Controversial S#!T

Toccara Jones is defending Tyra Banks from being canceled over what some are seeing as exploitation on "America's Next Top Model" ... saying it's unrealistic to pay contestants.

The ex-"America's Next Top Model" contestant tells TMZ ... Tyra did nothing wrong by collecting a fat paycheck on the long-running modeling competition show while the girls only got a $40 per diem and no residuals.

Toccara says that's just the way things go in the modeling industry ... and she says it's unheard of for people to be paid to be in a contest ... because the whole point of a competition is to win and get the prize money.

The 'ANTM' exposure certainly worked out for Toccara, even though she had her own struggles on season 3 ... in part because she was a plus-sized model.

Tyra and 'ANTM' are getting dragged back under the microscope after a fan of the show went viral this week by bringing up the fact Tyra pulled in a huge paycheck as a judge while the models got scraps.

'ANTM' alum Sarah Hartshorne tweeted the fan's complaint, saying models didn't get residuals and had to pay for their own food during the show.

If you thought Eli Manning flipping the bird on "Monday Night Football" pissed off America, just wait 'til you hear about all the people upset with Marshawn Lynch dropping f-bombs.

Just kidding.

Two total viewers throughout the country wrote in to the Federal Communications Commission after Lynch said "s***" and "f***" while hanging out with Peyton and Eli on their Week 7 broadcast of the "ManningCast" ... with one, in particular, going OFF in their complaint.

"NFL Player Marshawn Lynch made an appearance on 'Monday Night Football' with Peyton & Eli and repeatedly said 's***' and 'f***' on live prime time television," someone from Dahlonega, Georgia said.

"I had children in the room at the time and I am very upset that ESPN allowed Marshawn Lynch to repeatedly curse on live TV. I have an expectation when I turn on ESPN that I will not have to remove children from the room."

There's more ... "ESPN could have warned him of the rules for live television in advance, monitored his speech and conduct when he was on the air, and removed him immediately after the first curse word was uttered. This is totally unacceptable!"

The pissed viewer said the network needs to be "sternly punished for violating FCC regulations" ... although the FCC actually has no jurisdiction over ESPN or ESPN2.

The viewer even points out other times the "ManningCast" has had issues with swearing -- perhaps Eli's double bird or Travis Kelce's s-bomb.

The complaint continued ... "Issuing an apology from Peyton is insufficient because it can't take back what my children heard from Marshawn Lynch."

The other complaint -- from Greensboro, North Carolina -- was also passionate, but a bit briefer in getting their point across.

"The ESPN2 broadcast on Monday night was laced with vulgar words from Marshawn Lynch," it reads. "Peyton Manning apologized for it, but there is no place on this type of show at this hour for this language."

Chris Cuomo is without a cable news job -- the longtime CNN anchor just got fired ... and it sounds like there's more to the story on the help he offered his brother this year.

The network just announced Chris' termination, saying they retained a respected law firm to conduct the independent review of his conduct -- and in light of that digging, they say they found further evidence that they felt warranted kicking him to the curb.

CNN writes, "While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate."

This is a stunning turn of events, but perhaps not totally unexpected ... as the writing appeared to be on the wall here. The fact Cuomo had been suspended indefinitely raised red flags to many, who felt like his days at CNN were limited.

Of course, this all comes on the heels of an investigation by the New York Attorney General's Office ... which published its reports, plus transcripts, which suggested Chris' involvement in his bro's scandal back in the Spring was way more intricate than previously thought.

There are text messages he's purported to have sent to Andrew's staffers, including one that read "I have a lead on the wedding girl" -- pertaining to one of the ex-Gov's accusers.

Multiple comedians now have way less comedy albums on Spotify than they did last month -- all because the streaming giant doesn't wanna fork over extra royalties they're asking for.

Spotify yanked several albums from dozens of high-profile comedians -- including folks like Kevin Hart, John Mulaney, Tiffany Haddish, among many others -- just before Thanksgiving, and did so because they'd reached an impasse over this issue ... this according to the WSJ.

The problem ... apparently, a ton of these comics have teamed up with an org called Spoken Giants -- which has been reaching out to companies like Spotify, YouTube, SiriusXM, Pandora and others to demand they pay an additional chunk of change for a comedians' written joke.

