You Might Want to Rethink

'Law & Order: SVU' dished some real-life drama when its catering crew unwittingly served up a bomb scare.

The bizarre episode unfolded Thursday just outside a Manhattan courtroom, where 'SVU' had just finished shooting for the day. The catering crew was packing up, and briefly left an urn of apple cider wrapped in cellophane on a bench.

A passerby noticed the solitary container, with a wire sticking out the top, and called NYPD. Y'know ... see something, say something.

The NY Daily News says cops shut down traffic for blocks and the bomb squad responded.

Cops quickly discovered it was simply an urn of hot apple cider. Crisis averted.

Tracy McGrady tells TMZ Sports ... Blake Griffin has every right to be upset with the Clippers -- because learning that you've been traded on Twitter is "very disrespectful."

"For somebody that got that type of history with the organization, he's the one that really started to get the Clippers on a winning path ... yeah, that's very disrespectful."

McGrady's reacting to Blake's claim that he first heard he'd been shipped to Detroit on social media -- instead of getting a call from the Clippers, where he's been playing since 2009.

Still, McGrady thinks the Clips need to do Blake right and retire his jersey at some point.

The big question ... whose number goes into the rafters first -- Blake or Elton Brand??

Even McGrady has a hard time with this one ...

Dear Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid, if you're gonna straight-up jack photos of a cute, fuzzy deer ... at least tag the rightful owner who's trying to rescue Bambi.

The owner of Fuzzy Fawn Wildlife Rescue tells TMZ ... she has no problem with Kendall grabbing the pic and sharing it with her 87 million Instagram followers. Bella reposted it to her IG story.

Problem is ... the owner, Fuzzy Fawn (that's really her nickname), says Kendall and Bella never gave her credit, and didn't even tag her rescue org -- which rehabs and releases sickly deer in Buffalo, New York.

Fuzzy says Kendall and Bella could have done her a HUGE solid by exposing their followers to her website and giving animal lovers a chance to donate. The group rehabbed 78 fawns last year at a cost of about $500 each.

There was a blowup at "The Dr. Oz Show" Tuesday when Nicole Eggert came back to shoot some additional footage for the show that will air Wednesday ... and TMZ has video of Nicole and her team confronting producers, claiming they were sandbagged.

TMZ broke the story ... the show decided to air the episode, which was shot January 10 but later shelved because producers said they had issues with Nicole's timeline. They apparently had a change of heart, because after Nicole appeared on Megyn Kelly's show Tuesday they got a call from producers saying they would air the show, but wanted to ask some additional questions.

Nicole showed up to Oz's studio Tuesday afternoon with her lawyer, Lisa Bloom, and her manager, David Weintraub, and they say Oz ambushed them, questioning whether Nicole really had sex with Scott Baio when she was 17. Oz revealed Nicole's friend, Christy, used her birthday as a marker in recalling a discussion she had with Nicole that made it appear Nicole was actually 18 when she had sex with Baio.

You hear in the video Nicole, Lisa and David get extremely upset with producers, saying Christy's recollections were irrelevant and claiming Oz was trashing Nicole to save face for 86'ing the show earlier this month.

Drool of thumb ... if you're gonna give a nationally televised speech, GO EASY ON THE CHAPSTICK ... or you'll be mocked endlessly like Rep. Joe Kennedy.

JK3 learned the hard way after social media went HAM on him for his extra shiny mouth during the Democratic response to the State of the Union.

In fact, someone even started a "Joe Kennedy's Lips" Twitter account.

The good news for Joe ... he's taking the mockery in stride -- even joking about his over-chapstickeration on 'GMA' early Wednesday morning.

"Oddly enough, I decided to go a little bit light on the chapstick this morning," Kennedy said ... "More on the coffee, light on the chapstick, which was probably a wise choice."

True.

Sean Spicer considers Omarosa's new gig with "Celebrity Big Brother" a laughing matter ... and a huge step down!!!

We got Trump's former White House Press Secretary Tuesday in NYC, and asked if he'll be watching his former colleague on the reality show. Spicy laughed and said anything after the White House is a downgrade. Odd for him to say, since he's in post-WH mode, too.

We also asked Spicer if he has advice for the Prez ahead of the State of the Union address. It's amazing how quickly he fell back into podium mode.

Justin Bieber came up empty-handed after winning a Latin Grammy for "Despacito" ... because it was sent to Marc Anthony's producer by accident.

Carlos Escalona Cruz -- who worked on Marc's Grammy-winning children's album -- "Marc Anthony for Babies" -- tells TMZ he got Bieb's award in the mail this week.

Bieber won the accolade back in November for his feature on Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" remix -- but he wasn't there in person, so didn't get it the day of. Looks like he didn't get it all, actually -- 'cause it showed up on Cruz's doorstep Monday.

Cruz tells us he was shocked to have received the Biebs' hardware, and says he reached out to Grammy brass (ha) right away to clear up the confusion. He says they apologized for the mistake and instructed him to send it back right away to get it to the rightful owner.

It's unclear whether Bieber got Cruz's Grammy -- but one thing is for sure ... sometimes it's worth showing up to these things in person. Just a thought, JB.

WARNING: THIS POST IS FULL OF BLASPHEMY.

IBF Welterweight Errol Spence -- one of the most feared boxers on Earth -- is about to do what no fighter has ever done before ... straight HATE on the best movie of all time, "Rocky."

