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The Jacob Blake investigation is nearing its end, but before it crosses the finish line, a neutral third party has been looped in -- a former cop -- something a Blake family member is none too pleased about.

Jacob's uncle, Justin Blake, tells TMZ ... he feels the news about DOJ investigators bringing in former the Madison, WI police chief as a consultant in the probe is an open-palmed slap in the face.

Fact is ... he believes the so-called impartial second set of eyes announced this week, Noble Wray, can't be impartial. Justin believes he simply can't help but be biased against Jacob.

Wray is a retired chief who was on the force in Madison for years, a Wisconsin native ... and even has experience in legal consulting on the biggest stage. He served as a police reform specialist for the U.S. Department of Justice. But, Justin doesn't think Wray's accomplishments matter, because he says it's simply impossible for ANY law enforcement officer -- especially a former police chief -- to objectively reach conclusions about police brutality.

Justin favors putting a judge or even a politician in place of Wray.

ICYMI ... Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul and Kenosha County D.A. Michael Gravely said Monday they were going to have Wray -- who's African-American -- give a thorough review of the feds' DCI unit's findings in the case, offer up his analysis ... and then kick all of that back to Graveley's office for consideration on possible charges against Rusten Sheskey, and maybe others.

The process has dragged on for a month now -- the timeline the AG first gave to the public initially -- and now, it might be even longer before a final decision is made. The fact it's taken this long also irks Justin, who tells us he's been wanting more consistent updates.

Uncle Ben of Uncle Ben's rice is no more -- the parent company of the food brand ditched its logo, rooted in racism, and even whittled down the name as well to something much more kosher.

Mars Inc. revealed the changes Wednesday after getting called out for its logo back in June -- like several other brands like Aunt Jemima syrup. So, ya ready for it??? Uncle Ben's is now ... Ben's Original. That's it, nice and simple.

The company also did away with the photo of an older African-American man in a bow tie as their logo -- which some felt conjured up the idea of Black servitude. Now, it's just the lettering that remains -- same font and color scheme, really. Just no image attached.

The global president of Mars Inc., Fiona Dawson, said it was the right thing to do -- even though it might not be the easiest, and knowing they weren't going to please everyone. Big picture ... she says they listened to their customers and associates and felt it was time.

A lot of food brands committed to retiring their dated logos -- including Jemima and even Cream of Wheat, which features another Black man in a chef hat ... same issue as with Ben here.

TikTok stars could be the next cash cow for fast-food chains ... Charli D'Amelio is doing for Dunkin' what Travis Scott is doing for McDonald's.

Charli, TikTok’s most-followed star, has a new partnership with Dunkin' and we've learned it's already doing wonders for the company's bottom line ... much like the Travis Scott meal at Mickey D's.

Dunkin' started selling "The Charli" -- a cold brew with whole milk and three pumps of caramel swirl -- Sept. 2 and immediately saw a huge boost in sales and interest ... Drayton Martin, vice president of brand stewardship at Dunkin', tells TMZ.

We're told Dunkin set a record for daily users on its app the day "The Charli" launched, thanks to a 57% increase in app downloads, and within 5 days the coffee giant sold hundreds of thousands of Charli's signature drink. That's a lotta caffeinated kids on their phones.

Sounds like Charli made cold brews even cooler ... Dunkin' says they saw a 20% sales boost for all cold brews the day her drink debuted, and a 45% surge the next day.

Dunkin's chalking it up to the excitement the drink stirred up among Charli's massive social media following -- 88.3 million followers and over 6.7 billion likes on her TikTok videos. Call it the TikTok effect.

The numbers are in ... and it looks like companies are figuring out how to use celeb's massive followings as advertising tools.

PGA Tour golfer Danny Lee says his 6-putt temper tantrum at the U.S. Open was completely "unprofessional and foolish" ... and now, the guy is apologizing for it all.

If you missed it ... Lee went BERSERK on the 18th hole at Winged Foot on Saturday -- throwing a Happy Gilmore-esque fit on the green.

After Lee missed a short par putt, he missed the ensuing bogey putt as well ... and then became visibly pissed off.

