You Might Want to Rethink

The January 6th House Committee recounted a passage from a book on the insurrection, in which Donald Trump told Mike Pence how cool it would be for one person -- the Veep -- to overturn the will of the people.

The story came out in the book, "Peril," but the exchange between Trump and Pence was shocking enough to make its way to the hearing. After Pence told Trump he did not have the power to ignore the electoral results, Trump responded, "If these [Trump's] people say you have the power, wouldn't you want to?" Pence responded, "I wouldn't want any one person to have that authority."

Trump's response is shocking ... "But wouldn't it almost be cool to have that power?" When you break that down, it's almost as if Trump is saying forget about whether you ACTUALLY have that power ... it would be cool to do it anyway. That's pretty close to saying in spite of not having authority, why not just undermine democracy and do it anyway -- and that could show the kind of intent the Dept. of Justice is investigating.

The capper is equally shocking ... when Pence persisted that he had tried to find legit ways to challenge the election results, this was a line he would not cross, and Trump responded, "No no no. You don't understand Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore if you don't do this."

Ex-NHL star Sean Avery has just been convicted of attempted criminal mischief ... after he was accused of slamming his scooter into a car in a road rage incident back in 2019.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office tells TMZ Sports ... Avery was found guilty of the misdemeanor charge on Thursday, following a short bench trial this week.

According to the spokesperson, Avery was sentenced to time served. The judge in the case also issued full orders of protection for the victims.

42-year-old Avery was initially charged back in 2019 ... after a businessman said the former New York Rangers center damaged his car following a dispute over a New York bike lane.

The man claimed Avery's outburst left a small hole in his vehicle's door, near where his 4-year-old daughter had been sitting during the incident.

Tom Hanks was seeing red when his wife Rita Wilson was almost knocked to the ground by a pack of his fans ... and the guy who's normally Mr. Cool let 'em know he was pissed off!

Tom and Rita were heading to their car Wednesday night in NYC when the swarm of fans scrambled around for autographs and selfies -- the crowd got so big, one fan bumped into Rita and made her trip.

TH was having none of it -- he rushed to her rescue, then put his hand on one guy and yelled to the rest, "This is my wife, back the f*** off!!"

He gave them quite the death stare for a few seconds before storming off to their car. In the wake of Tom losing it, the finger-pointing started among the fans ... with one guy claiming someone else pushed him into Rita.

The video game developer for "Halo Infinite" is under fire for rolling out a new nameplate to honor Juneteenth ... folks are enraged the customization was named after an ape.

The folks over at 343 Industries apparently thought it would be a good idea to title the nameplate -- a palette adding a red, black and green colorway to a player's username -- "Bonobo" ... which is an endangered primate.

Problem is ... folks were angry with the association of apes with Juneteenth, considering the racist and discriminatory history between those words and Black people.

As you know ... Juneteenth is now a federal holiday, commemorating the day the last enslaved Americans got the news President Lincoln had abolished slavery.

In response to the backlash, the video game developer renamed the nameplate to "Freedom" and then to "Juneteenth."

343 Industries says the nameplate was originally named "Bonobo" in reference to a developer tool -- and they claim it was an oversight on their end.

Bonnie Ross, the founder and head of 343 Industries, says once they were made aware the nameplate "contained a term that was offensive and hurtful" they immediately made a change with a game update.

Former heavyweight boxer Julius Francis -- who famously fought Mike Tyson in 2000 -- showed he's still got thunder in his hands ... knocking out a man cold while working a security gig on Saturday.

The ferocious punch went down outside of BOXPARK Wembley in the U.K. ... after a man appeared to get into a confrontation with security guards for an unknown reason.

In video of the incident, shot by a bystander, you can see the man in the du-rag was clearly not pleased with Francis and other guards ... screaming at them, and seeming to shove some of them as well.

As the guards were trying to get the man away from the area, the guy stepped toward Francis -- who clearly didn't like that.

Video shows Francis hit the man square in the jaw with a quick right hook -- sending him straight to the ground. The man appeared to be out cold for several moments.

No word on if the guy suffered any significant injuries.

Local law enforcement, meanwhile, said in a statement they are investigating it all.

"Police are aware of footage circulating on social media showing an incident involving security staff and a member of the public outside Boxpark in Wembley."

"An investigation into the circumstances, including to establish the identity and welfare of those involved, is underway."

They added no arrests have been made at this time.

Francis fought professionally 48 times in the 1990s and early 2000s -- famously losing to Tyson in a January 2000 bout in Manchester.

