You Might Want to Rethink

Diane Warren is offering up her catalog of insanely popular, award-winning music to any candidate running for Prez -- with one BIG exception ... yep, it's you-know-who.

We got the legendary songwriter Tuesday in L.A. and asked if she'd be open to letting some Dems blare her tunes on the campaign trail -- seeing how she's a staunch supporter of the party and all. Turns out, she's declaring open season on her work ... come one, come all!!!

That's right ... Diane tells us that ANY presidential candidate who runs as a donkey is free to use the songs she wrote, if they want a little hype at their public events. She's even got suggestions.

On the Republican side ... not so much. President Trump absolutely CANNOT touch her tracks ... paws off, DT.

Of course, Trump has been asked by several marquee musicians to STOP playing their tracks at his events -- everyone from Pharrell and The Rolling Stones to Prince's estate and pretty much everyone else in between has demanded that their sounds be muzzled at Trump events.

Unfortunately for them, Trump has the legal right to crank any song he wants, so long as it's in a public space and in the U.S. of A. Mick Jagger explained what a bummer it was.

Unclear if Diane's aware of this loophole -- or if Trump is even into her music at all -- but it's the thought that counts, right? Hell yeah ... nothing's gonna stop us now!!!

Dave Chappelle has worked Michael Jackson back into his stand-up -- and he's flat-out rejecting claims made by the accusers.

DC's new comedy special, 'Sticks & Stones,' just dropped on Netflix, and Dave had a few things to say about our society -- namely, celebrity cancel culture ... which he kicked off by defending MJ, saying he doesn't believe Wade Robson and James Safechuck ... the 2 accusers featured in the HBO doc.

Dave flat-out says, "I don't believe these motherf***ers" after describing part of their allegations in "Leaving Neverland" in graphic detail, calling the scenario "gross."

Chappelle doesn't get into exactly why he doesn't believe them, but he does jokingly note that he's a classic "victim-blamer" ... saying that if he'd heard Michael molested the kids, he'd wonder ... "Well, what were those kids wearing at the time?"

Dave goes on to joke ... IF Michael did in fact sexually abuse Wade and James, they should've felt honored and used it as bragging rights.

He also cracks ... "I know it seems harsh, but somebody's gotta teach these kids -- no such thing as a free trip to Hawaii. He's going to want to look at your butthole or something." Dave used a similar premise to joke about MJ in 2004, almost beat for beat.

Dave touched on A LOT of other topics pertaining to cancel culture (there's no shortage of content these days) ... taking time to defend Kevin Hart's LGBTQ moment ahead of the Oscars this year, going to bat for Louis C.K. again ... and addressing R. Kelly.

You might recall ... the producer for the Lifetime docuseries "Surviving R. Kelly" told the media that Dave had refused to participate in her project. He sets the record straight though.

He says Dream Hampton casually asked him about appearing on 'Surviving' once, and never brought it up again ... which he completely forgot about until he saw her parading his name around in the press, suggesting he was hiding from the controversy.

Dave says it straight-up -- the only reason he didn't come on to talk about the troubled singer is because, "I don't know this n**** at all." Got it, thanks Dave.

John Travolta mistook a famous drag queen for Taylor Swift at the VMAs -- and if you wanna know how he got so confused ... go straight to the queen herself!

We got Jade Jolie -- a former contestant on "RuPaul's Drag Race" -- Monday night after the award show and asked her about the awkward moment onstage right after TS won Video of the Year. John, very awkwardly, tried handing the Moon Man to Jade.

Ooops!! Taylor ... the real one ... wasn't even onstage yet.

As you can see (and as Jade acknowledges) ... she's a dead ringer for Taylor, whom she calls her "goddess" and "queen." But, while talking to us, Jade got all wrapped up in her own Swiftie fandom ... and even started talking 'Game of Thrones.'

