Controversial S#!T

Corey Benjamin -- former Chicago Bulls guard -- is apologizing for his teenage daughter after she blindsided an opponent, clobbering her with a punch to the head during a basketball game last weekend.

"This is not how I raised my daughter," Benjamin said.

TMZ Sports published video earlier this week showing Benjamin's teenage daughter flattening her 15-year-old opponent with a haymaker for seemingly no reason during a basketball game in southern California on Sunday.

Alice Ham, the mother of the girl who was punched, tells us her daughter sustained a concussion as a result of the punch.

The former 1st round draft pick in 1998 -- who played 4 seasons in the NBA, averaging 5.5 points for his career -- spoke to NBC LA ... and it's clear the former hooper knows his daughter really screwed up.

"To the young lady who was punched by my daughter during a youth basketball game, I sincerely apologize to you and I am praying for your complete healing both physically and emotionally," Benjamin said.

"To her family, I deeply apologize and regret that this happened to your daughter as she did not deserve this to happen to her. Finally, I apologize to all of those who have been impacted and hurt by the actions of my daughter as well as those of her mother. I am here for your family and wish only the best for you."

It's interesting ... Corey also said sorry for the mom of his daughter ... who is seemingly heard on video directing her kid to hit the 15-year-old just seconds before the attack.

Corey continued ... "As a father, I'm shocked and disappointed at my daughter's behavior as this is not a reflection of the values and standards that my family holds. Nor does it exemplify the values, character and spirit of sportsmanship that the game of basketball requires."

"My daughter made a mistake. One that she will need to make right. I am committed to getting my daughter any help she may need and support her in taking accountability for her conduct."

But, the apology from Corey might not be enough ... 'cause Ham has lawyered up, hiring attorney Kevin Hahn.

Nestor Carbonell, the weather guy on "The Morning Show," says his character is the new poster child for cancel culture -- and how out of control it's gotten -- which was the whole point of season 2.

Nestor plays Yanko Flores on the Apple TV+ drama, and when we saw him at LAX, he solved a tiny mystery about his storyline. Don't worry ... if ya haven't seen it yet, we're not giving away much.

In a nutshell ... Yanko was doing a report about famed groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, when he refers to the little guy as his "spirit animal." That sets off a "woke mob" backlash, his bosses get pissed and the weatherman meteorologist gets hung out to dry.

Fans have been debating whether the Yanko plot was mocking cancel culture or embracing it -- and, not to offend equestrian lovers -- but, we went straight to the horse's mouth for the answer.

Nestor tells us, "What [Yanko] was canceled for was kind of absurd, which is kind of the point." There ya have it ... straight-up satire!!!

Donald Trump seemingly defended the Capitol insurrectionists who were out to hang then Vice President Mike Pence, claiming they were understandably angry.

Trump did an interview with ABC's Jonathan Karl, who asked 45 whether he was worried for the Veep's safety back on January 6th. Trump poo-pooed the notion Pence was in danger, saying "I thought he was well-protected and I had heard he was in good shape."

That didn't satisfy Karl, who noted how terrible the rioter's conduct was, to which Trump said, "well, the people were very angry." Karl shot back, "They were saying, 'hang Mike Pence.'"

Trump then launched into the defense of the crowd, saying, "Because it's common sense, Jon. How can you -- if you know a vote is fraudulent, right? How can you pass on a fraudulent vote to Congress? How can you do that?"

So, Trump is in essence saying Pence deserved the ire of the crowd, because he wouldn't block certification of the election.

Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian is going to bat for Bo Davis after he aggressively cussed players out over a bad loss this weekend ... praising the d-line coach's passion as a positive moment.

As we previously reported, Davis was heard calling players "motherf***ers" on the team bus after losing 30-7 loss to Iowa State on Saturday ... going in on the athletes for seemingly not taking the beating seriously.

The clip has been polarizing -- some say Davis crossed a line, while others defend the coach for giving a damn deep in an underwhelming season.

Sark made his stance clear with reporters on Thursday ... defending his staffer and also criticizing the player who leaked the audio.

"I think one thing that jumped out to me when I first saw the video was, one, you could hear the passion in Bo's voice," Sark said. "We really believe in the staff that we hired and what we came here to do."

"I think you could feel the passion and the want to get it done. I think that Bo exemplifies that."

As for the player seemingly trying to expose the coach's behavior in a negative light, Sark claims that does not reflect the entire reaction from the team.

Travis Scott and his team were oblivious to the mass casualties in the crowd at his show while he continued to perform, so says his attorney, who claims emergency workers never relayed the message ... and Travis didn't know the scope of what happened until the next day.

Ed McPherson was on 'GMA' Friday, saying there's still a lot to do in investigating exactly what went wrong last week, but he insists his client was in the dark.