Joe Maddon chopped his hair into a mohawk in an effort to try and break the Angels' losing skid earlier this month -- but his team never got to see it ... because he was fired before he could show it off.

ESPN's Tim Kurkjian reported the somber story as part of a bigger piece on the Angels that aired before L.A.'s game against the New York Mets on Sunday night.

In the report, Kurkjian said the 68-year-old manager got the new 'do following the Halos' 12th straight loss on June 6 ... in an effort to try to bring better juju to his floundering squad.

The problem? Angels brass fired him unexpectedly -- and none of his team could see it.

Maddon had been hired by the Angels prior to the 2020 season. He piled up a 130-148 record in his two-plus seasons with the team.

Jennifer Lopez was apparently not happy to share a stage with Shakira -- and now, their respective fan bases are having a debate ... who's the bigger superstar between the two?

The question was posed through a statement on Twitter, which has since taken off and gone viral -- with tons of people chiming in with their own takes. The OG opinion read, "Shakira was never bigger than J Lo EVER in her career 😂😂😂😂😂😂 and I love Shakira."

The reason this is being discussed is due to this new J Lo doc, 'Halftime,' which premiered at Tribeca ... where Jenny expresses serious sour grapes about her Super Bowl gig.

According to reports, the BTS film documents what went into the Halftime Show that both Jennifer and Shakira co-headlined in 2020 ... and Jen is quoted as saying, "This is the worst idea in the world to have two people do the Super Bowl ... worst idea in the world."

She's further described as having some flare-ups with Shakira herself -- who, during rehearsals, stressed the importance of weaving their songs into the performance, per NFL guidance ... to which Jennifer reportedly says, "If it was going to be a double-headliner, they should have given us 20 minutes. That's what they should've f***ing done."

Her manager, Benny Medina, hits the point home in the film -- saying, "It was an insult to think that you needed two Latinas to do the job that one artist historically has done."

And that's where Saturday's convo picks up ... with LOTS of people arguing that Shakira is actually the real global icon that Jen and her team seems to think she is -- at least that's what users on the bird app appear to be suggesting with some pretty fiery memes.

If you hop into the "J Lo" trend right now ... you'll see people coming out in full defense of Shakira, pointing out the accolades and record sales (globally) she has over Jen.

Some are even saying that the Jen isn't even all that famous here in the States for her music, but more so ... her beauty, body and/or significant others. Which is ... interesting.

At any rate, there's a bit of backlash toward Jennifer's brutal honesty over how she felt about being paired up with Shakira ... some are seeing it as Jen coming off as a bit entitled, and sort of a diva (in a bad way). Meanwhile, others are giving Jen props for keeping it real.

Saucy Santana is in the throes of a would-be cancelation via Twitter -- one he's fiercely pushing back on ... and it all has to do with old tweets about Beyonce and her kid.

The Florida rapper started responding to folks who were apparently dogging him and demanding he say sorry for messages he posted/reposted about Bey and Blue Ivy from 2014 and 2017 ... ones in which he appears to insult them over their looks.

One tweet that SS responded to reads, "I just wanna be Blue Ivy," to which he wrote ... "nappy headed or ... " Another reads, "Im sorry but North West CLEARS Blue ivy. Have several Carseats Blue" -- and to that, Santana replied, "Just said this yesterday."

Both of these tweets are from the fall of 2014 ... when Blue was about 2 1/2 years old. A few years later, he agreed that Bey looked "dry" during her pregnancy photo shoot.

So, why is all this resurfacing now??? A few things -- one, Beyonce just scrubbed her profile pics across all social media ... sending the internet into a frenzy about a potential new project. Also ... Santana's performing in Houston Saturday, plus his newest song samples her.

He's taking the stage around 6:15 PM CT for Summer Jam HTX 2022 ... and in the wake of this possible Beyonce news, some have (again) called for him to make amends while in her home city. What that amounts to exactly is unclear -- but in any case, SS says screw that.

Santana swiped back at all the criticism, writing ... "Fake woke ass bitches!!!! People don't care about old tweets. The internet have this weird thing with power! Thinking they have the power to cancel someone… NEWS FLASH! You don't! Y'all be thinking y'all have someone by the balls about situations you don't give a damn about."

He went on to say his tweets are years-old, made when he was 20 ... and he even acknowledges they were childish and hateful. But, he's doubling down and refusing to bend to random Twitter warriors' will and apologize. He asks ... "To who?! To y'all?"

