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George Lopez attacked a man in a Hooters restaurant who simply wanted a pic of the comedian and only used a Trump reference to get George to smile ... so says the man.

We spoke with the guy who Lopez grabbed by the neck in a shocking video taken at the wing joint in New Mexico. Sources close to George initially told us Lopez went off after the man had allegedly followed and egged him on all night with Trump references.

The guy in the video tells a different story, saying he only approached George at his table once that day to ask for a pic. He says George grabbed his phone and started filming his own crotch ... but never hit record.

We're told George eventually gave the phone back and, wanting to make him smile and ease an awkward situation, the guy said, "On the count of 3 say Make America Great Again!" Lopez clearly didn't find the comment funny ... because he was on his way out of the restaurant when our video starts.

As for why he chose a Trump reference, the guy says he was aware of Lopez's disgust for 45 and just wanted to crack a joke. For what it's worth, the guy in the video tells us he's a Democrat on paper.

You don't have to put on your detective hat and investigate too deeply to live like Mariska Hargitay ... you just need several million bucks to buy her incredible Manhattan townhouse!

The 'Law & Order: SVU' star and her actor husband, Peter Hermann, are listing their lavish home in the Upper West Side for $10.75 million, and it's got everything you'd expect from one of TV's highest-paid women.

This home is so unbelievable, you need an elevator to get around -- we're talking 6 floors, 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms and 7,000 square feet of modern luxury at its finest. The brownstone sits on a tree-lined street, with skyline views from the rooftop penthouse.

Click through the gallery and get ready, 'cause the place is amazing -- Mariska and Peter outdid themselves.

Master suite occupying the entire 3rd floor? Check. Powder rooms? How 'bout 3?! Gas fireplace for those chilly nights? Of course. Marble bath with separate tub and steam shower? How relaxing!

Spoiler alert ... Roseanne Barr's character on "The Conners" was killed off by an opioid overdose.

The series premiere of the 'Roseanne' spin-off jumped right into Barr's death ... with writers wrapping up her storyline a mere 5 minutes into the show.

Turns out ... Roseanne had it right last month when she revealed her opioid OD in a gigantic spoiler.

Getting killed off the show was a foregone conclusion. You'll remember ... Barr got the ax from the "Roseanne" reboot only hours after she posted a tweet comparing former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to the "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes."

Roseanne is gone from the spin-off, but she's still keeping busy ... appearing on podcasts and hosting her own talk show.

10/17 -- Roseanne responded to her TV death on Twitter Tuesday night after the show, "I AIN'T DEAD, BITCHES!!!!"

Originally published -- 10/16 5:19 PM PT

Dennis Hof -- the owner of the famous Bunny Ranch, and Love Ranch where Lamar Odom overdosed -- has passed away at the age of 72.

Law enforcement sources tell us they got a 911 call from Hof's Love Ranch in Crystal, Nevada around 11 AM. We're told the call was for an unresponsive male. Detectives are currently on scene ... no foul play is suspected.

Hof had recently celebrated his birthday with a weekend-long bash that included celebs like Ron Jeremy, Flavor Flav, Afroman and Johnny Buss. According to Hof's campaign manager, Jeremy was the one who discovered his body.

Hof shot to superstardom as the star of the HBO series 'Cathouse' -- which followed him as he ran his famous brothels in Nevada.

Hof bragged about being a pimp -- and came up with his own catchphrase, "There's no business like ho business."

The most infamous incident under Hof's watch went down in October 2015 when Lamar Odom overdosed after a bender at Hof's Love Ranch South. Blood tests later revealed Lamar had cocaine in his system. Odom was placed in a coma for 3 days after the incident.

In a recent interview, Lamar revealed he suffered 12 strokes and 6 heart attacks while hospitalized for the incident.

Hof was a master when it came to publicity -- he famously hired Tiger Woods' mistress Devon James to work at the Bunny Ranch back in 2010. He fired her and at the time said, "I wish nothing but the worst for her."

Hof was currently in the middle of a campaign for State Assembly ... winning the GOP primary in June.

Ariana Grande and Pete Davidson have called it quits, and that usually means dividing up the pots and pans, or in their case a super expensive engagement ring and a pet pig.

