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Joe Rogan's walking back his COVID-19 comments suggesting young, healthy people don't need to get vaccinated, and he wants to make it clear he's not a doctor, not an anti-vaxxer ... but he IS a "f***ing moron."

The immensely popular podcast host and UFC commentator addressed the backlash he got this week on Thursday's episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," saying ... "I am not an anti-vaxx person. In fact, I said I believe they are safe and I encourage many people to take them."

Rogan explained that he felt if you're a young healthy person, you don't need it -- something widely refuted by experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci -- but Joe now concedes what he said was misguided amid the pandemic.

Joe says ... "Their argument was you need it for other people. That makes more sense, but that's a different argument. That's a different conversation." He later repeated it makes sense to consider other people's health and safety.

He went on to blame media "clickbait" for blowing the whole thing out of proportion, but added ... "I'm not a doctor. I am a f***ing moron. And, I'm a cage-fighting commentator who's a dirty standup comedian ... I'm not a respected source of information even for me."

Most people would be grossed out at the thought of getting a used, blood-stained skateboard -- but what if the board was stained with the blood of the greatest skater who ever lived?!

Now, it seems pretty rad, right?!

That's what happened with Tony Hawk this week -- when the skate god offered up one of his old boards as a prize in a social media "leave a comment" contest.

Here's the backstory ... the board had struck Hawk in the shin at one point, causing Tony to drop blood onto the grip tape, staining it forever.

Most collectors will tell you ... a bloodstain on an authentic, used item is actually GREAT for collectibility -- and fans joined the contest like crazy looking to win the piece.

Hawk eventually picked a winner -- the commenter had used lyrics from a The Cure song, which Hawk apparently loved -- and it doesn't seem the fan had any issue with Tony's DNA being on the set of wheels.

Alfred Hitchcock is smiling somewhere -- hundreds of birds overran a Southern California home, and even spent the night ... and the video is straight out of that very famous horror movie.

The nightmarish scene played out recently in Torrance, CA where a family says they counted at least 800 birds flapping around inside their pad.

Video shows the huge flock ominously circling above the home before diving in through the chimney and then causing all kinds of chaos inside.

As you can see, the avian invasion took over every nook and cranny of the home -- birds were on the ceiling, along the windows, in the corners, in the bedrooms, in the bathrooms, on the furniture, on the stairs ... everywhere.

Oh, and ya know what birds do -- there's poop. Lots and lots of bird poop!!!

The family says the birds, which are migrating north, were in their home for a few days and didn't seem to want to leave for some odd reason. They actually spent one night with the birds, but it was too much, and the next night they moved to a hotel.

A "Jeopardy!" winner flashing a hand gesture associated with "white power groups" is outraging hundreds of past players, who are calling out their beloved game show, but he insists they've got him all wrong.

The group of 467 former "Jeopardy!" contestants issued an open letter Wednesday, demanding "a statement and a disavowal" of the actions of Kelly Donohue ... who it accuses of racist messaging "either intentionally or unintentionally" on 2 separate occasions this week.

According to the letter, posted on Medium, the most egregious incident happened Tuesday, when Donohue made a 3-finger gesture to the camera that's extremely similar to the gesture "co-opted by white power groups, alt-right groups, and an anti-government group that calls itself the Three Percenters."

Donahue insists his hand signal was simply to indicate he'd won 3 games. In fact, Thursday morning he posted a long response to the backlash, saying, "I deeply regret this terrible misunderstanding. I never meant to hurt a soul and I assure you I am no friend of racists or white supremacists."

Even if that's true, the past players are still pissed "Jeopardy!" allowed the gesture to air without censoring it, and they point to a past example.

"A couple of years ago, a contestant unintentionally wagered a monetary amount that used numerical values coopted by white supremacist groups and, since the total didn’t affect the outcome of the game, 'Jeopardy!' digitally altered the numbers in the version that aired."

It should also be noted that Donahue held up one and two fingers after his first and second wins ... seemingly supporting his explanation that there was no hate behind it.

Even so, the former contestants believe it was on the production team to similarly catch Donohue's gesture and make an edit. The letter also alleges Kelly responded to a clue on Monday with a term for the Romani culture that's considered a slur.

Video evidence isn't required to see there's a problem with the policing of Black people -- that's activist Tamika Mallory's take on a judge blocking the release of body cams in the fatal cop shooting of Andrew Brown Jr.

