You Might Want to Rethink

President Trump is NOT taking homophobic potshots at Pete Buttigieg -- instead, he's saying the Democratic candidate's sexual preference won't be a factor ... for most Americans, anyway.

The door was opened wide for POTUS to make a wisecrack about Buttigieg when he was a guest Thursday on Geraldo Rivera's iHeart radio show. Geraldo asked, "Would Americans vote for a gay man to be President?"

Trump quickly said, "I think so." He went even further down the high road when he acknowledged it would be an issue for some voters, but added ... "I wouldn't be among that group to be honest with you."

Let's keep it real ... most Democratic supporters have been waiting for, and even expecting, Trump to weaponize Buttigieg's sexuality. Well, no dice. Prime example of the Prez zigging when everyone thought he'd zag.

Of course, the same can't be said for the man he honored with the Medal of Freedom ... Rush Limbaugh. When the Buttigieg subject came up on his show Wednesday, Limbaugh went on a disgustingly homophobic rant about Trump and Buttigieg appearing on a debate stage together.

He said, "Okay, how's this going to look, 37-year-old gay guy kissing his husband on stage next to Mr. Man Donald Trump? What's going to happen there?"

Limbaugh even added, "Can you see Trump have fun with that?" Clearly, he expected the President to follow in his homophobic footsteps.

Michael Lohan's estranged wife, Kate Major, was arrested for DWI a day before Mike got busted for allegedly hurting her -- and one incident allegedly caused the other.

TMZ has learned Kate was arrested and booked for driving while intoxicated on Sunday out in the Hamptons. According to law enforcement, troopers got a complaint of reckless driving, and when they stopped Kate and interviewed her ... they suspected she'd been boozing.

We're told the officers detected an odor of alcohol on Kate's breath, and they claim she ended up blowing a 0.24 BAC. That's really high.

Our sources say Kate was taken in, booked for DWI and given a court date later this month.

Now, the timing here is interesting ... because about 24 hours later, Michael was also arrested. He was booked for allegedly choking Kate. The actual charges were criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation and harassment. Kate told police Michael had attacked her.

He denied it and elaborated ... telling TMZ, Kate actually called cops and made up this lie to get back at him for snitching on her to cops. Michael claims, as he first told DailyMail, he actually called the police Sunday because he suspected Kate was drinking and driving.

Cut to Monday ... Michael says he showed up to his lawyer's office Monday -- to discuss Kate's arrest -- but instead, cops showed up and placed him under arrest.

Apparently, the plan was for Kate to check in with their lawyer after being released and get herself into rehab. Obviously, things took a left turn --  and now, Mike's got his own case to deal with. He says he's gonna present evidence to the DA and judge to clear his name.

Jessica Simpson will have extra venue security going forward on her book tour ... thanks to a bevy of anti-fur protesters who seem to be following her every move.

The "Open Book" author's already had events in NYC and L.A. interrupted by angry animal rights activists storming in and yelling. So, the upcoming venues on her tour are on notice ... and we're told they are being proactive about it.

At least 2 people who run venues Simpson will visit this week tell TMZ ... security will be beefed up in various ways in an attempt to keep protesters from striking again.

At one of the locations ... all guests entering will be subject to a search, in which security will be checking for all the normal red flags like weapons ... but will also be on the lookout for protest materials like signage or noisemakers.

We're told, as an added safety measure, all guests will have to have purchased a ticket and a copy of Jessica's book to be allowed entry.

We broke the story ... Simpson was being interviewed by Katherine Schwarzenegger at the Aratani Theatre in L.A. Monday night when anti-fur peeps popped in and made a scene, but Jessica laughed it off as they were escorted out.

Of course, just days earlier in New York ... Simpson's book signing at a Barnes & Noble was disrupted by protesters, and she got accosted by a couple more hours later as she was leaving a restaurant.

Jessica's worn fur in the past, but it's unclear if she still does or why the activists are so hellbent on making her the focus of their scorn and ridicule. One thing's for sure though ... she's not alone.

Blac Chyna was quick to post and delete a pregnancy announcement with a photo of an ultrasound that appears to have been stolen from another expecting mama.

Here's the deal ... Blac Chyna seemingly shared some happy news with fans Tuesday on social media, posting an image of an ultrasound with the caption, "Blessed 2020."

Folks started going nuts ... wondering if she really was pregnant and who the father of the new kiddo is because the news came out of the blue. Chyna deleted the announcement just minutes after posting.

However, we did some digging, and a well-known Russian makeup artist posted the exact same photo 3 hours prior to Chyna's post announcing her OWN pregnancy.

