Controversial S#!T

Cecily Strong did not feel comfortable playing Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 'SNL' sketch about the "genocide of Jews" hearing in Congress ... and ended up bowing out right before the show started.

The former "Saturday Night Live" star was supposed to return as a guest star in the cold open skit, and she went through a dress rehearsal as Stefanik. But, she "was uncomfortable with the sketch" ... according to a NY Post report.

The sketch tackled last week's explosive hearing on Capitol Hill, where Rep. Stefanik grilled university presidents about antisemitism on campuses ... leading to some cringeworthy responses and a resignation at UPENN.

Instead of Cecily making her first 'SNL' appearance since December 2022, when she left the NBC show after 11 seasons, she was replaced on air by Chloe Troast.

The report also cited sources claiming the writing of Saturday's cold-open sketch was slightly rushed ... and that Cecily backed out for "a variety of reasons."

It's unclear if her issue was the bit's obvious political slant in mocking a staunch Donald Trump supporter -- namely, Rep. Stefanik -- or its lack of humor. Kenan Thompson really had the only decent laughs in the skit.

Cecily might have seen the bullet coming, and decided to dodge it -- the sketch is getting terrible reviews and Chloe is getting dragged for her role in it.

Adam22 le está respondiendo a Joe Budden luego de que este dijera que su matrimonio con Lena es una farsa, y lo está haciendo hablando de las relaciones pasadas de Joe.

Encontramos a Adam y Lena fuera de su tienda No Jumper el viernes en Melrose, y dijeron que las palabras de Joe son bastante irónicas.

Joe afirmó en su podcast que Adán está en una espiral descendente y está enfocado en mantenerse relevante, citando que deja a Lena dormir con diferentes tipos, incluso piensa que la pareja tiene un acuerdo al respecto.

Adam y Lena dicen que eso está lejos de la verdad y realmente hacen cosas normales como una pareja, por no hablar de que tienen un hijo y viven juntos.

Ahora, en el frente menos tradicional, Adam y Lena acaban de concluir su reality show de competencia, "Por el amor de Lena", que tenía a varios chicos compitiendo por tener un trío con Lena y Adam, ¡y qué trofeo fue a la estrella de cine para adultos Lil D!

Adam22 is putting Joe Budden on blast for saying his marriage to Lena the Plug was a sham ... and he's doing it by calling out Joe's own past relationships.

We got Adam and Lena outside their No Jumper Store Friday on Melrose, and he says the chatter from Joe is pretty ironic ... and he's got a bold reason why.

ICYMI, Joe claimed on his podcast that Adam's on a downward spiral and is doing a lot to stay relevant, citing letting Lena sleep with different dudes as an example ... he even thought the 2 might just have an arrangement going on.

Adam and Lena say that's far from the truth, and really do a lot of normal things as a couple -- not to mention they have a kid, and freakin' live together, too.

Now, on the less traditional front ... Adam and Lena just wrapped their reality competition show, "For the Love of Lena," which had multiple guys vying to have a threesome with Lena and Adam ... and that unique trophy went to adult film star Lil D.

3:16 PM PT -- Parece que Kanye estuvo tocando nueva música durante su salida de Miami, incluyendo ese nuevo sample de una canción de Backstreet Boys con la que ha estado bromeando esta última semana.

Una buena parte de la pista se jugó durante lo que parece ser un evento de escucha improvisada a cabo en Art Basel, y suena muy pegadizo. Sabemos que Ye ha estado trabajando últimamente en un nuevo álbum y por lo que parece, puede estar cerca de terminarlo.

Kanye West y su esposa, Bianca Censori, están de vuelta en Estados Unidos y llegaron a Art Basel juntos este fin de semana. Bianca lo mostró todo en su atuendo transparente.

La pareja fue vista paseando casualmente el domingo en una de las galerías de arte que se exhiben en Miami en este momento, tomando su tiempo para ver las obras y mantener un perfil bajo, al menos eso es lo que se puede ver en este video obtenido por TMZ.

Échale un vistazo... Ye tiene toda la cabeza cubierta como suele hacer en estos días, y Bianca estaba en tan revelador de un traje como la hemos visto en estos últimos meses.

De hecho, parece que sus pechos estaban en plena exhibición, pezones fuera y todo. Por supuesto, ella no tenía ningun problema y nadie a su alrededor parecía pestañear tampoco. Como hemos dicho, es casi como si la mayoría de la gente aquí no los reconociera.