So much so, Lee halfheartedly tried to make his next THREE putts from close range ... before finally slamming home the fourth one.

In total, it took Lee NINE shots to complete the hole ... and when he walked off the green -- he threw his putter angrily against his bag. Lee then withdrew from the tournament, citing a wrist injury.

On Tuesday, the 30-year-old said he was sorry for the whole scene ... explaining, "My frustration took over me and combined with injury I had to fight with it for all week."

"Still just an excuse," Lee said. "I shouldn't left like that... and also like to apologize to USGA they did a tremendous job last week at wing foot. On the course and off the course."

Lee continued, "Now I gonna take some time off and think about what I did and starting next time I'll show up as a better person and have better sportsmanship."

Folks are coming up with super creative ways to have a safe and socially distanced Halloween ... like this zipline ghost that's giving out candy, and beers!!!

Ya gotta see this contraption and how it all works ... there's a homemade ghost on a hangar, attached to a zipline and powered by a little bit of gravity and some fishing equipment, and it ferries candy from the front porch to the sidewalk.

No doorbells, no knocks, and no close-quarters contact needed!

Matt Thompson at Thompson Woodworks in Garden City, MI is the man who made it all happen ... and we gotta say, his contraption is pretty ingenious.

It looks like a fun way to get those cute trick-or-treaters some candy, and special props to Matt for hooking up parents up with some light beers -- great use of the DIY Halloween tech!

Add in the rod and reel to bring the ghost back to base for a refill, and you get this reel-y good idea.

An autistic teen was shot by police in Utah, leaving him seriously injured ... and cops are now releasing the body cam footage of the incident.

13-year-old Linden Cameron's mother called the cops earlier this month, saying he was having a breakdown -- brought on by Asperger's syndrome -- and she needed assistance managing the situation.

On the body cam, you see one cop confront Linden on a dark sidewalk as he tells him to get on the ground. The kid doesn't obey the orders at first, and officers eventually open fire.

Eleven shots are heard on video -- it's unclear how many struck Linden, but he immediately went down and writhed in pain. He also seems to say "I don't feel good" and "Tell my mom I love her." Somehow, he survived the ordeal and was hospitalized.

Linden's mother had reportedly told cops he was easily triggered by law enforcement and that he may have had a BB gun, but she didn't think it was real. Cops allegedly told her they'd have to treat it like it was real.

Nelly's found the ultimate way to appease the judges on "Dancing with the Stars" who told him to ditch his sneakers for dancing shoes -- instead, he has the best of both worlds.

Despite wowing the crowd with his "Ride Wit Me" salsa dance on last week's show -- culminating with a backflip -- the rapper took some heat for wearing Jordans instead of traditional dance shoes.

Nelly insists the judges are just hating on hip-hop with their criticism, but instead of pushing back ... he got creative.

Check it out -- Nelly, aka Yung Swivel, might just have the dopest dancing shoes of all time on 'DWTS.' They look like Air Jordans on the upper with traditional ballroom dancing soles -- or as Nelly put it on IG ... "HIPHOP 4DA WIN!!!"

If you haven't been watching, Nelly's become an early fan favorite on season 29 of the reality dance competition ... because he looks like he's having the most fun.

The first elimination goes down Tuesday night, and though Carole Baskin received the lowest score during the premiere, she's not expected to go home.

The "Full House" cast joined a band and dropped a new music video ... all to celebrate dogs!!!

Bob Saget, John Stamos, Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, Andrea Barber and Dave Coulier joined forces to help "Full House" creator Jeff Franklin celebrate National Dog Week with a music video pushing for animal awareness.

The group -- dubbed The Full Dog-House -- performed "Gotta Love a Golden" ... an original song written by Franklin himself and a tribute to his favorite breed, golden retrievers. The music video aims to raise awareness and fight animal homelessness around the U.S. of A.

Check out the music video ... which features the puppies Woody and Lola living the dream (shout out to Comet and Cosmo in "Fuller House!!!"). Of course, Stamos is playing the congas, as he tends to do, while the rest of the TV fam showed off their singing pipes.

