NCAA Basketball Tournament New Women's Weight Room Revealed ... Still Pretty Crappy

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The NCAA delivered on filling in the women's weight room ahead of the start of the big tournament in San Antonio -- but even this isn't quite enough by comparison to the men.

The "upgraded" weight room was revealed Saturday on ESPN's College GameDay show, where correspondent Holly Rowe showed off the new digs. Yes, there are more weights and equipment scattered about ... but it still feels pretty hollow compared to Indianapolis.

Here's another weird thing ... Rowe goes out of her way to point out that the area that Ducks forward Sedona Prince filmed in her now-viral video isn't technically meant to house weights or be a training room, per se -- but rather, a place for players to confer and "loosen up."

Rowe says she'd been told the carpeted space Prince panned across is actually the compliment area to the practice court -- and yet, even that has been littered with more dumbbells, racks and row machines ... albeit sparingly. Rowe then showed off what she described as the actual weight room -- implying that Prince mighta been misinformed.

She says the space Prince was in was always meant to be a complement space next to the court, despite the fact there was a meager set of dumbbells in the middle of the floor to begin with. Weird way to spin it.

The "real" weigh room, as it's now being described, looks super slapped together and about as makeshift as can be -- and doesn't seem much different than where Prince filmed. All these rooms look like conference rooms, so who the hell knows. That said, there is a bit more equipment here ... but again, it's not nearly as robust as the men's facility at all.

It's interesting ... Rowe seems to be saying the actual weight room she's showing off was there all along, but she does say the NCAA upgraded that space too. So the question then becomes ... what's the truth??? In our eyes, it seems the weight room(s) -- whether it was the one Prince thought she was in or the one Rowe's showing now -- both sucked.

The NCAA admitted as much, saying they did, indeed, fall short in providing equitable equipment/space to the men's and women's teams ... and that they'd try to fix it ASAP.

This appears to be a quick Band-Aid fix -- unclear if they plan to bring in even more stuff as the tournament kicks off Sunday. Either way ... this was a complete blunder on the org's part.

Better luck next year ...

Bill Maher You Want Warnings on Classic Flicks??? Rosemary Denied Planned Parenthood Option

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Now that old movies have warnings at the beginning so viewers can brace themselves for what people dared to do and say back in the day, Bill Maher decided to do some of his own handiwork with warnings ... and it's f***ing hilarious!!!

Maher mused on 'Real Time' Friday night how Turner Classic Movies have such warnings regarding racism, sexism, etc, so he decided to lend a helping hand.

"Sleeping Beauty" -- WARNING: "A prince kisses an unconscious woman without consent."

"The Wizard of Oz" -- WARNING: "A powerful woman of color is murdered by a rural white girl."

"Rosemary's Baby" -- WARNING: "Fails to present Planned Parenthood as a viable option."

And, you gotta see the "Braveheart" warning.

'Real Time' is the best political show on TV, and Friday night was maybe his best show in a long time.

BTW ... some of the films with new Turner warnings -- "Breakfast at Tiffany's," "Psycho," "Gone with the Wind," "My Fair Lady," "Stagecoach," "The Jazz Singer" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers." Pretty much every movie that's at least 5 years old will probably end up with warning. And, the movies today will have warnings in 5 years.

Justin Bieber Ripped for MLK Clips on New Album ... But MLK's Fam Loves it

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UPDATE

9:24 AM PT -- Justin went to the MLK Estate to get clearance for the audio clips, and his daughter, Bernice King, loves how they were used on the album. She tweeted, thanking Justin for his support. Sooo ... take that?

UPDATE

Justin Bieber's crossed a line with his new album, "Justice," and he's getting called out for it -- turns out mixing pop love songs with snippets of Martin Luther King Jr. speeches was not a great idea.

JB dropped the album Thursday night, and the first voice you hear on it isn't his ... it's MLK saying, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Powerful and true words ... no one's questioning that, but it's the fact the speech is used to introduce the love song, "2 Much" that's pissing off a lot of people.

