Controversial S#!T

A transgender high school runner won a state title over the weekend, but instead of a rousing ovation, the athlete was met with a chorus of boos ... with spectators voicing their displeasure over the track star's participation in the event.

The controversial incident happened Saturday at the Oregon School Activities Association track and field championships in Eugene ... where McDaniel H.S. sophomore Aayden Gallagher raced girls in the 200-meter finals.

Gallagher trailed, but a late push saw her cross the finish line in 23.82 seconds, just ahead of the second-place runner.

6:11 PM PT -- OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman tells TMZ ... “The voice of Sky is not Scarlett Johansson's, and it was never intended to resemble hers. We cast the voice actor behind Sky’s voice before any outreach to Ms. Johansson. Out of respect for Ms. Johansson, we have paused using Sky’s voice in our products. We are sorry to Ms. Johansson that we didn’t communicate better.”

Scarlett Johansson appears ready to go to legal war (again) -- only now, it's all about ChatGPT's newest voice sounding eerily similar to her ... and she says that's no coincidence.

The actress came out swinging Monday on the heels of OpenAI -- the creator of ChatGPT -- yanking their newest feature of their hottest commodity ... namely, suspending AI voices they recently trotted out, including one that many said sounded just like ScarJo.

They dubbed the new voice Sky ... and many felt it eerily mirrored Scarlett's AI character in 2013's "Her" -- where Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with a computer that sounds human.

There are lots of reasons to drag Diddy over his video apology -- the public outrage is still fresh over what he did to Cassie -- but when it comes to him not saying her name in the mea culpa ... there's a legal reason he couldn't.

As you know, Diddy and Cassie reached a settlement one day after she filed her sexual assault lawsuit against him in November -- and sources familiar with the agreement tell TMZ ... it includes a very strict NDA, which prevents both of them from speaking about each other in public.

You'll notice -- since the release of the 2016 beating video -- you have not seen or heard Cassie trashing Diddy, as you'd expect.

Kid Rock is pushing his provocative persona to erratic new levels -- at least according to a new feature by Rolling Stone ... which claims he waved a gun around and said the n-word.

The outlet dropped a fresh piece that chronicled an interview with the rapper Sunday ... where KR is described as brandishing a firearm to the reporter, as well as dropping the racial slur a number of times while talking about politics and the history of the Republican party.

Per the journo, David Peisner, KR ranted at him after drinking several Jim Beam/Diet Coke cocktails ... at which point he allegedly pulled out a handgun from behind a leather chair. Kid Rock allegedly yelled ... "And I got a f***ing goddamn gun right here if I need it ... I got them everywhere!"

Diddy's apology video for his brutal 2016 assault of ex-GF Cassie Ventura has blossomed a ton of new opinions and commentary ... from Bad Boy associates and beyond.

Kelly Price -- who recorded with Diddy and the late Notorious B.I.G. several times in the '90s -- didn't cast the disgraced mogul out completely ... offering up prayers of encouragement on social media, while commenting underneath his upload this weekend.

The gospel singer's benevolence while the Cassie video is still on top of people's minds didn't sit well with many though -- and the intense backlash forced Kelly to clarify herself in a 12-minute rebuttal, with her message being ... hate the actions, love the man in a nutshell.

Simone Biles is tired of hearing the trolls chirp about her husband ... telling Jonathan Owens' critics this weekend to "f*** off."

The gymnastics star took to Instagram to send the message to the haters on Sunday night ... after they had crawled out yet again following the NFL player's appearance at her competition on Saturday in Hartford, Connecticut.

You'll recall, the NFL safety has received heat from fans ever since he referred to himself as "the catch" in the couple's relationship while doing an interview on the "The Pivot" back in December ... and when he was shown on TV as "Simone Biles' Husband" at the event over the weekend, the negative comments cropped up again all over social media.

The chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court is gunning for Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Hamas leaders ... accusing each side of crimes against humanity in the ongoing war.

Karim Khan -- who's heading up this effort -- broke the news Monday ... saying his office is now applying for arrest warrants for each side of the conflict -- a couple for Israeli's Prime Minister including its Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, and three on the Hamas side too.

For Hamas ... the ICC wants to arrest and charge leader Yahya Sinwar and two other high-ranking officials -- Al-Qassam Brigades and Ismail Haniyeh. All are accused of war crimes.

Diddy's uttering his first words about the videotaped beating of Cassie ... saying he "takes full responsibility for his actions," and claims he's already gone to rehab.

He posted a video Sunday morning, looking directly into camera, he said, "It's so difficult to reflect on the darkest times in your life, but sometimes you gotta do that. I was f***ed up. I mean, I hit rock bottom."

