after the Raiders' 20-9 loss to the Bears ... and it wasn't long before Gruden had to answer questions about an 11-year-old email that contained racist language.

"I apologize for the insensitive remarks," the 58-year-old said. "I had no racial intentions with those remarks at all."

If you missed it ... during a probe into allegations of workplace misconduct in the Washington Football Team's organization, an email Gruden had sent to a team exec had been discovered by NFL investigators.

In the body of the message, Gruden had said NFL Players Association president DeMaurice Smith had "lips the size of Michelin tires."

Gruden initially apologized on Friday, claiming the comment was not a racist one ... but rather a unique way of calling Smith a liar.

On Sunday, he reiterated that stance yet again ... adding, "I stand here in front of everybody apologizing. I don't have an ounce of racism in me."

"I'm a guy that takes pride in leading people together. I'll continue to do that for the rest of my life. And again I apologize to D. Smith and anybody out there that I have offended."

Gruden said he had yet to meet with NFL officials over the email ... but acknowledged that could happen in the next few days.

It's unclear if the coach faces any discipline. League sources said Friday a probe was ongoing.

Raiders owner Mark Davis, meanwhile, said Gruden's words were "disturbing" and added, "we are addressing the matter with Coach Gruden."

Jon Gruden could lose his job over his 2011 racist email ... so says Raiders legend Tim Brown, who claims firing the head coach is on the table for Las Vegas owner Mark Davis.

"If Mark thinks that there's a problem here, Mark will make a move," Brown said over the weekend during an interview with "SiriusXM NFL Radio," according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"That's how serious Mark is about this kind of stuff. Mark is not going to play this racist stuff. He's not going to allow this stuff to happen."

In a 9-year-old email that Gruden sent to a Washington Football Team exec ... Gruden used racist language to criticize NFL Players Association president DeMaurice Smith.

"Dumboriss Smith has lips the size of Michelin tires," Gruden wrote.

Gruden -- who was an analyst for ESPN at the time -- has apologized vehemently for his language ... but has insisted there were no racial undertones to it.

Instead, Gruden claimed he was just trying to use a different wording of "rubber lips" -- a phrase he says he often uses to describe liars.

Regardless, Brown said he could see Davis bringing out the axe and starting a search for a new head coach over Gruden's words.

"He loves Gruden," Brown said of Davis, "but he loves things being right more than he loves Gruden."

For his part, Brown defended his former head coach -- who he played for with the Raiders from 1998 to 2001 -- saying he does NOT believe the 58-year-old is a racist.

"The way I talk about Gruden, people think he's my dad or something because I have that kind of admiration for him," Brown said.

Demi Lovato has an out-of-this-world take that's bound to get eyeballs rolling -- they think we should retire the term "alien" when referring to extraterrestrials ... seriously.

The pop star made the bizarre plea to us earthlings during an interview with Australian outlet PEDESTRIAN.tv -- in which they say the term "alien" itself is offensive ... even as it pertains to actual would-be aliens from outer space ... who may or may not be zipping around above us.

The context here is that Demi is plugging this new Peacock special of theirs called "Unidentified" ... where they and their pals go looking for proof of Martians, and seem to find something.

While talking shop on their E.T. project, they said this ... "I really think that if there was anything out there that would want to do that to us, it would have happened by now. But, I think that we have to stop calling them aliens because aliens is a derogatory term for anything." DL adds, "That’s why I like to call them ETs! So yeah, that’s a little tidbit. A little information that I learned."

It doesn't sound like Demi got this intel from the actual mothership or anything ... so it's unclear if aliens are, in fact, outraged by humans referring to them as "foreigners," which they would be by the word's definition.

Of course, the term does carry a negative connotation when applied to actual people -- like immigrants to the U.S., for example -- which is why some have called for phrases like "undocumented" and the like to be used instead ... as it's more kosher.

With that said, Demi demanding we nix the term -- one that's been used for at least a century or more in this country -- when talking otherworldly beings ... it's absolutely absurd.

Netflix benched 3 of its own employees -- including one who's trans -- for blasting Dave Chappelle's new stand-up special ... but the network insists it's more over HOW they did it.

The streaming giant reportedly suspended Terra Field -- who identifies as queer/trans, and who uses she/her pronouns -- and two other Netflix workers for crashing a meeting among top execs last week ... which Field and the rest infiltrated, uninvited -- this, per Variety.

It was a virtual quarterly business review sesh ... and, apparently, CEO Ted Sarandos at one point posed a question to the other bigwigs on how Netflix should handle employees/talent who are upset over Chappelle's special, "The Closer," which is full of trans and LGBTQ jokes.

