TV

3:47 PM PT -- A rep for Chris tells TMZ ... Shar has every right to respond however she'd like, but Chris and his family are choosing to settle this in court and not in the media or on TV.

Shar Jackson is apoplectic that Chris Massey accused her of abusing his 2-year-old daughter (Shar's granddaughter) ... saying her very public history as a parent is more than proof she'd never hurt a child.

Shar bristled at Chris' claims she hit his daughter, Mariah, last month and left a razor blade cut on her forehead. Shar -- who also had 2 kids by Kevin Federline -- says the claims are boldfaced lies and she's now got her own plan of attack ... against Chris.

As for the alleged razor blade injury to Mariah, Shar says the girl accidentally cut herself during a Facetime between her mom (Shar's daughter) and Chris back in May. Shar says she wasn't even there.

'Guardians of the Galaxy' is so powerful it might bring "Knight Rider" back to TV ... according to Kitt's partner, David Hasselhoff.

The Hoff tells TMZ ... his 'GOTG2' cameo only happened because director James Gunn was a huge fan of his '80s crime fighting show with the talking car. It's also how David ended up starring in a new discotastic music video with the other 'Guardians' stars.

Now David and James are working on a "Knight Rider" reboot ... with some changes, of course, to bring it up to date. There was already a remake in 2008, but Hoff told us why this one will be different.

And enjoy the music vid ... solid gold, man!

9:20 AM PT -- J.D. tells TMZ Sports he meant Kaep was screwing up the owners' money, not the money for black QBs.

Colin Kaepernick's protest is screwing up the NFL ecosystem for black QBs and costing them major money ... so says "The Wire" actor J.D. Williams who says Colin's hurting more than he's helping.

Williams has been in a ton of stuff, but he's most famous for playing street soldier Bodie Broadus for four seasons on HBO's "The Wire."

Williams took to his Twitter moments ago and fired off a series of tweets doing something most black celebrities have shied away from doing ... criticizing Colin Kaepernick's protest.

"I appreciate Kaepernicks' sentiment and attempt at a statement but he didn't HAVE to sacrifice his career in THAT way. Nice try?"

"We do REMEMBER black QBs in the NFL weren't even a THING really until about 7 yrs ago right? Kaep f**ked up their money ... with a big ass fro."

He didn't stop there, going on to imply Colin's protest wasn't a smart thing to do, because his employer (the NFL) doesn't care about his politics.

Team Lannister had a ringer in their battle against the Dothraki Sunday night ... as flamethrowin' Mets superstar Noah Syndergaard came outta nowhere with an EPIC spear throw.

Noah, AKA Thor, lived up to his nickname in his few seconds on screen -- launching a fastball to take out a Dothraki soldier.

It was kinda hard to tell if that was actually Thor ... but the ace confirmed his cameo right after the episode, saying “Take that you mean Dothraki."

Spoiler alert: Syndergaard also defended his squad basically takin' an L -- “To my side's defense . . . they had a FRICKIN DRAGON!!!”

It's all good, Noah -- you did your part.

Zoe McLellan gave her ex-husband, J.P. Gillain, only 2 days' notice before she flew to Canada with their young son for a role alongside Kiefer Sutherland ... but she says she had no choice.

McLellan is embroiled in a custody war again with Gillain. They have joint custody of 4-year-old Sebastian. McLellan says she was recently offered a gig on "Designated Survivor" and had to be in Toronto STAT to film ... but wouldn't go without Seb.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ, McLellan says she's the primary parent, adding Gillain can't support the lifestyle she offers their son. That's why she claims he needs to be with mom while she films for a year ... but she says she'll help out with dad's travel costs so he can come visit.

For his part, Gillain says his ex-wife basically held a gun to his head, demanding he consent to the move and agree to work out a new custody deal. He also argues she can't uproot their kid just because she gets a new role, arguing Seb needs stability and continuity.

Anthony Scaramucci is making the most of his 10 days as White House Communications Director, because we've learned he wants to turn his moment in the sun into a TV series or feature film.

We've learned a major Hollywood producer has been in touch with Scaramucci to produce a White House version of "Spin City." There are 2 working titles -- "10 Days in July" and "Attack of the Swamp Monsters." Our vote is #2.

