You Might Want to Rethink

President Trump either didn't know his Chief of Staff fired Omarosa or he played dumb ... this according to newly released audio in which Trump tells her he had no idea she got the ax.

You hear Trump faintly express regret as Omarosa explains General John Kelly gave her walking papers the day before. Monday on "Today," she said the President is nothing more than Gen. Kelly's puppet.

Omarosa also secretly recorded her conversation with Kelly, who would not say if Trump knew he was firing her.

She told TMZ on Saturday ... she believed Trump was a racist who was trying to start a race war. Omarosa says she heard an audio of an outtake of 'The Apprentice' in which Trump allegedly used the n-word.

The White House has lashed out at Omarosa, saying she's a liar and a disgruntled former employee. Trump himself just lit into her, apparently in response to the new audio, saying she was "wacky" and "begged" him for the administration role.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is parroting what her boss says A LOT regarding Omarosa and her bombshell book -- and alleged recordings -- on President Trump ... any guesses?

We got the White House Press Secretary leaving Reagan International in D.C. Sunday where our camera guy asked what she made of the one-time Trump staffer and longtime loyalist peddling her new "explosive" and "jaw-dropping" publication, 'Unhinged,' about the Prez.

Sarah says Omarosa's showing her true colors in the wake of being fired by Chief of Staff John Kelly -- whom she recorded too btw -- and thinks it's simply a SAD! state of affairs.

HGTV -- the house remodeling network with wholesome hosts -- is PISSING OFF neighbors with their 'Brady Bunch' house expansion plans ... 'cause they fear lasting chaos.

Various neighbors on the San Fernando Valley street where the iconic house sits are fuming at the prospect of HGTV's production turning their sleepy enclave into a massive construction zone.

TMZ broke the story, after snagging the house in a $3-plus million sale, the network plans to blow out the back of the house ... and expand it from 2,400 square feet to more than 6,000 square feet.

Neighbors are dreading the construction noise, street congestion, traffic, lookie-loos and HGTV production trucks as cameras chronicle the remodel.

We're told the last time a production crew showed up, an entire street was shut down making it a nightmare for residents to access their houses.

Neighbors just wanna know from HGTV ... how long y'all gonna take on this project?

Did you know Tom Brady is actually black?!

Well, it's true ... at least according to Chad Johnson.

Ochocinco played with the QB in New England back in the 2011 season ... and he just revealed to TMZ Sports the GOAT is not, in fact, a white male.

"He's black. Period," Chad tells us.

"You gotta meet Tommy. You wouldn't understand it with me just saying it but, you know, he's Robin Thicke. You get where I'm going with this s**t?"

Not really ... BUT -- Chad explained further.

"You can't teach that type of, just, aura. That persona. You can't teach that."

President Trump's plan for an upcoming U.S. Space Force isn't just major news for the military ... it could be a huge windfall for beer and computer game producers too.

TMZ has learned the term "Space Force" has been quite popular, long before the Prez uttered the words for his proposed 6th branch of the military ... by makers of an arcade game, among others, that trademarked it in the '80s.

That game fizzled out and the trademark expired but, years later in 2014 ... a company filed paperwork for the rights to "SPACEFORCE" (one word) for online computer games and interactive educational games in the field of physics. According to the docs ... they've had the trademark on lockdown since 2015.

Then, after Trump first announced his Space Force idea in March, a shrewd business person jumped on the chance to own the rights to the name ... for beer.

According to legal docs, trademark paperwork for "Space Force" has also been filed as recently as June to make action figures and accessories.

Obviously, if these trademarks go through, the owners are set to benefit from the name recognition of the government's new military service ... which Mike Pence says will be created by 2020.

Some people might want Donald Trump's Hollywood Walk of Fame star scrubbed entirely -- but others want more of the same ... and made it happen.

Tons of fake Donald Trump stars popped up all over Hollywood Blvd. Thursday up and down the Walk of Fame. It's unclear whether these are stickers or what ... but they've flooded the boulevard, flanking A-listers' like Rob Reiner.

Considering the wave of violent reactions Trump's star has ignited, we'll view this a much-needed lighthearted effort. No word yet on who the latest "vandal" might be ... but there are endless possibilities taking into account the myriad of stunts pulled on the street.

'Bachelorette' contestant Leo Dottavio is under investigation for sexual harassment, and his job as a stuntman at Universal Studios might hang in the balance ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... a complaint with human resources was filed Friday by someone who claims to have witnessed Leo making several women uncomfortable on the set with excessive hugging and unwanted flirting.

The complaint also mentions Leo sliding into the women's DMs and making them uncomfortable with the conversation.

We're told the person who filed the complaint says the alleged behavior went down at the end of 2017 when Leo worked on the "Water World" show ... but before he was cast on 'Bachelorette.'

He'd been working on "Water World" for 3 and a half years, but he was taken off the schedule in response to the initial allegations made by a former 'Bachelor' contestant ... who publicly accused him of sexually harassing women more than a decade ago. Leo denied those claims.

