Controversial S#!T

Don Lemon says the most detrimental presidential candidate Americans could elect isn't Donald Trump ... but rather Nikki Haley.

The former CNN host joined us Friday on "TMZ Live," and said he thinks there's good reason to sound an alarm on Haley's campaign ... saying she's a more dangerous candidate than Trump.

Don says it's a case of the devil you know versus the devil you don't ... calling out Haley for being unclear on her views, flip-flopping on Trump's insurrection and ripping her track record on abortion and racism.

The way Don sees it ... we've already survived one Trump presidency, and Haley presents a new set of unknowns that might end up being worse than anything Trump ever did.

It's another shot at Haley from Don ... as we reported, he blasted her on social media Thursday for leaving slavery out of her answer on the cause of the Civil War.

Haley's apologized and asked for grace, something Don says is hypocritical.

Remember, Don and Nikki had beef when he was at CNN ... he called her past her prime, and says she showed him no grace for his poor choice of words ... which he's said was just a prime case of misspeaking on live television.

Don's speaking out on political issues for the first time since leaving his post at CNN ... and he says he can finally speak his mind about all candidates, including Republicans.

While he says he doesn't want Trump back in office, and Haley might be worse ... he tells us why Chris Christie is earning his respect, even though he disagrees with most of his policies.

La estrella de "Bling Empire" Jessey Lee acaba de anotarse una gran victoria legal sobre su ex esposa. Ella lo acusó de abusar de ella y sus hijos, pero la solicitud de una orden de restricción ha sido desestimada.

De acuerdo con nuevos documentos legales obtenidos por TMZ, la solicitud de Crystal Hoang Lee de una orden de restricción contra Jessey ha sido desestimada.

TMZ publicó la historia, la ex esposa de Jessey presentó una orden judicial de protección contra él a principios de este mes, entregando impactantes acusaciones de violencia contra él.

Crystal, que una vez estuvo casada con Jessey y tiene dos hijos con él, afirmó que golpeó a uno de sus hijos porque el niño no se iba a dormir. También le acusó de haberle provocado un aborto involuntario, pero sus documentos no entraban en más detalles sobre esa acusación. Al final, el juez desestimó todas las acusaciones por falta de pruebas.

En su solicitud de orden de alejamiento, Crystal también acusó a Jessey de golpearla, de abandonar a su familia para irse a jugar y de desarraigar a los niños. Debemos mencionar que un juez de Texas ya le había concedido la custodia temporal completa a Jessy antes de que Crystal solicitara la TRO.

El juez denegó la solicitud de Crystal de una orden de restricción temporal y fijó una audiencia para la semana pasada y ahora el juez la ha desestimado por completo.

"Bling Empire" star Jessey Lee just scored a huge legal victory over his ex-wife... she accused him of abusing her and their kids, but her request for a restraining has been tossed.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Crystal Hoang Lee's request for a restraining order against Jessey has been dismissed.

TMZ broke the story ... Jessey's ex-wife filed for court-ordered protection from him earlier this month, leveling shocking allegations of violence against him.

Crystal, who was once married to Jessey and has 2 children with him, claimed he hit one of their kids because the child wouldn't go to sleep. She also accused him of causing her to suffer a miscarriage, but her docs didn't go into further detail on that allegation. In the end, the judge dismissed all allegations for lack of evidence.

In her restraining order request, Crystal also accused Jessey of hitting her, leaving their family to go off and gamble, and uprooting the kids. We should mention, a Texas judge had already awarded temporary full custody to Jessy before Crystal even filed for the TRO.

The judge denied Crystal's request for a TRO and set a hearing for last week ... and now the judge has dismissed it altogether.

No deal in the history of the NFL has been more awful than the one the Broncos made to get Russell Wilson ... at least, that's according to ex-NFL general manager Michael Lombardi, who tells TMZ Sports Denver's trade for the QB "is going to go down as the all-time worst."

The former Cleveland Browns decision-maker didn't mince words when discussing Wilson's benching with us this week ... explaining he believes the Broncos' 2022 swap with the Seahawks will now go down as a historic blunder.

"When you add the contract and the trade," Lombardi said, "it's the worst of all time."

The Broncos gave up a bevy of picks -- including a first-rounder and a second-rounder -- plus three other players in the move to acquire Russ before the '22 season. They then signed the 35-year-old to a massive $245 MILLION contract extension.

