Viral

Spotify has called out Joe Rogan for "incredibly hurtful" comments, but they are holding firm ... he still has a place on its platform.

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek wrote a memo to staff, saying, "There are no words I can say to adequately convey how deeply sorry I am for the way The Joe Rogan Experience controversy continues to impact each of you."

Ek then zeros in on Joe, saying, "Not only are some of Joe Rogan's comments incredibly hurtful -- I want you to make it clear that they do not represent the values of this company. I know this situation leaves many of you feeling drained, frustrated and unheard."

It seems the comments are directed at Rogan using the n-word -- the full word -- on his podcast, although the COVID controversy may well be part of it.

And then, Ek pivots, explaining, "While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more."

Now the support ... "And I want to make one point very clear -- I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer. We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope."

Ek says his company will invest $100 million "for the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically marginalized groups."

Crikey!!! Robert Irwin, son of the beloved "Crocodile Hunter," almost had a croc turn the tables on him ... as he narrowly avoided getting eaten while attempting to feed it.

Steve Irwin's kid was in the crocodile enclosure at Australia Zoo with Casper ... the 12-foot leucistic (nearly white) saltwater crocodile that was not-so-friendly as handlers tried to see if it was comfy in a new habitat. Rob wanted to see how Casper would react during a feeding ... a sort of audition for a new show.

Well, he got a big reaction, but not the ending he wanted -- Casper started snapping and lunging toward Rob, but completely ignoring the food that was thrown at him. Rob had to pull the ripcord, yelling "Bail, bail, bail!!!" ... as the team rushed in to help him to safety.

A Navy SEAL candidate is dead and another hospitalized during a testing period called Hell Week.

The test involved underwater demolition, survival and combat tactics ... this according to a Navy spokesperson.

Two commando candidates landed in the hospital ... one sadly died and the other is in stable condition.

The physicality of the exercises is brutal, and it's only the first phase in selecting members of the elite group.

It's the first such death since 2016, when a candidate lost consciousness after his instructor held his head underwater while the cadet struggled as he tried to swim in the training pool. The coroner ruled the cadet's death a homicide, but the Navy did not pursue charges against the instructor.

As for Friday's tragedy, it's unclear what caused the cadet's death.

Lizzo apparently has a new song in the works -- and the way she's letting us know about it is by stripping down ... and baring it all.

The singer posted both a video as well as a photo of what seems to have been a recent shoot she took part in ... one for which she appears to have been fully nude. In the clip, you see Lizzo seated and working it for the camera -- this as a snippet of what sounds like a forthcoming track plays as the main audio.

It actually sounds pretty damn good -- almost Whitney Houston-esque in the vocals department, if we're being honest. Of course, everyone knows Lizzo can sing ... but this is a bit of a revelation here, because she's belting out a killer tune ... and it's all her, no music.

The brief lyrics go ... "If you love me, you love all of me // Or none of me at all." Good stuff!

The accompanying caption reads, "You dont get to pick and choose. We should be unconditionally loving of one another, starting with being unconditionally loving to ourselves."

She adds, "Take a moment today and think about the conditions we hold so tightly to that keep us from the freedom of true love. Do you really wanna be so tightly wound? Free yourself in love. You deserve it."

Of course, Lizzo is no stranger to expressing self-love -- it's a huge part of who she is as an artist, and she often shows off her body to hit that point home ... including just hours before she posted this clip, where she posed in a 2-piece bikini at the pool with some friends.

That's not to say she hasn't struggled with her body image -- she certainly has, and has grappled with it publicly as well. In the end, though, it seems Lizzo loves everything about herself ... turning heads in the process.

Joe Rogan is apologizing for repeatedly using the n-word -- the entire word -- in his past, saying, "It looks f***ing horrible, even to me."

A complication of clips from old podcasts shows Rogan using the slur over and over.

Rogan tried explaining it this way ... "There's a video that's out, that's a compilation of me saying the n-word. It's a video that's made of clips taken out of context of me of 12 years of conversations on my podcast, and it's all smushed together."

Rogan said there were times he thought he could use the word during discussions about pop culture ... citing Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor, but there's an obvious difference. Rogan says he was wrong and is regretful.