Twitter's teeing off on Justin for the "tone deaf" use of MLK, because, despite its title, the album isn't about social justice. It's filled with Bieber's signature pop ballads and dance tunes -- and they're pretty good -- but MLK Jr. has NO connection to them.

There's even a nearly 2 minute "MLK Interlude" track in the middle of the record, which leads into a song called "Die For You." If you're thinking there's a tie-in because of MLK's assassination ... nope! It's just an upbeat diddy about a hot chick.

While no one's gonna question Justin's chops in pop music, he's way off the mark here as a historian.

Originally Published -- 8:41 AM PT

Britney Spears IG Dance Form Shots Fired!!! Abby Lee Miller Talks Smack

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Britney Spears is now the target of one of the harshest dance critics in the world ... Abby Lee Miller.

As you know, Britney posts lots of Instagram videos of herself dancing, but a clip she put up Thursday crossed the line ... at least it did for Abby, who couldn't hold her tongue, and commented, "Close your rib cage!"

The real shocker here? Plenty of people seemed to agree with Abby ... but yeah, lots more are defending Brit and coming for ALM.

For what it's worth, a closed rib cage is said to help dancers with movement, making transitions more fluid and with less effort.

While her approach in critiquing Britney might've been off ... it's hard to argue with Abby Lee's success when it comes to producing dance talent. Miller was certified by Dance Masters of America in the '80s and opened her own studio which later became "Dance Moms" ... which, of course, gave us JoJo Siwa and Maddie Ziegler.

Waiting for your permission to load the Instagram Media.

Britney hasn't responded to Abby's comment ... but we'll see if she takes it into consideration during her next dance video.

Sean Hannity Vaping On Set? Me?? Nooo!!! 😲

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Sean Hannity's guilty of breaking the golden rule: Puff, puff, put down the e-cig before coming back from commercial break, damn it!!! But, at least it created this priceless moment.

Not since the election has the Fox News anchor been this shocked -- looks like Sean was chilling, vaping and reading something during a commercial break of his show Thursday night. Typically, someone would give him at least a 5-second heads-up before coming back live to the studio.

You can tell, Sean totally missed the warning, and then -- looking like a teen caught in his parents' liquor cabinet -- made a poor attempt to hide the evidence. All you could hear for 5 seconds was the stage manager loud whispering, "Sean!" ... trying to get his attention.

He recovered, but the worst part had to be taking some crap from Laura Ingraham when his show wrapped, and hers began.

Remember that golden rule, Sean.

Atlanta Spa Shooting Sheriff Out as Spokesperson ... After 'Bad Day' Backlash

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The Georgia sheriff under fire for saying the Atlanta spa shooting suspect was having a "really bad day" is having a bad day himself ... he's OUT as the spokesperson for the case.

Captain Jay Baker will no longer be giving updates and briefings on the case, according to a CNN report from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office.

Baker's been catching tons of heat for Wednesday's news conference, when he said shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long "was pretty much fed up and had been kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did."

Long has been charged with 8 counts of murder for Tuesday's mass killing of 8 people, including 6 Asian women. Long told cops his alleged attack on massage parlors was motived by his sex addiction, not racism ... a point that has left many unconvinced.

Some folks viewed Baker's comments on Long as insensitive to the victims and wholly inappropriate ... and now the sheriff's office is responding to the backlash by giving Baker the boot.

Rep. Andy Kim Shootings Prove Asian Hate Far Beyond COVID ... Leads to Difficult 'Talk' with Our Kids

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There's a deep-seated hatred for Asian people that goes well beyond Trump's COVID-19 rhetoric ... according to Rep. Andy Kim, who says -- in the wake of the Atlanta shootings -- it's time to confront the issue.

The U.S. Congressman joined TMZ Live Thursday to talk about the mass killing of 8 people, including 6 Asian women, by Robert Long -- who told cops his sex addiction, not racism, motivated his attack on massage parlors.

That claim doesn't sit well with Kim, who says it's not up to Long to make that determination, investigators need to dig and find his real motive.

He also believes the shooter fetishized, over-sexualized and objectified Asian women ... something Asian women live in fear of every day... according to the Congressman.