But, Russ played terribly in 2022 ... and wasn't all that much better in 2023 -- which forced Sean Payton to sideline him this week for Jarrett Stidham.

The head coach's decision likely signals the end of Wilson's Denver tenure -- and with it all but over, Lombardi's ready to dub it the most disastrous NFL deal ever.

Lombardi said prior to the Broncos' move, there had been other historically bad ones -- including the Vikings' infamous 1989 trade with the Cowboys for Herschel Walker -- but he said "none of those trades had contracts attached to them that impact the salary cap in future years."

"Russell will move from Denver," Lombardi said. "But his cap problems will remain for two more years."

Illinois star Terrence Shannon Jr. has been suspended from the Illini men's basketball team after he was charged with rape, the university announced Thursday.

According to the school, Shannon Jr. turned himself in to police in Douglas County, Kansas, on a warrant for his arrest this week ... after he was accused of sexual misconduct while he was in Lawrence back in September for Illinois' football game against the Jayhawks.

The school said Shannon Jr. was "not in Lawrence on official University business, nor was he a member of the University's travel party" when the alleged incident happened.

Jail records show Shannon Jr. posted $50,000 bail shortly after cops placed him in custody on Thursday.

The basketball player's attorney, Mark P. Sutter, said in a statement his client is innocent ... writing, "Since September, when these allegations surfaced, Terrence has cooperated with law enforcement throughout the investigation, declaring his innocence from the beginning."

"Now, several months later, my office learned that formal charges were filed against him yesterday in Lawrence, KS," Sutter added. "In less than 24 hours, my client responded, and he voluntarily surrendered to local authorities for processing and release. Terrence is innocent of these charges, and he intends to take his case to trial."

Shannon Jr. just transferred to Illinois last season after three years at Texas Tech -- and he's become the Illini's best player.

Dwayne Johnson NO es el virgen de In-N-Out Burger que dice ser.

"The Rock" publicó un divertido video a principios de esta semana afirmando que estaba probando In-N-Out Burger por primera vez. El clip generó mucha atención y resultó ser buena publicidad para la cadena.

Mientras disfrutamos de la producción de Dwayne y su entusiasmo por las hamburguesas In-N-Out, las patatas fritas, el proceso de drive-thru sin problemas y sus amables empleados, nos dimos cuenta de que ha hecho esto mismo antes.

De hecho, esta es la TERCERA vez que Dwayne menciona ir a In-N-Out por primera vez.

Curiosamente, Dwayne publicó un video en Instagram en agosto de 2022 documentando una comida de In-N-Out Double-Doubles, patatas fritas y su propia marca de tequila.

Por supuesto, Dwayne mezcló tequilas reposado y blanco en el mismo vaso para lavar su In-N-Out el año pasado, así que tal vez se olvidó de todo el asunto.

Pero luego está el hecho de que The Rock también publicó sobre su "primera" experiencia en In-N-Out en 2017, esa vez fue solo una selfie con un par de empleados de In-N-Out en la ventanilla de autoservicio.

En su publicación de febrero de 2017, Dwayne añadió un largo pie de foto explicando que su esposa y su hija querían In-N-Out. También prometió "destruir múltiples hamburguesas" si su película "Moana" ganaba un Oscar unos días después... bueno, la película no lo consiguió.

Así que Dwayne ha estado en In-N-Out y ha probado la comida antes de afirmar esta semana que estaba teniendo su "primera experiencia" en la popular cadena.

Anthony Bourdain dijo una vez que conseguiría más likes en las publicaciones de IG sobre In-N-Out que en las fotos con grandes celebridades y parece que Dwayne también quiere algo de eso.

Dwayne Johnson is NOT the In-N-Out Burger virgin he claims to be.

"The Rock" posted a fun video earlier this week claiming he was trying In-N-Out Burger for the first time ... leading to a lot of attention, headlines and pats on the back.

While we enjoyed Dwayne's production and his zest for In-N-Out hamburgers, fries, the smooth drive-thru process and their friendly employees ... we noticed he's done this same thing before.

In fact, this is the THIRD time Dwayne's mentioned going to In-N-Out for the first time.

Funnily enough, Dwayne posted a video on Instagram in August 2022 documenting a cheat meal of In-N-Out Double-Doubles, fries and his own brand of tequila.

Of course, Dwayne mixed reposado and blanco tequilas in the same glass to wash down his In-N-Out last year ... so maybe he forgot about the whole thing.

