You Might Want to Rethink

LeBron James is out ... and now the City of Cleveland has announced they're replacing the legendary banner with a new icon ... a Guardian!!!

No, not Groot. Or Rocket. Or even Mantis ... it's the Guardian of Traffic!

ALL HAIL THE TRAFFIC GOD!!

It's true -- the greatest athlete in the history of the city (maybe the world) is being subbed out for an image of the statue that overlooks traffic on the Hope Memorial Bridge.

City officials proposed the idea during a meeting early Friday morning -- claiming the statue is one of the "iconic landmarks" in town ... adding, "We all serve as guardians in terms of protecting and working within our community."

Okay, but honestly ... wouldn't you rather have Baker Mayfield or Bernie Kosar or Drew Carey?

Hell, throw Ricky Vaughn up there!

The Guardians of Traffic poster will include a slogan for the city -- "All For The Land."

And, if the guardian looks a little grainy to you -- it's 'cause the city wanted it that way ... saying it's a mosaic of "a composite of crowd-sourced images" of Clevelanders.

Immediate reaction to it hasn't been great ... with some tweeting, "Wait, is this real or a meme?"

Nicki Minaj is still pissed about actor Geoffrey Owens catching flak for his side gig at Trader Joe's ... so much so, she's dropping a big stack o' cash on him.

Nicki just announced on her Beats 1 "Queen Radio" show that she's donating $25k to the former "Cosby Show" star. His story went viral after a woman snapped a pic of him working the register at a TJ's in New Jersey.

Minaj clearly isn't down with how Owens got treated ... and didn't hold back her feelings about the woman who took the photo of him. That woman's name, coincidentally, is Karma Lawrence. (To be fair, Karma has reportedly said she regrets the move.)

As we reported ... Owens said he was devastated over the Trader Joe's pic at first, but the silver lining was the outpouring of support he got from the public and folks in Hollywood. He said his embarrassment quickly turned to pride -- after all ... he's just a guy trying to take care of his family.

President Trump's administration's come up with a clever way to sniff out the source of that NY Times anonymous letter -- it involves what they perceive as an alleged physical threat to POTUS ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the White House tell us there are multiple West Wing staffers who believe the op-Ed letter -- reportedly written by a "senior administration official" -- contains one troubling sentence that reads like a threat to Trump's life. The line goes ..."So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until -- one way or another -- it's over."

We're told the staffers think the Secret Service needs to investigate because that line could refer to a possible assassination plot. However, at least one source told us the real endgame is finding out who's behind the letter ... which the Prez has called "gutless."

Truth is that line could refer to any of 3 legit ways for a U.S. President to leave office -- impeachment, the 25th Amendment, or resignation. Then again, we know the Secret Service has investigated for less ... including perceived threats from Kathy Griffin and "Stuttering John."

If you bring pro-Trump banners to Broadway musicals, prepare for them to be snatched away by the cast -- or as the cast of "Frozen" might say ... "Let it go!!!"

Actor Timothy Hughes was shocked to see a Trump 2020 banner in the front row at Wednesday's performance of Disney's "Frozen" ... so he grabbed it from the audience member, and threw it off stage during the curtain call.

Timothy quickly decides to make a move once he notices the banner, then goes right back to bowing after disposing of the unwanted advertisement.

Timothy went off about the incident on his IG, saying it's "frightening" to think the show's message of love, acceptance and diversity has become opposition to supporting Trump.

Asia Argento has just poked the bear, because we've learned Jimmy Bennett -- who was 17 when he had sex with her -- is going to the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. to file a sexual assault claim against her and cooperate with the investigation.

Bennett, who is now 22, has been on the fence as to whether he'd cooperate with authorities, but he's now decided to go full steam ahead.

We're told Bennett's tipping point was the statement Argento's lawyer released Tuesday, attacking his character. Her lawyer, Mark Heller, talked about Bennett's "unfortunate past, stalled acting career ... his desperation to seek money." Heller also referenced that Bennett had been a drug user.

Bennett's lawyer, Gordon Sattro, tells TMZ, "the attack on my client's character has no bearing on the events that took place on May 9, 2013. These are statements that are meant to intimidate, shame and insult my client."

Argento, who has accused Harvey Weinstein of rape, has been vocal in the #MeToo movement about shaming alleged victims of sexual assault ... something her lawyer did in a big way with Bennett.

Argento's lawyer claims Bennett was "a horny kid" who jumped her in the hotel room. She says she did have sex with him but implies it was not consensual because she was "frozen."

This photo was taken after the sexual encounter in the hotel room. Bennett's people say it flies in the face of Argento's claim she was not a willing participant.

And, they point out this photo which Argento, who was 37 when they had sex, posted in the hotel room before Bennett arrived. The caption reads, "Waiting for my long lost son My love @Jimmy Bennett in trepidation."

The maximum penalty for statutory rape in California in a case involving a 17-year-old is 3 years in prison.

Sen. Marco Rubio and "InfoWars" host Alex Jones got right up in each other's faces outside a Senate hearing ... and Rubio threatened to open a can o' whoop ass on Jones.

The toe-to-toe showdown went down Wednesday morning after Rubio exited a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on social media. It gets heated right around the 1 min mark of the video.