We're told the initial feeling is the concept could work as a sitcom series or a feature.

The concept is an outsider assuming power in D.C. to the great dismay of longtime political hacks who go straight for the jugular.

Tom Wopat allegedly grabbed a woman's butt and put his finger between her butt cheeks, and that's why he was arrested for felony indecent assault.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, Wopat was rehearsing his show, "42nd Street," at the Reagle Theatre in Waltham, MA on July 23 when a woman on the set claims he walked behind her and she felt his hand grab her butt. She also says she felt his fingers go between her butt cheeks.

She complained to one of the honchos about the incident, and Wopat was confronted. According to the police report, he denied touching the woman and said, "F*** them all."

There are 2 other incidents mentioned in the police report, both occurring during rehearsals. In one case a woman says he came up from behind her and wrapped his arm around her hip and lower waist, pulling her into him. In another instance a woman says he peeled sunburned skin off her arm.

When Wopat was arrested Wednesday, he told cops at the station he did not inappropriately touch anyone, but recalled a time he was seated and one of the women walked by him and he "lightly touched her hip" and said to her, "I like the way you work."

Wopat told cops he flirts and likes to be friendly, but never did anything untoward.

As for the drug charge, cops say when they booked Wopat they found a plastic bag containing what they believe was cocaine in his front pocket, along with a blue straw. Cops say they searched Wopat's vehicle and found baggies inside, one of which contained what they believe is also cocaine.

The police report also says one of the honchos in the show reprimanded Wopat for showing up to rehearsal under the influence.

TMZ broke the story, Wopat was arraigned Thursday and pled not guilty for felony indecent assault and battery as well as a misdemeanor drug possession charge.

Wanna hear Jamie Foxx's spot-on-call-it-a-night-and-put-the-kids-to-bed impersonation of Vin Diesel and Jay-Z? We got you.

Jamie was leaving Mr Chow Wednesday night in Bev Hills when we told him about Vin's plan to reboot "Miami Vice" for NBC. Jamie's face not only lit up with excitement ... he busted out Vin's famous line from "The Fast and the Furious."

It gets better ... we ask Jamie if Phil Collins should do the new "Miami Vice" soundtrack. Jamie loves the idea and suggests Phil collaborate with Jay-Z.

Check it out ... Jamie gives us an awesome sample.

Larry King is transfixed by O.J. Simpson -- and for the life of him Larry can't figure out why Les Moonves isn't.

The legendary interviewer was leaving Craig's Tuesday night when our photog informed him Moonves -- the CBS honcho -- told us he has ZERO interest in landing O.J.'s first post-prison interview. You'll recall O.J. was granted parole and will be released as early as October 1.

Larry was in disbelief Les ain't thirsty for the Juice. And it's clear Larry's more than ready to squeeze answers out of O.J.

Sam Shepard -- the brilliant playwright who won a Pulitzer Prize and also was nominated for an Oscar -- has died.

Sam had been battling with ALS and reportedly died Sunday peacefully in his Kentucky home. The website Broadway World reported he was surrounded by his children and sisters.

Sam won the coveted Pulitzer Prize back in 1979 for the play "Buried Child." He penned 44 plays and was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor for the 1983 film, "The Right Stuff."

New York Magazine hailed him as the greatest American playwright of his generation. Sam starred in a bunch of movies -- including "Black Hawk Down" and "Swordfish" -- and most recently starred in Netflix's "Bloodline."

He was married to O-Lan Jones for 15 years and was Jessica Lange's longtime partner for over 2 decades. They had 2 kids together.

Sam was 73.

#RIP

Clippers rookie and SEC hoops star Sindarius Thornwell had a seriously funny run-in with cops in South Carolina -- but he's probably not laughing about the fact it ended up on live TV!

It all went down Friday night on the A&E show "Live PD" ... when police pulled over Sindarius' gf for speeding. Apparently, she was chasing him at the time, and Sindarius -- rocking a Clippers t-shirt -- stopped too when she got pulled over.

The hysterical part came when the officer recognized Sindarius -- he was SEC player of the year for the Gamecocks, after all. The cop said, "I know you from somewhere. Where you work at?"

ST's response ... "I don't got a job."

