TMZ.com Home

TV might be President Trump's thing, but "The West Wing" creator Aaron Sorkin says Donald would be a disaster even in a fictional White House ... for just ONE critical reason.

We got the award-winning producer/screenwriter Thursday night on his way out of Craig's in WeHo, and laid out a simple premise: would he consider a reboot of 'West Wing' with a Trump-esque Commander-in-Chief?

It's obvious Sorkin's already discussed it, if only privately -- because he didn't hesitate to fire off a response that's a direct shot at Trump's personality.

Aaron makes it clear his answer has NOTHING to do with politics, and explains why ... basically, Trump couldn't carry Prez Bartlet's water. Best part of the clip, though, might be Sorkin's own reaction to what came out of his mouth.

Take it easy, Aaron -- we don't think you're in George Lopez territory here.

Kitti Jones -- one of R. Kelly's exes who's accused him of physical abuse and sexual coercion -- is weighing in on Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage's fight and says they may end up saving each other.

We got Kitti out Friday morning in NYC, and it's crystal clear she has strong feelings after seeing the video of Azriel come to blows with Joycelyn in Kelly's condo. Kitti, a former Dallas radio DJ, says she was 33 when she met Kelly.

Still, she says she knows what it's like to be in Azriel's shoes, and offered some tips on recovering.

Kitti appeared in both 'Surviving R. Kelly' docs, and tells us even though Azriel and Joycelyn were brawling, they could ultimately end up being allies. As Kitti puts it ... that shared experience of dealing with Kelly is a powerful one.

TMZ broke the story ... cops responded to Kelly's Trump Tower condo after Azriel and Joycelyn came to blows. During the fight, Azriel threatened to send Joycelyn to jail ... for having sex with her when she was a minor.

Larry King and his estranged wife have taken a big step in their ongoing divorce proceedings ... by unloading their mansion in Beverly Hills.

We broke the story ... Larry and Shawn Southwick listed their massive pad in October for $16.995 million, in hopes of reaching a divorce settlement quickly and smoothly.

So far so good, because TMZ's learned it officially sold today for $15.5 million.

The ex-couple bought the 5-bed, Tuscan-style house in 2007 for just under $12 mil, so despite the drop in their initial asking price ... they still netted a nice profit.

The property is 11,000 square feet and features a master suite with twin bathrooms, a skylit foyer, a pool, a trophy room ... and comes with a 2-bedroom guest house to boot. Mega-realtor Kurt Rappaport had the listing.

Jennifer Lopez has friends in high places ... and her star power was on display while shooting a Super Bowl commercial.

J Lo put in some serious work Thursday at the Hard Rock Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale, where she was on set with her fiance Alex Rodriguez, mega-producer DJ Khaled, rockstar Steven Van Zandt and NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

TMZ's obtained behind-the-scenes pics and vids showing Jennifer rocking a tight white outfit from head-to-toe, and flanked by a huge filming crew. A-Rod's wardrobe included a blue sport coat, while DJ Khaled was, of course, wearing an eye-catching, bright yellow tracksuit -- and cracking up everyone on set.

Drake is lavishing himself with some super-expensive custom jewelry ... and one of his newest pieces was a big hint that his upcoming single with Future was on the way.

Our sources tell us Drake just dropped over $1 MILLION on a customized heart-shaped necklace, a pricey present for himself.

Drake commissioned Gemma Fine Jewelry to make the chain, which comes in at a whopping 100 carats. We're told the piece took several months to create -- heart-shaped diamonds are in high demand, and are extremely difficult to fashion.

Champagne Papi's adding to a growing collection of heart-shaped bling ... he's already got a diamond ring in the shape of a heart. Seems like this design is his new thing.

As for the increasing rumblings of a Drake and Future album, check out their matching gold and silver pendants. We're told the pieces, made by Jason of Beverly Hills, are each worth $200,000 and feature over half a kilo of gold and 40-carat diamonds.

"Screw you, motherf**ker! You suck too! Hey! You suck too, motherf**ker!!!"

That's Texans head coach Bill O'Brien going absolutely ballistic on a heckler during the Broncos game earlier this season ... and the EPIC rant was all caught on video!!!

