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Haley's attorney Dina LaPolt tells TMZ ... the bouncers assaulted Haley, without provocation. She also says, "After forcefully removing [Haley] they violently beat her friend, who sustained multiple injuries. We believe that she will be exonerated of all charges once the investigation is completed."

LaPolt added ... Haley plans to take legal action against the bar and the staff.

Former "American Idol" contestant Haley Reinhart got busted for punching a bouncer in the head ... TMZ has learned.

Cops say Haley got arrested early Saturday morning at a suburban Chicago pub called the Lamplighter Inn. Officers showed up around 2 AM after bouncers tossed Haley and some friends for knocking over a table. Cops say as they were being shown the door -- Haley, who stands at a generous 5'2" -- uncorked a closed fist on the bouncer.

She was taken into custody and booked for battery.

Haley went deep into season 10 of 'Idol' ... taking third place. She's currently on the Netflix show "F Is for Family."

Seems like she's vying for a spot in the UFC too.

Nelsan Ellis' heart failure was triggered by alcohol withdrawal complications.

The "True Blood" star's family said Nelsan -- who died Saturday -- struggled with drug and alcohol abuse for years and his latest attempt to withdraw from booze on his own led to his death.

The family said, "During his withdrawal from alcohol he had a blood infection, his kidneys shut down, his liver was swollen, his blood pressure plummeted, and his dear sweet heart raced out of control."

The family went on to say Nelsan "was ashamed of his addiction and thus was reluctant to talk about it during his life. His family, however, believes that in death he would want his life to serve as a cautionary tale in an attempt to help others."

Blac Chyna says Rob Kardashian treats her like dirt and she had no option but to take him to court.

Chyna appeared Monday AM on "Good Morning America" with celeb lawyer Lisa Bloom. She ran though the reasons why she's in court this morning trying to get a restraining order.

Chyna denies liking any of the super personal photos Rob posted, and she explains why she sent Rob video of a guy who was in bed with her.

Nelsan Ellis -- known for his role as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's "True Blood" -- has died after complications from heart failure.

Ellis also appeared in "The Help," and starred in the TV show, "Elementary." He also appeared in the moves, "Get On Up" and "The Stanford Prison Experiment" ... and played Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Lee Daniels' The Butler."

HBO issued a statement saying Ellis will be dearly missed.

So far no word on the underlying problem that triggered the heart failure.

He leaves behind a son.

Ellis was 39.

If you thought Steve-O was wild in "Jackass," then strap in for his new project that supposedly puts Johnny Knoxville's stunts to shame ... with things like human snow angels doused in burning rocket engine fuel.

Steve-O posted a video Thursday in which he's covered in boils from what look like 1st or maybe even 2nd degree burns ... from the "fire angels" stunt. He won't show us the stunt ... just the aftermath. It's part of a new comedy special Steve O's doing with "Jackass" director Jeff Tremaine.

No word on a release date yet -- but this sounds epic ... and painful.

Amelia Earhart indeed survived her plane crash, but an upcoming documentary claiming to have photo evidence is crazy ... so claims a man who has made the mystery his lifelong mission.

Ric Gillespie, owner of TIGHAR -- an organization long involved in the search for Earhart -- tells TMZ he's known about this photo for a year and on many levels he knows Amelia's not in the pic.

The new documentary claims Earhart became a captive in the South Pacific after her crash and claims her captors can be seen all around her in the photo.

Gillespie says there were a lot of mercenaries in that area at the time ... so it could be any white woman in the pic -- the features aren't recognizable.

Secondly ... based on where Earhart took flight in New Guinea, Ric says she would not have had enough fuel to get to the Marshall Islands, where the photo was allegedly taken. According to Ric, her last signal was picked up hundreds of miles from that location.

Finally, Gillespie believes the photo simply doesn't match up with the captive theory. He points out none of the alleged captors have guns or look threatening. He thinks it's just a photo showing people hanging out on the wharf on Jaluit Atoll -- part of the Marshall Islands.

Gillespie and TIGHAR still stand by their theory -- Amelia survived her plane crash and died as a castaway on the Pacific island of Nikumaroro, Kiribati.

Ronda Rousey says some "little punks" with a death wish broke into her home a few months ago and jacked everything from guns to Olympic rings and jewelry ... but her fiance tracked down the perps.

Drew Carey's new girlfriend is a sex therapist who moonlighted as a model on "The Price Is Right" ... the live touring show, though -- not Drew's TV show.

Sources tell us Carey met Dr. Amie Nicole Harwick just over a month ago at a house party. They started dating soon after and are now official -- they went to a soccer game in Portland, and goofed around on the field. Drew's a huge soccer fan and the good doc seemed impressed with his seats.

The 36-year-old therapist is also the author of the book, "The New Sex Bible for Women."

Carey was previously engaged to Nicole Jaracz, but they split up in 2012 before making it to the altar.

If Drew need some motivation to make this one work out -- check her degree. Not to mention her modeling portfolio ...

Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough are firing right back at President Trump ... claiming he reached out to help them fend off an unflattering report about their relationship, but with a major string attached.

The co-hosts/engaged couple claim several Trump administration officials called them repeatedly with the offer over a National Enquirer story about them having an affair -- but they said Joe had to call the President first.

They made it seem like the offer was ... grovel to Trump, and he'll have the story killed.

Joe and Mika dropped the bombshell allegation on "Morning Joe" Friday morning. They actually canceled vacation plans so they could be on the air to respond to Trump's Thursday morning tweets -- where he claimed Mika was bleeding from a facelift when they begged him to attend a party at Mar-a-Lago.

As for that claim ... they addressed it straight on, and told a much different story about how they ended up at the President's New Year's bash -- and the facelift? Mika copped to having a procedure, but added ... that's far from the biggest issue here. She's right.