Franklin's original song is available for purchase ... with proceeds going to PetSmart Charities to celebrate National Dog Week. Fans can also hit up the popular pet store and make a contribution there.

The creator says, "As the proud owner of two awesome golden retrievers, I know firsthand how important the consistent comfort and unconditional love that a pet can provide." He added, "Creating forever homes for our pets continues to be one of my life missions."

Awesomeness all around!!!

Here's the straight poop -- an Oklahoma woman really had to go number two when she got pulled over by a cop, an excuse that resulted in a high-speed chase and her in handcuffs ... and we've got the raw vid.

28-year-old Emily Owings led an Enid PD officer on a wild ride last week after he stopped her for not wearing a seatbelt, and immediately got a laundry list of excuses once he realized she had other legal troubles that might've required he bring her in.

By that, we mean she told him it was her birthday, but much more urgently ... she claimed she had to take a dump, and BAD. The cop wasn't buying it though, and did what he needed to do ... namely, check to see if there were outstanding warrants.

Turns out, Enid PD says there was ... not to mention her license was suspended. When the officer informed her of all this, Ms. Owing started bawling and pleading with the guy ... again telling him she had to drop one. It's sad ... but so funny too.

Anyway, when they finally tell her she is, in fact, wanted in another county and they gotta take her into custody -- the lady speeds off, before eventually being stopped and arrested. As they're hauling her off, she once again asks to defecate ... in the cop's car, no less.

Okay, we're not saying a giant robot apocalypse is upon us, but we might be suggesting it's close ... because they got one in Japan that is already taking its first steps.

Check out this 60-foot replica of an RX-78-2 Gundam robot -- from the OG anime series -- that they built near Tokyo ... and which now moves about on its own! The Gundam is the signature piece of a factory there of the same name -- and they just lived up to the hype.

The whole idea of the life-size model was to make it realistic, and one engineering feat at a time ... they're slowly (but surely) achieving that. In this clip -- which is sped up at 2 and 4 times than normal -- you see the Gundam walk, kneel, lift its arm and move its fingers.

It can even open its eyes and turn its head!!! Honestly, it's an amazing achievement.

If you're unfamiliar with Gundam -- it's basically the template for what Transformers/Power Rangers went on to rep in the U.S. The original series kicked off in the late '70s, and several different iterations have been made since. It's widely popular in Japan and elsewhere around the world. There's even other Gundam statues around Japan ... but those ones don't move.

As cool as this is ... we feel obligated to tell the folks at Gundam Factory Yokohama to cool their jets (or jetpacks). We love living out childhood fantasies as much as the next guy or gal, but THIS is just inviting a full-blown robot takeover, no?!? Especially when they're this big.

They say don't go chasing waterfalls ... advice that should extend to icebergs, as this adventurous duo learned the hard, and very cold, way in Arctic waters.

A group of explorers were sailing the open seas of Svalbard -- an archipelago between Norway and the North Pole -- when they came across this iceberg.

Might seem sketchy, but the guys who started scaling the huge chunk of ice last month are experienced climbers. One of them, Mike Horn, has been a famed explorer for more than 30 years. They obviously didn't expect what happened moments after they started scaling it.

Check it out ... they start to make their way up and across using ice picks and boots with crampons -- but as the boat they arrived on starts to pull away, the iceberg began to slowly tilt ... before the whole damn thing toppled into the water.

Don't worry, this isn't a "Faces of Death" clip -- the guys were miraculously able to escape being crushed, and the boat came back to pull 'em outta the icy drink.

Here's why getting out of your car in a traffic incident should be limited to seeing if the other party's okay -- anything beyond that and you might find yourself fending off a baseball bat!!

Check out this wild brawl that recently went down in Vegas near the Palace Station Hotel and Casino -- where a couple of young'ns faced off with an older trio ... which ended with the latter taking out potentially lethal weapons and using 'em on the fly.

It's unclear what sparked the confrontation, but obviously tensions were running high. Before anyone started swinging, the people recording cracked some jokes and tried lightening the mood ... but it was too late. The other two foes on the other side of the car started going at it.

