You Might Want to Rethink

Earl Thomas just flipped off the Seattle Seahawks -- his OWN team -- after suffering serious injury ... and with no new contract to show for it.

The All-Pro safety jacked up his leg Sunday during a defensive play against the Arizona Cardinals, and ended up getting carted off the field with a cast on his left leg. During his ride, he looked over at the Seattle sideline and flipped the whole staff the bird.

The Seahawks' head coach Pete Carroll said Earl had fractured his lower leg. The injury might be season-ending -- much like Tyler Eifert's own ankle injury Sunday almost certainly will be -- and Thomas made no bones about how he really felt about his raw deal with his squad. As we reported ... he was holding out earlier this year for a better contract that would pay him more money, and he even wrote a 1,500-word letter in explaining himself.

Clearly, Thomas ended up joining his teammates on the football field after initially refusing to report to training camp last month ... unlike Le'Veon Bell, who's still battling with the Steelers for his money. Lots of people have thoughts on that sitch ... including Snoop and Pittsburgh's own mayor.

1:22 PM PT -- Finally, some true clarity from Kanye. He just tweeted ... "not abolish but. let’s amend the 13th amendment We apply everyone’s opinions to our platform."

1:10 PM PT -- Kanye just tweeted out what appears to be a clarification about his 13th Amendment remark, saying "the 13th Amendment is slavery in disguise meaning it never ended We are the solution that heals."

It seems like he might be talking about a specific part of the 13 Amendment that refers to people who are convicted of a crime, who can then be forced to work. Section 1 reads ... "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

Unclear if this is exactly where Kanye's head is on the issue, since he didn't offer more context to his tweets. But, if we're giving him the benefit of the doubt ...

Kanye West made a shocking comment Sunday ... "Abolish the 13th Amendment" ... the Amendment that outlawed slavery.

Kanye has been tweeting about his support for Donald Trump ... this in the face of his 'SNL' appearance last night where he wore his MAGA hat on stage, and delivered a pro-Trump rant toward the end of the show.

Kanye tweeted ... "This represents good and America becoming whole again. We will no longer outsource to other countries. We build factories here in America to create jobs. We will provide jobs for all who are free from prisons as we abolish the 13th amendment."

He added a footnote to that ... "Message sent with love."

It's hard to imagine what he means ... abolishing the 13th Amendment would at least, in theory, allow states to once again enslave human beings.

Omarosa believes all the crying and shouting Brett Kavanaugh did during this week's Senate hearing proves he's got 2 sides, but as long as everyone's focused on him ... it's a win for the Prez.

We got Omarosa at the Reagan National Airport in D.C. Saturday and asked about her tweet, which questioned how President Trump would react to his Supreme Court nominee crying during his testimony.

She says Kavanaugh's display showed an angry, aggressive side ... and even POTUS can't dispute that. Brett's fondness for drinking beer might be another strike against him with 45 too.

Then again, O says Kavanaugh's Supreme Court drama is exactly what Trump wants right now ... because it keeps everyone from focusing on the Russia investigation.

As we reported ... the Senate Judiciary Committee voted yes to recommend Kavanaugh be confirmed to the Supreme Court Friday, but there will also be an FBI investigation into the sexual assault allegations made against him by Dr. Christine Ford.

Nate Diaz is straight trippin' if he thinks UFC will create a 165-pound division for him and Dustin Poirier -- and Dana White tells TMZ Sports it AIN'T HAPPENING!!

Nate's been confusing the hell out of people on social media -- falsely claiming Dana created the weight class for his upcoming fight at UFC 230.

Diaz also suggested he'd bail on the fight if Dana didn't comply with his demand.

We spoke with White who says Nate's been acting "nutty as hell" -- and he expects Diaz to show up and fight at 155 pounds on Nov. 3 ... just as he agreed to do.

Dana says Diaz signed the contract -- "You can't sign a deal and then do the things that he's doing right now, and not fight."

Former Clemson All-American Tajh Boyd says Trevor Lawrence could be the greatest QB in the history of the ACC ... but he still feels horrible for that Kelly Bryant lost his starting job.

It's an age-old football tale ... Lawrence -- the hot shot former #1 recruit freshman -- usurped the starting spot from Bryant, the steady senior leader who played great and waited his turn.

The change set the college football world on fire, with Bryant immediately announcing his transfer. Some critics said head coach Dabo Swinney had done KB dirty. Others said it's just the way football goes.

We talked to Boyd -- a Clemson legend -- who told us it could be BOTH.

"In his eyes, he felt like he earned the right to be the guy and felt like he didn't do anything to deserve to lose the spot and maybe he has some merit to that."

As far as Lawrence goes ... Boyd says Bryant was up against a transcendent talent ... because he believes Trevor could be the best signal caller the conference has ever seen.

"When it's all said and done, I think he's gonna be the best quarterback to play in the history of the conference."

2:55 PM PT -- Ohio State has deleted all traces of its "Silence" campaign -- which was supposed to promote this weekend's game against Penn State ... after a MASSIVE backlash.