We got Tamika in Bev Hills, and she went in on the judge's decision to withhold the Pasquotank Sheriff's Dept footage from the public ... at least for now. She says the judge's ruling only adds to the distrust of the entire criminal justice system and perpetuates the idea that the authorities would rather protect each other ... than protect citizens from police brutality.

Tamika's also not buying the judge's intent to let the situation cool down a bit before releasing the video ... because she says the nationwide temperature is up to stay as a result of the long list of Black people killed by cops.

Regardless, Tamika tells us it shouldn't matter what happens with the body cam footage because she believes the basic facts in the case show Brown was shot in the back of the head by police as he was trying to flee ... and that's just wrong.

As we reported ... the judge in Brown's case ruled the fatal encounter with cops in North Carolina can be viewed, but only by his family and NOT the media. The judge will reevaluate making it available to more eyes in 30-45 days.

W. Kamau Bell agrees it will take more than just new laws to change policing in America ... he says the system needs a full revamp, from top to bottom, starting with the job description and who's recruited.

The comedian and journalist broke down the term "defund the police" Wednesday on "TMZ Live" ... explaining it doesn't mean getting rid of police -- but, rather, retooling priorities and hiring people who have vested interests in their communities.

Watch how he describes what values a reimagined police officer would foster in his ideal world. It's basically the core principles you'd find today in most social workers and teachers. To him, those are the types of folks who should be in law enforcement.

In light of so many police-involved shootings in just the last 2 weeks -- even as Derek Chauvin stood trial -- Kamau tells us it's clear to him that there's just no "fixing" policing the way it's structured now ... it needs a full reboot.

He adds, the same old formula of pouring more money and power into police departments simply isn't working ... at least not in Kamau's eyes, anyway.

Kamala Harris is getting the Madame Tussauds treatment ... becoming the first Veep EVER to get immortalized by the famous wax museum.

Madame Tussauds New York on Wednesday released the work-in-progress clay head sculptures of President Biden and the VP. The resemblance is uncanny ... as MT's work usually is.

But, what's interesting here is Harris -- the first woman, Black and Asian-American VP -- becomes the first Vice President to whom Madame Tussauds' extends this honor.

It's a tradition for the wax museum to feature each U.S. president to get the honor. In fact, Madame Tussauds announced Biden would get his own figure following his Presidential win.

But, with the Biden-Harris administration inching close to their 100th day in office ... Madame Tussauds decided Harris would also be included ... with their clay heads created by a team of London-based studio artists. The meticulous work included the artists researching hundreds of pics to get as close to perfection.

Madame Tussauds says it took around 6 weeks to sculpt the figure and it'll take another 4 to 6 months to complete it. When it's done the final product will feature Biden and Harris wearing replica outfits from Inauguration Day.

Biden's outfit will feature a midnight blue Ralph Lauren suit and Harris will sport a purple coat, dress, gold and pearl necklace and pearl earrings.

Joe Rogan's suggestion that young people don't need to get the vaccine isn't sitting well with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who says that's a totally selfish approach to battling a pandemic.

The Spotify podcaster got a lot of backlash this week for saying folks in their 20s aren't susceptible to serious illness if they get infected ... and adding that he'd tell them not to get vaccinated.

Fauci was on NBC Today and fired back at Rogan's remarks ... saying the guy is simply wrong. He notes that while, yes, younger people aren't as likely to get deathly ill from COVID ... that's not really the point.

He says those people can still contract it -- even without showing symptoms -- and give it to someone else, who might be more prone to getting sick ... and possibly even dying. So, in other words, Fauci says it's a me vs. the world mentality -- and a selfish notion to avoid getting vaccinated just because you think you're healthy and would be fine without it.

JR, meanwhile, doesn't seem to have been down with a lot of the COVID protocols that were rolled out over the last year, and has often questioned the legitimacy of CDC guidelines. He's also entertained conspiracy theories and speculation over COVID ... without any expertise on the matter.

One of the jurors on Derek Chauvin's trial says there was no pressure to reach a guilty verdict -- but does explain the most difficult part of the job ... seeing the videos on replay.

Brandon Mitchell -- Juror #52 on the case -- did an early blitz of interviews Wednesday morning ... sitting down with 'CBS This Morning' and 'Good Morning America.' He offered interesting insights on both, but told CBS what everyone's been wanting to know.

Gayle King asked Mitchell if he or his peers felt heat from the public to deliver guilty verdicts on all counts -- especially 2nd-degree murder, the heaviest of charges -- but he tells her straight up ... nope. He admits there was stress, but not the kind you might expect.