He says, "Now, I haven't said it in years, but for a long time, when I would bring that word up, like, if it would come up in conversation and instead of saying the n-word, I would just say the word -- I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing."

There's another clip shot 11 years ago that's even more problematic ... in which Rogan says a taxi driver dropped him off in a black neighborhood in Philly and it was "like they were in 'Planet of the Apes.'"

Rogan says, "I was just saying there's a lot of black people there. But, then I went on to talk about what a positive experience it was and how much fun it was to go to see this movie in a black neighborhood."

The popular podcaster says he will never use the n-word again, calling this "the most regretful and shameful thing that I've ever had to talk about publicly."

He says he hopes this will be a "teachable moment" for others.

Kanye West seems both surprised and upset over parenting issues as he navigates his divorce from Kim Kardashian ... and the latest dispute erupted over a TikTok video.

Kim posted a TikTok video of her and North West lip-syncing a Rae Sremmurd song, and it didn't sit well with Ye ... having his 8-year-old on the social media platform.

He posted, "SINCE THIS IS MY FIRST DIVORCE I NEED TO KNOW WHAT I SHOULD DO ABOUT MY DAUGHTER BEING PUT ON TIK TOK AGAINST MY WILL?"

So, let's unpack ... there's obviously tension between Kim and Kanye over childrearing, and this is not the first eruption. As you recall, Kim threw a birthday party for Chicago last month and Kanye was extremely upset, claiming he wasn't invited. Kim begged to differ and told Kanye he was welcome. Ye showed up and thanked everyone BUT Kim.

There might also be a little shade to her when Kanye says it's his first divorce ... because it's Kim's third. Shade, or just inexperience?

Whatever it is ... it's a super relatable conflict. Co-parenting is the trickiest road to navigate post-divorce.

Now here's an idea ... filming "The View" at the Museum of Tolerance to show support for the Jewish community and educate viewers about the Holocaust.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper from the famed Simon Wiesenthal Center in L.A. tells TMZ ... he'd love to have the show air live at the Museum of Tolerance. He thinks a special week-long visit to the Museum -- which focuses on the Holocaust -- would be enlightening, and he thinks given what was said on the show, the network has to show some accountability.

Ok, let's back this up for a minute. Rabbi Cooper thinks it's absurd to even suggest Whoopi Goldberg is anti-Semitic. She's been a tried-and-true friend of the Jewish community for decades.

That said, the Rabbi thinks her comment that the Holocaust was not racially-based was way out of bounds, and since she said it on the show ... the show should take steps to educate the audience.

It's an interesting take ... especially since the Prez of ABC News came out and proclaimed her network was a big supporter of the Jewish community.

Rabbi Cooper also has an opinion about Whoopi's 2-week suspension -- an opinion that is at odds with many others in the Jewish community. He thinks the suspension is appropriate, because he thinks accountability is important.

The head of the Anti-Defamation League and many others beg to differ, saying Whoopi apologized, recognized the error in her ways, and that should be the end of it.

Fact is ... lots of people think this is ABC reacting out of fear -- since Sharon Osbourne was suspended for defending Piers Morgan's take on Meghan Markle, ABC felt it had to do the same with Whoopi.

There's another way of looking at it ... that both Whoopi and Sharon shouldn't be suspended for stating their opinions on live, opinion-based TV. If neither said what they said from a place of malice, then why the suspensions? In Whoopi's case, she actually gave a mea culpa, so it's unclear exactly what the ABC President expects her to reflect on.

Cooper says one of his colleagues has a relationship with Whoopi, and they've reached out to her for a meeting. Since Whoopi seems to already get what she did, it's unclear what the point of the meeting would be.

Facebook went face down Thursday ... losing more than 20% of its value, and it's not only a sign TikTok is steamrolling Mark Zuckerberg's baby, but he seems to be acknowledging it.

Check this out ... in the last 3 months of the year, FB lost about 500k daily logins. To put that in perspective, it now only has about 1.93 billion users checking in daily.

It's still a big number for sure ... but when you're talking about the Benjamins, it makes a huge difference.

Meta took a huge hit Wednesday -- sinking 22.6% in value on the stock exchange.  That translates to a $200 billion loss.

Zuckerberg chalked it all up to folks spending more time on other apps, like TikTok. And that's gotta hurt because Zuck alone took a $29 BILLION hit.

