ABC

ABC News used a mocked up pic of Donald Trump in the Oval Office to promote its first TV interview with the prez, and the image was ripped from The New Yorker! Oops.

The network ran the phony image Tuesday night to promote an interview with Trump -- the first since he took office -- for Wednesday's nightly news, and apparently didn't realize it was photoshopped or another outlet's work.

We're told the photo did in fact see air time Tuesday, but has since been replaced. ABC has apologized, and copped to its marketing team screwing up.

When is a crime scene not really a crime scene?? When ABC News FAKES IT for a live TV shot.

Viewers at home watched live Friday morning as Linsey Davis reported in front of what appeared to be a crime scene in South Carolina ... where a woman had allegedly been held captive in a storage container by a sex offender.

Problem was ... the crime scene tape was just a TV prop to make it look like she was in front of the real crime scene ... and the lie was exposed in a photo obtained by CNN.

You can clearly see the yellow tape was tied to production equipment to give the illusion Davis was reporting right from the scene of the investigation. The segment aired on "Good Morning America."

ABC News is placing the blame on the field producer -- saying, "As soon as it was brought to our attention, we decided to take the producer out of the field, and we're investigating further."

"This action is completely unacceptable and fails to meet the standards of ABC News," ABC News' VP of Communication said in a statement.

By the way, this isn't the first time Davis has been in the headlines this week -- she was the reporter who interviewed Lil Wayne for 'Nightline' when he ranted about Black Lives Matter and stormed out of the interview.

ABC News lifted a photo of NYC's fattest cat and posted it without permission ... according to the photographer who's now suing the network.

Stephen Yang is a professional photog who typically licenses his pics, but in his lawsuit he says ABC News used his shot of Samson -- dubbed the largest cat in NYC at 28 pounds -- and never paid him a dime.

According to the docs ... Samson got famous for his size, and also because his owner, Jonathan Zurbel, takes the enormous pussycat all over Brooklyn in a pet stroller. So hipster.

Yang says all that attention is why ABC News posted its story on Aug. 12th with his jacked photo. The story's been shared more than 900 times on Facebook, and Yang is suing for a cut of ABC's profits.

We've reached out to the network, so far no word back.

Kelly Ripa will be back Tuesday on 'Live' ... TMZ has learned ... this after her people jawboned it with Disney over the fate of her show and the tenure of her co-host.

Our ABC sources say Kelly's people made it clear she would come back if they could get assurance the show wasn't getting the ax. As we reported, ABC honchos are noodling whether to add a third hour of 'GMA,' which would displace 'Live.'

From what we can gather, the brass gave Kelly enough assurance to end her boycott. Based on what we know, even Disney doesn't know if they'll expand 'GMA.' A lot depends on morning show ratings and the performance of 'Live' over the next year.

Even if 'GMA' moves to 9 ... ABC could save 'Live' by moving it to 10 or 11 AM.

Our ABC sources say Kelly made it clear she'd be a happy camper if Michael Strahan leaves before his scheduled September departure. Our sources say both Kelly and Michael are extremely uncomfortable about sitting together under the circumstances, and they'd both like to stop the bleeding STAT.

As we reported, the 2 have not gotten along for 2 years ... various sources say they don't like each other.

Kelly Ripa is alienating lots of people on 'Live,' because they believe she's jeopardizing their jobs by refusing to work.

Production sources tell us, some members of the crew believe ABC execs are weighing the benefits of either killing the show or moving it to a later hour so they can add a third hour of 'GMA.'

These crew members are grousing, the longer Kelly stays out, the more damage it will do to 'Live' and the greater the chance that they'll be replaced by 'GMA.' If 'Live' goes away, so do they.

That said, we're told the crew generally likes Kelly, but many of them think what they call "her tantrum" is hurting the show.

ABC has put the kibosh on 2 dudes dancing hip to hip on "Dancing with the Stars."

Sources connected with the show tell TMZ, the issue came up over an upcoming performance by an openly gay artist who goes by the name, Who Is Fancy. The performance is set for November 23, where he will debut his new song, "Boys Like You," featuring Ariana Grande and Meghan Trainor, who will also appear on the show.

The song is about a man falling in love with another man. We've learned Who Is Fancy's choreographer sent an email to a 'DWTS' producer, saying, it would "be an awesome look to have 2 males dancing with each other."

Our sources say the 'DWTS' honchos discussed it and a producer fired back an email, saying, "Apologies all but this is a definitive no from the network."

We're told ABC agreed to allow "near dancing" during the performance, like a recent appearance by two men -- Alek and Carlos -- who shared the stage this week. Check out the video ... it's more like a Cirque performance than romantic ballroom dancing.

Hulk Hogan is nonplussed that Officer Darren Wilson compared him to Mike Brown ... he's staying neutral.

The Hulkster was cruising into LAX Friday when our photog asked about Wilson telling ABC News ... Mike Brown was as powerful as Hulk the day he shot and killed the teen.

It doesn't take much to read between the lines ... Hulk thinks the truth lies somewhere in the middle ... somewhere between the Brown and Wilson scenarios.

Darren Wilson says Michael Brown was goading him, saying he was "too much of a pussy to shoot me."

Wilson went through the events of the evening step-by-step ... prompted by ABC's George Stephanopoulos ... who, by the way, showed he's a great interviewer.

