You Might Want to Rethink

Miley Cyrus appears to believe Britney Spears was recently being held at a mental health facility against her will ... and the proof is in tweaked lyrics to her biggest song.

Miley was performing down in Memphis, TN Saturday at the Beale Street Music Festival, and while she was singing "Party in the U.S.A." ... the Britney part of her tune got remixed by Miley herself ... who stoked a conspiracy theory that sprung up during Brit's mental health facility stint.

The moment in question is almost as famous as the song itself -- Miley sings the refrain, "And a Britney song was on" three different times about midway through, but during Saturday's performance ... she shouted "Free Britney!" while her fans sang the normal lyrics from the crowd -- a clear indication that she's behind the #FreeBritney campaign.

As we've told you, a lot of Britney's fans were concerned she was being held captive at the mental health facility where she was getting treatment, under the control of the folks who run her lifetime conservatorship.

Britney herself tried to stamp out that notion by assuring her fans that she was fine, NOT being controlled by anybody ... and doing what was best for her at the time.

Someone at USC wants you to think that Lori Loughlin and her daughters were NOT a one-off, but actually the status quo in that ya need NO experience for the women's rowing team.

A laminated poster promoting the D1 ladies crew team is literally hanging in the women's locker room inside USC's Lyon Rec Center right now, which has a pretty eyebrow-raising slogan ... "Join USC's Women's Rowing ... No experience? No problem."

There's even an email to contact the official asst. coach for questions, and the USC women's rowing social media handle is attached as well. Hmm ... interesting.

As you know ... Lori and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have both been indicted and charged for allegedly paying hundreds of thousands in bribes to get their daughters -- Olivia Jade and Isabella -- into USC via the crew team ... even though they weren't rowers.

For the record ... Lori and Mossimo have pled not guilty to the initial conspiracy charges, as well as the additional money laundering charges that were filed when they didn't follow Felicity Huffman's lead in copping a plea.

Either way -- it would appear this poster is an elaborate joke that someone went to some lengths to pull off, assuming it is, in fact, fake. We only say that because it looks pretty damn real ... and it's eerily similar to an official recruiting ad the rowing team ran in 2018.

So, here's the thing .... we'd like to give USC the benefit of the doubt and assume this is a fake, 'cause if it wasn't ... it'd be incredibly tone-deaf and, frankly, dumb all things considered.

Blake Griffin sure hopes Drake didn't seal Arya Stark's fate on "Game of Thrones" by shouting her out at the Billboard Music Awards ... him and everyone else, tbh.

We got the Pistons star outside of the Maxfield clothing store in WeHo Friday afternoon and asked him about Drizzy showing love to Maisie Williams' 'GOT' character Wednesday night when he mentioned her during his acceptance speech for the Top Billboard 200 Album.

ICYMI ... Drake made sure to plug Arya for "putting in that work last week" during Sunday's episode when she killed the Night King with some fancy dagger moves -- basically saving every living person in Westeros from eternal death in the process.

BTW, this is a spoiler -- and you should've seen it by now. If you haven't, well, here it is ... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway ... Blake really, REALLY hopes the Drake curse doesn't kick in here for everyone's sake. Like he says, "I think we all need a little bit of Arya." Considering Champagne Papi's track record with supporting losing teams ... here's praying Blake's right.

A high schooler in Ohio just joined the ranks of hardcore U.S. racists by asking a girl to go to prom with unspeakable words ... and now he's banned from the event.

The student's invitation or "promposal" to his potential date -- which he posted to his social media account -- was a sign reading, "If I was black I'd be picking cotton but I'm white so I'm picking u for prom."

The online backlash from his fellow students made its way to school officials at the Clear Fork High School, and Superintendent Janice Wyckoff banned him from attending the prom.

She claims the student was sorry for what he did and deleted his posts touting the sign.

As for his intended prom date featured in the photo ... she's reportedly a student at a different school. We don't know if she said "yes" or "take a hike."

It's unclear if the student behind the sign will face further disciplinary action, but Wyckoff says she doesn't believe this incident is reflective of the student body. She says ... "This is one person making a bad decision that's going to reflect on everybody. This is actually a terrible day in the Clear Fork Valley."

Sadly, a quick internet search of this particular racist promposal yields several results ... a number of white students from many different schools over the course of years have used the same promposal.