Santana insists that despite what Twitter (collectively) might believe, it's not nearly as powerful as those who use it think ... and he's basically telling everyone to kick rocks.

Azealia Banks says she's getting screwed over, and even though her anger doesn't seem to be at fans ... she still took it out on them during a Pride performance in Miami.

Azealia was onstage early Saturday morning -- around 3 AM -- for the Wynwood Pride concert, and was VERY over being there. The controversial rapper -- who performed with her boobs all the way out -- started ranting about promoters jerking her around about her set times and whether she's the headliner.

She brazenly told the crowd, "I'm really not happy to be here." Azealia rambled a little more, and said she knew it wasn't the fans' fault ... but she clearly wanted off that stage. She said, "I'm trying y'all, but it's difficult."

Seems like the concert promoters had enough though, because when Azealia repeated her frustration by saying, "I really don't wanna f***ing be here" ... someone cut off her mic.

That only pissed her off more, and pulled a spot-on mic drop ... and left the stage in a huff.

Now, mind you ... Azealia had only done about 4 songs at that point, so you can hear the crowd get restless -- everyone started booing when they realized she wasn't coming back.

Azealia was already an odd pick to headline the event ... considering she's come under fire, for good reason, from the LGBTQ+ community in the past. Remember, she's called HIV/AIDS patients sex addicts, and dropped a homophobic epithet on a flight attendant.

Britney Spears' wedding was just dramatically interrupted, as her first husband, Jason Alexander, showed up trying to crash the event ... resulting in a police response.

Jason went live on Instagram Thursday as he approached event security -- telling him Britney had invited him -- and that she was his first and only wife, and he was going to crash the event before some kind of physical struggle. Alexander's phone then freezes up.

Somehow, Alexander was able to make it inside Britney's home, where he continued to live stream. He was eventually restrained outside.

We're told the Ventura County Sheriff's Department responded for a trespassing call, and are still on the scene.

Alexander showed public support for Britney during the #FreeBritney movement -- he attended a rally outside an L.A. courthouse back in August 2020 and told our cameras he and Britney had recently been in communication.

Britney and Jason got married in January 2004 in a spur-of-the-moment ceremony in Vegas ... and called it quits just 55 hours later.

TMZ broke the story -- Britney and Sam Asghari are set to tie the knot in an L.A. ceremony Thursday.

Earmuffs, kids!!!

Dodgers pitcher Tyler Anderson dropped a massive F-bomb during a game on Thursday that was so loud, it was actually captured on a hot mic at the stadium.

Anderson let the obscenity fly in the fourth inning of L.A.'s game against the White Sox in Chicago, after throwing his fourth ball to Jose Abreu.

The pitch, on a 3-2 count, just barely missed ... but Anderson still clearly hated it.

"F***!!!!" he screamed.

The game's broadcasters had fun with the moment ... with one saying, "There was something that he yelled when he delivered that ball and I'm thinking, you're a very young man, close your headset. You don't want to hear that."

Anderson ended up being pulled from the game a few batters later -- not because of cussin', but rather because he was just ineffective -- but it all still could end up OK for him.

You always hear about how bad airline food is — but this is a whole new level … yuck.

Check out this video posted by a man who says he hopped an American Airlines flight from Frankfurt to Dallas-Fort Worth last week — riding business class, no less — and found tiny little bugs crawling around in his salad.

The greens were packaged separately and wrapped in plastic wrap, and sure enough … there seems to be something, or things, squirming around in there.

The passenger griped ... “The business class was over $10,000 round trip and this is the quality of service. Food with live bugs being served and a staff that simply laughed it off and asked if I wanted a different salad.”

He tagged AA too, and they responded — saying they’d flag it to the appropriate team and that it would be addressed.

Next time, pack an extra protein bar. 🤢

Jared Leto leaning into the 'Morbius' jokes didn't work out so well -- apparently, nobody was actually all that eager to see it again in theaters ... so say the box office numbers.

Sony re-released the comic book flick on the big screen anew this weekend -- this after a horrid domestic run in the spring, with a total haul of just $73 mil -- but it wasn't entirely clear why ... that is, until JL posted this video earlier in the week where he winked at fans.

The video shows Jared reading something that he's trying to hide from the camera person ... but when it's revealed what he's looking at, it turns out to be a script called "Morbius 2: It's Morbin' Time!" The 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' music plays right after ... closing the loop.

Essentially, the running gag over 'Morbius' these past few months was addressed head-on by the man himself -- folks online had been vey enthusiastic about the movie, albeit jokingly ... pegging it as this great film with a legion of supporters, despite how bad it actually was.

