TMZ Sports - Page 50

Kobe Bryant celebrated an amazing victory Sunday night ... winning an Oscar and, incredibly, the celebrities in the audience had a case of selective amnesia.

Kobe took home the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for "Dear Basketball." The audience cheered Kobe ... some even rose to their feet for a standing O.

Interesting ... considering the majority of the audience were wearing Time's Up pins. You may recall -- although a lot of the people who came out after the ceremony didn't -- Kobe was arrested in 2003, charged and brought to trial for rape. The case fell apart when the alleged victim stopped cooperating with prosecutors. Kobe subsequently settled for a reported $5 million, though he denies paying her a cent.

Kobe was Teflon at the awards ceremony. Not so for Ryan Seacrest, who was shunned by some celebs even though he hasn't been sued, arrested, charged -- and was cleared by an E! investigation.

And James Franco was essentially exiled from the Oscars -- again not arrested, charged, nothing.

So, why did Kobe get a pass? We spoke with a bunch of stars including Shawn Mendes, Bebe Rexha, Colin Hanks and others who claimed they had no knowledge of his past. Some just made jokes.

"Sugar" Sean O'Malley put on a weed-smoking CLINIC at his UFC 222 after-party -- taking down blunt after blunt, including a UFC-themed super-blunt ... and it's all on video.

After piecing up Andre Soukhamthath to go to 10-0, the UFC's newest star broke out his signature "Sugar Show OG" strain ... and got down to business with some bros in Vegas.

The reefer madness wasn't just for fun, either -- O'Malley legit needed the herbal meds after wrecking his foot during the fight.

But, Sean wasn't satisfied with puffin' on some regular ass blunts ... so he busts out a golden blunt the size of a UFC glove!!!

O'Malley claims there were 90 grams in the thing -- and we're not about to second-guess him.

One-handed prospect Shaquem Griffin is "no doubt" making the NFL -- so says Shawne Merriman, who's convinced the talk of the combine is gonna overcome the odds and get drafted.

"He sure as hell looks NFL ready. He's a beast," Merriman told TMZ Sports.

FYI, the UCF stud ran the fastest 40 time for a linebacker in 15 YEARS over the weekend (4.38) ... and also put up 20 REPS with a prosthetic left hand.

Shawne -- a 3-time Pro Bowl LB with the Chargers -- says you can't judge everything off drills ... but he ain't gonna question Shaquem's ability to succeed at the next level after all he's been through.

12:10 PM PT -- The Raiders just announced they released Aldon Smith.

Aldon Smith has checked into rehab -- and the people who helped him get there are the parents of the alleged domestic violence victim ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The embattled NFL star was involved in a domestic violence incident Saturday night. When cops arrived, Smith had left the scene and cops were trying to locate him.

Now, we spoke with Smith's fiancee who confirms she is the alleged victim in the incident -- but says the most important thing to her is that Smith gets help for his substance abuse problem.

"I can tell you this ... Aldon called my parents and asked them to take him to rehab," the woman tells us.

"He complied. They went and got him. I was not there. My family took him and had him checked in."

Allison Janney and Kobe Bryant celebrated their Oscar win like true Americans ... with booze and burgers!!!

Allison and the Black Mamba remembered to fuel up while hitting the Oscar after-party scene hard ... with Oscar in hand, of course. They were at the Vanity Fair bash in Bev Hills and were joined by a slew of celebs.

The "Key & Peele" duo was there ... as was Oscar winner Frances McDormand, Drake, Halle Berry, Emily Ratajkowski and many more.

The famed Chateau Marmont on the Sunset Strip was also celeb central. Mary J. Blige, Salma Hayek, Tiffany Haddish, Amber Heard, Elon Musk and Anthony Anderson were all there. Cool of Nick Jonas to make his way over to the fans. Not cool of our camera guy to ask Stevie Wonder if he watched the Oscars. Habits, ya know.

At least one high-ranking U.S. military official counseled the Baltimore Ravens about signing Colin Kaepernick ... and made it very clear he is NOT a fan of the QB.

TMZ Sports has learned ... when Ravens head coach John Harbaugh was considering signing Kaepernick to the team before the 2017 NFL season, he sought advice from some trusted friends.

We've learned at least one of those friends is a high-ranking member of the U.S. military who essentially told Harbaugh to seriously consider if Colin's national anthem demonstration fell in line with the team's core values.

The official didn't outright say, "Don't sign Kaep" -- but advised the team to give Colin a set of specific guidelines he needed to follow if he wanted to keep his job.

Translation -- if he kneels, he's fired.

Just a month ago, Oscar De La Hoya told us Floyd Mayweather would get strangled unconscious in 10 SECONDS in a UFC fight.

But now, Oscar's pullin' a 180 -- telling us he truly believes Floyd "can do well" if he steps inside the Octagon.

Don't get it twisted -- Oscar hasn't forgotten about the Floyd-Conor McGregor "circus" pulling attention off the first Canelo vs. GGG fight ... but it seems like he's turned a new leaf with Canelo-GGG 2 taking center stage on May 5.

"I wish him all the best," De La Hoya told TMZ Sports. "If a boxer, and one of my colleagues, is gonna go inside the cage, I obviously have to go and support Floyd."

Aldon Smith was allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident this weekend, and now cops want to talk to him ... TMZ has confirmed.

According to law enforcement sources .. Smith fled the scene of a San Francisco residence Saturday night before cops arrived in response to a reported DV incident. The alleged victim is said to have suffered non-life threatening injuries, but what might've happened is unclear for now.

