Twitter

This is bonkers ... President Trump is using a brick wall the Obamas built outside of their D.C. rental home as justification for his own southern border wall. Seriously.

Trump tweeted out the strange logic Sunday, saying ... "President and Mrs. Obama built/has a ten foot Wall around their D.C. mansion/compound."

He went on to say, "I agree, totally necessary for their safety and security. The U.S. needs the same thing, slightly larger version!"

We broke the story ... construction got underway last year at Barack and Michelle's D.C.-area home -- which they're renting until Sasha graduates -- and a brick wall was being built to fortify the property ... where secret service has been assigned to protect the former First Family.

BTW ... the Obamas are also building an in-ground pool at the pad, as well as a terrace of some sort ... this according to building permits we've obtained.

With all that in mind, it should go without saying ... Trump's rationale makes zero sense here. Also, keep in mind ... the federal government has been partially shut down over this.

Demi Lovato broke her silence on the overdose that nearly killed her ... making it clear it was a near-death experience.

Demi went on social media to say she's "grateful to be alive," and is now sober and getting the help she needs.

She goes off on the media for making up crap about her to sell stories, saying, "If I feel like the world needs to know something, I will tell them MYSELF."

She goes on to say, "Someday I'll tell the world what exactly happened, why it happened and what my life is like today but until I'm ready to share that with people, please stop prying."

TMZ broke the story ... Demi almost died earlier this year after OD'ing at her Hollywood Hills home. She was hospitalized for 10 days before going to rehab for extensive treatment.

A New York State Senator just joined the ranks of disgusting Twitter trolls by telling a woman to kill herself ... because she ID'd him as the alleged culprit of a parking violation.

Sen. Kevin Parker, who represents NY's 21st District, nastily fired back at Candice Giove Tuesday after she accused him of misusing a parking placard. BTW -- Candice is the Deputy Communications Director of the NYS Senate.

Candice said she did some digging when a Twitter user complained that an "arrogant scofflaw" from the NY Senate was blocking a bike lane with his car ... claiming it was placard abuse.

Giove fingered Parker as the illegal parking perp, to which he replied ... "Kill yourself!"

Candice was incredulous by the Senator's comment, but of course ... he deleted the tweet and apologized shortly afterward. Parker wrote ... "I sincerely apologize. I used a poor choice of words. Suicide is a serious thing and and should not be made light of."

However, he's continuing to go after Giove, reportedly calling her an internet troll and tweeting that she's "on the wrong side of history for every important issue facing New York State!"

Colin Kroll, the CEO and co-founder of HQ Trivia, has died of an apparent drug overdose ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Kroll's girlfriend called police early Sunday and asked them to check up on him after she was unable to get in touch. Cops went to downtown Manhattan to do a welfare check, entered his apartment and found Kroll's body in his bedroom with drug paraphernalia nearby.

A police source tells TMZ at this point cops believe the drugs involved were cocaine and heroin.

Kroll was named CEO of HQ Trivia in 2018. He had previously been fired from Twitter after he was determined to be a "bad manager." Female employees claimed his behavior made them uncomfortable, however, no sexual harassment claims were ever filed.

HQ Trivia was having problems recently. It was steadily losing audience. In January, HQ was in the top 10 list of most downloaded iPhone games. It's now fluctuating between #250 and 500 in the U.S. Also, Kroll was dealing with an H.R. complaint by an HQ employee for his "aggressive management style."

Kroll was also the co-founder of Vine and was General Manager between 2013 and 2014. And, he was the Chief Technology Officer for Jetsetter. Prior to that, Kroll served as the Engineering Manager at Yahoo between 2007 to 2009.

Kroll was 34.

RIP

10:00 AM PT -- Ariana's ex, Pete Davidson, has jumped into the conversation, saying ... "Bravo Kanye West for standing up for yourself and speaking out against mental health. I can't explain to you enough how difficult and scary it is to be honest about stuff like this."

He adds ... "We need people like Kanye. No one should ever point fingers at you for your bravery in speaking about mental health. I'm seriously disgusted."

