You Might Want to Rethink

Either Rita Ora's rep for flouting COVID rules precedes her, or she just flew into a country that takes health protocols so seriously ... it forced her into immediate quarantine.

The singer flew into Sydney Monday, and video shows her getting intercepted by a gaggle of airport cops the second she stepped off the plane. Rita and her many, many bags were ushered away to a hotel ... where she'll reportedly shelter-in-place for 14 days before being allowed to go about her biz with native Aussies.

Rita's down there for a gig as a judge on "The Voice" -- let's hope they worked her 2 weeks of isolation into the shoot schedule.

To be clear, Rita's lockdown isn't Australia dropping the hammer on her in particular. The quarantine is mandatory for all incoming travelers from pretty much anywhere besides New Zealand.

So, no ... officials weren't sticking it to Rita because of her recent 'rona screw-up in the UK.

Remember, she held a moderately-sized party for her 30th birthday -- and paid around $7,000 to make it happen ... this despite London being on lockdown at the time. She apologized for it, but it was a PR nightmare.

Here's a shocker ... the Indiana high school basketball coach who went viral for throwing a chair on the court during a game last week has just been fired.

The wannabe Bobby Knight is Gary Lighthouse College Prep Academy coach Nick Moore -- who lost his mind Friday during a game against Bowman Academy in Gary Indiana.

Moore's team was down by 8 with 6:41 left in the game -- and in their comeback attempt, one of his players was called for a travel ... which set off the coach, who obviously disagreed with the call.

In the vid, you can see Moore's coaching staff TRIED to restrain the guy as he reached for a chair ... but he eventually got his hands on one and LAUNCHED IT on the court!

The tantrum continued and Moore tried throwing yet another chair -- but he was thwarted again. So, he grabbed a ball and hurled that instead -- forcing the refs to eject him from the game.

The incident triggered the Indiana High School Athletic Association to launch an investigation into the incident ... and on Monday, Moore revealed he'd been fired.

"I have been relieved of my duties by LCPA as boys coach," Moore said on Facebook ... "I would also like to thank the parents and players for letting me lead them day in and out it was a pleasure and great ride."

Over the weekend, Moore told the NWI Times he "had a chance to reflect" on the incident and admits he could have handled the situation better.

"We talk to our kids about sportsmanship, and we don't condone technical fouls and the type of acts that I displayed. I never want any of my players to display that kind of behavior, so I probably could've found a better way."

FYI, Bobby Knight was only suspended for ONE GAME when he threw a chair onto the court during an Indiana vs. Purdue game in 1985.

A suddenly infamous SoulCycle instructor is saying, "My bad" ... after calling herself an "educator" in order to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Stacey Griffith apologized Monday "from the bottom of my heart" after posting a picture of herself getting the highly sought-after vaccine. The 52-year-old later admitted she was eligible because she presented herself as an "educator" on vaccine sign up forms.

Upon further review ... she called the shady move a "terrible error in judgment."

In her since-deleted post ... Griffith -- who's taught the likes of Oprah and Kelly Ripa -- started her caption with, "VACCINE DAY! Step one of the Moderna magic!! One hour drive to STATEN ISLAND worth every minute! It takes a village."

Griffith even added, "Now I can teach @soulcycle with a little more faith that we're all gonna be OK."

Of course, some real school teachers are still struggling to get vaccinated in NY where there's a shortage.

NY is currently prioritizing people older than 65 plus teachers, school staff, in-person college instructors, child care workers, first responders, public transit workers, frontline workers and people working/living in group homeless shelters.

Yeah, fitness instructors? Even popular/famous ones? NOT on the list.

The world's most famous groundhog just made its bold prediction for the rest of winter ... and it looks like we're in for a cold one, folks.

Punxsutawney Phil was awakened, once again, early Tuesday morning for Groundhog Day in Gobbler's Knob, PA and got put to work giving us a forecast for the rest of the season. Ol' Phil saw his shadow ... so, as they say, 6 more weeks of winter.

