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The founder of a gaming company is seeing the light -- she's aborting efforts to create a "Black Lives Matter" board game, and admits, despite good intentions ... there's a better way to fight racism.

Shari Spiro's the owner of AdMagic Inc., and last week she filed to trademark the 'BLM' phrase. Spiro told TMZ her plan was to help the organization create some type of educational tool -- possibly a 'BLM' card or board game -- to teach people about the movement.

Spiro added, she was not doing it for financial gain or publicity, and told us she was even going to donate the trademark -- if approved -- back to the Black Lives Matter org.

A couple days later, however, she reached out to tell us she's abandoning her application ... saying she now understands it was "tone deaf" to try it in the first place.

Spiro says even though her goal was to do good for the BLM movement, she recognizes "that 'good intentions' can still be unhelpful."

She adds ... "Moving forward, I will listen and learn so that I can be a better ally in the fight against racism." Spiro says her withdrawal of the trademark will be officially on the books within a few days.

It should be noted ... Spiro's not the first person to run to the trademark office since BLM protests started spreading after the death of George Floyd. Another businessman also recently withdrew applications for "Black Lives Matter" and "I Can't Breathe."

Not only is the coronavirus still here, but guess what ... ditto for murder hornets ... and Animal Planet's Forrest Galante says the clock's ticking to eradicate them before it's too late.

The Animal Planet star tells TMZ ... murder hornets are such a threat to our environment, biologists are literally hunting down the invading species. It's no joke ... biologists may as well be called the Ghostbusters 'cause Forrest says they're hunting the hornets with sniffing dogs, heat sensing technology and all kinds of tools to track their whereabouts.

So, why's it important to find them? Forrest tells us the murder hornets are detrimental to the environment if they're roaming and foraging all across the U.S. of A. He says there's still a murder hornet population in Washington.

BTW, timing's huge, too, if biologists are going to find the hornets. Check out the video ... Forrest explains why NOW is the prime time to find them and get rid of them. And, that's just one of the obstacles biologists are dealing with.

The L.A. Lakers 14k gold & diamond championship ring that Kobe Bryant gifted to his father just hit the auction block and it's expected to bring in a QUARTER-MIL!!

Here's the deal ... 20 years ago -- following Los Angeles' title-winning '99-'00 season -- Mamba bought 2 additional rings and gifted them to his parents, Pamela and Joe "Jellybean" Bryant.

The rings are IDENTICAL to the bling Kobe, Shaq, and the rest of the Lakers squad received.

We're talking real gold and 40 diamonds on each massive ring.

Goldin Auctions -- who recently sold Pamela's ring for $206k -- is now offering "Jellybean's" ring ... and GA tells us they expect it to sell for over $250,000.

FYI, Pamela and Joe sold the rings -- along with other memorabilia -- back in 2013 for a total of $280,000.

And, get this, there's more awesome Kobe swag for sale:

- Kobe Bryant worn and signed cast from when he broke his wrist during the preseason in 1999. Expected to bring in about $20k.

- A 1996-1997 Topps Chrome Refractors Kobe Bryant rookie card (a very rare card). Expected to go for around $75k.

- A Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant signed basketball. Expected to sell for $20k to $25k.

Emile Hirsch is hoping the abandoned bus made famous by his 2007 film, "Into The Wild," lands in a safer location than the Alaskan wilderness ... and he's got the perfect spot.

Emile played the main character, Chris McCandless, and tells TMZ ... if it were up to him, he would put the bus in an area for people to visit without fear of getting lost in the wild or losing their lives in a raging river ... somewhere like, say, Emile's backyard!!!

As we reported ... the abandoned bus from the film -- based on a true story -- was a major, and sometimes deadly, tourist attraction in a remote area of Alaska's Denali National Park. On Thursday, the National Guard airlifted the bus from its location in the interest of public safety.

While Emile says the symbolism around the bus made a huge impact on fans around the world, he knows it presented some dangerous problems for people making the backcountry pilgrimage. Five Italian tourists had to be rescued earlier this year, and a woman died last year hiking to the bus, which spurred local officials to call for its relocation.

Emile says the cautionary tales were tragic to see, and he hopes the bus ends up somewhere safer ... as long it's not broken down and sold for scrap parts. For now, it's being held in a secure location until authorities find a new home for it.

