CBS

NBC is coming down like a hammer on celebs who want to get on Jimmy Fallon's show ... if they dare do a show on CBS or ABC ... they can forget about "The Tonight Show."

Sources connected to CBS, NBC and ABC tell TMZ ... the Peacock network believes Jimmy Fallon's ratings success gives them extreme bargaining power. They put the word out to celebs, agents and publicists ... if they want to be on Fallon they can't appear on ANY other network ... and not just shows that go head-to-head with Jimmy, but morning shows as well.

We're told NBC is saying the stars who go on Fallon are also allowed to appear on "Today," "Dateline" and any similar shows they air, but that's it.

A GMA source tells TMZ ... they've already gotten fallout from people they were trying to book.

Fallon is dominating late night .... crushing Jimmy Kimmel by bringing in more than twice the number of viewers.

Julie Chen is going back to her Chinese roots -- giving her maiden name top billing ... over Les Moonves no less!

When Julie married CBS honcho Leslie Moonves back in 2004, she changed her legal name to Julie Moonves. But since then she's had a string of big jobs, including host of "The Talk" and "Big Brother," as well as anchor on the "CBS Early Show" -- where she was billed as Chen.

This created problems. Julie tells TMZ, "Some places list me as one last name versus the other and when you have to show ID ... like at The White House or airport it could stall things when it was not a match... It was a hassle." Jeez ... how cool is that -- a hassle at The White House. It's like "Scandal" only real.

So Julie has filed a petition to change her name again -- this time to Julie Chen Moonves -- no hyphen. We're guessing the judge will approve the petition because everyone in L.A. wants a job with Les and we're guessing he's down with the change.

Katie Couric actually scored millions of dollars with her new contract ... but it could end up being a huge paycut if her talk show goes away ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to Katie tell TMZ, she'll be raking in $6 million a year from Yahoo in her new role as "Global Anchor." That pales in comparison to her role as anchor of the CBS Evening News, where we're told she was pulling in $15 mil a year.

At ABC, we're told Katie's company had an overall deal that grossed $20 mil a year, but not all of that went to Katie personally.

We're told she's leaving ABC news entirely, and although her talk show has not been cancelled, it would be shocking if it didn't go away at the end of the TV season.

"Big Brother" contestant Aaryn Gries is finally coming clean, admitting she talks like a racist ... but she insists it doesn't make her one.

Gries tells TMZ she's been making racial jokes for years ... but had no idea they were offensive because "no one had expressed that I was taken that way."

Gries says she wishes someone had warned her before going into the BB house ... that making these "jokes" on national TV would paint her as a big ol' racist.

"I am not a racist," she says, adding, "Sometimes you can say mindless things that will haunt you."

Guess Aaryn forgot about the gay housemate she called a "queer" ... and all the Asian people she mocked ... and the African Americans ...

NYPD dropped the hammer on the CBS drama "Person of Interest" today -- shutting down filming of the show after locals called cops thinking a scripted gun battle was the real deal ... TMZ has learned.

According to witnesses ... some NYC residents saw people with guns near 47th Street and 5th Avenue today, and believed they were about to get caught in a shootout.

We're told officers (real ones) responded ... and discovered the action was all part of the TV crime drama -- and the firearms were just props, but producers were still guilty of a major no-no.

All gun scenes are supposed to be filmed with NYPD supervisors on the set -- and since this wasn't, cops shut down all outdoor production.

The Mayor's Office confirmed the show's permit was revoked -- which forced producers to immediately stop shooting outside for the day.

Sources connected to the production company tell us the whole mess was a "scheduling error" -- they started shooting earlier than planned ... before NYPD monitors arrived. We're told no shots were fired.

Chad Johnson has made his triumphant return to the NFL ... to analyze fantasy football.

The ex-Ochocinco tweeted about the new gig where he will be working alongside a panel of fantasy football nerds to give his formerly expert opinion for CBS Sports starting tomorrow

The former Dolphin's receiver lost his position as a star player last year when he was arrested for head-butting his now ex-wife Evelyn Lozada.