Most people think Spence is up next to be the Floyd Mayweather-type, huge deal boxing star, so when we got him out in NYC, we wanted to get to know the slugger a little better.

We asked Spence what he thought the worst boxing movie of all time was, and he opted to let films like "Grudge Match," and "Play It To The Bone" off the hook and indict the holy grail of sports films.

"I didn't like Rocky, it was too fake. The dude got hit like a million times in one round and he's still going. It was just fake to me, I didn't really like it."

Lainie Kazan's not going to jail for pulling the ol' five-finger discount at a supermarket, but she will have to attend a support group for petty thieves.

The L.A. City Attorney tells TMZ the mom from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" has accepted an offer to participate in the Neighborhood Justice Program. Attendees discuss their crimes and take responsibility ... instead of going to court or pleading guilty.

We broke the story ... Kazan was busted for petty theft at a Gelson's on Christmas Eve. The store claimed she had stolen before. Her lawyer told us the arrest was a misunderstanding, because Gelson's didn't give her a chance to pay for her items.

Taryn Manning got a sweet deal on her SAG Awards outfit -- but she's pissed off, and wants a piece of the stylist who dared to deck her out in a ... wait for it ... $200 dress!

Taryn was still fuming about the gown Wednesday at LAX. Our photog tried to congratulate the 'OITNB' star on scoring the ensemble that most critics loved ... for the look and the price.

Well, talk about different perspectives. You gotta see what happened when we tried to give her props. Taryn's happy everyone else can go buy her dress -- Adrianna Papell at Macy's and Bloomingdales, btw -- but strongly believes she deserves better.

Hell hath no fury ...

Erykah Badu wants you to rethink your views on Adolf Hitler, 'cause she says there was a lot of good in the man ... who ordered the deaths of 6 million people. Try to bear with us.

The singer launched her defense of the Nazi during an interview with Vulture, saying, "I see good in everybody. I saw something good in Hitler." For instance, she says, "Hitler was a wonderful painter."

Vulture gave her a chance to rephrase, but Erykah stuck to her guns, and claimed Hitler's "terrible childhood" might be the only reason he became a monster. To be clear, Erykah says she's not an anti-Semite, just a humanist.

In her words, "I don’t care if the whole group says something, I’m going to be honest. I know I don’t have the most popular opinion sometimes."

Alex Pall of The Chainsmokers is eating one big ass crow after he was caught cheating on his now ex-girlfriend, Tori Woodward ... and he says he's miserable over what he's done.

We got the DJ Tuesday at LAX before he jetted off to Qatar for a gig, and we asked how he was holding up after Tori put him on blast last week for creepin' on camera.

Alex pours his heart out -- telling our camera guy his ex deserves a better guy than him.

He also explains what he's learned from all this ... and we're inclined to believe him.

Ex-NY Governor Eliot Spitzer threatened an ex-girlfriend and her family ... and unfortunately for him, she recorded the violent rant.

Svetlana Zakharova Travis says she recorded the phone conversation shortly after a February 2016 incident where the disgraced politician allegedly choked her at The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Spitzer barked at her, "Go to Siberia and f**king die, a**hole!"

He continued, "F**king bitch. Get out of my life. If I ever hear from you again, your parents will die."

The NY Daily News first posted the audio, which Svetlana's attorney says proves prosecutors are protecting Spitzer.

Kobe Bryant was just nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his movie, "Dear Basketball" ... but it begs the question, Time's Up?

In a time where huge Hollywood stars are crushing people like Aziz Ansari, James Franco and others ... ya gotta remember, Kobe was formally charged with raping a woman back in 2003.

Remember, Bryant admitted having sex with a 19-year-old hotel staffer in Eagle, Colorado -- but insisted it was consensual.

By his account, things went south when Kobe asked the woman if he could ejaculate in her face during the sexual encounter. Kobe claims the woman denied his request and he stopped cold. The woman clearly saw things differently.

When approached by police, Kobe asked the cops if he could pay her off to make the situation go away.

Kobe was charged with sexual assault -- but the case was dropped when the accuser stopped cooperating with prosecutors. At the time, she claimed she was receiving hate mail and death threats.

She filed a civil suit against Kobe, which he later settled. There are reports he paid around $5 million, though Kobe claimed he never paid her a dime.

Kobe later released an apology saying, "I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year."

Kobe added this part ... which sounds a lot like Aziz's explanation:

"Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."

So, the big question ... how will Hollywood react if Kobe wins?

Logan Paul's little brother is now cleaning the remnants of his brother's mess ... both chiding and defending his brother for posting video of a suicide victim.

Fellow YouTube star Jake Paul posted this video Monday and dubbed it "YouTube, Let's Talk About Brother Logan Paul" ... in which Jake says that "what Logan did was very, very, very wrong and he made a huge mistake."

As we reported ... Logan issued multiple apologies for posting video of a dead body he found in Japan. The fallout was almost immediate ... most notably with YouTube cutting his role.

That Philadelphia Eagles fan who ran smack into a pole and bounced off a subway train is in even more pain than you thought ... as this new angle of his asinine celebration reveals.

The guy was all pumped up underground Sunday on his way to see his Eagles in the NFC Championship. He and some pals were standing around yelling, "Whooooo," and not really making much of an effort to board a waiting subway train.

Of course, once the train started moving, the guy decided to drunkenly chase it down the platform. The chase was over pretty quickly ... courtesy of a giant pole he never saw for some reason.