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JCPenney is defending its "period skirt" to the max, touting it looks good any time of the month.

The chain is now responding to criticism that the design on the fabric looks like a woman bleeding out as she strolls down the street ... seemingly unaware she's attracting sharks.

The store responds, "We think it's a fab skirt for any time of the month. Period."

Now for what we think is the real story. Penney's new CEO, Marvin Ellison, has vowed to rebrand the struggling chain, making it more modern. He's already made strides, and you gotta believe someone in his brain trust mentioned the design would be slammed by angry women.

Here's the other side ... Ellison clearly knew the skirt would attract attention, so at least to us it seems like a clever plan from the get-go.

Ex 'Bad Girl' Amber Meade just wanted to shake her ass and flash her assault rifle, live on the Internet -- but ended up having cops bust into her bathroom to investigate the incident.

The former "Bad Girls Club" star was on Periscope last weekend, doing what she does -- dancing around in booty shorts, but this time she did it with an AR-15. The video is hysterical ... Amber flaunts her assets for several minutes, until there's a knock on her door.

That's when her fiance yelled the cops were there, and Amber scrambles to hide the massive weapon ... but it was too late. Maui PD explained to Amber they'd received a call about a "girl with a machine gun online."

As for how the officers tracked her down? Amber tells TMZ, her phone's location services were on. Ooops. However, she wasn't arrested since she and her fiance are legal owners.

Manny Pacquiao has a new fight on his hands ... courtesy of the Village People -- 'cause the original cowboy is calling for a BOYCOTT of Manny's fight over his anti-gay comments.

Arnold Schwarzenegger's third oldest son is growing into his father's famously ripped mold.

Joseph Baena was flexing and grinning after buying groceries in Malibu. He's a long way from his hometown of Bakersfield, but the beach life clearly fits him well.

Iggy Azalea's got a new riding partner who's also trying to buck a slew of personal drama -- Kesha's now saddling up with the rapper.

Kesha turned up in the corral next to Iggy ... trying her hand at some equestrian therapy.

50 Cent's smartphone just got banned from bankruptcy court ... because the judge thinks he's using it to make a mockery of the case.

The judge banned all electronic devices from the courtroom and conference rooms in response to Fiddy's last court appearance. You'll recall he posted a shot of himself last month with a wad of possibly fake cash in his waistband ... while a hearing was STILL IN PROGRESS.

The judge said she's all for free speech, but implored 50 to quit with the antics and take the case seriously.

Ralphie May just got smacked in the wallet -- his upcoming concert has been canceled after audio surfaced of an old routine he did ripping Native Americans for being drunks.

The Sanford Center in Bemidji, MN tells TMZ it's pulling the plug on Ralphie's concert that was set for Saturday. Bemidji has a large Native American population, and we're told the show was yanked in direct response to the audio of a bit May did in 2007.

He's been getting blasted for saying things like, "F**k a bunch of Indians" ... and "dry up you bunch of alcoholics." Ralphie posted an apology Wednesday night, saying the audio is highly edited and omitted his punchline, which made it clear the rant was all a joke.

For folks in Bemidji ... we're told full refunds will be given, and the box office is throwing in a ticket to "Celtic Fire" Irish step dancing for your troubles.

Rob Kardashian has lost at least 50 pounds ... and he says he's now halfway there.

Lady Gaga's first piano is going up for auction and it's expected to fetch a small fortune ... anywhere between $100k-$200k.

That's a ton more than the piddly $780 Gaga's grandparents dropped for it in 1966. Gaga reportedly started hammering on the keys at age 4 ... and later used it to write her first song, "Dollar Bills."

The piano's being auctioned off by Julien's Auctions on May 21, and expect the price to soar. Kurt Cobain's MTV Unplugged cardigan was expected to go for $60k but ended fetching $137,500!

Mickey Rourke played hardball Wednesday night with Donald Trump, insisting Melania has to be in it for the loot to sleep in the same bed with him.

It all went down with a casual game of catch on a Beverly Hills street. The friendly back-and-forth between Mickey and our photog turned into a vicious political rant, with Rourke digging deep into his vocab for every epithet -- including some homophobic ones -- he could hurl at the Prez candidate.

Blac Chyna is privately calling BS on Tyga for pretending to be supportive of her engagement to Rob Kardashian ... we're told her ex is really trying to destroy her life.

Sources directly connected to Chyna tell TMZ, Tyga has gone to great lengths to drive a wedge between their son, King, and her. We're told he's filed legal docs trying to wrestle custody from her and will not back down.

Our sources say Tyga will not even speak to Chyna ... their only direct contact is email. We're told he changed his cell and won't give her the new number. Most of the parenting decisions are made with their nanny as the go-between.

Madonna flew into London Wednesday, presumably to follow judge's orders and hash out a custody deal with ex-hubby Guy Ritchie.

A judge ordered Madge and Guy -- who have been at war for years over how to raise Rocco -- to come up with a plan on how they will handle custody of the 15-year-old, who now lives with Guy in London.

The judge laid down the law last month, urging them to call a truce for the benefit of the boy. And the judge made it clear ... if they don't come up with a plan, he will.

Justin Bieber ate it onstage Wednesday night during his Kansas City concert, and the song that brought him down was pretty mellow.

Justin was jumping around singing "Sorry" when his ass met the hardwood.

The latest in a storied history of concert falls.

Paris Jackson's gonna run out of skin if she keeps getting tattoos for family members -- but she reserved a special spot for granny, Katherine Jackson.

Paris got a blue flower with Mandarin Chinese lettering "Kaiselin" inked on her left wrist. She proudly announced the tatt was "for Grandma Katherine."

The new piece looks to be adjacent to the one she just got in honor of her father.

Paris is gonna have to draw a line with Jackson family tattoos at some point. She's in trouble if she gets to Jermajesty territory.

Claudia Jordan's got Amy Schumer's back -- be it size 6, 7 or 8 -- in the comedian's weight war with Glamour magazine.

Claudia weighed in on the debate about the mag including Amy in its plus size edition. Schumer's pissed and CJ agrees ... the numbers just don't add up, but she's not surprised.

Watch her go off on Glamour for more than just weight.

Bonus: Claudia reveals why she's gonna be plus size soon. Think green.

Vanessa Bryant says Kobe gave her all 5 of his NBA Championship rings ... increasing her collection of insanely expensive Kobe Bryant gift rings to 6.