Sounds like Field and co. piped up right then and there ... but no word on what exactly was said. In any case, they're not gonna be reporting to work for an undetermined amount of time over the stunt.

Field had been vocally against Chappelle's special on Twitter prior to the meeting -- something Netflix says it's totally cool with. What they don't approve, it seems, is the stealth move to sneak into the meeting to voice concerns. That, they say, is why she's suspended.

Of course, Chappelle's comments have been called inflammatory -- especially his remark that he sides with J.K. Rowling on the idea that "gender is a fact" ... going on to say he's team T.E.R.F. (trans-exclusionary radical feminist). It's just one thing he said about the community.

Sarandos fired off an internal memo, also obtained by Variety, to employees after this episode, and essentially defended the special and its right to exist on their platform ... saying he didn't think 'Closer' crossed the line into inciting violence against the trans/LGBTQ community -- and that stand-up gets a longer leash by default in that regard.

Seems Netflix has drawn a line in the sand on this issue, and they're on Chappelle's half of it.

Here's Blac Chyna having a very public freakout in an airport terminal ... yelling at folks to "go get f****** vaccinated!!!"

Ya gotta see the video ... Blac Chyna's standing in the terminal with her bodyguards when she yells at someone to get vaxxed and "stop being stupid, hoe!"

Folks who saw BC go nuclear in Miami International Airport tell TMZ ... the incident went down late Sunday night, and she was apparently set off by a fan's request for a picture.

We're told a lady holding a baby went up to Chyna to ask for the photo, and that's when BC started ranting about how the woman better be vaccinated.

Blac Chyna, BTW, is vaccinated ... she got her jab earlier this year while live streaming.

As you can see, most of the airline travelers just sit there in stunned silence ... and no one seems to react much to the animated, blue-haired Blac Chyna as she keeps going off. By the end of the rant, she's not even talking about vaccines -- instead, she was going off about her Washington, DC roots. 🤷🏽‍♂️

White Sox pitcher Ryan Tepera clearly believes the Astros haven't stopped cheating despite being busted in 2020 ... telling reporters Sunday he thinks something fishy is still happening in Houston.

Tepera made the insinuation following the Sox's first playoff victory over the 'Stros ... saying he can see a tangible difference in Houston's offense at Minute Maid Park vs. away from it.

"It's a different game here at our field," Tepera said. "You play at Minute Maid, and they’re doing something over there that's a little different."

Tepera said the Astros' swings and misses on pitches -- they struck out 16 times on Sunday in Chicago vs. 16 total times in the first two games of the series in Houston -- tell the whole story.

"I mean, it is what it is," said Tepera, who threw two scoreless innings in the White Sox's 12-6 win in Game 3 of the ALDS. "They've obviously had a reputation of doing some sketchy stuff over there. We can say that it's a little bit of a difference."

"I think you saw the swings and misses tonight compared to the first two games at Minute Maid."

Of course, the Astros are no strangers to cheating allegations ... they were found to have used an illegal sign-stealing system back in the 2017 and 2018 seasons that ultimately caused Houston to fire manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow.

The team has obviously insisted there's been no cheating since ... but Tepera certainly seems to believe otherwise.

Paul McCartney is doubling down on what happened to the Beatles -- insisting John Lennon broke up the band ... something history has long roped Paul into over the years.

The iconic rocker felt compelled to set the record straight again -- his version of it, anyway -- in an upcoming episode of BBC Radio4's 'This Cultural Life,' as reported by the Guardian, and he puts the blame squarely in John's corner ... claiming the guy walked in one day and announced he was parting ways with the group, adding JL wanted to break loose.

PMC was emphatic about who was at fault, saying ... "Stop right there. I am not the person who instigated the split. Oh no, no, no. John walked into a room one day and said I am leaving the Beatles. Is that instigating the split, or not?" He adds, "This was my band, this was my job, this was my life, so I wanted it to continue."

He goes on to say the other 3 bandmates -- Ringo Starr, George Harrison and himself -- were left to pick up the pieces ... and were even told to keep quiet about it as legal and business matters played out behind the scenes.

Eventually, McCartney made a public announcement in 1970 that he was leaving the band -- the first member to publicly do so -- and since then, he's been accused of being the the driving force to the dissolution.

Of course, Paul's told this story before -- saying John was responsible, that is -- but never quite like this. More often than not, PMC tends to characterize it as a sad chapter, albeit one of growth -- seeing how John met Yoko. Now, however, he's firmly pointing the finger.

The timing here is also interesting ... Saturday marked what would've been John's 81st birthday, and Paul actually threw something up on IG to honor him. He posted a black and white photo of the two of them on their guitars, writing ... "Happy Birthday thoughts for John - Paul."