The University campaign featured a football player making a hushing gesture -- with the caption, "Silence the white noise."

But, as high-profile people like Ryan Leaf pointed out ... the timing and message are HORRIBLE considering the major scandal the University was just involved in.

As we previously reported, OSU suspended Urban Meyer for 3 games for not properly handling alleged domestic violence incidents involving OSU assistant football coach Zach Smith.

Smith's ex-wife claimed Meyer knew about the abuse and covered it up ... so, the whole "Silence" campaign was probably not the best idea.

A school rep issued a statement to Cleveland.com after pulling the "Silence" campaign saying, "The message has been interpreted in ways we absolutely did not intend, and we have removed it from our channels."

"We understand why people were critical."

Oops.

Ryan Leaf is blasting Ohio State for its new football campaign centered around the word "Silence" -- saying it's stupid and "tone deaf" in the wake of the Urban Meyer scandal.

The Buckeyes released a promotional poster for their upcoming game with Penn State featuring WR Austin Mack making a hushing gesture -- along with the caption, "Silence the white noise."

Enter Leaf ... who has a big problem with the timing and message of the promotion.

"I know this is a marketing poster for a football game, but the lack of perspective and it being as tone deaf as it is, really says a lot about what the [Urban Meyer] saga continues to reveal about [Ohio State]," Leaf tweeted.

Leaf -- who played football at Washington State -- is referring to the OSU scandal where Courtney Smith claimed Meyer knew her husband (an OSU coach) had been abusing her ... but swept it under the rug.

Meyer denied any wrongdoing -- but he did admit to mishandling the situation. And, when asked if he had knowledge of the situation at BIG10 Media Day, Meyer lied to reporters.

Urban was suspended 3 games as a result of an investigation -- and he returns to the sidelines against Penn State.

So, yeah ... Leaf makes a pretty solid point.

And not to mention, Penn State had their own problems with SILENCE.

Sorry, Val Kilmer ... this town ain't big enough for 2 tumbleweed sculptors ... according to the artist who's suing the actor for copycatting his artwork.

The artist, Bale Creek Allen, thinks Val is smoking some serious tumbleweed if he believes he came up with the inspiration for his $150,000 "Tumbleweed" piece by himself. In his lawsuit, Bale says Val is passing off the high-priced art as his own idea, when it's clearly Bale's inspiration and idea.

Bale says he's been creating and selling golden tumbleweed sculptures for years ... and Val cut in on his action AFTER visiting Bale's New Mexico gallery and asking loads of questions about his methods.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Val was super interested in Bale's 3-D tumbleweeds ... until it was time to buy, and that's when Val told him he couldn't afford one!

Bale claims he has a copyright for the tumbleweed sculptures, and he never gave Val permission to make replicas. He's suing for damages and wants Val to be barred from whipping up anymore tumbleweeds.

Britney Spears' hunk of man is happy to open up about their gym life, and even her music -- but you gotta see what happens when the big "M" comes up..

We got Sam Asghari leaving Bristol Farms Wednesday in Westwood, where our photog first asked who was in better shape between him and his gal. His answer might surprise you, and so might his favorite Brit workout song.

Then it got really interesting -- as Sam slid into his convertible Mercedes, we asked if he plans on proposing anytime soon, and he answered directly. If nothing else, you can tell he's prepared for the question. He should be ... they've been dating for nearly 2 years.

One other thing ... the topic of Britney reportedly agreeing to pay K-Fed thousands more per month in child support -- after a nasty court battle -- is clearly Sam's kryptonite.

Jim Brown is happily enjoying his crow today ... 'cause the Browns legend tells TMZ Sports he was so wrong about Baker Mayfield -- he actually thinks Cleveland's got a shot at the playoffs now!!

You'll remember ... Jim was one of the least pleased people in Cleveland when his ex-squad chose Baker over Saquon Barkley with the top pick in the NFL draft.

But, after watching Baker's 21-17 comeback performance against the Jets last week ... he's all in on the selection now ... even apologizing to John Dorsey and co.!!!

"They didn't go with what everybody said, including myself," Jim tells us.

"They went with what they thought was correct, and I really appreciate being able to say to them, 'I guess you were right.'"

Jeremy Piven dropped some cuss words last week in front of what might have been the wrong crowd, but some guests say it certainly wasn't as shocking as it's been made out to be.

Piven hosted a fundraising gala this past weekend for Face Forward -- an org that offers reconstructive surgery and emotional support for victims of DV and human trafficking. At one point during the event, Piven got on the mic and did a comedy set of sorts.

A report said he went on an expletive-laced tirade -- which ended with a "F*** you all" when some of his final jokes fell flat. But, based on this clip, which we're told mostly comprises the first half of Piven's remarks, nobody seemed too bothered by his swearing.

Again, it might've been a risky venture to drop words like "bulls**t" or the f-bomb in front of an audience like this -- but according to 2 victims at the event ... Piven's jokes were perfectly fine.

Andreas Christopheros tells us he appreciates people being mindful of his trauma, but says, "survivors need to laugh like anyone else." On Jeremy's performance, he adds, "I don’t know anyone in that room that was offended he was making some edgy jokes."