Brett Favre says Colin Kaepernick's willingness to leave his NFL career to fight for social justice reminds him of Pat Tillman's ultimate sacrifice ... and now, he's telling TMZ Sports he thinks both will be remembered as heroes.

The Hall of Fame QB spoke with us about Colin this week ... and told us straight-up he believes Kaepernick will go down as a legend for what he's done to combat systemic racism.

"It's not easy for a guy his age -- black or white, Hispanic, whatever -- to stop something that you've always dreamed of doing, and put it on hold, maybe forever, for something that you believe in," Favre said.

Brett told us he believes it's all very similar to what Tillman did when he left the NFL to fight for his country in the Army in the aftermath of 9/11.

"I can only think of right off the top of my head, Pat Tillman is another guy that did something similar," Favre said. "And, we regard him as a hero. So, I'd assume that hero status will be stamped with Kaepernick as well."

It's lofty praise from the former Green Bay Packers superstar ... but Favre clearly believes Kaep gave up a legitimate NFL career to make his message heard.

Brett tells us even despite a 3-year-plus layoff, he thinks Colin can STILL be an effective QB in the NFL today.

"I thought he was a dynamic player when he was playing in his prime," Favre said. "He's still young and hasn't been hit in several years, so there's no reason to think that he's lost that much of a step."

For Colin's part, we're told he's training like a maniac to get back in the league ... and at least one team -- the L.A. Chargers -- has said it'll consider giving him a tryout this season.

Ex-NBA star Shawn Marion says the LAST thing players should do is sit out the 2020 season ... saying sitting out will diminish their chances at making a bigger difference in the fight against racism.

Superstars like Kyrie Irving have expressed their uncertainty over restarting the season in the middle of the Black Lives Matter movement ... with the Nets star saying players' focus should be on fighting for social justice.

Ex-NBAer Stephen Jackson -- who was friends with George Floyd -- sided with Kyrie ... saying, "now ain't the time to be playing basketball, y'all."

But, the Matrix disagrees with the idea of sitting out ... saying the biggest platform to fight for social justice is on the NBA stage.

"In order for you to advocate and go out here and show what you're fighting for and the causes, you need to be on TV," Marion says.

"Social media is a great platform, but TV is a bigger platform because you can post whatever you post on TV, you can post to your social media platform."

"So, with the season resuming, it adds to that cause."

Matrix -- who acknowledges Uncle Drew has a valid point -- says players will be able to speak out in interviews and press conferences ... which brings a much bigger audience than a Twitter account.

But, as for sitting? -- "I don't agree with that."

"What is sitting out, boycotting, not playing the season -- what is that gonna accomplish really?"

Post Malone is adding digital bartender and sommelier to his ever-growing resume ... because his new line of French wine is already a huge hit!!!

The "Better Now" rapper officially released his own French rosé, Maison No. 9, and it's already in high demand ... we're told Posty sold 50,000 bottles in 2 days during its pre-sale, wiping out the first round of inventory in a flash.

Post's fans sure are thirsty ... we're told Vivino, the sales platform hawking the booze, crashed on the first morning of the pre-sale because it couldn't handle the flood of orders.

The rosé is flying off the shelves at $21.99 a bottle ... it's named after Post's favorite tarot card (yes, he has one), the Nine of Swords. This is no cheapo novelty wine, either ... the drunk good folks at Wine.com rated it a 90 overall.

If you missed the pre-sale rush, chill. Post's rosé will be available online Monday in almost all states.

As if Post needs another reason to pop bottles. Cheers!!!

Harry Jowsey only dated Francesca Farago for publicity and clout, and never genuinely loved her ... according to one of their former "Too Hot To Handle" costars.

Haley Cureton, who got extremely close with Francesca before getting booted from the Netflix reality dating show, tells TMZ ... she's 100 percent convinced Harry only got with FF to extend his 15 minutes of fame beyond the show.

The way Haley sees it ... Harry first fell for Francesca's looks -- because who wouldn't -- and then realized he could ride the model's coattails.

Haley thinks Harry isn't capable of loving anyone besides himself ... and she thinks he never genuinely cared about Francesca or her feelings.

If you've seen the show, all the evidence of Harry's true colors is there ... according to Haley. She points to him lying about who initiated the first kiss with Francesca ... a move that cost the whole cast prize money.

As we reported ... Harry and Francesca stayed together after the show, but this week they finally broke up. Francesca said he broke up with her because he couldn't do a long-distance relationship anymore.