Some 24 hours later, word of him kinda bad-mouthing his old pal leaks -- a man who isn't here to defend himself. As you know, John was killed in 1980 by Mark David Chapman.

Southwest Airlines blames weather and tower issues for nearly 2,000 of their flights getting nixed this weekend -- but many think the real reason is ... a pilot strike over vaccines.

Here's the deal ... upwards of 1,800 SA flights (and counting) were straight-up canceled between Saturday and Sunday all over the country -- leaving even more would-be passengers stranded or without air travel for the holiday weekend.

Southwest has said poor weather conditions in FL and subsequent air traffic control roadblocks there were responsible for the mass cancelations -- but the FAA pushed back, admitting Friday was a bit of a mess in Jacksonville ... but noting Saturday/Sunday seemed fine. Other airlines also reported significantly less cancelations over the same time period.

So ... what gives??? It appears somebody's not being forthright on why so many Southwest flights continue to stay grounded -- but there's a theory that might have some credence.

On Friday, Southwest's pilot union filed legal docs seeking to halt a vaccine mandate that went into effect last week -- following Biden's order for federal workers and/or contractors, which applies to the airline. That was left unresolved heading into the weekend, it seems.

While Southwest hasn't spoken on a possible strike ... the union itself shot down the notion they were to blame, saying ... "[W]e can say with confidence that our Pilots are not participating in any official or unofficial job actions." Then ... some major shade.

They add... "Our Pilots will continue to overcome SWA management’s poor planning, as well as any external operational challenges, and remain the most productive Pilots in the world."

On the record, they're denying any sort of protest -- but there are reports, citing airline sources, that a massive "sickout" went down, and that ripple effects are still being felt.

George Clooney is shooting down any notion of diving into politics -- saying he doesn't want the stress ... while also noting Joe Biden deserves a break after Trump's presidency.

The actor sat down with BBC's Andrew Marr Sunday to plug his new movie, "The Tender Bar," and eventually ... they got to talking about President Biden and ex-Prez Trump -- the former of whom GC says will need time to clean up the mess he says DT left behind.

Marr noted Biden's poll numbers are down -- in the wake of Afghanistan and other issues -- but George brushed those off as fleeting and ever-changing. He likened the U.S. today as a battered child, and that thinking they'll be okay on the first day of school is foolish.

Bottom line ... George says there's a lot of healing that still needs to happen, and that these repairs will take time. So, Biden not fixing things ASAP is NBD to him -- and he backs him.

Speaking of Trump ... Clooney also dishes on what Donald was like back in the day -- saying he was nothing but a knucklehead chasing girls. He also says Trump despises his staunchest supporters ... rural folks from middle America, who come out in droves to his rallies.

Morgan Wallen is a bro, so it's no shock he got a wild reception onstage Saturday night in the City of Brotherly Love.

Wallen was a surprise guest during the Eric Church concert. Wallen walked on stage and told the capacity crowd, "What's going on, Philadelphia?!!?"

Church had been singing Wallen's song, "Sand in My Boots," when Wallen walked out to roaring applause and cheering,

The duo then sang more of Wallen's songs, including "Whiskey Glasses," "Somebody's Problem," "Silverado for Sale," and "Quittin' Time."

It's an interesting pairing. Wallen has long called Church his musical hero -- and Chruch even offered words of encouragement after Wallen dropped the n-word after a night of partying.

Church said at the time, "That was indefensible ... I was heartbroken when it happened.  I think Morgan's trying to work on that and on himself. And I hope he does." Wallen dropped out of sight for several months to deal with it.

Wallen is getting ready for 4 shows this fall ... 2 in Alabama, one in Georgia and another in Tennessee.

Matthew McConaughey says he's still not sure if he'll run for Governor of Texas -- heavily suggesting it's NOT in the cards for him, considering how little leg work he's done thus far.

The actor did a wide-ranging interview with the NYT's Kara Swisher for a recent episode of her 'Sway' podcast ... and it's pretty astounding how little Matt knows about current issues, and how unwilling he seems to be in committing to one side of the aisle or another ... or even expressing a clear cut, definitive view of what he considers right or wrong.

The one thing he did clarify -- after constant (and much-needed) follow-up questions from Swisher on where he landed/what he's going to do -- is that he's woefully unprepared for a serious gov run in the Lone Star State ... as he's only in the consulting phase right now.

Matt says he hasn't started forming committees, conducting polls or much of anything else yet that comes with getting a legit campaign started and rolling. Apparently, he's still just talking to certain people about the idea of running ... and the election is just a year away.