You can tell by her mood here that Jade wasn't that offended by the case of mistaken identity -- she's clearly overjoyed to have shared in the glory of a VMAs win. The look-alike -- and a bunch of other notable gay and trans people -- appeared in Taylor's video for "You Need to Calm Down."

Lara Spencer better not show her face at any ballet any time soon ... so says Abby Lee Miller, who thinks the GMA anchor's rip on Prince George's dance lessons should make her persona non grata.

The "Dance Moms" star tells TMZ ... Spencer's on-air ridicule last week of the 6-year-old Prince for liking ballet ... is straight-up sexist. As a result, Abby says Spencer might wanna steer clear of "The Nutcracker" this holiday season.

Abby is joining the chorus of boos that have been raining down on Lara ever since she poked fun at Prince William and Kate Middleton's eldest. However, Abby says Spencer can make amends IF she cuts a fat check to help boys and underprivileged children get dance lessons.

The way Abby sees it, Lara's mockery is a slap in the face to Prince George and kids around the globe who love to dance. She adds ... it's comments like this that bully young boys and make it hard for them to enter a dance studio in the first place.

As you know, Spencer's on-air apology didn't sit well with many fans, and clearly, you can count Abby in that group.

Post Malone was practically speechless after witnessing a scary version of Russian Roulette, involving a fish hook, 4 strings and a trick that grabbed PM ... hook, line and sinker.

The impromptu magic show went down Saturday night at the Reading Festival in the UK, where Post was performing. While hanging backstage with Tyla Yaweh, local illusionist Ryan Tricks gave the "Beerbongs & Bentleys" rapper a chance to inflict some serious pain.

Here's how the trick works -- Ryan puts a fishing hook into his mouth, which has four strings looped through it ... but only one of them is actually tied and firmly attached.

Now the queasy part ... Post was tasked with yanking on three strings (his manager, Dre London, ended up helping in the end) to see if he could pick the string that wasn't knotted.

You gotta watch this -- it's totally reminiscent of Christopher Walken and Robert DeNiro in 'Deer Hunter' -- except this is REAL LIFE. Honestly, we can't tell if this was a trick or just Ryan getting super lucky.

Post didn't seem too sure either, but he was more than happy to celebrate with the guy. Beers, of course ... what else???

'Baywatch' hotties Donna D'Errico and Krista Allen got a super sweet offer -- $300,000 to fly to Dubai and make a quick speech -- but turned out to be too good to be true ... because it was courtesy of the same scammers who tried to rip off Dog The Bounty Hunter.

Here's the deal ... reps for Donna and Krista were contacted by people purporting to be from the office of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan -- the Deputy Prime Minister of United Arab Emirates -- offering the ladies a fat payday in exchange for speaking at an economic empowerment convention for small business owners in July and rubbing elbows with dignitaries.

Donna and Krista's people got contracts emailed to them with all the deets, and it looked legit on its face ... but once the women signed, things got super sketchy.

Organizers in "Dubai" said they had difficulty wiring funds to Donna and Krista and started asking for more personal information. Huge red flag. Another catch -- organizers were asking Donna and Krista to donate half of the funds back to the organization.

Donna and Krista slowly started putting the pieces together, feeling something was off ... and they eventually got cold feet.

Fortunately for them ... the 'Baywatch' babes never gave up their personal info, dodging a huge bullet ... just like Dog.

Desmond Howard learned a new rule in 2019 -- you can't quote Dave Chappelle as much as we used to ... especially on a Disney-owned network, at a Disney-owned park.

The former Heisman winner and NFL kick returner -- who's since become a TV analyst -- was on ESPN Saturday talkin' college football with Rece Davis and other broadcasters ... when he invoked a line from an old "Chappelle's Show" skit that caught immediate backlash.

The line -- in response to Rece asking if his alma mater, University of Michigan, could beat Ohio State -- went like this ... "Is Desmond Howard gonna have to choke a bitch?"

Funny, right? WRONG!!! At least that's what a ton of people watching had to say about it soon after. And, apparently, the ESPN honchos thought so too ... 'cause Des apologized.

