Sex

One of Jeremy Piven's accusers says she's not surprised Kevin Dillon came to his "Entourage" buddy's defense ... because he was privy to the culture of sexual harassment on the set.

Ariane Bellamar, who accused Piven of sexual assault -- tells us Dillon was on the set and saw the harassment firsthand, although she concedes he did not see any sexual assault. Piven adamantly denies sexually assaulting or harassing Bellamar.

While Ariane acknowledges she never experienced anything other than lewd comments from Dillon, she insists "Entourage" was a stewing pot for sexual harassment.

Kevin has not been accused of any wrongdoing. But that's not stopping Ariane from tearing into him.

Nick Carter's partner on "Dancing with the Stars" says him being accused of rape doesn't sound like the guy she knew ... 'cause he was a class act on the show.

Pro dancer Sharna Burgess posted a couple videos Saturday defending Nick after Melissa Schuman recently said he raped her in 2002, a claim he's denied.

Sharna says Nick was one of the most respectful partners she's had -- going so far as to say he never lashed out at anyone, even during the most tense times in their season ... which is apparently worthy of praise. She prefaced her clips by saying she isn't victim shaming.

While she might not be doing that per se, Sharna's definitely giving Nick a ringing endorsement here. That second place win in 2015 seems to have gone a long way.

Kevin Dillon says his old pal and "Entourage" co-star, Jeremy Piven, is a gentleman who's being wrongly blacklisted over sexual misconduct allegations.

We got Kevin -- who starred on the HBO hit with Piven for 7 years -- and he says Piven's new show getting axed on CBS just ain't right.

According to Kev, Jeremy's nothin' but a gentleman. Can't tell if he's doing Drama here, but he's also shocked by the Lauer scandal.

Bottom line for Johnny Chase ... find the truth, first.

Cedric the Entertainer is all torn up about Russell Simmons -- he hates that his friend is losing so much professionally, but also seems to know he deserves it ... if the allegations are true.

We got the comedian Thursday night at LAX, where he discussed the rape claim from Jenny Lumet that forced Simmons to step down from his companies. Ced hemmed and hawed, and is clearly conflicted.

As Cedric said ... he has daughters and, with them in mind, he's not about to give Uncle Rush a pass for his alleged treatment of women.

Michelle Rodriguez channeled her inner James Brown to explain why powerful men are falling like dominoes, and the world feels like it's in collapse -- we're missing the feminine spirit.

We got Michelle outside El Rey Theatre Thursday night in L.A., and it was so deep. She dropped her philosophy behind the wave of sexual assault allegations in entertainment and politics -- and it will make ya think.

And she's not just complaining. Michelle broke it all down, and offered a simple, yet effective, solution.

Russell Simmons production company held an emergency meeting hours after he stepped down amid sexual assault allegations, because his move came at the worst possible time.

Sources at Simmons' All Def Digital tell us staffers were called together Thursday morning. The company's "All Def Comedy Live" premieres Friday night on HBO, and we're told comedians and producers were given strict instructions on how to deal with questions about Russell leaving and the claims against him.

The strategy was pretty simple ... do NOT discuss it, and if you do, there will be repercussions.

Simmons used to be in the production office all the time. We're told he worked closely with some of the comedians appearing on 'All Def Comedy' -- and most of them want that to continue, despite the heinous accusations.

A$AP Bari, one of the co-founders of the A$AP Mob, is being sued for sexual assault by a woman he exposed naked in a viral video ... TMZ has learned.

The woman filed the lawsuit anonymously, as Jane Doe, and says the attack happened on July 9 in a London hotel where some members of the Mob were staying. According to the docs, Bari bursted into the room where Doe was sleeping and yelled, "You f**ked my assistant, now you are going to f**k me."

She says she screamed no, but he pulled the sheets off to expose her. In the docs, she says Bari and a friend were both recording the humiliating scene with their phones. In fact, the graphic video shot by Bari's friend went viral briefly before most sites took it down.

