You Might Want to Rethink

IKEA is under fire after one of its stores in Atlanta allegedly listed fried chicken and watermelon as menu items for its employees to supposedly honor Juneteenth.

The furniture giant reportedly sent an email to employees last week alerting them that "to honor the perseverance of Black Americans and acknowledge the progress yet to be made" it was also going to roll out a special menu.

And that's where IKEA dropped the ball BIG TIME ... because the so-called special menu -- again, for a holiday commemorating the end of slavery -- included fried chicken, watermelon and mac n' cheese ... some of those items, of course, perpetuate racial stereotypes.

An employee, who wished to remain anonymous, told CBS46, "You cannot say serving watermelon on Juneteenth is a soul food menu when you don’t even know the history, they used to feed slaves watermelon during the slave time."

The outrage led to 20 employees calling out from work. Word that workers were furious quickly began to spread at the store and it ultimately reached the store manager ... who sent out another internal email apologizing. The menu was ultimately altered to include cornbread, mashed potatoes and meatloaf.

An anonymous employee reportedly said none of the coworkers who sat down to create the menu was Black, but we reached out to IKEA and a spokesperson refutes that ... saying there were Black co-workers involved, but it offered no further details.

The spokesperson added, "We value our co-workers' voices and changed the menu after receiving feedback that the foods that were selected are not reflective of the deeply meaningful traditional foods historically served as part of Juneteenth celebrations. We got it wrong and we sincerely apologize."

T-Pain says Usher summoned him some years back just to casually let him know he had torpedoed the music biz by popularizing autotune ... which T says sent him into depression.

The 'Buy U a Drank' singer recently told the tale on Netflix's new docuseries 'This Is Pop' -- detailing what he claims was a seriously cold-ass encounter in 2013. Watch how T-Pain describes the alleged put-down ... apparently, they were both flying in the same airplane on the way to an award show, when T says he was called to Mr. Raymond's seat. They exchanged pleasantries, and then T-Pain says Usher laid in.

According to T, Usher believed T-Pain had tainted professional singing for guys (like Usher) who use their natural voice, and he supposedly said it with a straight face.

T-Pain says he was shocked and that, before he knew it, he realized he'd fallen into a depression, which he says lasted 4 years -- something he seems to be attributing to the Usher moment itself. It's a wild story.

Of course, people are jumping to T-Pain's defense in light of this, assuring him he not only did NOT ruin music, but might've actually revolutionized it ... considering every other famous rapper/singer these days uses some form of autotune.

And, for argument's sake ... even if you agree with Usher's sentiment, why break it to someone in that manner, and so randomly??? Seems like a jerk move -- on its face, anyway. We'll see if Usher offers a different version of the story.

El Mago looked more like El No Recuerdo on Monday ... 'cause Cubs star shortstop Javier Baez lost track of the outs during an inning, and was then promptly benched over the blunder.

Baez looked straight-up ridiculous during the bottom of the 4th inning of Chicago's game against the Indians ... when the 28-year-old thought there were 2 outs.

You can see in the clip of the play ... after Anthony Rizzo hit a pop-up to left field, Baez began circling the bags completely unaware there was only 1 out prior to the at-bat.

Baez was then promptly doubled off at first base ... and after he didn't seem to care too much about the mistake, his manager yanked him.

Cameras caught David Ross having a deep conversation with Baez about the play in the dugout ... and it wasn't hard to see Baez wasn't happy with Ross' decision to bench him.

The Cubs went on to lose the game 4-0.

Afterward, though, Baez vowed to be better going forward, saying, "[Ross and I] talked about it. We’re on the same page. I’ll be there tomorrow to help the team."

Added Ross, "We had a good conversation, and I think that’s behind us ... Javy’s really important to this team."

Tough scene for Javier ... but hey, remember when he made this play just a few weeks ago???

Billie Eilish is both apologizing for and clarifying a recent video that surfaced of the singer using an Asian slur and seemingly mocking Asian accents ... saying the clip isn't entirely as it appears.

Eilish came under fire last week after a TikTok showed her mouthing the Asian slur "c***k" as she sang along to Tyler, the Creator's song, "Fish." The song's entire verse is, "Slip it in her drink and in the blink, of an eye, I can make a white girl look c***k."