This year's celebration was a little more pared down compared to its usual gathering, which would include a way bigger crowd of in-person spectators.

Organizers of the annual event streamed it virtually for folks at home, but there was Phil's regular group of "Inner Circle" top hat buddies who attended -- most of whom were masked up ... carrying on tradition.

Now, the fact the woodchuck is expecting more cold days ahead isn't all that surprising ... the furry little bastards have predicted that 106 times over the course of a 135-year run that they've been looking to Phil for a weather report.

This year actually proves to be meaningful, especially up there in the Northeast -- where winter storm Orlena has covered several states in several feet of snow.

So yeah, Groundhog Day 2021 is pretty much spot-on.

The iconic Hollywood sign got a makeover, and though what went down is technically a crime ... it might be worth the time for supporting a good cause.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... 6 people were arrested for altering the sign to read "Hollyboob" Monday. We're told police were notified of what was going on and tracked the group as they made their way down the hill and busted them.

Our sources say the group -- which we've learned includes model Julia Rose -- told cops they did this to raise breast cancer awareness ... but they will also be cited for trespassing before they're released.

Julia -- who's no stranger to breast-related stunts -- is currently with Hollywood police being processed. We got video of her being led away in cuffs, too.

The timing of the stunt is interesting. As you may know ... Breast Cancer Awareness Month is October, so it seems these folks are several months early.

New York Attorney General Letitia James says her office is looking into the incident, which she called "deeply disturbing and wholly unacceptable."

The A.G. adds ... "Such use of force and pepper spray should never be deployed against a child, period."

James is also calling for "drastic reform" at the Rochester Police Department "to ensure that mental health professionals and child advocates are actually responding to people in need and when minors are involved, and that this type of behavior never occurs again."

Rochester Police are under fire for detaining and pepper spraying a child who'd been reported as suicidal, and body cam video of the incident is disturbing.

Officers had handcuffed the 9-year-old girl during the Friday domestic violence call. Police say her mother was worried the girl would harm herself or others. While walking the child to a patrol car, she fell to the snowy ground, began flailing arms and screaming she wanted to see her dad.

A nearly 10-minute struggle ensued ... as the girl resisted, 2 officers put the cuffs on her and attempted to put her in their car. The girl continued screaming and said she wouldn't get in until she saw her dad.

A female officer stepped in, trying to convince her to get in the backseat. A male officer, who was trying to pull the girl in from the other side yelled, "Sit up! You're acting like a child, stop" -- to which she responded, "I am a child!! What the f***?"

The female officer eventually warned the child the cops were getting impatient, and she would be pepper sprayed if she didn't get in the car. Less than a minute later, a male officer said, "Just spray her at this point" ... and that's what happened.

The full arrest video includes a disturbing interaction with the child's mother, and you hear the girl accuse her mother of stabbing the father ... which the mother denied.

Rochester PD initially said it was "required" to deploy pepper spray -- but over the weekend Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said, "This video, as a mother, is not anything you want to see."

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has taken notice of how police treated the 9-year-old, saying, "You cannot justify this!"

Police announced an internal investigation, but haven't said if any of the involved officers have been suspended. The child was treated at a hospital and released to her family.

Kelly Dodd's disdain for COVID-19 and the safety measures around it just cost her a job -- not her TV one ... but another that might've been just as important.

The 'Real Housewives' star was just dropped by a brand with whom she had an endorsement deal -- Positive Beverage, a natural energy and vitamins drink she'd been repping of lately. This isn't a coincidence -- PB canned her as a direct result of her behavior regarding 'rona.

They write, "Our core values of wellness, community, diversity and inclusion should be reflected by our brand and anyone associated with it," adding ... "it has become clear over the past few months that Kelly's controversial views and opinions have distracted from our primary objectives, so effective today, we are no longer affiliated with Kelly Dodd-Leventhal."

Positive Beverage goes on to say while it welcomes a mix of people with differing views on things, there's gotta be an underlying layer of respect ... and they feel Kelly's lost that, and thus -- she's lost them too. It's a big deal ... Kelly was a big deal for them, appearing in several sponsored posts.