Basically, most comics only get paid as performers by their labels and/or distributors ... as opposed to being able to double dip as composers/writers of the works as well, like songwriters do. That's what Spoken Giants is fighting for -- but Spotify won't play ball.

Unclear how many albums they've taken down in total, but it looks like it's quite a bit -- because the above-mentioned comics' Spotify pages look pretty bare, especially TH ... who doesn't have a single comedy album on her profile anymore ... only one-off singles.

The criteria for which albums stay and which don't isn't exactly laid out either -- but in any case, SG is pissed on behalf of the comedians (none of whom appear to have personally spoken out about this, BTW) ... telling WSJ, Spotify hurt their bottom line with the move.

The debate over an artist's responsibility to stop their show amid an emergency in the crowd had landed at George Lopez's feet ... although this one may not be cut and dried.

The comedian was performing Friday at the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, when at one point during his set ... a man started falling into distress in the upper balcony area, to the point that the house lights were turned on.

Check out this video obtained by TMZ ... it shows what we're told were a few minutes after this gentleman, who's described as mid-aged, fell unconscious with people around him -- including what appears to be folks in his own party -- attending to him.

Eventually, people flagged down event staff ... and he was carried out and taken to an ambulance. San Antonio Fire confirms he regained consciousness and was stable at the hospital.

In the meantime ... you can see and hear George down at the stage level continuing on with his set, seemingly working all the commotion into his actual jokes -- which actually got some laughs. Of course, some in the crowd felt as if he should've done a hard pause -- even more, felt it was inappropriate for him to joke about whatever was going on at all.

Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott were put on ice by W Magazine -- they were supposed to appear on the cover but the mag pulled the plug after Astroworld -- but the cover photo has apparently leaked.

This video is now making the rounds ... it's actually just a video of the alleged cover photo, and you can see why W felt it was the wrong time wrong place. It shows a pregnant Kylie and Travis with Stormi in a sweet pose. Travis appears to be listening to their unborn child's heartbeat. We're told Travis, Kylie and W made the decision amicably to not run the cover.

Sources close to the two tell us they're still very much together as a couple. This after rumors swirled that Kylie split with Travis following the fallout.

The cover surely wouldn't sit well the families of the 10 people who died during the Astroworld fiasco and the hundreds who were injured, and that would explain why W would want to 86 the cover photo.

A W insider told Page Six, "W editors have cleared any planned coverage of Travis and Kylie from their website, but the magazine was already printed, and now they are trying to stop the delivery trucks," adding, "In light of what happened at Astroworld, the interview and cover lines seem inappropriate, to say the least."

It's clear many of the families are angry at Travis ... the family of Ezra Blount, the 9-year-old who died at the festival, rejected Travis' offer to cover funeral expenses, and they're not alone.

TMZ has spoken to attorneys repping the families of 14-year-old John Hilgert and 27-year-old Danish Baig -- both of whom perished during the event. In each of their cases ... the families have opted to snub TS, with one family suggesting it's a slap in the face.

Attorney Michael Lyons -- who's representing Baig's family in a civil lawsuit against Travis and others -- tells us ... "We received a written offer from Travis Scott's attorney Dan Petrocelli indicating that he would pay $7,500 in funeral burial costs and my clients are rejecting that."

Tristan Thompson is in the throes of what could become a paternity dispute, but the newborn's mother isn't waiting for a judge to decide whether he's the daddy ... she's already given the baby his last name.

Maralee Nichols posted of photo of the baby, with the caption, "First came love, then came you ❤️ Angelou Kash Thompson."

Maralee went on to grouse that Tristan is not embracing the child, saying, "I want to thank everyone for your well wishes. Me and baby are doing great. Right now my heart and mind is on focusing on the baby right now. I am heartbroken that Angelou's father doesn't want to be in his life. I am hoping this lawsuit will bring us together and we can be a family."

It is interesting ... Maralee wrote, "First came love" ... clearly suggesting this was more than what Tristan has called it -- a one-night stand.

As we reported, Nicole claims the baby was conceived in Houston back in March ... around the time Tristan was in town to celebrate his 30th birthday. If she's right on the timeline, the baby was conceived when Tristan was still with Khloe Kardashian -- at least publicly they were together.

