Controversial S#!T

Jordon Hudson penned an emotional letter to her cheer team after making the decision to quit ... and in the note, she issued an apology to her squadmates for all of the hoopla her relationship with Bill Belichick caused.

The message -- which was obtained by The Washington Post -- appeared to be sent this past winter ... after Belichick had accepted the UNC football head coaching job.

Hudson explained to her teammates she would no longer be flying for ECE Blackout in Massachusetts -- as she was going to follow her 73-year-old boyfriend to Chapel Hill.

Sean Penn’s openly skeptical of Dylan Farrow’s long-standing sexual assault allegations against her adoptive father Woody Allen -- in fact, he says he’d work with the controversial filmmaker again in a heartbeat if the project felt right.

The actor made it clear on "The Louis Theroux Podcast" that he's standing by Woody, who directed him back in 1999's "Sweet and Lowdown" -- explaining with allegations like these, you can never know 100% what really happened, and added they usually come from people he "wouldn’t trust with a dime."

Louis pushed back, asking if Penn was speaking generally, since in Woody’s case, the accusations came from Woody's estranged daughter Dylan and his journalist son Ronan Farrow. But Penn wasn’t having it, saying Louis called Ronan a "journalist," not him.

Donald Trump’s online, bragging about a "flying palace" -- a luxury plane gifted from Qatar’s royal family slated to serve as one of the presidential Air Force One fleet of jumbo jets ... but it’s causing a stir, since accepting foreign gifts like that is legally questionable.

The $400 million Boeing 747-8 -- AKA the world’s biggest plane -- could be Trump’s new Air Force One for the rest of his term ... and it’s being called one of the priciest gifts ever from a foreign power to the U.S.

Trump posted on Truth Social: "So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!"

Cher’s stepping up for the L.A. Zoo elephants, saying they’ve been through enough -- and while their reported Oklahoma move might offer more space, a zoo’s still a cage ... just with a bigger backyard.

The icon, who’s been fighting for Billy, Tina, and other animals for years, didn’t miss a beat when L.A. resident John Kelly sued to block their move to Tulsa Zoo -- she jumped in with a declaration backing their freedom, saying a sanctuary, not another zoo, is where they belong.

In her declaration to the L.A. County Superior Court, Cher said the elephants have done their time in confinement -- now they deserve a shot at peace and dignity.

Pope Leo XIV's brother will need to cop to using some unsavory language at his next confession ... 'cause he called Nancy Pelosi a bad word in a resurfaced social media post.

The pope's older brother, Louis Prevost, is a regular poster of political content on his Facebook page ... much of it from a more conservative viewpoint.

While there's nothing wrong with sharing a political opinion, one particular post did raise some eyebrows online ... a post where Prevost referred to Pelosi as a "dumb c***."

Ramona Singer's landed herself into some hot water online ... 'cause she's catching a ton of flak for posting a picture with Daniel Penny -- calling him a "hero."

The former "Real Housewives of New York" star shared the photo to her social media this weekend ... flashing a big smile in a black dress with her arm draped over Penny's shoulder.

Penny's dressed in a suit ... smiling with his own arm wrapped around her back.

John Legend is heartbroken to see the "devolution" of his former mentor and friend Kanye West ... saying in a new interview that his rampant antisemitism and anti-Blackness is "sad" to watch.

The "All of Me" hitmaker candidly spoke about his ex-pal while chatting with The Times, explaining he is not the Kanye who signed him to his G.O.O.D. Music record label back in 2004.

He explained ... "Back then Kanye was very passionate, very gifted, and he had big dreams not only for himself but also for all the people around him ... It does feel sad, sometimes shocking, to see where he is now."

Kanye, of course, has had an array of public woes and breakdowns over the years, from bad-mouthing the wife of his four kids, Kim Kardashian -- such as wishing he had children with her friend Paris Hilton instead -- to his more recent shameless passion for all things Adolf Hitler.

"The Real Housewives of New Jersey" alum Siggy Flicker says karma is coming for Kanye West following his seemingly never-ending antisemitic rants and the recent release of his despicable new song titled "Heil Hitler."

TMZ caught up with Siggy this week after President Trump appointed her to the Holocaust Memorial board. During a Zoom call, Siggy told us that although she agrees with Ye's right to free expression, his Nazi rhetoric will ultimately catch up to him.

In fact, Siggy tells us that Kanye is missing out on the "true gift" of life because he's unable to raise the four children he shares with Kim Kardashian. Instead, Siggy says, Kanye's living in sin by parading his nearly naked wife -- Bianca Censori -- around in public all over the world.

Kanye West's threatening letter to Kim Kardashian accusing her of exploiting their kids is just a stunt designed to piss off Kim -- one with zero legal bite ... TMZ has learned.

