You Might Want to Rethink

The Netherlands appears to be reaching a crossroads on a longstanding, controversial Christmas tradition of dressing in blackface -- with some cities halting the practice, while others keep it going amid growing protests.

Of course, we're talking about the Sinterklaas parades that take place throughout the European country each year ... which has been going strong for at least a century. If you're unfamiliar, people take to the streets dressed as Zwarte Piet -- AKA, Black Pete.

He's supposed to be a helper for their version of Santa Claus, and he's always depicted in blackface -- with white folks all over the Netherlands donning the dark makeup.

Over the past few years though, more and more protesters have been taking to the streets decrying the tradition ... calling it insensitive, outdated and racist. The parades got started nearly a week ago, and most of them have been met with demonstrators ... as seen above.

As far as we can tell, only one major city thus far has yanked its plans to put on an official Sinterklaas parade -- that would be in the city of Utrecht -- but most haven't pulled the plug yet. Cops have been on standby to make sure things stay peaceful.

Interestingly enough, Amsterdam usually hosts a Black Pete pageant to judge who can put together the best version of the fictional character. However, as of this year ... they're not sponsoring one, making it the second year in a row that they've refrained.

Scooter Braun says Taylor Swift's attacks on him and the Big Machine Records label have thrown his entire family into extreme peril, and the death threats have become so intense he's going public, pleading with Taylor to sit down with him and resolve their conflict.

Scooter posted his statement in the middle of the night after something clearly happened. He noted there have been numerous death threats directed at his family, but something even more ominous and imminent caused him to break his silence ... "I came home tonight to find my wife had received a phone call threatening the safety of our children .."

He posted one threat, which is chilling ..."Hi, why dont you just die withyour children??? I will buy a gun tmr and them shoot you allin the head."

Scooter then addresses Taylor directly, saying, "I assume this was not your intention but it is important that you understand that your words carry a tremendous amount of weight and that your message can be interpreted by some in different ways."

He goes on to extend an olive branch, asking Taylor to sit down, wherever she wants, and resolve their beef. He says he and Big Machine never tried to block her from singing anything at Sunday's AMAs, but then he said this ... "While I am frustrated with your accusations and respectfully disagree with many of your statements, it is important that I am clear -- no artist should ever feel cornered or bullied.  I have spent my entire career in service of creatives and artists, never the other way around."

But, finally, there's something of a parting shot ... "Many have told me that a meeting will never happen as this is not about truth or resolution but instead a narrative for you. I am hopeful this is not the case."

Myles Garrett is officially done for the season ... and perhaps even longer.

The Cleveland Browns superstar was banned indefinitely by the NFL after he attacked Mason Rudolph with the Steelers QB's helmet at the end of "Thursday Night Football" last week.

But, the 23-year-old met with league officials Wednesday (in his swaggiest blue outfit) with the hopes of getting the suspension reduced.

Turns out, the NFL wasn't buying what Garrett was selling ... and upheld the ban -- saying Garrett is still barred from the league for all of this season and maybe some of next.

"[Appeals officer James Thrash] has upheld all discipline issued to Myles Garrett," the league said in a statement.

It's a huge loss for the Browns ... Garrett was considered a Defensive Player of the Year candidate with 10 sacks in 10 games.

It's also a big financial bummer for Myles ... the former No. 1 overall pick was slated to make $4.6 MILLION this season, but because of the suspension, he'll lose over $1 MILLION of that.

For his part, Garrett did apologize for the Rudolph altercation ... but ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Thursday that Myles claimed the whole thing started because Rudolph hurled a racial slur at him.

Rudolph, through his attorney, has ADAMANTLY denied that accusation.

Mayor Pete Buttigieg was strong on the debate stage Wednesday night, but the glow of success clearly doesn't translate into dance moves ... at least not by the candidate himself.

The Iowa and New Hampshire frontrunner rolled up to Paschal's soul food restaurant in ATL Thursday morning, and he told our photog he embraces the dance that has become a mantra of sorts for the campaign ... saying it's a symbol of joy. The dance is set to Panic! at the Disco's, "High Hopes."

That said, when our photog asked Pete to step up and dance, he put his foot down, but not to bust a move. He confessed his shortcoming and made it clear ... dancing in the street -- or anywhere else -- was out of the question.

Martin Luther King III says he expects there to be significant movement in the numbers after the latest Democratic debate, but based on his recap ... that movement won't be positive for Joe Biden.