"Big Brother" contestant Aaryn Gries has taken lots of heat for her racist comments on the show ... but we have color photos showing a more tolerant side.

We got pics of Aaryn's big prom night in 2009, when she was a senior at Douglas County High School in Castle Rock, Colorado. Her prom date -- clearly visible in the photo -- is Mike Miller. Mike -- who is BLACK -- was a starting tight end on the football team.

Mike tells TMZ Aaryn -- whom he dated for a few months -- makes bad jokes sometimes, but not "prejudiced or hateful." He calls her sense of humor "smart-ass."

Who knew ... she had a little black in her.

Drumroll please ... Aaryn Gries' Valentine this year WAS A BLACK MAN -- so says the black man himself, and he insists it's proof the "Big Brother" villain isn't the disgusting racist she portrayed on TV.

Shawn Onyechi tells TMZ, he knows Gries from college in Texas and they were pretty close before she left for "Big Brother."

They didn't date, but Shawn says they were Valentines this year ... and he knows for a fact she's NOT the racist pig she appeared to be on the reality show.

Shawn even tweeted, "Who thinks Aaryn Gries from big brother is racist? I've heard her comments, but personally I KNOW otherwise."

Quick recap: Aaryn's said a bunch of racist crap on the show, including this reference to a black contestant: "Be careful what you say in the dark, you might not be able to see that bitch."

Aaryn has since been evicted from the "Big Brother" house, and in her defense she said she's not racist ... she's just Texan.

"Big Brother" villain Aaryn Gries CAN'T be the homophobic racist she appears to be ... because she took a black guy to her high school prom, this according to Aaryn's mom.

We're still waiting for the photographic evidence ... but Aaryn's mom reached out to the L.A. Times and insisted it's true.

There's more ... Aaryn's mom also says the reality star once dated a "Cuban American."

Still more ... Aaryn's mom says the reality star recently sponsored a Filipino child through a charity and "she has cousins of Japanese descent who she truly loves."

Despite all of that ... Aaryn's mom says, "While I love and continue to support my daughter Aaryn, words cannot describe my disappointment in some of her comments made on 'Big Brother.'"

"These inappropriate comments certainly do not represent the value system under which her father and I have raised her."

As for gays, Elizabeth says Aaryn "has never discriminated against anyone for their sexual orientation whether within our family or not. Aaryn truly loves all people equally."

Lots happened this week ... most notably Lamar Odom slipping deeper into trouble over his addiction. So we gotta ask ...

"Big Brother" star Aaryn Gries embarrassed the entire Lone Star state last night when she blamed her racist remarks from the show on growing up in Texas ... this according to "Big Rich Texas" star Bon Blossman.

In case you missed ... Aaryn was evicted from the "Big Brother" house Thursday night ... and told Julie Chen she's NOT a bigot, despite mocking Asians, putting down black people and calling a gay housemate "queer" during her stint inside the BB house.

Aaryn explained, "In Texas, we say things. Sometimes we joke and we don't mean it."

But according to Bon, Aaryn is talking out of her nicely-toned racist ass -- telling TMZ, "This is NOT how we were raised in Texas."

"I watched 'Big Brother' this season, and was embarrassed that [Aaryn] brought such negative attention to one of the most friendly, welcoming states in the United States."

She added ... "Aaryn's comments were an outrage," and ... "This type of behavior is not tolerated by anybody that I know ... and I was born and raised in Texas."

Bon thinks what Aaryn really needs is some tough love, saying ... "We can't ignore behavior like that or she won't learn."

Since Aaryn made it to the "Big Brother" jury house, she's still sequestered from the outside world and doesn't know how big of a villain she's become. But it seems she's in for a rude awakening.

Aaryn Gries was evicted from the "Big Brother" house Thursday night ... and on her way out, she told Julie Chen she's not really a racist, she's just a misunderstood Texan.