He came back on the air later and flat-out said sorry if he offended anybody.

Des also tweeted about the incident, saying he didn't realize the joke was so obscure. Of course, he's referring to the line Wayne Brady dropped on a classic 'CS' episode, when he poses the same question to a prostitute during a 'Training Day'-esqe sketch.

Des later posted a clip that aired on ESPN in 2014, in which a commentator also made reference to the famous line. Problem is ... it's 2019, not 2014 -- and definitely not 2004. Also, Des works for ESPN (which Disney owns) and he said this at Disney World. Bad mix!!!

To make matters even more murky, Wayne Brady himself responded to the incident, showing support to Des and thanking him for the fandom. But, Wayne also said, "Choke who you wanna choke, have fun, and I'm a big fan of yours too." That raised eyebrows as well.

Ex-Patriots TE Jermaine Wiggins says it's PAINFULLY OBVIOUS Eric Reid's late hit on Ben Watson on Thursday was dirty as hell ... and warns Reid that payback's a bitch!

Reid blasted Watson in the head during the 1st quarter of the Carolina vs. New England preseason game on Thursday after Watson was already down by contact.

The hit came days after Watson had criticized Reid on Twitter for ripping the NFL's Players Coalition over the NFL's deal with Jay-Z ... and some people think Reid was gunning to hurt the guy.

After the game, Reid DENIED intentionally targeting Watson and claimed he didn't even know about Watson's tweets ... insisting the hit was the result of an overzealous play.

When we spoke with Wiggins -- who won a Super Bowl with New England in 2001 -- he told us the play was obviously dirty.

"There was definitely a little extra BBQ sauce on that rib that he was trying to go after!"

Wiggins says he can't be sure Reid was looking to hurt Watson, but tells us the defensive back is LUCKY the teams don't play during the regular season.

"Carolina, luckily for them they don't have New England on their schedule because there might be a little bit of payback coming his way."

Washington Capitals star Evgeny Kuznetsov -- one of the biggest stars in hockey -- has been suspended from international play after testing positive for booger sugar.

... and after a video surfaced showing Evgeny in a hotel room with lines of white powder chopped up on a table, it's really no surprise to anyone.

Here's the deal ... back in May, the footage surfaced on social media showing Evgeny in a room with a woman with white lines on a table next to a rolled up dollar bill.

27-year-old Evgeny addressed the video at the time and insisted he had NEVER taken illegal drugs -- and neither the NHL nor the Washington Capitals took action.

But, the International Ice Hockey Federation -- which oversees everything from the Olympics to the World Championships -- does things a bit differently and on Friday they slapped Evgeny with a 4-YEAR SUSPENSION after the positive coke test.

In other words, he can't represent his home country, Russia, in international tournaments until 2023.

So, how will this affect his NHL career? It won't.

The NHL put out a statement saying, "Unlike the IIHF, cocaine is not considered a performance enhancing drug and is therefore not a Prohibited Substance under the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program."

"Instead, it is considered a drug of abuse that is tested for and for which intervention, evaluation and mandatory treatment can occur in appropriate cases."

"Here, we understand that Mr. Kuznetsov has voluntarily sought help through the education and counseling program provided for in the NHL and NHLPA collective bargaining agreement and has agreed to a regular testing protocol relating to his involvement with that program."

Well this is fun ... jumping on what people are calling the Holocoaster ... smack in the heart of Germany.

Seriously, it's like if Hitler designed Magic Mountain ... in this case an amusement park featuring an attraction called Eagle's Flight. It's a thrill ride with 8 eagle-shaped cars ... each connected at a right angle to a central axis. Yep, dead ringer for 2 giant, rotating swastikas.

Just like the German army, the coaster was eventually shut down ... after the park owner said he never really noticed the resemblance between his ride and the iconic Nazi symbol. Yeah, Reich.