We have reached out to Chyna's reps to try and get to the bottom of her post and figure out if she's actually pregnant ... but they're radio silent.

As you know ... BC was at the Oscars over the weekend, but it didn't look like she had a baby bump.

Of course, Chyna's Oscars appearance was not without controversy ... as we reported, folks were questioning why she was there in the first place, and BC said the hate was a clear example of racism.

Blac Chyna's already got one daughter with Rob Kardashian, 3-year-old Dream, and one son with Tyga, 7-year-old King Cairo.

Kim Kardashian says she doesn't want any more kids because she can't give them enough attention ... but seems Blac Chyna just wants some attention for herself.

Jamie Lynn Spears' baby daddy got arrested for burglary after police say he was linked to a rash of thefts.

Cops in Mississippi busted Casey Aldridge back on Dec. 30, and he's now been charged with 5 counts of burglary of a storage house and one count of burglary of a dwelling.

Police say Casey was arrested after he was linked to the burglaries of several campsites in the areas surrounding Gloster, MS.

As you know ... Casey and Britney Spears' younger sister have one daughter together, 11-year-old Maddie.

Jamie Lynn was only 16 when she got pregnant way back in 2007. Casey was 18 at the time, and they were briefly engaged before breaking things off.

TMZ broke the story ... Casey was also arrested for drug possession last February when cops say they found him passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle.

While Casey's been on a tough streak, Jamie's the exact opposite. She's now married to Jamie Watson, and in 2018 they had a little girl, Ivey Joan, together.

Jessica Simpson was confronted by animal rights protesters who crashed her book signing Monday night -- and she came off as pretty patronizing.

The singer was on stage with Katherine Schwarzenegger at the Aratani Theatre in L.A., where she was talking about her new memoir, "Open Book," when a swarm of PETA peeps jumped up from out in the crowd with signs and chants against wearing fur.

It looks like they were escorted out by security, but check out the way JS responded to all the noise ... she says it's beautiful they stand up for what they believe in, but does so in a sarcastic tone. It comes off as pretty condescending.

Jessica actually tells Katherine she's used to this by now, and she's absolutely right. We know of at least two other anti-fur confrontations she's had as of late ... on the same day.

There was a large protest at a Barnes & Noble in NYC where Jessica was doing a book signing, and later as she was leaving a restaurant -- confronted yet again. She never engaged with them about a week ago when this all went down -- but now, she is.

Jessica's known for having worn fur in the past -- it's unclear if she still does, or what the anti-fur folks seek to gain at this point. If it's awareness, they're winning there.

Aerosmith is ready to bring their original drummer back into the fold -- Joey Kramer's set to take the stage with his bandmates, and even crazier ... NO AUDITION NECESSARY!

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Joey's being brought on to play drums Monday night with Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and the rest of the fellas for a performance at the Park Theater in Vegas, which is where their residency shows are currently being held.

We're told the band didn't wanna jerk Joey around -- they're bringing him back without holding another audition, and it's because they feel he's probably up to snuff and in good health again. Plus, our sources tell us it's an act of good faith between old pals.

You'll recall ... things were getting pretty ugly between Joey and the guys just a few short weeks ago ahead of their Grammys performance, which Joey was fighting tooth and nail to be a part of -- even taking the issue to court in a last-ditch effort, but was unsuccessful.

Hell, they even turned him away at the door when Joey showed up unannounced for a rehearsal ... so yeah, the tension's been high between these guys.

Part of the reason Aerosmith didn't feel comfortable reuniting ... Joey hadn't played in at least 6 months, and they didn't wanna risk a shaky gig with a guy who was rusty/lacked energy. They put him through the wringer with a live audition but felt he wasn't ready.

Now, it seems they've had a change of heart and are prepared to embrace an OG. Should make for a great show ... stay tuned.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's youngest daughter has quite the list of accomplishments in rowing -- at least her resume made it seem that way to USC.

Federal prosecutors released some of the documents Olivia Jade submitted to USC, allegedly to make it seem like she wanted a coveted spot on its crew team ... and it's packed with a list of events and some impressive finishes. Remember, Olivia never really competitively rowed a day in her life.

However, according to the docs, from 2014 to 2017 ... Olivia earned 2 gold medals, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes as a coxswain for her high school team. She didn't do so well in the prestigious Head of Charles race in Boston, though. In 2016, her team came in 11th, and the next year they came in 14th.

BTW, the resume was clearly drawn up by someone who doesn't have deep crew knowledge. It's missing key stats about Olivia's participation, and while her high school really did compete in these events ... the finishes don't match the real results.