But then there's the fact The Rock also posted about his "first" In-N-Out experience back in 2017 ... that time it was just a selfie with a couple In-N-Out employees at the drive-thru window.

In his February 2017 post, Dwayne added a long caption explaining his wife and daughter wanted In-N-Out. He also promised to "destroy multiple burgers" should his "Moana" movie win an Oscar a few days later ... well, the movie came up empty.

So, Dwayne's at least been to In-N-Out and tried the food before claiming this week he was having his "first ever" experience at the popular chain.

Anthony Bourdain once said he would get more likes on IG posts about In-N-Out than pics with huge celebs ... and it seems Dwayne's wanting some of that engagement too.

1:00 PM PT -- Just in case you didn't catch it first time, Trina is doubling down for all the "dusty crusty" types ... Beyoncé is her rap GOAT and there isn't a woman walking the earth who's gonna force her to change her opinion!!!

Trina is crowning Beyoncé as the best female rapper in Hip Hop's 50th year ... while acknowledging the "Renaissance" singer only raps in her spare time.

The bold pick came at this year's OneMusicFest in Atlanta when Trina credited Beyoncé for "opening the landscape" for female rapper's success in recent years.

Trina says Beyonce's rap alter-ego birthed inspiration for future female rappers around the globe and she gushed over Mrs. Carter's bars and rhymes.

Beyoncé has been known to bust a flow over the years ... she and her hubs Jay-Z released a joint album in 2018 and snagged a Grammy nomination for their single "Apeshit."

Trina's praise of Beyoncé didn't end with her mic skills ... the Miami rapper mourned the end of the Renaissance Tour and stated everything from the rap girlies has been basic ever since.

Let's hope Beyoncé has a big 2024 planned so Trina doesn't feel the void in the female rap scene much longer!!!

Nikki Haley podría necesitar un curso de repaso de la historia de Estados Unidos... la candidata presidencial republicana para 2024 no mencionó la esclavitud como catalizador de la Guerra Civil.

La ex gobernadora de Carolina del Sur estaba hablando con un grupo de votantes en Berlín, Nuevo Hampshire, el miércoles, cuando un hombre le preguntó qué causó la Guerra Civil estadounidense. Nikki entregó una escueta respuesta, diciendo que el gobierno estaba infringiendo los derechos de las personas.

Aquí está su respuesta completa: "Quiero decir, creo que la causa de la Guerra Civil fue básicamente cómo el gobierno iba a funcionar. Las libertades y lo que la gente podía y no podía hacer".

Como ves, Nikki no mencionó en ningún momento la palabra esclavitud, que la mayoría de la gente sabe que fue el motivo de la guerra entre la Unión y la Confederación.

Haley preguntó entonces al hombre qué creía que desencadenó el conflicto, lo que le llevó a responder: "No me presento a presidente".

Haley siguió con una respuesta aún más insípida, diciendo: "Creo que siempre se reduce al papel del gobierno y cuáles son los derechos de las personas. Siempre defenderé el hecho de que creo que el gobierno fue concebido para garantizar los derechos y libertades de las personas. Nunca se pretendió que fuera todo para todos".

Teniendo en cuenta todas las reacciones que recibió por sus comentarios, Nikki puede querer aclarar lo que quería decir, ya que viaja por el estado de Granito con cuatro paradas más de campaña.

Nikki Haley may need a refresher course in American history ... the 2024 Republican presidential candidate failed to mention slavery as the catalyst for the Civil War.

The former South Carolina Governor was talking to a bunch of voters in Berlin, New Hampshire Wednesday when a man asked her what caused the American Civil War. Nikki bungled the answer, saying the government was infringing on people's rights.

Here's her full response ... “I mean, I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run. The freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do.”

As you see, nowhere did Nikki mention the word slavery, which most people know was the reason for the war between the Union and the Confederacy.

Haley then asked the man what he thought triggered the conflict, prompting him to reply, "I'm not running for president."

Haley followed up with an even more tone-deaf response, saying, “I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are. I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all people."

Considering all the backlash she received for her comments, Nikki may want to clarify what she meant, as she travels around the Granite state with four more campaign stops.

A Palestinian restaurant in NYC recently opened to some bad reviews – and it's all because of its antisemitic menu.