The mashed-up video then shows Eilish speaking gibberish, which many believed to be her mocking an Asian accent.

In an apology Monday, Billie said the video was from when she was 13 or 14, "I mouthed a word from a song that at the time I didn't know was a derogatory term used against members of the Asian community. I am appalled and embarrassed and want to barf that I ever mouthed along to that word."

She says the song was the only time she had ever heard that word, and it was never used by a member of her family or anyone else around her.

As for the second part of the clip, Billie says she was absolutely in no way mocking Asian accents, and it was simply a language she made up -- using it with pets, friends and family -- she says, "Regardless of how it was interpreted, I did not mean for any of my actions to have caused hurt to others and it absolutely breaks my heart that it is being labeled now in a way that might cause pain to people hearing it."

'Bad Girls Club' star Judi Jai hates karaoke ... just ask her neighbor who told cops she smashed his karaoke machine in a booze-fueled rampage that ended with her behind bars.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, cops got a call Saturday morning about "shots fired" at her Atlanta-area home. When they arrived, cops were greeted by Judi, and after running her name ... found an active warrant for her arrest.

We're told she was wanted for allegedly making terroristic threats about shooting a cop.

Cops detained her while they investigated her allegations ... which included accusing her neighbor of shooting his firearm at her home and shattering her front window. She also claimed the neighbor shot her, but cops say they didn't see any wounds to back that up.

One totally relevant sidenote ... cops say Judi admitted "she had been drinking Don Julio and that she was drunk." That might explain what the neighbor told cops went down -- that while he was on his front porch listening to music, Judi allegedly walked out of her place, grabbed his karaoke machine ... and then banged it against her own front window until it shattered.

Cops say they saw pieces of his karaoke machine on her living room floor, but they did not see any shell casings ... just the shattered window.

Cops ultimately cited her for criminal trespass and hauled her away. She posted bond the next day. It's not the first time booze has been linked to problems for Judi. As we reported ... she blamed alcohol for her suicidal tweets in October, 2020.

As for this weekend, Judi's sticking to her story, telling TMZ ... her neighbor smashed her window with a bat. She says she initially thought the glass shattered due to him firing his gun.

President Trump allegedly had a radical idea about how to deal with Americans in Asia who had contracted the coronavirus in the early pandemic days -- don't bring them home, send them to Guantanamo Bay.

That's what the ex-Prez is accused of in a new book written by a pair of Washington Post journalists based on interviews with more than 180 people with knowledge of Trump's response to COVID-19 ... including senior White House staff and health leaders.

According to the book ... as Trump's team debated bringing infected Americans home to receive care, he instead suggested the infamous U.S. military prison in Cuba.

Trump reportedly asked those in the Situation Room in Feb. 2020, "Don't we have an island that we own? What about Guantanamo?" The book alleges Trump then made a comment about how America imports goods -- not viruses -- and claims he didn't want to increase COVID numbers on U.S. soil.

The President's aides shot down the idea after Trump suggested it a second time, citing concern for how it would look for American tourists to be quarantined at the same place where the country holds terrorism suspects ... according to the book.

The unveiling of the already-controversial Marilyn Monroe statue in Palm Springs drew tons of protesters ... who see it as a misogynistic eyesore.

City officials held a ceremony Sunday night to unveil the 26-foot tall stainless steel monument dubbed "Forever Marilyn" -- an art piece the city hopes will draw scores of tourists this summer to boost local revenue.

However, several dozen detractors were there chanting "Hey hey! Ho ho! Misogyny has to go!" ... and "Exploitation! Exploitation!"

Their main beef is that Marilyn's underwear can be seen when standing behind the statue.

Emiliana Guereca, executive director of Women's March Foundation, told the Desert Sun, "When you exit the museum, the statue is designed to look at her crotch and look at her buttocks and take photos. And that is no longer acceptable."

She added, "It may have been acceptable in the 1950s, but we are in 2021 fighting the same thing and women are saying enough is enough."