Nipsey Hussle's team is putting the kibosh on the late rapper's memorial ... because people trying to pay their respects were being hounded by bootleggers and grifters trying to make a buck off his death.

Sources close to the slain Crenshaw rapper tell TMZ ... the memorial outside his Marathon Clothing store is going away, principally because it was becoming a chaotic scene where hustlers roamed the street, turning what was supposed to be a solemn tribute into a circus.

As you know ... Nipsey was gunned down in the parking lot outside his store, and the lot was transformed into a makeshift memorial, with fans leaving flowers, pictures, notes, trinkets and loads of candles.

But, that's all over now.

Here's what the wild scene outside Nipsey's shuttered store looked like ... people selling bootleg t-shirts with Nipsey's image, others demanding money for a tour of the neighborhood, and some even charging fans just to walk through the area where Nipsey was shot. The memorial became so busy, food trucks started parking outside.

Sources close to Nipsey tell us the whole thing reeked of disrespect ... and they felt like he was not being properly honored, so they're closing up shop.

We've seen this kind of thing before ... scalpers tried charging astronomical prices for free tickets to Nipsey's celebration of life, and people who went to the service tried selling the free programs for huge profits on eBay.

Lindsey Graham just provided some major viral content at William Barr's Senate Judiciary hearing on the Mueller report, by saying out loud -- and uncensored -- "Trump is a f***ing idiot."

The Senator wasn't expressing his own opinion about President Trump, but rather reading text messages between former FBI employees, Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, at Wednesday's hearing.

In the full exchange, Graham pulled from Strzok's texts to Page, saying ... "I am riled up. Trump is a f***ing idiot, is unable to provide a coherent answer. I can’t pull away. What the f*** happened to our country??!?!"

Graham followed up his comment -- which aired live on TV -- by saying, "Sorry to the kids out there." The FCC might want an apology too.

The Judiciary Committee is questioning Attorney General Barr about the findings of special counsel Robert Mueller's report ... after a Mueller letter stated Barr's summary of his report "did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of his investigation.

As for Strzok and Page ... their relationship and feelings about Trump have been a hot topic, and used by the president's supporters to argue the FBI was biased against him.

Graham's making sure we don't forget.

2:15 PM PT -- We got the Senator out after his profanity-laced moment earlier Wednesday, and he doubled down on the quote, and why it was important for everyone to hear.

You're looking at "Iranian Hulk" Sajad Gharibi -- a powerlifter who's become a social media sensation -- and he's about to try his hand in MMA.

The good news ... UFC star Brian Ortega is offering up some advice for the massive 27-year-old -- but that advice comes with a serious warning!

Long story short ... Ortega is 100% confident he would destroy Gharibi in a fight -- despite weighing roughly 250 POUNDS less!!!!

"I would just gas him out, piss him off," Ortega tells TMZ Sports.

For the record, Ortega is 5'8", 145 ... Gharibi (from the info we've found) is 6'2", 385.

"Of course, you're gonna see me just get mauled up like a damn little chihuahua in the beginning," Ortega says ... "but just when I ride that wave out, it's a done deal man. He'll gas out and he'll be mine."

Gharibi says he's dead serious about taking a real MMA fight -- telling reporter Chamatkar Sandhu he's already accepted a fight against a Brazilian opponent.

Kim Foxx, Chicago's top prosecutor, has just been subpoenaed to appear at a court hearing regarding her handling of the Jussie Smollett "attack."

The State's Attorney was hit with the subpoena by a retired appellate judge who is seeking the appointment of a special prosecutor to look into how Kim dealt with the super controversial case, according to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times.

The report says retired judge Sheila O'Brien, who filed the petition for a special prosecutor, also filed a "notice to appear" in an attempt to get Jussie to attend Thursday's court hearing.

The retired judge reportedly requested Jussie and Foxx produce all original documents in the case to prove "that they have not been altered or destroyed."

Foxx has been harshly criticized ever since her office dismissed all 16 counts against Jussie over the alleged "attack."

The retired judge reportedly wrote that Foxx's handling of the case was "plagued with irregularity" and that "Foxx misled the public into believing that Smollett's case was handled like any other prosecution and without influence."

50 Cent is going OFF on Hollywood producer and fiance of "Vanderpump Rules" star Lala Kent, Randall Emmett ... threatening physical violence if he doesn't pay him back by Monday for a million dollar loan he says he owes.