"Ayat" eatery – which had three locations in the Big Apple -- opened a fourth last week in the largely Jewish Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, upsetting many of the patrons with the offensive language on the menu.

The phrases "from the river to the sea" and "down with the occupation" were scrawled across the menus handed out to fuming customers, who later went on Facebook to blast Ayat's owners for being "openly genocidal."

Of course, everyone knows the slogan "from the river to the sea" has been used as a rallying cry to wipe out Israel. The anti-Defamation League has even labeled the phrase antisemitic.

But, Ayat's owners – Abdul Elenani and his wife, Masoud – chalked it off to a misunderstanding, saying they have "no ill will" toward Jewish people.

In a Facebook post, Abdul wrote that "our interpretation on it is just simply freedom and rights to the Palestinian people between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea." He added, "We're just against the Zionist mentality of, like, eliminate or flatten now."

As you know, tensions have been riding high in the Middle East since October 7th when Hamas militants attacked Israel, slaughtering about 1,400 Jews, including babies.

A day later, Israel declared war against Hamas – a terrorist group governing the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

John Salley says the Ja Morant critics need to pipe down ... telling TMZ Sports he truly believes the NBA superstar didn't have bad intentions when he appeared to do a gun celebration on Tuesday night.

Salley told us the firearm-themed gestures -- which Morant seemed to hit following a thunderous alley-oop dunk in the Grizzlies' overtime win over the Pelicans -- were merely "a part of hip hop culture" ... and nothing more than that.

"He's not saying, 'Forget ya'll -- I got my gun!'" the four-time NBA champion said on Wednesday. "He probably didn't even realize it."

"It's nothing meaning anything," he added.

Of course, basketball fans all over social media have disagreed with that stance -- with many on X calling it a "tone-deaf" situation ... considering the 24-year-old had just served a 25-game suspension for a string of incidents involving gun-related social media videos.

Salley, however, was just sure there was no ill will involved in the post-dunk celly.

"I don't think he's trying to mock anybody," Salley said. "I don't think he's trying to be mean about it."

"Leave Ja Morant alone ... Leave him alone."

Salley also shared with us his opinion on his former Detroit Pistons squad -- which just lost its 27th game in a row on Tuesday night.

La disculpa de Kanye West por sus comentarios antisemitas carecían del estilo animado que el rapero suele utilizar en sus mensajes en línea y se lee directamente de un chatbot de inteligencia artificial.

Después de que Kanye publicó la disculpa en las redes sociales, los fans comenzaron a acusarlo de usar AI para redactar su punto así que hicimos algunas investigaciones... y descubrimos algo impactante.

Hemos introducido la disculpa de Kanye en un detector de contenido de IA, que ha destacado algunas palabras de moda típicamente asociadas con frases de chatbot, como "pido disculpas sinceramente", "no era mi intención herir" y "promover la unidad", entre otras.

El detector de contenido de IA dice que hay un 85% de posibilidades de que la disculpa de Kanye haya sido escrita por un computador.

Recordemos que el día después de Navidad, Kanye sorprendió al mundo disculpándose en hebreo.

La disculpa dice: "Pido sinceras disculpas a la comunidad judía por cualquier arrebato involuntario causado por mis palabras o acciones, no era mi intención herir o faltar al respeto y lamento profundamente cualquier dolor que pueda haber causado. Me comprometo a empezar conmigo mismo y a aprender de esta experiencia para garantizar una mayor sensibilidad y comprensión en el futuro. Vuestro perdón es importante para mí y me comprometo a reparar el daño y promover la unidad".

No suena al típico Kanye, ¿verdad?

Más pruebas de que Kanye recurrió a la IA para escribir su disculpa son que le pedimos a ChatGPT que escribiera una disculpa y después de varias indicaciones y un poco de ensayo y error el ordenador escupió una declaración extrañamente similar a la de Kanye.

Esto es lo que recibimos de ChatGPT, con las palabras que Kanye utilizó en negrita: "Pido sinceras disculpas a la comunidad judía por mi reciente arrebato involuntario. No era mi intención herir o degradar, y lamento profundamente cualquier dolor causado. Me comprometo a aprender de esta experiencia, a promover la unidad y a reparar el daño causado. Vuestro perdón significa mucho para mí".

Por supuesto, Ye tiene un álbum repleto de estrellas —"Vultures"— con Ty Dolla $ign para cerrar el año el 31 de diciembre y entrar a cometir con los gigantes del streaming es la mejor jugada para su regreso musical.