We got MLK3 at Tyler Perry Studios after the 10 candidates duked it out onstage Wednesday night in Atlanta, and he heaped praise on more than half of them.

King III tells us he thought Cory Booker and Kamala Harris particularly stood out, Mayor Pete wasn't too shabby and he's always interested to hear what Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have to say. Andrew Yang got some props too.

Do the math, and that leaves out Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Tom Steyer and of course ... the former Vice President and one of the favorites to land the nomination, Biden.

The snub's not a big surprise, though ... Joe had a pretty rough night. He came out on the losing end of a couple big moments, including a pot shot from Booker about Biden's resistance to the legalization of marijuana.

MLK's son touched on that subject as well, mostly echoing Booker's message ... but did concede that Biden's insistence on doing more research on the subject isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Speaking of bad things -- Joe had another snafu while addressing violence against women by making a very poor choice of words ... and failing to recognize his mistake.

Diddy is calling out one of his biggest business partners -- potentially risking his own neck -- in order to take a stand in a Supreme Court case that will effect discrimination laws for all Americans.

Diddy's pissed off at Comcast, because the cable provider used his name and REVOLT channel as an example of how inclusive it is of minority-owned channels. Comcast is being sued by Byron Allen, who claims it refuses to carry his channels ... while it airs "lesser-known, white-owned" networks.

The case is now being heard in the high court, and when Comcast puffed its chest by using Diddy, the mogul had enough. Diddy says, "It is not accurate to use my name or my network as an example of inclusion." He adds, the cable company is putting "its legal tactics ahead of the rights of millions of Americans to be heard. This is not OK."

In the simplest terms ... Comcast wants the Supreme Court to rule that under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Byron must prove racial discrimination is the "sole cause" for it rejecting his channels.

As Diddy points out, "If they [Comcast] are successful, it will become much harder for any victim of discrimination to seek justice in court."

Beyond the Supreme Court case ... Diddy's making it clear he's not thrilled with this biz relationship with Comcast, anyway. He says, "REVOLT has never been in a position to truly compete on a fair playing field because it has not received the economic and distribution support necessary for real economic inclusion. Our relationship with Comcast is the illusion of economic inclusion"

Black people would've boycotted the Harriet Tubman movie back in the day if a studio exec got his wish for Julia Roberts to play the legendary abolitionist ... so says Harriet's relative.

Harriet's great-great-great-grandniece, Tina Wyatt, tells TMZ ... the movie would've been blacklisted in the black community because it would've been a slap in the face, and utterly disrespectful if Julia were cast to play the black woman who helped free countless slaves.

As you know ... screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard claims a Hollywood exec listened to his movie pitch for a Tubman project more than 25 years ago and told the room Julia should play Harriet. Howard says someone pointed out the fact Tubman was black and Roberts was white, and the exec said it was so long ago no one would know the difference.

Harriet's relative says it's insulting the exec would think black people would be so ignorant as to not know their own history.

A Lyft driver pulled a female passenger out of his car, and allegedly started to attack her -- kicking off a chain reaction of fights with concerned passersby.

TMZ got a hold of this WILD surveillance video recorded Tuesday afternoon in L.A., and it starts with the car -- which has the Lyft emblem in the back window -- parked curbside along busy Melrose Avenue. Then the male driver hops out, and pulls a young woman from the seat behind him and starts dragging her out of the vehicle while tossing her stuff out at the same time.

The woman, actress Alessandra Starr Ward, tells TMZ the whole thing started when she started playing a song called "Te Bote" from her phone. The driver demanded she turn it off, she refused, and they started arguing. He allegedly threatened to boot her from the car, and she told him she'd call police if he did.

In the clip, you can see Alessandra fighting back, but the driver pushed her down and knocked her over. Drivers in other cars saw it unfolding and a few guys stopped to help.

That's when it really hit the fan ... several guys teamed up on the Lyft driver, who continued fighting back, and in the scuffle ... Alessandra got knocked down again. It took one guy putting the Lyft driver in a chokehold to finally calm things down.

We're told nearby police officers were flagged down, and cited the Lyft driver for misdemeanor battery. As for Alessandra, she says she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a concussion. She also says she has bruises all over her body, a sprained ankle and a black eye.

She tells us Lyft needs to vet its drivers, as this shouldn't happen to anyone. It's unclear if she plans to pursue legal action against the rideshare company.