We're sure she was collecting a nice check from them. You'd think she'd be pissed, but not so ... Kelly had a quick, snappy response to the news.

She writes, "I'm glad I could help put Positive Beverage on the map and wish them well. I’m also really excited about my next venture in the beauty industry, which is my real passion. Stay tuned!" Sounds like there's no love lost on her end either.

Of course, this comes directly on the heels of Kelly going out and recording herself dining with friends at an OC restaurant ... where a bunch of them jokingly called themselves "super spreaders" and mocked mask-wearing and the virus as well.

She's made other comments about the pandemic that were eyebrow-raising ... some for which she's apologized. KD kept at it though ... and this mighta been the last straw.

Reddit users messed with the bull, now it gets ... the tarp. That's how the saying goes, right?

We kid, but in all seriousness ... check out what Wall Street's Charging Bull looks like right now in Manhattan's Financial District -- the bronze sculpture is completely covered in a blue tarp, from horns to hooves.

There's no official explanation out as to why this happened, but the reason seems to be obvious -- especially considering what's been happening with the stock market this past week.

Of course, we're talking about the frenzy with Gamestop, AMC and other stocks that were restricted on exchanges like Robinhood ... which was seen as a corrupt move by normies who were making a bundle against hedge fund managers trying to bet on shorts.

There was widespread outcry online, with folks accusing Robinhood of being in cahoots with these hedge fund runners -- something Robinhood denied, BTW. The chatter wasn't just digital though ... it literally trickled into the streets with protests over the weekend.

People gathered at the Bull with signage that read "TAX WALL ST TRADES" among other messages. There are even photos circulating that show the Bull getting vandalized with blue tape, with phrases like "#HoldTheLine" and "WBC" etched in in permanent marker.

Basically, there's been a lot of activity there these past few days -- and it looks like the authorities have responded in kind ... both with man power and now ... with plastic.

Anderson Cooper confronted a guy who used to legit believe the CNN anchor was part of an evil, devil-worshipping cabal that devoured children ... and got an apology out of him.

CNN ran a special report Saturday night, with Anderson in the driver's seat ... going down the rabbit hole of QAnon and its origin. If you aren't familiar, the QAnon conspiracy theory is multi-faceted and ever-changing -- and is what some of the Capitol rioters subscribe to.

Very long story short ... QAnon believers think high-level politicians (mostly Dems) and Hollywood folks are pedophiles, part of a child-trafficking ring ... who are out to control the world. They also believe Donald Trump was their savior, and was gonna expose it all.

Anywho ... in CNN's report, Anderson did an interview with former QAnon supporter Jitarth Jadeja, who was all in on it until 2019. Safe to say, it made for an awkward exchange.

Watch for yourself ... Jadeja literally says, "I apologize for thinking that you ate babies." He goes on to explain why Anderson was a focus in QAnon, and what was alleged about him among supporters. Anderson seems astonished to hear it first-hand ... rightly so.

Of course, AC goes out of his way to say that all of those theories are absolutely NOT true -- but really digs into why people are so inclined to buy into a bunch of bull crap.

Big tech is in the hot seat like never before -- and one company that deserves a chair in the front row is Instagram ... so says Lindsey Pelas, who accuses them of discriminating against women.

We talked to the mega social media influencer, model and actress -- who makes much of her living online these days -- and she tells us IG appears to have it out for females ... but goes easier on men, especially as it pertains to their bodies, and what they're allowed to post.

Check it out ... Lindsey explains this is all about censorship -- another hot button issue lately -- and claims IG's policies are unfair toward women in how much skin they can show on the platform, whereas Insta is allegedly way more lenient on guys baring it all. Lindsey likens it to digital cherry-picking ... which she says often ends with fellas being able to run wild.

There's another level here too ... erections and vaginas. Listen to Lindsey -- she says there's a disparity on what products are allowed and aren't on IG.