De todos modos, testigos presenciales nos dicen que era solo Ye y Bianca rodando con unos pocos guardias de seguridad, ningún séquito más grande de lo que parece. También nos dicen que no parecía que hablaran con nadie, ni siquiera entre ellos.

Un par de cosas más... por un lado, Ye está de vuelta en los Estados Unidos, lo cual es interesante teniendo en cuenta que ha estado fuera de un largo, largo tiempo paseando por Europa y Oriente Medio. Además, Bianca esta claramente de vuelta a su mundo, esto después de estar fuera de la imagen pública por un momento.

Como en los viejos tiempos, ¿eh, Ye?

3:16 PM PT -- Looks like Kanye was out there playing new music during his Miami outing ... including that new Backstreet Boys-sampled song he's been teasing this past week.

A fair amount of the track was played during what appears to be an impromptu listening event out at Art Basel ... and it sure sounds pretty catchy. We know Ye's got this new album he's been working on lately, and from the looks of it -- he may be close to done.

Kanye West and his wife, Bianca Censori, are back in America -- and they hit up Art Basel together this weekend, where BC was showing off her assets ... with a see-through getup.

The couple was spotted strolling around casually Sunday at one of the art galleries on display in Miami right now -- taking their time to check out the artwork and maintaining somewhat of a low profile, it seems ... which you can see in this video, obtained by TMZ.

Check it out ... Ye's got his whole head covered up like he usually does these days, and Bianca was in as revealing of an outfit as we've seen her in over these past several months.

Indeed, it looks like her breasts were on full display ... nipples out and everything. Of course, she didn't have a care in the world about it -- and nobody around them appeared to bat an eyelash either. Like we said, it's almost as if most of the folks here didn't recognize them.

Anyway, eyewitnesses tell us it was just Ye and Bianca rolling with a few security guards -- no larger entourage from the looks of it. We're also told it didn't appear that they spoke to anyone ... not even each other as they walked around.

Couple takeaways ... for one, Ye's back in the States, which is interesting considering he's been away from a long, long time now -- be it in Europe or the Middle East. Also, Bianca's also very clearly back in his orbit ... this after being out of the picture for a hot minute.

Just like old times ... eh, Ye?

Blueface claims Offset slept with Chrisean Rock -- something she seems to be denying ... and which he's most certainly calling BS on ... this amid his latest issues with Cardi B.

The rapper made the allegation online Sunday amid his ongoing feud with Chrisean ... with the latest hurdle between them now being about their child together -- which Blue just announced the other day was not, in fact, his after he allegedly got confirmation.

On the heels of that drama, Blue tweeted out ... "Being tatted ona hoe is not a flex you literally f****d cardi B husband couple weeks ago I’m tired of n****s looking at me while they f*****g you get the rest of em gone asap please."

It looks like Chrisean is tweeting back at Blueface right now and saying it ain't true, to which Blue responded with specific dates and times ... "So you ain’t f*** cardi husband November 10th at 4am at their house in LA…I’m making this up ?"

Welp, Offset chimed in on the back and forth ... and he's saying yeah, Blue is making it up.

Offset wrote in direct response to one of Blueface's tweets, "I ain't never  talk or touch that lady. Real talk man you need some help!" To that, Blueface appears to have replied and said this ... "If the truth tears you down you living a shameful life and I feel bad for you cuz I ain’t never gone lie on my d*** if I hit it ima admit it on SY."

As for Chrisean -- who's been feuding a lot with Blueface lately, especially pertaining to her baby boy -- she threw out her own accusations at him ... including claims that she'd seen Blueface's Internet search history of late and saw some gay porn results, which he denied. She, of course, also denied his Offset claim, saying ... "U just crashing out making up s***."

Now what's interesting about Blueface's accusation here is the fact that Offset and Cardi do, in fact, appear to be going through more difficulties -- as she's been cryptically implying she's over him ... seemingly referring to him as "dead weight" and straight up unfollowing him.

She hasn't clarified what exactly the problem is ... but considering his history of alleged infidelity, something tells us it might be about that -- especially with this latest development.

Alex Jones is back on X (formerly Twitter) after Elon Musk randomly decided to leave it to a vote among users to see how they felt about it ... and as they say, the people have spoken.

The notorious conspiracy theorist -- who infamously questioned the legitimacy of the Sandy Hook shooting, and got taken to court over it -- regained control of his account again late Saturday after being removed from the platform years ago.