Fiddy fired things up on his Instagram Friday by mocking Lala over a 'Vanderpump' clip in which she admits Randall gifted her a Range Rover after the first time they had sex. 50 wrote ... "10 seconds left in the 4 quarter hoe's are Winning. Do you want A range rover, yes, bitch yassss. Then just run out and suck a d-–k. LOL smh."

After Lala clapped back in the comments by making fun of 50 for claiming to be a thug but watching Bravo, the rapper decided to set his sights on Emmett ... who he apparently has MAJOR beef with.

50 began posting screenshots of texts with Randall -- a fellow executive producer on his show, "Power" -- calling him a loser and asking him if he told Lala he owes him a million dollars.

Sources close to 50 tell TMZ ... the million dollars is from a loan to Emmett, and Randall has allegedly promised to pay it back for years but then dodges him. We're told 50 actually helped Randall get on "Power" as a way to help him pay back his loan, too.

But 50's done waiting and instead has threatened to injure him if he doesn't pay up, saying ... "Keep playing with me and get ya f***ing head cracked in front of everybody."

Emmett's texts are apologetic and seemingly fearful. He even tells 50 he's heading to the emergency room because it's too much for him and he's afraid he's having a heart attack, then he pleads ... "Please fifty no more."

50 claims Randall immediately sent him $250k of the million he says he owes him, but he wasn't done with the threats. He posted again -- after Emmett mentioned he asked 50 to be in his wedding -- mocking him for even asking and reiterating he wants his money ... even if he has to get the Range Rover back.

He also shared another text to Emmett saying, "You took my kindness for weakness now I'm show you what I been try not to do to you dumb motherf***ers." He added, "The friend sh*t is over rated."

Then 50 dropped this ...

R. Kelly's legal team has another reason for the judge why it believes the singer's L in his recent sexual abuse civil case shouldn't count ... he can't read.

Kelly's attorneys, Zaid Abdallah and Raed Shalabi, filed legal docs claiming even though Kelly was served in the civil case -- in which Heather Williams alleges he sexually abused her when she was 16 -- he was in Cook County Jail at the time for failing to pay child support and should not have been served there.

More significantly, though, according to the docs ... Kelly "suffers from a learning disability that adversely affects his ability to read," adding ... "in essence he cannot."

Translation -- Kelly had no idea what the legal papers were all about, so he didn't take the appropriate steps after being served to defend himself.

The new legal docs also blast the fact Kelly was served while incarcerated, claiming Williams' lawyers could have easily served Kelly's criminal lawyer or delivered the docs to Trump Towers where he lives. Williams' lawyer has said security at his residence made that impossible, but Kelly's attorney calls BS on that.

As we reported ... Williams won a default judgment against Kelly when he failed to appear for a hearing in the case.

Joe Biden's social media team got some 'splainin' to do after posting a shot of the candidate with Barack Obama ... and placing a giant letter "N" over the former Prez.

It was a clever idea ... using multiple pics of Biden to spell out "Biden President" on his Instagram page -- but the HUGE FAIL came when someone on Biden's staff didn't realize where the "N" at the end of Biden would land.

The faux pas is being called out by users who think it's time Biden get a new social media manager -- y'know ... one who realizes Instagram users get individual posts in their feeds ... not 6 at once!

As one user put it, "This is the only post that showed up in my feed, it looks racist af."

Look ... Biden and Obama's bromance is well documented, so no one could really think this was intentional -- and certainly not anything Biden himself approved.

Still, it's a bad look.

For what it's worth, the "B" in Biden's name landed on a pic of him with his wife, Jill.

5:52 PM PT -- A source tells TMZ, Travis Scott and DJ Paul spoke on Tuesday and the resolution is expected shortly ... a rep for Travis confirms the conversation happened, but would not elaborate on details.

Travis Scott straight-up jacked a portion of Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul's track ... so claims DJ Paul in a new lawsuit.

Paul filed legal docs claiming Travis' "No Bystanders" has a hook that's almost identical to DJ Paul's track "Tear Da Club Up." According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Paul says the hook to his track says "Tear da club up, tear da club up" while Travis' track goes "F*** da club up. F*** da club up."

In docs, Paul claims the cadence and sound are virtually identical. What's more ... Paul says Travis used his exact hook from "Tear Da Club Up" for his Grammys performance earlier this year ... line by line.

