You Might Want to Rethink

Conor McGregor got to sit in on the World Cup final in person this weekend, showing up as a guest of none other than Vladimir Putin.

The UFC star posted a photo of himself Sunday alongside Russia's president, posing like a tough guy with someone he calls "one of the greatest leaders of our time."

Conor's caption read ... "Today I was invited to the World Cup final as a guest of Russian President Vladimir Putin. This man is one of the greatest leaders of our time and I was honored to attend such a landmark event alongside him. Today was an honor for me Mr. Putin. Thank you and congratulations on an amazing World Cup."

He ended with "Go Russia" ... written in Russian. Hopefully they're both aware Russia got knocked out in the quarter finals, but that's beside the point. What's important (and weird) is that Conor is super chummy with Putin ... who's known as kind of a bad dude, depending on who you talk to.

Same last name ... but NO love between Logan Paul and "Breaking Bad" star Aaron Paul -- with Logan telling TMZ Sports he would beat Aaron's ass if they ever came face-to-face.

Their beef goes back a few months ... when Aaron trashed Logan for his video stunt gone wrong in the suicide forest in Japan. Aaron told Logan to "go rot in hell."

Now, Logan is firing back ... calling Aaron an "Internet bully" -- and warning the actor that if he REALLY wants a piece, he'll end up getting hurt.

Scarlett Johansson has decided to back out of the film "Rub and Tug" after receiving some serious criticism for taking the role of the lead character ... who is a transgender person.

Johansson tells "Out" magazine ... "In light of recent ethical questions raised surrounding my casting as Dante Tex Gill, I have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project."

She adds ... “Our cultural understanding of transgender people continues to advance, and I’ve learned a lot from the community since making my first statement about my casting and realize it was insensitive."

Scarlett admits she would have loved to play the role of Dante, but understands why people were upset by her being cast and feel he should be played by a transgender person.

This is a pretty big reversal from when the controversy first broke a couple of weeks ago, and her rep suggested it was unfair to blast Johansson for taking the role when other actors -- like Jeffrey Tambor, Jared Leto and Felicity Huffman -- had played trans characters ... to critical acclaim.

Nicole Richie should go and buy herself a lottery ticket or hit the poker table because she's dripping in good luck after being dumped on by a bird on her Italian vacation.

Richie displayed the remnants of a bird that dropped a giant deuce on her head while she was on a balcony.

The bird had excellent aim, getting its #2 all over the left side of her head, and Richie took it like a champ as hubby Joel Madden documented the whole thing.

Joel says it's good luck, coming from an old saying ... the more birds involved, the richer you'll be! So, next time a bird poops on you, remember that it's a good thing.

Madison Beer and bf Zack Bia are giving their relationship a fighting chance just a few days after they got into a huge fight outside The Nice Guy.

The couple left Delilah's Thursday night holding hands and insisted there's no trouble in paradise -- despite the very clear video of them screaming at each other Monday night. It got so intense, she was crying. But, the singer told us she and Zack are better than ever.

Madison and Zack started dating last year ... after she broke up with Brooklyn Beckham. Tough shoes to fill, for sure, but outside Delilah he seemed up to the task.

Sarah Palin says politicians falling victim to Sacha Baron Cohen's pranks is kinda like the new #MeToo. Seriously.

Palin's still railing at Sacha for duping her -- pretending to be a disabled veteran to interview her -- and says she's justified in her anger, because "all these men coming out now saying, 'Oh, yeah, me too.'"

Unfortunate turn of phrase?

Anyway, she told 'GMA' she walked out on Cohen's prank because he's humiliating middle-class Americans, and blamed a speaker's organization for not vetting the comedian.

Pretty shocking video here of 2 Georgia cops giggling while using a coin flip app to determine if they should arrest a speeding motorist -- and the recorded incident got both officers suspended.

Roswell PD pulled over Sarah Webb back in April for driving 80 MPH in a 45 MPH zone on a rainy day. Officers Courtney Brown and Kristee Wilson were trying to decide whether to simply give Webb a ticket for reckless driving or arrest her ... and opted for a coin flip.

On the video -- recorded by the officers' own body cams, btw -- you can hear Officer Wilson say, "A (arrest) head, R (release) tail." Brown says "Okay" and laughs. Despite the fact it came up tails ... the cops opted to arrest Webb.

Danielle Bregoli's bodyguard sprung into action like a caped crusader, flying over the crowd after someone tried to crash the stage during her show in Amsterdam.

Danielle, aka Bhad Bhabie, was in the middle of her XXXTentacion tribute Thursday night when a fan rushed the stage and then, seconds later, dove off in one of the more graceful leaps on record.

Enter Frank, Danielle's bodyguard, who was on the stage crasher's tail. Frank took his own leap ... more of a cannonball -- he took out a whole section of the crowd.

Cardi B caught wind Nicki Minaj had reportedly bought her a pricey gift basket from Petit Trésor -- but, as it turns out, it never happened ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Cardi's team reached out to the famed WeHo baby boutique after reading a report claiming Nicki had snapped up a $5,000 basket and sent it to Cardi after hearing she'd given birth to Kulture.

We're told Cardi's camp called Petit -- there's only one location -- looking for a tracking number for Nicki's gift, because Cardi's been flooded with presents. However, they were told by the store's owner ... Nicki had NOT purchased anything.

We also called the store, and an employee confirmed neither Nicki nor anyone on her team bought any items from them.