Sources close to Ariana tell us she's already returned the nearly $100k engagement ring Davidson gave her back in June. The ring -- a 3.03 carat diamond set in platinum -- was a one of a kind, made specifically for Grande, and took weeks to complete. We're told there was no struggle over who'd keep the ring. He bought it in contemplation of marriage, and she was quick to fork it over.

Piggy Smallz -- the couple's teacup pig they adopted last month -- became a signature of their relationship ... in fact, Davidson got a tattoo of Smallz on his torso shortly after she became part of their family.

Here's the thing. Ariana bought the pig and it was really hers from the get-go, so she's keeping it ... again, no fight over the porker.

We all know Jerry Seinfeld takes his love for cars quite seriously -- and, apparently, he feels the same way about luxury scooters too. Can ya tell?

The comic was in NYC Tuesday getting ready to take a ride on a spiffy looking Lambretta -- the Italian-scooter that rivals Vespa, kinda like Ford vs. GM. Jerry must've been on one hell of a mission, 'cause he looked super serious -- the scarf and helmet look is working for him.

Normally, Jerry likes to go 4 wheels ... especially for his hit show, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee." As far as we can tell, he hasn't taken a fellow comedian out for a scooter ride. It'd spark a great convo though.

Jerry famously owns more than 100 vintage and exotic cars -- mostly Porsches. Nothing wrong with diversifying your portfolio.

This tearjerker comes courtesy of "Empire" star Jussie Smollett, who just made life a little easier for a double amputee -- and if crying's your thing ... grab some tissues.

Jussie -- who plays Cookie and Lucious Lyon's son, Jamal, on "Empire" -- met up with 6-year-old Kayden Kinckle to deliver a handicapped-accessible van ... but first, he met Kayden's fam at a hotel, setting up the big surprise.

The reveal did not disappoint -- the look on Kayden's face when he sees the van is kinda everything. Kayden got a quick lesson on how to work his new ramp, prompting Jussie to say, "It's gonna be just like a chariot for the Pharaoh."

The timing of the gift couldn't come at a better time ... we're told Kayden's about to get new legs and the van will help him and his family get around.

Jack Osbourne says a real-life "Game of Thrones" scenario might be what we need to get more excited about Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's royal baby -- and guess who their kid would be?

We got the famous father of 3 and British royal subject Monday in Studio City on the heels of Meghan and Harry's pregnancy announcement. He seemed a little underwhelmed by the news -- even with CGI predictions on the kid's looks -- but when our photog suggested a potential 'GoT' situation, Jack ran with it.

Truth is, Jack and our guy totally geeked out over the royal cousins all plotting against each other to take the throne -- and suggested Harry and Meg's baby could be the Jon Snow!! They've got a whole explanation for the comparison ... although Jack pointed out one MAJOR flaw in their theory.

"Family Matters" star Darius McCrary says it's absurd to think he dislocated his 2-year-old daughter's arm -- as his estranged wife claims -- and suggests his daughter was coached into faking the injury.

We spoke to Darius after his estranged wife, Tammy Brawner, filed docs claiming he dislocated little Zoey's arm in March 2018 while attempting to take her to the bathroom. Zoey was reportedly diagnosed with Nursemaid’s Elbow ... a common childhood injury where the child's elbow partially dislocates.

Wanna know what Ellen DeGeneres did when she learned the rescued Thai soccer players were HUGE fans of Zlatan Ibrahimovic???

SHE BROUGHT HIM OUT ON STAGE TO MEET THEM!!!

The famous soccer team -- aka The Wild Boars -- has been in LA for the past week ... taking on all the sights and sounds of Hollywood ... and stopped by 'Ellen' for a sit-down interview (airs Monday).

That's when Ellen decided to give them a surprise ... their favorite soccer player in the flesh -- and dude couldn't have been nicer.

"I thought I was brave, but these kids, this team is more braver than me," Zlatan said.

The praise from the soccer legend didn't stop there ... "They show their collective teamwork and had patience, faith and believe in other hands also, so this is probably the best team in the world."

Zlatan also brought out gifts for the boys ... t-shirts, balls, jerseys AND L.A. Galaxy tickets ... and said, "We can make exchange, you get my shirt I get your shirt."

Donald Trump revealed on "60 Minutes" ... he had to mock Dr. Christine Blasey Ford at a Mississippi rally in order to get the necessary votes to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court.

