You Might Want to Rethink

Monica Lewinsky says she was double-crossed by an Israeli journalist who dropped an "off limits" Bill Clinton question ... prompting Monica to bolt mid-interview.

She stormed off the stage over the weekend when Yonit Levi asked if she was still expecting an apology from the former Prez. Monica's only response was, "I'm so sorry. I'm not going to be able to do this."

The derailed Q&A came immediately on the heels of a speech Monica had given about Internet bullying -- and she says Levi tried to ask her that very question one day earlier. Monica says she told Levi not to go there on the day of the event.

LiAngelo Ball wondered if his stealing incident in China was the reason he didn't get selected in the NBA draft ... saying, "the sh*t I did off the court" might have cost him.

It all went down in the latest episode of the family's Facebook docuseries, "Ball In The Family" ... where cameras caught the middle Ball bro's reaction to not being picked to join Lonzo in the Association.

"I don't know, I guess it's the way I play, I guess," Gelo says of why he thinks he didn't get drafted.

"Or the sh*t I did off the court."

Of course ... Gelo -- along with 2 teammates from UCLA -- were detained in China after stealing several pairs of designer sunglasses and other accessories from multiple stores in Hangzhou.

LiAngelo was suspended from the Bruins indefinitely ... and LaVar eventually pulled him from school to play ball in Lithuania.

Ball joked about the whole ordeal in a Foot Locker ad released just days before the draft ... but it doesn't seem he found it very funny after not being picked.

"Sucks that I didn't get drafted tonight," he said on the show.

Gelo's been hooping in the JBA -- LaVar's startup basketball league -- ever since, waiting to catch on with any NBA team that'd be willing to add him to the roster.

Ball has previously told us he's had interest from NBA teams -- but so far, no one has pulled the trigger on signing him to a deal.

Geoffrey Owens says he was anguished when a photo of him working the register at a Trader Joe's surfaced and people insinuated he was a loser, but he's heartened by the folks who have backed him up.

The former 'Cosby Show' actor went on 'GMA' Tuesday and said he felt that a photo snapped of him last week working cashier at a TJ's in New Jersey was an attempt to job shame him, and that he was "devastated" at first.

But, because of the tremendous response of support he got from both Hollywood and the public, he says that embarrassment soon turned into pride ... since he was just a guy who was trying to make a living and put food on the table for his family.

Owens says he's been acting, directing and teaching on and off for the last 30 years, but lately, that simply hasn't been enough to make ends meet. According to his IMDb page, he's been working consistently as an actor in smaller roles for the past few years.

His next big break in acting might be coming sooner rather than later though -- Tyler Perry just reached out to Geoffrey on Twitter asking him to join his cast on OWN's number one drama ... which starts filming next week. He seems to be referring to "The Haves and the Have Nots."

Episodes featuring Asia Argento in any form have been yanked from the late Anthony Bourdain's hit TV show "Parts Uknown" following accusations of sexual misconduct.

CNN confirmed this weekend that it had removed 3 'Parts Unknown' episodes from its streaming service CNN Go as a direct result of allegations former child actor Jimmy Bennett made against Bourdain's girlfriend last month -- namely, that she'd sexually assaulted him.

A rep for the news network told Buzzfeed ... "In light of the recent news reports about Asia Argento, CNN will discontinue airing past episodes of Parts Unknown that included her, until further notice." The episodes include one from Season 8 called "Rome," another from Season 10 called "Southern Italy: The Heel of the Boot," and a final one from Season 11 called "Hong Kong."

Asia appeared in the two former episodes and directed the latter. A fourth episode that took place in Buenos Aires was also removed, but for unspecified reasons. Bourdain and Asia reportedly met while filming the Rome episode, which aired in 2016.

As we've reported ... Asia was accused of sexually assaulting a then 17-year-old Bennett, and reportedly paid him a settlement of $380k. She denied ever having sex with him, but photos and texts obtained by TMZ appear to prove otherwise.

Rose McGowan recently wrote an open letter, calling on Asia to be better than Harvey Weinstein ... while seemingly distancing herself from the Italian actress.

Ex-'Top Gear' host Richard Hammond and a bunch of his houseguests were gassed and robbed in the South of France ... according to the guy's wife, who was also there.

Sunday Express columnist Mindy Hammond told the outlet Sunday that she, Richard and a large group of friends staying with them had been burglarized recently while staying at a villa in Saint Tropez -- after she believes they were all knocked out with anesthetic gas.

She says the terrifying experience went down over a weekend, in which 15 guests -- herself, Richard and their teenage daughter included -- woke up one morning to find that everyone's wallet and purses had been ransacked of cash, not to mention their kid's watch.

Mindy goes on to explain that everyone's doors were open as were dresser drawers, as if someone had rifled through them in search of more loot. She says they discovered a neighboring property had also been robbed in the night ... which got cops involved.

Luckily, this story has a happy ending. Mindy says two of the alleged robbers were caught on CCTV on the grounds and were arrested within 48 hours of the heist. Apparently, gas-based burglaries have been happening on-and-off in the area for a few years now.