Houston fans were pretty pissed off at their team during their Dec. 8 game -- when the Texans were down 31-3 at half -- and one fan decided to let O'Brien hear it in the team's tunnel.

As the coach was on his way back to the locker room with star quarterback Deshaun Watson -- you can hear a man clearly yell "YOU SUCK!" at the guys.

That's when 50-year-old Billy O went OFF ... turning toward the fan and unleashing a tirade for the ages!!!

"You suck too!" O'Brien screamed. "F**k you!"

You can see in the video, star receiver DeAndre Hopkins tried to break up the scene ... but that didn't stop O'Brien from firing at the heckler, "Go the f**k home, motherf**ker!"

Clearly, there are much happier times in Houston these days ... since that blowup loss -- the Texans have gone 3-1, including a massive playoff win over Buffalo last weekend.

And, of course, the team is now just two wins away from its first-EVER Super Bowl appearance.

Which begs the question ... wonder how the heckler's feelin' now?

Philadelphia-born Bobby Rydell (real name Robert Louis Ridarelli) shot to stardom in the early '60s as a rock musician and teen idol with smash songs like "Volare," "Sway," "I'll Never Dance Again" and "Wild One."

After a flood of rockin' songs, Bobby Rydell took to the big screen and was cast as the jealous boyfriend, Hugo Peabody, in the iconic 1963 movie adaptation of "Bye Bye Birdie" alongside Ann-Margret as the smooching Kim McAfee and Dick Van Dyke as the scientific Albert F. Peterson.

Rydell has been recently ramping up for a string of shows across the states later in 2020.

Ne-Yo loves himself so much, he listens to his own music when he has sex, but he's now confessing that can create certain, umm ... performance issues.

We got the singer at LAX and our photog asked about his recent revelation -- he makes love to his own tracks! As for which songs ... Ne-Yo told us his wife, Crystal Renay, usually picks the playlist. He's a gentleman, after all.

Ne-Yo's got a huge catalog, packed with perfect songs for doing the deed, but he says the slower tunes usually set the mood just right -- in particular, he says "Mirror" is the #1 request. Feel free to try it yourself!

If there was ever any doubt, Ne-Yo is a perfectionist ... you gotta see him explain the one hazard of banging while his voice is blaring on a speaker. Let's just say it has to do with different strokes.

Olympic athletes looking to follow Colin Kaepernick's lead will have to do it somewhere other than Tokyo ... 'cause the IOC has banned kneeling and raising fists in protests at the 2020 games.

The International Olympic Committee released its guidelines for the upcoming Summer Games ... and it's clear the committee is trying very hard to keep politics out of it.

"The unique nature of the Olympic Games enables athletes from all over the world to come together in peace and harmony," the guidelines say.

"We believe that the example we set by competing with the world’s best while living in harmony in the Olympic Village is a uniquely positive message to send to an increasingly divided world."

"This is why it is important, on both a personal and a global level, that we keep the venues, the Olympic Village and the podium neutral and free from any form of political, religious or ethnic demonstrations."

Edd Byrnes, who became famous acting in movies like "Grease" and iconic TV shows like "77 Sunset Strip" is dead.

Byrnes died unexpectedly Wednesday at his Santa Monica home of natural causes.

His career had a bunch of high points. Edd played Vince Fontaine in "Grease," he was the host of the famous National Bandstand dance-off.

As for "77 Sunset Strip" -- which ran from 1958-1964 -- it was one of the most popular shows on the boob tube. He became the breakout star -- Kookie. For most of you who have never heard of the show, he was as big as Luke Perry's character in '90210' ... and not dissimilar.

Edd even scored a gold record for the hit with Connie Stevens, "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)," which hit #4 in 1959 and spent 13 weeks on the Billboard chart. The character Kookie was famous for combing his impressive locks with a comb.

Other credits include "Charlie's Angels," "Fantasy Island," "Married With Children," "Murder, She Wrote," "Maverick," and, of course -- where every star eventually landed -- "The Love Boat."

He leaves behind his son, Logan, an evening news anchor in San Diego and his longtime partner, Catherine Gross.

Edd was 87. RIP

Don't write off Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich's marriage just yet! If the couple's having marital issues, they sure as hell didn't show it during a very loving airport embrace.