This all happened back in 2018 when tech companies banned him en masse. At the time, he was embroiled in defamation lawsuits from the families of the Sandy Hook victims ... but that controversy, in and of itself, wasn't why he got banned -- different orgs. cited different reasons, but it all boiled down to what they said were violations of their policies.

For Twitter -- the last social media company to ban him -- they ended up citing abusive behavior by Jones and his account ... similar to what the other companies ended up saying.

In any case, Musk reversed the decision with a poll. He wrote, "Reinstate Alex Jones on this platform? Vox Populi, Vox Dei." After leaving the poll up for a full day, the results came in -- and out of nearly 2 million people that participated, 70% said he oughta be brought back.

Once the poll wrapped, EM wrote ... "The people have spoken and so it shall be." He also responded to some concerned users who felt Jones could potentially pose a threat on X -- but Elon clarified, "He cannot break the law." So, it sounds like AJ will be monitored.

Jones hasn't tweeted any new original content after being reinstated, but he has retweeted a few people who are celebrating his return -- including Andrew Tate, who wrote ... "To show respect to Alex Jones for his triumphant return and to show respect to Elon being a hero -  tell a globalist to get f****d today." Jones has retweeted other far-right figures too.

Jones continues to run his InfoWars website and channel, and broadcasts his program from there daily -- but, he doesn't have mainstream distribution on social media or otherwise.

He remains controversial for many reasons, some of which he addressed in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson ... who sat down with Jones for a wide-ranging interview.

12/11 4:02 PM PT -- Yale President, Peter Salovey, has released a statement on the incident ... claiming it's still unknown if the perpetrator was an actual student at Yale, and correcting information floating around stating the incident happened on campus.

Salovey's statement reads, "Yale condemns in the strongest possible terms the desecration of a menorah on the New Haven Green during the religious holiday of Chanukah. The placement of a Palestinian flag on the menorah conveys a deeply antisemitic message to Jewish residents of New Haven, including members of the Yale community."

He continues, "Yale’s regulations reach conduct occurring on or off campus that imperils the integrity and values of the University community, and if such conduct is committed by a member of the Yale community, we take action. Yale has asked the New Haven police to investigate this incident and Yale may conduct its own investigation. Desecration of property such as a religious object is a crime under Connecticut law."

Salovey says the school does not yet have any info on whether or not the suspect is a member of the Yale community.

A pro-Palestinian student at Yale tried to co-opt the symbol of the current Jewish holiday by planting a Palestinian flag on a menorah.

The student climbed the oversized menorah, the symbol of Hanukkah, as others screamed, "Get the f**k down!," and "It looks bad for us" ... as seen in viral video posted by attorney Jake Dressler.

One student is seen climbing the menorah to 86 the flag. The flag has now been removed.

It's the latest skirmish on college campuses around the country -- especially elite colleges and universities. As you know, the President of the University of Pennsylvania resigned Saturday after a torrent of criticism over her testimony in Congress Monday, where she would not squarely say calling for the genocide of Jews was bullying or harassment.

Jada Pinkett Smith says she and Will may have been completely dunzo by now, were it not for literally having some sense slapped into them ... indirectly, of course, because poor Chris Rock was the actual target.

Jada further opened up about the famous slap to Daily Mail, saying, "I nearly didn't even attend the Oscars that year, but I'm glad I did," adding, "I call it the 'holy slap' now because so many positive things came after it."

Jada said, "After all those years trying to figure out if I would leave Will's side, it took that slap for me to see I will never leave him."

As Jada revealed in her memoir, she and Will have been separated since 2016, but judging from their public statements since the book's release, they're back on track, although the scope of their relationship is still a mystery.

Will had previously cosigned on his wife's take, saying back in October ... “We have had a very, very long and tumultuous [relationship]. We call it ‘brutiful.’ It was brutal and beautiful at the same time.”

Two takeaways from Prince William and Princess Kate's family XMAS card -- they've scaled down the whole Royal look, and them kids are all grown up!!!

The card's in black and white and jeans seemed to be the standard issue for at least some of them, including Kate.

Now the kids ... who knew they grow up so fast? Prince George is 10, Princess Charlotte is 8 and Prince Louis is 5. They were all matchy matchy for the shoot.

