Controversial S#!T

Jeffrey Epstein's former cellmate Nicholas Tartaglione was NOT the one who penned the suicide note allegedly left by the late convicted pedophile in their jail cell ... according to NT's lawyer, despite a slew of online speculation.

Tartaglione's attorney, Bruce Barket, tells TMZ ... his client "didn't forge" the suicide note and "there's no debate" over it -- even though skeptics can be found all over social media and on TV talk shows like "The Ingraham Angle."

One critic on Reddit even pointed out the note appears to be written by someone else when comparing it to Epstein's confirmed handwritten letters.

President Donald Trump's latest Truth Social post looks like political fan fiction on steroids ... turning the Biden White House into an A.I.-generated circus.

Take a look ... the caricature Trump posted Thursday morning shows a pajama-wearing Joe Biden passed out in the Oval Office while Barack Obama wheels in a box labeled “AUTOPEN” and Hillary Clinton lurks nearby, overseeing the chaos. Meanwhile, it appears Hunter Biden is sprawled across the Resolute Desk ... snorting what looks like cocaine next to a giant melting tub of ice cream.

Trump captioned the image, “A highly accurate depiction of the Sleepy Joe Biden Administration. Tremendous damage done but, WE’RE BACK!!! President DJT” ... once again pushing claims that Biden’s team relied on autopen signatures and allegedly hid his cognitive decline while others pulled the strings behind the scenes.

Melissa Barrera just slaughtered the "Scream" franchise ... because the actress went scorched earth on the series after she was fired for comments on the Gaza War.

In an interview with Variety ... Melissa didn't hold back when she was asked about the success of the most recent flick ... which was panned by critics -- but made a boatload of money. MB straight up accused Paramount of inflating the box office numbers ... saying there's no way the film did so well.

Important to note ... box office numbers are third-party verified -- so it's impossible for a studio to fudge them.

As you know ... Melissa was booted from "Scream 7" and left her talent agent after friction from her pro-Palestinian messages on social media when the war broke out ... comparing Gaza to a concentration camp.

David Letterman is unloading in a new print interview -- torching his former CBS bosses as "lying weasels" for their ongoing claim "The Late Show With Stephen Colbert" is ending over financial reasons.

The OG late-night TV king says this was never about money ... it was a bigger play tied to the network's parent company deal with Skydance Media -- alleging execs basically treated Stephen and his show like an add-on perk to sweeten the sale.

As he puts it, their thinking sounded like: "There's not going to be any trouble with that guy, we're going to take care of the show. We're just going to throw that into the deal. When will the ink on the check dry..."

Barack Obama is making it clear he's not losing sleep over that racist A.I. video President Donald Trump posted ... but he is drawing a line when it comes to his family.

In a new interview with The New Yorker, Obama addressed the controversy sparked back in February when Trump shared an A.I.-generated clip on social media depicting the former prez and wife Michelle Obama as apes -- imagery that ignited immediate backlash.

Obama’s take? He’s not taking the bait.

The Met Gala 2026 carpet brought the glam … and then it brought the "Wait, WTF is that?!" Because for every jaw-dropping slay, there was a look that had us at a loss for words in a totally different way.

Some stars nailed the theme at The Metropolitan Museum of Art Monday night … others left us confused -- from Jordan Roth and Heidi Klum to Gwendoline Christie and Olivia Wilde.

Either way, they got our attention -- and honestly, that's the whole point. These are the looks that didn't just turn heads ... they had Joan Rivers rolling in her grave.

Lisa Ann Walter wasn't pulling any punches when throwing shade at Jeff Bezos during a protest in New York City on Monday.

The "Abbot Elementary" actress had some choice words for the "very big, very bald" billionaire while speaking at the "Labor Is Art" protest happening ... as the Met Gala kicked off uptown.

She slammed the Amazon founder for funding the event, calling it an attempt to make fashion's biggest night "all about him."

Kid Cudi is giving M.I.A. the boot ... after she got booed onstage over some comments that appeared to provoke the crowd.

On Monday, Cudi took to Instagram to announce she will no longer be opening for "The Rebel Ragers Tour."

He said on his story that he warned M.I.A. not to say or do anything offensive while on the road with him ... but her recent rants onstage have upset him and his fans.

