You Might Want to Rethink

Hey Fergie, you're off the hook ...

Pop star Rachel Platten -- the chick who sang "Fight Song" -- botched the National Anthem in a SPECTACULAR way at an NWSL soccer game over the weekend ... and it's hard to watch.

Platten has performed the song on big stages before -- even singing it at the World Series!

But when she grabbed the mic in Salt Lake City on Saturday before the Chicago Red Stars took on the Utah Royals ... it was amateur hour.

It started bad ... "Oh say can you see, by the STARS early light."

It got worse ... she had to restart twice and even asked for someone to give her the lyrics. The crowd tried to join in and help her along, but the lyric blowing must have been contagious, because they were messing up too!

Prosecutors in Meek Mill's case want his original drug conviction to be vacated, which would mean immediate freedom for the rapper -- but, once again, the judge is refusing to bend.

Philly's D.A. Office made a rare move Monday morning in court ... asking Judge Genece Brinkley to toss the 2008 conviction because it says prosecutors back then were fully aware Meek's arresting officer, Reginald Graham, was dirty -- but sat on the info.

If the conviction were tossed, that would mean Meek's probation violation would go out the window, too -- and he would be released from the Pennsylvania prison where he's serving 2-4 years. However, Judge Brinkley did not sign off, and, instead, scheduled a hearing on the matter for June. That means Meek has to sit in prison until then ... at least.

Meek's supporters outside the courthouse erupted in joy at news of the D.A.'s request ... thinking he'd be released.

For whatever reason, Judge Brinkley's standing her ground.

The D.A.'s Office tells TMZ ... its position on Meek's conviction "was taken due to serious issues regarding the credibility of the arresting officer in the case, Officer Reginald Graham. These issues, which only recently became public, have implications for dozens of cases where Graham was the arresting officer." Prosecutors reiterated their belief Meek should be released on bail while his appeals are considered.

Meek's son and mother were also at the protest outside the courthouse, spreading the love for Meek and helping rally the supporters.

Viola Davis' husband says they've made necessary adjustments after their home was almost broken into last month, but it sounds like he was already prepared to defend his family.

We got Julius Tennon Saturday at LAX, and asked about a recent attempted break-in at his and Viola's home ... during which they were home and fast asleep in their bedroom.

Julius says he was able to scare off the prowlers with his "Lion King" voice, and that he and V got rid of the ladder the dudes used to climb up to their second-floor balcony.

The OKC Thunder commentator who said Russell Westbrook was "out of his cotton-picking mind" is being punished for his terrible choice of words ... the team just announced.

Brian Davis, the play-by-play guy for Fox Sports Oklahoma, has been suspended for Game 1 of the Thunder-Jazz playoff series ... after making the racially insensitive call in OKC's regular-season finale.

Davis maintains he didn't mean to offend anyone -- but says he's cool with the suspension 'cause it was a pretty stupid thing to say.

“It is with great remorse and humility that I accept this suspension for the insensitive words I used during Wednesday’s broadcast. While unintentional, I understand and acknowledge the gravity of the situation."

Sarah Silverman has her own theory on why she thinks President Trump is so worried about the golden showers dossier referenced in James Comey's new book ... and it's got nothing to do with Melania.

We got Sarah leaving Craig's Thursday night in WeHo and straight-up asked her why she thinks 45 was so upset over the so-called Christopher Steele dossier, which claims Trump watched prostitutes urinate on a hotel mattress "as a way of soiling the bed."

Sen. Marco Rubio is shedding some light on a little known fact about the position of Speaker of the House -- and no offense to Paul Ryan, but any Joe Schmo can do it! Even Kanye West.

We got Rubio Thursday on Capitol Hill and addressed the soon-to-be open gig -- now that Rep. Ryan's bowed out of reelection -- and the fact that it's literally wide open. If ya didn't know ... you don't even have to be in Congress to score the job.

Rubio makes it clear there are a few caveats, mostly because you'd be 3rd in line of succession to the White House. But as our camera guy and the Senator point out ... Yeezy is more than eligible.

The Seattle Seahawks told Colin Kaepernick not to bother coming to a planned workout unless he promised he would NOT continue his kneeling protest ... sources with knowledge of the situation tell TMZ Sports.

We're told the Seahawks had invited Kaep to a workout roughly 2 weeks ago to potentially take a job as Russell Wilson's backup QB ... but the plans hit a snag on Thursday.

Our sources say the team reached out to Kaepernick with specific questions about his kneeling protest -- and essentially wanted him to stipulate that if signed, he would NOT kneel during the 2018 season.

In other words, the team wanted a guarantee Colin would stand during the anthem.

We're told Kaepernick would not agree to that stipulation -- so the Seahawks called off the workout, despite the fact travel plans had already been arranged.

There are reports the workout has been "postponed" -- but we're being told it's off the table.

8:28 AM PT -- The OKC Thunder has issued a statement condemning the comments ...

"We find the term used by Brian Davis on our broadcast last night to be highly inappropriate and offensive."

"We’ve discussed it with the announcer and let him know that. He assures us it was not meant in any sort of offensive or derogatory manner and he apologizes."

"Nonetheless, he’s been told the use of that term in any manner is unacceptable."

An NBA game announcer is in hot water after saying Russell Westbrook was playing so well Wednesday night ... he was "out of his cotton-picking mind."

Dude. Bad.

We get it ... FOX Sports Oklahoma play-by-play guy Brian Davis (white dude) was trying to say Westbrook was playing on another level (he became the first player in NBA history to average a triple double 2 years in a row).

