You Might Want to Rethink

Actor Eddie Deezen is being accused of harassing a waitress who claims he went scorched Earth on her over her eyelashes, of all things ... but he claims her peeps are cyberbullying him now.

So, here's the deal ... Deezen -- best known for playing nerdy Eugene Felsnic in the original 'Grease' films -- apparently went on Facebook earlier this week and wrote a lengthy post blasting the waitress in his hometown of Cumberland, Maryland.

So weird, but in a nutshell, he went on a rant about loving when she wears fake eyelashes on days he goes into her restaurant ... but hates when she doesn't wear them. Deezen even said he'd walk out if she didn't wear 'em.

The waitress, Kara Lashbaugh, called Deezen a creep for the repulsive Facebook post. Then, a couple of days after putting him on blast ... Deezen accused Kara of spreading rumors about him and getting him banned from a couple of restaurants in town.

Deezen also says he's been inundated with vile private messages from her friends. Even though he started this ridiculous beef, Deezen's claiming Kara just wants 15 minutes of fame because he's "a fairly well-known person."

Kara tells us she has not filed a police report, but is planning to meet with a lawyer to see what she should do going forward.

Deezen's attorney, Adam Hirshfield, tells us the actor feels like his life is in danger following the cyberbullying -- but police have told him he'll need to file for a no-contact order in court, if he's that concerned.

Coke Daniels is all for people comparing his film "Karen" to Jordan Peele's "Get Out," but to say he ripped it off? Coke essentially says get the hell outta here with that take!

The writer/producer tells TMZ ... they're 2 totally different films. His about an entitled white, racist woman who tries to run a Black family out of the neighborhood, while "Get Out" is about a mixed-race couple visiting her super-creepy family.

However, it didn't stop people from talking trash. One person said on Twitter, "Jordan Peele only has two films under his belt as a director and he already has people trying to copy his formula."

Now, Coke will cop to the idea that the films do share a similarity in genre ... and the director thinks THAT is what haters were really describing after the trailer dropped on Tuesday.

ICYMI, they slammed "Karen" -- starring Taryn Manning in the creepy lead -- as a wannabe "Get Out." The criticism was so intense, Jordan Peele's name started trending on Twitter.

Coke noticed all the social media buzz, took a screenshot of several posts and captioned it, "Trending on Twitter!! Keep comparing Karen to Get Out! We’ll receive that!"

Alex Rodriguez is in close proximity to his ex, Jennifer Lopez, this summer -- but potential face time with her wasn't his intention when he signed the lease ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to A-Rod tell us ... his $200k/month rental in the Hamptons -- is all about shortening his commute and getting R&R. Yeah, they're about a mile or so from each other, but we're told that's more coincidence, than convenience.

In case you hadn't heard, Alex will be chilling in this beautiful fortress of a house in a very exclusive 'hood -- yes, even for the Hamptons -- in a gated community, and features all the bells of whistles of luxury. Seriously, it's a palace.

There are 7 bedrooms, 4 baths, a movie room, a game room, pool and spa, a waterfall and yeah ... it's overlooking the water nearby. Also, he is indeed about 3 minutes from Jen's own Hamptons home in town.

While some have theorized A-Rod was trying to cozy up to J Lo -- maybe to try rekindling their romance -- our sources say his summer pad is great for his ESPN gig, calling Sunday Night Baseball games.

Every week he has to be in-studio in Bristol, CT ... which is way easier commute to from the Hamptons than Miami. Also, we're told he's got buddies in the Hamptons, including his T-Wolves co-owner, Marc Lore. Fact is, it's just where celebs and rich folks go every summer.

Michael B. Jordan almost went the way of other celebs when it comes to booze and cultural appropriation -- but he saw the early warning signs, and decided to pivot.

The actor's been under fire since this past weekend for photos that leaked, apparently showing him at some sort of a launch party for a new rum line, with which he seemed to have a direct connection. The rum was called "J'ouvert" -- the name of a traditional Caribbean festival, akin to Carnival.

