TV

Donald Trump Jr. didn't hold any punches when going toe-to-toe with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar ... clapping back hard when the cohosts called out POTUS.

The heated exchange went down Thursday morning on "The View" where DTJ appeared, with his GF, Kimberly Guilfoyle, to promote his new book, 'Triggered.' The conversation throughout was tense but things really reached a boiling point when the panel accused President Trump of lowering the level of discourse in the country ... on almost all topics.

Trump Jr. turned the tables ... first on Joy by calling her out for allegedly wearing blackface. Joy took offense to the accusation and denied it. FWIW, Joy admitted in 2016 she had dressed as a "beautiful African woman" at a Halloween party when she was 29, and yes ... it involved makeup "a little bit darker than my skin."

Junior emphasized his point that "we've all done things that we regret" ... by going after Whoopi for defending disgraced director Roman Polanski amid rape allegations. Back in 2009, Whoopi said whatever Polanski's guilty of wasn't "rape-rape."

A Brooklyn home featured on the HBO series "Boardwalk Empire" is up for grabs ... and any Nucky, Chalky, Mickey or Lucky buyer out there can scoop it up for more than a million dollars less than it was last year.

The Park Slope house -- which was also featured in the 1993 Martin Scorcese film, "The Age of Innocence" -- was fittingly built in 1900 and is a 5-story, 8,014-square-foot family dwelling with 5 beds and 5.5 baths.

It ain't cheap -- currently listed at $7.51 million -- but in 2018 it was priced at $8.8 mil ... seems like a deal Al Capone would be excited about.

And, get this ... it even comes with the same wallpaper the set designer used on the show.

Other features of the limestone townhouse include a 2-story kitchen, a library, a gas-burning fireplace, Frank Lloyd Wright stained glass and a private roof terrace.

Kate Flannery realizes she probably brought a knife to a gun fight as far as challenging Sean Spicer on "Dancing with the Stars," but says all his Presidential support might alienate core 'DWTS' fans.

We spoke to the 'Office' star Wednesday on "TMZ Live" on the heels of her elimination, and asked why she thinks Spicer keeps getting through ... despite the judges giving him incredibly low scores.

Kate -- who had to bow out after dancing a jive - says Sean's obviously got the backing of President Trump ... which goes a long way in this country. Whether he deserves to be there or not is almost irrelevant --  as she notes, it's really a popularity contest.

She rightfully points out that she's got her own fanatic base herself, especially after her old 'Office' costar, Steve Carell, gave her a shout-out -- and adds that 'Office' fans have been more than supportive in her 'DWTS' bid.

But, when push came to shove ... the power of Trump was too great to overcome for Dunder Mifflinites. And, that's a shame for dance fans, according to Kate ... who says a bad dancer like Spicer winning, purely on fan votes, would hurt the show.

Todd and Julie Chrisley wanna get the hell outta Dodge for Thanksgiving and spend it in the Cayman Islands ... but first, they need permission.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the Chrisleys are asking the judge in their federal tax evasion case for permission to temporarily obtain their passports so they can travel to the Cayman Islands for about a week during Thanksgiving.

The Chrisleys say they'll fly commercial and stay at a resort condo ... where they say they wanna spend time with their children and grandchild to celebrate the holiday.

As we've reported ... as part of the conditions in their bond release, the Chrisleys are restricted to travel in Georgia and Tennessee. They can also travel to Cali to tape their reality show, but they have to notify their probation officers first.

The Chrisleys say they'll provide a full itinerary of their travel to their probation officer and immediately surrender the passports once they return from their vacay. For what it's worth ... the Chrisleys say the U.S. Attorney's Office does not object to their request ... an indication the travel request has a good chance of getting the judge's approval seal.

The judge, however, has yet to rule on the request.

Ellen DeGeneres and Sandra Bullock have joined forces to sue various companies that are marketing beauty and anti-aging products ... claiming they made false representations the 2 entertainers were endorsing the stuff the companies were selling.