Francesca won't be lonely for too long, even with Harry outta the picture ... Haley says they're talking about moving in together to let the good times roll.

Kim Kardashian West's makeup line is on the verge of giving up a treasure trove of beauty secrets to another cosmetics company ... or at least that's what one company fears.

KKW Beauty is being sued by Seed Beauty, a company that claims there's a concrete threat KKW will disclose Seed's metaphorical secret sauce ... if Kim's company gets bought out.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Seed Beauty says it went through this with Kylie Jenner's old parent company, King Kylie, back in 2016 when Seed used its valuable trade secrets to grow that brand ... which was acquired by Coty in 2019. In the suit, Seed says it warned Kylie not to disclose trade secrets during that deal, but didn't get much reassurance.

Now, with Coty seemingly on the verge of acquiring Kim's beauty line, Seed Beauty says it's again deathly afraid Coty, the competition, will gain Seed's precious intel from KKW.

SB claims it started working with KKW Beauty about a year after it started working with Kylie Cosmetics.

Now, Seed Beauty is asking the judge for an injunction blocking KKW from revealing its trade secrets and business practices to Coty ... and other damages.

The Kansas City cop who shot and killed Cameron Lamb is now charged with manslaughter, but Lamb's parents are expecting even more consequences after getting a face-to-face promise from President Trump.

Laurie and Aqil Bey were at the White House earlier this week with their attorney Lee Merritt, and had a chance to discuss Cameron's death with the President. They say he was polite and attentive during the meeting, and said he would put the feds on the case.

They say it was a heartening convo, and now they're hoping POTUS follows through. There are a lot of loose ends in the puzzling case.

Thursday evening, a grand jury indicted officer Eric DeValkenaere, charging him with involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action for the reckless death of Cameron, a father to 3 young boys.

ICYMI ... Cameron was backing his truck into his garage last December when 2 plain-clothed officers burst onto his property without a warrant and without announcing themselves as cops.

DeValkenaere says he fired the fatal shots because he thought Cameron had a gun in his hand, but his partner has testified Cameron's hand was empty.

Merritt says the feds need to step in and investigate the entire KCPD, because the family has good reason to believe a gun was planted in the garage to make it look like Cameron was armed.

Rep. Al Green says there are more reasons than ever for all Americans to celebrate Juneteenth, and a national holiday is just the start of what D.C. can do to honor the spirit of the day.

The Congressman from Texas gave us a brief history lesson on June 19 -- which commemorates the end of slavery in the U.S. -- and explained why the Black Lives Matter movement is making it more special this year.

Green's all for making Juneteenth a national holiday -- it already is in Texas -- but he has his sights set on a bigger mission ... creating a Department of Reconciliation.

The congressman says despite the atrocities in our nation's history, we've never reconciled them. He says it will take a new federal agency -- working directly with the Prez -- to make it happen. Green believes it's crucial if we're serious about stamping out racism and discrimination.

Green points to Germany as a template for doing this and makes a strong case for why Confederate statues gotta go too.

George Floyd's name seems to be heading toward foundation status -- 'cause his family is already making moves to lock up the rights to something called just that ... TMZ has learned.

George's brother, Philonise Floyd, recently applied to trademark the phrase "The George Floyd Foundation" -- and if he gets it, he'll be able to use it to teach and advocate.

Philonise is looking to put "The George Floyd Foundation" on downloadable software for mobile phones that educate on police reform, downloadable media files featuring documentaries about George and other digital materials like DVDs, and audio and video files.

He also wants to feature "The George Floyd Foundation" on a website dedicated to police reform, as well as downloadable documents and PDFs with information on the topic too.

But, there's more -- if Philonise gets this trademark, he'll also be able to slap that phrasing on COVID-19 face coverings, sweatshirts and T-shirts, baseball caps ... and even charitable fundraising events to support families who've fallen victim to police brutality.

Philonise also reveals in the application that he and the fam aim to conduct business seminars on social justice and police reform. So, yeah ... it looks like they're going for the works here in terms of starting a full-blown nonprofit for their deceased relative.

The elderly man who was violently shoved to the ground by cops in Buffalo can't go home whenever he's released from the hospital ... because there are threats against his life.

Martin Gugino's attorney, Kelly Zarcone, tells TMZ ... it's not safe for the 75-year-old man to return to his residence when he's healthy enough to leave the hospital ... because he's getting a constant barrage of threats.