It was a stunning revelation ... Lesley Stahl grilled Trump like a cheeseburger over the now infamous campaign rally ... where Trump suggested Dr. Ford was a liar, to the delight of thousands who cackled their approval.

Stahl reminded the Prez Ford had told Senators the worst part of her high school encounter was the laughter by her assailants, and what she heard from the Mississippi crowd was laughter. Watch Trump's reaction to Stahl as he shrugs off the criticism.

Trump confessed, "Had we not made that speech we would not have won." As you know, the margin of victory was razor thin.

Nick Cannon's getting a warm welcome at FOX for his new late night TV show, and so is his turban ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Nick will rock his signature headgear without concern or pushback from the network. That wasn't the case in the latter part of his nearly 10-year run as host of "America's Got Talent" on NBC.

Sources said the Peacock Network wasn't jibing with his look on 'AGT,' and unleashed its wrath on him over a "black card" joke he made during a Showtime comedy special.

That dispute led to Nick quitting 'AGT', and leaving millions on the table.

As for his new FOX gig, we're told it has to be a weekly show, because Nick is currently finishing up his master's degree at Howard University. When he's done, it'll free him up to do a nightly show. We're told the show's set to debut in early 2019.

Orlando Brown is finally getting the help he needs ... thanks to friends who never gave up on him and staged an intervention to get him into a rehab facility.

We're told, Orlando's friend Danny Boy -- the owner of a Vegas restaurant that the "That's So Raven" star broke into last month -- contacted Wendy Wheaton and Tommy Red, Hollywood producers with contacts in the rehab world.

The plan was to get Orlando some help back in August, but he threw a wrench in that plan when he got arrested in early September after breaking into Danny's joint. Orlando got out but went MIA for a few weeks.

Fast forward to last Sunday ... when Orlando made his way to a San Fernando Valley hotel where cops were called after he went off the rails. He was so bad off, his friends had to wait a few days for the intervention.

After the intervention -- put together by Tommy, Wendy and their group, yoursecretangels.org -- Orlando decided to enter a treatment facility for mental health and substance abuse issues.

Orlando's no doubt had his troubles. They've been well documented here, here, here, here, here and here. There's also the infamous bounty hunters bust back in April ... when he was arrested in his undies. #GetWellOrlando

Steve Levitan's bitter divorce has come to an end, and his ex-wife is walking away with a huge amount of money ... but so is he.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Krista Levitan will get at least $4 MILLION a year in income from various projects -- including "Modern Family" -- but as long as that cash keeps flowing in ... he won't have to pay any spousal support.

But, that's not all -- Krista and Steve are also splitting several bank accounts worth tens of millions of dollars ... along with going 50/50 on various properties and cars.

Specifically, the docs say the 2 are to split the profits from the sale of their Santa Monica home ... which is worth about $40 million.

We broke the story ... Krista filed for divorce from Steve in 2016 after 23 years of marriage, and it appeared there was no prenup.

Things later took a nasty turn when Krista made claims of assault against Steve and tried to get a restraining order. A judge shot it down, but the divorce battle raged on.

Lindsey Graham is going high in response to Chelsea Handler going low ... after she claimed to out him on Twitter.

We got the Senator from South Carolina Friday at Reagan National Airport, and asked him about Handler's #NationalComingOutDay tweet. Instead of blasting her -- as many others have -- Graham insisted Chelsea had every right to say whatever she wants. As he put it ... it's a free country.

Graham did tell us, "To the extent that it matters, I'm not gay" -- but it was definitely a measured response.

Some of the backlash against Chelsea -- who's no fan of Prez Trump or Sen. Graham's support of Brett Kavanaugh -- has been that she's stooped to using homophobia to attack him.

Graham gave us his own take on belittling people for the sake of comedy.

BTW ... it's not the first time Chelsea's directed a homophobic tweet at Graham. She did it back in January asking, "@LindseyGrahamSC what kind of d*** sucking video do they have on you for you 2 be acting like this? Wouldn't coming out be more honorable?"

Nolan Gould is looking over his shoulder on the set of "Modern Family" ... because he's got a sneaking suspicion his character, Luke, could be going six feet under!

We got Nolan at Matsuhisa in Bev Hills ... and he spills the beans on the significant character producers are killing off. Get ready for a plot twist, and keep in mind -- they've already shot the scene.