New England Patriots

You think New England Patriots star Julian Edelman is gonna just sit there and be quiet when some jerk NY Jets fan is running his mouth talking smack?!?!

NOPE!

Jules calmly fired back at the Jets heckler Monday night with a truth bomb -- and shut the guy down right in front of Odell Beckham and Saquon Barkley!!

So, here's the deal ... the NFL stars were all leaving a post-Met Gala party at the Standard Line Hotel in New York ... when some guy started trashing the NY Giants when he saw Saquon and Odell.

The heckler told the group, "Saquon, sorry buddy, [I'm a] Jets fan!"

That's when Edelman walked right up to the guy and explained, "I'm a Jets fan too. Every time we play 'em, we win."

Boom.

It's true, ever since Edelman joined the Pats back in 2009, his team has a 16-5 record against the Jets ... complete domination.

Anyway, Edelman and his NFL pals continued to have a great night -- while the Jets fan was forced to sit and think about how they're probably gonna suck again in 2019.

4:22 PM PT -- A stunner down in Louisville ... Maximum Security has been disqualified after a replay review of the final stretch. The second horse to cross the finish line, Country House, has now been declared the winner. MS was found to have been impeding another horse.

3:59 PM PT -- Maximum Security just won the 145th Kentucky Derby, beating out Game Winner ... which was the pre-race favorite horse to win it.

And by the looks of the race track and how far ahead MS broke out in the end, this baby loves the slop ... just eats it up.

Hollywood didn't skimp on the swank for the 2019 Kentucky Derby, including Mr. Tom Brady ... who came back in a big way after temporarily being outshined by Baker Mayfield.

Celebs were out in force Saturday at the Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, where much of the Patriots organization seemed to be in attendance ... not to mention some Broncos stars, like Von Miller, and other footballers from the Packers and Browns.

TB was there too, of course, and his Day 2 outfit definitely had a lot more swag than his Friday one did. You'll recall ... he was barely recognizable standing behind Baker and his pink suit.

All is well now though -- Tom looked great, as did his teammates. In fact, everyone was dressed to the nines on the day of the big race ... even the non-athletes.

Some other A-listers who showed up include Wilmer Valderama, NeNe Leakes, Backstreet Boys singers Kevin Richardson and Howie D, Joey Fatone, Stormy Daniels, Jeff Bezos, Richie Sambora ... and even Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, who wore her mom's iconic KY Derby look from 2004. Anna died of an overdose in 2007.

At the Kentucky Derby, it's always hard to figure out the best of the best-dressed. Everyone was looking fantastic, if we do say so ourselves.

Can you spot the G.O.A.T.?!

He's behind the dude in SWAG pink suit!

Check this out ... a bunch of NFL stars are hanging together in Kentucky right now -- gearing up for the Kentucky Derby.

Baker Mayfield's front and center -- with an incognito Tom Brady blending in behind him.

Indianapolis Colts QB Jacoby Brissett -- Tom's former backup -- is in the bottom left ... standing next to Julian Edelman.

Also in the mix ... ex-Patriots' Lonie Paxton and Dan Koppen.

TB12 is a regular at the Derby -- so is his coach, Bill Belichick. Unclear if Bill has made it to Churchill Downs yet.

We already reported L.A. Rams head coach Sean McVay is in town with his smokin' hot girlfriend.

Tom Brady says there are TWO good reasons he's not the highest paid player in the NFL ...

1) He'd rather have the Patriots use the cash to pay other good players

2) HIS WIFE'S ALREADY SUPER RICH!!!

It's true ... TB12 explained the whole thing on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" when Jimmy pointed out that Brady (who's won more Super Bowls than any other QB ever) is the 18th highest paid QB in the NFL.

Don't worry, he ain't exactly poor -- Brady is slated to make $15 million in 2019.

But, Tom broke it down this way ...

"I think the thing I've always felt for me in my life, winning has been a priority. And, my wife [Gisele] makes a lot of money."