Seriously ... Gries -- who mocked Asians, trashed black people and referred to a gay houseguest as a "queer" during her stint on the reality competition show -- had the cojones to look Chen in the face and say, "I did not mean to ever come off as racist."

Here's her ridiculous explanation:

"In Texas, we say things. Sometimes we joke and we don't mean it. I feel how bad it is being seen and how I've come across to people. I don't want to seem like that person."

Aaryn -- who told Julie she doesn't remember ever making a racist comment in the house -- added, "I apologize to anyone I offended for that. That was not meant to be serious and if I said those things, I feel horrible for that. I regret that."

Julie -- being the badass that she is -- didn't let Aaryn off the hook and READ some of the offensive comments right to Aaryn's face as Aaryn sat there like a racist, homophobic deer in headlights.

FYI -- Aaryn still has no idea she's been dropped by her modeling agency over her behavior in the house ... because she's made it to the "jury house" and will remain sequestered from the outside world until the show ends in September.

Jon Voight says he's SICK of the war between CBS and Time Warner Cable ... because the "Ray Donovan" star can't watch his own damn show ... and now he's about to take matters into his own hands.

FYI -- Voight's show airs on Showtime ... which has been dropped by Time Warner Cable due to the current dispute between TW and ST's parent company, CBS.

Voight was leaving Boa Steakhouse in Hollywood with his "Donovan" co-star Pooch Hall when he revealed that he's a TW customer ... which means he's currently blocked from watching his show in the comfort of his own home.

"Big Brother" contestant Spencer Clawson just learned a valuable lesson about child porn ... don't even joke about that crap ... because cops will go after you.

In case you didn't see the clips from this week -- Clawson grabs the microphone attached to McRae (another houseguest) and while pretending to be McRae, Spencer goes off on this really uncomfortable riff about child porn, saying, "I like to beat off to child porn. Did I ever tell y'all about that? I love it. Beating off to child porn is my favorite thing there is."

You'd think he'd stop there, but no ... he kept going, saying, "I love it when they're around three or four years old. My favorite ones are when you can tell they're in a basement."

And the jokes didn't go unnoticed ... especially by Spencer's hometown police in Arkansas.

Chief AJ Gary from the Conway Police Department in Arkansas tells TMZ, "The Conway Police Department was alerted to comments made. Due to the nature of the comments, our department moved quickly to look into the matter. At this time we haven't found that any criminal act was committed."

The race war inside the "Big Brother" house came to a head last night ... when racist Aaryn picked a fight with a black female contestant ... and MOCKED her by saying, "Whatchu gon do, gurl?"

She continued in an over-the-top stereotypical black voice ... saying, "Whatchu gon do gurrl ... class girl? Where's yo class?" (drama begins at the 2:00 mark)

It was disgusting and vile -- a callback to a white slavemaster talking to a slave on a plantation.

Eventually, Candice -- who's African American -- stood up for herself ... only for another female contestant, GinaMarie, to get in her face ... saying, "You want the black to come out?"

As things got even more intense, Howard -- who's also black -- grabbed Candice and begged her to stand down and not fight with the other racist houseguests.

FYI -- the fight started over a "prank" Aaryn pulled on Candice -- by flipping over her mattress.

Evicted "Big Brother" guest David Girton -- the blonde surfer dude who made out with Aaryn -- says he's still rooting for his on-screen flame ... despite all the racist crap she's said inside the house.

David -- who got the boot in week 1 -- tells TMZ he didn't hear many of Aaryn's offensive comments when he was in the house ... but says he was "shocked" when he watched the footage at home.

"People are saying I'm racist too because I was with Aaryn," David says ... "That is not me."

David says he's not convinced Aaryn's a bigot -- but will continue to watch the show to see her "true colors." In fact, he says he's still rooting for Aaryn to win.

So how does Dave's MOTHER feel about his BB experience?

“My mom is glad I got off the show early. There are a lot of mean people on the show. She was worried that if I was on the show longer, they would have an impact on me."