Theresa Gentry -- a Face Forward patient who was also present -- says, "I didn’t take anything in Jeremy’s set personally and it was comedy. I remember at one point he asked if he should go deeper, meaning more risqué not anything sexual! And we all yelled yes!!"

Stevie Wonder is clearly having a hard time grappling with Bill Cosby being locked up -- but his ultimate wish ... that God graces the disgraced comedian when it's all said and done.

We got Stevie leaving LAX Tuesday on the heels of Cosby's sentencing -- where he was given three to ten years in a state prison -- and he tells us he's praying for the new convict, while also going on to acknowledge Cosby's positive contributions to society.

It's interesting ... our photog asks if he thinks the prison sentence was too long, or if Cosby should've gotten house arrest instead. Stevie's answer seems to imply that he doesn't believe BC should've been thrown behind bars ... despite his long list of accusations.

Will Smith just one-upped everybody once again by doing just about the craziest thing you could do for the big 5-0 ... bungee jumping out of a helicopter over the Grand Canyon.

Will documented his big jump Tuesday for his 50th birthday, where he, his family, Alfonso Ribeiro and a lot of spectators gathered in Arizona to watch the Fresh Prince take a plunging dive of death. He did it as a challenge from Yes Theory ... and did it in blazing fashion.

He was flipped around a bit like a rag doll on the way down, and eventually snapped back up after a couple seconds of disappearing out of the camera's view.

Once back on the ground, Will called the experience "pure bliss" ... and encouraged others to commit to conquering their fears.

Serena Williams got a "raw deal" at the U.S. Open -- all because of a DUMB rule that should be changed immediately ... so says tennis great Chris Evert.

The rule -- players are forbidden to receive any instructions from coaches on the sideline.

The ump at the U.S. Open claimed Serena and her coach violated the policy and he docked her a point penalty. Things went nuclear from there and Williams was later penalized a full game.

Enter Evert ... who tells TMZ Sports both sides deserved blame for the altercation -- but ultimately, it proves the anti-coaching rule is stupid and should be done away with since EVERYONE breaks it anyway.

"The real fault was the rule," Evert said at the Buoniconti Fund’s 33rd Annual Great Sports Legends Dinner.

"Everybody coaches on the side. Every coach coaches. ... So, change that rule."

Joe Theismann says the NFL should straight-up just take the pads off QBs now ... 'cause the league's new roughing-the-passer penalty "has reached the point of absurdity."

The ex-Redskins quarterback watched guys like Clay Matthews get flagged for simply tackling QBs all day Sunday ... and he was LIVID.

So much so -- Joe tells TMZ Sports the next step for the NFL will be to just eliminate QB hits from the game altogether.

"This is my question to the NFL, 'What is the defensive player supposed to do?' Would somebody please explain it to him?" Theismann says.

Remember ... Theismann's career was ended by a violent hit to the QB -- and even he can't believe some of the flags he's seen through three weeks so far.

"You wanted an offensive game, I understand that," he tells us.

"But now you've reached the point of absurdity."

Still ... even with all the flags protecting QBs -- Joe had a hard time watching passers not slide ... telling us that's why Jimmy Garoppolo's season is over after just 3 games.

By the way ... Joe says Jimmy should be ready to go for the 2019 season -- if he follows some of the tips Joe learned during his lengthy rehab process.

Jesse Williams drew some major criticism after promoting his new Emmett Till film with memes that incorporated Nike's new campaign with Colin Kaepernick ... and it was so harsh, he pulled the pics.

News broke Monday that Jesse was tapped to direct a new film about Emmett's mother, Mamie Till. The film follows Mamie's fight for justice after her 14-year-old son was murdered in the South for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Jesse promoted the project by posting the pics below ...

The bunch of photos featured both Emmett, Mamie and others involved in the outcry following his death with Nike's new Kaep-led tagline, "Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything." He also teased his new flick with "TiLL Coming Soon."

A lot of people were not amused by Jesse trying to conflate the two subjects, and he was quickly hit with a wave of backlash. Jesse then removed all but one meme he'd posted ... the one of Emmett's uncle pointing out the white men who killed him in court.

Jesse has been hailed as a modern day civil rights hero and was even given the Humanitarian Award by BET two years ago ... where he delivered a powerful speech about police brutality in America.

Sorry, Khalil Mack ... Mike Ditka thinks you got a great shot at an NFC North title -- but he's telling TMZ Sports it's time to slow the roll on the '85 comparisons.

ICYMI ... Chicago beat up Arizona on Sunday and is one Aaron Rodgers-led miracle away from being 3-0 -- leading some to call this Chicago's best squad since 1985.

But Ditka -- who coached that historic Super Bowl team 33 years ago -- says let's all calm down with that talk.

"I don't know if the talent level on this defense is near what it was on our defense," Iron Mike tells us.

Don't get it twisted ... Ditka's still in love with this team -- saying they do at least hustle and pursue like Mike Singletary and William Perry used to.