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Bette Midler gifted Kim Kardashian with a tree years ago before turning Kim's Instagram nude into a punchline ... TMZ has learned.

By now you know Kim took extreme exception to Bette's cyber-jab -- saying, "hey @BetteMidler I really didn't want to bring up how you sent me a gift awhile back trying to be a fake friend then come at me."

Now, we know ... that "gift" was a tree that Bette planted in Kim's honor as part of Bette's New York Restoration Project.

Bette dedicated one of the trees to Kim when she launched her MillionTreesNYC initiative in 2007 -- and even sent Kim a handwritten note.

We're told Kim believed the gesture was a friendship branch ... until Bette mocked her on Twitter.

As for Bette, she just fired back at Kim saying, "I never tried to fake friend you. Looks like anyone can take a selfie but not everyone can take a joke."

Kim Kardashian went on the counterattack Monday night after she was called on the carpet for posting a bangin' nude pic that turned out to be a year old.

Kim went in for the kill with Bette Midler, who tweeted earlier, "If Kim wants us to see a part of her we've never seen, she's gonna have to swallow the camera."

Kim's response ... "I really didn't want to bring up how you sent me a gift awhile back trying to be a fake friend then come at me #dejavu."

It didn't stop there. Chloe Moretz tweeted, "I truly hope you realize how important setting goals are for young women, teaching them we have so much more to offer than just our bodies."

Kim's response ... "Let's all welcome @ChloeGMoretz to Twitter, since no one knows who she is. your nylon cover is cute boo."

And then there's Piers Morgan, who tweeted, "I know the old man's $50 million in debt, Kim -- but this is absurd. Want me to buy you some clothes?"

Kim had some choice words for him, first, "Hey @piersmorgan never offer to buy a married woman clothes. thats on some ashley madison type s--." And get a load of her not-so-humble brag, "sorry I'm late to the party guys. I was busy cashing my 80 million video game check and transferring 53 million into our joint account."

So no doubt ... the winners, Bette, Chloe and Piers. They got all up on Kim's twitter.

Kim posted this pic Monday night, and we're taking a wild guess but we think this one's also old.

The estate of legendary jazz and soul singer Nina Simone has no love for Zoe Saldana -- who's playing Nina in a biopic -- and sparked outrage over Zoe's skin color after the movie trailer debuted.

Nina's estate finally gave its two cents on Saldana getting the role, and it was not good. It's clear in the trailer that producers darkened Zoe's skin for the movie, "Nina" ... and that's pissing off fans, and clearly the estate too.

After Saldana simply tweeted a quote from Nina ... the estate fired back -- "please take Nina's name out of your mouth. For the rest of your life."

Simone fans have had equally harsh reactions to Saldana's casting. They're pissed about her prosthetic nose, and the darkened skin thing is really pissing people off because Nina stood for up for black empowerment and civil rights.

Critics think Viola Davis or Uzo Aduba would have been better picks. Saldana hasn't responded. The movie comes out next month.

This is actually pretty funny ...

Nate Diaz was doing a Twitter Q&A with fans to promote UFC 196 -- when he was asked to name his 5 favorite rappers of all time.

He could only get to 4 ...

So, naturally ... the next fan asked if he was high on drugs.

Kanye West is not jacking music and software off the Internet -- and the tweet he posted that suggests otherwise was all a setup to mess with haters.

Yeezy came under fire Tuesday when he posted a pic of a desktop monitor with a song by Sufjan Stevens ... only problem was, the other browser tabs were filled with sites used for illegal downloading.

Our Kanye sources say the whole thing was trolling -- 'Ye was in the studio Tuesday and thought it'd be funny to send out the pic. He's well aware 'TLOP' has been pirated more than 500k times, and while he'd never steal music ... he knew the Internet would have a field day.

More evidence of the trolling -- the monitor's a Samsung and it's well known Kanye's got a Mac laptop. Why would he illegally download programs on a computer that's not his?

He got what he wanted though ... the tweet pissed off not just random haters, but famous ones. Fellow Tidal artist Deadmau5 jumped all over Kanye for promoting piracy. West is laughing it off by cracking jokes about the DJ's mouse helmet.

Frank Stallone walked it back a mile Tuesday, when he explained his Twitter rant about brother Sly losing the Oscar was based on famiglia.

Frank was in Bev Hills when we asked about his tweets on the heels of Sly losing the Best Supporting Actor Oscar to Mark Rylance.

Come to think of it ... Frank does apologize, but just as quickly he throws shade at the Academy voters.

One half of Mobb Deep and Universal Music have squashed their legal beef, but if Prodigy wants to get paid ... he's gonna have to jump on Twitter.

According to docs, the rapper and Universal's publishing arm reached a settlement -- he had sued for back royalties, accusing the label of skimming revenue from his solo work.

Under the settlement, Universal Music Publishing Group will fork over $153,751.21 to Prodigy's lawyers ... with one string attached. Prodigy must publicly declare the feud is over, with this specific tweet: "My dispute with UMPG was all a misunderstanding. Thankful that we resolved it quickly and happy to be continuing my long-standing relationship with UMPG."

That's over 140 characters, so it'll be a two-parter -- but when you see it, know that Prodigy got paid.

Kesha's singing for her supporters ... posting a new song to thank them for having her back during her legal war with Dr. Luke and Sony.

