TV

The famed investigator who strongly suggested JonBenét Ramsey was killed by her older brother ... insists he has every right to say so thanks to the Constitution.

Dr. Werner Spitz filed a response Friday to Burke Ramsey's defamation suit, saying the First Amendment allows him to hypothesize who her killer might have been ... because he's not claiming it's FACT, just his theory.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Spitz says defamation claims must be based on a "provably false statement of fact," and insists his statements are not. He even points out the radio show that aired his "opinion" noted Spitz's theory hadn't been proven in court.

As we reported ... Burke Ramsey sued Dr. Spitz for $150 million after openly suggesting Burke killed JonBenet. He made very similar remarks during a CBS special about the unsolved case.

Spitz is asking a judge to dismiss the case.

'Daily Show' host Trevor Noah and conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren held a peace summit over drinks Thursday night, and Tomi's declaring herself the big winner after their on-air feud.

We spotted Tomi and Trevor having a very peaceful conversation in The Bowery Hotel lobby -- the total opposite of the battle they had on his show. Afterward, TheBlaze host told us she and Trevor still don't see eye-to-eye, but that doesn't mean they can't be friends.

She also doesn't give a crap about new haters attacking her. As she put it, "You're gonna watch me either way." No such thing as bad publicity?

Kanye West dropped hints he was in a bad place before his emotional and mental meltdown ... at least according to 50 Cent.

50 came to 'Ye's defense on "Watch What Happens Live" Thursday night as Andy Cohen fired off questions about Kanye's condition, the Paris robbery and Kanye's insurance claim for cancelled tour dates.

A YouTube channel featuring TV classics like "The Andy Griffith Show" is run by a lowdown crook making money off other people's work ... according to CBS.

In a lawsuit, the network says 8thManDVD.com -- run by Edward Heldman III -- has racked up over 2.5 million views, by posting 16 episodes of the beloved sitcom. CBS alerted YouTube to nip it in the bud and remove the vids, which it did. Temporarily.

Heldman fought back and, according to docs, got the episodes reposted by claiming they were in the public domain. CBS says public domain doesn't matter because the shows contain copyrighted characters like Deputy Barney Fife, Sheriff Andy and of course ... Opie.

Heldman insists he's in the clear because he "remastered" the episodes -- which he believes makes them new and available for his use. He also claims CBS is trying to abuse copyright law.

VH1's "Basketball Wives L.A." is cleaning house ... bringing in several new cast members including Evelyn Lozada, plus the infamous baby mamas to Nick Young and Dwyane Wade ... TMZ has learned.

Production sources tell us Keonna Green, who just had her 2nd kid with Nick, and Aja Metoyer ... who has a 3-year-old by Dwyane -- will join Shaunie O'Neal, Tami Roman and Jackie Christie for the next season.

Executive producer Shaunie definitely increased the drama with her new hires. Keonna made headlines when her pregnancy broke up Nick's engagement to Iggy Azalea. As for Aja, she hooked up with Dwyane when he was allegedly "on a break" from Gabrielle Union.

Nick and Dwyane probably won't watch, but we suspect their lawyers will.

Charlamagne Tha God was locked and loaded for an interview with Tomi Lahren Thursday -- until the plug was pulled -- and he had the question that would unlock Tomi's true feelings toward blacks.

Tomi's camp tells us her interview with "The Breakfast Club" was not set in stone, but Charlamagne is calling BS, saying he believes Tomi's employer, The Blaze, pulled the plug after she got skewered by Trevor Noah Wednesday night. Trevor was incredulous at Tomi for attacking the Black Lives Matter movement.

Charlamagne says all he wanted to do was get to know Tomi, and learn Tomi's penile history.

Thomas Payne's setting the record straight -- the character he plays on "The Walking Dead" is NOT gay ... not that there's anything wrong with that.

We caught up with Thomas at LAX Wednesday and asked him about a recent interview where he seemed to insinuate his character, Jesus, is gay. Thomas says people misunderstood him a bit, but he still thinks the world's ready for the concept.

Scheana Shay is officially going for the big D ... pulling the plug on her marriage to Michael Shay.

The "Vanderpump Rules" stars have been married for 2 years -- Scheana says she filed divorce docs Wednesday in L.A. She tells TMZ, "We might have failed at our marriage, but we are committed to succeeding as friends and will continue to support each other's personal happiness and professional success."

Everyone saw this coming. We broke the story ... earlier this month, Michael went MIA after she claimed he cleaned out their bank account. He's battled addiction in the past, but claims he's been sober since January. We're told Scheana fears he fell off the wagon.