Julianne picked up her hockey star husband Thursday morning at the Hollywood Burbank Airport Thursday, where they exchanged smiles and a loooooong hug before driving off together.

The PDA didn't include any kissing, but the reunion was romantic enough ... especially considering all the rumors about them separating. It is interesting, though ... while Julianne picked up Brooks, she still wasn't wearing her wedding ring -- part of what started the rumors. Brooks was wearing his.

Mark Wahlberg's nine days into 2020 and it appears he's never wearing a shirt ever again ... not that anyone's complaining.

Marky Mark's still in vacay mode and this time he's enjoying the picturesque beaches of Hawaii. The action star's actually in town competing in the Hawaii Sony Open Pro-Am. Talented actor and athlete. Yeah ... dude can hit a mean stroke. He's been known to do "golf cardio" ... where astoundingly he plays 18 holes in an hour.

And, like every star who works hard, he's still partying hard ... putting everyone's New Year's resolution diet/exercising plan to shame with his ripped bod. Seems he's got zero plans to slow down his R&R sesh.

Alexis Eddy -- who rose to fame on MTV's "Are You The One?" -- has been found dead in West Virginia ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops got a call just before 7AM Thursday morning for a female in cardiac arrest. We're told no foul play is suspected, but authorities are still waiting on a toxicology report to determine cause of death.

A West Virginia native, Alexis was a contestant on the reality dating show back in 2017, and she caused quite a stir in the house for her character and backstory, revealing on-camera her cousin is a convicted murderer.

Alexis was very open on social media about her struggles with substance abuse ... but as recently as late September she said she and her father were both clean and sober. She also posted pics comparing the 2 in a side-by-side from a couple years ago.

A family member tells us Alexis came home to her mom's house Wednesday night around 11 PM and seemed to be fine. She was found by another family member ... and they believe she was still sober.

In October of 2019, Alexis announced she was engaged, but it appears that engagement was recently ended.

RIP

Madame Tussauds don't play, and she's also kinda petty, because Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wax figures are already 86'd from the Royal Family display in London!!!

Just hours after the royal couple shocked the world -- and pissed off all the other royals -- by announcing they were stepping down from their senior duties ... the famed wax museum yanked Harry and Meghan. Their figures previously stood alongside Queen Elizabeth II, Prince Philip, Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Madame Tussauds London tells us Harry and Meghan's wax figures were removed to reflect the upcoming shakeup with the Royals. The museum says, "Alongside the rest of the world we are reacting to the surprising news that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex will be stepping back as senior Royals. From today Meghan and Harry’s figures will no longer appear in our Royal Family set ... to mirror their ‘progressive new role within the Royal institution’."

That last line definitely feels like a jab at Harry and Meg's official announcement.

Jenelle Evans' estranged husband, David Eason, is a wanted man in North Carolina ... and it all stems from an allegedly illegal truck-towing incident in 2018.

The embattled former reality TV star was ordered to appear in court Thursday for the case, but he no-showed, so the judge signed a warrant for his arrest ... according to the New Hanover Criminal Court Clerk.

The case centers around an incident that went down way back in the summer of 2018, in which Eason appeared to illegally tow a man's truck. David kinda shot himself in the foot on this one too -- he shared the video Jenelle took of him towing the truck that he claimed had blocked him in a space.

Jillian Michaels stands by her comment about Lizzo's weight, but says don't for a second think she was fat shaming her over her worth as an entertainer ... it was all about her health.

We got the fitness guru Thursday morning in NYC, and she was playing a little defense over her Wednesday interview where she said, "Why are we celebrating [Lizzo's] body? Why does it matter? Why aren't we celebrating her music? 'Cause it isn't gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes."

Lizzo fans came for JM's head immediately, but she says everyone's got it twisted. Jillian told us she's always preached, "Your weight and your size have no bearing or merit on your value, your beauty, your worth, your ability."

Now, health? That's a whole other issue, and Jillian ain't about to back down on that front!

She told us why she believes acting like Lizzo's size isn't opening her up to several serious health risks ... is downright irresponsible. She runs down a few of the dangers the singer could be facing ... again, in Jillian's eyes.

Watch the clip, as a health and fitness expert, Jillian's definitely confident in what she's saying here -- but will Lizzo fans feel good as hell about it?

We highly doubt it.