Donald Trump is firing back at Bill Cosby after the comedian blasted the billionaire on "The Today Show" last week -- claiming Bill's nothing more than an underhanded backstabber.



It's all over a statement Bill made on "The Today Show," claiming the Donald should either "run or shut up" -- referring to Trump's ambiguous stance on running for President in 2012.

Trump -- who can't publicly declare his candidacy until "Celebrity Apprentice" is over -- returned fire today in a statement, claiming, "While I have never been a fan of Cosby’s, I had always assumed he liked or respected me because every time I met him ... he was always so nice."

Trumps adds, "If [Bill] doesn’t want me to run because he’s obviously an Obama fan, he should state the reasons and not ... treat me like his best friend, only to denigrate me when I’m not around."

Check out Trump's full statement after the jump.

Click here... it's not over yet

Gary Busey is still adamant he never stole Meatloaf's paint on "Celebrity Apprentice" ... but insists ML "stole his own integrity" when he EXPLODED on Busey on the show this weekend. 


Busey was out in L.A. yesterday -- and told us, "They found [Meat's] paint later ... I hadn't taken anything ... it's just the way things work out when you're dealing with somebody who doesn't have anger management or rage control."

Despite the legendary outburst -- Gary says he still believes Meatloaf is a "good guy" -- but explains, "He just went off the handle."

No kidding ...

Lil Jon dropped some inside scoop on TMZ about the "Celebrity Apprentice" fight between Meatloaf and Gary Busey -- and he also told us the BIG SECRET ... that we already knew.





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Richard Hatch -- the guy who won $1 million on Season 1 of "Survivor" -- has been ordered to surrender to U.S. marshals by NOON today to begin a 9-month prison sentence for not paying taxes on the prize money.



Hatch had filed a request to delay his surrender until he could get his business affairs in order ... but earlier today, the judge shot down the request ... which means Hatch better get his ass over to his nearest marshals station ASAP.

Hatch is currently a contestant on "Celebrity Apprentice" -- and though most of the season has already been taped ... the finale will be LIVE in a couple of months.

So, if by chance ... Hatch makes it all the way to the final 2 ... Trump better make sure he can broadcast from behind bars!

UPDATE: Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal David Remington tells us Hatch has officially surrendered to authorities.

Gary Busey has finally bottomed out -- not only did he hit the stripper pole during a "Celebrity Apprentice" cast party in Vegas Sunday night ... he nearly lost his pants in the process.



It all went down at Surrender nightclub at the Encore -- where fellow CA castmates Lil Jon and Playmate Hope Dworaczyk were there to witness Gary spiraling out of control.



Work it.

Heather Mills' ex-rep claims the former model tried to rig "The Apprentice" and bad mouthed Paul McCartney -- but we've got the perfect musical response to Heather. You're welcome, Paul.




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Heather Mills' ex-publicist has filed a  lawsuit against the former model, claiming Heather is a liar and a cheater who tried to fix the ending of "Celebrity Apprentice."



In the suit, Parapluie -- a publicity company -- claims Heather often made allegations about Paul McCartney to the firm, claiming he was a drunk, drug-abusing wife-beater.  Sources connected with the publicity company tell TMZ ... they believe Heather made the abuse stories up.

The documents state, Heather told one of the publicists, "I could kill [Paul], last night, he tried to choke me.  The marriage is over."  Sources connected to the firm tell TMZ ... they believe Heather was lying.

According to the suit -- obtained by TMZ -- the publicity firm claims it got her a shot at being on "Celebrity Apprentice," but Mills would only accept the gig if Donald Trump guaranteed she would win.  Trump denied her request.

The firm also says Heather lied when she said all of the money she made from "Dancing with the Stars" would go to charity.  The firm claims only a portion went to charity.

The publicity company is suing for unpaid fees totaling $168,000.

Calls to McCartney's rep have not been returned.

UPDATE: Sources close to NeNe tell us ... the reality star is adamantly denying that she had a "tantrum" ... explaining that the makeup artist simply wasn't experienced with African-American hair and makeup. We're told NeNe insists that she thanked the makeup artist for her efforts, but she ultimately decided to do her makeup herself.

The new cast of "Celebrity Apprentice" has only been together for 9 days -- but a diva has already emerged ... and sources tell TMZ, it's NeNe Leakes from "The Real Housewives of Atlanta."


According to our spies -- NeNe has already earned a reputation for being the "difficult one" ... after an incident over her makeup this weekend.

We're told NeNe threw a tantrum because she hated the way her makeup artists dolled her up for the opening interviews -- so the "Housewives" star made them start over ... but she still wasn't satisfied.

After two makeovers, NeNe ultimately called the makeup crew off -- grabbed some tools and did the whole thing by herself.

Wonder if David Cassidy is having the same problem.

Pauly D had the opportunity to get hired -- or, more likely, fired -- by Donald Trump on the upcoming season of "The Celebrity Apprentice" ... but he turned it down, TMZ has learned.


Sources close to the "Jersey Shore" star tell TMZ ... producers approached him about being on fourth edition of "Celebrity Apprentice" -- but Pauly D decided he'd rather focus on his spin-off show with MTV ... which, sources say, has already begun filming.

We're told producers were looking for someone with a kind of "hip-hop background" -- which they ended up getting when they signed up Lil Jon instead.

We took your questions today on everything -- including Lamar Odom being managed by Kris Jenner, Paris Hilton's trespasser being arrested, and Katherine Heigl's neighborhood war.


Plus: Courteney Cox and David Arquette's trial separation.

Is Lil Jon gonna be on the next season of "Celebrity Apprentice" ... YEEEAHHHH!!!


TMZ has identified some of the contestants Donald Trump has selected for the upcoming season of his hit reality show ... which includes former MLB star turned steroid finger-pointer Jose Canseco and the original "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch.

Trump also signed supermodel Niki Taylor ... because that's
how Trump rolls.