And, finally, you have to see the heartbreaking story Rep. Kim told us about his 5-year-old son recently dealing with racism at school. He says the painful experience makes it clear Asian-American parents across the country are now being forced to have "the talk" with their kids.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Best Suited to Terminate Aliens ... According to UK Survey

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UPDATE

10:26 AM PT -- Arnold just weighed in on the vote, saying ... "I want to thank the people for putting their faith in me. I am ready to serve."

Arnold Schwarzenegger should be put in charge if aliens ever invade our planet ... according to 2,000 adults in Great Britain.

"The Terminator" star and ex-California Governor topped the list of 20 celebs and public figures in a British survey of who'd be best equipped to handle the doomsday scenario ... with Will Smith coming in at #2.

Both actors are known for their badass movie roles in which they battle bizarre creatures, but apparently Arnold's political experience as "Governator" gave him the edge over Smith's film experience in "Independence Day" and "Men in Black."

Rounding out the top 5 on the list were beloved Brit, Sir David Attenborough, followed by Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise.

Ex-President Donald Trump was the top current politician at #8 -- just behind Harrison Ford and "Alien" star Sigourney Weaver. The bad news for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is the UK survey put him all the way down at #12.

Apparently, the polled Brits have even less faith, though, in America's current administration ... when it comes to handling aliens. VP Kamala Harris came in at #19, while President Biden was last at #20.

The BLAZE TV channel that commissioned the survey says Arnold is a strong top choice, but adds ... "it’s worrying to see that so many celebrities with fictional alien experience are considered by many to be better candidates than our current crop of world leaders."

The same study also found 11 percent of the adults surveyed believe they have seen a UFO ... so maybe take all of this with a grain of salt? Yeah, for sure.

Originally Published -- 8:40 AM PT

Retired Detective Hurls N-Word During Traffic Incident ... LAPD Reviewing His 370 Cases

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HARSH WORDS

A retired LAPD homicide detective caught on video calling a Black man a "dumb n****r" after a minor traffic collision is prompting the police to review all 370 cases he handled during his career.

The man hurling racial slurs during the incident -- which went down last weekend in Santa Clarita, CA -- has been ID'd as John Motto. The LAPD says he's not currently a member of the force, he retired in May 2020 as a detective with the Operations Central Bureau Homicide.

The footage shows heated moments immediately after a car accident ... Motto got into an argument with the other driver, a Black man.

Motto claims the other driver used the n-word first, which he feels made it okay for him to then use it -- but Motto also added, "Go back into your little cage until the monkey controller gets here."

He's then used the n-word, again, to insult the other driver.

The LAPD says it's launched an internal investigation "to ensure there is no current Department nexus to this incident." It adds, "What is seen in the video is not reflective of the thousands of hard working and dedicated men and women of the Los Angeles Police Department."

The L.A. District Attorney's office says they will be reviewing Motto's past cases ... presumably to see if there's any evidence racial bias might have affected them.

Shark Trafficking NY Man Convicted ... Backyard Pool Full of Sharks!!!

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Well, this bites for a NY man -- not as much as his odd pets -- but he's been convicted of trafficking sharks, which he kept in an above-ground pool in his backyard!!! Again, this is NY, not FL.

NY Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday the conviction of Joshua Seguine ... who pled guilty to illegal commercialization of fish, shellfish, crustaceans and wildlife with intent to sell 7 sandbar sharks ... which is a protected species in NY state.

Seguine was fined $5,000. Authorities say they first got whiff of all this in July 2017 after he was busted for driving without a license in Georgia, and cops found 5 undersized sharks in a large tank in the back of his truck.

Authorities say Seguine admitted he was transporting the sharks to NY to sell them. He also admitted to possessing live sharks at his house. The AG's Office says authorities later discovered Seguine operated the website MonsterFishKeepers.com and conducted his biz under the name Aquatic Apex Life LLC.

When authorities served a search warrant at his NY home they found 7 live sharks in his backyard pool. They also found 2 dead leopard sharks, one dead hammerhead shark and the snout of a smalltooth sawfish ... also an endangered species.