Ellen and Sandra claim some of the companies used photos of Sandra on Ellen's show. The companies falsely claimed Sandra was boasting about her "amazing new skin" ... which the company credits to their products.

The company also posted a pic of Ellen falsely claiming the reason she doesn't need a lot of makeup is because she uses the company's serum.

In other words ... not only are Ellen and Sandra saying the companies used their names and likenesses without permission ... they just made all this stuff up.

According to the lawsuit, several different beauty companies used the photos to hawk their products ... without permission from Ellen or Sandra.

The products in question ... Alessa Serum, Elliesse Serum, Lavish Skin Care, Life Cell Skin Care, Glovella and many others.

John Stamos, or someone on his social media team, might have some 'splaining to do with his pal, Lori Loughlin ... after what seems like a Trump-esque Twitter flub.

John's verified account liked a tweet praising his performance Tuesday night on "The Little Mermaid Live!" ... but it came with a catch -- namely, a jab at his former "Full House" costar.

The tweet Uncle Jesse liked said, "Aunt Becky's going to jail but @JohnStamos is BACK and crushing it on #LittleMermaidLive."

Maybe the review of John's performance was just too flattering to NOT give it a like -- but obviously Lori wouldn't feel so good about the message. It's kinda shocking because John's been mostly mum about Lori's role in the college admissions scandal.

As we've reported ... Lori and her husband are facing new charges of bribery after allegedly paying $500,000 to mastermind Rick Singer to get their daughters into USC via the rowing team and some fake pictures. They've pled not guilty to all counts.

Fact is, John is getting plenty of praise for playing Chef Louis on 'Mermaid' ... so it's not like the Twitter user was alone with his or her review. However, we're guessing John would like to take back at least half of his "like" on that tweet.

Too bad that's not an option on Twitter. Not yet.

We reached out to John's team for clarification ... no word back, so far.

Jenelle Evans is afraid for her life and the lives of her kids ... and that's because she says her estranged husband, David Eason, is off-the-rails violent.

Jenelle got a restraining order against David, claiming flatly, "Because of his recent threats, his history of violence, his erratic behavior and his large stockpile of weapons, I am scared for my life and my children's well-being."

Jenelle says David has physically and verbally abused her. She acknowledges what David belatedly acknowledged ... that he shot and killed the family dog after the animal nipped at their 2-year-old daughter.

As for the verbal abuse, Jenelle claims David said, "You can die for all I care. You're a piece of s**t. Biggest piece of s**t I've ever seen."

She also claims David insinuated he was going to kill himself if she didn't get back with him.

Under the temporary restraining order, obtained by E!, David is prohibited from having contact with Jenelle or her children.

Christina Applegate is already hard at work filming her new show but even more interesting is her BFF's seemingly dead ex-fiance, James Marsden, is back in the picture, which begs the question ... what's the deal?!

Christina and James were spotted Tuesday in Hermosa Beach, CA filming season 2 of the Netflix hit series, "Dead to Me" ... which ended with a HUGE cliffhanger after Christina's character, Jen Harding, shoots and apparently kills James' character, Steve Wood. His body was found floating in her pool with a fog of blood around him. Oh yeah ... spoiler alert.

Well ... James' character appears to be back for season 2 but it's unclear if his scene's just a flashback or if he, somehow, miraculously survived his season finale fate.

Either way ... looks like season 2 -- which has gotten the green light but no launch date's been set -- will be one helluva plot twist. Its series creator, Liz Feldman, has already hinted that the end of season one "is not exactly what you think."

John Witherspoon was a magnetic figure ... so it's no surprise most of Hollywood showed up to bid him one last goodbye.

The late comedian's open-casket celebration of life went down Tuesday in L.A. in front of a huge gathering of friends, family and celebs alike. David Letterman commenced the celebration. He and John went way back ... they honed their craft together at The Comedy Store in Hollywood alongside Richard Pryor, Robin Williams and Jay Leno.

