Famous Food

The woman behind the petition demanding James Corden kill his 'Spill Your Guts' segment on the "Late Late Show" says she's facing tons of backlash ... including threats to her life.

Kim Saira, who started the petition that now has more than 45,000 signatures, tells TMZ ... despite tons of support, she's also getting flooded with hate mail, with the angriest critics going so far as to send her death threats on the daily.

Kim says she's also disappointed James' only response to her petition to end what she sees as a racist segment towards Asians ... has been a brief statement when he was on the radio with Howard Stern.

Kim says James could help put an end to the hate coming her way -- some of which she says includes racial attacks -- but she's wondering if he even cares about what she's going through.

As we reported ... the petition accuses James of encouraging anti-Asian racism by "continuously mocking" foods from Asian cultures in his 'Spill Your Guts' segment, a game where he tries to get celebs to answer tough questions, or eat the foods in front of them.

James says the segment will switch up the foods instead of axing it all together, and they'll be going with grub that's bad for diets and staying away from foods associated with different cultures.

A guy in Iowa who wanted to get his dip on during his McDonald's meal went from hungry to dangerously hangry when he discovered his order was missing something ... according to cops, anyway.

Ankeny PD Lt. Rob Kovacs tells TMZ ... Robert Golwitzer Jr. was arrested for making a false report of an explosive or incendiary device -- a class D felony, we're told -- after cops say he called the Mickey D's where he'd just picked up an order of nuggets and said he hoped the restaurant would blow up ... because they forgot his sauces.

Cops say Golwitzer also mentioned wanting to punch an employee because of the flub. McDonald's turned his number over to cops, and when they contacted Golwitzer he came down to the station, fessed up and got arrested.

We still don't know what sort of dipping sauce was allegedly missing from the guy's order, but if it was the sweet and sour ... we sorta understand.

IKEA has more work to do if it wants forgiveness for a misguided Juneteenth celebration ... because one of Georgia's leading Black voices ain't buying what the company's selling in the apology aisle.

Georgia State NAACP President James Woodall tells TMZ ... the Swedish-based big-box retailer's statement from earlier this week -- when they explained their Atlanta store was wrong for a Juneteenth-themed menu -- is pretty much lip-service without further action.

Woodall says he thinks the whole debacle speaks to a tone-deaf culture at the company -- adding its seemingly harmless gesture actually helps perpetuate attacks against Black people by what he described as white supremacy. He also called the employee menu an empty, performative gesture.

Woodall tells us IKEA should have to answer to its constituents -- AKA employees and customers.

Atlanta's NAACP Prez, Richard Rose, seemed a bit more forgiving -- or at the very least, not ready to torch them like Woodall did.

He says he can't say for certain their intention was to be racist with the menu -- which included fried chicken, collard greens and watermelon -- but does acknowledge it was obviously insensitive. He's chalking that up to a possible lack of diversity among decision-makers.

As for accepting the apology ... Rose says that's up to the 20 employees who called out in protest.

Blueface is the proud new owner of a soul food restaurant in SoCal, but it might never have happened if he hadn't had a little misfortune ... with his car.

The rapper joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday on the heels of opening a new eatery called Blue's Fish & Soul in Santa Clarita -- which he says is the only spot to get legit soul food in the area -- and told a serendipitous story of how it went down.

Blueface says it all started when he got back from a trip, and discovered his car had been stolen from the airport valet ... bummer of a welcome home.

He didn't let it get him down, though, and just went to a Mercedes dealership to buy a new ride ... and on his way home, he stopped at a restaurant called SCV Fish Market. He says the owner was literally minutes from selling the place to someone else.

That's when Blue seized his opportunity, and outbid the other buyer on the spot ... and the rest is history.

For those interested, the menu at Blue's features his mom's Southern recipes for fried fish, shrimp and hushpuppies, chicken platters, mac and cheese, collard greens and a lot more. Plus, his signature Blueface lemonade!

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."

COOL RANCH DORITOS EARRINGS FOR THE WIN!!!

Check out U.S. track star Christina Clemons -- who rocked the snacky jewelry during her 100m hurdles race this weekend ... AND MADE THE OLYMPIC TEAM!!!

The 31-year-old -- who had never made the Olympics team in the past -- put up a scorching 12.53 finish at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Oregon on Sunday ... earning her a spot on Team USA!

Now, Christina is smartly hitting up Doritos for an endorsement deal -- and we gotta say ... IT'S GENIUS!!!

Not only does Christina have an incredible backstory ... overcoming injuries and defying the odds ... but she also apparently LOVES the chips!

