Controversial S#!T

Frank Thomas donned a White Sox uniform for 16 seasons, but now he's taking his former team to court ... TMZ Sports has learned the Hall of Famer filed a lawsuit against the club, insisting they're using his name to sell merch without permission!

Thomas filed suit last week in Illinois, and he's targeting not just the White Sox, but Nike and Fanatics, too ... and the beef is over the Sox "City Connect 2.0" jersey, which the team announced in April 2025.

In the complaint, Thomas claims his name and number 35 were featured on some of the uni tops that were put up for sale, despite never getting consent, according to Thomas.

The Big Hurt says the White Sox -- and the retailers -- likely raked in huge profits, while he says he received "no compensation" for the use of "Thomas" and his iconic number 35.

Former WWE Superstar Ted DiBiase Jr. is having a great start to the weekend ... 'cause a jury found him not guilty on all charges related to a Mississippi welfare fraud case.

DiBiase Jr. -- son of WWE legend Ted DiBiase -- was acquitted by a federal jury on several charges ... one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and to commit theft concerning programs receiving federal funds, six counts of wire fraud, two counts of theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and four counts of money laundering.

If he would have been found guilty, he faced a maximum sentence of 185 years in federal prison.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji, has deactivated an old X account ... after a series of posts in which she criticized Israel and praised Palestinian terrorists resurfaced.

Rama's account reportedly came down Thursday ... just one day after the Washington Free Beacon claimed to have her old posts -- including one in which she quoted Leila Khaled, a Palestinian woman who hijacked two planes more than 50 years ago.

According to the outlet, over on her Tumblr account, Rama called Israel a "genocidal state" ... and shared photos of Palestinian revolutionaries from throughout the years.

AEW star Ricochet is facing a ton of backlash this week ... after he told a woman he's "glad" she's battling multiple sclerosis ... leading the wrestler to share his regret over the statement.

The exchange went down on March 16 ... when the woman appeared to be criticizing the former WWE talent's acting abilities.

Ricochet then apparently went to her page and read her bio -- which shared a motivational line about her experience with the chronic autoimmune disease -- because his response made a reference to it.

Emotions have been running high in the civil trial brought by the Ohio sheriff's deputies who raided Afroman's home back in 2022.

On Monday, sheriff's deputy Lisa Phillips broke down in tears while being shown a music video Afroman made titled "Licc'em Low Lisa" ... that appears to feature an actor portraying the officer simulating oral sex on another woman.

In courtroom footage, Lisa is seen visibly crying while the 13-minute video played. Afroman's lawyer had objected to playing the video, but the judge ultimately allowed it.

The court also played Afroman's 2022 music video "Why You Disconnecting My Video Camera," where he raps "Lieutenant Licc'em Low Lisa ate my ex-wife just like pizza" as home security footage seems to show Lisa walking through his house during the raid.

The top brass at "The Bachelorette" didn't see it coming ... but according to one well-placed source, they're guilty of willful blindness.

A source connected to the show with direct knowledge tells TMZ ... the latest crop of producers on the ABC show wanted Taylor Frankie Paul from "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" in a bad, bad way. They felt she could bring in a wider audience because her reality show was such a hit, and that's why our source says they "cut corners" in the vetting process.

TMZ broke the story ... Taylor and her baby daddy, Dakota Mortensen, have both been ordered to undergo a psych evaluation after allegations of physical violence.

TMZ Sports has obtained footage from the night of Doug Martin's death ... showing the former NFL star acting erratically as he broke into a home before passing away in police custody.

The Oakland PD just released the 911 calls, body cam, and surveillance video of the October 18 incident.

In the first call, the homeowner said someone had broken into their home and asked responders to hurry. The caller stated this was the second time this happened.

As the first call came in, dispatch received another from Martin's mother ... who explained Doug had left his house on foot and was experiencing a mental-health emergency. She said Martin takes sleeping pills, but he hadn't slept for three days.

Looks like the people at Live Nation -- the company that owns Ticketmaster -- aren’t just taking all your money … they’re also laughing at you while they do it.

Two LN employees were caught bragging about hiking up fees in a series of Slack messages, according to newly released court docs from the company’s federal antitrust trial.