Sabremos con certeza si los fans se creen el mea culpa después de que publique sus cifras de la primera semana.

Kanye West's apology for his tirade of antisemitic comments lacked the animated flair the megastar rapper typically uses in his online posts ... and it reads straight out of an artificial intelligence chatbot.

After Kanye posted the apology on social media, fans started accusing him of using AI to get his point across ... so we did some digging, and made a shocking discovery.

We plugged Kanye's apology into an AI content detector, which highlighted some strong buzzwords typically associated with chatbot phrases ... including "sincerely apologize," "It was not my intention to hurt" and "promoting unity" ... among others.

The AI content detector says there's an 85% chance Kanye's apology was written by a computer.

Remember ... the day after Christmas, Kanye shocked the world by delivering his "I'm Sorry" speech in Hebrew, which translates to a fairly streamlined message.

The apology reads ... "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for any unintended outburst caused by my words or actions, it was not my intention to hurt or disrespect, and I deeply regret any pain I may have caused. I am committed to starting with myself and learning from this experience to ensure greater sensitivity and understanding in the future. Your forgiveness is important to me, and I am committed to making amends and promoting unity."

Doesn't sound like typical Kanye, right?

More evidence Kanye turned to AI to write his apology ... we engaged ChatGPT to write an apology and after several prompts and some trial and error the computer spat out a statement eerily similar to Kanye's.

Here's what we got back from ChatGPT, with the words Kanye used in bold  ... "I sincerely apologize to the Jewish community for my recent unintentional outburst. It was not my intention to hurt or demean, and I deeply regret any pain caused. I'm committed to learning from this experience, promoting unity, and making amends. Your forgiveness means a lot to me."

Of course, Ye's got a star-studded "Vultures" album with Ty Dolla $ign dropping to close out the year on December 31, and getting in the good graces of all the streaming giants is the best play for his music comeback.

We'll know for sure if the fans buy into the mea culpa after his first-week numbers post.

One fan is preparing for the Duke's Mayo Bowl by glugging a bottle of mayonnaise -- and while we're sure his stomach won't be happy with him later today ... it's clear the vibes are high heading into the big condiment-themed contest!!

The college football fan performed the chug just hours before UNC vs. West Virginia kicked off the bowl game on Wednesday afternoon -- and if you've got a weak tummy, video from the scene might not be for you.

In the clips, you can see the dude was partying at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl FanFest near Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte when he grabbed a tube of mayo and got busy.

The fella -- sporting a Nike hoodie and blue jeans -- took a couple shots and didn't flinch -- and the Duke's social media team was so impressed ... they blasted footage of his feat all over X.

While some were grossed out by it all, it did draw positive reviews, with one fan commenting, "I hope my alma mater gets to play in this bowl someday."

Of course, the mayonnaise guzzle will hardly be the most cringeworthy thing to come from today's bowl game -- after all, the winning coach is slated to be doused in the condiment!!

Jaire Alexander's eyebrow-raising actions during Sunday's pregame ceremonies have just cost him dearly ... because the Packers revealed Wednesday they're suspending him for the debacle.

If you missed it, the Green Bay cornerback ruffled some serious feathers over the weekend when he nearly blew the coin toss for his team just prior to its tilt with the Panthers in Carolina.

Alexander unexpectedly joined the Packers' captains at midfield ... called tails, and when he told the refs he wanted to start the game on defense -- it almost cost the Pack a possession.

Thankfully for Alexander and Green Bay, the snafu got cleared up and the team went on to win 33-30 ... but on Wednesday, the Packers made it clear they're furious over the situation.

General manager Brian Gutekunst said the 26-year-old has been banned one game for the incident ... adding in a statement, "Jaire's actions prior to the game in Carolina led us to take this step."

"As an organization, we have an expectation that everyone puts the team first."

Gutekunst also said the team and Alexander had a conversation about the situation Wednesday morning and the org. "fully" expects him "to learn from this as we move forward together."

Alexander has not publicly commented since the ban was announced -- though in a postgame meeting with reporters Sunday, he didn't show much remorse for his actions ... appearing to say he took it upon himself to go out with the captains since the Packers were playing in his hometown of Charlotte.

Alexander is widely regarded as one of the best young corners in the game -- he's made two Pro Bowls in his six-year career -- although injuries have sidelined him for most of this season.