Tommy Lee wanted a bite at Emeril's, but all he got was the boot ... he says he got thrown outta the joint because he dropped an F-BOMB when staff asked him to take off his hat.

The Motley Crue drummer and his new wife, internet personality Brittany Furlan, were at LAX Tuesday when they broke down their dinner fiasco in New Orleans ... they say the people running Emeril's Delmonico lost their lids over some caps and a harmless curse.

Tommy and Brittany say they were both wearing hats when they entered the fancy establishment Tuesday night, but only he was asked to remove his ... and that's when all hell broke loose.

Ya gotta hear Tommy defend his use of the F-word with more "f**k yous" ... and stick around to watch him go digging for gold.

There's no beef with Emeril himself ... but sounds like Tommy and Brittany will be dining elsewhere next time they're in New Orleans. Can't blame 'em, plenty of good eats in that town!!!

Taylor Swift's cooked up a plan to get back at Scooter Braun for buying the rights to her early music -- so SHE will own the new masters -- but she's got some legal hurdles to overcome first.

The singer told "CBS News Sunday Morning" -- in an interview airing this weekend -- she will rerecord her past songs she'd originally done while signed to Big Machine ... the label Scooter bought a few months back.

As you know ... Taylor was PISSED and went on a rant against Scooter for snapping up her early catalog -- but her plan to cover her own songs won't exactly hurt Scooter the way she thinks it will. Industry experts tell TMZ ... every label, including Big Machine, has a rerecord clause in its contracts with artists. The clause prevents the artist from rerecording on another label, or on their own, and marketing those rerecordings.

Now, we're told that clause usually has an expiration date. We don't know when Big Machine's clause expires, but even when it does ... there's another roadblock. Experts tell us it's called an original production clause -- and it prevents the artist from copying the OG version. So, when and if Taylor remakes her Big Machine tunes ... she will have to deviate from the first versions.

Taylor's revenge scheme has been pulled off before ... most notably by Prince during his battles with Warner Bros. Records. However, in his case, the rerecordings ended up making the originals more valuable. In other words ... Taylor could unwittingly end up putting more cash in Scooter's pockets.

From what music industry experts are telling us, though, Scooter can't be too concerned with Taylor's plan because his $300 million investment in Big Machine has already been a boon. We're told the company's full catalog -- not only Taylor's songs -- is now valued at close to $1 BILLION!!

So, Taylor WILL get something -- she'll own her new master recordings -- but if she's just doing it for revenge ... it might not be a great play.

Cardi B is FUMING over the NYPD allegedly shutting down her pal's back-to-school event -- and speaking of fumes, she wants New York's finest to choke on hers.

The Bronx-born rapper went on a tear Tuesday night, calling out the NYPD for what she says were bullying tactics that effectively torpedoed her friend Star's school giveaway for kids coming back to school. Safe to say, CB's nuclear.

She claims the NYPD got ahead of this charitable event that was scheduled for later this month after they caught wind of it, called up the school principal and scared them into backing down. Cardi says she finds that "f***** up," seeing how Star paid out of pocket.

Not to mention the fact she was genuinely out to help the kids of this neighborhood.

Then, Cardi goes IN on the NYPD, saying ... "F*** you and motherf***ing suck a fart and suffocate on it. F*** you!!!" ending with a middle finger to the camera for good measure.

If there's one thing we know about Cardi, it's that she loves the kids -- she went out and surprised some from her old neighborhood last year -- and doesn't dig cops. As you know, she's currently in the middle of fighting charges in her strip club beatdown case.

Our law enforcement sources in the area tell TMZ that the department is aware of Cardi's gripe, and they're trying to clear up what's been dubbed internally as a "miscommunication."

In the meantime ... suck it, NYPD!!! Farts, that is ... if that's even possible.

Rob Lowe, Usher, Rita Wilson and countless other big name celebs fell for one of the oldest tricks in the digital book ... and some of them still haven't wised up.