In one exchange, then-regional ticketing directors Ben Baker and Jeff Weinhold were gloating about spiking parking fees … joking about charging “$50 to park in the grass” and “$60 for closer grass.”

The sports world is finally hearing from Emeka Egbuka after an X account with his name shared a viral post questioning whether CTE is real ... and he's confirming what the Tampa Buccaneers said earlier this week -- he had nothing to do with it!!

Egbuka posted a statement on his Instagram Friday afternoon, clearing the air about his affiliation with the account.

"I haven't had twitter since high school," Egbuka wrote. "That account on X isn't me."

The Big 12’s flashy court experiment didn’t even last the whole tournament.

Conference commissioner Brett Yormark announced late Thursday the league is ditching its much-hyped glass LED court for the rest of the tournament ... meaning the semifinals and championship of the Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament will be played on a traditional hardwood floor instead.

The abrupt switch came the same day Christian Anderson -- a star guard for Texas Tech who leads the conference in assists -- slipped multiple times on the court and left the Red Raiders’ quarterfinal game with an injury, putting the controversial playing surface in the spotlight.

Doja Cat is changing her tune about Timothée Chalamet's controversial comments.

ICYMI ... the rapper recently slammed TC in a now-deleted TikTok after he said "no one cares" about ballet and opera.

But she admitted in a new clip that she was really just "virtue signaling" and is now taking the whole thing back.

A Connecticut man named Mike Gerchy appears to have been caught on video beating the crap out of a pit bull ... and now we're told police are investigating.

Check out the dramatic clip posted to Instagram ... which opens with a man body-slamming one of 2 canines in the living room of a house in Glastonbury, CT. You then see the man start kicking the poor pooch while yelling, "What is your f***ing problem?"

A frightened woman is standing in a doorway telling the man to "stop it" ... but he doesn't seem to listen and continues the beatdown, before shooing the dog up the stairs.

Mama June is making one thing crystal clear about daughter Pumpkin's OnlyFans hustle ... that spicy side gig belongs to Pumpkin, not Mama.

Pumpkin cranked up promotion of her adult subscription page Wednesday ... flashing a red lace bodysuit in her cover shot and inviting fans to "Come enjoy the spicy side of me" -- so we had to ask June what she really thinks about it.

June tells TMZ it's not something she would personally do herself, noting she's still got kids in school ... so yeah, that's a hard pass.

Russell Brand wants you to know he’s still alive … even though people on social media seemed to think he kicked it.

The source of the confusion? Conservative podcaster and former FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino shared a pic of himself on a podcast with Russell.

And he captioned it … “There won’t be another. One of the saddest days of my life. He was just different. And everyone who knew him, knew it. May God rest your soul.”

Here’s the thing … He wasn’t talking about Russell. He was talking about Charlie Kirk -- who's also in the photo.

But since Russell was front and center, death rumors started flying.

The actor decided to clear things up, replying on X … “I actually feel quite well. Not suicidal, FYI.”

Russell’s health may be fine, but he’s recently been charged with two new counts of rape and sexual assault charges ... on top of the other five he was already facing.

Kathie Lee Gifford is asking the LGBTQ community to simmer down when it comes to the letters in its title ... but she doesn't want you to think she's being judgmental!

In an interview with Tomi Lahren, Gifford weighed in on the community's identifying letters, saying, "I don't even know how many letters there are now. They've really got to stop with that. We know what you mean, you know?"

She continued ... "I'm not telling anybody how to live their life. I never have. I just know what Jesus said -- 'Love your neighbor as you love yourself.' Love God first."

Misty Copeland is pushing back on Timothée Chalamet's controversial comments that "no one cares about” ballet and opera ... saying the centuries-old art forms paved the way for actors like him.

The famed ballerina addressed the actor's remarks during a recent panel discussion ... acknowledging opera and ballet aren't part of pop culture in the same way movies are -- but adding that "doesn't mean it doesn't have enduring relevance in culture."

Copeland says it's "often mistaken when something is popular that it's meaningful or more impactful," pointing out that opera and ballet have been around for more than 400 years.