The card makes the fam look serene ... but there's a lot going on behind the scenes in the wake of Omid Scobie's scorcher, which claims, among other things, Kate and King Charles were the ones who raised concerns over the skin color of the soon-to-be-born first child of Meghan and Harry.

Kate and William have been mum on Scobie's book, but there are reports they might be considering legal action.

Don't be surprised if Lamar Jackson's lifting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of this year ... 'cause former Baltimore star Peter Boulware says he's confident the Ravens have what it takes to win the Super Bowl this season.

The ex-pass rusher made it clear to TMZ Sports he loves what the Baltimore QB is doing ... as well as everyone else that's surrounding the talented signal-caller this year.

"They've got the pieces in place and they've got the coaches in place to really, really get it done," Boulware said. "So, they're in a really, really good position."

Of course, Boulware is biased ... he played for the Ravens for the entirety of his career from 1997 to 2005, and won one Super Bowl for the org. But, Baltimore does truly appear to be that good this season.

They're currently 9-3 and tied for the No. 1 seed in the AFC ... and with quarterback injuries all over the conference, they -- alongside the Chiefs -- certainly seem like the favorites for now to make it to the Big Game in February.

Liz Magill -- the president of the University of Pennsylvania -- is stepping down after equivocating over the "genocide of Jews" and whether calling for that violated their rules.

The announcement over Magill's resignation came down Saturday straight from Penn itself -- with a statement from a member of the Board of Trustees reading ... "I write to share that President Liz Magill has voluntarily tendered her resignation as President of the University of Pennsylvania. She will remain a tenured faculty member at Penn Carey Law."

This follows a turbulent week on Capitol Hill, where Magill and 2 other presidents of prominent universities -- namely, Harvard and M.I.T. -- were grilled by lawmakers over the rise in antisemitism on college campuses after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in Israel.

When asked by Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican, if calling for the genocide of Jews, in and of itself, violated Penn's rules or code of conduct ... Magill gave a qualifying answer instead of just saying yes or no -- essentially explaining that it depended on the context.

Magill went on to say if the speech Stefanik referred to turned into actual action, it could then potentially constitute harassment. Stefanik gave her yet another opportunity to answer more directly -- again, over whether calling for the genocide of Jews was a rule-breaker -- and Magill kept giving conditional responses ... which turned into a testy exchange.

That all went viral, and Magill later apologized in a video posted to Penn's social media pages -- where she was much more clear ... yes, calling for the genocide of Jews is obviously in violation of the university's policies -- something she should've just said up front.

Just about everyone was stunned that Magill wouldn't just acknowledge that what Stefanik was (literally) asking was terrible and not in line with the university's values -- even if there's nuanced context to what exactly university students are saying/protesting for on campus.

We got into this issue further with a MIT free speech advocate ... who gave us a puzzling response to whether the KKK calling for the genocide of African-Americans on a college campus would be met with the same kind of response as calling for the genocide of Jews.

Apparently, it'd be dealt with differently ... but the reasons for why are still unclear, it seems.

Of course, this all stems from the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas -- which has thrust innocent people into the mix ... and has spurred a lot of people across the country to hit the streets to voice support ... mostly for Palestine. A lot of that rhetoric though -- namely, criticizing Zionism -- has been viewed as outright antisemitic hate speech by some.

Jonathan Majors is gathering his thoughts after what you could argue was a rough week for him in court -- ending with some startling texts he once sent being read in front of the jury.

The embattled actor was spotted on a solo stroll through Manhattan Saturday, where he seemed to be on a coffee run -- as he ended up grabbing two and balanced them on his way back to wherever he was going.

Considering the eventful week, these pics are telling for many reasons -- for one, he's all by his lonesome ... this after his GF, Meagan Good, has come to every single court date of his -- including showing up the past several days during the trial -- and been right by his side.

No sign of her here though ... although, he could've been grabbing Joe for the two of them.

In any case, JM kept his little outing here stylish ... uniquely his style, that is. The dude was wearing a khaki peacoat -- which he eventually draped off his shoulders -- a white tee, black pants, shades and a matching golf cap. Like all his public appearances, he's dressed up.

Now, as for what might be on his mind ... well, a lot of things, we're sure -- including what's gonna happen to his career, regardless of what the jury ultimately decides in their verdict.

Fact is ... there's been some ugly revelations about him throughout the trial -- much of which came from Grace Jabbari's testimony about their relationship ... including claims he'd been verbally abusive to her in the past. Remember the whole Coretta Scott King thing?