Anyway, back to her main point, which is this -- the power these big tech companies have at their fingertips got put on full display this week with the drama from Robinhood. Funny enough, LP says that saga ain't too different from what's going on in the camera app.

A police chief in Georgia has resigned and one of his officers was fired after video surfaced of an absolutely shocking, racist conversation in which they casually drop the n-word and say slavery met the needs of black people.

Hamilton Police Chief Gene Allmond and Patrolman John Brooks didn't realize Brooks' bodycam was recording during their racist conversation.

The patrolman talked about who he'd rather have sex with -- Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms or voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.

Then, as they repeatedly drop the n-word, the Chief discusses slavery ... "For the most part, it seemed to me like they furnished them a house to live in. They furnished them clothes to put on their back. They furnished them food to put on their table and all they had to do was f***ing work. And now we give 'em all those things and don't have to f***ing work."

The conversation took place last year ... just before a Black Lives Matter protest.

Outdoor dining is back again in Southern California, including in Orange County ... where Kelly Dodd and her friends seemed all too ready to celebrate their status as super-spreaders.

The 'Real Houseweives' star posted videos Saturday, showing her and a group of her pals grabbing a bite and drinks at a restaurant in Newport Beach called Billy's at the Beach. Kelly starts out showing her and the group in utter jubilation ... ready to down some Mai Tais.

Soon enough, she's leading everyone -- including other tables in the patio -- in a collective cheers, which everyone joins in on. Some guy across the way also throws in a mention of COVID as reason to celebrate, and another fella gleefully observes ... "nobody's wearing a mask!"

Everyone around laughs it up, and then someone in Kelly's group appears to shout "super-spreaders!" ... and Kelly herself seems to repeat it as she cackles away, as do others.

She goes on to sarcastically ask friends of hers at the table if they're allowed to be there, and if they're doing anything wrong ... to which they assure her they're not. It's pretty clear she's doing more than just enjoying the outdoor dining ... Kelly's mocking the virus -- as well as precautions -- now that things are back to "normal."  FYI ... we ain't close to normal.

It's interesting Kelly's this open with her contempt over the lockdown -- because just a month and change ago ... she was apologizing on Andy Cohen's 'Watch What Happens Live' for comments she'd previously made about COVID, including saying it was God's way of "thinning the herd."

We got another UFO sighting on our hands here in L.A., folks -- but this one stands alone, as it offers some the best clear shots we've seen of what appears ... well, you make the call.

An eyewitness shot these photos last Saturday while heading south on the 101 Freeway, just outside of Thousand Oaks as she was approaching Westlake Village around sunset. We're told she was on her phone when she saw this thing hovering in the sky, flying in the same direction she was heading ... with a group of lights trailing behind it.

The eyewitness says she shot three consecutive photos as quickly as she could, and as you can see ... the unidentified object appears to have changed positions, both tilting ever so slightly and moving to a new spot in the sky. We're told this UFO was only visible for a few seconds, before it literally vanished into thin air. We know ... far-fetched, right?

That's what we thought too -- but we've been assured these photos are NOT altered, and they show what they show. We were skeptical -- thinking these could've been tweaked in Photoshop -- so we had one of our art gurus take a closer look to see what she thought.

Turns out, our own photoshop wiz seems to agree ... these don't look like fakes.

Our graphic artist tried an experiment with stock images of "glowing discs," "UFO's" and "flying saucers" ... to see if the images could be manipulated in a similar fashion as the tipster's photos. She concluded it would be hard to cut/paste these images with the exact angles of the tipster's images. So, these photos do appear to be legit ... or at the very least, probably not photoshopped.

We also reverse image searched these pics, BTW, and couldn't track down ANY that were exactly the same -- so again, it lends credence to the idea these were taken on the spot, without being doctored after the fact.

So, where does that lead us in the end??? Welp, depends on what you want to believe. On its face, this looks to be a straight-up UFO sighting. IF that is in fact the case -- who woulda thought Hollywood had it right all along in its depictions?!?