Facebook's been on the ropes lately, with Congress breathing down its corporate neck. It's also lost traction with the youngins.

Here's a new one -- Kevin Porter Jr. took advantage of some downtime during the Rockets vs. Warriors game on Monday ... by linking up with celeb jeweler Johnny Dang and giving him his digits!!

The hilarious moment went down at the Toyota Center during Houston's 108-122 loss to the Dubs ... when KBJ leaned back to chop it up with Dang, who was sitting right behind the bench.

In video shared to social media, you can see KPJ taking Dang's iPhone and putting his number into it -- making it pretty obvious he's hoping to get a piece done by the King of Bling.

Ya can't blame the guy -- Dang has collabed with every big name in sports and entertainment ... from Katy Perry to Quavo to Johnny Manziel.

Dang is a legend in Houston ... so it's actually pretty surprising KPJ -- who joined the Rockets last year -- hadn't already gotten him his number.

Pastor Michael Todd is the spitting image of a man who knows when he's done wrong -- which is why Montell Jordan's ready to forgive and forget his gnarly salivary moment.

We got the singer-turned-church leader at LAX and asked if Pastor Todd's viral spit sesh from a couple of weeks back will hurt his ministry in the long run ... and Montell tells us it won't, with some solid rationale.

For starters, he says Todd's made good with his congregation -- not to mention the public at large -- by owning up to what he did, and acknowledging it wasn't cool. The fact Pastor Todd did this so quickly with a sincere apology goes a long way for MJ, and he thinks Todd's parishioners will register it that way too.

Big picture ... Montell says Todd's humility flies in the face of what he says so many other people do these days ... namely, doubling down on bad takes/behavior.

The mere act of fessing up to his mistake shows goodwill that Montell says he appreciates. Furthermore, he also (rightly) points out ... the vast majority of the outrage from the face-wipe seen 'round the world was mostly spreading via social media ... and by extension, a bunch of randos who don't even know, follow or attend Todd's services on the regular.

No one takes steak more seriously than these pissed-off Golden Corral customers -- who got way more heated than the food, sparking an all-out brawl, and beef might be behind the beef ... TMZ has learned.

It all went down Friday night at a Golden Corral in Bensalem, PA, where things got totally outta hand -- punches, booster seats, chairs ... pretty much anything that wasn't bolted down was tossed. The video shows lots of people getting nailed and taken down too.

The reason for all this violence? Well, a rep for the restaurant tells us things escalated when someone cut the buffet line, and grabbed someone else's steak.

Police don't dispute steak playing a role, but they say they're still investigating the motive.

A Bensalem Police Department Spokesperson tells TMZ ...  there were approximately 40 people involved, and most of 'em had cleared out by the time officers arrived.

Surprisingly, police say there were no serious, or even minor, injuries suffered. They also so say GC staffers stayed out of the chaos.

We're told Golden Corral has been very cooperative and no arrests have been made, but police are still trying to ID people involved ... so that could change.

Joe Rogan is getting support after saying he can do better on his podcast ... but some celebs still aren't buying it.

The Rock was more than good with Joe's mea culpa, saying, "Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you."

Kelly Slater echoed the sentiment ... "Love to see you offer to bring on Neil Young and/or Joni Mitchell on with whoever they want by their side to refute whatever it is they're so pissed about. If they're for truth it should be an easy convo. I'll be looking forward to their replies if so."

Jewel said, "You're doing a great job. Keep it up."

Jamie Kennedy said, "Tell me 1 person in mainstream media that is this transparent and this open. Go ahead, I'll wait."

And, former Presidential candidate Marianne Williamson said, "I'm triple vaxxed, but (unless they're standing for hate or calling for violence) banning someone's podcast is too much like burning a book to me," adding, "Joe Rogan should talk on his podcast about whatever he damn well pleases."

And, human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali tripled down ... "this is exactly why Joe Rogan's podcast is so popular. He is open to different perspectives and listsens to people without judgment."

R&B singer India Arie, was unmoved by Rogan's apology, declaring she will follow in Neil Young's footsteps and take her music off Spotify, saying her decision is not based on just COVID misinformation ... it's based on race.