Watch for yourself ... sounds like the jurors stomachs turned every time they had to watch George Floyd die -- which happened countless times throughout the 3-week proceedings. You can also tell Mitchell took a lot of what was discussed at trial personally ... as he himself is a tall Black man, similar in stature to Floyd.

Robin Roberts asked another lingering question ... how were they able to reach consensus so quickly, and were there any holdouts??? Mitchell spilled on that as well -- and, surprisingly, he tells her there weren't any major hang-ups ... except on how to interpret the instructions.

Mitchell explains that once they went around the room and read the instructions back multiple times over ... the one juror who was hesitant finally came around, and the rest is history.

Marty McFly may be a fictional character with a prop that serves as a cool hoverboard but soon your average (wealthy) Joe may have the chance to actually own one ... 'cause they're ready to hit the market this summer.

Alexandru Duru and Philippe Maalouf, co-founders of Omni Hoverboards, tell TMZ ... their company is very close to bringing a new hoverboard model to market.

That means ... the public will soon be able to buy a limited supply that will be made available summer or late 2021. But, hoverboard riders will have to plunk down a small fortune for the craft. We are told pricing is still a work in progress, but the 10-propellor model is expected to fetch around $36k.

We're told Omni wants to eventually sell an 8-propellor model that could retail for around $27k.

Hoverboards are all the rage right now. As we reported ... some dude was seen zipping through the streets over the weekend. And, for the record, that hoverboard does NOT belong to Omni. But, it sure created tons of buzz that the technology's there to make Michael J. Fox's dream a reality.

Truth is ... Omni's past models and most hoverboard competitors last about 1 to 3 minutes in the air, which is why most hoverboard clips on social media are short. The new model could stay airborne for 30 minutes.

Omni has been at it for some time now trying to get its hoverboards off the ground. In 2015, its mark-1 prototype earned a Guinness record by traveling a total distance of 905 feet.

Caitlyn Jenner is following in Arnold Schwarzenegger's footsteps in her bid for Governor of California -- and wouldn't you know it ... the man himself has some sage advice!!!

The former Governator did Jimmy Kimmel's show Monday night and was asked what he made of the former Olympian taking a crack at politics, like Arnold did almost two decades ago. Long story short ... Arnold says she could win.

Now, Arnold stopped short of endorsing Caitlyn ... but did note that, just like in his 2003 race, anybody could take the prize based on how dissatisfied Californians seem to be with Gavin Newsom. And yes, that includes Ms. Jenner herself.

Ahnald says it'll be far from a cakewalk for Caitlyn, though, despite her fame. He tells Jimmy there will probably be upwards of 100 Republican candidates vying for the job -- about the same number in his race.

So, how should Caitlyn stand out in the crowd? Arnold dished some advice, saying gubernatorial candidates need to have a sharp vision that they can easily communicate to the masses. Not just that, but he says they gotta be able to convince folks why they're qualified.

It also sounds like the ex-Gov might've actually spoken with Caitlyn already about her bid ... but he didn't go into deets of what they might've discussed. What's also obvious here is that the guy's trying to be diplomatic ... he notes he's buds with Newsom AND Caitlyn, and doesn't wanna show his support one way or another at this point.

Still, ya gotta wonder who he'll vote for come election day. Based on what he's saying here ... we'd say it's a toss-up.

A young Aussie Rules football fan's face met an unfortunate fate at a game over the weekend ... the poor kid got drilled by a ball from dozens of yards away, and multiple cameras shot the whole thing!

The incident all went down Sunday in Australia ... when Port Adelaide star Connor Rozee kicked a bullet through the uprights against St. Kilda.

A 5-year-old in the stands was hoisted up by his brother in an attempt to catch the ball as it came crashing down ... but the ball ended up clanking off the little guy's face!!

Check out the footage from several different angles ... the ball sadly smashed the hell out of Sonny Ah-Matt's dome -- and everyone watching was stunned!!

Fortunately, the little kid was a trooper ... and shook off the stinger no problem!!

"He was fine," Ah-Matt's mother told 9News Australia. "And then, at the end of the game, he's standing up, cheering and singing the song."

As for why the little guy tried to make the catch ... his brother explained he offered up $100 to Sonny if he could haul in the ball on the fly.

Not the best decision, considering the ball's basically half Ah-Matt's size -- but, hey, good job, good effort!

Ah-Matt's brother said he'd probably end up giving the little guy $50 for his troubles ... and Port Adelaide ended up getting the win -- so, good times all around for Sonny, we're sure.

A lot of people feel like the late Chadwick Boseman was snubbed at the 93rd Oscars -- including a handful of celebs who were at the show ... and they didn't bite their tongues.