That prompted the young guy in black to try to help, which then caused the other man in red to square off with him. It basically became a 2-on-2 type fight, with the lady (who was rolling with the older gents) serving as ref ... and occasionally getting some licks of her own in as well.

At one point, s*** really hit the fan when the older guys brought out a bat from their car and started swinging on the two 20-somethings. It looks like he landed at least one blow on a person ... and a couple to a car. The woman also used a chain as a weapon ... and the whole thing just got really out of hand.

Cops say they're looking into the incident.

PHEWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!

Indianapolis Colts star linebacker Darius Leonard damn-near LOST his wedding ring gifting a pair of his game-used gloves to fans ... but, thankfully, TMZ Sports has learned he got it back!

Here's the deal ... after the Colts destroyed the Vikings on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium -- Leonard gave away his mitts to some young fans who were in attendance.

The problem? As Leonard was taking off his gloves ... his wedding ring got caught in them -- and then he unknowingly handed it over to the kids!!

A family member of the glove recipients posted about the whole thing on social media Monday ... and when Leonard caught wind of it all -- he wrote back, "I need that."

Ya think!?!?

Happy ending for Darius though ... we're told the fans are good friends with a Colts staffer -- and were able to return the ring no problem.

Turns out Jennifer Aniston is a boss with a fire extinguisher, lucky for Jimmy Kimmel ... as their dumpster fire bit at the Emmys, inadvertently, turned into a recreation of 2020.

The fire gag went down early in Sunday's live broadcast of the Emmys from Staples Center ... Jennifer was the night's first awards presenter. The fiery joke showed them first cleaning any potential coronavirus off the envelope ... by spraying it with Lysol and lighting it on fire, naturally.

Thing is ... the envelope wouldn't stop burning!!! Jimmy and Jen looked shocked, and she had to blast the extinguisher 5 times before the fire finally went out.

It all played like a metaphor for the massive wildfires currently burning in California and Oregon. Hell, you could even extend that metaphor to all of 2020 -- COVID-19, racism, social injustice, politics, hurricanes, etc ...

Ya get the point ... someone please extinguish this year.

More bombshell evidence that aliens have touched down and our own government has teamed up with them to RULE US ALL ... that is, if you buy what this UFO hunter's selling.

This guy named Scott C. Waring -- a self-described expert in the field of ufology -- recently claimed that he spotted what he says is a roughly 52-foot tall structure on the premises of Area 51, out in Nevada -- which appears ... almost human-like, and possibly alien made???

That's what Waring here is kinda implying. He wrote in a blog post, "I found a 16 meter dark figure in Area 51 and there seems to be another to the right of it, but shorter," adding ... "When I checked through the past photos of that location, I notice that the figure actually moves onto its side, then changes its poses in each photo. It actually moves."

As for how he even stumbled across these images, Waring punched in Area 51's exact coordinates, 37°13'26.26"N 115°49'2.37”W, into Google Earth ... and yes, it's still there.

He theorizes this thing was manufactured by aliens, captured by American forces and is being explored to use for possible missions. So in other words, AT-AT Walkers (ish).

While this could merely be a shadow (or nothing at all), heck ... maybe it IS aliens. We've already seen some seemingly credible UFO sightings in this wild year of 2020.

It's undeniably good sportsmanship -- a triathlon runner stopped running and let a competitor beat him --  but in the world of sports, is it too much?

British athlete James Teagle was oh-so-close to placing third in the 2020 Santander Triathlon in Spain. Thing is ... about 100 yards before reaching the finish line, Teagle became confused and ran the wrong way, toward the cheering crowd.

Enter Spanish triathlete Diego Mentrida, who had been behind Teagle for much of the race.  Mentrida passed Teagle, but before reaching the finish line, he suddenly stopped and let Teagle -- who regained his bearings -- pass him to place third.

After the race, Mentrida said, "He deserved it. This is something my parents and my club taught me since I was a child. My view is it should be a normal thing to do."

The winner of the race, Javier Gomez Noya, called Mentrida's move "the best in history."

The organizers of the race decided to give Mentrida an honorary third place and he ended up getting 3rd place prize money -- $355.