Controversial S#!T

2:11 PM PT -- White House Spokesperson Steven Cheung is hitting back, telling TMZ ... "AOC likes to play pretend like she’s from the block, but in reality she’s just a sad, miserable blockhead who is trying to over-compensate for her lack of self-confidence that has followed her for her entire life."

"Instead, she should get some serious help for her obvious and severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome that has rotted her pea-sized brain.”

Interestingly, Cheung didn't make any mention of pursuing legal action.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says the public should've known President Donald Trump wouldn't release the Epstein files ... after all, his track record with sexual abuse ain't spotless!

The Congresswoman from New York posted to X Friday morning ... cracking a joke about Jeffrey Epstein's alleged files the Trump administration now says don't exist.

AOC wrote, "Wow who would have thought that electing a rapist would have complicated the release of the Epstein Files?" She doesn't name Trump directly, but remember ... Trump was found liable of sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll in a 2023 civil trial. He was not, however, found liable of rape -- a distinction AOC didn't make in her own post

A casting director is calling out the producers of "Love Island USA" for not doing their due diligence when casting not one, but two contestants who've been exposed for their past racist comments ... the casting pro says it's shocking the show hasn't learned from reality TV history.

It's no secret "Love Island USA" dropped the ball on background checks this season -- Cierra Ortega and Yulissa Escobar each got the boot for their previous racist commentary -- and fans are furious these two women were platformed without the show doing proper research.

But, the talent recruiters themselves may not be the department that deserves the blame in this case ... 'cause our source defends the casting community -- saying this sort of background check should've been vetted by production -- and doesn't understand how something like this gets missed.

Former "Love Island USA" cast member Yulissa Escobar says her N-word scandal went from folks holding her accountable to people sending her death threats and vile scorn ... and she's sharing some of the hateful messages she says she's been getting.

Yulissa just posted a bunch of direct messages she says she's received since being booted from the hit reality show ... and there are threats of violence, comments on her appearance and folks telling her to kill herself.

She says the hateful messages have been pouring in daily since she was kicked out of the 'Love Island' villa after fans found out she had casually dropped the N-word on podcasts in the past.

"Love Island" alum Sharon Gaffka is not buying what Cierra Ortega is selling in her apology video for using an Asian slur ... Sharon says Cierra knew full well what the hateful word implied.

Sharon -- who was on "Love Island" back in 2021 -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked for her reaction to Cierra's apology video for some past use of a racial slur online.

The thing that bothered Sharon the most was Cierra saying she didn't know the "word held as much pain, as much harm, and came with the history that it did" -- Cierra's from Arizona, and Sharon says anyone with access to the internet in America should know it's a hateful slur.

Michael Rapaport is apologizing to Jews offended by his recent social media post ... where he shared a fake photo of a Holocaust prisoner in a concentration camp.

The actor/comedian just released a statement on X ... explaining he thought the image was real, but, "in this artificial world we live in, it turned out not to be."

Michael notes he's shared hundreds of stories and images about concentration camps on his social pages, but says none of them have gotten the same level of attention as this one.

Ghislaine Maxwell is hopeful President Trump will review her case and pardon her ... after his DOJ's controversial announcement about the Jeffrey Epstein files this week -- but sources close to the President say there isn't a snowball's chance in Hell that'll happen.

A source close to Ghislaine tells TMZ … in the wake of the Trump admin's debunking of Epstein's so-called "client list" -- which some people had hoped would bring down various politicians and Hollywood celebs -- the British heiress and former Epstein partner is hopeful Trump will spring her from the joint.

We asked the White House if this is a legit option ... and we got a Hell No in return. A senior Trump official tells us ... there have been no discussions or considerations of a pardon for Ghislaine -- and there never will be.

Kanye West's former personal assistant is piling on more serious allegations against the rapper ... now she's accusing him of sexually assaulting her along with a bunch of other horrible stuff, according to new legal docs.

Lauren Pisciotta -- who originally sued Ye in 2024 after he allegedly sent her vile texts and videos before firing her -- filed a second amended complaint this week, claiming Kanye did a whole truckload of bad things to her. She accuses Kanye of assault, battery, stalking, sexual battery, sex trafficking, false imprisonment and more.

Pisciotta says during a business trip, they were staying at a hotel in San Francisco, where they were breaking ground on Ye's new Donda school, and Kanye started making unwanted advances.

Cierra Ortega is owning the racial slur that got her booted from "Love Island USA" -- and says she agrees with production's decision to cut her from the show.

In a lengthy video and written statement she shared on Instagram Wednesday evening, Cierra says she's been back home for 48 hours and is ready to address herself "very naively using an incredibly offensive and derogatory term."

