The Oscars

There's nothing like a good Italian meal to bring friends together -- per esempio, Brian Grazer and Brett Ratner.

Grazer is replacing Ratner as producer of the 2012 Oscars ... after Ratner resigned in the wake of criticism over a homophobic remark he made at a recent screening.

Brian Grazer -- who produced "Apollo 13" and "A Beautiful Mind" -- has taken Brett Ratner's place to produce next year's Academy Awards show.

Brian signed on moments ago, agreeing to replace Ratner just one day after the "Rush Hour" director resigned .... following uproar over a homophobic slur Ratner dropped at a film screening.

Academy prez Tom Sherak announced Grazer's appointment this afternoon.

Eddie Murphy is showing the ultimate solidarity with good friend and producing partner Brett Ratner by quitting the 2012 Oscars, which he had agreed to host.

Ratner bailed -- though he may have had no choice -- after making a homophobic remark last week at a screening of "Tower Heist," which stars Murphy.

Murphy says he wanted to do the show and never says squarely he's bailing because Ratner is gone, but his statement leaves little doubt: "I was looking forward to being part of the show that our production team and writers were just starting to develop, but I'm sure the new production team and host will do an equally great job."

Looks like the Motion Pictures Academy does better with old people -- they're generally a lot safer.

Brett Ratner claims he's officially "resigned" as producer of the 2012 Academy Awards ... after dropping the homophobic F-bomb at a media event Sunday night.

Ratner -- best known for directing the "Rush Hour" movies -- was at a fan Q&A session for "Tower Heist" Sunday when he told the crowd, "Rehearsal is for f*gs."

Now, he's penned an open letter ... apologizing for the "hurtful and stupid things I've said" ... and adding, "Having love in your heart doesn’t count for much if what comes out of your mouth is ugly and bigoted."

Ratner continued, "Being asked to help put on the Oscar show was the proudest moment of my career. But as painful as this may be for me, it would be worse if my association with the show were to be a distraction from the Academy and the high ideals it represents."

Ratner says he's been in contact with GLAAD -- the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation -- and he promises he will work to "increase awareness of the important and troubling issues this episode has raised."

"I deeply regret my actions and I am determined to learn from this experience."

Tom Sherak -- the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- issued a statement saying, "[Brett] did the right thing for the Academy and for himself."

He added, "Words have meaning, and they have consequences. Brett is a good person, but his comments were unacceptable. We all hope this will be an opportunity to raise awareness about the harm that is caused by reckless and insensitive remarks, regardless of the intent."

Diddy claims he "backslid and regressed" when he shouted racial and homophobic slurs at a clubgoer in Atlanta this weekend ... and now the rap mogul is begging for forgiveness.

Diddy went to his Twitter page a few hours ago ... and issued an apology to his fans for the way he acted inside Compound nightclub Saturday night ... when he threw ice at a clubgoer, threatened to fight the guy ... and then called him a "n**ga" and a "f**got."

Diddy explained, "I'm sorry for the ignorant way I repesented [SIC] myself ... I have backslid and regressed. Forgive me for my ignorance. Pray for me pls. I know better and I am better."

He added, "I have a responibility [SIC] that I promise I will live up to. And I'm more dissapointed [SIC] in myself than you know. I will humble myself and learn."

TMZ spoke to the man on the receiving end of the slurs, Ricky Parker, who tells us he felt "humiliated and disrespected" by Diddy ... and claims he will no longer support the hip hop icon.

Parker tells us he couldn't believe that Diddy would attack him so ferociously, simply because he was drinking Grey Goose vodka that night and NOT Ciroc vodka, which Diddy serves as a spokesperson for.

Parker tells us, "You won't ever hear me support him from this moment forward."

Collins claims she had a "Victorian swoon" caused by the skin-hugging dress she wore to the Vanity Fair party at the Sunset Tower Hotel

Collins told reporters, “We went to the hospital and they did all the tests before the doctors told me I was absolutely fine and released me. The truth was, I made the wrong decision to wear a very tight dress and had something rather like a Victorian swoon."

She added, “The good news is, I am in good health and feel fine today.”

Jackson was in L.A. yesterday, where he told a photog, "Where were the black actors?"

He continued, "I guess they didn't think we were available to read teleprompters that night ... not a big deal, hopefully it'll get better ... it wont happen again."

Jackson added, "We work in town ... they know who we are, they know we're available to be on that show to represent the people of color who are in the business in town."

Dicky's daughter and publicist Kerry Eklund tells TMZ, Bale's promo during his acceptance speech for "Best Supporting Actor" drove a ridiculous amount of traffic to Dicky's website ... and the servers just couldn't handle the load.

Sources on the technical side tell us, the site experienced nearly 20 times its normal daily traffic -- jumping from around 500 hits to nearly 10,000.

Feldman tells TMZ he's particularly upset since the same "public outcry" occured after Haim was left off the SAG memorial as well.

Feldman tells us, "Corey's films have earned the industry over a half a billion dollars and his work remains an inspiration to young artists world wide ... Corey dedicated his life to the film industry. The same industry that failed to dedicate even 30 seconds to his memory."

Franco's younger brother walked their granny out of an Oscar after-party at Supperclub and into a waiting limo.

No word on how long Anne Hathaway's mom was able to hang.