Nicole, who filed legal docs to establish paternity, claims she and Tristan were together for 5 months, and she also alleges he offered her $75,000 to stay mum on the baby ... with this threat -- he allegedly said he's retiring after this season and he will then become unemployed, so she'd get way less than the $75k he was offering.

She also claims, according to the Daily Mail, she had promised him a "birthday surprise" in Houston, which he knew meant birthday sex.

If this is indeed Tristan's baby, it would be child #3 for him.

Maralee is asking for child support and reimbursement for the medical expenses related to her pregnancy and birth.

Alec Baldwin's claim he's not responsible for Halyna Hutchins' death is not echoed by the woman leading the "Rust" shooting investigation -- instead, she says Baldwin, and several others, could still be charged for their roles in the tragedy.

During his sit-down with George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin said he didn't feel guilt over what went down. As he put it, "Someone is responsible for what happened and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me."

Well, Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies isn't ready to clear his name, criminally, just yet. She tells TMZ ... "Everyone involved in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected, and it appears that certain actions and inactions contributed to this outcome."

Her Office, along with the Sheriff's Dept., hasn't completed their probe yet ... and she's making it clear no decisions have been made about exactly who could be charged. She says, "Once I have had the opportunity to review the complete investigation, certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust."

And, there's this ... Baldwin's explanation for how he fired the fatal shot isn't holding water with weapons expert Steve Wolf, who says the "no trigger" theory IS possible -- but there were several other mistakes made on the set.

Steve's been working with munitions and props for TV and film for decades, so he was particularly interested in Baldwin's claim that the replica antique revolver he was holding fired without him pulling the trigger.

Steve was on Friday's "TMZ Live" when he held up a similar handgun and demonstrated exactly what Baldwin described. He pulled back the hammer on the weapon, but unlike Alec claimed ... Steve says it's just not possible for the hammer to strike and fire a bullet without the trigger getting engaged. Not normally, anyway.

He admitted there are 2 possible exceptions -- first, there could have been a mechanical flaw ... and the other possibility has to do with how the weapon was manufactured.

The Colt .45 Baldwin was using is a replica of an 1873 revolver, and it could have been made without a safety feature that is standard on such weapons now, but wasn't back in the 19th century.

Ola Osundairo says he's not the homophobe Jussie Smollett claims he is, and we've got the photo he showed the court to prove it.

Both Ola and Abel Osundairo testified in the Smollett case Thursday, among questions directly related to the case, Ola also worked to fight Jussie's previous claims he was homophobic.

Ola told the court Jussie was full of it, and he has plenty of respect and experience with the gay community ... working as a bouncer at a gay club and even marching in a Chicago pride parade years ago "handing out condoms and flexing" as a Trojan warrior to promote Trojan condoms.

We've obtained the photo Ola shared with the court, and you can not only see him, but his brother Abel shirtless and decked out in Trojan gear.

Tristan Thompson is allegedly about to become a dad x3, this time with a woman out of Houston who claims she got pregnant after a brief fling with the NBA star ... and now wants him to pay up in the form of child support.

Maralee Nichols claims she's due to give birth to a baby boy today, December 3, according to new docs obtained by The Daily Mail. Nichols says the baby was conceived in Houston back in March ... around the time Thompson was in town to celebrate his 30th birthday.

The DM reports Thompson admits to having sex with Nichols several times at the hotel ... and previous to meeting up she had promised him a "birthday surprise" which he knew meant birthday sex.

If Nichols' timeline is accurate, Tristan was still publicly with Khloe Kardashian at the time he and the expecting mom hooked up.

One thing up for debate -- how long the fling lasted. Tristan reportedly says it was only a one-night stand, but Nichols says the two had been together off and on for around 5 months prior to the March hook-up.

As for Tristan and Khloe, they broke up in May, shortly after a woman named Sydney Chase made allegations she and Tristan had hooked up. Both Tristan and Khloe have publicly supported each other since the split and are often seen co-parenting their daughter True.

The baby boy would be Tristan's third known child.

Nichols is asking for child support and for Tristan to cover her pregnancy-related medical expenses.

Atlanta voters weren't swayed by T.I. and Isaac Hayes III spreading fake news about mayoral candidate Felicia Moore and strip clubs -- according to one of the city's former mayors, she just got drubbed.

