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President Obama just threw down the gauntlet ... saying Sony blundered by pulling "The Interview."

It was inevitable that someone would ask Obama about the Sony mess at Friday's news conference and Obama didn't mince words. He wished out loud that Sony would have called him before making the call to yank the film.

The FBI is confirming North Korea is responsible for the cyber attack on Sony Pictures -- and it has a ton of evidence to back it up.

The agency says the North Korean government's fingerprints are all over the attack -- which used specific malware and IP addresses connected to previous attacks ... that it knows were carried out by N. Korea.

The FBI is treating the hack as an act of terrorism intended to "inflict significant harm on a U.S. business and suppress the right of American citizens to express themselves."

Stephen Collins says he's not a pedophile, but rather someone who had a "distortion" in his thinking.

Collins told Katie Couric ... he does not fit the "clinical or dictionary definition" of a pedophile ... so concluded his therapist. That same therapist, Collins says, told him that if Collins really was a pedophile ... he would have repeated the misdeed way more than he did.

Collins told Couric he has no attraction toward children and that the incident in 1973 -- where he made physical contact with one of the victims -- stopped him dead in his tracks ... saying, "It was the opposite of excitement or gratification."

TMZ spoke with that victim on Wednesday ... who feels Collins is downplaying the incident and doesn't buy his decision not to apologize to her.

Former New Orleans Saints star Darren Sharper now faces federal charges for distributing prescription meds -- on top of the slew of charges he's already been hit with in multiple states.

Sharper was indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to distribute generic versions of Valium, Xanax, and Ambien ... with intent to commit rape between January 2010 and May 2014. He was also charged with 2 counts of actually distributing the drugs with intent to rape.

An Ex-sheriff's deputy in New Orleans, Brandon Licciardi, was hit with the same charges ... in addition to witness tampering and impeding an investigation.

The San Francisco 49ers are done dealing with Ray McDonald and police reports -- they've cut him from the team on the heels of him being named a suspect in a rape investigation.

General Manger Trent Baalke just held a news conference, saying the decision to drop McDonald was not solely based on the latest investigation, but instead it was due to a "pattern of poor decision making."

Baalke said a "plan was put in place" with Ray and the alleged rape case went "against that plan."
He didn't elaborate but it sounded like the team had warned McDonald -- after the alleged domestic violence incident with his fiancee in August -- to keep his nose clean, or else.

He added this was a team decision, and had nothing to do with the league.

Baalke said he was "extremely disappointed" ... but stressed it wasn't about guilt or innocence, and McDonald deserved to have his day in court.

12:10 PM PT -- San Jose PD says Ray is officially a suspect in the rape investigation -- and the alleged victim said she was "possibly sexually assaulted" on Monday.

49ers star Ray McDonald was served with a search warrant by police officers investigating a rape allegation.

San Jose PD went to McDonald's home Tuesday after talking to a woman who was getting treatment at a hospital for a possible sexual assault. Whatever the woman told police ... their investigation led them to McDonald's home.

Police have not named the Niners defensive lineman a suspect in the alleged rape ... and it's unclear what, if any evidence they found in his house.

Bill Cosby's wife just broke her silence and fiercely defended her husband over various sexual assault allegations, saying, "He is a kind man, a generous man, a funny man, and a wonderful husband, father and friend. He is the man you thought you knew."

Camille didn't attack her husband's accusers, but said the media has been way to quick to pass judgment, saying, "A different man has been portrayed in the media over the last two months. It is the portrait of a man I do not know."

She then zeros in on the accusers saying, "It is also the portrait painted by individuals and organizations whom many in the media have given a pass."

Camille warns, "We all followed the story of the article in the "Rolling Stone" concerning allegations of rape at the University of Virginia. The story was heart-breaking but ultimately appears to be proved to be untrue." She adds, "Many in the media were quick to link that story to stories about my husband."

And her final salvo ... "None of us will ever want to be in the position of attacking the victim. But the question should be asked -- who is the victim?"

The wife of Los Angeles Kings defenseman Slava Voynov told police he punched, kicked and choked her before he was arrested for domestic violence back in October ... this according to police testimony given Monday.

Voynov's preliminary hearing shed new details about what allegedly went down that night. Orange County Register reporter Rich Hammond tweeted from the courthouse, saying a Redondo Beach police officer testified to seeing Voynov's wife with a "laceration over left eye, blood streaming, red marks on neck."

The officer also testified that Voynov's wife claimed Voynov pushed her to the ground multiple times, kicked her repeatedly while on the ground and choked her. She also told police she cut her face after Voynov pushed her into a flat-screen TV.

The judge denied Voynov's motion to dismiss and another motion to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor.

