Mike Epps got a lesson in racism -- the comic actor got blasted on social media for posting a photo of a black man whipping white slaves.

Epps posted the pic on Instagram and Facebook late Thursday night -- and the cotton field scene also included an image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. floating above ... and smiling. Epps captioned the image, "I am so proud of you bro! Lol."

Here are 10 more new realities to look forward to, as predicted by the 2015 of "Back to the Future II"!

Man of the people Tom Hanks was spotted riding the subway in downtown New York City Thursday.

Hanks has been in NYC lately while filming Steven Spielberg drama "St James Place."

Blake Shelton's ready to take on anyone who bad mouths Clint Eastwood's new movie, "American Sniper" -- which he proved with a drunken Twitter rant -- and he hasn't even seen the movie yet!

Oh, his tweets are gonna be awesome if he ever gets to a theater.

James Franco is teasing the Sundance premiere of his new film by teasing co-stars Zachary Quinto and Charlie Carver in a steamy hot shirtless pic of them sucking face and going at it.

If you somehow missed it, James will assume the position of Michael Glatze -- a former gay magazine editor turned anti-gay activist in the upcoming flick, "I Am Michael."

He just posted these pics on Instagram to give us all a taste of what's coming ... but if this is just the tip of this NSFW 3-way, we can assume things will get even steamier.

One thing's certain ... if you see this at the festival make sure you bring a tissue.

Two starstruck fans were on the set of the upcoming '70s thriller, "The Nice Guys" ... but this time the stars were the ones who were starstruck.

Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling went goo goo over LAPD Chief Charlie Beck when he strolled onto the set for a quick look-see during filming outside downtown headquarters.

The trio shot the breeze and traded war stories, and they must have hit it off ... because we're told Beck invited them to stop by his office later.

As for the cast on Gosling's arm ... it's just for the flick.

Blake Shelton has no problem defending "American Sniper" and ripping celebs who trash it, even though he hasn't even seen the movie!

Shelton was leaving 30 Rock (probably after his "Saturday Night Live" rehearsal) when he told us ... he was defending the military, not the movie itself, when he tweeted, "Sickens me to see celebrities or anybody slam the very people who protect their right to talk sh*t.. #truecowards"

Shelton admitted this week he might have been drunk tweeting ... but tells us he does plan to see the movie soon.

Kid Rock also went on the attack against Seth Rogen and Michael Moore, for their 'Sniper' criticisms -- writing on his website, "F*** you Michael Moore, you’re a piece of s*** and your uncle would be ashamed of you. Seth Rogen, your uncle probably molested you. I hope both of you catch a fist to the face soon."

Unclear if Kid was drinking, but chances are ...

Disney thinks the Force is no longer strong with George Lucas ... because the legendary filmmaker says all his ideas for the new "Star Wars" film were tossed out the nearest airlock.

In an interview with Cinema Blend, Lucas was asked if he had come up with any ideas for "Episode VII" before he sold LucasFilm to Disney back in 2012. He told the interviewer, "The ones that I sold to Disney, they came up to the decision that they didn't really want to do those. So they made up their own. So it's not the ones that I originally wrote."

Now while Lucas' writing credits are spectacular -- the first three "Star Wars" movies and the first three "Indiana Jones" movies, to name a few -- the last three "Star Wars" films and the final "Indiana Jones" movie were all ... well, you know.

They sucked.

Manny Pacquiao took over the famous TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood Tuesday night for the premiere of his new documentary "Manny" ... with some help from big stars and hot models.

Jeremy Piven (who's featured in the movie) hit the red carpet to support the boxer ... along with Christina Milian, Chuck Liddell and Sugar Ray Leonard.

But the eye candy was also in full effect ... thanks to models like Abigail Ratchford, Chantel Zales and Arianny Celeste.

There was plenty of tail on Will Smith's latest movie set ... and it was delicious!

We got pics of a lunch Will catered Tuesday for the cast and crew of "Concussion," which is being filmed in Oxnard. The eats were spectacular ... huge lobster tails, filet mignon, prime rib, chicken, sausage, pastas, and on and on.