We got Kasim Reed, who served as Atlanta's mayor from 2010 to 2018, at LAX and asked him about Moore's gripe that celebs spreading misinformation about her plans to shutter strip joints led to her defeat in the runoff election.

Kasim says Felicia needs to just move on, because the voters clearly said "bye Felicia" at the voting booth ... pointing out she lost with just 41% of the vote, compared to the winner, Andre Dickens, who got more than 60%.

TMZ broke the story ... Felicia claims T.I. and Isaac damaged her chances by spreading fake news from an article they screen-grabbed and reposted with the headline, "Woman Running for Atlanta Mayor Promises to CLOSE ALL STRIP CLUBS!!!"

While Kasim admits T.I. and other celebs carry some weight in Atlanta, he says their influence is just a drop in the bucket compared to the 20% losing margin for Moore.

Senator Ted Cruz is blasting the NBA -- and heaping praise on the WTA -- for the stark difference in both sports leagues' approaches to human rights violations perpetrated by China.

"I’ll tell ya something right now," Cruz said, "The Women's Tennis Association has bigger balls than the NBA. And I'd like to see courage be contagious and more people stand up."

Cruz made the comments while discussing the vanishing of star tennis player Peng Shuai in an interview with the "Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" on Thursday ... as top athletes and organizations across the country have demanded proof the star tennis is okay.

"The Women's Tennis Association has shown extraordinary courage, calling out the Chinese communist government. Demanding that Peng Shuai be released and she be free, and they’ve put their money where their mouth is."

Cruz went on to talk about the WTA canceling all events in China ... a move he estimates could cost them "millions or hundreds of millions of dollars."

That's when the senator unloaded on the National Basketball Association.

"The NBA groveled on their knees before the communist dictators. You had people like LeBron James defending the communist dictators who engage in murder and torture and run concentration camps."

Of course, Cruz is referring to the controversy ignited when then-Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted support for protestors in Hong Kong in 2019.

China was furious ... and Cruz believes the NBA caved to the country, prioritizing cash over human rights. Since Morey's comments, James has taken heat for his perceived failure to highlight serious issues in China.

As far as Peng ... she recently accused a powerful Chinese politician of sexually abusing her several years ago. Shortly after making the accusation on social media, the post was removed and Shuai seemingly disappeared.

In recent weeks many have accused China of trying to quell concern ... appearing to trot Peng out in front of cameras to prove she was in no danger.

A statement attributed to Peng was also released ... though many believe the writing to be highly suspicious.

Finally, Cruz said he was grateful for the WTA ... adding he'd like to see more people do the same.

The NFL says Antonio Brown did, in fact, submit a bogus vaccine card to the league ... and officials just announced he's now been suspended three games over it all.

Brown's chef, Steven Ruiz, claimed last month that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star had sought and then obtained the fraudulent paper back in July -- but Brown was adamant Ruiz was lying.

In a statement, Brown's attorney, Sean Burstyn, said the 33-year-old was vaccinated and did have proper paperwork ... adding, "Be like Antonio brown and get the vaccine."

But, the NFL said in a statement of its own on Thursday that after investigating the claims ... it found Brown did "misrepresent" his vaccine status, explaining their review "supported" the allegations made against AB.

The league said Brown has now been banned from playing for the next three games -- adding that Brown has "accepted the discipline" and will not appeal.

The NFL also revealed two other players -- Buccaneers safety Mike Edwards and former Tampa Bay receiver and current free agent John Franklin III -- also misrepresented their vaccine statuses and were also suspended three games.

Brown has been out of the Bucs' lineup since October while battling an ankle injury, but prior to that, he had been shining with Tom Brady -- scoring four receiving TDs in five games.

The Women's Tennis Association is sending a strong message to China amid the Peng Shuai case ... saying the organization will suspend all events in the country until a full investigation is conducted into her sexual assault allegations made against a powerful government official.

Steve Simon -- the WTA's CEO and Chairman -- sounded off on the handling of Shuai situation in a statement on Wednesday ... saying, "Unfortunately, the leadership in China has not addressed this very serious issue in any credible way."

"While we now know where Peng is," he added, "I have serious doubts that she is free, safe and not subject to censorship, coercion and intimidation. The WTA has been clear on what is needed here, and we repeat our call for a full and transparent investigation -- without censorship -- into Peng Shuai’s sexual assault accusation."