Cris "Cyborg" Justino brought her hardware to the post-UFC party Saturday night in Vegas, after annihilating her opponent in quick fashion.

Cyborg clutched her belt at the Foundation Room at Mandalay Bay -- the official UFC after-party.

She hardly broke a sweat in destroying Yana Kunitskaya in the Octagon. Her TKO in round 1 brought her string of victories to 20.

DJ Baby Yu got in the pic as Cyborg smiled for the camera. She also spent time posing with fans.

Sean O'Malley was at a smaller party with friends ... he won his match in a decision, made all the more impressive because he jacked his foot up in the final round. BTW, Sean's entrance song was "Party in the USA!!!"

Epic news, gamers -- the best thing since "Mike Tyson's Punch-Out" is on the way ... 'cause Floyd Mayweather says he's following in Tyson's footsteps and creating HIS OWN video game!!

At his 41st birthday bash, Floyd told TMZ Sports he's already "working on" bringing TBE to video game consoles around the world ... and -- like all things Floyd -- he's gonna have "ownership" in it to make sure it comes out right.

FYI, the gaming community's been starved for a legit boxing game for years -- so this is a huge deal.

It's been rumored EA might be dropping a new "Fight Night" ... but Floyd told us he ain't gonna be in it if they do -- "Before I do anything, I have to have some ownership."

Bonus: In case you missed the Punch-Out craze, here's a tribute ft. Mayweather himself ...

Sorry ladies ... Chandler Parsons is off the market. And sorry fellas ... his insanely beautiful model girlfriend is going to make you very, very jealous.

TMZ Sports has learned the Memphis Grizzlies stud has been dating 23-year-old Cassie Amato and they're in a committed relationship. No word on how they met ... but we're told things are serious.

Sources tell us Chan-Dog and Amato -- she lives in L.A. -- are cool with being 1,800 miles apart during the season ... 'cause Parsons has that dope ass $11 MILLION mansion in Bel-Air for the off-season.

Parsons even made things Instagram official -- posting a photo of her on Valentine's Day with the caption "my valentine everyday."

Chandler has a penchant for beautiful women -- see here, here and here -- and Cassie definitely checks all the right boxes.

Cain Velasquez ain't really gunnin' for a WWE career -- so says his BFF, Daniel Cormier ... who tells us Cain's Brock Lesnar call-out at "Elimination Chamber" was just for fun.

Velasquez, who beat Brock for the UFC heavyweight championship back in 2010, hit up his first WWE event with Cormier last weekend ... and teased a fight with the Beast inside the squared circle.

"I could feel at home here! Brock Lesnar, I wouldn't mind taking another belt from you," Cain said on social media.

But Daniel tells TMZ Sports Cain was messin' around -- 'cause that's the kinda guy he is when he's not smashing his opponents' faces in.

That said, Cormier says Cain is dead set on making his UFC comeback this summer -- and wants to fight on the same card he's headlining vs. Stipe Miocic (UFC 226).

As for his opponent ... DC says that's TBD -- but we all know the door's open for Brock to return.

Comedian Michael Blackson seriously wants to beat the crap outta Kevin Hart -- telling TMZ Sports he's bringing in 2 of the best boxers in the world so he can get the job done!!

Just last month, Blackson told us he wanted to fight Kev to settle their beef ... but we kinda figured he was joking since, you know, we're talking about Michael Blackson here.

But when we got him out at Argyle in Hollywood the other day -- MB claimed both Adrien Broner and Deontay Wilder have agreed to train him for the potential comedy superfight.

Michael says he tried hitting up Floyd, too, but got big-timed.

LaVar Ball's taking a shot at 45 once again ... this time over the report that Donald Trump didn't really do anything to free his son in China after he got caught shoplifting.

As TMZ Sports reported ... LaVar refused to thank the Prez back in November for helping spring LiAngelo and his UCLA teammates, claiming there was no proof Trump was the primary reason it happened.

A Friday report by ESPN seems to validate that, so LaVar pounced ... mockingly asking Trump, "Thank you for what again?" and adding #knowyourfacts #stayinyolane.

It should be noted ... the ESPN report says even though Trump got involved in the China fiasco after it was basically resolved, he may have still pulled some strings to aid in the players' departure.

Trump was pissed at LaVar for being "very ungrateful" back then in the aftermath of the incident ... so we can only imagine how he feels about this.

50 Cent just posted a shocking picture that is clearly directed at his longtime, mortal enemy Rick Ross.

The picture he posted is of Ivan Drago from "Rocky IV" -- the precise scene is when Drago is standing over Apollo Creed as Creed is dying. Drago says, "If he dies, he dies."

The implication is clear ... at least to a swarm of people who have interpreted this as a direct shot at Rick. As you know, TMZ broke the story ... Rick is in the hospital hooked up to a machine that is performing heart and lung functions.

50 and Ross have had a longstanding, bitter feud. It got so bad, 50 once posted a sex tape of one of Rick's baby mamas ... which brought their war to a fever pitch.

No word yet from Rick's camp, but we're guessing his people will respond.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his GF Ricki Noel Lander hit the Hollywood scene together last night -- and happily thanked the paparazzi for the well wishes toward Ricki's new child.

As we previously reported ... 36-year-old Lander secretly gave birth to a baby in the fall of 2017 -- but 76-year-old Kraft issued a statement through his rep saying he is not the biological father. Interesting situation considering they've been dating for about 5 years.

Despite the mystery surrounding the kid ... the two were all smiles as they walked into the WME pre-Oscar bash at a private location in Beverly Hills -- making it clear they are still very much a couple.