MMC also says this about the proposition ... "Who am I going to be? No, who -- who am I going to be? Where can I be most useful? Is politics an embassy for me to be of the most use to myself, to my family, to the most amount of people in my life moving forward?' He adds, "I could arguably have more influence as an informal leader than a formal leader."

He also called the current American political system (2 parties, seemingly extreme views on both sides) "broken" ... implying he was more of a centrist than anything, also saying in philosopher fashion that he continues to "measure" what avenue would be best for him.

What that measurement entails, exactly, is anyone's guess ... but Matt says he's "studying" the issue. Speaking of issues, he actually did end up weighing in on some concrete ones, after incessant badgering (and explaining of said issues) from Swisher. On mask mandates in TX ... for. On voter rights protections ... for. On the abortion bill ... against.

You can listen to the full podcast to hear how he explains his rationale for each -- some explanations of which are a bit of a doozy, and sorta hard to unpack. But, based on how he answers, McConaughey appears to lean center-left ... more than anything.

At one point, Swisher asks what he made of Beto O'Rourke saying Matt was an enigma, and hadn't made a lot of his positions clear -- something he thinks is essential to being a real contender in modern-day U.S. politics. Swisher said she perceived that as "shade."

Saweetie is denying partaking in colorism after an old chat she had with Too Short resurfaced anew -- pointing out that ... yes, she checked him and defended Black women.

This IG Live convo between the two rappers went down sometime last year, and for whatever reason ... it popped up on social media again this weekend, with folks criticizing both her and the Bay Area legend for many perceived as pitting biracial Black people against those who are 100% Black.

In the clip, you hear Short say that he loves biracial women ... and that he's never fallen in love with any woman who wasn't mixed. Saweetie -- at that point in the convo -- was just taking it in, without any real pushback in the moment ... and sorta yukking it up with him.

TS goes on to say that biracial babies are also the most beautiful ones, to him at least, and that no biracial baby can be ugly. While he didn't say this, per se ... the assumption is that other babies, perhaps, of one race or ethnicity could be less than cute, in his eyes.

It's worth noting ... the reason they got to talking about this in the first place is because Saweetie herself is half Black/half Filipino -- and she's also from NorCal, which they noted is pretty diverse, especially among the Asian community.

Despite that context, some felt Saweetie's reaction here -- in this particular moment -- was less than supportive of Black women, and many are even calling it anti-Black ... which she was apparently perpetuating by not speaking out against Short. She did, though ... just later.

Saweetie posted another clip from that same IG chat, and sure enough ... she notes to Too Short that Black women are beautiful babies, and do indeed make beautiful babies as well.

Actor Kristian Nairn, who played Hodor on "Game of Thrones," thinks Dave Chappelle shouldn't make jokes at the expense of the LGBTQ community.

Nairn was on Robertson Boulevard in L.A. Friday when our photog asked about the heat Dave's taking over his latest Netflix special. He makes a case that he's not transphobic or homophobic, but not everyone in the LGBTQ community is buying it and some are calling for a boycott.

Kristian, who came out as gay back in 2014, suggests Dave should stay in his lane and not take shots at communities that don't affect him.

Chapelle couldn't care less about the cancel calls ... he made that clear earlier this week. And, he tripled down at the Hollywood Bowl Thursday night, and Stevie Wonder, Snoop, Lizzo, Jon Hamm and others took the stage and had his back.

Bill Maher ended his show Friday night with a message ... "I hope I scared the s*** out of you," and he delivered ... by laying out a believable scenario of how the 2024 Presidential election will go down.

Maher believes we are in the grips of what he calls a "slow-moving coup" at the hands of Donald Trump, and his evidence is really hard to rebut. As he says, Trump learned from 2020 that you can't overturn an election with the current players in place, so he's been spending most of his time trying to change all that.

The evidence is out there ... we've seen Trump trying to purge the GOP of RINOs and endorsing secretaries of state all over the country -- these are the folks who manage elections. Trump's also been active in trying to change state legislatures so his people are in place who can grab more power over election tabulations. And, of course, he'll be the beneficiary of the 2022 midterms, when Republicans are expected to regain control of the House.

As you know ... the House certifies the election and although Trump couldn't get the results overturned in 2020, the landscape will shift in such a way that it could happen the next time around.

And, here's the craziest part ... Maher says it doesn't matter who Trump is running against. Even if it looks like the Democrat won, the day after the election Trump will declare victory and the pieces will be in place to affirm it -- whether he really wins or loses.

And, wait till you hear him lay out what might happen on January 20, 2025. It's a set up for civil war.