Harvey Weinstein just did a new on-the-record interview since the flood of allegations came pouring in against him -- and his first thought out ... he's a champion of women.

The disgraced movie producer -- who's now been criminally charged in relation to some of the allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse -- spoke to the New York Post from his hospital room in NYC, from which he was later discharged following his back surgery.

One of the big takeaways from the interview -- again, one of his first with a paper of record since 2018 -- is that he thinks people are forgetting everything he'd done for women in his career.

Weinstein says he feels like the "forgotten man," going on to add ... "I made more movies directed by women and about women than any filmmaker, and I’m talking about 30 years ago. I’m not talking about now when it’s vogue. I did it first! I pioneered it!"

He continues by saying, "It all got eviscerated because of what happened. My work has been forgotten."

For example, Weinstein cites giving Gwyneth Paltrow $10 million to star in the 2003 movie, "View from the Top" -- which he says was more than any of the men made at the time. He also says he got Felicity Huffman an Academy Award nom by casting her in "Transamerica" ... a move he considers super progressive, and something he thinks he deserves credit for.

He also says Madonna made him aware of the documentary, "Paris is Burning" -- which captures the drag culture of the city -- and apparently wants a pat on the back for bringing it to audiences in the U.S. and beyond by snapping up the distribution rights.

Weinstein goes on to tout his humanitarian efforts through the years and summed up his thoughts by saying, "If you remember who I was then, you might want to question some of this." He did NOT, however, specifically address any of the accusations against him.

He's going to trial on Jan. 6 on five different charges, including predatory sexual assault, a criminal sex act and rape. Weinstein faces life in prison if convicted -- he's pled not guilty.

Move over, Jay Gatsby ... Seth MacFarlane's here to take the reins this holiday season as the most extra host in party-throwing, with a splash of hot button issues to boot.

The "Family Guy" creator threw an epic Christmas Party Saturday night at his Beverly Hills home, and it was decked out to the max with what appears to be a mishmash of themes -- including time travel, the 1950s, environmentalism and politics. Good mix, right?

Click through the gallery, and you'll see what we're talking about. Seth had elaborate set pieces staged all throughout his pad -- a N.I.C.E. Detention Center, Santa's Space-Time Super Sleigh, a single block of a North Pole glacier from the year 2091, and a lot more.

Like we said, F. Scott Fitzgerald might've blushed at something like this. Speaking of Gats, we're told Leo was at Seth's party. He's big on climate change, so this is right up his alley.

As if all that wasn't class enough, Seth also had a full orchestra performing live throughout the night -- and, of course, the guy got up there himself and crooned a handful of songs. More like 10 or so, actually. Seth's a great singer, and we're told he put his talent to good use. The performance quickly became a family affair too -- his sis, Rachael, sang as well.

Eyewitnesses tell us one other big highlight of the night came when Seth honored a 100-year-old WWII veteran named Sidney Walton, who got a big round of applause.

Here it is ... a KEY piece of the video at the center of the Patriots SpyGate II scandal -- and it's reallllllly bad for the Pats.

The footage, obtained by "NFL on FOX" reporter Jay Glazer, shows the moments the Patriots video crew is confronted by Cincinnati Bengals' security last weekend over concerns the crew was illegally shooting video of their sidelines.

During the exchange, you can hear Bengals security express major concerns over the video -- since it REALLY looks like the videographer was SPYING!!

Remember, the Patriots say the video team was tasked to shoot a behind-the-scenes segment on an advanced scout for a show on the Pats website called "Do Your Job."

But, as the Bengals security official points out to the video crew, there's a large chunk of the video where you don't see the scout ... only the Bengals sidelines.

Here's an exchange from the video ...

Bengals Security: "And, this is a piece your filming on your advanced scout?

Pat's video crew: "Yeah."

Bengals Security: "Yeah? C'mon guys! I don't see the advanced scout in this footage!"

Patriots video crew: "No, that's not. We were trying to get some field perspective. That's my bad."