The live sharks were ultimately moved to the NY Aquarium at Coney Island.

Shaquille O'Neal I Burned My Nuts W/ IcyHot 🔥🔥🔥 ... Tells Hilarious Story!!

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CODE RED

Shaquille O’Neal’s first experience with IcyHot is something he will literally NEVER forget!!

The NBA legend shared the hysterical (and painful) story on the “Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend” podcast … explaining he was once forced to leave an NBA game early after a team trainer used the blue gel “too high” when treating an injured leg.

“I always used to see IcyHot in the locker room, and one day I kind of had like a thigh bruise, and the guy rubbed it, but he rubbed it too high.”

“During the game, my little guys started getting hot -- like, really hot. Like, I thought something was wrong.”

Shaq says the pain eventually got so intense ... he couldn't continue hooping.

“It got to the point where I was like, 'Hey man, I think I need a doctor. My little guys are on fire.'"

O'Neal says he left the court and made a beeline for the showers ... but the water only spread the IcyHot around ... making the situation wayyyy worse.

Thankfully, Shaq says there was a janitor in the locker room ... who suggested he use milk to kill the burn.

“So now I'm in the shower pouring milk on my boys and the guys coming in, they're looking at me like, 'What the hell are you doing?'"

The milk? Well, it worked ... and Shaq knew firsthand the pain-relieving product did too.

So, he signed an endorsement deal with the company ... and many years and big checks later, Big Diesel still works with the brand.

Alexa, play “Burn” by Usher 😬😬😬🔥🔥🔥

Virginia Tech Hoops Coach Trashes Jehovah's Witnesses ... Apologizes Hours Later

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"We’re not playing the Jehovah’s Witness All-Star team here. We’re playing the [Florida] Gators, man."

What a stupid thing to say, right?!

Well, the man behind that idiotic quote is Virginia Tech basketball coach Mike Young ... and guess what, he's apologizing now!

Young was addressing the media during an NCAA Tournament news conference Tuesday ... when he was asked about his mindset going into the team's 1st round game against the Florida Gators.

"We’re not playing the Jehovah’s Witness all-star team here. We’re playing the Gators, man. We’re playing the Gators."

Get it ... Young's insinuating that a team full of Jehovah's Witnesses would be trash compared to the Florida Gators.

Someone wanna clue in Coach Young about Serena Williams -- perhaps the most dominant athlete on the planet ... who also happens to be a Jehovah's Witness?

Obviously, there are many examples of talented JW athletes -- but that's not the point. The point is, it was a stupid and offensive comment. And, within hours, Coach Young was apologizing.

"Earlier today on the NCAA Tournament conference call, I attempted to show my respect for our upcoming opponent, the University of Florida. Regrettably, I didn’t articulate that sentiment in an appropriate manner," Young said.

"I apologize for my insensitive remark and am sincerely sorry for anyone I may have offended."

Virginia Tech (#7 seed) is set to take on Florida (#10 seed) on Friday -- and when the season ends, Mike should probably stop bashing talented JW players and start recruiting some instead.

Virginia State University School Prez Destroys 1-on-1 Opponent ... In Campus Showdown!!!

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Makola M. Abdullah, Ph.D. is the esteemed President of Virginia State University.

... AND HE CAN BALL, SON!!!

The Prez was leaving his campus office when he was approached by a student named Afo -- who's pretty well known for staging fun pranks and viral videos around the school.

Afo's bit of the day was approaching people with a basketball for an impromptu game of 1-on-1 to see if random people would square up on the spot.

Afo balled up a woman in a tight red dress, a security guard and others -- but when he approached President Abdullah, that's when the tables turned!!

The President smacked the ball right out of Afo's hands and proceed to ball out -- even removing his fancy jacket to show he wasn't messing around.

But, the best part was the NUTMEG at the end that had Afo on skates!!! It was awesome!!!

It was all in good fun -- and the two even snapped a pic together afterward.

Afo tweeted, "I’m not gonna lie, it took a lot for me to post this. He definitely got me tho."

President Abdullah also weighed in -- saying, "You already know it's all love. I can't wait until everybody is back on campus."