Doe, who is represented by Marty Singer, says she fled to a bathroom as Bari continued yelling, "I'm going to f**k you, you are going to suck my d**k." In the docs, she says she was terrified she would be raped and begged him to let her go. She says he eventually threw her out naked into a hotel hallway.

She says she reported the incident to hotel security and asked them to call cops ... and according to the docs, officers arrived and deleted the video from A$AP Bari's phone. It's unclear why they would do that, but that's what she's claiming.

Meredith Vieira brought up a "bag of sex toys" she once found in Matt Lauer's office -- and you gotta see how Matt expertly tap danced out of the awkward convo.

The now-cringeworthy moment went down in 2016 when Matt and Savannah Guthrie were guests on Meredith's talk show. She put Matt on blast by bringing up the bag she says she found back when she was co-hosing the "Today" show with him.

Matt was quick on his feet, and blamed a sex therapist who had appeared on "Today" -- although Meredith and Savannah don't seem to be buying his memory of it.

The anecdote is interesting now after one of Lauer's accusers told Variety he once gifted a sex toy to a female employee.

Not mentioned during Matt's guest spot on Meredith's show ... the video TMZ posted of Matt creepily whispering to Meredith, "Keep bending over like that. It's a nice view."

Matt Lauer was able to get away with a lot at the "Today" show for decades ... because the show made its own rules, and routinely ignored its bosses at the network.

Sources connected to both "Today" and NBC tell TMZ, a number of NBC News presidents and other executives tried to set rules for the morning show, but they were routinely ignored.

We're told "Today" operated as a separate entity from NBC management. As one source put it, "They did what they wanted to do."

We're told there were times when an NBC News president would tell the bosses at "Today" they had to run certain stories and the president would be routinely ignored. We're told sometimes the folks at "Today" would ignore basic rules ... such as restrictions on footage it acquired ... despite NBC News guidelines.

One NBC News source said, "'Today' was astonishingly uncooperative with our other shows like 'Nightly [News]' and 'Dateline.'"

As for why this happened ... there are several reasons. Many people on the staff work in the middle of the night, so they rarely interacted with others at NBC. One source said, "It ['Today'] was like a beehive where they only talked to each other." The biggest reason for the culture at "Today" ... as one source put it, "They were in a knife fight every day with 'GMA' and didn't want to hear anyone trying to rein them in."

One reason the attitude at "Today" was tolerated ... the show makes a ton of money for the network.

Even though Matt would say things with a hot mic -- like telling Meredith Vieira to keep bending down because he likes the view -- such hijinks didn't necessarily make their way to the big bosses because what happened at "Today" usually stayed at "Today."

Finally, there's one irony that some NBC News employees are talking about ... Matt hated it when Ann Curry would touch him on the air and often voiced his clear displeasure. Arm touching is hardly an offense given what's come out over the last day.

A California woman claims a man living in L.A. "leveraged his power" over her while she worked for him, raped her ... and exposed her to HIV, and TMZ has learned the man is a big celebrity.

According to the new suit ... the woman, listed as Jane Doe, is suing a man listed as David Doe for sexual battery and assault. Sources connected with the case tell us the man is definitely a celebrity but wouldn't be more specific.

She says she worked as a part-time personal assistant for the man. She says she was a vulnerable single mother and he mistreated her both physically and sexually.

Jane Doe claims the man made her engage in unwanted rough sex, ignored her requests to stop, and belittled her by laughing at her protestations and spitting on her. She also says he threatened to anally rape her ... all while she worked for him.

To make things worse, according to the docs, the man refused to use a condom and exposed her to HIV because one of his recent sexual partners allegedly tested positive. Jane Doe claims he told her she should get tested.

Matt Lauer was an integral part in developing an exclusive NBC journalism internship for Ohio University students, and despite the news of his firing over sexual misconduct, it's going to stay active ... TMZ has learned.

A spokesperson for Ohio U. tells us ... Lauer was instrumental in starting the "Today" Show Internship at Scripps College of Communications in 2000, and over 60 students have benefited from the program since it began.