The Patriots crew offered to delete the video but the Bengals security told him, "The damage is done my friend!"

The Bengals immediately referred the matter to NFL security and the league has launched an investigation.

The Patriots have admitted the video team broke league rules -- but they insist the video team was NOT tasked to spy, claiming the whole thing was an accident.

For his part, Glazer says there WILL be a punishment -- but it's unclear what it will be at this point.

Bill Belichick has denied involvement -- claiming the video team does not report to him.

During the "NFL On FOX" pregame show on Sunday, both Michael Strahan and Curt Menefee expressed how BAD of a look it is on the team.

Especially since the Patriots were caught in a video cheating scandal back in 2007 and were punished heavily for it.

Diddy celebrated his half-century on earth in pretty spectacular fashion, with the help of several tons of celebs.

The mogul's 50th birthday bash went down Saturday at his $40 million Holmby Hills home, where Diddy celebrated with Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, Dr. Dre, Pharrell Williams, Cardi B, Offset, G-Eazy, Chadwick Boseman, Post Malone, Tyler Perry, Kobe Bryant, Machine Gun Kelly and on and on.

Possibly the biggest headline from the evening, Jay and Ye shaking hands! Seemingly squashing their years-long beef.

As for the performers ... how 'bout Mary J Blige, Usher, Lil Kim and Doug E. Fresh?

As for the eats ... McDonald's apple pies, breakfast sandwiches and some fancy stuff too.  There were lots of cannabis products and, of course, Ciroc Vodka all over the place.

Diddy's birthday is actually November 4, but he apparently waited so all his friends could join him.

He's had a rough patch for sure ... a little more than a year ago the mother of his twins -- Kim Porter -- died due to complications from pneumonia.

The cake inscription was short, sweet, and to the point. It simply said "LOVE."

James "Radio" Kennedy -- the inspiration behind the movie, "Radio," starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. -- has died.

James, who was mentally challenged, was a true inspiration for decades. He was an unofficial 11th grader at T.L. Hanna High School since 1965, where he attended football games and often led the team onto the field

Radio -- he got his nickname because he was rarely seen without his rusty, trusty transistor radio -- got national attention back in 1996 when Sports Illustrated ran a story about Radio and the football coach, Harold Jones. The story highlighted how the town of Anderson, South Carolina accepted him.

The story was the catalyst for the movie, "Radio," which debuted in 2003.

Jones confirmed Radio's death, saying, "He was just a fine man. We all loved him. We will miss him incredibly."

Radio had been ill and had been in the hospital for quite a while. He had been recently moved to a hospice facility.

Radio became an inspiration to the players and the town ... truly spreading joy. A few years ago, the Salvation Army was struggling during the x-mas season and when Radio learned of it, he braved the bitter cold with Jones, stood outside a Sam's Club and got hundreds of people to deposit cash in the kettle.

Radio, who was inducted into T.L. Hanna Athletic Hall of Fame in 2016, struggled with various health issues, including pancreatitis, diabetes and kidney issues.

Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, have gone on the offensive in the College Admissions scandal, claiming prosecutors are intentionally hiding evidence that proves the famous couple didn't intend to secretly bribe anyone.

Lori and Mossimo's lawyers claim in new legal docs ... their clients made "legitimate donations" ... "At trial, Giannulli and Loughlin will help establish their innocence by showing that they understood both sets of payments to be legitimate donations and did not understand or intent that either set of payments would be used to directly or indirectly bribe Heinel [former USC senior associate athletic director.]"

The lawyers want to get info on whether USC knew of Singer's activities with various parents and students. If there's evidence USC knew ... Lori and Mossimo will clearly argue this was not bribery ... that payments had become institutionalized.

In fact, lawyers in other college admissions cases have argued these payments are part of a "University-wide program at USC."

The couple has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, honest services fraud, money laundering and federal programs bribery. They face a maximum of 45 years if convicted on all charges.

One of the problems for Lori and Mossimo -- those pics of their daughters on rowing machines ... making it appear they had experience on a crew team when in fact, they had none.