Before Pete posted his message, Ariana tweeted ... "last thing. stop weaponizing mental health. everyone."

Damn.

9:15 AM PT -- Ariana's replied to Kanye on Twitter, saying ... "with all due respect, i don't need to use anyone to promote anything. period." She adds it was just a joke comparing men and women, but did apologize for being insensitive and sent her well wishes to him.

Some fans were quick to say Ariana needs to retract her apology since she didn't owe him one ... to which she replied, "potentially triggering him? nah regardless of how i feel about a situation, i can also care about their mental health."

Kanye West is jumping all over Ariana Grande for making fun of his war with Drake and adversely affecting his mental illness.

Ariana did indeed make fun of the Kanye and Drake feud Friday, minimizing what Kanye says was a physical threat by Drake to him and his family. Ariana joked about "grown men arguing online," grousing it was taking attention away from her new single.

Ye fired back that he knew Ariana "said this to be cool and didn't mean no harm," but he still felt it was shading him. Fair point.

He goes on to say, "All of this foolishness weighed on my mental health so @arianagrande ..." In another post, he says, "No one would ever choose to end up in a mental hospital and diagnosed with a mental disorder but god chose me to publicly go through this journey and it is beautiful."

If we dare to interpret ... Kanye seems to be saying Ariana -- for whom he says he has love -- knows full well he's bipolar yet she jumped into the fray for pure self-promotion and in the process upset him.

It's interesting ... Kanye never called out Miley Cyrus. Ariana not only tweeted the guy fight was a distraction for the release of her single, but it also did the same for Miley. And, Miley was quick to respond by also making light of Kanye's fight with Drake. Yet Ye was silent on Miley.

We got Kanye in New York City Friday and asked him about the nature of the threat Drake leveled against him and his fam, but he was mum. We tried finding out from various Kim and Kanye sources all day long exactly what Drake said, but everyone is locked up tight as a drum.

Drake isn't taking any chances in his escalating feud with Kanye West -- he's adding extra security outside his SoCal mansion because they live in the same hood!!!

Our sources in Hidden Hills -- where the Wests and Drizzy all lay their heads -- say Drake's crib has at least 2 new guards standing watch outside the gate to his driveway. We're told it's no coincidence the security was added the day after his war with Ye erupted with tweets and an alleged threatening phone call.

If you didn't know, their homes are verrry close to each other -- we're talking just a half-mile. Not much of a buffer zone. In addition to the added muscle, we're told there's an SUV stationed just inside Drake's front gate.

It's interesting ... Kanye claims Drake is the one who started making threats, but Drizzy's the one beefing up his home security.

Tyrese is weighing in on Kanye West and Drake's beef and wants to know -- how you gonna act like that? And on social media, no less!!!

We got the singer leaving Avra Friday in Bev Hills and he says there's no reason for Kanye and Drake to be feuding on Twitter when "they live literally 2 blocks from each other." If anyone knows about beefing with someone on social media and how bad of a look that is, it's Tyrese.

Remember ... Tyrese went after The Rock for being selfish. When the dust settled ... Tyrese was the first one to publicly say beefing was straight-up unprofessional.

Sarah Silverman understands times have changed ... and that's why she's no longer the same person or comedian who used to bank on homophobic jokes.

We got Sarah outside of Craig's Thursday night and wanted her take on Nick Cannon dragging her name in the Kevin Hart controversy. ICYMI ... Nick was furious about the backlash Kevin got after old homophobic tweets resulted in him stepping down from his dream gig as host of the Oscars.

So, Nick dug up some old tweets by Sarah, Chelsea Handler and Amy Schumer in which they used similar language. Point blank ... Nick thinks there's a serious double standard in Hollywood.

Sarah's planning to address Nick's comments on her own platform, but she did say she sees things differently than she did back in the day.

It's the game everyone in Hollywood is playing ... "Who's the next Oscars host??" ... but after Kevin Hart's sudden departure, it's getting harder and harder to play.