We spoke with President Abdullah who tells us he's just a recreational player who loves the game -- and had a blast messing around on campus.

He praised Afo as a "fantastic kid" who's a talented entertainer and a scholar who's expected to graduate soon.

As for a possible rematch, Abdullah put it this way -- "I don't know if my knees will let me do it twice! I think I might have gotten just enough out of these knees. I'm going to retire now."

#BallisLife

VP Kamala Harris This Blows!!! Gets AF2 Replacement After High Winds

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Vice President Kamala Harris is taking to the skies to plug the COVID relief package -- and in addition to GOP pushback, she's also fighting severe weather ... so bad, she had to get a new ride.

Check out these photos of the Veep and the Second Gentleman, Doug Emhoff, waving goodbye to spectators Monday as they boarded AF2 at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland ...

All was good as they departed to Vegas, as you can see, but check out the shot of them eventually landing in L.A. ... something is clearly missing: the Vice Presidential seal has vanished!

The wind -- whipping around and tossing Kamala's hair every which way -- ripped the seal clean off the aircraft. They seem to be deplaning the exact same way they came in, and yet ... no official marker can be seen. So, at first glance ... ya might not have known who was touching down at LAX.

We kid, of course ... any reporter who was there certainly knew it was Kamala and Doug. Still, it makes you wonder how they're plastering those decals onto AF1/2 ... is it Velcro???

Anyway, because of mechanical issues with yesterday's carrier ... VP Harris had to use another plane on Tuesday to go about her travels. Fun fact for those who didn't know: the new plane is also called Air Force Two -- whatever aircraft she's in gets that title.

As for the new Vice Presidential emblem ... here's hoping that sucker's glued on today.

Kyle Kuzma Earthquake Made Me Air Ball My Shot ... 'I Got Scared'

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L.A. Lakers star Kyle Kuzma gave a perfectly reasonable explanation for air-balling a FREE THROW against the Warriors Monday night ... saying a nearby earthquake messed up his shot.

Only one problem -- THERE WAS NO EARTHQUAKE!!!

The hilariously bad moment happened halfway through the 2nd quarter ... when Kuz -- a career 72% free throw shooter -- lined up on the charity stripe to shoot a technical free throw ... and the dude completely missed the rim!!

The Warriors bench let Kuz have it ... with Draymond Green erupting in laughter!!

So ... what the heck happened?!

The 25-year-old forward dug deeeep into his bag of excuses to try and justify his embarrassingly bad shot ... blaming the whole thing on seismic waves.

"San Francisco had a 3.5 magnitude earthquake," Kuzma said after the game. "S**t started rumbling. I don’t know. I got scared, and it went far off to the left."

Of course, there was no earthquake ... and Kuz tried his best to maintain his poker face throughout his fib ... but eventually cracked and broke out in a smile.

It wasn't all bad for #0, though ... Kuz ended up with 17 points in the Lakers' win.

We'll give an "A" for creativity ... but the airball?? Yeah, that gets an "F."

Pete Davidson I'm Still Not Married ... Don't Believe the Hype

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Pete Davidson is NOT married, despite a news release stating he founded a production company with a longtime lady friend and got hitched.

Here's the deal ... a production company called Bodega Cats, claiming to be Pete's, sent out a press release Tuesday with a bombshell -- the 'SNL' star got hitched with a childhood friend.

The release said ... "Pete and Michelle were childhood friends prior to starting Bodega Cats Presents and are married." Say, what?!?

First thing first ... Pete's reps told us he didn't get married, and the press release was quickly yanked.

Additionally, sources close to Pete tell us he does NOT have a production company either, and he doesn't know the person who sent out the release.

Pete's attorney tells us, "We are investigating and considering all legal and equitable remedies."

As you know ... Pete's come close to marriage before. He had a real engagement to Ariana Grande, but they broke up before they could walk down the aisle.

He's also got a ton of famous exes like actresses Kate Beckinsale and Margaret Qualley, model Kaia Gerber and Larry David's daughter, Cazzie, but hasn't said "I Do" to anyone.