TV

Trevor Noah, Esq. is ready to defend President Trump against a flood of lawsuits once he's out of office ... that's if POTUS can't get Larry H. Parker on the line.

'The Daily Show' host took out this hilarious full-page ad in Thursday's Washington Post ... although we doubt anyone in the White House is laughing. In it, Trevor Noah & Associates & Sons say they'll defend an unnamed "Soon-to-be-ex-President" against "Corruption, mega corruption, shady rich guy tax stuff and mail murder."

Hell, Trevor says they'll even stand up for Trump because "You told people to inject bleach for some reason."

Yes, Dems will laugh it up, and the GOP will hate the ad -- which wasn't coincidentally taken out the day the Prez accepts his party's nomination.

Anyway, when/if Trump's interested ... the number's easy enough to remember: 1-210-WH-CRIME.

Kenny Smith just walked off the set of "Inside the NBA" in a show of solidarity with the NBA players who are boycotting Wednesday's playoff games.

"As a black man, as a former player ... I think its best for me to support the players and just not be here tonight," Smith said.

Smith then unplugged his mic and walked off the set -- leaving co-hosts Charles Barkley, Shaquille O'Neal and Ernie Johnson to finish the show without him.

Before he left, Smith explained his decision this way ...

"Right now, my head is like ready to explode," Smith said about the aftermath of the Jacob Blake police shooting in Wisconsin.

Smith says he can't stop thinking about the incident and the surrounding issues -- whether it's in the car or in the broadcast studio -- and he felt a strong compulsion to take some sort of action.

After he walked off, Ernie Johnson said he respects Kenny's decision ... and they continued on with the show.

55-year-old Smith won 2 NBA titles during his 10 year career and has become a key member of the "Inside the NBA" team, the most popular basketball show on TV.

As we previously reported, the Milwaukee Bucks refused to take the court for Game 5 of their playoff series with the Orlando Magic. Other NBA teams followed suit.

The "Real Housewives of New York" are going to look a little different this upcoming season ... we've learned producers want to feature more than just rich, white women.

Production sources tell TMZ ... 'RHONY' is looking to diversify the current all-white cast for season 13, and producers are actively searching and in talks with some potential new faces.

There's already a few openings, which in theory makes it easier to make the cast more diverse ... Dorinda Medley announced Monday she's leaving the show, following Tinsley Mortimer out the door.

Our sources say Dorinda was not fired, and her departure was a mutual decision that had been previously discussed before she and Bravo ultimately pulled the trigger.

We're told rumors of Ali Wentworth, wife of George Stephanopoulos, potentially joining 'RHONY' are NOT true ... there's no talks about her coming on board and she's not in the running to join the show.

Fact is ... Ali would not add any diversity to a cast that was nothing but white women in season 12.

Producers are up against the clock here too ... we're told 'RHONY' is slated to start shooting in the Fall.

Nikki Bella and Artem Chigvintsev did not get hitched ... despite what you may have heard on a morning talk show.

Here's the deal ... "Good Morning America" referred to Nikki as Artem's "wife" in a promo clip announcing his return to "Dancing with the Stars." Fans quickly caught on, with lots of folks under the false impression they got married on the low.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ ... Nikki and Artem are NOT legally married and it was just a funny accident on 'GMA.'

Our sources say Nikki and Artem both still want to get married, but they don't have a date for the wedding due to coronavirus restrictions. They're far from alone there.

We're told the engaged couple does not want a socially-distanced wedding, so Nikki and Artem are just gonna ride things out until the pandemic passes and then start planning their special day for friends and family.

With wedding plans in a holding pattern, our sources say Nikki and Artem are focusing on his return to 'DWTS' and their newborn baby.

We broke the story ... Nikki listed her home in Arizona after only 3 months living next to her sister, Brie ... and now we're told she's relocating back to Los Angeles, where Artem is shooting 'DWTS.'

Allan Rich -- a longtime character actor in Hollywood, who bounced back from being blacklisted -- has died.

The thespian passed away in New Jersey over the weekend due to complications from progressive dementia ... this according to his family. He was residing at an assisted-living facility called the Lillian Booth Actors Home, which houses people who were in the biz.

Allan hardly played the leading man in his filmography, but he did a helluva job with smaller roles in a number of huge hit films and shows dating back to the '60s and '70s. Perhaps most notably, he starred in flicks like "Serpico," "The Gambler" and "The Happy Hooker."

He also acted in TV series like "Hawaii Five-O," "All in the Family," "Kojak," "Little House on the Prairie," "Baretta," "Happy Days," "CHiPS," "The Incredible Hulk," "Alice," "Magnum PI," "Hill Street Blue" and countless others staples throughout the decades.

His acting career saw a nice steady rise in the '90s, with notable appearances in films like "Disclosure," "Amistad," "Quiz Show," "Jack," and many others. He often played a judge or a lawman of some sort -- Allan had a deep, authoritative voice ... and fit the part well.

What's crazy is that back in the '40s and '50 -- when he was doing more traditional acting in theater -- he was branded as a communist and blacklisted in Hollywood for a while as a result. He later said he got put on the "Red Channels" list because he tried helping free a Black man who had been wrongly convicted of rape.