McPherson says Travis was clueless about the calamity in the crowd because he had an earpiece blaring music, blinding lights and no one gave him a heads up. As we reported, Travis even left after the concert and hit up Dave & Busters for an afterparty ... unaware that people had died and hundreds were injured.

McPherson points out the now-viral video of Travis stopping the show to get a fan help who had passed out. He also says it was hard for Travis to determine that at one point there was an ambulance in the crowd ... saying it looked more like a golf cart with lights.

When pushed as to whether or not Travis was inciting his audience to get aggressive by telling them to "rage" -- a phrase he's used for years -- McPherson says that was simply Travis trying to get his crowd into the show and have a good time.

TMZ broke the story, Houston cops were seen taking photos and videos while Travis performed 25 mins after the event was considered a "mass casualty event." McPherson says this is further evidence Travis didn't have a clue what was happening. The lawyer points out, if the cops didn't know ... how could Travis?

On Thursday, 22-year-old Bharti Shahani succumbed to her injuries suffered during the show, she was allegedly trampled during a crowd crush, suffering multiple heart attacks and being declared brain dead.

Soulja Boy says fans should be more aware of their surroundings the next time they're at a crowded concert like Astroworld ... but it's also on organizers to create a safe environment.

We got the rapper in NYC on Thursday and asked him what artists are doing to prevent another deadly scene like the one we saw in Houston from happening again.

Soulja says it will take a collective effort to prevent another tragedy ... telling us it's also up to fans to enjoy themselves without getting too wild and making sure they know what's going on around them.

As you know ... the death toll from the Travis Scott show now stands at 9.

SB says people can get caught up in the concert, especially when they all have their phones out, and that's when bad things can happen.

But it's not just up to the fans ... Soulja says venues and promoters need to take the proper precautions for everyone's safety, no matter if it's looked at as an inconvenience. Interestingly, he did not mention the responsibility of the artist.

First responders were desperate to get Travis Scott fans help, even calling for the show to end in order to help those needing serious medical attention ... and you can hear the urgency in their radio communications that night.

Several audio clips have surfaced online of Houston Police officers and other medical personnel addressing the issues of crowd crushing, fans passing out and even structural issues during Scott's performance. Things are clearly dire, as one voice says, "... folks are coming out of the crowd complaining of difficulty breathing."

During another radio transmission, emergency workers can be heard saying, "... a lot of people trampled and passed out at the front of the stage."

While the audio doesn't make it clear exactly what time all of this was happening, one thing is certain ... authorities knew things were bad. In fact, at one point they flat out say, "They have to stop the show because there's people trampled and (inaudible) not breathing."

Of course, the major question now -- apart from how 9 people died -- is where the communication broke down between emergency responders and show organizers.

TMZ broke the story, Houston PD officers were spotted taking cellphone video and photos of Travis and Drake as the rappers hyped up the crowd.

According to the timestamps, the officers were seen calmly watching Travis perform between 9:57 PM and 10:02 PM.

Rev. Jesse Jackson tells us, "I'll be in court next week." He says the line of thinking from Gough is "unacceptable" and a "public trial involves public observation."

Sharpton tells us, "The arrogant insensitivity of attorney Kevin Gough in asking a judge to bar me or any minister of the family’s choice underscores the disregard for the value of the human life lost and the grieving of a family in need spiritual and community support."

He continues, "I respect the defense attorney doing his job but this is beyond defending your client, it is insulting the family of the victim."

The lawyer for defendant William 'Roddie' Bryan in the Ahmaud Arbery trial complained to the judge ... "black pastors" coming to court and sitting with the family is unfair.

Attorney Kevin Gough voiced his displeasure in open court after Rev. Al Sharpton showed up to sit with Arbery's family inside the courtroom.

Gough groused, "I've got nothing personally against Mr. Sharpton ... but if we're starting a precedent where we're gonna bring high-profile members of the African-American community into the courtroom to sit with the family during the trial in the presence of the jury, I believe that's intimidating and it's an attempt to consciously or unconsciously pressure or influence the jury."

And, he goes on ... " ... if their pastor is Al Sharpton right now, that's fine, but then that's it. We don't want any more black pastors coming in here. Jesse Jackson, whoever was in here earlier this week sitting with the victim's family trying to influence the jury in this case."

BTW ... Jesse Jackson was never in the courtroom. He may be referring to attorney Ben Crump, who was in court earlier in the week.

The judge was less than receptive, interrupting Gough and shutting down his argument, after the lawyer makes a Colonel Sanders reference.

Olympic gold medalist Suni Lee says she was a recent target of anti-Asian hate ... claiming she was pepper-sprayed and had racist slurs hurled at her.

18-year-old Lee detailed the altercation in an interview with Pop Sugar released this week ... saying she was waiting for an Uber with her friends -- all of Asian descent -- after a night out, when a car sped by and yelled phrases like "ching chong" and "go back to where they came from."