Last week philosopher Jordan Peterson jumped on Joe's podcast and the 2 had a talk about what it means to be Black. They're both white, and they made a bizarre point ... that Rogan understands because he's Italian.

Jonathan Cahill might be able to ditch his life of crime for one of modeling, fashion and money ... at least that's what millions of women eyeing his "Wanted" poster seem to think.

The West Yorkshire Police Department in the U.K. put out a wanted bulletin Thursday, saying, "Can you help us to locate Jonathan Cahill, who has been recalled to prison? He is 37 years old and is believed to be residing in the Wakefield area. Please share our appeal below and contact us if you can help our officers to locate him."

And, "share our appeal" people did!!! Cahill's mug hit social media like wildfire, along with a flood of pretty hilarious social media comments -- mostly from Cahill's new female fans.

Some of our faves:
"Might leave my doors unlocked and bedroom door open you bad bad man."
"Bloody hell. He'll be smashing a few more back doors in."
"The key's under the pot, Jonathan."
"Does he need a place to hide?"

Of course, Cahill's story bears a striking resemblance to that of Jeremy Meeks ... who rose to fame and landed a very lucrative modeling gig after his mug shot went viral in 2014.

Meeks spent 13 months behind bars on a federal weapons charge, and was released in 2016. Since then, Meeks has walked in shows for Tommy Hilfiger, Philipp Plein and launched a fashion line of his own. He also had a kid with Chloe Green, the daughter of British billionaire Philip Green.

If someone in Spain's looking to reboot "Lethal Weapon," they just found their lead actor ... this off-duty cop who whupped a would-be robber's ass!!!

The hero officer walked into a grocery store in Mataró, Spain, and as surveillance video shows ... stumbled into the armed robbery in progress. Cameras caught the suspect walking an employee to the cash register at knifepoint.

Just as the suspect was cleaning out the register ... the cop walked into frame, sized up the situation and quickly sprung into action.

He casually put down his shopping bag and then subdued the suspect with some wrestling moves, taking him down to the ground.

While holding the guy in a chokehold, you see the cop rip the knife away from the suspect ... who he detained until backup arrived.

Tennis star Daniil Medvedev was straight-up PISSED with an umpire during an Australian Open match ... completely berating him and calling him a "small cat."

Medvedev was battling his rival, Stefanos Tsitsipas, for a shot at the final round of the tourney ... when he was issued a code violation by umpire Jaume Campistol.

The penalty came after the ump thought Daniil gave him an inappropriate gesture out of frustration ... and that's when the feisty Russian tennis sensation absolutely lost it.

Medvedev was clearly furious at the ump over the penalty ... as well as for not penalizing his opponent, claiming his father was coaching him during the match.

"Bro, are you mad?" Medvedev yelled to the ump. "For what? And his father can talk every point? Bro, are you stupid? His father can talk every point!"

"Oh my God, you are so bad, man," he continued. "How can you be so bad in the semifinal of a Grand Slam. Look at me! I’m talking to you!"

The umpire, to his credit, maintained his composure even as Medvedev continued to go off. "If you don’t [give Tsitsipas a warning], you are ... a small cat," Medvedev yelled.

Tsitsipas -- who lost to DM in four sets -- did admit that his father was talking during the match, but offered an explanation.

"My father, his medicine is to talk, and you can’t stop it,” Tsitsipas said. "I’m pretty sure I’m going to keep receiving coaching violations, even though I will never listen to any single thing he says."

Octomom has stunned everyone ... when she gave birth to 8 kids it seemed she could never handle it, but 13 years later she's proved everyone wrong.

Nadya Suleman wished her brood happy birthday this way ... "You are all growing into some of the most kind, humble, grateful and loving human beings I have ever known."

She went on ... "I do not know what I could possibly have done to deserve being blessed so bountifully. I love you ❤️."

Rewind to 2009, when Nadya -- already the mother of 6 -- was artificially inseminated and boy, did it take! Even her doctor suggested it was too much for her to handle, but Nadya was insistent she was up to the task.

It wasn't easy, for sure. Videos surfaced along the way that looked like a home out of control.  And, there were money issues as well.

But, it seems Octo's shut down all naysayers, 'cause they seem to be one BIG happy family in a 3-bedroom home in the O.C.