He says he's not making any excuses for his behavior -- the brutal March 2016 assault on his then-girlfriend Cassie while they were staying at the InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles. The surveillance video -- obtained by CNN -- showed Diddy chase her down a hallway, grab her by the back of the neck and hurl her to the ground .. where he kicked her and dragged her.

Joe Budden's explaining a controversial cut to a recent episode of his podcast... diving into why he edited a segment about Diddy, and asserting he's not in Diddy's pocket.

The hip hop commentator says he was live on "The Joe Budden Podcast" Friday when CNN posted the video of Diddy assaulting Cassie from 2016. The episode was uploaded Saturday with the description promising Joe would discuss it.

But, he never touched on it ... completely editing out the segment. Upset fans demanded answers, and JB organized a discussion on Twitter Spaces to address the controversy.

Ryan Reynolds' new movie "IF" must have a lot of imaginary friends in the crowd ... 'cause it's tanking at the box office despite the star-studded cast.

Deadline reports the movie made just $10.3 million on Friday -- including previews -- and, it's headed for just a $30 million opening ... lower than initial estimates projected.

Plus, another negative for the creative new picture ... critics seem to want it to disappear like a kid's IF when they grow up -- it's currently got a shockingly low 49% on Rotten Tomatoes despite its all-star cast.

Cynthia Nixon's reflecting on the early days of "Sex and the City" ... remembering the show's doubters -- who said she and her castmates didn't seem like real women.

The actress -- who's played Miranda Hobbes in numerous incarnations of the show over the last couple decades -- reflected on the series during an interview with Page Six, calling out trolls for questioning the show's authenticity.

The way Nixon tells it ... early criticism of the show included a claim parroted by many detractors who she says claimed women didn't talk as openly about sex as the dialogue suggested.

"Goodfellas" may not have aged so well to some audiences ... receiving a trigger warning from the AMC over outdated stereotypes -- and, it's causing an online backlash.

Ken Lovett -- a former reporter for the New York Post -- shared a picture of a trigger warning he says played right before the flick on TV to X earlier this week ... warning audiences about potentially offensive content in the Martin Scorsese film.

The warning cites "language and/or offensive cultural stereotypes that are inconsistent with today's standards of inclusion."

An ex-federal prosecutor is weighing in on Diddy's assault video -- and she says while this isn't necessarily a smoking gun in the investigation he's facing, it certainly doesn't help him.

We talked to Katie Cherkasky -- who's had years of experience with these sorts of legal matters -- on "TMZ Live" Friday ... where she declared that the now-viral video, in which Diddy can be seen beating Cassie -- should make him and his camp worried.

Katie says the tape gives credibility to Cassie on multiple fronts -- both in the public eye, but also with the feds who are drilling down into major allegations against Diddy right now.

1:13 PM PT -- A rep for InterContinental Hotels & Resorts tells TMZ ... "This hotel is no longer under IHG management, and we do not have any access to prior incident records or footage."

10:56 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... there is no record cops can track down as it pertains to this 2016 incident at the InterContinental, so it doesn't appear to have been mentioned to cops in a police report, or otherwise reported to the authorities.

In terms of cops opening a case on this now, LAPD tells TMZ ... For cases before January 2020, it's a 3 year statute of limitations -- and after January 2020, it's 5 years. In other words, there's no chance cops will dive into this specific incident for potential criminal charges at this point, at least as far as the LAPD is concerned.

Diddy brutally beat up his ex-girlfriend Cassie at a hotel in L.A. 8 years ago -- something she detailed in her lawsuit ... and which we're now seeing for the first time on camera.

Faye Dunaway's owning up to her rep for being a bit of a handful ... but she says there was more to it than just her being difficult, 'cause she was actually dealing with bipolar disorder.

The "Bonnie and Clyde" legend dives deep into her diagnosis in a new Cannes Film Festival doc about her life called "Faye" which premiered Wed -- and she reveals a team of docs really dug into her behavior, hooked her up with some meds and it helped her a lot.

Faye says she finally understood the reason for the way she was ... adding, "It’s something you need to be aware of, you need to try to do the right thing to take care of it.”

Congress is truly devolving into an episode of the 'Jerry Springer Show' -- 3 notable legislators went back and forth trading nasty insults during an official hearing, and all it was missing were flying chairs and Steve Wilkos.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene locked horns with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Jasmine Crockett while they presided over the House Oversight Committee hearing about a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.

Check out the video ... Greene kicked off all the craziness by asking the committee's democratic wing if they employed Manhattan Criminal Court Justice Juan Marchan's daughter. As you know, Marchan is the sitting judge in Donald Trump's hush money trial.