"I made the Olympic team wearing a bag of @Doritos on my ears," Clemons tweeted ... "Twitter, I need y’all to do your thing! We need to blow Doritos mentions UP 🙌🏾😂"

Hey, the Doritos slogan is "For the Bold" -- and what's bolder than wearing chip bags on your ears for the biggest race of your life ... and then winning!?!?

So far, Doritos hasn't responded to Christina -- but we gotta imagine they're gonna jump all over this.

And, if they need more convincing ... just watch Christina's emotional post-race speech when she explained all that she's overcome.

"I've been going after this team since 2012," Clemons said.

"I ruptured my Achilles in 2013. I wasn't healthy enough in 2016. We had to wait a whole year in 2020 and now here I've been looked over, I've been counted out but when God is with you, it doesn't matter! I'm just so happy!"

"I'm just ready! I'm ready! My teammates, America, we go so hard!"

LET'S GOOOOO!!!!!

Wolfgang Puck loves seeing famous faces sitting down at tables in his restaurants, but he can't always put a face with a name ... Ariana Grande had him thinking she was in school.

The celeb chef joined us on "TMZ Live" Monday and we asked him about hosting tons of celebs at his famous restaurants in Los Angeles, usually for special occasions.

Wolfgang usually goes up to the table for a few kind words, but even he admits he doesn't always know who he's talking to off the bat -- as it played out, hilariously, with Ariana recently.

Ya gotta hear the way Wolfgang broke the ice with Ariana at Hotel Bel-Air, where she was dining with new hubby Dalton Gomez. It's a hilarious bit of mistaken identity, with a happy ending.

Wolfgang's getting a pass with Ariana ... and it sounds like there were no surprises when another famous couple, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, dined out at his spot at the Pendry Hotel in WeHo.

The restaurant mogul is the subject of a new documentary, appropriately called "Wolfgang," coming out Friday on Disney+ ... and he shared some details about his challenging upbringing in Austria, and those circumstances made him determined to make it in America.

The CEO of Dippin' Dots is being sued by a former girlfriend who says he went on a campaign to humiliate her by sending nude images of her to numerous people, including her mom ... but the CEO says the lawsuit is an attempt to extort him.

Amanda Brown says in her lawsuit, she was in a relationship with CEO Scott Fischer from 2019-2020. She says the relationship was tumultuous, partly because of what she calls his "dangerous tendency to abuse alcohol."

Brown claims Fischer solicited private sexual images from her, which he extracted by threatening to withhold on "continued financial support."

She says things got even worse after they broke up when he allegedly sent "private sexual images" to various people "and attempted to blackmail [her] to behave in certain manners." It appears from the lawsuit they were in a dispute over who got the dog and a certain vehicle.

She says he threatened to release private sexual images to Pornhub, and on other occasions, she says he made good on his threats. In one alleged communication, she says he wrote, "F*** you. I'm going to do whatever I can to hurt you, watch what I'm about to do," adding, "I just sent your nudes out to everyone ... I'm going to make sure any sex pics, bad pics are sent to your employer ... then I'll sue you for [the dog] ... do you want to see what war is like ... I'm about to show you."

Brown claims last January Fischer sent a sexual image of Amanda to her mother with this message ... "I'm sending this out tomorrow. Then I'm going to file a petition for [the dog]. I asked for a peaceful exit. I said I had a girlfriend and wanted to move on peacefully. I can hurt so much more. Watch."

Brown said in the lawsuit Fischer has used private sexual images "to gain a thing of value" against other girlfriends. She also claims Fischer was physically violent.

Worse yet for Fischer, if Brown’s allegations are true, the dude may end up behind bars. In Oklahoma, it's a felony "to disseminate without consent the private sexual image of another with the intent to harass, intimidate or coerce the other ..."

Fischer's legal team tells us, "This inflammatory lawsuit brought forth by Ms. Brown is nothing more than an attempt to extort Mr. Fischer after he ended their relationship. It is unfortunate that she has stooped to the level of attacking my client through an outlandish lawsuit, covering up her illegal actions."

Kane Lim might've been doing more bad than good with his harsh words about Yamashiro -- whether he knew it or not ... this, according to his reality TV costar, Christine Chiu.

We got the "Bling Empire" cast member leaving Craig's in WeHo Friday night, alongside Dorothy Wang -- who's said to be filming for season 2, and should be featured on the show in the future. Of course, our photog had to ask about Kane's drama with Chef Vallerie.

Remember ... Vallerie accused Kane of spreading "Asian hate" when he called her sushi restaurant "disgusting" on camera -- but he pushed back, saying he was just expressing an opinion ... and that he didn't even know Vallerie or her work as head of the new grub.