We ran into actress Andra Day -- the nominated star from 'The United States Vs. Billie Holiday' -- Sunday night leaving Spring Place in Bev Hills, not too long after the show, and asked if she thought the Academy had gotten better with diversity ... and she said yes. Well, at least partly.

Watch ... she makes it clear they're moving in the right direction, but have a long way to go -- and that pivot starts long before the Oscars get handed out. Of course, we also had to ask about Chadwick losing the Best Actor Oscar to Sir Anthony Hopkins in rushed, anti-climatic finish.

AD kept it real with her answer, and so did her 'Billie Holiday' costar Evan Ross ... although, he put it in more diplomatic terms. Model Winnie Harlow, however, just let it rip with her Chadwick hot take.

Speaking of Hopkins (who wasn't even at Union Station to receive his award) -- he posted a gracious thank you message last night, but also seemed stunned to have won, and gave a shout-out to Chadwick. Fact is, Sir AH was great as the lead in 'The Father' ... so, it's hard for anyone to say he didn't earn his win.

Here's why people thought Chadwick was a shoo-in to win, though -- one, his performance has been called stellar in 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' (his last role before he died).

But, more importantly ... the entire award show seemed to be heading in that direction -- show producer Steven Soderbergh literally bumped Best Picture ahead of schedule just for a Best Actor finale.

Regina King was the first presenter to kick off the 93rd Academy Awards -- and she instantly got into the Derek Chauvin trial ... with a powerful message to audiences at home.

The actor/director -- who's actually nominated for an Oscar this year with her film "One Night in Miami" -- made her way to the stage within Union Station in what looked like the opening of a film ... with a ton of "starring" credits being flashed across the screen.

Once she was in front of her audience, Regina didn't hesitate to talk about the big news of the week -- namely, that Chauvin had been found guilty of murdering George Floyd.

She said that the way that verdict went ultimately decided what she was going to be wearing on Sunday ... instead of heels, Regina says she might've been in marching boots had things gone a different direction. You could hear some in the crowd emphatically agree.

Regina also addressed viewers who were tuning in -- saying she knows folks might wanna change the channel when Hollywood starts to "preach" to them ... but she made a point that no amount of money will ever change how she digests these issues, or the fact that they are real in her own life with her own children. In other words, this is personal for her.

There's a strange scene unfolding in Blueface's world -- he's apparently got a bunch of girlfriends living under one roof ... whom he says need to get branded, or get lost.

That's definitely the vibe from a newly surfaced video that the L.A. rapper seems to have posted himself this past week ... which is just now bubbling up on social media. Blueface didn't post this on IG -- he doesn't have one these days -- so it might've gone up on Snap.

At any rate, what was captured here is pretty troubling to watch on its face ... you see Blue walking through bedrooms that are full of bunk beds with women sleeping in them. He's waking them up, announcing that today is the day they're all getting tattoos.

No joke ... dude goes around badgering these ladies, asking where they're gonna get their tattoo ... and some of the women actually show him -- and they seem all in. At one point, you see the artwork being inked in ... and it appears to be a portrait of some sort. You even hear Blueface say during the video ... "Tattoo or go home. Which one is it?"

Unclear if Blue was directing them to get "Blueface" tattoos, per se ... but some people seem to think that's what he was doing.

If that's giving you cult-ish vibes -- you're not alone ... that's the comparison most others are drawing online. Some are even cracking R. Kelly jokes at Blue's expense ... but that might be going too far. It doesn't appear anything illegal is going on here ... at first glance, anyway.

While he might not be breaking the law ... this clip doesn't fare well for his image, as Blueface has already been accused of being misogynistic. You'll recall that crazy stripper fight he hosted at his crib -- which he fully seemed to be egging on at the time.

Is that ... McFly??? It sure looks like it ... because here's a guy that's zooming around some city streets on a God-dang hoverboard ... and no, this isn't a fake-out.

Check out this video that shows a man in a helmet literally flying through the air near ground level along what appears to be an urban area ... complete with stoplights, apartment buildings, restaurants and even cars that are zooming by the opposite way.

It might look like something straight out of 'Back to the Future' ... but it ain't -- this seems to be the real McCoy. How we know that is because someone linked to the company that manufactures this modern marvel of technology.

Hunter Kowald is the hoverboard aircraft developer -- and he touts his aircraft 'The Skysurfer' as the worlds smallest and most powerful hovercraft. The SkySurfer Aircraft has a total flight time of 20 minutes and starts at around $85k.