But, when you make a cotton reference about a black guy ...it's not usually well received.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday night -- people are losing their minds about the comment. Some people are even suggesting Davis should be fired.

There's been a long debate about the origin of the expression -- some people say it was used as a slur plantation owners used toward slaves.

The officer who violently dragged a United Airlines passenger last year says the airline set him up to take a fall, and he believes he was wrongly fired... according to a new suit.

James Long was one of the Chicago aviation officers seen on video yanking Dr. David Dao off his flight in April 2017, and he's suing United -- along with the Chicago Dept. of Aviation (CDA) -- over losing his job.

In the suit, Long says the airline should have known removing Dao from the flight would require "physical force," and says the CDA didn't properly train him for such situations. He also says the CDA's commissioner defamed him by saying he had acted inappropriately during the incident.

Justin Bieber might be back in touch with the Lord, but he apparently has no patience for would-be swindlers trying to make fake a quick buck.

Biebs was leaving L.A.'s El Rey Theatre Tuesday night -- after "An Evening With Adam Sandler" -- and a strange man was standing at his SUV waiting to hand him something -- a $100 bill, or so it seemed.

JB exchanges words with the guy, and seems to be irritated by the offer ... and then tries squeezing by him to get in his SUV. The dude holds his ground, and Bieber tells him to get the hell out of the way. The guy scrams after that ... leaving Justin with the bill.

Kevin O'Leary straight-up says 99 percent of Facebook users don't give a damn about its data breach crisis ... and business will continue as usual in no time.

We got the "Shark Tank" star leaving Craig's Monday night and wanted to get his take on whether Facebook's latest scandal will bring down the social media giant. Kevin's adamant ... FB will NOT go down after it shockingly announced more than 87 million users -- mostly in the U.S. -- had their personal data improperly accessed by the data-mining firm Cambridge Analytica.

Kevin says it's simple ... a whole new generation simply couldn't give a crap.

Ice Cube is escalating his beef with the royal family of Qatar -- warning the Emir not to threaten BIG3 players or ANY American athlete.

We broke the story -- Cube and his BIG3 partner, Jeff Kwatinetz, filed a $1.2 BILLION lawsuit against several Qatari investors ... including royal family member Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani.

Cube claims the investors screwed the league out of millions -- and then made threats saying, "You should think of your safety and the safety of you and your family."

Now with the Emir of Qatar visiting with President Trump on Tuesday, Cube decided to send a message ... taking out a full page ad in the NY Times saying:

"Hey President Trump, when you meet today with Putin's new friend, the Emir of Qatar, please tell him not to threaten the BIG3 and American athletes!"

Clyde "The Glyde" Drexler also added his name to the message.

Pronunciation's fury has struck again in the game show world -- and it cost one guy dearly after he said "flamingo" instead of "flamenco" ... even when it was spelled out.

The contestant -- a dude named Jonny (no 'H') -- had a complete answer filled out on the board Monday night on "Wheel of Fortune" which read "Flamenco Dance Lessons." But instead of saying 'flamenco,' he went with the pink bird ... and producers cried fowl.

Jonny got buzzed for a wrong answer, and another fellow contestant, Ashley, picked up an easy W. Even sadder than the fail ... this poor dude's face realizing his mistake, which cost him $7,100.

This ain't the first time pronouncing an answer wrong has screwed someone on TV. You'll recall ... a man was dinged on "Jeopardy" not too long ago for calling Coolio's song "Gangsta's Paradise" ... "Gangster's Paradise" with a hard R.

Conor McGregor took a giant dump on the UFC and MMA -- so says Bruce Buffer, who's sick to his stomach over the Irishman's violent bus attack.

We got the legendary Octagon announcer after he had a few days to stew on McGregor's window-smashin' rampage ... and he wasn't about to let Conor off the hook.

"It's an insult, it's disgusting," Buffer told TMZ Sports.

"In my 22-plus years of being in the UFC and doing everything I can in my life to build this great brand, to support this fantastic sport ... you s**t on all of us with that one move."

Bruce added that he was "shocked" and "horrified" when he first saw the footage of Conor and his entourage wreaking havoc at the Barclays Center ... and is urging fans not to judge the UFC off this one isolated incident.

Conor McGregor had cameras following him as he went berserk on a bus full of UFC fighters ... and new footage from the melee shows another angle of his now infamous dolly toss.

UFC just dropped episode 5 of its "UFC 223 Embeded" series, and it showcases all the mayhem at the Barclays Center loading dock as McGregor and his crew attacked the bus. The footage also reveals a close-up of an injured Michael Chiesa after Conor's window smash cut him up.

The 'Embedded' ep. also features Dana White addressing the incident with fighters who were affected, and interviews with other UFC stars about what went down.

We broke the story ... White slammed conspiracy theories that this was all one big publicity stunt, and based on the raw reactions seen in this video -- it seems like the craziness was 100% legit.

Conor McGregor isn't just a disgrace to his sport, "HE'S A DISGRACE TO MANKIND" ... so says Tyron Woodley.

The UFC welterweight champ says he's shaking his damn head over Conor's violent attack on a UFC bus -- and questions, "How do you get away with this?!"

"You need to get your life together," Tyron said on "The Hollywood Beatdown" on the TMZ Sports YouTube channel.

"We ain't homies. We ain't friends. But, you're fighting in the UFC, you're a peer of mine ... get your sh*t together, bro."

"You're making us look bad."

Tyron also tells us if he thinks Conor will ever fight in the UFC again.

There's more ... Tyron also reveals some bombshells about his upcoming RAP ALBUM -- and daps up Ronda Rousey for her accomplishments in the WWE.