Remember, while the statue is based on a scene from Marilyn's movie, "The Seven Year Itch" ... there was a Change.org petition floating around demanding the statue's removal because folks claimed it encouraged upskirting and, by extension, predatory behavior.

Other protesters took issue with the statue's location ... saying that it should have been installed at one of the downtown parks and NOT in front of the museum that forced the closure of a street that led up to the museum.

As we reported ... the Palm Springs Art Museum also took issue with the installation and worried people would think the statue is part of the museum's collection. It's not, and it's more than 100 yards away from the museum's exit.

Chrissy Teigen just gave John Legend a shoutout for Father's Day -- but she also seemed to give some insight into her own state of mind ... and it sounds like she's drained, literally.

The embattled model and social media star -- who's been in a war of words lately due to her bullying scandal -- posted a sweet FD tribute to John, whom she snapped posing with both of their kids, Luna and Miles.

She captioned the pic, "There are no words. Only tears that I am fresh out of. To our everything, we love you forever." It's a nice sentiment, but also ... fairly revealing too.

As we're sure you're aware by now -- Chrissy's been fighting off accusation after accusation of bullying by folks like Courtney Stodden, Michael Costello and Farrah Abraham, just to name a few. Some came even after she issued her latest apology ... and it's gotten ugly.

Costello, specifically, alleged she bullied him to the point he entertained suicidal thoughts -- and he posted screenshots of DM's that he claimed showed Chrissy telling him to die. Chrissy, meanwhile, has accused him of doctoring those DMs ... calling them bogus.

Steve-O's getting back to "Jackass" basics -- doing something incredibly vile and stupid, but also hilarious ... all to the delight of his fans, who were happy to donate to his cause.

The stunt performer and comedian says he's been working on a homemade Sasquatch suit for more than 2 years now, and by homemade he means ... made entirely out of pubic hair.

Problem is, Steve-O's own body's not capable of producing enough body hair for his Bigfoot suit, so earlier this week he decided to call on "dudes with lots of pubic hair" to contribute to his vision ... and boy, did they come through for him.

The "Jackass" star held a pube-shaving party Thursday night in Carlsbad, CA ... with the only requirements being that the fellas had to be 18 or older, have a nice man bush, and bring their own razors.

From there, Steve-O took matters into his own hands ... collecting pubes from all over his volunteers -- armpits, crotches and even some ass hair -- and depositing it all in a large plastic bag.

Disgusting? Check. Hard to look away? Also, check. We'll say this ... it's an impressive amount of hair he hauled in, and Steve-O clearly viewed this as mission accomplished.

Machine Gun Kelly and Travis Barker do not seem to be afraid of heights -- because they went waaay up for an impromptu performance ... and then, MGK went a little bit higher.

The two rockers strutted their stuff Saturday afternoon for a rooftop concert at Venice Beach ... which they told their fans about last minute, in what turned into a flash mob type event that tons of people came out for, or simply caught live if they happened to be in the area.

Kelly was on lead vocals and guitar, while Trav handled the drums (obvs). The duo -- who are also dating some of the hottest female stars in Hollywood, Megan Fox and Kourtney Kardashian -- appeared to be promoting a new song of theirs, "A Girl Like You," which is on the season 1 soundtrack for Amazon's "Paradise City."

Their show seemed to go off without a hitch -- with MGK shouting out Travis and also giving a nod to what appears to be the tail end of the pandemic here in the States ... something the crowd certainly agreed with, as mostly everyone is dealing with COVID fatigue.

However, there were moments during the concert where Kelly got up onto the speakers near him -- balancing while also rocking out. It was cool and all, but also ... high-key freaky. One misstep, and the dude could've taken a nasty tumble and hurt himself -- maybe worse.

All's well that ends well, though -- MGK ended up fine ... and not just, he was met with a crush of people waiting to greet him on his way out -- which we caught on video as well.

There's no question -- he's a rock star ... and got the appropriate treatment upon his exit.

Victoria's Secret is doing both a good thing and kind of a dumb thing by replacing their "Angels" with strong female ambassadors ... so says noted Fenty model Slick Woods.