We got "Rich Kids of Beverly Hills" star Dorothy Wang leaving Delilah Saturday night, and asked who was her pick to step into Hart's shoes. She actually had one in mind but was sorely disappointed seconds after dropping the name.

As we reported, Nick Cannon put several other comedians on blast -- including Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler -- for having tweeted a homophobic slur years ago. It's pretty clear that that news did NOT get to Dorothy.

Nick's point was, there should be equal outrage over them using the word "f*****" as there was for Kevin.

So, who's left? We asked "Modern Family" star, Ariel Winter as she left Madeo. One of her friends went the really oldie, but really goodie route. Meanwhile, Ariel had bigger concerns. Watch the video ... she narrowly avoided a serious wreck.

Jake Paul is firing back at Deji's claim he's "too p***y" for a rematch ... telling TMZ Sports he's got MUCH bigger opponents in mind ... and one of them is Conor McGregor's right-hand man!!!

We spoke with the social media superstar -- who Forbes just named the 2nd-highest paid YouTuber of 2018 -- about Deji calling for a rematch of their boxing super fight from August.

Jake slams the door on another fight with Deji ... saying he wants a REAL challenge -- either Bellator star Dillon Danis or his internet rival FaZe Banks!!!

Now we know Jake has been calling out Conor for a while ... so maybe he's getting slightly more realistic going after Danis.

As for Banks -- if you follow YouTube beef (yes, it exists), you know there's a big history between the 2 ... from Jake accusing Banks of assaulting his assistant (which he later apologized for) to Banks now dating Jake's ex, Alissa Violet.

Jake says he's seen all the trash Banks has been saying on Twitter ... and tells us he's down to settle everything in the ring.

Nick Cannon thinks there's a double standard in Hollywood following Kevin Hart losing his Oscars gig ... and he's putting 3 white, female comedians on blast to make his point.

The "Wild 'N Out" host isn't happy about the backlash Hart got this week over old homophobic tweets that resulted in him stepping down as host of the Academy Awards, so on Friday he dug up some old tweets by Chelsea Handler, Amy Schumer and Sarah Silverman that use similar language.

Cannon started by sharing a 2010 tweet from Handler in which she uses the homophobic f-word slur, commenting ... "Interesting, I wonder if there was any backlash here..."

Nick then posted a 2010 tweet by Silverman in which she called the new 'Bachelorette' a gay slur, and a homophobic 2012 tweet from Schumer, adding ... "I'm just saying... should we keep going???"

When another Twitter user told Cannon he should be auditing his own tweets, he responded ... "Nope!! You know I’ve been saying f**ked up s**t since twitter started! I don’t play that politically correct bulls**t! F**k politics!! Only Truth!"

Truth be told, in a 2012 tweet of his own, Nick wrote ... "If your best joke includes "gay" or "f****t" you should be kicked off Twitter this ain't the 3rd grade! #notaninsult #lackofcreativity"

So, perhaps he's justified on casting these stones.

Cannon's been a vocal supporter of Hart during this week's Oscars controversy, and it's obvious he thinks the comedian got a raw deal. As we reported, though, a lot of the backlash Kevin got was the result of him refusing to apologize initially ... but he did AFTER he stepped down as host.

Before Kevin Hart apologized Thursday night for his old homophobic tweets, he insisted he'd already addressed the issue many times ... but this outtake from a 2014 interview seems to be missing something.

Kevin might have been referring to this interview with journalist Ed Gordon. It's true ... he did explain why he doesn't make fun of gay people anymore. But, during the sitdown -- which aired once, and doesn't exist on the Internet -- Kevin never says "sorry" or "I apologize."

TMZ obtained this clip from "Conversations With Ed Gordon" where Gordon grills Kevin over backlash he'd recently gotten over a joke. He asked the comedian why he feels it's fine to make fun of black women but not homosexuality.

Kevin's answer shows he's aware of the harm words can inflict on gay people, but stops short of a mea culpa for doing it in the past. Instead, he says, "I don't want that problem. I don't want any enemies."