Even more damning than just that, though, is what came to light Friday ... when text messages Majors had sent Jabbari back in September 2022 were read aloud in court.

They included exchanges between Majors and Jabbari, where the two of the appeared to refer to some sort of altercation in London ... with Majors writing at the time, "They will ask you questions, and as I don't think you actually protect us, it could lead to investigation even if you do lie, and they suspect something."

Jabbari replied, "I will tell the doctor I bumped my head if I go. I'm going to give it one more day, but I can't sleep and I need some stronger pain killers. That's all: why would I tell them what really happened when it's clear I want to be with you."

That coupled with the testimony she gave about other times he'd allegedly shown aggression around her have not landed well with the public (just check Twitter/X). Because so much of all these old alleged incidents have been allowed to be aired out in court, it feels like it almost doesn't matter if he's found guilty or not -- from our POV, anyway.

Of course, we'll see what the jury has to say about it all in the end -- and more importantly, what Disney wants to do in the aftermath. They're far and away his biggest employer right now, and there's a lot of money and work on the line depending on how things shake out.

Majors' trial continues next week, and we're expecting to hear from other key witnesses -- including the car service driver, who could presumably speak on the alleged incident in his vehicle and answer once and for all ... did the guy brutalize her back there or not???

Jonathan Majors está dedicando tiempo a la reflexión después de lo que podría llamarse una semana difícil en la corte y que terminó con algunos textos sorprendentes que alguna vez envió a su exnovia y se leyeron ante el jurado.

El asediado actor fue visto paseando solo por Manhattan este sábado, donde se lo vio comprando dos cafés y se los llevó en su camino de regreso.

Teniendo en cuenta la acontecida semana que tuvo, estas fotos son reveladoras por muchas razones. Por un lado, está solo. Esto, después de que su novia Meagan Good, llegara a cada una de sus citas en la corte, incluyendo la aparición de los últimos días durante el juicio, para acompañarlo.

Pese a ello, no hay rastro de ella aquí. Aunque podría haber estado agarrando los cafés para los dos.

En cualquier caso, Jonathan Majors mantuvo su salida con estilo. El tipo llevaba un chaquetón de color caqui, una camiseta blanca, pantalones negros, gafas de sol y una gorra de golf a juego. Como en todas sus apariciones públicas, iba elegante.

Ahora, en cuanto a lo que podría estar en su mente. Bueno, pueden ser un montón de cosas, incluyendo lo que va a pasar con su carrera, independientemente de lo que el jurado decida finalmente en su veredicto.

La verdad es que han habido algunas revelaciones feas sobre el actor durante el juicio, gran parte de las cuales vinieron del testimonio de Grace Jabbari sobre su relación, entre ellas, que había sido verbalmente abusivo con ella en el pasado. ¿Recuerdan todo el asunto de Coretta Scott King?

Aún más condenatorio que eso, sin embargo, es lo que salió a la luz el viernes. Esto es los mensajes de texto que Majors le envió a Jabbari en septiembre de 2022 y que fueron leídos en voz alta en el tribunal.

Estos incluían intercambios entre Majors y Jabbari, donde los dos parecían referirse a algún tipo de altercado en Londres. Majors escribió en ese momento: "Te harán preguntas, y como no creo que nos protejas, podría dar lugar a una investigación, incluso si mientes y sospechan algo".

Jabbari respondió: "Le diré al médico que me golpeé la cabeza si voy. Voy a darle un día más, pero no puedo dormir y necesito analgésicos más fuertes. Eso es todo: para qué les voy a contar lo que pasó de verdad si está claro que quiero estar contigo".

Eso unido al testimonio que dio sobre otras ocasiones en las que supuestamente él fue agresivo con ella, no han sentado nada bien al público (no hay más que ver Twitter/X). Debido a que se ha permitido que todos estos supuestos incidentes se aireen en el tribunal, parece que casi no importa si se lo declara culpable o no, desde nuestro punto de vista.

Por supuesto, veremos lo que el jurado tiene que decir al final y, lo que es más importante, lo que Disney quiere hacer después. Ellos son de lejos su mayor empleador en este momento y hay un montón de dinero y trabajo en juego dependiendo de cómo resulten las cosas.

El juicio de Majors seguirá la semana que viene y estamos esperando escuchar a otros testigos clave, incluyendo al conductor del carro que estuvo con ellos esa noche, el que presumiblemente podría hablar sobre el presunto incidente en su vehículo y responder de una vez por todas, ¿el tipo fue agresivo con ella o no?