Interestingly, she also did exactly what Trump did -- plastic surgery shaming. Poor form?

Trump has already responded on Twitter, calling them liars.

But wait ... there's more. Joe just responded and said Trump's lying and he can prove it.

'Big Bang Theory' star Johnny Galecki had nothing but gratitude for the men and women who risked their lives trying in vain to save his ranch.

Galecki returned to the site where his ranch once stood in San Luis Obispo to retrieve a memento or 2 that might have been spared.

Johnny had love for CalFire ... "It is the profound risks that you accept and the sacrifices you and your families make that keep us safe."

TMZ broke the story ... Galecki's ranch burned to the ground Monday night. It was his getaway place ... about 190 miles north of L.A. Johnny wasn't home when the blaze erupted.

#WeSaluteYouAll

Mika Brzezinski took plenty of jabs at President Trump Thursday on "Morning Joe" ... and it appears this is what sparked his Twitter attack.

Mika and her co-host/fiance, Joe Scarborough, went off on Trump over several topics -- from the healthcare bill to "teensy hands." Shortly thereafter, POTUS fired off his tweets about "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and "Psycho Joe."

The reality is Joe and Mika were just doing their show. It's not like this was their first time being critical of the Donald. Maybe it was just his first time watching, but the news desk banter doesn't seem to justify the President's personal and petty response.

7:08 AM PT -- An MSNBC spokesperson tells TMZ, “It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job.”

If Donald Trump were a doctor this could be a HIPAA violation ... calling out an MSNBC anchor and claiming she was bleeding profusely from a facelift.

It's shocking ... the President of the United States fired off the tweet Thursday, saying Mika Brzezinski and fiance/co-anchor Joe Scarborough were at Mar-a-Lago New Year's Eve and he noticed blood and somehow determined it was a reaction from a facelift.

Trump also called her stupid, claiming she has a low I.Q. and Joe is a "psycho."

Mika just fired back -- somewhat obtusely -- with a pic of a box of Cheerios, with the words, "Made For Little Hands" on the box.

A spokesman for NBC also tweeted:

Jackie Warner, who starred in a Bravo fitness show, struck an amazing plea bargain which amounts to a slap on the wrist compared to the punishment she could have received for driving drunk and attacking a cop.

Jackie's lawyer, Shawn Holley, was in court Wednesday morning and got all the charges dismissed -- 2 counts of DUI, one count of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of hit and run.

TMZ broke the story ... Jackie was arrested back in February for DUI, but not before she hit a telephone pole, fled the scene, was apprehended by cops and then backed into a police car which forced a cop to jump out of harm's way.

Jackie says she was essentially sleep driving ... the result of an Ambien she took a few hours before when she was at home. To prove she was not conscious, Holley notes Jackie was not wearing pants and would not have left her home in that state.

Jackie initially insisted she only had one drink earlier in the day during a luncheon, but her blood alcohol level was .11 ... over the legal limit. We've learned when she was released, she went home and found empty beer cans in the fridge ... again, she says she has no recollection of chugging them.

Holley's best argument may involve ice cream. Before getting arrested Jackie had walked into a 7-Eleven without pants and bought an ice cream sandwich ... something most people would never do in their right mind.

Jackie pled no contest to a new charge ... commonly known as "wet reckless" ... a much lesser offense than DUI. She'll be on informal probation for 2 years, attend a 12 hour alcohol ed course and pay a fine.

Good work, Holley.

Lamar Odom says he really misses his former BFF, Rob Kardashian -- and thinks he's being punished because "maybe I hurt his sister too much."

The ex-NBA star appeared on "The Wendy Williams Show" and opened up about how Rob hasn't spoken to Lamar in a while ... with Odom saying, "I haven't met his child yet."

Lamar and Rob were super tight back in the day -- especially when Rob lived with Khloe and Lamar for a 2-year span. Lamar considered Rob his "brother."

You can see Odom is emotional about the situation -- but admits, "If she was my [sister], I'd have a problem with me too."

As we previously reported, Khloe tried to save her marriage to Lamar -- but he was too consumed by his drug addiction. Lamar has since apologized and said the drugs made him forget who he was.

Odom has been through rehab and says he's clean, sober and back to the old Lamar.

Khloe, of course, has moved on ... she's now with NBA star Tristan Thompson.

And there was also this bizarre exchange about the brothel that almost killed Lamar. He does NOT remember things the way cops and doctors do.

MTV's "Ridiculousness" star Sterling "Steelo" Brim is mourning the loss of his 3-year-old nephew who drowned in his swimming pool ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the boy wandered into the North Hollywood backyard Friday morning when adults weren't looking and fell in the pool. It's unclear how long the boy was in the pool before he was discovered.

We're told paramedics rushed to the house and the child was taken to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead just after noon the same day.

We're told the boy's family was visiting Steelo from Chicago.

The death's been ruled an accidental drowning.

If the sight of Brody Jenner hanging from a tree shocks the hell out of you ... that's exactly what Irv Gotti intended.

The brutal imagery -- with D'Angelo's 'How Does It Feel' playing over it -- was the closing scene of the Murder Inc. honcho's Tuesday night premiere of "Tales." The movie's theme was based on N.W.A.'s "F**k tha Police" lyrics, but producers flipped the races -- the brutal cops and rich people were black, and white people were the minorities living in the projects.

Gotti thanked Brody for being "totally down" to spread the word -- "The message I was trying to get across. Which by the way. Is a message that what's wrong is wrong."

He added, "So maybe seeing it done to White People. In this FICTIONALIZE piece. And seeing these things done to them. Maybe people will have a lil more compassion when 12 year old Tamir Rice gets gunned down. Or Philando Castillo gets killed for nothing."

Irv talked to us on "TMZ Live" about his goal with the show.