Controversial S#!T

Richard Dreyfuss' transphobic rant was seemingly premeditated -- 'cause the guy was at a store right before he hit the stage and was trying on dresses ... and we got the video.

TMZ has obtained surveillance footage from the end of May ... showing Richard being helped by a number of staffers at Worthy Girl Consignment in Beverly, MA -- where he later got onstage and made a number of controversial remarks, including against trans folks.

As you can see -- the employees are seen helping the Oscar winner as he tries on 5 different looks ... smiling and laughing with those in the store before finally picking one.

Jay Leno is railing against the light punishment for most perps caught stealing catalytic converters as the L.A. crime wave is turning deadly ... specifically with the recent murder of "General Hospital" actor Johnny Wactor.

The stand-up comic and renowned car guru tells TMZ ... it's outrageous the penalty for ripping off converters -- usually a $1,000 fine amounting to just a misdemeanor charge -- isn’t vastly harsher.

JL adds ... The slap on the wrist most thieves receive -- if they even get nabbed -- is the reason they're so brazen.

Angel Reese has been fined by the WNBA after the Chicago Sky's game against the Indiana Fever ... but, it's not for what most fans might think.

The league announced a fine for the rookie for skipping media obligations postgame ... dinging her $1,000 for not making herself available to reporters. They've also fined the Sky $5k.

Of course, Angel clearly applauded a cheap shot foul her teammate Chennedy Carter hit Clark with during the game Saturday, and some may have thought the league would reprimand her for that ... but, so far, that's not the case.

Katy Perry knows how to switch things up ... she has turned Kansas City Chief's Kicker Harrison Butker into a butt-kicker in support of women's and LGBTQ+ rights!

Katy posted an extreme edit of Butker's Benedictine College commencement speech, where he essentially said a woman's place is in the home and the movement for LGBTQ+ rights was downright dangerous.

You gotta listen to Katy's version ... Harrison sounds like AOC!

Jason Kelce's taken a bizarre stance on X ... claiming he never washes his feet and people shouldn't trust "Big Soap" -- and, many are taking it as a shot at his bro's teammate.

The former Eagles center took to the popular social media site Saturday and engaged a troll who claims JK doesn't wash. Instead of letting the insult lie or firing back, Jason seemed to play into it, writing "What kind of weirdo washes their feet..."

It's a perfect way to handle a troll, ya gotta say ... agreeing with the joke to take its power away -- but, then the big man doubles down on his wisecrack.

A Texas elementary school has reportedly been rocked recently by two major scandals involving staff ... with revenge porn and murder on the menu.

The nightmare began to unfold at Adriane Mathews Gray Elementary School near Houston when one of the female teachers shot a video of her bare breasts while surrounded by a bunch of children's books and toys on campus.

Another clip -- filmed by the teacher -- showed her yanking down her pants and removing her panties to expose herself in a bathroom.

Robert De Niro's latest round of Trump-bashing has cost him a new accolade -- 'cause an org says they're taking back what they planned to give him ... and they're citing his politics.

The actor was all set to receive an award next week in D.C. from the National Association of Broadcasters -- namely, the NAB Leadership Foundation's Service to America Award ... and it seems Bob's appearance in NYC this week pre-Trump conviction is the key issue here.

They say, "This event is proudly bipartisan, uniting those from across the political spectrum to celebrate the impactful work of local broadcasters and our partners."

Donald Trump is using his soapbox to decry the guilty verdict rendered against him in New York -- calling it a sham and corrupt, while also insisting ... he wanted to get on the stand.

The ex-Prez spoke to the media anew Friday at Trump Tower in NYC -- his first official press conference since he got convicted Thursday on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records ... something he says was absolutely ridiculous, with the deck stacked against him.

DT rattled off what he thinks he did in terms of Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels -- characterizing the alleged hush money payment as nothing more than a standard business expense that was on the up and up -- and went on to slam the judge ... while also laying the blame for this case being brought at Biden's feet.

Chris Evans is clearing the air after a picture of him signing what some claimed to be a bomb went viral -- which is good, considering everything going on with Israel-Gaza.