Simon says China's actions are unacceptable -- "If powerful people can suppress the voices of women and sweep allegations of sexual assault under the rug, then the basis on which the WTA was founded – equality for women – would suffer an immense setback. I will not and cannot let that happen to the WTA and its players."

Because of this, Simon says the WTA is suspending all events immediately ... also citing concerns other players could face in the country.

Simon says he regrets the issue getting to this point, but the WTA was left with no choice.

An Indiana cop captured on video kicking a dog on someone's front porch will not be prosecuted ... and his bosses say that's due to the full picture of what happened.

The disturbing video was posted this week by a woman who wrote, "Yesterday evening while my family and I were at work, someone broke into my home. My dogs ran the intruder off. This was the response shortly after a neighbor called. My home needed help and all it received was hurt."

Of course, outrage ensued ... and many were calling for the officer's badge number, not to mention his job. On its face, it looks like the cop is just going to town on the unleashed dog, which was barking at him.

Well, apparently there's more to the story. Terre Haute PD tells TMZ neighbors had been calling about this dog and another from this home constantly being on the loose and attacking people, including kids.

On this particular night, Nov. 29, they got a call about a white pit bull on the loose in the neighborhood -- just the latest call for this exact thing, they say. Officers came out, and THPD says they actually encountered 2 dogs -- including the one seen in this video -- which were allegedly lunging at the officers.

After talking to neighbors about how the dogs escaped their backyard, THPD says this sergeant walked onto the porch ... and that's where the video picks begins. The owners apparently weren't home, so the officers waited ... and then cited the owners when they eventually arrived, ringing 'em up for 6 separate counts related to the dogs being loose.

As for what happens now ... well, THPD says the Virgo County Prosecutor's Office has already reviewed the case, and found the cop didn't violate any laws. Still, the department says it's conducting its own review, and the cop is on leave for now.

President Biden just took a shot at Trump ... asked if he thinks Trump put him at risk during the debate, when Trump was apparently positive for COVID-19, Biden said, "I don't think about the former president."

It was a mic drop moment ... with Biden smiling before waving and walking away from the podium.

Trump went on FOX a few days after the debate and seemed to suggest he may have got the virus from his up close and personal meetings with Gold Star families.

Trump's comments are being resurfaced in a video clip on social media ... but remember, Meadows says Trump was positive before hosting the Gold Star families at the White House.

Donald Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 just days before meeting up with Joe Biden for their first presidential debate -- this according to his ex-Chief of Staff.

Mark Meadows makes the claim in a new book, 'The Chief's Chief,' describing how DT allegedly received a positive result on Sep. 26 ... 3 days before the Ohio debate. Meadows does say Trump took a second test which turned up negative, but that reportedly was an antigen test, which is not as reliable as the PCR test. The PCR test can detect COVID levels the antigen test can't.

Nonetheless ... Meadows says Trump was hell-bent on debating Biden, saying, "Nothing was going to stop [Trump] from going out there."

It's a shocking revelation. Apparently, Trump was symptomatic with a positive PCR test, which means he should have quarantined for 10 days, but he did the opposite.

He held a Rose Garden ceremony to introduce his last Supreme Court nominee -- Amy Coney Barrett -- to the public. Meadows says Trump was already showing symptoms but the president went to the event maskless. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be a super spreader event.

He also had a ceremony for Gold Star families at The White House ... again, he did not wear a mask even though he had COVID, at least according to Meadows.

The way Meadows describes it ... Trump was about to head to a rally in PA, when Meadows received a call from his doc, telling them to halt everything since POTUS had just tested positive. Meadows says he informed Trump, and the guy apparently had a colorful response.

MM writes Trump's answer "rhyme[d] with ‘Oh spit, you’ve gotta be trucking lidding me."

As if it weren't bad enough, Trump arrived at the debate late ... too late to be tested, and moderator Chris Wallace said at the time they were trusting Trump was negative based on the honor system.

Trump calls Meadows' description of events "fake news." He says he did not have COVID prior to or during the first debate. He cites a test proving he did not have COVID prior to the debate. That's not necessarily inconsistent with Meadows' account ... because even if he had a negative antigen test he still had a positive PCR test, according to MM.

If Meadows' account is true, there's no other way to cut it ... it's shockingly reckless, uncaring for others and, frankly, disgusting.