The photos seriously pissed off some people -- especially those with Trinidadian roots, where J'ouvert is said to have started -- who accused MBJ of cultural appropriation, exploitation and outright insensitivity in trying to commercialize something to which he has zero ties.

There were rumblings he might have partnered with someone with a Trinidadian background for this venture -- but even still, it didn't look good ... and Michael was silent for days over it.

Now, he's finally speaking out and promising to rebrand in the near future, writing in part ... "I just wanna say on behalf of myself and my partners, our intention was never to offend or hurt a culture (we love & respect) & hoped to celebrate & shine a positive light on."

Jenn Harley's side hustles on Instagram are evaporating faster than her neighbors can call 911 on her ... and it all stems from her domestic violence arrest.

A rep for Bellesa -- a sex toy and porn company that caters to women -- tells TMZ ... the company's cutting all ties with Ronnie Ortiz-Magro's ex-GF, saying it's appalled by the news she allegedly pointed a gun at her new BF, dropped the n-word and threatened to kill him.

Jenn's partnership with Bellesa called for her to promote one of its sex toys on IG. For instance, on Mother's Day weekend she posted, "Moms deserve to relax too!" ... and alerted followers to hit her up for a free toy or gift card.

Her deal to pimp the famous Bentley Trike (stroller/bike) is also in jeopardy -- a rep for Posh Baby and Kids, the distributor, says they've suspended the partnership, and will terminate Jenn's contract if the allegations prove true.

Company prez Deepak Raghavan says "These incidents go against the values of our company. We don't condone this behavior."

As we reported ... Jenn and her BF, Joseph Ambrosole, recently got into a heated argument in Vegas that included her leaving him stranded on the side of the road before things allegedly got so much worse when they got home.

According to the arrest report ... Jenn pointed a gun and threatened to shoot Joseph while dropping the n-word. Cops say Joseph told them that Jenn said "I'll shoot you n***a," and "I'll kill you right f***ing now," before cocking the gun.

She was ultimately arrested and booked for domestic violence and assault with a deadly weapon.

Toronto will now be without one of its best pitchers for FIVE games ... MLB has just hit Alek Manoah with the ban after they say he "intentionally" drilled an opponent with a heater.

Manoah -- after giving up back-to-back home runs in Saturday's Blue Jays vs. Orioles game -- threw a 93 MPH fastball that beaned Maikel Franco right in the shoulder area.

Given that he had just let up two straight bombs ... Baltimore felt Manoah hit Franco on purpose -- and an all-out brawl nearly ensued.

Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed before any punches were thrown ... but Manoah was ejected nonetheless -- and the MLB clearly felt Tuesday, that it wasn't enough punishment for the 23-year-old righty.

MLB officials announced Manoah "has received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing at Maikel Franco."

They added Manoah's manager, Charlie Montoyo, was also receiving a one-game ban for his role in the incident.

Manoah will appeal, however, which means his suspension will not go into effect until that process is completed.

Macy Gray says what went down on January 6 is the main reason why she wants to redesign the American flag, because she feels the insurrection violated Old Glory and turned it into a symbol of hate.

The "I Try" singer joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to elaborate on her controversial call to update the U.S. flag in a way she believes is more inclusive ... including adding 2 stars for D.C. and Puerto Rico and changing the star colors from white to the shades of the melanin scale.

Macy says after the U.S. Capitol was breached on Jan. 6 by Trump-supporting insurrections who used the flag as "their badge and symbol," she feels differently about it ... and thinks many others do too.

For that reason, she seems certain the time is right for an Old Glory overhaul ... and points to the fact that it's already been redesigned 26 times in our nation's history.

Macy says she's never seen the country transform as much as it has the past 2 years -- and not in a good way -- so changing the flag to better represent everyone is her goal. She's hoping the government hears her cry for unity and inclusion.

As we reported ... Gray penned an op-ed last week in which she said the American flag has replaced the Confederate flag as a hate symbol ... due to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

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.