We got Slick -- who's famous for her preggo catwalk in 2018, and giving birth shortly thereafter -- out and about Friday night near Hyde in WeHo ... this during an UOMA Beauty event by Sharon Chuter. Good setting to talk fashion and sex appeal, no doubt.

Of course, our cam guy had to bring up VS's decision to rebrand themselves with new spokeswomen -- including Megan Rapinoe and Priyanka Chopra Jonas, among others -- while also doing away with their winged models, seemingly for good. Slick's take is ... interesting.

Check out her answer for yourself -- at first, she seems to be against the move ... wisely noting that, despite all the progress we've made as a society, sex sells at the end of the day.

BTW, that's not necessarily a bad thing either ... according to Slick, anyway. She says if you use that primal truth for good causes -- like what Victoria's Secret appears to want going forward -- then it's simply a means to an end. She's got a great example about getting people's attention.

We're not trying to put words in SW's mouth, but she *seems* to be saying what VS is doing with this new crop of women might not be the most effective way to get asses in seats for their goals big picture, in a manner of speaking. Then comes the curveball.

A now-viral video has been making the rounds of what many say is a real-life sighting of an actual werewolf in Africa, which was apparently shot dead ... but the whole thing is BS.

The clip that's got people buzzing surfaced seemingly out of nowhere this week, and it shows what appears to be the body of a lycan -- subspecies of a werewolf in monster mythology -- dead on the ground in the middle of the night, bleeding from its face ... lying motionless.

There's a man narrating, speaking in what seems to be Hausa -- which folks took to mean this alleged killing took place somewhere in Nigeria ... and it's freaking everyone out.

Different users saw this and spread it like wildfire -- warning locals in the area to be on the lookout, sounding the alarm without really questioning the source ... or its veracity. Luckily, somebody came to the table with the truth -- and that would be ... this is a big fat hoax!

The clip that everyone is seeing is dubbed over, as the original is actually part of what seems to be a short film from Portugal called "Lobisomem Morto a Tiros" ... which translates to "werewolf shot to death." Very original, we know. It was thrown up on April 1 by a user named Cloud Wolf ... who's got an entire YT page dedicated to the legendary creature.

As for how the hell this thing *looks* so real ... you can chalk it up to great SFX work, courtesy of freelance sculpture artist Joseph-Rob Cobasky -- who's got photos up on his IG with his creation on the table (Frankenstein-style). Obviously, it's a top-notch job -- especially since everyone thought it was the real McCoy. A testament to the quality, indeed.

The makeup team from "An American Werewolf in London" are probably nodding with glee -- 'cause Joseph's take on a werewolf ain't all too different from what they cooked up in '81.

Saweetie seems to be responding to Quavo's suggestion that he did, indeed, repo a Bentley he'd gifted her during their relationship ... by one-upping him with a new Rolls-Royce.

The rapper was photographed with RR's Client Experience rep Cassidy von Seggern -- with the two ladies posing in front of a Rolls that Saweetie appears to have just purchased, and which was being delivered to her in the Hollywood Hills, with champagne glasses in tow.

Cassidy captioned the pic ... "She a real bad bish, drive her own RR ✨#icy" -- which is a double-entendre ... referencing both Saweetie's song with Doja Cat, "Best Friend," while also alluding to a pickup line Quavo used to holler at Saweetie way back when. Well played!

Saweetie responded to Cassidy's post, writing ... "My girl ! 🤩❄️." Now, it's unclear if Cassidy posted this at Saweetie's behest, or if she did it of her own volition -- but in any case, Saweetie definitely seems to appreciate the gesture ... and the subliminal clap-back.

Now, for a bit of context ... because this Bentley chapter is long and winding. We're sure you remember the drama in the fallout of Saweetie and Quavo's messy breakup -- when it was reported that, in apparent retaliation for how things went down, Quavo repossessed the whip he gave her on her birthday last year. We were told by people in his camp there was NO truth to it -- but the man himself seems to have contradicted that ... with a new song.

In the Migos track "Having Our Way," Quavo raps a bar that goes, "Load up the bases, now I feel like Cal Ripken (Ayy) // She had it her way, now she out of a Bentley (Skrrt)."