The school says it's disappointed to hear of Lauer's alleged conduct at NBC, but also believes the news "serves as an opportunity for continued dialogue with our faculty, staff and students about ethical workplace and personal values."

We're told the "Today" internship will go on -- at least for its next session -- and 4 current students are already set to travel to NYC in January for the spring semester internship.

Lauer dropped out of Ohio U. in 1979, but went back to get his undergrad there in 1997 at the age of 39.

As we reported ... he was fired Wednesday morning for "inappropriate sexual behavior."

Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie hugged it out after Wednesday's "Today" show ... clearly still reeling from the news that Matt Lauer was fired.

The 2 anchors were emotional when they announced on their show Lauer had been fired for sexual impropriety.

The staff was clearly shaken by the news, and Hoda comforted a crew member after the program.

Matt was with "Today" for 20 years. The NBC Prez said they made a swift decision after a woman came forward Monday, but we're told the network has been investigating Matt for weeks and wanted to get a jump on several media outlets -- including The New York Times -- which were preparing stories on Matt and sexual misconduct.

Kim Kardashian's mission to free Alice Marie Johnson is kicking into high gear ... and the 62-year-old grandmother has expressed her "deep and heartfelt gratitude."

According to a thank-you note from Alice to Kim, obtained by TMZ ... Alice was floored when she found out Kardashian had enlisted high-powered lawyer Shawn Holley to help with her case. Johnson is currently serving a life sentence for her involvement in a cocaine ring ... her first offense.

Alice wrote, "Ms. Kardashian you are literally helping to save my life and restore me to my family. I was drowning and you have thrown me a life jacket and given me hope."

Johnson also believes Kim's crusade will be a defining moment in history, and will show she was a "key figure in meaningful criminal justice reform becoming a reality."

Kim's not just focused on Johnson's case either -- she's also involved in the effort to free Cyntoia Brown, a Tennessee woman who killed a man who was allegedly using her as a sex slave when she was 16.

Kardashian and Holley are continuing to communicate with Johnson, Brown and their lawyers in order to develop the best plan for clemency.

And as Alice says ... "THE BATTLE IS ON!"

Al Franken's still Mr. Popular in D.C. ... at least to a group of students eager to take a picture with the Senator.

We got Sen. Franken on Capitol Hill Tuesday looking to be in good spirits as he posed for a photo with some happy students from Virginia. His smile faded away, though, as we tried to ask him questions about allegations against him ... and got rebuffed by one of his aides.

As we've reported ... 3 women have accused Franken of groping their butts during photo ops, which led Marco Rubio to dish out some advice on how to avoid that problem.

For the record, Franken was much less handsy in this photo op.

Texas Congressman Joe Barton sent nudes and illicit text messages to a woman, and he's apologizing for the graphic image first revealed by a Twitter user.

Barton, a Republican, sent the nude photo showing his penis. The Twitter user censored the image, and also revealed a sext that reads, "I want u soo bad. Right now."

Barton now says, "While separated from my second wife, prior to the divorce, I had sexual relationships with other mature adult women. Each was consensual. Those relationships have ended."

He adds, "I am sorry I did not use better judgment during those days. I am sorry that I let my constituents down."

The Twitter user who posted the naked shot and graphic text claims to also have several videos of Barton masturbating -- and tagged the Twitter accounts of President Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz. It's unclear if the tweeter is the woman to whom Barton admits sending the photos -- but the person claims he/she is being "harassed" by Barton.

Representative Barton has served in the House for 32 years. He recently announced a re-election bid, but now tells the Texas Tribune he's reconsidering.

Desiigner got caught with his pants down while making a surprise pit stop in a residential neighborhood ... and TMZ has the video!

The rapper was spotted in WeHo Tuesday taking a leak on someone's garage door. After relieving himself, he hustled across the street and hopped back into his hot whip.

We're told right before Desiigner's public pee break ... he snapped a few pics with fans on the street and loaded some Fresh Corn Grill to-go bags into the car.

Hopefully he washed his hands before he chowed down.