We're told the threats are flooding in from folks who mistakenly believe a false claim going around about Martin -- that he's been arrested 300 times and has a long history of inciting riots.

Martin's attorney says in reality, the senior citizen has only been arrested 4 times for peacefully protesting, and only one arrest resulted in a criminal charge for trespassing, and he was acquitted.

As you know ... Martin is the same peaceful protester President Trump recently suggested -- without a shred of evidence -- might've been a provocateur with ties to Antifa who went to the protest to cause chaos and dissent.

Martin's lawyer has shot Trump's claim down as incredibly offensive and completely false, and she says Martin protests injustices he sees on various issues but is always peaceful.

H.E.R. wants to send a powerful message with her new song honoring George Floyd -- one that captures the feelings and concerns millions of Americans have since he was killed.

The Grammy winner tells us why she had to write, "I Can't Breathe," after conversations with fellow artists, and herself, about Floyd's death and the country's emotional reaction to it.

H.E.R. says the track tackles one important question that's been ringing in the heads of so many people lately: Why is there so much hate???

The singer/songwriter believes all artists should use their platform to talk about the George Floyd tragedy, because music can be a powerful vehicle for change. Specifically, the change she wants to see is healing -- and she's confident her new track can do that.

We had a great convo with H.E.R. about why it's important for artists to speak from the heart now, and music bridging the racial divide in America. You can see all of that on Thursday's TMZ Live.

Rayshard Brooks' death at the hands of police won't be in vain, and will lead to lasting changes in Atlanta ... at least that's how his family is viewing his legacy.

One of Rayshard's cousins, Decatur Redd, tells TMZ ... the family thinks the felony murder charge brought against the officer who fired the fatal shots is a start, and makes it feel like Rayshard died for a reason.

Decatur says charging Garrett Rolfe, the fired cop who fatally shot Rayshard in the back, won't bring back his cousin, but it could help Georgia enact its first hate crime bill.

As we reported ... Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard announced 11 charges against Rolfe Wednesday, including felony murder and multiple acts of aggravated assault.

Decatur tells us family members had trouble sleeping leading up to the announcement, because they feared Rayshard's killer would not be charged, which he says would have reopened lots of wounds in Atlanta.

That all changed, of course, after the D.A.'s announcement, and he shared the emotions of that moment.

The felony murder charge wasn't the only shock to the family. Decatur says it was heartbreaking to hear Rayshard didn't get timely medical aid -- and to see Rolfe kicked him as he lay dying.

Isaiah "J.R." Rider says UNLV's 'Hey Reb!' statue -- with ties to the Confederacy -- had to be removed ... telling TMZ Sports he's proud his alma mater "did the right thing."

Rider was an absolute beast at University of Nevada, Las Vegas in the early '90s... and was named an All-American in 1993. J.R. was the 5th overall pick in the NBA Draft.

We asked the former superstar hooper how he felt about UNLV yanking the popular giant bronze statue from the place it sat for years on campus.

"I'm proud. I think it's the right thing to do personally," Rider tells us, continuing ... "I think it was well done, on time, no need to delay, no need to think about it."

The former UNLV star kept it real when asked how he felt about the statue (and Runnin' Rebel mascot) when he was playing ball for the university ... saying he didn't know about all the baggage associated with the Rebel.

"Honestly, in school, I wasn't aware. I wasn't as conscious as I am now, as woke as I am now, as well-read as I am now."

But, Rider says after school he became educated on the issue ... and realized the name and statue were offensive.

"At the time at UNLV, no it didn't bother me at all. I was a 'Runnin' Rebel.' It didn't bother me at all but later in life, as I learned certain things, like the Redskins mascot, I started to have a problem with that for sure."

FYI, the "Rebel" was originally named after a Confederate general named Beauregard ... who ordered the Civil War's first gunshots, according to a Change.org petition demanding UNLV change the current mascot.

We also asked Rider what he'd say to UNLV fans who have lived-and-died with the "Runnin' Rebels" teams for years ... and are kinda bummed to see the school lose that identity.

"I would say to my people, my 'Runnin' Rebels' out there, that look, we're UNLV for life. When we talk, I always say UNLV. I never say 'Runnin' Rebel.' Not only because I don't really like it but I'm UNLV and we are UNLV for life and that doesn't change."

"We're UNLV Runnin', we're gonna drop the last part!"