A$AP Rocky just got catapulted to "primary" status in the impeachment investigation of President Trump ... due to the EU Ambassador's testimony about a phone call regarding the rapper's Swedish assault case.

Rocky got roped into Wednesday's hearing because EU Ambassador Gordon Sondland said while he was sitting in a restaurant in Kiev on July 26 ... Trump called him and the "primary purpose" of their chat was A$AP.

Sondland testified Wednesday they mostly discussed A$AP's imprisonment in Sweden ... despite claims the phone call involved Trump inquiring about the Ukrainian government investigating Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.

As you'll recall, the rapper was jailed in Sweden for nearly 5 weeks as he awaited trial for assault following an altercation with a man on the street. He was eventually found guilty by a panel of judges, but with no further jail time ... Rocky bolted back to the States.

Trump was very vocal about the unfair treatment of Rocky and his administration got involved ... and Sondland says that's what they discussed on that July 26 call.

However -- pertaining to the impeachment investigation -- Sondland later testified the phone call also "included the subject of investigations" into the Bidens, and stated there was a quid pro quo established between Trump and Ukraine.

There's whitewashing in Hollywood, and then there's this -- a studio exec thought it would be a good idea for Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman ... according to the writer of the NEW film, "Harriet."

Screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard says the ridiculous scene went down more than 25 years ago in a pitch meeting about the Tubman project. Howard says the exec told the room ... "This script is fantastic. Let's get Julia Roberts to play Harriet Tubman."

Roberts was widely considered America's Sweetheart at the time after starring in a string of hits like "Steel Magnolias," "Pretty Woman" and "The Pelican Brief."

Howard says when someone pointed out to the studio exec that Tubman was black and Roberts shouldn't play the role, he replied ... "It was so long ago. No one is going to know the difference."

Thankfully, the Hollywood honcho didn't get his way, and flash forward to 2019 ... Howard's movie about the legendary abolitionist who led hundreds of slaves to freedom via the Underground Railroad is finally in theaters.

Of course, the casting of black British actress Cynthia Erivo was also criticized ... because she's not African-American. Can't please everybody.

Charles Barkley says there's "no excuse" for saying he would "hit" a female political reporter -- but insists the whole thing was an attempted joke gone bad.

Axios reporter Alexi McCammond says she was talking with the NBA legend about who he's supporting in the upcoming Presidential election ... and that's when he said, "I don’t hit women, but if I did I would hit you."

Here's the backstory ... McCammond says Barkley was initially explaining why he supported Gov. Deval Patrick -- former 2-term gov. of Mass. -- but then changed up and said he was supporting Pete Buttigieg.

When McCammond questioned him about the switch, Barkley allegedly made the comment about hitting her.

McCammond says she objected to the comment and Barkley told her she "couldn't take a joke."

Barkley has since issued an apology ... saying, "My comment was inappropriate and unacceptable."

"It was an attempted joke that wasn’t funny at all. There’s no excuse for it and I apologize."

McCammond is now reacting to Barkley's apology -- saying, "The comments Charles Barkley made to me are not acceptable."

"Threats of violence are not a joke, & no person deserves to be hit or threatened like that."

Dog the Bounty Hunter wants it known -- he's NOT dead like the Internet might have you believe ... and we got our hands on a good old-fashioned "proof of life" photo to back it up.

The reality TV star took this hilarious photo of himself Tuesday holding a handmade "I'm Alive!" sign in one hand and that day's Denver Post to prove he is, in fact, still with us. We're told this was in response to a fake death story that was going around on Facebook.

Tons of fans were flooding Dog's social media with condolences and "RIP" posts, and our sources say Dog's team even reached out to him to make sure he was all good.

We're told Dog was on his way to a workout when his phone started blowing up and he first heard about the hoax -- which claimed he'd died because his grief over his late wife, Beth Chapman, caused a flare-up of his recent heart problems.

Yo, Jim Cornette ... WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!

The longtime wrestling commentator said some insanely offensive stuff during an episode of "NWA Power" ... and it's so bad, the company has PULLED the episode.

Cornette was calling a match between champion Nick Aldis and Trevor Murdoch -- when the announcer tried to praise Murdoch for his toughness ... and went super racist.

"He’s the only man I’ve ever known that can strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia."

WILDLY RACIST.

Of course, there was IMMEDIATE outrage -- prompting NWA Vice President Dave Lagana to issue an apology on behalf of the company.