First and foremost, she apologizes to the Asian community and everyone she offended, adding ..."I had no idea that the word held as much pain, as much harm, and came with the history that it did or I never would have used it."

Donald Trump's firm stance on Washington's NFL team name is receiving high praise from one prestigious Native American organization, which told TMZ Sports this week it agrees the moniker should have never been changed.

If you missed it, on Sunday, Trump said if it were up to him, D.C.'s football squad would not currently go by the "Commanders." He claimed it simply doesn't have the "same ring" as the old, controversial moniker -- and he'd prefer to see it revert back.

When we spoke with the Native American Guardians Association this week ... the org.'s vice president, Frank Black Cloud, told us POTUS' comments "validate what Indian Country has been saying for years."

Michael Rapaport is under fire for an image he shared on social media showing a prisoner in a concentration camp during the Holocaust ... the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum checked him hard, saying it was fake and disrespectful.

Here's the deal ... the actor/comedian posted the image Saturday on Facebook ... and it showed someone playing a violin at Auschwitz.

Problem is ... the image was A.I.-generated ... at least according to the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum in Poland.

An airplane passenger used every bit of her law training to defend herself when several others started chirping at her onboard ... all 'cause she apparently charged toward the exit.

The video's making the rounds on social media ... capturing a woman standing in the plane aisle on the way out -- getting some groans and a few smart remarks from people still sitting in their seats.

The angry passenger tells everyone they're "all whining for no reason" ... adding everyone can get up when they want to -- before a man says she's clearly a "Karen."

X CEO Linda Yaccarino just announced she's stepping down from the job ... hours after the platform's A.I. chatbot Grok spewed a slew of antisemitic posts, forcing the company to address its artificial-intelligence content training.

Yaccarino tweeted Wednesday morning how proud she is of the X team, and points to the work they've done to "prioritize the safety of our users -- especially children, and to restore advertiser confidence." But she doesn't mention Tuesday's maelstrom of controversy over Grok's offensive posts ... the timing of her announcement does raise questions.

She goes on to say, "The best is yet to come as X enters a new chapter with @xai" ... that's the A.I. that developed Grok, which identified itself as "MechaHitler" in a series of posts Tuesday.

11:59 AM PT -- Elon Musk has responded to the outrage caused by the Adolf Hitler praising tweets sent out by his xAI Grok chatbot on Tuesday.

The Tesla founder says it was all a misunderstanding -- Grok is programmed to respond accurately to people's prompts and that's what he did for one user egging him on to make a controversial statement.

Elon notes ... "Grok was too compliant to user prompts. Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed."

Elon Musk's xAI Grok chatbot posted shocking antisemitic comments Tuesday, making positive references to Adolf Hitler in a number of stunning tweets ... even while addressing questions about the recent deadly Texas flooding.

Check out Grok's replies in the X posts -- some have since been deleted. One screenshot shows the chatbot suggesting Hitler would be the ideal candidate to "handle" folks who aren't upset Christian children were killed in the devastating Texas floods.

In other tweets, Grok called itself "MechaHitler" -- the name for the robotic version of Adolf Hitler that originated in the 1992 video game Wolfenstein 3D.

Horse-mounted federal agents robed in tactical gear descended on a Los Angeles park alongside about 90 members of the California National Guard Monday -- a move Mayor Karen Bass is condemning as a "political stunt."

Check out the chilling clip -- rows of heavily-armed officers march through the mostly-empty MacArthur Park Monday via horseback and on foot ... seemingly conducting an immigration sweep.

Bass shared the video on X shortly after she was notified of the presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and military personnel ... calling the act "absolutely outrageous." She also claimed the park was full of life about 20 minutes earlier.

The Washington Commanders have no plans to revert to their old name ... this after President Donald Trump shared his take on the matter -- saying he would've never gone through with the rebrand!

POTUS chatted with media from a helipad in Morristown, New Jersey over the weekend ... when he was asked if he wanted to see the nation's capital's football team return to the "Redskins" moniker it held for 87 years.

Trump opened up his response by pointing out that he was about to make a "controversial statement" ... and then went on to give his honest answer.

Cierra Ortega from "Love Island USA" just got kicked off the show after old posts of her using racial slurs against Asians went viral -- but her family has her full support, backing her up as she goes through the scandal.

Her parents hit up her IG Story on Sunday after her exit, saying that while they weren't brushing off what’s come to light, the week had been one of the toughest they'd ever faced ... and they begged people to show their daughter some compassion.

The post blasted the hate flooding online ... calling it uncalled for and heartbreaking, stressing no one deserves that level of intense hostility, no matter the mistakes they've made.