Brady continued ... "I'm a little smarter than you think. Actually, it's a salary cap. You can only spend so much and the more that one guy gets is less for others. And, for a competitive advantage standpoint, I like to get a lot of good players around me."

He's not kidding about Gisele ... she's made a FORTUNE over the years as the highest paid model on the planet.

According to Forbes, the Brazilian raked in $42 million in 2013 alone -- though that number has gone way down over the years.

She reportedly only made $10 mil in 2018.

HOW WILL THEY SURVIVE ON THAT MEASLY SALARY?!!?

Tom Brady, Matt Damon and Jimmy Kimmel bro'd down over some sushi in Beverly Hills ... they're super rich and super famous ... so, question is, who footed the bill???

The power trio hit the town after shooting a bit for "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Wednesday ... getting a table at Yazawa Japanese BBQ.

Of course, Brady's been all over La La Land this week ... he was spotted throwin' the pigskin with some UCLA players earlier in the day before joining the stars for dinner.

So ... who pays the tab?! Let's break it down:

Kimmel -- Jimmy just had Brady and Damon on his show ... so a few sushi rolls as a thank you for coming on his show ain't out of the question.

Damon -- the actor's a HUGE Pats and TB12 fan ... so a congrats on winning a 6th SUPER BOWL dinner is definitely not out of the question.

Then there's Brady ... the dude's made more than $212 MILLION in his career -- and that's just his football salary -- and uhh, we might have our winner.

Regardless of who whipped out the wallet ... that's one helluva power table.

Robert Kraft has been ordered to appear in court IN PERSON in his prostitution case -- and it's all going down in 3 weeks.

Kraft has been sending his legal team to Florida over the past few months to battle it out with prosecutors in his place ... in an effort to block officials from releasing the graphic footage from inside the spa.

Kraft's legal team have been grilling investigators over the past few days -- and Wednesday, they made their closing arguments as to why the video should never see the light of day.

As we previously reported, cops say they have graphic surveillance footage from inside the massage room at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa in Jupiter, Florida showing the 77-year-old New England Patriots owner receiving sexual acts from two spa employees.

Kraft has already apologized publicly for his actions -- but he's entered a not guilty plea in his solicitation case and plans to fight the charges. His attorneys have argued the footage was illegally obtained PLUS the release of the video would taint a potential jury pool and ruin his chances for a fair trial.

On Wednesday, the judge said he would make a decision soon that would impact the fate of the video -- and set a hearing date for May 21 ... ordering Kraft to appear in person.

Unclear why he wants Kraft to attend since the hearing is only listed a "calendar call" -- which generally just a status update in a case.

It would be the first time Kraft would appear in court for this case -- something he's clearly been trying to avoid since the information went public back in February.

Tom Brady's BFF, Rob Gronkowski, is retired ... so TB12's taking his hunt for new offseason workout partners to UCLA!!!

The G.O.A.T. joined the Bruins for an impromptu throwing sesh Wednesday morning ... and seems the Patriots QB enjoyed it -- he smiled and took pics with all the guys afterward.

Of course, this is becoming an annual thing for the NFL superstar ... just 12 months ago, Brady was in town and ran an entire workout with the Bruins' offense.

This week's sesh seemed much less formal ... but UCLA studs like Chase Cota were still jacked up for the day anyway.

"Got to work with THE GOAT today," the Bruins receiver said ... "What an opportunity, go Bruins!"

By the way ... UCLA continued the tradition of throwing some shade at USC for the star-studded workout -- tagging their pictures once again with, "#OnlyAtUCLA."

Sorry Patriots fans ... the guy who filled in for Rob Gronkowski in 2016 ain't interested in doing it again in 2019 -- with Martellus Bennett telling TMZ Sports he's retired for good.

Bennett -- who had 5 catches for 62 yards in the Super Bowl that season -- announced his retirement from the NFL in March 2018.

But, that was BEFORE Gronk decided to hang up his cleats ...