As TMZ Sports first reported, Voynov's attorney claims the cops misunderstood his wife because she doesn't speak English and maintains she "fell down."

Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, which his doctors have described as "very treatable and potentially curable" through chemotherapy.

Dr. Christopher Flowers, a lymphoma specialist at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, said in a statement, "The goal of Mr. Berry's treatment is to cure his lymphoma and we are beginning that treatment now."

Berry said through a statement, "My family and I are very grateful for the amount of support we have received over the last couple of weeks. I can’t tell you enough how much I appreciate all the words of encouragement, the blessings and well wishes."

Chris Brown is remorseful over his Karrueche attack and -- without specifically saying it -- seems to be explaining his anger issues that go way back to Rihanna.

CB put his on-again/off-again GF Karrueche Tran on blast over the weekend ... insinuating she cheated with Drake and saying,"F*** that b****!"

In his apology, Brown accurately states that "being young and dumb is one of my strong suits" and that he is simply guilty of loving too hard. But then he offers the flip side ... that he reacts "impulsively when I'm hurt at times."

He went on to say that everyone knows he really loves Karrueche and he doesn't care how he comes across to the public ... "because I'm still gonna be the best at what I do. I just want baby girl to know I apologize."

Fool me once ...

Bill Cosby immediately postponed his upcoming live shows ... just minutes after Gloria Allred tried to shame him into putting up $100 mil for his alleged victims.

Cosby was scheduled to do 2 shows in Tarrytown, NY (just N. of NYC) on Saturday -- but about 5 minutes after Gloria's announcement ... the Tarrytown Music Hall said the shows had been delayed.

The venue said Cosby and the promoter reached the decision together ... and everyone will get full refunds. Unclear if the postponement was in direct response to the Allred news conference, but the timing is suspicious.

Several other theaters had already canceled or rescheduled Cosby shows, although his last one in Florida went off without a hitch.

Bill Cosby has just resigned from the Temple University Board of Trustees, which is especially significant because the sexual assault case he settled in 2006 was filed by a Temple employee.

Bill, who attended the school in the '60s and played football as well as running track, says, "I have always been proud of the university and its students. As a result, I have tendered my resignation ..."

Andrea Constand, who worked for the women's basketball team at the university, filed suit against Cosby in 2005, claiming Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her. She filed a lawsuit and Cosby settled in 2006.

Cosby and his wife have donated money to Temple and a scholarship was created in their name.

Buddy Valastro put his drunk driving case to bed by making a surprise trip to the courthouse ... to plead guilty to driving while drunk.

As a result of the plea, the "Cake Boss" star's license will be suspended for three months, and he has to enter a drunk driving program. He also got a $300 fine.

Valastro says he told the judge he only had one drink before getting pulled over -- but added he'd learned his lesson ... "If you have even one drink you shouldn't drive."

He wasn't scheduled to be in court until February, but after today's hearing he tweeted he went in early because ... "I wanted to make this right."

As TMZ first reported, Valastro was arrested on November 13 after cops noticed the TLC star's 2014 yellow Corvette weaving on 10th Ave in Manhattan.

David Beckham and his 16-year-old son Brooklyn were involved in a car crash Saturday in England ... and luckily, they both avoided serious injury.

According to reports ... the crash went down after Beckham picked up his 16-year-old from soccer practice -- he plays for a popular youth club team -- and we're told the father/son duo were shaken up.

We're also told both passengers in the other car were unharmed as well.

Bill Cosby's comedy tour is starting to crumble ... Vegas and another venue just cancelled concerts.

Cosby was slated to perform at Treasure Island in Las Vegas a week from today and at the Desert Diamond Casino in Tucson, Arizona February 15 ... but those shows have now been 86'd.

A rep for Treasure Island released a statement calling the decision "mutual." The casino will offer refunds. TMZ spoke with the casino just two days ago and there were no plans to cancel.

Cosby performed Thursday night in the Bahamas at a benefit for an African American women's service organization.

None of the other venues for his concert series have pulled the plug ... yet.

9:53 A.M. PST -- One more appearance -- at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL -- just got cancelled for April.

Vladimir Putin is even more dangerous ... earning his 8th degree black belt in a form of karate ... so says the Russian news media.

The 62-year-old President of Russia is a student of Kyokushin -- a stand-up, full contact form of karate ... in which fighters do not wear head gear. Head strikes are also banned in competition.

Putin is pretty skilled in martial arts -- having earned his 9th degree black belt in taekwondo back in 2013. Plus, he's also a heavy duty judo enthusiast.

Meanwhile, President Obama practiced taekwondo in Chicago from 2001 to 2004 ... but only earned a blue belt.

Not like it's a competition or anything ...