Teresa Giudice claims Chief Keef plastered the inside of her mansion on the cover of his mixtape without getting permission ... so she's gunning to sue.

James Leonard Jr. -- an attorney for the 'Real Housewives of New Jersey' star -- tells TMZ she and her family noticed Chief put what looks like a pic of their Montville Township, Towaco home as the cover art for his new project, "Mansion Musick."

Leonard Jr. says this is clearly something Teresa and co. deserve to be compensated for, adding it's an invasion of their privacy.

It might be an uphill battle for Teresa -- the photo was once used to market the house when it was for sale a while back, so it's not exactly a private family photo. They ended up not selling.

BTW ... looks like Teresa's not a fan. She only found out about the cover art because one of Teresa's daughter's friends follows Keef and noticed the cover art matched the crib.

The mixtape dropped in July.

Another side note ... this house is one of the homes the Giudices nearly lost a few years back during their legal troubles. One of their NJ homes ended up getting demolished after it went up for auction with an opening bid of $100.

Cappie Pondexter tells TMZ Sports she BARELY makes six figures a year as one of the WNBA's biggest superstars ... and she's pissed off about it, saying the league "should pay me what I deserve!"

It's been a heated topic in the hoops world recently -- with players like Skylar Diggins-Smith voicing their dismay about the pay difference between NBA players and their WNBA counterparts.

Pondexter couldn't have agreed more with Skylar when we got her out in L.A. promoting her CBD skin care line ... telling us the league ONLY shells out $113,000 a year for her to play.

"It's just getting out of line now," the Indiana Fever star says.

"I've been in the league for 13 years, making the vet minimum, which for me is $113,000 for the last five years, which is nothing compared to what the minimum is and the maximum is for the NBA."

"I'm not saying that we have to get what they have, but I think we should see some progress at this point."

Pondexter says she's so fed up with it all ... she's actually willing to be a part of a league-wide work stoppage -- if other stars like Diana Taurasi and Elena Delle Donne are down for it.

President Trump is defending the way he handled the death of Senator John McCain, saying he did "everything that they requested" and didn't bungle a damn thing.

The Prez sat down with Bloomberg News Thursday for an exclusive interview in the Oval Office, and reporters asked if he missed an opportunity to unite the country and made a mistake by initially not keeping the White House's American flag at half staff until McCain was buried -- an honor that's been bestowed on other senators who've died while in office.

You'll recall ... Trump ordered the flag be flown at half staff the day McCain died, but it was flying at full staff just a day later -- which pissed off A LOT of people, and reportedly caused a veterans group to personally demand that he lower it again out of respect.

Trump caved to the pressure, and eventually issued a statement praising McCain's service to the country after acting clammy at first with reporters who asked about the late statesman.

There's also this ... Bloomberg asked if he thought McCain would've made a better president than Barack Obama ... and DT refused to answer, saying "I don’t want to comment on it ... I have a very strong opinion, all right." Bloomberg notes that Sarah Huckabee Sanders was staring daggers at her boss while he said this, to which he reportedly joked that she was "having a nervous breakdown" over his response -- adding he might elaborate someday.

Dr. Phil's not buying what Piers Morgan is selling when it comes to his hot take on Cosmo UK putting plus-size model Tess Holliday on its cover.

The Doc was on "TMZ Live" and praised Tess Holliday for not only challenging society's mold of body image, but also for getting recognized by Cosmo for doing so.

As we reported ... Piers blasted Cosmo for making 33-year-old Tess a cover model. He called the choice a "load of old baloney" given Britain's "ever-worsening obesity crisis."

Dr. Phil says Piers, who is a friend of his, is essentially body shaming when he says it's wrong to recognize Tess in magazines.

She's firing back at Piers too, saying ... "To everyone saying I'm a burden to the British health care system, I'm American so you don't have to worry about my fat ass. Worry about what horrible people you are by whining about how me being on the cover of a glossy magazine impacts your small minded life."

Mic drop.

Yes, it appears people are still using Snapchat because tons of users are FUMING after 'Jewtropolis' replaced NYC on Snap's Map feature -- but Snapchat's saying don't point the finger at them.

Users noticed the name change on their maps first thing Thursday morning. But, it's apparently not just Snapchat. According to NBC News' Micah Grimes, the NYC bike sharing company Citi Bike and real estate website StreetEasy were also hit.

Snapchat responded to one of its users on Twitter, saying, "Snap Map relies on third party mapping data which has unfortunately been subject to vandalism. We are working with our partner Mapbox to get this fixed immediately."

8:03 AM PT -- Tess just responded to Piers, saying, "To everyone saying I’m a burden to the British health care system, I’m american so you don’t have to worry about my fat ass. Worry about what horrible people you are by whining about how me being on the cover of a glossy magazine impacts your small minded life."

Piers Morgan just took a shot at Cosmo UK mag for putting a plus-size model on its cover ... and, fact is, a lot of his followers are agreeing with him.