Remember, it was just back in February Marty joked about rejoining the Cowboys during a monster workout session in the gym. Dude still looks like he can play!!

So, when we spotted Marty B out in NYC Friday afternoon, we had to ask if he would consider putting the jersey back on for another stint with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.

The long story short ... the 32-year-old says his mind is made up -- and it's a hard no.

"It's not me, I'm not the one," Bennett told us.

Instead, Bennett tells us he's focusing on his multimedia production company -- he's doing everything from book publishing to animated features and more.

Anyone wondering if New Orleans Saints receiver Tedd Ginn Jr. is a fan of his quarterback, Drew Brees, you're about to get your answer ... and that answer is almost religious.

Ginn Jr. and Brees have been running mates for a couple years now, so when we talked to the speed burner from Ohio State recently, we wanted to know how he felt about his signal caller.

"He's a god. Anybody that gets with Drew seems like they get better and better. The things that he does on and off the field as a person are just really self-explanatory for who he is."

Far be it for us to compare gods to mere men, but we had to ask ... if Drew is so special, how does he stack up against one Mr. Thomas Brady?

According to Mr. Ginn, pretty damn good.

"The things that he does to make things work, I really don't see Tom Brady doing."

Before you call Ginn Jr. a homer (he needs the ball thrown to him, we get it) he also admits Brady is pretty good too.

"Some of the things Tom Brady does, I don't see Drew doing."

The Robert Kraft case is now at the profanity-laced, name-calling stage ... at least according to a prosecutor who's clearly pissed off at one of Kraft's attorneys.

There's a pretty heated hearing going down Friday in South Florida ... and so far, Kraft's lawyer, Alex Spiro, has been grilling a Jupiter PD detective like a cheeseburger. This afternoon, an Assistant State Attorney got so annoyed, she stood up and voiced her displeasure with a line of questioning.

You gotta see what happened next.

After the judge intervened and allowed Spiro to continue his questions, the prosecutor whispered, "What an asshole."

It's unclear if anyone outside of the prosecution heard it, but we picked it up on a microphone in court. No one in the courtroom reacted.

Ex-NFL star Rodney Peete is accused of pulling a fast one on a Super Bowl ticket broker -- allegedly squirming his way out of paying for VERY expensive seats ... and now the broker wants his cash!

The 53-year-old and his famous wife Holly Robinson Peete are being sued by Barry's Tickets -- a pretty famous business which sells tickets to high-profile events.

Barry's claims Rodney hit 'em up in January 2019 looking for 8 tickets to Super Bowl LIII in ATL to watch Tom Brady and the Patriots take on the L.A. Rams.

Barry's claims they offered Peete a discount -- they'd charge him $11,500 per ticket if he paid before Feb. 3 ... and the price would rise to $12,500 if he paid after.

Rodney agreed, according to the lawsuit -- but only wired $46,000 to Barry's.

Barry's says they gave Rodney the tickets under the assumption he'd deliver the second half of the money -- but he NEVER paid.

In fact, Barry's says Rodney strung them along for days until finally ghosting them in mid-February.

Now, Barry's demanding $54,000 for the tickets plus interest plus legal fees.

Robert Kraft just won a major battle in the war over whether that spa video ever sees the light of day -- a judge has granted a protective order that keeps it on lockdown ... for now.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ, the judge agreed with Kraft's attorneys that releasing the police surveillance video to the media would jeopardize the Patriots owner's right to a fair trial. As a result, the judge's order says the video cannot go public until the case is over -- whether that's by plea agreement or prosecutors dropping the charges -- or once a trial jury is sworn in for the case.

The order is a victory for Kraft's legal team because it means ... prosecutors can't use the potential release of the video as leverage to get Kraft to cave on a plea deal.

However, Kraft might want to keep the champagne on ice.

There's another hearing scheduled for Friday where the judge is expected to make a decision about suppressing the release of any evidence in the case -- including the spa video. In Tuesday's order, the judge says he's reserving the right to reconsider his decision after Friday's hearing.