Fortunately, he overcame that hard time in his life and went on to rack up well over 100 acting credits. He's survived by his children, step-children and grandchildren.

Allan was 94.

Leslie David Baker -- best known for playing the lovable grouch, Stanley, on "The Office" -- has witnessed the rise of racism along with the surge of the Black Lives Matter movement ... and he's speaking out about it.

The veteran actor joined "TMZ Live" Monday to address how his 'Office' spin-off project led to him becoming the target of hateful attacks, because at the same time ... he's been a vocal supporter of BLM.

Leslie says much like Black athletes being told to "stick to sports," racists began coming out of the woodwork to tell him to "stick to acting" and bombarding him with other vile messages ... and he's had enough.

The actor's urging everyone, including other minorities in entertainment, to call out racism when they encounter it ... because he says ignoring it only protects the bigots and allows the hate to continue.

That's exactly what Leslie's been doing -- he's sharing examples of what he believes is growing racism in this country, to raise awareness and motivate everyone to help put an end to it.

Paris Hilton's opening up about a traumatic chapter of her life before her 'Simple Life' stardom ... in an upcoming documentary that's pretty shocking.

The famous heiress describes how her rebellious youth living with her family in NYC's Waldorf Astoria hotel resulted in her parents sending her to several boarding schools ... the last of which was Utah's Provo Canyon School.

Paris stayed there for 11 months before turning 18, but says it was less of a school and more of an obedience boot camp where it was "all day screaming in my face, yelling at me, continuous torture."

She alleges the abuse was verbal, mental and emotional -- claiming the staff would say terrible things to her, try to make her feel bad and bully her -- but also claims there was physical abuse ... hitting and strangling the kids.

Paris says students could end up in solitary confinement for up to 20 hours a day, and she was having frequent panic attacks and crying daily due to the fear and misery. She says ... "I felt like a prisoner and I hated life."

Three of her classmates also appear in the upcoming documentary, "This is Paris," adding more allegations of abuse ... including being force-fed medication.

Paris was freed from the boarding school when she turned 18 in 1999, and says she just wanted to put it behind her so badly she never really talked about it ... even to her parents.

She says she was ashamed of the time there and adds ... "I buried my truth for so long."

The documentary premieres September, 14 on YouTube.

John Oliver took a bit of shot at a small town in Connecticut, and they just took one of their own in cheeky fashion ... naming a sewer plant after the talk show host.

Mayor Mark Boughton of Danbury, CT posted a video on his Facebook page this weekend responding to John's scathing rebuke of his city ... which the 'Last Week Tonight' host took aim at ... seemingly to poke fun at how kitschy and quaint it is.

John was talking about how different cities and states in the U.S. botch jury selection processes by virtually guaranteeing all-white jurors ... often screwing over people of color. He noted two racially diverse Connecticut jurisdictions often get skipped over for jury selection ... and then randomly launched into this hate bit on Danbury.

It was all in good fun, and it doesn't seem John has any real animosity against the town or its people. In our eyes, the Danbury tangent just served to lighten the mood.

Well, it appears the Mayor took it personally ... and literally went out of his way to respond, saying he would officially rename the city's sewer plant after JO himself. In his own words, Mayor Boughton says of the move, "Why??? Because it's full of s***. Just like you, John."

"Knight Rider" star Rebecca Holden and her record producer husband, Joel Diamond, got a rude awakening in the dead of night ... an oak tree came crashing down onto their property, and cost 'em a car in the process.

Joel tells TMZ ... he and Rebecca were awoken late at night Friday by a loud noise literally tearing through their Calabasas home. It turned out to be part of a nearby 6-ton oak tree that had toppled over for some reason. We're told the tree burst through their bedroom window ... and also crushed three vehicles down below.

Unfortunately, one of those cars happened to be Joel's prized classic Jaguar -- the back end of which was absolutely demolished by the fallen timber. A total loss, no doubt. What sucks is Joel tells us he'd just gotten the whip back from an auto body shop 2 days prior.

Nobody was harmed, thankfully, but it sounds like a few of Joel's friends were pretty impressed with the freak phenomenon. Singer Tony Orlando -- known for his #1 hit, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" -- made a crack ... saying out of all the trees he'd ribbon'd over the years, Joel and Rebecca's was by and far the most outstanding.

The SoCal lake where Naya Rivera was found dead after drowning is open to the public again, but her tragedy is having an impact on operations there.

TMZ's learned Lake Piru reopened Thursday, 43 days after the "Glee" star went out for a day of boating and swimming with her son. The man-made reservoir had been off-limits since Naya went missing. After authorities recovered her body, the lake remained closed as the COVID-19 pandemic intensified in L.A. County.

Now that the public can return there are restrictions. For starters, swimming is absolutely banned. Lake officials say that's due to COVID-19, but locals tell us they believe the ban is really about Naya's drowning.

As we reported ... more than 12,000 people signed a petition demanding more effective warnings to swimmers about debris under the water's surface.

As for boating on the lake ... that's back in full swing, along with picnicking, hiking and fishing.