Lee -- the first Hmong American Olympic gold medalist -- says one person even sprayed her arm with pepper spray before speeding off.

The "Dancing with the Stars" contestant opened up on the incident -- which happened a week before the interview -- saying, "I was so mad, but there was nothing I could do or control because they skirted off," she told the outlet.

The number of hate crimes directed at Asians in America has risen in recent years ... with a study at California State University, San Bernardino reporting a 150% increase in 2020.

"I didn't do anything to them," Lee added, "and having the reputation, it's so hard because I didn't want to do anything that could get me into trouble. I just let it happen."

Gene Simmons is going scorched earth on anyone who's still not vaccinated against COVID-19, and says he's sick of people using politics -- on the left AND the right -- as their rationale for remaining unvaccinated.

The KISS icon went on Talkshoplive's Rock 'N' Roll Channel Wednesday and went off about the lingering pandemic. Keep in mind, both Gene and KISS frontman Paul Stanley caught COVID earlier this year ... and one of the band's touring crew members died from it.

That's most likely why Gene has no patience for non-believers. He directly targeted folks who think "people died because they were fat or died because they smoked. No bitch, they died because they got COVID!!!"

And, in case anyone thought Simmons was getting political, he added, "The far left and the far right, they are both evil. They both spread all kinds of nonsense. Politics are the enemy."

Gene lamented the fact a lot of their European fans were unable to join the band for a recent KISS cruise vacation, but said those are the breaks when people don't wanna get the shot.

The family of one of the deceased victims from Astroworld Fest is aiming to set up a scholarship in their loved one's name -- but not before taking Travis Scott to court first.

Rudy Peña was one of the 8 people who died Friday during the concert, and his family has plans to get a fund going in his honor to continue his legacy -- and are hoping to do so at the college he was attending ... so says their attorney, Rosendo Almaraz.

He tells us Rudy's family wants to set up a scholarship at Laredo College, where Rudy was a student ... studying to become a Border Patrol agent via a criminal justice major. Nothing's set in stone yet though ... but we're told that's their intention.

As for what will fund the scholarship they hope to create ... it'd be leftover money from the $34k they raised via a GoFundMe for Rudy. We're told some of that money is going toward funeral costs, and the rest will be earmarked for the scholarship fund -- around $20k.

BTW, you read that correctly ... the Peña family is already burying their son, and they're doing it without the help of Travis because they say they haven't heard from him ... and aren't holding their breath.

Of course, he said he'd cover the funeral expenses of those who perished -- but the Peñas insist they're paying for everything themselves ... and aren't expecting or waiting for any help.

We're told no official cause of death is in for Rudy just yet -- whose body was just released to his family -- Almaraz says he appears to have been trampled badly.

One last thing ... the Peña family has filed their own lawsuit already, and they have named Travis as a defendant. They're alleging negligence and gross negligence directly contributed to Rudy's death that night.

Ya can't even get through a country music awards show without hearing about Aaron Rodgers ... 'cause the Green Bay Packers QB's COVID-19 drama was the butt of a joke during Luke Bryan's opening monologue.

The country singer welcomed the crowd at the 55th Country Music Awards Wednesday night by thanking everyone for going through the proper protocols to be present for the event ... which turned into the perfect opportunity to poke fun at the NFL MVP.

"Rest assured, we're following all the health protocols to keep everyone safe," Bryan said. "And, it is so great to be here with all my favorite artists, tested and together ... or immunized???"

Of course, Bryan's line is mocking Rodgers' now-infamous response to questions surrounding his COVID-19 vaccine status back in August ... when he did not say he got the jab, but rather was "immunized."

Most people brushed over the comment, thinking he was vaxxed ... but Rodgers' status came to light when he tested positive for COVID-19 last week.

A couple 'Pat McAfee Show' appearances later, Rodgers has since apologized for misleading people with his initial response ... but that hasn't stopped the jokes and criticism from pouring in.

Earlier this week, Jon Stewart railed AR12 at the Stand Up for Heroes event in NYC ... and Howard Stern said he would kick the QB out of the NFL if he were Roger Goodell.

Members of the Houston Police Department calmly pulled out their cellphones and recorded Travis Scott's performance at the Astroworld festival ... nearly a half hour after it was declared a mass casualty event.

It's significant footage because it looks like cops were unaware of the dire situation behind them, and if they didn't know ... how would Travis?

The Fire Chief called the calamity a "mass casualty event" at 9:38 PM. Now check out the photo (above) of cops shooting cellphone video -- the time stamp shows it was snapped at 9:57 PM ... 19 minutes later.

As for the video -- obtained by TMZ -- it was shot at 10:02 PM, a full 25 minutes after the mass casualty declaration. Again, cops are strolling past the stage, completely oblivious to the carnage behind them.