That's where our camera guy picks things up -- asking CC straight-up ... who's in the right here??? Check it out -- she tries being diplomatic, but clearly sides with the chef ... telling us Asians need to band together and put on a united front, instead of bashing one another.

Dorothy hits that point home with an even more nuanced take -- saying it's fine to have preferences, and to even express those preferences ... but there's a way to say things, especially these days when topics such as this are delicate to talk about. Well said.

She also touches on another angle that rings true as well -- in light of restaurants now opening back up to full capacity on the heels of the pandemic. Watch ... she says Kane should've been mindful of that dynamic as well, before spouting off so recklessly.

One of the stars of Netflix's "Bling Empire" got called out for allegedly spreading Asian hate by dissing a famous sushi joint -- but he's hollering right back ... respectfully, calling BS.

Kane Lim -- a Singaporean real estate developer -- was recently filmed on a pal's IG Story, hyping up the fact they were eating from another sushi restaurant in town, Tadaima, instead of L.A. celeb hot spot Yamashiro ... which they, including KL, openly mocked and called "disgusting."

Yamashiro's head chef, Vallerie Castillo Archer, took the jab personally, and also leveled an allegation against Lim and his buddies ... saying they were helping spread hate against their own race.

She wrote, in part ... "How can we promote Stop Asian Hate when we are the ones publicly hating on Asians?" She added that she found Lim's remarks hurtful to the cause.

Despite how Vallerie interpreted Lim's comments, he tells TMZ she's got this one wrong, and is kinda making a mountain out of a mole hill. Kane says his remarks were simply based on his own eating experience at Yamashiro from a few years back -- and were not aimed at her, her work or her staff directly. He just didn't dig the food there, period.

With that said, Kane adds this ... "It's unfortunate this has escalated to this level. I get how it has been interpreted and am disappointed it's been crafted into an Asian-hate thing."

Kane goes on to clarify that he does NOT hate his own race, and as far as Val ... he's more than willing to make amends and give Yamashiro another shot. In fact, we're told they're making plans to meet up and hash this out in the near future.

The Shake Shack manager will get his day in court, and now one of the NYPD cops wants hers too -- because she's suing the burger joint, and she's sticking to the bleach story!

NYPD officer Genesis Novadiaz just filed a lawsuit against SS, claiming she was one of the 3 officers who thought they were "poisoned" ... and she's pointing the finger at Shake Shack and its employees, including the manager who just filed a lawsuit of his own over the incident.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Novadiaz claims Shake Shack workers at the Manhattan location -- including manager Marcus Gilliam -- were negligent in their duty to maintain equipment in a safe manner for customers ... and, as a result, she alleges she was subjected to harmful cleaning chemicals in her shake, including bleach.

So, she's sticking to her guns, claiming there must've been bleach in those damn shakes. While the theory of intentional poisoning was debunked by an NYPD investigation, Novadiaz is still calling out the restaurant for careless or reckless upkeep on their shake machines.

In the suit, she claims Shake Shack violated a number of New York City and State health code violations -- and oughta be forced to pay for it, because she says she became ill.

Remember, Gilliam himself just sued New York and the officers over the same incident -- claiming they defamed and falsely arrested him by lying about being intentionally poisoned.

The Shake Shack manager accused of poisoning police officers' drinks last summer claims he was treated like a first-rate criminal ... and now he wants someone to pay.

Marcus Gilliam -- the man who was running the Manhattan restaurant when this went down about a year ago -- just sued a number of NYPD cops, a few police unions and the City of New York for what he says was a rush to judgment and a gross overreaction, all based on nothing.

In his suit, obtained by TMZ, Gilliam alleges he was arrested and taken in for questioning that night, and was kept in custody until the wee hours of the morning ... supposedly getting grilled and accused of spiking 3 cops' shakes with bleach, even though he says he actually hadn't.

ICYMI -- 3 NYPD cops rolled up to Shake Shack, said their milkshakes tasted funny ... and before you knew it, had a whole bunch of unions tweeting out accusations that their officers had been intentionally poisoned.

Gilliam points out what we had reported ... that a "thorough investigation" proved that was a bogus allegation. In the interim, Gilliam says he was getting treated like crap by cops, being falsely held against his will for something he clearly hadn't done.

As it turned out ... the "funny taste" in the shakes might've been the machine not being cleaned properly. In any case, Gilliam claims his detainment was BS, because there was a mountain of evidence -- like surveillance video -- that the NYPD should have checked to clear his name before they hauled him into custody.

He alleges he was not only falsely arrested, but defamed as well when the suspicion turned into "fact" and spread like wildfire ... and he's asking for damages.

Shelby Houlihan -- arguably the USA's best female runner -- is insisting she is NOT a cheater despite a recent positive steroid test ... claiming it's all a mixup caused by a pork burrito.