Tess Holliday is featured on the cover. She's a 33-year-old model who's made a career by being open about her struggle with weight and body positivity.

Piers said, "As Britain battles an ever-worsening obesity crisis, this is the new cover of Cosmo. Apparently we're supposed to view it as a 'huge step forward for body positivity.' What a load of old baloney. This cover is just as dangerous & misguided as celebrating size zero models."

The comments are now pouring in ... and so far he's getting a lot of support for his position, although it's mixed.

There's one point of view that it's clear body-shaming and it loses sight of the fact that Tess is happy in her skin. There are others who say it encourages people who have the ability to maintain a healthy weight to slide to their physical and mental detriment.

As for Tess, the Cosmo article is about her battling depression over her weight. She also opens up about being sexually assaulted when she was younger.

Tess posted the cover of the mag herself, saying she was proud of the way it looked and hoped it would change the attitude of young girls who might be ashamed of the way they look.

Originally published -- 6:47 AM PT

Andrew Gillum, candidate for governor of Florida, is laying blame directly on President Trump for putting the campaign in the gutter -- the day after his opponent's shocking "monkey" remark.

The Democratic candidate says Trump has set a "horrible" example when it comes to racial issues, and he thinks that's why Republican candidate Ron DeSantis felt comfortable saying voting for Gillum would "monkey this up."

Gillum says DeSantis' comment was ripped right out of Trump's playbook. He adds, he doesn't want to stoop to that level and hopes DeSantis will avoid it too.

9:17 AM PT -- A source close to O.T. Genasis tells TMZ the dispute was over his ID and another rapper's ID. We're told at no time did any member of his crew pull out a gun or make any threats.

Who needs ID when you've got a gun?

O.T. Genasis rolled deep to The Good Nite bar in the San Fernando Valley early Thursday morning. We're told O.T. and his crew arrived after 1 AM with a bunch of girls, pushed past the bouncer and headed straight to the bar. Things got HEATED when the bartender asked the chicks for ID, and then --- according to cops -- out came the blue steel.

Law enforcement sources and eyewitnesses tell us ... someone in O.T.'s crew pulled out a gun and threatened to shoot up the place. The bartender snapped some pics, and that got the gunman pissed and he tried smashing the phone.

Police were called but, by the time they arrived, O.T. and his boys were gone. Police are investigating what could be a felony -- making criminal threats along with brandishing a weapon.

It's the 2nd time this summer cops have been called on O.T. and co. because of alleged gun threats.

As we reported ... O.T.'s birthday celebration at a bowling alley was swarmed by police after a reported gun threat.

7:54 PM PT -- Pump has been released from custody. A source close tells us he was issued a ticket and will not have to appear in court ... it'll be handled by his legal team.

3:42 PM PT -- According to the police report -- obtained by TMZ -- officers initiated the stop after discovering the license plate on Pump's Rolls-Royce actually belonged to a Mini Cooper. When cops asked Pump for a driver's license, he allegedly told them he'd never had one.

Lil Pump's been arrested in Miami, and TMZ got pics of him in handcuffs during the bust, and his grinning mug shot after he was taken into custody.

Witnesses tell us the "Drug Addicts" rapper was pulled over Wednesday afternoon while driving a black Rolls-Royce -- and, according to law enforcement, it's because of an issue with his driver's license.

His Miami-Dade County Jail booking sheet says he doesn't have a valid license. He's currently still in custody.

We broke the story ... Pump was also arrested earlier this year for firing a gun into the door of his L.A.-area home. He originally claimed intruders fired from the outside, but cops quickly realized the rapper was the shooter ... and there were no intruders.

Pump was taken to a juvenile detention center because he was 17 at the time. He turned 18 a couple weeks ago.

Louis C.K. did NOT tread lightly in his first stand-up gig since admitting his sexual misconduct, because he reportedly cracked a joke about rape whistles.

Remember, C.K. copped to dropping his pants and masturbating in front of women ... and even coercing them into keeping silent about it. So, at least 2 female audience members at the Comedy Cellar in NYC were shocked to hear him start a bit about the phrase "clean as a whistle."

The women told Vulture C.K. worked up to a joke about rape whistles NOT being clean, and they say it was very well received -- "people were laughing, and I was just sitting there like, oh my f**k."

They were uncomfortable and depressed that C.K.'s joke had killed ... especially considering the things he's admitted doing.

1:20 PM PT -- Fox News says, "We do not condone this language and wanted to make our viewers aware that [DeSantis] has since clarified his statement."

DeSantis says characterizing his remark as anything other than voters making "the wrong decision" is absurd.

Florida's gubernatorial race got seriously racial when Republican candidate Ron DeSantis dropped a "monkey" comment while talking about his Democratic opponent ... who is black.

DeSantis is fresh off winning the Republican primary, and while on Fox News Wednesday morning ... he was asked about going head-to-head with Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum.

DeSantis said, "The last thing we need to do is to monkey this up by trying to embrace a socialist agenda."

There was no pause or attempt to re-phrase -- so, either he didn't realize what he'd said, or it's blatant racial dog-whistling.