Captain America shut down social media speculation that he was apparently signing an Israeli bomb for use in Gaza -- taking to an IG Story Thursday to clarify those claims were BS ... adding the photo was actually taken during a USO tour back in Dec 2016.

Chris says he participated in the trip alongside a group of actors, athletes and musicians to express gratitude to U.S. service members ...  and that what he signed was commemorative.

1:35 PM PT -- Mets manager Carlos Mendoza addressed the decision to designate Lopez for assignment ... saying the team has standards and his actions would not be tolerated.

9:48 AM PT -- Lopez is clearing the air on his comments ... saying he was really calling himself out, not his teammates.

"Who ever hear me I said teammate and what I said on the situation I been the worst teammate thanks media for make it worse," he wrote on Instagram.

A bad outing for Mets reliever Jorge Lopez got worse and worse as the night went on ... 'cause not only did he throw his glove into the stands after getting ejected, he also unloaded on his team in a post-game interview -- and now, he's losing his spot on the roster.

The whole meltdown started shortly after Lopez gave up a two-run home run to Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani amid the Mets' late-game collapse ... when he started arguing over a checked swing call during the next at-bat.

Lopez got in a heated argument with the third-base ump over the ruling ... which resulted in him getting booted from the contest.

The Notorious B.I.G.'s mom, Voletta Wallace, thinks Diddy needs a motherly pimp slap after the Cassie video ... and she says she'd love to be the one who delivers it.

Ms. Voletta gave Rolling Stone her unfiltered opinion on the heels of their engrossing report on Diddy's alleged past at Bad Boy -- as well the explosive video that showed him beating Cassie at a hotel in 2016 ... and she rained down disappointment as if he was her own son.

She says ... "I hope that I see Sean one day and the only thing I want to do is slap the daylights out of him. And you can quote me on that. Because I liked him."

8:22 AM PT -- A rep for the Trump campaign tells TMZ ... "This is a completely fabricated and bull*** story that was already peddled in 2016."

They add, "Nobody took it seriously then, and they won’t now, because it’s fake news. Now that Crooked Joe Biden and the Democrats are losing the election, they are bringing up old fake stories from the past because they are desperate."

Rumblings about Donald Trump allegedly saying the n-word have circulated for years -- but now, an ex-producer on "The Apprentice" is definitively claiming ... yeah, he said it.

We're just getting over the hump in the week, but we're still rolling with some fire TV takes.

Let's start out on "TMZ Live" ... where Harvey and Charles discussed the latest development in the Diddy saga -- namely, the fact that a grand jury has been convened in the ongoing federal investigation ... and that prosecutors are apparently bringing in witnesses to talk.

Harvey Weinstein may be facing new criminal charges ahead of his rape retrial -- but whether they come through or not ... the guy's eager to get before another jury to clear his name.

The disgraced Hollywood mogul was in court Wednesday in NYC, where prosecutors told a judge they were weighing the possibility of slapping him with new charges before his scheduled retrial, which is set to get underway sometime in September.

The reason ... the Manhattan D.A.'s office says more women have come forward in the aftermath of his 2020 trial, and they're in the middle of sorting whether their claims can be vetted and legally pursued ... noting there might be a statute of limitations issue at play.

Diddy got blasted by dozens of ex-associates and colleagues in a bombshell report -- but he's still got at least one person in his camp ... one of the singers from his old musical trio.

"Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta" alum and Diddy-Dirty Money member Kalenna Harper was interviewed for Rolling Stone amid their 6-month investigation ... and she was one of the few who defended him, this while also crapping on all the Bad Boy artists who were piling on.

Kalenna not only praised her time working with Diddy, but she scoffed at the Bad Boy alums who blamed him for flatlining their careers ... which was a recurring theme in the RS piece.

UFC star Sean Strickland just went off on Tom Brady ... calling the NFL legend a "p***y" in a crass rant filled with all kinds of homophobic and misogynistic language.

The former middleweight champion didn't hold back when he was asked for his thoughts on Brady's "The Greatest Roast of All Time: Tom Brady" at UFC 302 media day earlier Wednesday ... ripping the ex-Patriots quarterback for nearly a minute.

The fighter's beef with TB12 appeared to be over the way the former signal-caller expressed regret over some of the jokes about Gisele Bündchen and their family.