Why so shy? Well, Sindarius juuust signed his rookie contract on Thursday, and probably didn't want to rock the boat. He even tried to hide his Clippers tee from the cop.

To be clear -- cops had no issue with Sindarius, just his gf ... who apparently was riding around with all HIS stuff in the car.

"You're the Worst" driver star Brandon Mychal Smith allegedly came this close to running a red light ... and that was enough for cops to pull him over and bust him for DUI.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Brandon was driving his Rolls-Royce in Burbank last weekend when he overshot the crosswalk at a red light. We're told Brandon slipped it into reverse, but cops were watching from the other side of the intersection.

Cops pulled him over and suspected he was impaired. We're told Brandon blew a BAC at least twice the legal limit. He was promptly arrested for DUI. It's worth mentioning ... this was at 7:10 AM.

Brandon -- once a candidate to replace Nick Cannon on 'AGT' -- was jailed for several hours before cops released him.

Brandon's camp had no comment on the arrest.

"Game of Thrones" star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau claims he got duped into signing a deal that sucked money out of his pockets, but his former manager says he's forgetting some facts.

Nikolaj -- who plays Ser Jaime Lannister on 'GoT' -- filed docs Friday saying his former manager, Jill Littman, tricked him into signing a contract in 2011 ... and again in 2014.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Nikolaj says he had a verbal deal with Jill to pay her 10% commission. He says he never wanted a written deal, and only signed one when Jill told him it was required so her agency could sponsor his work visa. Nikolaj's Danish.

But Jill, who's repped by Howard King, insists there was trickery. She says Nikolaj signed the 2014 deal -- then in 2015, when he wanted out ... she says he promised he'd pay her commission for 'GoT' until it ends.

Amy Schumer's gladly hanging on to her past, and to a couple old co-workers from back in her days waiting tables at Michael Jordan's famous restaurant.

Amy went back to Jordan's The Steak House Thursday in NYC ... where she used to be a server back in '04. These days Amy's hauling in a little more than she did then -- $37.5 mil in 2017, according to Forbes.

But she was still down to reminisce with Milton and Edgar -- who she worked with back then. Amy also posed with Eddie, who's now a service manager.

We're told Amy called in advance to order and pay for her meal -- filet mignon with a side of creamed spinach. Eddie hooked up Amy in MJ's private dining room.

And yeah, Amy paid it forward ... leaving an $80 cash tip on her $67 lunch tab.

Martin Landau died at UCLA Medical Center when he suffered severe internal bleeding which led to his organs shutting down.

According to his death certificate, obtained by TMZ, the Hollywood icon's immediate cause of death is hypovolemic shock -- which is what happens to the body when you lose massive amounts of blood.

The document also lists metabolic acidosis, intra-abdominal hemorrhage and diffuse atherosclerotic vascular disease. Translation: his organs shut down due to internal bleeding, and he also had hardening of the arteries.

TMZ broke the story ... Landau died nearly 2 weeks ago at the age of 89.

3:00 PM PT -- A company spokesperson has just responded to the PRN lawsuit, telling TMZ, "These claims are entirely meritless and completely ridiculous. We will vigorously defend ourselves with regard to this matter."

There's a fortune teller in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" that looks and sounds WAY too much like the late TV psychic Miss Cleo ... at least according to Miss Cleo's estate which just sued the game makers.

Psychic Readers Network -- which holds the rights to Miss Cleo -- just filed suit against Rockstar Games and others who helped make and distribute the 'GTA' classic ... for allegedly jacking her image and Jamaican accent and slapping it on their character, Auntie Poulet.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ, PRN claims it's spent well over $100 million creating and promoting Miss Cleo's persona over the years, and that Rockstar and co. have gone on to make more than $500 mil exploiting it's character.

They also say Rockstar even hired the actress who used to play Miss Cleo in real life, Youree Harris, and had her voice the character of Auntie Poulet, which is true. We broke the story ... Harris died from cancer last July.

One funny thing about this ... 'Vice City' came out like 15 years ago -- but PRN says Rockstar continues to make money off the game due to reissues and bundle 'GTA' packages that are being sold to this day.

We've reached out to Rockstar for comment ... so far, no word back.