Tyla Yaweh got the crowd going Saturday at Rolling Loud by dedicating part of his set to the passing of Juice WRLD and XXXTentacion.

People crammed into the Banc of California Stadium in L.A., where he played Juice's "Armed and Dangerous." TMZ broke the story ... Juice died last Sunday after suffering seizures.

The tributes didn't end with Juice. Tyla said, "Let's also turn up for my brother, XXXTentacion," and the crowd was more than happy to oblige.

Nick Cannon just can't get enough of his diss track aimed at Eminem -- playing it back-to-back-to-back (and then some) -- and vibing to it harder than anyone else in the room.

Nick's been busy shooting new episodes of 'Wild 'n Out' in Atlanta this week ... and we got some footage from behind the scenes. Nick took control of the DJ booth one day, and our sources say he played "The Invitation" -- his Eminem diss track -- at least 20 times.

We're told Nick not only played the track on repeat for his VIP guests, staff and cast members, he also played it over the speakers for the audience on the main stage.

Our sources say the 'Wild 'n Out' staff is confident Eminem will eventually take the bait, and come on the show -- and 'Invitation' will become an anthem for their battle.

Important to note ... we're coming up on a week since Nick fired the first shot, and still nothing from Em -- so, the 'WnO' crew better not be holding their breath.

As we reported, Nick dropped not one, but TWO diss tracks this week. "The Invitation" took a homophobic shot at Eminem, saying, "I heard your chauffeur got a video of you suckin' c**k." Another verse, referencing Mariah Carey, "My baby mama killed you off a decade ago, You're still crying about it bitch, now who really the ho?"

Marshall hasn't said much, other than a couple tweets, back at Nick. In one, "U mad bro? Stop lying on my d**k. I never even had a chauffeur, you bougie f**k."

The cremated remains of Charles Manson continue to inspire a couple of artsy-fartsy folks ... who used real human blood and Manson's ashes to create life-like Manson masks.

Artist Ryan Almighty tells TMZ ... he and renowned mask-maker Rick 'Sik Rik' Fisher recently got together at Fisher's studio in Akron, Ohio and conjured up 2 masks painted with human blood and specked with Manson's ashes.

The final product ... creepy AF, which was probably the precise intention. The mask no doubt got a pro's touch. Fisher's created licensed masks and sculptures for Iron Maiden and Motorhead, among others.

We're told the duo made just 2 masks for their collection ... but if there's a high demand, they're down to make more.

Unclear how much of CM's ashes Ryan's got left. As we first reported ... Ryan's already done some bizarre Manson art, which also featured some of Manson's ashes and real blood. That painting ended up in Zak Bagans' Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

There's also that skin-crawling Manson tattoo plastered on some weirdo's arm. You'll recall the ink Ryan used for that tat was mixed with some of Manson's actual ashes.

The Game knows he's walking a thin line when it comes to criticizing Oprah -- but says 50 Cent's got him thinking it's time to do a deep dive into who she targets with her documentaries.

We got Game out in L.A. and got his take on Fiddy calling out O ... claiming she's targeting famous black men accused of being sexual predators for her upcoming #MeToo documentary.

You gotta see Game's reaction ... he's seriously dumbfounded at the possibility Oprah's giving the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Epstein a pass while putting Russell Simmons and Michael Jackson in her crosshairs.

The rapper threw out a wild theory about a possible "secret society" of the super-rich Oprah might belong to that demands she NOT target rich, powerful white men. Like we said, wild ... and Game emphasizes he doesn't know anything for sure.

Not yet, anyway. Check out the clip, and you'll get a better idea of what he's diving into this weekend.

Vince Young just lost a crapload of his most prized football possessions in a storage unit auction ... and now, his loss can be your gain, 'cause the new owner tells us she's sellin' it all!!

Young apparently didn't pay the fees for his storage space in Houston, Texas ... and it's a bummer for the dude, 'cause some of his COOLEST memorabilia was in there.