The gift basket would have been an interesting olive branch because Nicki and Cardi were beefing earlier this year -- but no dice.

Charlamagne Tha God is furious over new reports suggesting he sexually assaulted a teenage girl more than 17 years ago, since he was already cleared in a court of law ... and now he's lawyered up.

"The Breakfast Club" star's 2001 case is back in the headlines -- with his accuser now claiming she wants "closure" nearly 2 decades after officials dropped the criminal sexual assault with a minor charge against Char.

For the record, officials had always maintained that Charlamagne cooperated with the investigation and took a DNA test ... which did not produce any evidence that he had sexual contact with the girl.

Charlamagne did, however, plead guilty to contributing to the delinquency of a minor due to underage kids (including the accuser) drinking alcohol at the party he threw. He was sentenced to probation.

Now, Charlamagne -- real name Lenard McKelvey -- believes someone is dredging up the old case and fudging the facts in an effort to smear his name.

He's lawyered up with famed celebrity bulldog attorney Marty Singer and Michael Weinsten who tells TMZ, "More than seventeen years ago, Charlamagne was accused of a sexual assault. He never had sexual relations or any physical contact with the accuser and even provided DNA to prove it."

"At the time of these claims, Charlamagne cooperated fully with authorities, and after the investigation, this charge against him was dropped."

"Charlamagne has spoken about this many times over the years in public, including in his book. While Charlamagne has empathy for all sexual assault victims, he cannot take responsibility for a crime he did not commit.”

Justin Bieber is catching all the feels after his engagement to Hailey Baldwin, and the question now is -- which ones were on display during this phone call?

The Biebs was spotted outside his fiancee's Brooklyn apartment Tuesday -- shortly before they hopped in a chopper to visit her mom and dad, Stephen Baldwin. He's definitely having an emotional reaction to the phone convo, but hard to tell if he's laughing or crying.

Whatever the topic ... he does seem kinda stressed by it. We know papa Baldwin's already given his blessing, so we doubt Justin was anxious about going to hang with his in-laws-to-be.

Common says there's now a zero-tolerance policy for using the n-word ... so he's not surprised former Papa John's founder John Schnatter is out of a job.

Here's the thing ... Common says he doesn't f*** with Papa John's anyway ... nonetheless, the decision to axe him was the right thing to do.

Kylie Jenner might have had help becoming America's youngest self-made billionaire, but she still deserves a lot of the credit ... so says Taylor Armstrong.

We got the former 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star leaving Craig's in WeHo Wednesday, where we asked what a lot of people were asking after Forbes threw Kylie on their cover and called her a "self-made" billionaire. Is she actually self-made?

Dictionary.com got in on the ribbing too -- posting Kylie's cover and the definition of self-made ... having succeeded in life unaided. Many have argued that Kylie had nothing but aid in building out her makeup empire -- ya know, 'cause her family is filthy rich and famous.

Taylor doesn't see it that way though. She says someone can still be self-made with a little assistance ... it all just depends on what you do with it.

Charles Oakley is learning the hard way ... if you try to cheat a Vegas casino, you'll end up behind bars.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the ex-NBA star was arrested at the Cosmopolitan on July 8 after allegedly trying to pull a fast one during a gambling session -- and it was all caught on video.

Officials from the Nevada Gaming Board tell us Oakley "was suspected of adding to or reducing his wager on a gambling game after the outcome was known."

Unclear what game he was playing at the time -- but one source with knowledge of the incident says Oak tried to pull back a $100 chip after he realized he was going to lose.

FYI, Oakley reportedly made more than $46 mil during his NBA career.

Oak was confronted about the incident -- and it was kicked over to a security team which reviewed the casino video footage ... confirming the alleged cheating.

The 54-year-old was taken into custody at 5:30 PM and booked into Clark County Detention Center.

Oak's gambling charge is serious business -- "to commit or attempt to commit a fraudulent act in a gaming establishment." He faces between 1 to 6 years in prison if convicted.

7/12 -- Schnatter has now also resigned as chairman of Papa John's International.

Papa John's founder John Schnatter is quitting his post at the University of Louisville after he was called out for using the n-word during a meeting to, ironically, discuss his comeback from a different controversy.

Schnatter resigned from the University's Board of Trustees Wednesday hours after the NAACP called for him to step down ... on the heels of Schnatter confirming reports he dropped the racial epithet back in May. The pizza mogul was on a conference call with a marketing agency he'd hired to help him deal with the blowback he faced for criticizing the NFL's national anthem policy.

Forbes reported Schnatter questioned why he was being criticized, because "Colonel Sanders called blacks n***ers" and got away with it. He also reportedly spoke nonchalantly about growing up in Indiana where black people were dragged to death.

The University of Louisville said it doesn't condone racism ... but added it doesn't think Schnatter's comments "reflect his personal beliefs or values."

Frankie Edgar says Brian Ortega pissed off the wrong people by turning down a replacement fight at UFC 226 ... and now his chances at another title fight could be ruined.

TMZ Sports spoke with The Answer about Ortega passing on Jeremy Stephens after Max Holloway backed out due to injury ... and Edgar says that could come back to haunt T-City in a big way.

"Sometimes when you have the chance to fight for a title or an interim title, you gotta jump on it," Edgar says. "Because who knows, now that Brian pissed off UFC and company, maybe they might not give him that shot."