We're told the crew went crazy, and they love Will. To a person they say he's the nicest guy they've ever worked with. Some of them say they worked with Will 15 years ago and he hasn't changed a bit.

We don't know if Will or the studio paid, but he's the one who threw the shindig, and the cast and crew couldn't be happier ... and dare we say fatter.

Manny Pacquiao finally watched someone else fight for a change ... Liam Neeson ... as the boxer took DOZENS of his closest friends out to watch "Taken 3" ... and TMZ Sports has the video.

Manny's group escorted the boxer to his waiting Ferrari at The Grove in L.A. Monday night -- while M.P. confirmed that he's given Floyd Mayweather an end-of-the-month deadline to agree to the proposed mega-fight on May 2nd.

One of Manny's pals told us ... the guys were all players on Manny's basketball team -- and PacMan picked up the bill for everyone.

"Boyhood" star Patricia Arquette and her son are being dragged into her ex's ugly divorce trial ... and it sounds like they're solidly on his side.

Back in the late '80s, Arquette gave birth to Enzo -- now 26 -- with then boyfriend, musician Paul Rossi. But similar to the movie ... he split when Enzo was just a month old and remained a present father.

Fast forward to the divorce ... estranged wife Kerry-Ann Johnston-Rossi claims in court docs Rossi is verbally abusive, threatening, and she lives in constant fear. Rossi has fired back that she's a liar, and that's why he's calling Patricia and Enzo to testify on his behalf ... as character witnesses.

The docs say Patricia/Enzo will testify about Rossi's "parenting abilities, lack of any violent or angry tendencies." And according to the docs, Patricia may have harsh words for Kerry-Ann ... regarding her "parenting abilities, her anger and/or violent tendencies."

The trial is set for March. Nothing like having a possible Oscar winner in your corner.

What's more surprising -- the fact Mischa Barton is filming a new movie ... or the fact someone was busted on the set of that movie while trying to escape from cops?

Production sources tell us Mischa and "Sons of Anarchy" star Winter Ave Zoli were shooting a movie called "Deserted" outside a bar in Culver City, CA earlier this month ... when a strange guy ran up and asked if he could hang with the actresses.

We're told the guy was trying to blend in, but failed because cops chasing him on foot quickly slapped the cuffs on him ... filming resumed.

Peter Mayhew, a.k.a. Chewbacca, has been hospitalized for pneumonia.

The guy who's played Chewie since the '70s cancelled an appearance over the weekend at a comic shop in Texas ... and "Star Wars" geeks went into panic mode when they heard he fell ill.

Peter's wife had good news for his fans, writing on Reddit, "He will make a full recovery, and hope to be discharged within a few days. Doctors are incredibly happy with his improvements."

The 70-year-old is set to reprise his role in the upcoming trilogy ... including "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

Johnny Depp and former drug kingpin George Jung hung out for the first time since the inspiration for "Blow" was released from jail ... and we got the pic.

Sources connected to Jung tell TMZ ... Depp reached out to the 72-year-old ex-coke dealer Wednesday to see if he wanted to catch up ... and Boston George jumped at the offer.

We're told Jung -- who was behind bars for almost 20 years -- visited J.D.'s Downtown L.A. loft, and they kicked back for a few hours with Amber Heard ... swapping stories about poetry, books and Ted Demme; the movie's late director.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

"American Sniper" is nothing more than a right wing propaganda film for the Iraq War ... so says Seth Rogen, who compared the flick to a fake movie about a Nazi sharpshooter.

'Sniper' absolutely destroyed at the box office this weekend, but the film has its share of liberal detractors. The fact it was directed by right wing poster child Clint Eastwood probably doesn't help.

Rogen -- whose movie "The Interview" caught political fire recently -- chimed in, tweeting, "American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that's showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds."

The movie he's referring to was called "Stolz der Nation (Nation’s Pride)" ... which, in "Basterds," shows a German sniper killing 200 Allied soldiers from a clock tower.

Michael Moore also chimed in, saying, "My uncle [was] killed by sniper in WW2. We were taught snipers were cowards. Will shoot u in the back. Snipers aren't heroes. And invaders r worse."