It's hard to imagine the officers knew what was going on in the crowd. It seems they're in the dark, perhaps because of the noise and general commotion associated with Travis Scott concerts. This seems to buttress Travis' contention he too had no idea this was a mass casualty event.

As we reported, there were people in the crowd begging for someone to stop the show ... some even flat out telling camera operators there were dead people in the crowd. That message seemed to have escaped the officers in the front, and possibly Travis as well.

Teyana Taylor is defending Travis Scott for not stopping his Astroworld show as people in the audience were in peril, because she says crowd safety falls on more than just the artist.

We got Teyana Wednesday at LAX, and our photog asked about her stopping shows when she notices folks having a tough time in the crowd, and if Travis should have done the same at Astroworld.

Just this week, Teyana took time out on her own stage to make sure a fan was okay, but she tells us that wasn't in response to what unfolded at Travis' show.

She's also pushing back on the narrative Travis never looks out for his fans ... saying there are just as many videos of him stopping shows when things get out of hand as there are clips of him encouraging fans to go wild.

The way Teyana sees it ... the artist alone can't be responsible for the safety of everyone in the crowd -- especially at shows as big as Travis' -- and it's also up to the venue staff and security to keep things from getting out of hand.

Some folks think Travis saw what was unfolding at Astroworld and just kept doing his thing, but Teyana isn't so sure that's what really happened.

Aaron Rodgers just took a lightsaber to the gut ... 'cause Luke Skywalker himself is shaking his head at the NFL QB for rockin' "Star Wars" gear during his most recent controversial COVID talk.

Mark Hamill -- who played the famous Jedi in the iconic movie series -- just sent out the roast of the Packers star on social media ... doggin' the signal-caller for his wardrobe choice on "The Pat McAfee Show" this week.

"Of all the sweatshirts he could have worn," Hamill said of Rodgers' 'The Rise Of Skywalker' hoodie, "he had to take full responsibility in THAT one?"

Hamill added a weary-face emoji for emphasis -- clearly showing he doesn't approve of Rodgers' personal stance on the jab and the way he's gone about expressing it publicly.

Rodgers apologized for misleading people when saying he was "immunized" ... but also said he was standing by his previous comments against getting vaxxed.

Of course, the dig has got to hurt Rodgers -- 'cause the 37-year-old is a HUGE "Star Wars" nerd.

He's dressed up on more than one occasion in "Star Wars" garb ... even famously wearing an Obi-Wan Kenobi 'fit with his ex-GF Olivia Munn for a premiere of 'The Force Awakens' in 2015.

In fact, Rodgers even shouted out the Ewoks while he was guest-hosting "Jeopardy!" this past year ... and he was spotted geeking out at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge with Shailene Woodley in Florida in April.

Travis Scott might act like he didn't know how bad things really were at this year's Astroworld Fest -- but his own posts and words demonstrate ... the dude knew how his fans got down, and often encouraged them to risk their safety.

There are a number of still photos Trav has posted on his Instagram account from over the years that show fans of his injured to varying degrees ... from what appears to be simply attending concerts of his.

Many of the times he spotlighted a certain individual who was injured ... and seemed to glorify and glamorize it, with captions like ... "SHE BROKE HER HAND AND SHE DOESN'T GIVE A F***!!!" or "IT'S NOT A SHOW UNTIL SOMEONE PASS OUT."

Here's another one that's especially cringeworthy in light of this weekend's tragedy -- it's a post of a young man laid out on the floor, presumably from one of Travis' shows, with the rapper writing, "TO THE KID THAT DIDN'T SURVIVE THE RODEO. UR A HERO IN MU BOOK."

BTW, a lot of these posts are still up on the guy's IG page as of this posting ... which is even more telling. Frankly, this whole "rage" mentality is part of Travis' brand, image and artistic identity ... except now, people are seeing how unsafe and reckless it really is.

Travis has gotten in trouble in the past for encouraging people to rush the stage. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct stemming from an incident at Lollapalooza. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after law enforcement said he incited a riot at a show in Arkansas.

Put aside the fact he's been arrested/cited at least twice for inciting a riot. The real criticism doesn't necessarily lie in him getting his fans hyped ... but more so, him taking things too far, and seemingly, more often than not, refusing to lower the temperature in the room. That has led to lots of his fans getting hurt in his presence. And, even when he does acknowledge an injured person on the spot, it often comes off cold and callous.

The same scrutiny applies for this year's Astroworld Fest -- namely, there appeared to be moments when he acknowledged people were going down, but didn't bring things to a halt.

In one instance that's been captured on video from multiple angles, Travis clearly sees the ambulance cart working its way through the crowd, pauses for a bit, gets approached by some guys whom he shoos away ... and then proceeded to incite the crowd.

That's now the big question ... how much did Travis Scott know ... and when? He claims he was unaware people were dying at the show that night and didn't realize the severity of the situation.