Jones, the king of conspiracy theorists, was there and pissed about being censored on social media platforms, so he decided to upstage Rubio in front of reporters. Rubio played the "I don't know who this guy is" card ... then Jones condescendingly patted Rubio on the shoulder, and it was on.

Rubio threw down some tough talk, for a Senator, saying ... "Don't touch me again, man. I'm asking you again not to touch me." Jones kept jawing at him until Rubio took the bait, blurting out ... "You're not gonna get arrested, man. I'll take care of you myself."

The verbal jabs continued, but no physical fight. Not this time.

Kanye West has taken the high road in the raging feud between him and Drake, apologizing and at the same time explaining he never gave Pusha T intel about Drake's secret son.

Ye posted a series of tweets early Wednesday AM, all directed at Drizzy ... saying, "Sending good energy and love to Drake and family and crew. I haven’t seen the show in person but the images look incredible online I understand where the confusion started."

Kanye goes on to apologize for releasing his throwaway track, "Lift Yourself" -- where he rapped nonsense like "poopity scoop" -- without featuring Drake even though he said he would.

Finally, Ye sets the record straight over the Pusha T beef that blew up their relationship ... saying he should have intervened after Push's initial diss ... but Kanye insists he never gave his labelmate info on Drake's baby son, Adonis, like lots of people thought when Pusha's 2nd diss song dropped.

Mr. West ends by saying he's got love for both Pusha and Drake, and promises to be at one of Drake's upcoming shows within the week. This, of course, comes after Kim Kardashian West herself had to squash rumors that Drake might've slept with her.

Damien Dante Wayans has a job in mind if his acting career ever falls on hard times: working at Trader Joe's.

We got Damien Tuesday at Sunset Plaza in Los Angeles and asked about former 'Cosby Show' star Geoffrey Owens being job shamed for his side gig at Trader Joe's. Damien showed his support and said he's not above bagging groceries or cleaning aisles.

Damien doesn't get people trying to belittle Geoffrey by bashing his TJ's gig ... and describes this generation of haters as being Internet "sick."

Let's be real, there are worse things out-of-work actors could be doing for money, Damien says, like robbing banks.

Damien also joins Tyler Perry on the growing list of celebs offering Geoffrey a role.

Tekashi69's throwing a Hail Mary in hopes of avoiding prison time in his child sex case ... TMZ has learned.

Tekashi filed a letter with the judge in the case, explaining why he thinks he should get off with probation. You'll recall, prosecutors have recommended he gets 1 to 3 years in prison because of 2 recent arrests -- one in Houston and one in Brooklyn.

6ix9ine pled guilty back in 2015 to one count of using a child in a sexual performance -- a video shoot -- and was required to keep his nose clean for 2 years. In docs, Tekashi says his arrests for assaulting an officer (Brooklyn), and attacking a fan in a mall (Houston) don't constitute a violation of his plea deal.

The rapper's lawyer, Lance Lazzaro, says both arrests happened this year, and the deadline on his plea deal was Oct. 2017. Translation: It's too late to nail me for that stuff. Plus, he points out, neither arrest has resulted in a conviction.

No surprise here -- Donald Trump doesn't think Nike should "Just Do It" with Colin Kaepernick ... saying the company's new ad campaign sends a "terrible message."

The Prez -- who's vehemently against NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem -- tells the Daily Caller he disagrees with Nike's endorsement. He says ... "I think it's a terrible message that they're sending and the purpose of them doing it, maybe there's a reason for them doing it ... but I think as far as sending a message, I think it's a terrible message and a message that shouldn't be sent. There's no reason for it."

It's interesting, though ... Trump admits Nike is a tenant in one of his NYC buildings, and says it pays him a lot of rent for the NikeTown location -- but adds, the company has the right to align itself with whomever it wants.

He adds ... "It is what this country is all about, that you have certain freedoms to do things that other people think you shouldn't do, but I personally am on a different side of it."

As we've reported, Kaepernick's ad, part of Nike's 30th anniversary of its "Just Do It" campaign -- has sparked major backlash ... including from the National Association of Police Organizations, which is calling for a Nike boycott.

On the flip side, several celebs and athletes have publicly supported the ad ... even Tom Brady.

As you'll recall ... Trump made headlines in September 2017 after saying NFL owners should fire players who kneel for the anthem, referring to them as "sons of bitches."

A year later ... the war rages on.

Tyler Perry is standing by the mother of the Florida man who went missing in 2004, and says the missing person case smells like an old-fashioned southern lynching at the hands of a rogue cop.

Tyler was on "TMZ Live" to discuss the Terrance Williams and Felipe Santos cases. He'd just announced he's offering $200k for information that helps solve the mystery of their disappearances. Felipe went missing in October 2003 and Terrance in January 2004 -- and the connection between them is Collier County Sheriff's corporal Steven Calkins.

Calkins was the last person to see both men alive -- they both went missing after he'd pulled each of them over in separate, but eerily similar, situations.

Tyler says Terrance's mother isn't giving up -- she's filed a civil lawsuit -- and he isn't either. He told us why he doubled the reward money, and how several cops are doing their parts to nail a suspect.

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.