The 28-year-old Olympian spelled it all out in a social media post Monday ... explaining she believes she's been wrongfully hit with a 4-year suspension due to a trip to an "authentic Mexican food truck" in Oregon several months ago.

Shelby says back on Jan. 14, the Athletics Integrity Unit informed her a sample she submitted on Dec. 15, 2020 had contained the banned substance Nandrolone.

The anabolic steroid is considered a performance enhancer, and Shelby says she was immediately suspended for having it in her system.

But, Houlihan says after she did her research ... she found the substance can wrongfully show up in tests if the person consumes pork products prior to giving out their sample.

And, Houlihan says just 10 hours before she gave her December sample ... she had gotten a pork burrito from a local stand near her house in Beaverton.

The problem for Shelby? She says despite a mountain of evidence proving the Mexican food feast was the reason for the positive test -- the World Anti-Doping Agency denied her appeal and formally hit her with a 4-year ban from competitive running last Friday.

Of course, that means Houlihan -- who owns U.S. records in the 1,500- and 5,000-meter runs -- will now be barred from competing in this summer's Tokyo Olympics.

"I feel completely devastated, lost, broken, angry, confused and betrayed by the very sport that I've loved and poured myself into just to see how good I was," Houlihan said.

"I want to be very clear. I have never taken any performance enhancing substances. And that includes that of which I am being accused," Houlihan wrote. "I believe in the sport and pushing your body to the limit just to see where the limit is. I'm not interested in cheating. I don't do this for the accolades, money, or for people to know my name. I do this because I love it. I have so much fun doing it and it's always the best part of my day."

Cristiano Ronaldo HATES processed drinks so much, he removed Coke bottles from his podium Monday ... all while imploring people to drink water instead.

Ronaldo's rejection of the sweet stuff went down just before a meeting with the media ahead of Portugal's UEFA Euro 2020 game with Hungary ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

You can see in the footage, just before reporters fired questions at the soccer star, he noticed Cokes placed in front of him (Coke is a sponsor of Euro 2020) and immediately gave them a look of disdain.

But, rather than just keeping the products there like tournament officials no doubt wanted -- Ronaldo straight-up grabbed the bottles and moved them out of his sight.

He then held up a bottle of water, screamed, "agua!" ... and then appeared to mumble something about the sodas.

Of course, Ronaldo's famous for his perfect body -- one that was built off of eating healthy and limiting processed foods ... and it's clear, the guy takes that all VERY seriously.

In fact, Ronaldo's been on record saying he absolutely HATES when his son drinks Cokes and eats fries!!

'Cause, after all, abs (and apparently great soccer players too) are made in the kitchen.

Matthew Stafford got one of his first tastes of the L.A. nightlife scene this weekend -- and there were paps, autograph seekers ... and even a fun answer about a silly tiff with his old pal, Clayton Kershaw!

It all went down Saturday night at Craig's ... where Matt -- who was just traded from Detroit to L.A. in March -- got in a night out on the town with his wife and friends.

You can see in the clip, the new Rams QB is clearly going to be VERY popular in his new city ... dude didn't even step 3 feet out of the restaurant before people wanted his John Hancock!

Of course, we were also there ... and we had to get his take on his old high school teammate, Kershaw, saying he would NOT wear Stafford's new jersey around L.A.

If you missed it, just a few weeks ago Kershaw went on the 'Dan Patrick Show' and said he's excited for Stafford's L.A. stay, but added he wouldn't be wearing Matt's Rams uni anytime soon.

But, Matt laughed that all off Saturday ... telling us he's got no beef with his friend -- explaining, "That's alright!"

James Corden is catching heat from more than 10,000 critics who say his popular 'Spill Your Guts' segment is racist against Asians ... and he's facing pressure to retire the game.

Here's the deal ... 'Spill Your Guts' is the recurring bit on Corden's 'Late Late Show' where he presents celeb guests with grub he describes as "horrific" or "gross" -- but the menu items are almost always from Asian cultures ... according to the folks who are demanding James kill the segment or change it.

In a petition circulating online, they accuse James of encouraging anti-Asian racism by "continuously mocking" the foods. They already have 11,000 signatures and counting.

The point of the game is to get celebs to answer tough questions, or eat the foods in front of them. The segment's been around since at least 2016, and it's featured the likes of Kendall Jenner, Harry Styles, Justin Bieber and Jimmy Kimmel ... just to name a few.

The folks behind the petition want Corden to drop 'Spill Your Guts' ... or at least to use food not rooted in other cultures. They also want an on-air apology from James and the 'Late Late Show.'