The resume also suggests Olivia could be a very successful coxswain in one of USC's 4 boats. Interestingly, she points out her older sister, Isabella, is already on the school's roster as coxswain for boat #4. The resume ends by boasting Olivia is "highly talented and has been successful in both men's and women's boats."

The feds are obviously including the resume as an exhibit to show how extensively they believe the Giannullis lied and plotted to get their daughters into USC. Prosecutors say USC associate athletic director Donna Heinel submitted Olivia's rowing resume to the athletics sub-committee without referencing any donations her parents made to the university.

The feds claim this shows USC, with the exception of Heinel, was defrauded.

A stripper in Texas proved she's got nerves of steel and fantastic muscle memory ... hopping right back into a twerking routine after taking a 15-foot fall off a pole.

The gal's name is Genea Sky, and she seriously injured herself this weekend at a gentlemen's club in the Lone Star State -- where she was performing onstage and hiked up a super tall pole that some people say reached the two-story mark ... only to go tumbling down.

Genea ends up falling on her face from that high up, but what's even crazier ... she almost immediately bounces right back up and starts twerking from all fours. What a pro!!!

In all seriousness, though, it was a nasty fall. And, it sounds like the dancer took some lumps as a result -- Genea later took to social media to announce she'd fractured her jaw, cracked some of her teeth, sprained her ankle ... and needed stitches, plus surgery.

Now, a ton of people have made jokes about the video -- which as since gone viral. Even 50 Cent has weighed in, jokingly saying she must've died and that the nerves are what made her shake afterward. That said, Genea notes there's nothing funny about her predicament.

In fact, one of her good friends even went so far as to create a GoFundMe for Genea to help cover her medical expenses. So far, it's already racked up over $13k out of a $20k goal.

No word on where exactly this took place, but one thing you gotta wonder about in this case ... is she eligible for worker's comp? Do strip clubs have medical?? Hmmm ... 🤔

Joe Biden called a young female voter a "lying, dog-faced pony soldier" -- a line he's used before and has credited to a John Wayne movie ... which may or may not be accurate.

Biden was campaigning in New Hampshire Sunday, and while at a town hall event where he fielded questions from the crowd, one gal got on the mic and asked something pretty profound ... with his poor performance in Iowa, why should Joe be considered a top dog.

It was a great question from a prospective Biden voter, and right away ... Joe jokingly insulted her by suggesting she was lying. Check out the video, Biden asks the girl if she's ever caucused before. She says yes, but he calls her a liar with the alleged John Wayne line.

We should note ... it doesn't seem Biden was being serious. He said it jokingly and it came off as good-natured. BUT, folks were quick to point out ... it sounded somewhat inappropriate.

What's even crazier is that Joe has used this line before, and explained it in an interview as a line ol' JW used in a movie he saw once. Problem is ... nobody can pinpoint that flick.

It might be because the line Joe thinks was in the unnamed Wayne movie is probably actually from a 1952 Tyrone Power film called "Pony Soldier," which uses that phrase throughout. The whole movie's on YouTube, but we couldn't find this exact pony remark, if you will.

Snoop Dogg says he was NOT threatening CBS anchor Gayle King over her Kobe Bryant interview -- but the record shows he did make a somewhat threatening comment.

The rapper took to IG Saturday to clarify a video he posted a few days ago criticizing Gayle for an interview she did with WNBA player Lisa Leslie. Snoop made what many perceived as threats against her, but now ... he claims he didn't and means her no harm.

Snoop says he's a non-violent person and was raised better than that. He insists he was only speaking on behalf of people who felt disrespected by Gayle's interview and was only going from the heart. Snoop says all he wanted to do was point out she was out of line.

What's interesting is that he claims he never threatened her -- and only told her Kobe's fans were "watching" her -- but his own words seem to contradict him here.

What Snoop said verbatim ... "Funky dog head bitch. How dare you try to tarnish my motherf***in' home boy's reputation, punk motherf***er. Respect the family and back off, bitch. Before we come get you." This came after a tirade against Gayle coming after black men, but not being as enthusiastic to grill people about Harvey Weinstein (in Snoop's eyes).

Maybe he was speaking figuratively, but the fact is ... "come get you" can be seen as a threat, even if it isn't meant seriously. Regardless, the criticism appears to have opened the floodgates for others who've allegedly made death threats against Gayle.

Gayle herself came out and said the clip was taken out of context from a much longer and wide-ranging interview, and that she felt CBS had screwed her by releasing a clip showing just that part where she pressed Lisa about the rape claim against Kobe.

While Gayle feels the clip was unfairly represented, it doesn't take away from the fact she did push Lisa about that topic -- and felt it was, in fact, appropriate to do so in the moment.