Some Chinese officials have rolled out a whole new way to test for COVID-19 -- and it entails bending over and spreading 'em ... something we can now see in a test run.

You might've heard of this by now, but you haven't seen it quite like this -- check out this video of a Chinese health official demonstrating how their new anal swabbing method works ... doing the deed on none other than a life-size dummy, who is oh-so-compromised.

The doll -- which is weirdly wearing pajamas for some reason -- is bent over with its heinie out in the air and its arms spread out, almost like it was getting checked for weapons at a prison intake session or something. Eventually, the scientist goes in.

The guy dips the swab in a saline solution -- standard practice for this methodology -- and then inserts the cotton-end into the hole. He gets in there pretty deep -- an inch or so give best results, they say -- and then gives it a nice little twist for good measure before pulling out and putting in a plastic sample tube.

No big, right?!? Eh, not exactly ...

While some Chinese experts insist the anal swab test is much more accurate at detecting the 'rona -- a lot of people aren't too happy about the surprise screenings they're being subjected to at airports in parts of northern China, including in the country's capital of Beijing.

Word is this is NOT a country-wide mandated test, but it seems like some provinces and whatnot are running it on their own terms as they see fit -- and folks don't appear to have much of a say in the matter. If they suspect someone's exposed, they can request it.

They can either administer it to you on the spot, or they'll let you keep your dignity and sometimes let you do a self-test in the privacy of a room, before they cut you loose.

A friend of 'Bachelor' Matt James body-shamed one of his contestants -- Victoria Larson -- but she doesn't really seem to care all that much ... if anything, she's almost excusing it.

We got Victoria Friday night in Bev Hills and asked her about Matt's golfing buddy making a remark about her body in a surfaced clip that was apparently shot after his season wrapped. The guy's name is Jerry, and he seemed to be trying to distract Matt.

Shortly after the clip was posted, Victoria wrote ... "Cute... I love my body :)" and later posted a body shot of herself in a bikini, to silence the haters. Plus, she threw up a meme of men commenting on beautiful women's bodies ... almost as commentary.

As fired up as she seemed at the time, Victoria was NOT nearly as enthusiastic to shut down the body-shaming in our clip ... like we said, she almost chalked it up to "boys will be boys" or "locker-room talk." She didn't use those words exactly, but the sentiment was there.

Watch for yourself ... she tells us she actually doesn't think it was Jerry -- the dude who made the comment -- who shamed her, and she gets that in a competitive environment, sometimes you say things to throw your opponent off. Hmmm ... okay.

She went on to write off all the talk of it as "noise" ... and when we asked if she hoped Matt himself had learned his lesson, and if the franchise would try to get more inclusive ... Victoria was careful not to cast a stone, actually praising Matt and dodging the question.

It's interesting ... Matt was silent in the moment when his buddy made the body comment about Victoria, but was later quick to condemn it during an appearance on "The Real." He said he needed to surround himself with better friends, but he didn't seem all that bothered by it in real-time.

"Sex and the City" star Jason Lewis got into a heated argument with his neighbor after the actor was caught firing a weapon to scare some feral cats away, but the gun wasn't loaded with bullets.

Jason was clearly upset over cats that were abandoned after one of his neighbors died this past September. Another neighbor has been feeding the felines every day, but according to the neighbor, Jason was pissed off because the cats were pooping in his yard.

The neighbor apparently caught Jason shooting in the vicinity of the strays, and that triggered a heated argument.

Jason explained he was shooting grains of rice in the direction of the cats, not to hurt them but rather to show them he means business. That did not sit well with the neighbor.

Jason, who also appeared in "90210" and "Charmed," told the neighbor he didn't aim for the cats but rather shot in their general direction to scare them. The neighbor says it's undermining her efforts to get the cats to trust her so she can find them new homes.

Jason tells TMZ, "Everyone who knows me knows my love of animals. I've tried for months to work with a person who is coming into the neighborhood and feeding a large group of feral cats in an effort to relocate them as they have been filling the yards with fleas and waste."