Here's the deal ... on Friday, Ye's purported lawyer, Kathy Johnson, supposedly sent Kim's attorney, Laura Wasser, a cease and desist letter, "concerning the welfare and custody of Mr. West’s minor children: North West, Saint West, Chicago West, and Psalm West."

But we spotted a bunch of red flags pointing to this being a phony correspondence, including the claim Johnson works for a JB Law Firm in Palma, Spain. We've found no record of any such firm in that town ... there is one in the Canary Islands, but a website link for that firm doesn't work, nor does the phone number.

2 PM PT -- Turns out Kanye West's threatening letter to Kim Kardashian accusing her of exploiting their kids is a hoax.

After we spotted a bunch of red flags pointing to this being a phony correspondence -- Kanye's camp confirms to us the letter is bogus ... and they say Ye had nothing to do with it.

Kanye West says Kim Kardashian is not only exploiting their children, but he claims she left North all alone in a car while prancing around the Met Gala this week ... and now he's threatening to drag her to court over all of it.

The rapper's lawyer, Kathy Johnson, sent Kim's attorney, Laura Wasser, a cease and desist letter, "concerning the welfare and custody of Mr. West’s minor children: North West, Saint West, Chicago West, and Psalm West."

As you know, Kim and Kanye got divorced in 2021 after 7 years of marriage and 4 kids. As part of their divorce settlement, they have joint custody of the kids and Kanye pays $200K every month in child support.

A couple check-in desk agents got terminated from their gigs with Frontier Airlines after mocking a customer who was trying to check in for his flight ... getting the boot after video of their tense exchange went viral.

Footage circulating online shows a Frontier customer trying to check in at the ticket counter for a flight from North Carolina to Boston ... and things go south when the agents mention a $25 fee to check in with them in person.

The guy balks at the fee and the Frontier employees start arguing, refusing to check him in, mocking him and repeatedly telling him, "And you thought you was gonna get on your flight."

Jon Voight says he and President Donald Trump are working together to save Hollywood ... 'cause the way things are going, he thinks the whole thing could go down the drain -- just like Detroit, Michigan.

The actor gave his first interview to Variety since POTUS announced 100% tariffs on movies made outside the United States ... and he said he wants to keep Hollywood afloat by any means necessary.

Voight says Tinseltown really does need help ... and, it's good news the prez really cares about the film industry -- 'cause that means they can get people to roll up their sleeves and save it.

Animal rights activist Varun Virlan says he's horrified at a video that has gone viral -- showing a woman seasoning and then air-frying two crabs while they were still alive!

ICYMI ... a TikToker posted a cooking video last week showing how she prepared a dish featuring blue crabs -- she seasons some potatoes and corn, then the live crustaceans themselves, before placing them, still alive, in a glass-bottom air-fryer and cooking them for 15 minutes, with the camera showing their demise.

We spoke to the Virlan, the digital media director of Animal Save Movement, who says videos like these are exactly the problem with how crabs are excluded from being considered protected animals -- like dogs, cats, horses -- and are seen more like vegetables than animals.

Popular conservative commentator Michael Knowles says the Supreme Court upholding President Donald Trump's ban on transgender people serving in the military is a smart move ... 'cause he thinks it's a serious disease that affects their combat readiness.

We spoke with Knowles -- a longtime podcast host at Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire -- came by "TMZ Live" Wednesday to discuss the court's ruling this week ... explaining he's all for it because mental health issues in the trans community prevent them from being effective soldiers.

Knowles references studies showing higher rates of chronic disease among members of the trans community ... and adds Americans voted for Trump fully knowing this was something he was going to do, thereby cosigning it.

BLACKPINK’s Lisa found herself in hot water for rocking Rosa Parks’ face on her underwear at the Met Gala -- but plot twist: the vision actually came from two Black creatives, including none other than Pharrell Williams.

Check out this clip of Pharrell breaking it all the way down -- walking folks through how Lisa’s Met Gala look nailed the "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style" theme -- which was all about paying tribute to dandyism in Black culture.

According to Pharrell -- the Met's co-chair and Louis Vuitton's creative director -- Lisa wasn’t just dressed up, she was wearing a piece of art that was all about honoring Black culture, especially considering how much the world borrows from it.

Bebe Rexha clapped back at Azealia Banks and other Met Gala haters, revealing she recently went through a pregnancy loss ... and urging people to think twice before tearing someone down over a red carpet look.

It all kicked off with Azealia, who -- while not at the Met -- took it upon herself to roast celebs from the comfort of her couch Monday night.

And she went in hard on Bebe ... "Sis gives me - hormonal birth control implant or something. It’s giving implanon/nuvaring she needs removed or depo shot that needs to stop happening (I’m not even tryna play her)."