"Napoleon Dynamite" fans rejoice -- Jon Heder and Efren Ramirez are back together for a sequel ... of sorts.

Napoleon and Pedro's reunion is kinda perfect because they did it for TOTS! But mostly for money ... they're doing a spot for a Burger King product.

It's like 2004 all over again -- awkward and hilarious, but they really should've gotten that fat lard, Tina, to show up.

"How To Get Away With Murder" star Charlie Weber just dodged a bullet ... his divorce is final, and he won't have to pay his ex-wife a lick of spousal support.

The divorce, which Charlie filed, is now final ... a process that took 9 months which is exactly the length of their marriage.

As we previously reported, there was a prenup so there were no issues in the money department. Giselle won't be getting spousal support, but frankly, even if there wasn't a prenup, the marriage was so short she wouldn't have gotten it under any circumstances.

Florence Henderson, who played the iconic TV role of Carol Brady, died on Thanksgiving Day.

Florence suffered heart failure, according to her publicist, when she died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was surrounded by family members at the hospital.

Her role as the "Brady Bunch" mom was one of the most beloved characters for generations of TV sitcom fans, but Florence was also a huge Broadway star even before her Brady fame.

She starred in musicals such as "Fanny," "Oklahoma" and "Wish You Were Here."

She played mama Brady from 1969 to 1974 -- the show's original run -- but, of course, played the role many times again in TV specials, TV movies, and feature films.

"The Brady Bunch " -- a show about a widow with 3 daughters who married a widower with 3 sons -- ran from 1969 to 1974. It stood out partly because it was so perky and upbeat at a time of major strife ... the Vietnam war.

Florence seemed fine until a few days ago, when she was hospitalized at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in L.A. ... where she died.

RIP

She played grandma Brady in "The Brady Bunch Movie" in 1995, while Shelly Long played the character Florence created.

Florence had 4 kids and 5 grandkids. She was 82.

Jimmy Kimmel called out the guy who played Turbo in the 'Breakin'' '80s flicks ... and now he's responding to prove he still has the break dance moves that made him famous.

Michael "Boogaloo Shrimp" Chambers saw the skit Kimmel did with Garth Brooks this week ... joking he'd paid Boogaloo $1,000 to teach a white friend how to pop and lock. We got Boogaloo out in L.A. and he was totally game to play along with the storyline.

Now, of course, Kimmel never really forked over that dough -- but he might want to reconsider once he sees this Turbo homage ... complete with the broom, baby!

It's about to get all 1984 up in here.

It really pays to go the distance on "Dancing with the Stars" -- just ask U.S. Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez ... who just made a TON OF CASH on her way to winning the Mirrorball Trophy.

Since Laurie is only 16 ... producers had to get a judge to sign off on the terms of her contract in order for it to be enforceable. And those documents included the entire 'Dancing' pay structure.

Laurie got a cool $125k just for being on the show -- but she got more cash the further she made it.

Surviving to Week 3 and 4 got her $10k per week.

Week 5 paid $15k.

Weeks 6 and 7 paid $20k per week.

Weeks 8 and 9 ... $30k per week.

Weeks 10 and 11 ... $50k per week.

Grand total ... $360,000!!!

Leslie Jones made a fashion statement at the Knicks game Tuesday night -- wearing a shirt with the word "A-hole" written across the front ... while sitting courtside for all of the TV cameras to see!

As far as we know, there were no issues -- no one seemed to be bothered by the shirt ... including the TV crews who ran the risk of airing the uncensored word during the live broadcast.

The 'SNL' star had a great time -- she kicked it with NY Giants star Sterling Shepard and got high fives from a bunch of the players. Plus, the Knicks won!

CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin was NOT having it when a guest on her show used the n-word while criticizing Donald Trump's appointees, and she abruptly pulled the plug on the interview.

Author Charles Kaiser was ripping Stephen Bannon when he claimed Trump's Chief Strategist uses the racial epithet. Watch the reaction from Brooke and Paris Dennard -- a Trump supporter who's black and shocked as hell at the turn in the conversation.

The buck stopped with Brooke ... real quick.

2:00 PM PT -- Kaiser is apologizing to anyone offended by his use of the n-word, but thinks it's worse that he accused Bannon of using it instead of Jeff Sessions, Trump's potential Attorney General candidate. On Facebook he claims several witnesses will back his allegation.

Donald Trump is meeting with his harshest critics Monday and the people who arguably got him elected ... the media.

Sources in Trump's camp tell us ... he's meeting with all the network heads Monday at 1 PM ET, and Trump will not hold back. We're told he wants to talk to them about how they got it so wrong during the campaign. TV execs will show up today, and Tuesday he'll do the same with the NY Times execs and others.