Selena Gómez está recibiendo una ola de críticas por su relación con Benny Blanco, y parece que está tratando de apoyarse en una de sus mejores amigas... Taylor Swift.

La cantante y actriz salió el viernes por la noche en Nueva York para lo que resultó ser una cena de chicas, no solo con Taylor, sino que también con Cara Delevingne, Zoe Kravitz y más tarde con Anya Taylor Joy. Sophie Turner estaba un poco ocupada, al parecer.

De todos modos, todas estaban vestidas de punta en blanco para su paseo, incluyendo Selena, que estaba en una especie de traje de piel de serpiente que le quedaba muy bien. Claramente, estaba lista para las fotos.

Se dice que el grupo de chicas fue a un espectáculo de comedia en Brooklyn y luego fue a un club italiano cerca de allí. La tripulación estuvo súper unida mientras iban y venían, con T-Swift al centro, por supuesto.

Sabemos que Selena y Taylor son muy unidas, y han tenido cenas como estas antes, por lo que desde su perspectiva, es solo una reunión de amigas un viernes por la noche.

Ahora, con el contexto de esta nueva "controversia" de Selena por su novio Benny Blanco, con quien confirmó que está saliendo esta semana, la junta tiene algo de intriga, ya que pasó hace muy poco para ser una mera coincidencia.

El hecho es que sus fans (y sus haters) sospechan que esta salida podría haber sido coordinada por la propia Selena como una forma de enviar un mensaje a todos los que están en pie de guerra sobre Benny.

Ese mensaje sería... ¡ESTOY AQUÍ Y NO VOY A SER AVERGONZADA!

Parte del motivo por el que está recibiendo críticas, además de que muchos piensan que Benny es un "retroceso" para ella, es por un supuesto comentario de Instagram que al parecer ella hizo en las últimas 24 horas y apunta a sus recientes observaciones sobre Palestina.

Alguien criticó a Selena por sentir la necesidad de ser muy vocal sobre su relación con Benny Blanco, pero al mismo tiempo rehuir el tema de Palestina-Israel y tomando una pausa de las redes sociales sobre algo objetivamente más importante, a lo que ella respondió "tienes razón".

Sí, de todas maneras suena como que es una crítica injusta...

En cualquier caso, Selena está aquí con sus mejores amigas, las que parecen apoyarla independientemente de su último frenesí en las redes sociales.

Selena Gomez is catching heat over her relationship with Benny Blanco -- and it seems she's dealing with it by leaning on one of her best gal pals ... Taylor Swift.

The singer/actress stepped out Friday night in NYC for what turned out to be an all-female power dinner with not just Taylor -- but Cara Delevingne and Zoe Kravitz as well ... and later in the evening, Anya Taylor-Joy too. Sophie Turner was a tad bit busy, it seems.

Anyway, everybody was dressed to the nines for their pap walk ... including Selena, who was in some sort of snakeskin outfit that looked great on her. She was clearly ready for pics.

The group of ladies are said to have hit up a venue for Brooklyn for a comedy show, and then went to an Italian joint nearby shortly thereafter. As they came and went, the crew was putting on a pretty united front -- with T-Swift, of course, being the main centerpiece.

We know Selena and Taylor are tight, and they've gone out for high-profile dinners like this before ... so on its face, it's just a group of friends getting together to paint the town red.

Now, with the added context of this new "controversy," Selena finds herself in as it pertains to Benny -- whom she confirmed she was dating this week -- it lops on an extra layer of intrigue and speculation, as the timing appears to be too close to be a mere coincidence.

Fact is, fans (and haters) of hers suspect this outing might've likely been coordinated by Selena herself as a way to send a message to everyone who's up in arms about Benny.

That message being ... I'M HERE, AND I AIN'T GONNA BE SHAMED INTO GOING DARK!

Part of the reason she's catching flak over Benny -- aside from the fact people think she's "dating down" by being with him -- is because of this alleged IG comment she apparently responded to over the past 24 hours ... which points to her recent remarks on Palestine.

Someone slammed Selena for feeling the need to be very vocal over her relationship with BB, but shying away from the Palestine-Israel issue and taking a social media break over something objectively more important ... to which she replied "you're right."

If it sounds like an unfair critique ... well, you might have an argument that it totally is.