TMZ Live

Dr. Phil's not buying what Piers Morgan is selling when it comes to his hot take on Cosmo UK putting plus-size model Tess Holliday on its cover.

The Doc was on "TMZ Live" and praised Tess Holliday for not only challenging society's mold of body image, but also for getting recognized by Cosmo for doing so.

As we reported ... Piers blasted Cosmo for making 33-year-old Tess a cover model. He called the choice a "load of old baloney" given Britain's "ever-worsening obesity crisis."

Dr. Phil says Piers, who is a friend of his, is essentially body shaming when he says it's wrong to recognize Tess in magazines.

She's firing back at Piers too, saying ... "To everyone saying I'm a burden to the British health care system, I'm American so you don't have to worry about my fat ass. Worry about what horrible people you are by whining about how me being on the cover of a glossy magazine impacts your small minded life."

Mic drop.

Even cancer couldn't drain Aretha Franklin's optimism ... and the Queen of Soul was looking forward to getting back on the mic, as late as last week ... so says the producer of her upcoming biopic.

Aretha was intimately involved in the pre-production of her biopic, spending hours with producer Harvey Mason Jr.

Harvey says Aretha has signed off on the perfect person to play her ... Jennifer Hudson, who has the pipes and the acting cred to pull off the role.

The movie centers around Aretha's journey to discover her true voice and who she wanted to be as an artist. The film doesn't have a release date and there are no plans to speed the production in the wake of Aretha's passing.