7:45 AM PT -- A judge ruled Mingbi will be released on $5,000 bond on the condition she surrenders her passport and does not work in the spa/massage industry.

Cops have arrested another woman in the Robert Kraft prostitution case -- a 58-year-old who allegedly performed a sexual act on the Patriots owner with another woman at the Orchids of Asia Day Spa.

Jupiter Police arrested Shen Mingbi -- who cops say was in the massage room with Kraft on January 19, 2019.

According to the police report, Kraft was joined in the massage room by 2 women -- one of whom was Mingbi.

Officials say the encounter was captured on surveillance and shows both Mingbi and Lei Wang using their hands on Kraft's penis.

Officials say Mingbi was also involved in sexual acts with several other men at the spa.

Wang had already been arrested and charged in the case -- but now, officials have busted Mingbi too.

Mingbi has been formally charged with 1 count of deriving support from prostitution and 8 counts of offer to commit prostitution. She's in court right now (Tuesday) to face the charges.

As for Kraft, he's got a hearing on Friday where he'll continue to fight to block officials from releasing the spa video to the media.

Kraft has claimed the release of the video would hamper his ability to get a fair trial because it would taint the jury pool.

Here's Rob Gronkowski showing he's still got a little football in him after retiring from the NFL -- throwing passes to fans in the Bahamas this weekend ... and showing off the scar from his back surgery.

Gronk and his swimsuit model girlfriend, Camille Kostek, spent Easter weekend right by the beach -- taking in some sun at a fancy resort in Nassau ... it's gorgeous.

Kostek shot footage of a shirtless Gronk playing catch with some kids -- and you can see the scar on his lower back from the procedure he underwent in Dec. 2016 to treat a herniated disc.

Gronk returned the following season and had a monster year -- he was named a 1st Team All-Pro in 2017. Pretty amazing comeback.

But now, it's a wrap for Gronk ... he officially announced his retirement from the NFL back in March and says he's excited for the next phase of his life.

"I think prosecutors in this country should have something much better to do."

That's Robert Shapiro -- a famous piece of O.J. Simpson's dream team -- going scorched Earth on prosecutors in the Robert Kraft case, telling TMZ Sports they ALL should be ashamed of themselves.

"You know what, I think this case is something that the people that are prosecuting and the people that are investigating should be ashamed of," Shapiro said leaving the restaurant, E Baldi, this week.

"There is so much crime going on in this country and to take valuable assets and time from law enforcement to enforce something that has nothing to do with the allegations they're bringing, I think it's just irresponsible."

Of course, Kraft is currently in the fight of his life down in Florida ... fending off charges of soliciting prostitutes and scrapping like hell to block videos of the alleged incident from getting out to the public.

Shapiro thinks it's straight-up ridiculous that the 77-year-old is going through this ... telling us prosecutors in the case should just drop the charges now and move on.

"It's a very private, personal matter," Shapiro says ... "He's moved on and I think prosecutors in this country should have something much better to do."

The two women accused of running the Orchids of Asia Day Spa claim Florida officials have leaked the naked surveillance video of Robert Kraft ... and they want the leakers punished ASAP.

The lawyers for Hua Zhang and Lei Wang have filed new court documents calling for emergency action after new reports say the unblurred Kraft spa video is being shopped to various media outlets.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the women claim the only agencies that had access to the video were the Jupiter P.D. and the Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office.

The women claim the "logical conclusion" is that someone in one of those groups is responsible for the leak.

The leak would constitute a violation of the court order barring officials from releasing the video -- and the women want the judge to hold groups in criminal contempt.

The women claim release of the video would "egregiously jeopardize their rights to a fair trial." Kraft has previously argued the same point.

Unclear if/when a judge will rule on this issue -- but it should happen soon.

There's been a war over the video -- multiple media outlets have argued that officials are obligated to release the footage. Kraft, along with Wang and Zhang, claims the footage was obtained illegally and if released would taint potential jurors.