Ice Cube was one of several speakers and he paid a touching tribute ... saying he enjoyed the hell outta John for as long as he could remember.

Some other celebrity guest speakers included Cedric the Entertainer, George Wallace, Angela Gibbs and Bill Bellamy. Regina King couldn't make it but she did send along a video message that was played on the big screen.

Guests at the celebration of life received a colorful program adorned with John's infectious smile. The back-page included one of his most famous lines from "Boomerang" ... "BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!"

As we reported ... John died suddenly last week, at the age of 77, after he went into cardiac arrest at his home in Sherman Oaks, CA.

His career -- which started in stand-up comedy -- spanned more than 5 decades ... and included his unforgettable roles as Ice Cube's father in the "Friday" movies, Granddad on "The Boondocks" and Pops on "The Wayans Bros."

George Lopez is making an emotional plea to all Americans ... either we all get along, or we all pack up and ship out and leave this country to the people who were really here first.

We got the comedian at LAX and asked for his reaction to the white man arrested for allegedly dousing a Latino with battery acid ... and George says it's another example of what's tearing this nation apart.

In case you missed it ... Mahud Villalaz, a U.S. citizen who immigrated from Peru, suffered second-degree burns to his face after being confronted and attacked by a white man outside a restaurant in Milwaukee. Authorities say they are investigating the case as a hate crime.

George gets super emotional, calling the incident horrible and making note that victims like Mahud never retaliate. He says this isn't the America we should strive to live in.

The way George sees it, what happened in Milwaukee is part of an alarming trend ... he says he's seen too many white people acting like Captain America, pretending they are the "f**king keeper of the f**king border" and confronting minorities in the street.

George says we're all outsiders when we boil it down ... so no one gets to decide who belongs and who doesn't.

Ben Stiller wants to put you in his show, or send you to lunch with Bryan Cranston ... maybe hand you George Clooney's watch? Pay attention, it's all for a good cause.

Ben and a bunch of his celeb pals are recognizing Veterans Day by supporting Homes For Our Troops and raising funds with a huge online auction. Other items on the block include a guitar signed by Jon Bon Jovi, autographed scrubs from "Grey's Anatomy" and the spacesuit Ryan Reynolds wore in "Life."

The auction opens Thursday and it's being spearheaded by George, CNN's Jake Tapper and Wynonna Judd ... and a bunch of their famous pals are donating movie, music and sports memorabilia. Get in your bids before the November 17th deadline.

Alec Baldwin says he never punched a man during a heated parking space dispute -- despite what the guy claimed -- so now Alec's suing the guy for defamation.

According to the lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- the "SNL" star claims Wojciech Cieszkowski repeatedly lied about what went down during the 2018 spat.

Baldwin says, "When two New Yorkers get into an argument over a parking space, typically what happens is they exchange a few sharp words and then move on with their lives. But that is not what happened here. Cieszkowski has instead made up a false story about the encounter and refused to move on unless Baldwin succumbs to his extortionate demands."

As we reported ... Baldwin says the whole thing started when Cieszkowski pulled into a parking spot and came way too close to his wife and child waiting on the curb.

Baldwin does fess up to "lightly" pushing Cieszkowski during the dispute but says his opponent then lied to cops, claiming he was badly assaulted. Baldwin points to hospital records and video surveillance footage to back up his side of things. The video seems to back up his story.

Felicity Huffman is still doing time -- a few hours at a time -- as part of her community service sentence for her role in the college bribery scandal.

The actress appeared to be in good spirits as she left The Teen Project near Los Angeles Sunday, even flashing a slight smile as she walked to her ride.

Felicity spent 3 hours inside the center for the nonprofit organization -- which serves at-risk homeless and sex-trafficked young women -- presumably to chip away at the 250 hours she needs to log per her sentencing guidelines.

As we reported ... Huffman was released from prison after doing just 11 days behind bars at FCI Dublin in Northern California, but she's been serious about settling her debt to society since she got out.