Translation: I don't want the heat.

As we reported ... Hart stepped down as host of the Oscars after several homophobic tweets and comments he made years ago resurfaced, and he initially refused to apologize.

9:13 PM PT -- Kevin just announced he will no longer host the show, saying, "I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past."

He continues, "I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again."

Kevin Hart is firing back at critics who think he's unfit to host the Oscars due to old tweets that were extremely homophobic ... and by firing back, we mean he's laying in bed and refusing to apologize.

Kevin says in an Instagram video, the hateful response to his old tweets illustrates just how PC-crazy our world has become ... and he says he's not going to let the haters bring him down.

As Kevin put it -- in a video he shot with his head still on a pillow -- he's approaching 40 and it's stupid for people to think his views haven't evolved. Basically, he's claiming he's more mature than he was when he was gay-bashing on Twitter -- including using the f-word several times.

The Academy announced this week that Kevin would host next year's Oscars, and the backlash began almost immediately.

7:29 PM PT -- Kanye clearly got the message, replying on Twitter, "The dynamics of Cher and Sonny’s relationship made Kim and I grab each other’s hand and sing 'I got you babe' please pardon my lack of etiquette. We have so much appreciation for the energy you guys put into making this master piece."

A source close to Kanye tells us ... Kanye loved the production and was taking notes on his phone. He thought the show was so beautiful that, even though he and Kim were scheduled to leave during intermission, they pushed their flight back so they could catch the end of the show.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian had a date night Monday in NYC to see the new show about Cher's life on Broadway ... but it ain't going so well, according to one cast member.

"The Cher Show" is currently in the middle of its opening night ... and tons of celebs including Kim, Kanye and Cher herself are in attendance. However, cast member Jarrod Spector -- who plays Sonny in the show -- wasn't too pleased with Kanye's audience etiquette.

Spector just tweeted, "Hey @kanyewest so cool that you're here! If you look up from your cell phone you'll see we're doing a show up here. It's opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much."

Kim and Kanye clearly have prime seats in the theater for Spector to be able to call him out like that ... unclear if Ye's got the message yet ... but his mentions are definitely blowing up.

An OG castmember of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is firing back at critics who call the holiday classic "problematic" for the modern world.

Corinne Conley, who voiced the dolly for Sue in the 1964 TV special, tells TMZ she can't believe the outcry of criticism after more than 50 years of it being a beloved tradition for kids and their parents.

Critics came for 'Rudolph' this year, calling it out for sexism and bullying -- like the scene where Rudolph is forced to cover his red nose just to avoid all of the other reindeer laughing and calling him names.

Corinne, however, insists that any bullying or negative plot points are happily resolved by the end of the show. In fact, she contends if someone was a bully before watching, they'd learn a valuable lesson by the time the credits roll.

Bottom line for Corinne ... Rudolph should go down in history, and not just for pulling Santa's sleigh.

Your eyes are NOT deceiving you ... an artist has magnificently brought this Mac Miller photo to life with the stroke of a pen.

The artist is 20-year-old Danielle Franks -- aka Moe -- and she hails from Cornwall, England. Moe tells TMZ ... the drawing took her just over a month to complete using Cintiq 13HD on her iPad. It's basically pressure-sensitive stylus pen.

The drawing is based on a photo snapped by Todd Cole for the August issue of The Fader. Moe tells us one of her followers on Twitter asked her to draw that photo. She did ... and it's become a viral sensation.

Since she tweeted the drawing on Tuesday, it's gotten nearly HALF A MILLION likes and more than 100k retweets. And, get this ... Moe tells us she came THIS close to shuttering her website because she struggled to sell her art. But business has been booming since she tweeted the Mac drawing. So good, in fact, all proceeds from the drawing will go to the late rapper's foundation, The Mac Miller Circles Fund.

You can get your hands on a drawing -- printed on silk paper -- for around $40. Business has been so good ... celebs are now lining up to work with her, including Willow Smith.