However, the pontoon Naya rented on the night she went missing has been taken out of the fleet and it's been placed in storage.

Remember ... locals had reason to be concerned. Naya's drowning is the 9th death at Lake Piru since 1994.

Maluma and CNCO will attempt to pull off what few entertainers have been able to do this year -- perform for a live audience -- but to do so, they're setting some strict rules for the fans who want to risk it.

We've learned the pair is currently casting "super fans" to be a part of a special outdoor performance at next week's MTV VMA's ... with some very specific requirements.

According to the casting call, fans who want to attend must live near NYC, bring a guest (but only if they live together), get a COVID-19 test on August 23 and then self-isolate with the guest until the August 30 show.

It certainly sounds like a lot of work, but considering Maluma's got 52 million followers on Instagram and boy band CNCO has 3.5 million ... they should be able to wrangle up enough willing participants.

California based actress and musician Daniella Monet (real name Daniella Monet Zuvic) gained mediocre fame in the early 2000s after she landed small roles on shows like "Zoey 101," "iCarly" and "Listen Up" ... but Monet's stardom really began to shine after her breakout role as the entertainment-driven big sister Trina Vega on the 2010 Nickelodeon show "Victorious."

Daniella Monet wasn't the only starry-eyed artist attending Hollywood Arts ... she was cast alongside some other epic up-and-coming actors including Ariana Grande as the kooky sidekick, Cat Valentine ... and of course Victoria Justice as Trina's younger sister and Hollywood hopeful, Tori Vega.

Jesse Goins -- best known for appearing on the Discovery show "Gold Rush: Dave Turin's Lost Mine" -- has died.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Jesse was on set in Colorado Tuesday night during filming. His job on the show is to work in the gold room, where he separates and cleans the gold. We're told someone from the crew found him unconscious just outside the gold room. A medic on-site administered CPR and EMTs then arrived and rushed Jesse to the hospital, but efforts to revive him proved unsuccessful.

We're told it appeared to those on the scene ... Jesse suffered a heart attack, although the exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed.

Jesse's brother, Larry, posted on Facebook saying, "Heaven will never be the same!! My brother Jesse went home to be with his Father, Lord and Savior. He will be missed dearly. Love you brother."

'Lost Mine' premiered in March 2019 and took place near Prescott Valley, Arizona. The second season kicked off earlier this year from February to April and largely centered in Marysville, Montana.

Jesse appeared in 15 episodes of the "Gold Rush" series spinoff. In 'Dave Turin's Lost Mine' ... Jesse worked alongside Turin as they visited abandoned gold mines around the western U.S. They then decided which mine they'd get up and start running again ... in the hopes of turning a profit.

Jesse, who was 60, leaves behind a wife.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer's love of Shark Week could not be contained -- even as she was about to speak to the DNC -- and now she's got a new catchphrase with some bite ... with the Discovery Channel's stamp of approval!

The Guv was about to deliver her live speech Monday night in support of Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president when she decided to let her Shark Week flag fly, saying ... "It's not just Shark Week, it's Shark week *mouths expletive for 'mother f*****s'*"

Her joke drew big laughs from the room as she acknowledged she knew her mic was on. The way it seems to us ... she was warming up the crowd -- comprised mostly of auto workers -- and it worked.

The moment didn't air on live TV ... but thanks to the magic of live streaming, it's gone viral, already garnering merchandise production in her home state.

Not only has the Governor's remark resonated with Shark Week fans and her constituents, but our sources at Discovery tell us the channel is thrilled at Gretchen's hot mic moment.

Of course, Shark Week 2020 just ended ... but it's never too early to hype up 2021.

Jim Belushi's enjoying his own summer of love ... he's skinny dipping on the regular and growing legal marijuana!!!

We got a hilarious clip from the actor's new show on Discovery Channel, "Growing Belushi," which gives some insight into his daily grind on his cannabis farm in the Pacific Northwest ... lots of swimming in the buff!

Jim's also got a chicken lady on his 93-acre farm -- this just keeps getting better and better -- and she shares his hilarious disclaimer for anyone who is not down with naked river dives.

Check it out ... Jim's giving a whole new meaning to Southern Oregon's Rogue River.

John Ratzenberger is throwing his fictional mailman hat in the ring to save the U.S. Post Office, and maybe you didn't know this, but ... Cliff's got a plan to do it!!!

Ratzenberger, who famously played know-it-all mailman Cliff Calvin on "Cheers," made his appeal on Cameo after someone reached out to him to make a plea for the embattled USPS.

Check it out ... Ratzenberger's obviously referencing the current battle between President Trump and the Post Office over funding. Not only is Ratzenberger aware of all this ... he's also got a plan on how the USPS can get a great boost right now.

Hint: Think Christmas in August!

As we reported ... not only has the USPS mysteriously been removing mailboxes across the country, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy -- a longtime Trump ally -- has also bizarrely ordered the removal of mail-sorting machines and eliminated overtime for postal workers.

The immediate fear is postal workers won't be able to meet the demand of mail-in ballots come Election Day. Not if Cliffie's got anything to say about it.