Jimmy Kimmel is either psychic or has the unluckiest timing in comedic history ... last Tuesday, he made a joke about Rudy Giuliani rising from "the grave" -- just days before we learned the former NYC mayor was hospitalized.

In his monologue, Jimmy quipped about Giuliani coming back from the dead, saying ... "So last night, America’s mayor, Rudy Giuliani, rose from the grave to weigh in on the ongoing drama involving me."

This came up because he was ironically referencing another coincidental crack he'd made ... about Melania Trump looking like "an expectant widow" ... two days before the alleged assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents' Dinner on the night of April 25.

One of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants is getting dog-piled online after a pooch was filmed allegedly taking a dump on a wee-wee pad inside the pizza joint ... but an eyewitness says it's all just a bunch of bull crap!

Here's the poop scoop ... a customer hopped on TikTok to vent about what she says was a dog taking a "pee & 💩" on a wee-wee pad near the table she was sharing with her husband and newborn baby inside Gordon Ramsay Street Pizza - Battersea restaurant in London, England.

The woman says she complained about the dog to staff, but claims nobody did a damn thing. Another TikTok video shows the canine on the pad next to another table with people sitting around it.

Kid Rock's using his Department of War connections to get fans hyped for his new "Freedom 250 Tour" celebrating the USA ... and it's rubbing a ton of people online the wrong way.

Here's the deal ... the singer debuted a new video at his tour kickoff concert in Dallas Friday night -- which shows Kid Rock dapping up Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Hegseth tells Rock he's coming to his show that night and KR offers him a ride to the show ... but Hegseth insists on flying the star instead in a DoW helicopter.

What follows is a rocking tribute to 'Merica ... showing the choppers flying through the air, Kid Rock climbing in and out of the gunner seat and moments that will get conservative music fans feeling real patriotic.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and FBI Director Kash Patel came under some heavy fire on "Saturday Night Live" over their alleged drinking habits -- and the jokes were so scathing, the two must be waking up with splitting headaches!

'SNL' regular Colin Jost kicked things off playing Hegseth in the opening sketch, walking out to a podium for a press conference with an oversized glass of Scotch on the rocks gripped in his hand.

Jost mockingly tells reporters, "I said I only had one," and then hands the glass to castmate Ashley Padilla, who played pregnant White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. As Jost passed the glass, he said, "Here you go, for the baby."

A pack of unruly teens went wild inside a New York City Scientology building Saturday ... leaving a trail of damage and even injuring an employee in the process.

The terrifying incident went down at the Church's building on W 46th street -- just a few steps away from Times Square -- at around 4:24 PM, the NYPD tells TMZ. Officers responded to a call for a burglary in progress after the mob forced entry into the building through a side door, causing property damage.

Police say the caller -- a 30-year-old male -- was kicked in the leg and injured, but not hospitalized. The hoodlums fled before police arrived, and no arrests have been made. The investigation is still open.

The Church of Scientology tells TMZ the intruders broke a locked door to gain entry and in addition to injuring one of their employees, used a racial slur against another. They say the disruption "endangered staff, parishioners and visitors, including individuals attending a seminar at the time."

Kanye West has reportedly locked in a massive concert overseas, in Albania ... and is even getting his own stadium built for it.

The controversial rapper is reportedly having a temporary 60,000-person stadium built in Albania for his July 11 show, which is scheduled to take place at Eagle Stadium in Tirana, Albania. Eagle Stadium has a capacity of 22,500, but clearly ... Ye and Albanian officials believe he'll have a much larger audience.

Kurrco, a hip-hop reporter, posted an image of the proposed stadium -- a square venue with tiered seats on the outside and plenty of standing room surrounding his spherical stage made to look like Planet Earth.

Kamala Harris was bringing the passion at dinner -- and one musician was apparently bringing … a pillow?

At Wednesday's Public Counsel Awards Dinner inside the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the former VP had the room tuned in during a serious onstage convo -- but a saxophonist seated nearby seemed to drift into a completely different vibe.

Watch the clip ... we’re talking straight-up OUT ... eyes closed, head down, fully snoozing.

And honestly, the timing couldn’t have been more ironic ... Kamala was in the middle of a thoughtful point about “No Kings” rallies and long-term political strategy ... when, just a few feet away, our guy looked like he’d been transported straight into dreamland.

