Noah Wyle appeared cool, calm and collected this morning after he was arrested in a Washington D.C. protest ... claiming he was just following in the illegal footsteps of a Hollywood icon -- Martin Sheen.

On his way through Dulles International Airport, Wyle was asked who pulled off a better civil disobedience arrest -- him or his former "E.R." co-star George Clooney ... when Wyle dropped Charlie Sheen's father's name.

In case you didn't know, Martin Sheen's a famed activist -- who claims he was arrested more than 60 times for various political protests throughout the years.

As we previously reported, Wyle was busted on Capitol Hill ... while hoping to convince Congress to prevent Medicaid cuts that would allegedly force a bunch of sick and elderly people into nursing homes.

Lane Garrison's ex-GF claims the actor hit her so hard Saturday she got a giant knot on her head.

Garrison was arrested Sunday for felony domestic violence. The incident occurred at Ashley Mattingly's Beverly Hills apartment the day before, when the two began arguing and it turned physical.

Mattingly says the problems started Friday when they went to the Playboy Mansion and Garrison got wasted and began "hovering over Hef." She says Garrison slept in his car that night, came back to her apartment Saturday and that's went the real trouble started.

Mattingly says in addition to the knot, she has multiple bruises. She also says she'll press charges IF Garrison refuses to go to rehab.

As for Garrison, his lawyer tells us the actor denies hurting Ashley, claiming she went ballistic and he merely put her in a chair to calm her down.

Kim and Khloe Kardashian furiously jumped out of their car yesterday in the middle of a busy L.A. street -- after another vehicle nearly ran into them -- and now, footage has surfaced of the angry standoff.

It's unclear what happened right before the cameras started rolling -- but sources tell TMZ, the other car had been driving aggressively, turning into Kim and Khloe's lane ... as if trying to run them off the road.

Here's where the footage starts -- Khloe, who's driving, cuts the other car off to corner it in ... then she and Kim angrily hop out to see what the hell the deal is.

It gets crazy fast -- Khloe BUM RUSHES the car's driver side door and tries to open it. Meanwhile, Kim snaps pics of the car's license plate.

Sources tell us, a woman was driving the other car with another female in the passenger seat. In the backseat, we're told some guy wearing a CBS Sports t-shirt was filming the entire altercation.

The footage is pretty wild ... but it only lasts a few seconds -- before the other car backs out and takes off.

Kim tweeted a pic of the other car's license plate yesterday (below) -- with the caption, "This driver tried to hit us and run while video taping it. She works for CBS Sports. Wow drivers beware."


11:00 AM PT: A spokeswoman for CBS Sports tells TMZ, "There is nothing that makes us believe this person works for CBS Sports." The rep had no further comment.

Lana Del Rey's obsession with Axl Rose went to a whole new level last night, when the 25-year-old songstress and the 50-year-old rocker left the Chateau Marmont together.

Lana was spotted at an Axl/GnR show in Hollywood last month -- and back before she made it big, she recorded a song called "Axl Rose Husband."

The pair got into an SUV together, with Axl almost sitting in the back seat with her before hopping in the front. 

Sweet Child o' Mine, indeed.

Seems Deadmau5 is experiencing a little post-feud remorse ... admitting things didn't go exactly as planned in his cyber-feud with Madonna.

The super DJ was at Pearson International Airport in Canada yesterday ... when he was asked about the Madonna thing ... and he replied, "How is it?! It's terrible."

As we previously reported, Deadmau5 had accused the singer of promoting drug use at a recent electronic music festival ... but Madge fired back, claiming he totally misinterpreted her comments ... and scolded him for not addressing his gripe privately.

Now, it's obvious Deadmau5 just wants the controversy to go away ... saying, "It's just a little trite ... everyone will forget about it."

 

Bruce Jenner is rallying behind his stepdaughter Kim Kardashian -- claiming the rogue PETA member who dumped flour on her last week is nothing more than a pathetic little "ass."

Bruce and Kris Jenner were leaving LAX yesterday -- when a photog asked what they thought about the flour-bombing PETA activist Christina Cho blasting Kim for wearing the flesh of dead animals.

Bruce didn't miss a beat, calling Cho an "ass." Meanwhile, Kris played coy.

As we previously reported, Kim's sis Khloe has already cut ties with PETA over the flour-bombing -- accusing the organization of "bullying." 

Shaquille O'Neal celebrated his 40th birthday in Las Vegas last night with a bunch of his friends, some of whom were white ... a fact that was not lost on Shaq.

The Diesel took to the mic at the nightclub LAVO inside the Palazzo Hotel ... where he shouted out his caucasian friends and dedicated a song in their honor. 

Check out the video to find out which song Shaq thinks is the official anthem of white people.

You're George Clooney and you've just been arrested in Washington, D.C. during a protest. You get one phone call and you know EVERYONE. So who do you call? WHO DO YOU CALL???

Russell Brand is nothing if not resilient ... we got video of him strolling through party central in New Orleans, hours after he was released from jail.

As we first reported, Russell turned himself in Thursday after a warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the incident Monday where he allegedly threw a photog's iPhone through a window.

Brand was strolling the French Quarter with a mystery woman, who looks like the chick from his yoga class -- who he's been hanging out with over the last few weeks.

"Bachelor" winner Courtney Robertson has reached Phase 2 in her shameless quest for fame -- the part where she tries to make everyone believe she's SERIOUS about her engagement to Ben Flajnik. 

A fully-clothed Courtney was out in L.A. moments ago ... telling paps, "We're engaged ... I love him." She also noted they have yet to set an actual wedding date.

During the finale last night, Courtney revealed she and Ben briefly split up after they finished taping the show ... but had since reconciled.

So, we gotta ask ... 

Rihanna doesn't think she's to blame for the see-thru pics of her upper lady parts this week -- despite the fact she wore a mesh shirt with no bra -- insisting it was camera flashes that left her exposed.

The singer was out in NY last night ... happily taking pictures with EVERY fan who wanted a shot ... when someone asked if she had seen the racy see-thru pics. She replied, "You mean my t*tties?"

This time, all RiRi exposed was a smile ... as she joked, "You come up with the flash man!"

Actually, YOU came up with the flash, man ... but no complaints here.