While he didn't name-drop her specifically, he didn't really need to -- he's obviously referencing Saweetie's Bentley ... and appears to be hinting that, yeah, he took it back.

Macy Gray thinks America's ready to walk away from its national flag, and even though we may stumble ... she thinks it's for the best, and that the time has come for a new design.

The "I Try" singer penned an op-ed this week for, of all outlets, MarketWatch ... in which she made the case for giving Old Glory a facelift -- because, as she puts it, the current version is "tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect" ... just like the Confederate flag, apparently!

Macy's justification basically lies in a couple of points -- one, she says the American flag's rep was dragged through the mud (permanently, and beyond repair) due to the events of Jan. 6 ... when a bunch of MAGA truthers carried it high, alongside Trump flags, into the Capitol.

She also says that numerically ... the stars are off, and should be adjusted to 52, to take D.C. and Puerto Rico into account -- which have been lobbying for statehood for a good long while now. Lastly, she suggests some color changes ... to reflect modern-day America.

Here's what she has in mind -- in addition to adding a couple of stars -- for her vision of Old New Glory. For starters, she thinks the stark white stripes should be off-white ... and that the stars themselves should be changed to reflect every skin tone of melanin in our fine nation.

She says the blue square and red stripes -- which stand for vigilance/perseverance and valor, respectively -- can stay ... because she believes the U.S.A. is still very much that.

Monica Lewinsky -- the most famous intern of all time -- tried getting in on the fun over HBO's own intern screwing the pooch, but people are pissed because ... the Clintons.

The onetime White House aide, who was embroiled in a salacious affair with then-President Bill Clinton, tweeted out a "Dear Intern" message of her own ... this as scores of people did the same to console an anonymous HBO Max intern, who'd gone viral for the wrong reasons.

ICYMI ... a strange email was sent to a ton of HBO Max subscribers earlier this week -- which read, "This template is used by integration tests only" ... which many took as a mistake, perhaps at the hands of a newbie who made an error and hit the wrong button.

HBO Max came out and confirmed that was, in fact, the case ... saying they were "helping them through it" -- so no harm, no foul it seems.

Folks chimed in with "Dear Intern" notes, giving the HBO intern advice ... while also reflecting on their own intern snafus. Monica did the same -- writing ... "dear intern: it gets better. P.S.: don't wear a beret for a while, k?" Pretty funny, right?!? WRONG!!! Or so says Twitter, anyway.

Different users dogpiled ML for what they perceived as her making herself out to be the victim of a saga that's more than 20 years old at this point ... and not just that, but indirectly roping Hillary into the conversation -- which some take as subtle shade on Monica's part.

While scores of people defended HRC and the Clinton family at large against the seemingly innocent joke -- others were quick to point out that the anger aimed at Monica is misguided and totally misdirected ... as they say she WAS a victim, and the true culprit is ... Bubba.

White people can't help lying and stealing everything in sight -- from entire countries, to cultures, right on down to vegetarianism and yoga ... so claims a controversial psychiatrist who openly admits to homicidal fantasies.

Dr. Aruna Khilanani went on the attack against ALL white people again ... calling them "psychopathic" due to what she sees as a never-ending stream of lies dating back to their so-called "discovery" of America.

Khilaniani, who practices psychiatry in Manhattan, told Marc Lamont Hill on his show, "Black News Tonight" ... "Every time you (whites) steal a country, you loot, you say you discovered something."

Khilaniani also said colonialism is all about "sanitizing the violence" that was required to steal from Indigenous people -- which is far from a controversial statement. However, she extrapolated even further, adding ... "You discovered vegetarianism, you've discovered yoga. Everything is a discovery and it's all actually stolen!"

Keep in mind, this is the same doctor who came under fire after an April lecture to Yale students, during which she admitted having violent fantasies about shooting and killing white people.

Her lecture, entitled, "The Psychopathic Problem of the White Mind" pissed off Yale educators, and unleashed a flood of negative reviews of her NYC practice ... some of which accused her of anti-Semitism.

Here's the thing ... Khilaniani has valid arguments about the violent nature of colonialism, but they're undermined by her overt embracing of violence, and ridiculous arguments ... about things like vegetarianism.