"No Bystanders" is a part of Travis' massively successful "Astroworld" album ... which debuted No. 1 on The Billboard 200 chart. It was also a fan favorite during the rapper's 55-city tour.

In a previous interview with us in June DJ Paul claimed young artists were going to kill hip-hop ... but it doesn't appear like the lawsuit is in direct correlation to that statement.

Paul's now suing to get Travis' track pulled and wants the profits from "No Bystanders" ... which he thinks is around $20 million. We've reached out to Travis' rep, so far no word back.

Amir Khan quit in the ring ... and he needs to man the hell up and apologize to boxing fans, so says boxing legend Roy Jones Jr.

Khan bowed out in the 6th round of his fight with Terence Crawford this weekend after getting hit below the belt ... insisting he was seriously hurt, and couldn't continue.

But, fans felt cheated by the ending ... and they were pissed.

And, they damn sure should be, according to Roy ... who says Khan flat out waved the white flag.

"Amir Khan quit."

Jones Jr. -- a multiple time world champ across 4 weight classes -- says he would NEVER quit inside the ring.

"When I go in the ring. Carry me out. I don't wanna go out on my feet if I lost. Carry me out. I rather give it all, or get it all taken away from me."

Still, RJJ says all ain't lost for Khan -- a fighter he likes and respects -- as long as he gets real about what happened.

"Amir, I love you as a fighter. I respect you since you were an amateur fighter. You went up 2 weight classes, took on Canelo. You did a lot of beautiful things to show that you have courage," Jones Jr. says.

"This time you were in a no-win situation, and you refused to continue," Jones tells us ... "You stopped at a time we know you could've given more. You didn't give it to us, the fans, your all."

The Internet-famous Easter Bunny vigilante says he sprung into action without thinking twice about the fact he was rocking a furry suit ... because he'd spotted a damsel in distress.

The hero-bunny is Antoine McDonald and he tells TMZ ... he saw a guy spit on a woman Sunday outside the Underground Public House bar in downtown Orlando. Antoine says he saw it from across the street and quickly ran over to help her.

It all happened so fast, Antoine says he didn't even have time to unzip his suit or even bother to look for cars as he scrambled to get across the street and to the woman's defense. The video of him -- fully furred out -- going HAM has, naturally, gone viral. When's the last time you saw an Easter bunny open a can of whoop-ass??

The video of Antoine breaking down the brawl is almost as entertaining as the fight itself. Our fave parts? When the boxing bunny went from throwing haymakers to shadow boxing ... much to the crowd's delight.

Also, you gotta see Antoine revealing what cops told him immediately after they broke up the fight. Amazingly, nobody got arrested.

The blogger Cardi B is suing -- over some wild allegations -- just got served in a heated exchange with the process server ... one that included an apparent threat of gunfire.

We broke the story ... Cardi's going after Tasha K for claiming the rapper's a drug-using prostitute with herpes. Cardi's lawyers hired a process server to deliver the lawsuit to Tasha's residence Thursday night.

This audio from their run-in, obtained by TMZ, makes it clear things quickly got dicey.

You hear the server ID himself to Tasha and a male companion as they pull up to their home. Tasha got pissed because she says the guy was in her driveway, looking through her mail.

Although she was pissed, he does his job ... handing her the docs and delivering the line, "You've been served." Tasha responded by informing him she's within her rights to "blow something in your head."

The server assures her he didn't do anything illegal, but Tasha wasn't having it.

DJ Quik is proposing an interesting punishment for Fox News' Laura Ingraham after she mocked Nipsey Hussle on-air -- and surprisingly, it doesn't include her losing her job.

We got the Compton MC at Mastro's in Bev Hills and asked what he made of the conservative host laughing at Nipsey's expense on the heels of his memorial at Staples Center. As you probably know ... she lampooned him for partaking in YG's song, "FDT (F*** Donald Trump), which she incorrectly called Nipsey's track.

Lots of people are pissed about Laura's clear insensitivity -- especially considering the man had just been murdered -- while some big names in hip-hop, including T.I. and The Game, are calling for her job.

Quik isn't going that far, and his reasoning is he considers Laura to be "privileged and ignorant," and while he doesn't say it outright, it sounds like he believes this is par for the course with her -- remember that whole LeBron James debacle.

It's interesting ... he compares Laura's commentary to Megyn Kelly's blackface scandal, which did cost her her gig at NBC.