Tuesday proved to be a big hoax day on social media -- specifically on Instagram, where tons of stars reposted and shared this fake chain mail-type of message that they apparently thought would prevent IG from being able to use their content in court.

The message reads in part, "Don't forget tomorrow starts the new Instagram rule where they can use your photos. Don't forget Deadline today!!! It can be used in court cases in litigation against you. Everything you've ever posted becomes public from today Even messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed."

Then come the magic words ... "I do not give Instagram or any entities associated with Instagram permission to use my pictures, information, messages or posts, both past and future. With this statement, I give notice to Instagram is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents."

A ton of Hollywood A-listers fell for this -- or at least took the better safe than sorry approach -- and reposted a screenshot of the message on their own timelines, clearly concerned. Some of the heavy hitters who bit ... Julia Roberts, Taraji Henson, 2 Chainz, Scooter Braun, Debra Messing, Judd Apatow, Josh Brolin and Adriana Lima.

Many of them have since taken down the post ... clearly realizing it's BS. Other celebs like John Mayer, Trevor Noah and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry recognized the ruse and trolled those in the dark.

The clear sign this was a hoax -- which millions missed -- is that you already surrendered your privacy under IG's existing Terms & Conditions. FYI, if ya didn't know.

It's just about time for Tekashi 6ix9ine to pay the piper, testifying in open court against his alleged kidnappers ... while knowing full well it could make his family members targets of gang retaliation.

The rapper -- who's currently incarcerated on federal racketeering charges -- is expected to testify next month about the kidnapping and assault he claims he fell victim to in 2018. Cops arrested a suspect in the case, who pled not guilty, and also claims Tekashi made up the whole thing.

FYI, the guy calling BS -- Anthony Ellison -- was formerly part of Tekashi's management team and cops believe he's affiliated with the Nine Trey Bloods, the same gang Tekashi was with prior to his bust. Bottom line ... they know each other well.

That's what makes this situation messy for Tekashi -- he's currently preparing to point the finger at this guy, and the potential ramifications are very serious. Sources connected to the case tell TMZ, 6ix9ine's crapping his pants over testifying -- worried about how his mother and brother could be harmed, and also for his own safety behind bars. We're told he knows this could make him a marked man for life.

Case in point ... look what happened to notorious mobster Whitey Bulger last year in prison.

We already know 6ix9ine has shelled out thousands for security to protect his mom, but even with that ... we're told he feels there's nowhere for his loved ones to hide if the Nine Trey Bloods want to get even with him for snitching.

There's really no way out of this jam for Tekashi ... he's required to cooperate with the feds, so if they want him to testify, he's gotta sing. His last hope would be for Ellison and prosecutors to strike an 11th-hour deal.

Barring that ... we're told Tekashi will look kinda different on the stand -- same face tats, but hardly any rainbow hair these days. Not a ton of salon time in prison ...

David Oyelowo has no issue with a black, British actress playing an iconic African-American like Harriet Tubman -- despite lacking roots to American slavery -- because acting is acting.

Yes, you could say the British actor was just defending the home team, but the discussion about Cynthia Erivo's casting as Tubman has some personal relevance for David. Remember, he played MLK in the Oscar-winning film, "Selma" -- so he tackled the Tubman issue with Van Lathan on 'The Red Pill Podcast.'

David said he doesn't understand the controversy, and in the most gracious way possible (it's that British accent) added ... an actor's background shouldn't matter, if he or she gets the job done.

The debate around the Tubman movie is that critics think it's an insult a slap in the face to not have an African-American woman in a role that has so much cultural significance.

David did raise an interesting counterpoint -- about Americans playing Brits -- and also white British actors playing American roles. Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln, or Christian Bale as Dick Cheney. David wondered where was the outrage when those movies were cast??

He suggests there's a "fight for the scraps" mentality in the black community that divides fellow actors instead of bringing them together. Watch the clip ... thought provoking for sure.