Sam Mendes will be THE big winner at the Academy Awards -- at least that's what an ad that ran for a play he's directing wanted folks to think ... before it was called a mistake.

Here's the deal ... Mendes is signed on to direct a play called "The Lehman Trilogy," which hits Broadway in about a month from now. 'Lehman' already has got its own Instagram page, and on Sunday ... the account ran an ad calling Mendes the winner of Best Picture and Best Director for his "one-shot" war flick, "1917," which has gotten tons of love this award season.

FYI ... the Oscars haven't started yet, and the winners certainly haven't been made public. At least it appears they haven't, anyway.

The ad -- which was active on IG for at least a few hours -- read in part ... "From Sam Mendes, winner of the Academy Award for Best Director and Best Picture for his WWI epic '1917,' THE LEHMAN TRILOGY opens on Broadway March 26. Previews begin March 7."

Now, we talked to a spokesman for the 'Lehman' play, and a rep tells us the whole thing was a mistake, and that the ad is being taken down ASAP. We're told nobody at 'Lehman' knows the results, and they're simply hoping for Sam to win big.

Reading between the lines ... it appears somebody on the social team prepped an ad in anticipation of these results, and got ahead of themselves in running it prematurely.

We've reached out to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. So far, no word back.

President Trump was photographed Friday walking across the White House's South lawn in a photo that has since gone viral -- but the pic appears to have been edited.

DT was captured on camera by a guy named William Moon -- a self-described White House correspondent and photographer, who doesn't appear to be part of the official press corps. or White House staff, but clearly has access of some sort to snap shots like these.

The pic shows DT touching down in a helicopter after a trip to Charlotte, NC ... with the wind picking up his hair and the light seemingly showing a major tan line around his face.

In Moon's photo, the outer edge of Trump's mug seems to be in stark contrast to the rest of his face ... showing a color distinction between pale and what looks to be orange or tan. Getty Images has the same pic, though ... and it's not nearly as saturated as this.

Now, it's possible Moon caught the Prez at a different angle with different lighting than the Getty photog did ... perhaps the photo isn't edited at all. Doesn't seem likely, however.

We were able to boost up the color on our end to make the Getty image look pretty similar to what Moon put up ... so it's clear, anybody with basic Photoshop skills can do it.

Here's one more Getty shot of Trump from the same moment, unedited. Yes, he does seem to have a tan -- but it's not nearly as exaggerated as the "#Orangeface" pic would have you think.

Tank says some good old-fashioned bedroom lovin' is more than an acceptable gift from a woman come Valentine's Day -- but there's a catch ... it's gotta have a kick to it.

We got the R&B singer heading to Delilah in WeHo Friday night for Michael B. Jordan's birthday party, and as he was walking by with his wife, Zena Foster, our photo asked if sex counts as a solid V-Day present to reciprocate a man shelling out for his gal.

In other words ... is sex just as thoughtful as flowers, chocolates or any other item a guy might buy his significant other for the holiday? According to Tank, hell to the yes.

Check out his answer ... he says "cookie" is pretty much always the ultimate pay-off for a man -- and sure, he's probably right there. BUT, he says a big gesture from a man's gotta be met with just as much ... um, let's just say vigor and passion on the other side.

Tekashi 6ix9ine is being sued by a guy who says the rapper jacked his vocals to hype up a track right from the 0:01 mark ... and the proof seems to be online right now.

An artist named Yung Gordon filed suit against T69, his label 10K Projects and others claiming he recorded a radio drop -- a short audio recording used at the beginning of songs to plug a station, company or artist -- for an org. called Take Money Promotions ... which he insists contacted him in 2016 with the request. Yung Gordon says he happily obliged.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Gordon claims a couple years later ... Tekashi dropped a song called "Stoopid," which he says featured his 9-second drop -- something he claims he was never asked about, let alone signed off on through Tekashi or TMP.

Now, Gordon says some versions of the song that have since been published to different streaming platforms have actually ditched his drop. Others, however, haven't ... according to the docs. Case in point, per Gordon, is the current 'Stoopid' music vid on YouTube.

The video opens with a guy saying what Gordon claims to have recorded in his lawsuit ... "You already know, it be the boy Yung Gordon // You rockin' with Take Money Promotions // Aye Take Money Promotions, give 'em that new s*** no foo s***. Let's go!!" The TMP plug goes on for about 20 seconds, and blends into the start of Tekashi's song.

'Stoopid' has gone on to rack up over 180 million views and countless streams, meaning it's made a significant amount of money. Gordon wants a cut of that -- he's asking a judge for damages, and for all 'Stoopid' recordings using his voice to be yanked immediately.