We're told items in the storage unit included Young's Maxwell Award, his MVP trophy from the 2006 Rose Bowl and a whole bunch of other one-of-a-kind items.

We're told the ball from his first-ever NFL touchdown pass was also in there ... and even helmets he used throughout his career -- including the '06 Rose Bowl game -- were in there.

According to the lucky unit winner ... she only paid a few thousand dollars for the semi-blind auction back in November -- and was pretty surprised at the haul that she got for the cash.

Currently, she's only listed Young's Maxwell Award, his Rose Bowl MVP trophy and his Manning Award for sale ... with the asking price of $50,000 for each on eBay.

Kandi Burruss is singing the praises of the woman who helped bring her new baby girl into the world -- and now she's opening up about her firsthand experience with surrogacy.

We got the "Real Housewives of Atlanta" star out in Atlanta and asked what advice she'd give anyone thinking about using a surrogate. Of course, Kandi's second child ... a little girl named Blaze Tucker was born on November 22, and she couldn't say enough great things about their surrogate.

Check it out ... Kandi says counseling's a great start. And, not just because it was required, either. When she finally met her surrogate, Shadina Blunt, they built a solid relationship and bonded so much, they went to counseling together.

Kandi says she knows some parents opt to keep it strictly professional with surrogates -- but she explained why she and her husband, Todd Tucker, took a different approach with Shadina.

Don Johnson's good looks just keep getting better!

Here is a 37-year-old version of the "Miami Vice" actor showing off his slicked back look at the Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hill back in 1986 (left). The actor took home the award for best performance by an actor in a television series, in the drama category, that evening.

And, 33 years later ... The "Knives Out" star is spending this weekend celebrating his 70th birthday. He was last spotted showing off his contagious smile, right before his appearance on Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" (right).

His beauty is something to "Watchmen!"

The question is ...

Sarah Huckabee Sanders doesn't seem to regret leaving Trump's White House one iota -- because she looks as calm and relaxed as we've seen her since stepping into DT's orbit.

We got the former Press Secretary Saturday at the Reagan Airport in D.C. for a quick catch-up on her life since she resigned from her role back in the summer. While it feels like she did that ages ago, it's only been a few short months -- that's how much has happened since.

Our camera guy jokingly asks how she's enjoying her early "retirement," and it sounds like SHS has no plans to hang it up completely just yet. Word around town is she's ramping up for a gubernatorial run in Arkansas -- where her dad was the gov for a long time.

We asked her about that, and Mrs. Sanders gave us a classic political non-answer answer. She didn't say no though ... so the door's certainly there if she wants to open it in a few years.

Sarah also gives us an update on what she's been up to lately, saying she's spent a lot of much-needed time with her family -- and has enjoyed every minute of it. Then, we get into impeachment ... asking if she's happy not to be part of that mess right now.

Kodak Black says he's been living in hell behind bars, and he seems to be blaming correctional officers for much of his misfortune ... straight from the horse's mouth.

The incarcerated rapper posted a lengthy message Saturday on Instagram, claiming he was drugged with a laced substance back in October -- which he alleges resulted in him being denied medical attention and, later, pepper-sprayed by a guard he says turned a blind eye.

Kodak cites several physical altercations he's gotten into with different inmates over the past several months, many of which he claims were either escalated by correctional officers on hand or neglected altogether. At one point, he claims he had to be put into a wheelchair.

The bigger picture ... Kodak says he's being treated like a dog in Miami's FDC prison -- where he says he's been holed up in the "Box" for the past 45 days without proper care.

For example, he cites little to no access to the commissary, poor hygiene and a regiment of psych meds that he doesn't seem to think are helping at all. On top of all that, Kodak says he's had to mourn the death of his good friend, Juice WRLD ... who passed away last weekend.

He ends his rant by saying, "I want to shed this light on police brutality and the tactics they use to cover their behinds" ... adding a #JUSTICEFORKODAK for good measure. Of course, we'd heard these claims before from his camp -- but now, it's coming straight from KB.