Wilson said it was either his life or Michael Brown's when he fired the shots in Ferguson, saying Brown absolutely did NOT have his hands up when he discharged the gun.

Janel Parrish just had her chances of winning the Mirrorball Trophy derailed ... at least that's the way it looks after she suffered a gnarly injury during rehearsal.

TMZ just got this video of the "Pretty Little Liars" star and Val Chmerkovskiy practicing lifts. Something bad clearly happened because you see her dissolve into tears as she hobbles to a room where doctors examine her.

It looks like she suffered a broken or compressed rib.

She hasn't been counted out, but it doesn't look good. The finals are tonight.

"Dancing with the Stars" star Cheryl Burke looks dramatically different these days ... but she says she's NOT deathly ill ... hasn't had plastic surgery ... and she's pissed at all the trash talk.

Burke -- who recently dropped a sizable amount of weight -- posted this pic on Facebook ... and got bombarded with comments from people saying she looks anorexic. Someone even suggested she's dying of AIDS.

One person wrote, "Those Botox lips need there [sic] own FB page, gross" ... and another said she should delete the pic before it ends up on TMZ.

Burke is especially upset because she believes the same people who are trash-talking her now are the ones who called her fat before.

Burke -- who was once a regular on the club/party circuit -- tells TMZ there's absolutely nothing wrong with her ... she recently turned 30 and decided to stop drinking and hard partying. She says she's living healthy ... and that what you see is the result of hard work.

Burke tells us, "I didn't have plastic surgery and I don't have an eating disorder. I'm just actually happy."

Elisabeth Hasselbeck is disgusted that "The View" is bringing Rosie O'Donnell back, as much as saying Rosie is a turncoat American.

Elisabeth -- who's on vacation from "Fox & Friends" -- called in to the show today to comment on the story TMZ broke Tuesday ... that Rosie's coming back for a second round on "The View."

Elisabeth said, "Here comes to "The View" the very woman who spit in the face of our military, spit in the face of her own network and really in the face of a person who stood by her and had civilized debates for the time that she was there."

Elisabeth and Rosie pretty much hated each other ... which ironically made the show compelling.

Fact is ... "The View" now needs another Elisabeth to survive.

Rosie O'Donnell has made her deal with "The View" ... sources connected with the negotiations tell TMZ.

We're told the show will make the announcement shortly.

TMZ broke the story ... the negotiations fired up a few days ago and the deal was almost completed by end of business day Monday.

The deal is now complete. Rosie will join Whoopi Goldberg on the show. As we reported, producers are also looking for a Latina and a conservative. Two conservative candidates who are being scoped are Abby Huntsman and Margaret Hoover.

'View' fans remember ... Rosie always made things interesting.

Rosie O'Donnell is currently in "active negotiations" with "The View" to come back to the program ... sources in connection with Rosie and the production tell TMZ.

We're told Rosie's people are discussing money and other terms with execs from the beleaguered show. She's definitely interested in coming back if the money is right, and we're told the negotiations are far along.

We're told the deal could be sealed shortly and the announcement could be made as early as tomorrow.

"Good Morning America" anchors Lara Spencer and Amy Robach love each other so much, they can't keep their hands off each other ... or so they say.

We got Amy and Lara leaving lunch in NYC Saturday and they poo poo'ed our story that they hate each other, even suggesting sexism.

TMZ reported ... multiple sources connected with GMA say the women despise each other. Nevertheless, Lara and Amy insist -- REALLY INSIST -- that they're the best of buds.

Michael Strahan is joining "Good Morning America" on the heels of Josh Elliott's departure ... TMZ has confirmed.

ABC sources tell TMZ Strahan will appear during the 7:00 hour of GMA ... 3 to 4 times a week. He'll be a utility player ... features, lifestyle, sports ... pretty much anything.

GMA is in trouble ... Josh Elliott's departure for NBC Sunday was bitter. Sam Champion is gone. Lara Spencer and Amy Robach hate each other.

Not to mention ... Josh's departure makes little George Stephanopoulos look lost in the land of Amazons. Dude needs a testosterone-assist which Strahan provides.

GMA is a $300 million a year cash cow for ABC and it's in danger of losing ground fast.

Josh Elliott was so disgusted with ABC ... he took a pay cut of more than a million dollars ... multiple sources connected with both ABC and NBC tell TMZ.

Our sources say ABC offered Josh between $4 and $5 million to stay, but he chose NBC despite the fact that they offered him just over $3 million.

We're told Josh was at the point of no return when Robin Roberts signed a $14 million a year contract to anchor GMA. He felt slighted by the ABC offer and just wanted out.

Sources say the feeling is mutual. As one source put it, "He's definitely an abrasive guy." Another source says, "People hated him. He was always just rude."

And get this ... we're told just weeks ago Sr. VP of ABC News James Goldston confronted Amy Robach -- Josh's replacement on GMA -- and called her "toxic" because she created tension on the set. Indeed, we're told Amy and Lara Spencer "hate" each other and can't hide their contempt.

Another source says Robin Roberts hasn't helped matters -- one person saying she acts like a "diva" on the set.

As for Josh's future ... our network sources say NBC did NOT promise Josh any role on "Today," but we're told there's no doubt he's got to the top of the heap as the likely successor to Matt Lauer.