The song is pretty simple -- accompanied by just an acoustic guitar she sings, "Oh, I don't know what I would do without you ..."

Her attorney, Mark Geragos, posted the tune on Twitter.

Keshas' fans have protested outside court and Sony offices -- and of course Adele, Demi Lovato and Taylor Swift have very publicly shown support.

Sen. Marco Rubio just got crushed under a wall of irony when he tried to deliver a Trump-esque shot at Donald Trump.

During a rally in Dallas, he started reading a Trump tweet calling Rubio a "choker." Watch, the Senator's trying to diss Trump for misspelling the word ... but accidentally spells it perfectly. It plays like Rubio doesn't know how to spell.

(Note: Trump really did misspell it, but corrected the tweet by the time Rubio read it).

There's more, but it all plays like a failed attempt to beat Trump at his own game. In other words ... the role of Meek Mill will now be played by Sen. Rubio.

Drake ... y'know what that means. Sorry.

Dr. Luke is blasting Kesha, her lawyer and maybe even Taylor Swift ... unleashing for the first time about Kesha's rape allegations.

Luke says, "I didn't rape Kesha and I have never had sex with her. Kesha and I were friends for many years and she was like my little sister." He also seems to be addressing celebs like Taylor publicly coming to Kesha's defense -- "I understand why people without all the information are speaking out. I can appreciate their compassion."

In a Twitter rant that went on for more than 30 minutes ... Luke also got personal with Kesha's attorney, saying ... "Mark Geragos represented Scott Peterson and Chris Brown. How can he pretend he cares about women's rights?"

Luke is reposting several web articles about the case ... including a TMZ post regarding Kesha's testimony in which she said Luke never drugged her and they never had an "intimate relationship."

Kesha's a liar and an extortionist who got exposed by a judge who figured out what's up ... this according to Dr. Luke's lawyers.

As we reported, a NYC judge shut Kesha down Friday in her attempt to get out of her Sony contract, after leveling a panoply of charges against the famed record producer, including rape.

Luke's lawyers have some interesting words for Kesha. On one hand, they want her to know she's always been "free" ... free to record with Luke or any other Sony producer. The lawyers also say they've invested $11 mil in her career and are "committed to continuing to promote her work."

On the other hand, the lawyers blast Kesha for engaging in "trial by Twitter," engaging in an unsupported, "vicious smear campaign to ruin Luke's reputation."

The lawyers go on, claiming Kesha's "outright lies" were designed "to extort a contract renegotiation and money."

Donald Trump just got called out for claiming to be friends with Michael Jackson -- by MJ's brother, Jermaine.

Jermaine ripped Trump, saying ... "name-dropping Michael don't make you cool and won't win you votes. Especially when using botched facts."

It's a known fact Michael and Donald were friends, but Jermaine is taking issue with Trump claiming MJ lost his confidence because of "bad, bad, bad surgery."

Kanye West just scored a new job offer ... from the Philadelphia Police Department.

Philly's boys in blue are apparently concerned about Kanye's cash flow problems -- the whole $53 million thing -- and just shouted him out on Twitter: "We R hiring, @kanyewest! Starting salary of $47,920; u could be debt-free by the year 3122!"

This might be an offer he can refuse, but think about it -- add some Yeezys to that uniform!

#DopestCopsEver

Deion Sanders says he's seriously concerned about Kanye West -- saying the rapper's bizarre Twitter rants and $53 million debt claim have him worried ... and Prime Time wants to help.

Sanders called in to the "TMZ Sports" show (airs Monday night on FS1) and explained why he thinks Kanye's social media behavior may be a sign that something is seriously wrong.

Sanders says he loves Kanye and thinks he's brilliant -- but doesn't want to see him follow the same path as his old friend MC Hammer ... who famously went broke after making a fortune in music.

Kanye West and Taylor Swift are now at war over one of his new songs, in which he raps, "I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex, I made that bitch famous."

Taylor came out swinging Thursday night, disputing our story that sources told us Kanye called her about the song and she thought the lyrics were funny and had no problem with him releasing the track.

Tayor's rep says, "Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single 'Famous' on her Twitter account. She declined and cautioned him about releasing a song with such a strong misogynistic message. Taylor was never made aware of the actual lyric, 'I made that bitch famous.'"

But Kanye has just fired back, tweeting, "I called Taylor and had an hour long convo with her about the line and she thought it was funny and gave her blessings."

Kanye goes on, "Bitch is an endearing term in hip hop like the word n****." And, Kanye says, it was Taylor who actually inspired him with the lyric. He says, "She was having dinner with one of our friends who's name I will keep out of this and she told him, I can't be mad at Kanye because he made me famous!"

In a show of support, Taylor's younger brother, Austin, threw his Yeezys in the trash.

"NCIS" star Pauley Perrette claims she was attacked by another homeless guy ... this time in her car and narrowly escaped after getting all evangelical on the dude.

Perrette says she was stopped on a busy street in Hollywood when she gave a buck to a "pretty off homeless guy" asking for change.

Perrette says the guy then grabbed her wrist and stuck his head into her car demanding to know the time. She says her immediate reaction was to yell "I rebuke you satan in the name of Jesus Christ!" And then she told him the time ... 5:37 PM.

Seems to have done the trick ... because the dude let go.

It gets weirder ... Perrette says she had a taser and tactical knife with her in the car too, but chose to go the good Samaritan route instead.