Bradley Cooper and Dave Chappelle seem to have kept their onscreen friendship in "A Star is Born" going strong in real life ... with the help of some youngsters to bring 'em even closer.

The actor and comedian were spotted hanging out Saturday in NYC's West Village, where Brad was seen holding his own daughter, Lea, in one arm and the hand of another little girl who was rolling with him, Dave and some other grownups tagging along.

It's unclear if the other kid is Dave's -- we know he's got a 10-year-old daughter of his own, but this girl here looks a bit younger than her. Either way, Brad seemed happy to play chaperone twice over while Dave hung back and looked on with a big grin.

Of course, Brad and Dave starred opposite each other in last year's Oscar fave 'ASIB,' with the two of them playing old pals reuniting at a difficult time in Brad's character's life.

While their chemistry on the big screen might've felt palpable and even lifted from a real-life relationship ... it turns out that BC and DC hadn't known one another all that well prior to filming. Dave said Brad recruited him hard to be in his movie, and Dave finally caved.

Prior to that, the two stars had apparently only met in passing ... but it looks like working together made 'em good pals. Brad was even on hand last week in D.C., where Dave was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and gave a speech on Dave's behalf.

Walter Mercado -- a Spanish TV icon who served as an eccentric astrologist with his own syndicated segments -- has died.

Mercado passed away late Saturday at a hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico due to kidney failure, according to the facility's spokesperson, Sofia Luquis, who told AP. It's unclear how long he'd been hospitalized there and what exact ailment he'd been battling.

Nonetheless, a major loss in the Spanish community -- as Mercado was a staple in many Latino homes through the '80s, '90s and onward. He got his start on TV in his native land of Puerto Rico, establishing himself with daily horoscopes, advice and predictions.

Eventually, he got his own show on Univision, where he had a home for years before parting ways in 2010 and moving on to other Spanish networks. He was known for his lavish outfits, which often included robes, capes, jewelry, makeup and other extravagant accessories.

While he never came out and announced his sexual preferences, Mercado was a bit of a hero in the LGBTQ community ... with many viewing him as a trend-setter on Spanish TV, which had often leaned more conservative. He had no children,  and no known partners.

In 2012, Mercado was rushed to a Cleveland area hospital for cardiac problems -- after which, he claimed he'd seen death ...  wanting to devote himself to philanthropic causes.

Mercado had a known catchphrase he'd always end his horoscope segments with. It went like ... "Que reciban de mi siempre pas, mucha pas. Pero sobre todo, mucho, mucho, mucho amor." It translates to, "May you always receive peace from me, but above all else ... lots and lots of love."

Brian Tarantina has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us that the veteran actor was found dead early Saturday morning in his Manhattan apartment from what we're told appeared to be a fatal drug overdose to the officers and first-responders who came out.

Our sources say Brian's niece went to check in on him at his Hell's Kitchen residence at around 12:30 AM, and discovered her uncle unresponsive on the couch. We're told the niece told cops she'd last talked to him late Tuesday night. Upon finding him, she called 911, and we're told when officers and paramedics arrived ... they found a white powdery substance near his body, believed to be alleged narcotics. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

It's unclear at this point what the white substance might've been. We're told the NYC medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy to determine an official cause of death.

Brian has been working in the biz for a long time, often playing supporting characters through the '80s and '90s, and even into the 2000s and onward. He's perhaps best known for tough guy roles in flicks like "Jacob's Ladder," "Uncle Buck," "The Jerky Boys," "Summer of Sam," "Knight and Day," "Carlito's Way," "Donnie Brasco," "City By the Sea" and others.

He's got a much more extensive resume than that though. The guy's been in tons of stuff over the years ... shows like "Law & Order," "Miami Vice," "Spin City," "Oz," "NYPD Blue," "ER," "The Sopranos," "Gilmore Girls," "Heroes," "The Black Donnellys," "The Blacklist," "Madame Secretary," "Blue Bloods" and most recently in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" playing Jackie.

He was 60 years old.

RIP