There were people sarcastically demanding a sequel be made while throwing out a ton of puns that incorporated the movie's titular character. It would seem Leto and the studio were clued into this ... and thought a re-release could score them a windfall of ticket sales.

Unfortunately for them ... they were wrong. According to Forbes, 'Morbius' only pulled in around $85k on Friday alone. It's unclear what the total weekend gross was -- but probably not much better.

The lesson ... a viral phenomenon over something like 'Morbius' doesn't always translate into actual interest when push comes to shove, and doesn't always have to be touched by the subjects themselves. Sometimes, a joke is just a joke -- and should be left as such.

Deshaun Watson seems to be shooting himself in the foot ... courtesy of his own lawyer, who is now trying to clarify comments he made about massages and "happy endings." 😣

The Browns QB -- who's been cleared in a criminal probe, but still faces a mountain of civil suits about alleged sexual misconduct from multiple women -- is in damage control this week ... this after his lead attorney, Rusty Hardin, made some wild remarks on the air.

The dude was doing an interview with SportsRadio 610 (based out of Houston, DW's previous home in the NFL) when he said it isn't technically illegal for men to get a little something extra at the end of a session ... so long as nobody is forced or coerced into it.

Yeah ... he literally said that. And yes, it left a lot of people with their mouths open, because they couldn't believe Hardin had said it ... seemingly in connection to Deshaun's sitch.

You can listen to what he said for yourself and decide whether he's talking about Deshaun or not -- especially in light of Hardin's clarifying comments thereafter, in which he said he was talking "hypothetically," and that his remarks in no way, shape or form explicitly reflected what Deshaun had or hadn't done pertaining to all these masseuses accusing him.

BTW, the number of lawsuits he's facing is now in the dozens (24 to be exact) and the NFL's apparently on the verge of announcing their decision on what to do about DW this season.

Of course, Deshaun was signed to a monster contract during this offseason ... getting a five-year $230 million deal from the Browns, with all the dough guaranteed. And it's not even clear if he'll even play in 2022!

Disney apparently hates love ... is what a lot of people are saying after seeing this -- one of their employees playing super cop at a park over a proposal that was almost awesome.

Check out this insane interaction between a Disneyland Paris staffer -- who's all decked out in ears and everything -- literally intercepting an engagement ring as a man gets on bended knee ... about to pop the question to his significant other. Dude needs an NFL contract!

He comes out of nowhere just before the woman is about to accept the ring -- and say yes, we imagine -- pointing them down to a lower level of the platform ... right this way, please.

The guy seems to try and reason with the over-zealous employee -- word is, he'd actually gotten permission to propose there from another worker -- but Mouse Man isn't having it ... telling him, you can do it over here just the same. Too late though ... the mood was ruined.

BTW ... there have been reports of other moments like this, including an instance here in the States (L.A., specifically). This incident apparently went down earlier this year in March, where another man was trying to become a husband-to-be ... only to be escorted away.

Longtime MLB announcer Jim Kaat has found himself embroiled in controversy yet again ... this time, it's because he referred to New York Yankees star Nestor Cortes as "Nestor the Molester" during a broadcast.

83-year-old Kaat was providing color commentary for the Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins game on Thursday afternoon ... when he tried to offer some on-air praise to Cortes, who was pitching against the L.A. Angels in a game in New York at the same time.

Kaat made a reference to Twins pitcher Devin Smeltzer and said, "That favorite pitcher, being kind of like Devin Smeltzer, 'Nestor the Molester!'"

"Nestor Cortes," Kaat added. "Man, he is fun to watch."

The comment was immediately hit with raised eyebrows on social media ... and while Kaat didn't address it again on-air, a Twins official told the Associated Press the team did speak with the Hall of Famer about the matter following the game.

"Obviously, we take these matters seriously and, like in all cases, will handle this internally and privately," Twins vice president of communications and content Dustin Morse said, before adding, "Jim meant no ill will."

Cortes, meanwhile, was also asked about the comment ... but he told the AP he was not offended.

"I'm sure, you know, he didn't really mean it," the left-handed pitcher said, "and people make mistakes, but it didn't offend me at all."

This is the second time in less than a year Kaat has faced backlash for an on-air remark ... back in October, he was forced to apologize for making a slavery reference during a Yoan Moncada at-bat in an Astros vs. White Sox playoff game.

Kaat -- a former Twins pitcher who was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame last year -- has been broadcasting games for decades.