"On tonight's episode of NWA Power airing on November 19th 2019, one of our talents made comments which some viewers found offensive. We deeply regret the error and apologize."

Lagana added, "We have temporarily taken the program down while we correct this error."

Cornette has been in hot water for comments made on-air in the past -- in fact, NWA previously issued an apology when Cornette was "making light on the subject of suicide."

58-year-old Cornette has been a staple in pro wrestling for decades -- working for major promotions like WWE and Impact Wrestling.

So far, no word yet from Cornette on the incident.

The top 3 "Jeopardy!" contestants to ever win big are going head-to-head (to head) on TV -- and one guy who had a great run thinks he knows what sorta questions will be asked.

We spoke to Austin Rogers -- who had a 12-game winning streak in 2017 -- and he mused with us over what Alex Trebek and his crafty writers are gonna ask Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer come Jan. 7 for "Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time."

It's exactly what it sounds like -- these guys have amassed the most cash out of anyone on the show, and it's time find out who's the true king in a 3-way face-off. As for what'll be asked -- or answered, rather -- Austin tells us the "Jeopardy!" crew will get diabolical.

Fact is, Austin says the writers know exactly how to tailor the topics for these three -- and he believes they'll be throwing pop culture curveballs instead of ancient history softballs.

Check it out -- Austin even weighs in on who he thinks has an edge here among these titans of trivia, and it sounds like our boy, James, is in the driver's seat with his scattered approach in hunting for Daily Doubles ... and his go big or go home wagers.

Good luck, fellas!!!

Rep. Eric Swalwell seemed to cut the cheese live on national TV ... but the cheese, as it turns out, was apparently a studio mug.

The California congressman was doing an interview Monday on MSNBC's 'Hardball' with host Chris Matthews -- and while he was going on and on about Ukraine and alleged malfeasance by DT ... something that sounded like a loud, wet fart blasted through the airwaves.

It certainly seemed like flatulence, and Rep. Swalwell even paused a moment right afterward in what many viewed as an acknowledgment of the ripped gas. And, of course, #fartgate and #shartgate soon started to trend everywhere on Twitter as a result.

Funny enough, the official 'Hardball' account excused the noise away as someone dragging a coffee mug across a table in the studio -- which just happened to get picked up on a mic.

Swalwell was ecstatic, quickly using the network's cover as what he described as "TOTAL EXONERATION!" -- very Trump-like, right?! And yes, everyone had a good laugh over it -- Republicans and Dems alike. It might've been the most uniting thing in a while, actually.

And, for those looking to go even deeper down the rabbit hole ... some have pointed to a theory that the would-be fart actually came from Matthews. Apparently, there's a history of gas being passed on his show over the years, as one Twitter user dutifully pointed out.

Anyway, if these impeachment hearings are lacking pizzazz -- as NBC News itself noted last week -- then Swalwell (or Matthews) just dropped a much-needed fun fart bomb.

A Washington Capitals player hocked a loogie and spit it all over an Anaheim Ducks player in a crazy brawl Monday night ... and the chaotic scene was all caught on video.

The spitter's name was Garnet Hathaway ... and during the second period of the Caps' game against the Ducks in D.C. -- he got into a tussle with some Anaheim players in a wild play behind the Ducks' net.

The Caps were putting it on Anaheim ... and some of the Ducks took issue with Hathaway's physical play -- and started a scrap all while Washington was scoring a goal.

In the video, you can see Hathaway beating the hell of Ducks center Derek Grant ... before another Anaheim player, Erik Gudbranson, grabbed Hathaway as the fight was dying down.

Gudbranson got in a nasty left jab to Hathaway's face ... so, the Caps' fourth-liner responded with a big ol' gob of spit!!

Of course, the saliva spray ignited another wild melee ... and eventually, the refs calmed down the whole scene by ejecting Hathaway.

After the game, 27-year-old Hathaway apologized for the spit ... but said he only did it because Gudbranson got in a cheap shot on him.

"The refs were trying to break it up, and it felt like there was a couple sucker punches thrown, and I got one there quick and then reacted a little emotionally," Hathaway said.

"And, unfortunately, spit came out of my mouth after I got sucker punched and it went onto him."

As for Gudbranson, he was pissed over it all, saying afterward, "That’s about as low as you dig a pit, really ... it's a bad thing to do. It’s something you just don’t do in our game, and he did it."

Unclear if the NHL will punish Hathaway for the spit ... and the winger said only "time will tell" if he'll have to serve a suspension over the altercation.