By now, you've probably heard Harvey Levin chanting "OWTA" in the TMZ newsroom, but might be wondering ... what exactly does that mean?

Well, it stands for "Out With Their Asses" ... and it's HL's message for every single member of Congress.

Basically, if the senators and representatives don't get their s*** together and compromise so the government can actually function ... the TMZ founder and executive producer is calling on U.S. voters to unseat all members of Congress who are up for re-election in this year's midterms.

While not every incumbent is at risk of being voted out -- some terms aren't up yet and some are retiring -- TMZ is hoping this movement can really shake things up for the good of the American people ... regardless of party.

Here's everything you need to know about the "OWTA" movement.

Last October -- when the government was shut down and would remain closed for over a month -- Harvey decided he'd had enough of Congress refusing to come together and do their jobs.

He rallied the newsroom to send a message: the American people need to demand action ... and vote out every single senator and representative who fails to reopen the government -- even if you like them.

Harvey was particularly outraged that air traffic controllers had to work without pay -- they're considered "essential" employees for obvious reasons -- while Congress continued to collect a check.

"OWTA" drew national attention not just from voters ... but from the officials in the hot seat, and several members of the House of Representatives sounded off on TMZ's new mantra.

While Maxine Waters, a Democratic rep from California, was pointing fingers across the aisle ... she urged Harvey to keep pressing the public with his message.

She hopes the mounting pressure will reach the Republicans in charge and encourage them to meet in the middle ... as the Dems claim to be doing.

Jasmine Crockett -- a Democrat representing Texas' 30th congressional district -- appreciated our frustration with the current Congress ... but wasn't too optimistic about "OWTA."

She argued that voters will applaud the idea, but continue to vote for their faves ... keeping us in this cycle.

But, TMZ explained, the whole point of "OWTA" is that everyone is on the chopping block if Congress can't compromise ... even if voters are a fan of them and their policies.

Representative Pat Harrigan, a Republican serving North Carolina's 10th district, is all for "OWTA" ... telling TMZ that no one wins in a shutdown, especially not the American people.

He agreed that every congressman -- Republican and Democrat alike -- is accountable for the shutdown at the end of the day.

Last month, the "OWTA" movement decided to try out a new tactic ... before you vote 'em out, call 'em out!

The move was inspired by Congress breaking for a 2-week vacation while thousands of federal workers had gone without pay for months.

Harvey asked our audience to send us pictures of politicians living it up while the partial government shutdown continues on ... and they sure delivered.

Because if threatening their positions of power wasn't working ... maybe some shame would move the needle!

Check out our gallery to see where your congressmen went! (Spoiler: It wasn't Capitol Hill to negotiate.)

And now here we are ... Congress is going on ANOTHER break. As they gear up to take another 10 days off amid the ongoing partial shutdown ... Harvey is asking our audience to once again call 'em out!

While our first attempt at shaming politicians into compromise wasn't as successful as we'd hoped ... we're not giving up!

So if you see any senators or representatives out and about, send us the snaps!

Here's the thing ... "OWTA" only works if we actually follow through on our threat to vote out every single congressman ... regardless of party and whether or not you like them.

We've already had a few primary elections in March, but the majority start next week and run through September ... so make sure you're registered to vote, if you aren't already!

Not sure when the 2026 primaries are in your state? Here's when you should hit the voting booth and say "Out With Their Asses":

• May 5: Indiana, Ohio
• May 12: North Carolina, Nebraska, West Virginia
• May 16: Louisiana
• May 19: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania
• May 26: Texas
• June 2: California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota
• June 9: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina
• June 16: Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma
• June 23: Maryland, New York, South Carolina, Utah
• June 27: Louisiana
• June 30: Colorado
• July 21: Arizona
• July 28: South Dakota
• August 4: Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Virginia, Washington
• August 6: Tennessee
• August 8: Hawaii
• August 11: Connecticut, Minnesota, Vermont, Wisconsin
• August 18: Alaska, Florida, Wyoming
• August 25: Oklahoma
• September 1: Massachusetts
• September 8: New Hampshire, Rhode Island
• September 15: Delaware

And if you aren't able to unseat any uncompromising congresspeople during the primaries ... you'll still have a chance during the general election on November 3.