We've reached out to Leo who tells us he's unaware of the more recent allegations.

We reached out to Universal and a spokesperson tells TMZ, "We are aware of the situation and have taken appropriate actions" ... referring to the suspension.

Jeffrey Toobin thinks it's awfully peculiar President Trump seems to have a habit of viciously attacking black people ... but stops short of calling him a full-on racist.

We got CNN's Chief Legal Analyst Monday at LAX and asked about DT's latest vitriol against prominent African-Americans -- namely, his disgusting tweet calling LeBron James and Don Lemon dumb and dumber -- and Toobin thinks there's a pattern here that can't be ignored.

Bottom line ... Trump has a track record of going after blacks both on Twitter and at rallies. He's called out LaVar Ball as being a "poor man's version of Don King" and has constantly referred to Rep. Maxine Waters as a "low IQ" person. And, don't forget the NFL's SOBs.

Toobin doesn't want to get into name-calling -- unlike the Prez -- but says 45's barbs reek of racism.

He also praises his coworker's eloquent response to Trump after getting attacked this weekend.

Dog is man's best friend ... escalators are not dog's best friend, which is why this video of Dennis Quaid's dog on an escalator is so interesting.

We got Dennis and his bulldog, Peaches, Monday at LAX, and the actor strolled up to the escalator and he showed no remorse about the pooch hopping on for the ride.

Dennis clearly loves his pet, but we did some research and the ASPCA actually put out a warning a few years back about the dangers of dogs on people movers. They've been known to cause serious injuries to dogs, including amputations.

In fact, one pooch had to be rescued earlier this year at LAX.

Tamar Braxton isn't mad at Delta Airlines after one of their pilots ridiculed her on a flight -- which her sis chalked up to #flyingwhileblack -- but she does think they make crappy hires.

We got the former co-host of "The Real" at LAX just a few days after her sister, Towanda, posted a video of a Delta pilot chastising Tamar and condescendingly asking if she could follow simple direction from flight attendants.

Towanda blamed the confrontation on race, but Tamar thinks it has more to do with how she's portrayed in the media -- specifically, on TV.

She hasn't been on "The Real" since 2016, but did recently ink a deal with Steve Harvey's production company for her own talk show. She's also made appearances on VH1's "Hip Hop Squares," where she's had some confrontations.

Lance Bass shot himself in the foot in the 'Brady Bunch' house bidding war he recently lost by celebrating too early when the deal wasn't done yet ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the deal tell us Lance essentially opened the flood gates for other bidders by prematurely posting the news on social media that the house was his. We're told that invited a new wave of bidders and offers.

Sources say one of the final 3 bids being considered was from none other than Jonathan Scott from "Property Brothers" -- so, you know high rollers were in the mix.

As we reported, Lance feels he was used to drive up the price of the home after he placed the final and highest bid 5 minutes before the deadline last week. He says the real estate agent told him the place was his ... but things changed a day later.

An anonymous corporate buyer -- who Lance only ID'd as a "Hollywood studio" -- had offered a higher price than his after the deadline ... and the seller went with them.

Despite Lance's premature excitement ... our sources say they have no idea why he tweeted the deal was done when it simply wasn't.

Reggie Theus says HE'S the reason Michael Jordan is what he is today ... and he's waiting on Bulls fans to finally respect that -- telling TMZ Sports, "I'm looking for a check actually."

The former NBA star was leaving LAX when he explained to us that if it weren't for him, the '90s Bulls might have never been a thing.

"I take a lot of credit for their success," Reggie says. "Because, if we weren't so bad, they would have never gotten Michael Jordan."

Theus laughs off the comment ... but Reggie WAS part of the Chicago team in the 1983-84 season that was so awful, it allowed the Bulls to get the No. 3 pick and take M.J. the following season.

Seth Rogen says he immediately stepped in when he found out a child actor was put in blackface on the set of the comedy, "Good Boys," which he's producing.

TMZ broke the story ... a stand-in for 11-year-old actor Keith L. Williams was wearing brown makeup to darken his skin, and an afro wig during filming last week in Vancouver. Seth says he's "terribly sorry" it happened.

He says, "As soon as I was made aware of it, I ensured we put an end to it -- and I give my word that on any project my team and I are involved in, we will take every precaution to make sure something similar does not take place again."

As we reported, production sources claimed the makeup was used on the stand-in to match Keith's complexion ... strictly for lighting purposes.

Little Big Town keeps getting the shaft, but in the latest case ... at least the perps who jacked their stuff got a heavy dose of karma.

The acclaimed country band's trailer was stolen Tuesday night in Nashville, but instead of the thieves making off with a load of guitars, amps and expensive band equipment ... they got a bunch of children's gear.

Sources close to LBT tell us a police report was filed with Nashville Metro. The items in the band's trailer include 3 kids razor scooters, 3 bikes, a homemade lemonade stand, a unicorn kiddie pool with a unicorn sprinkler, pool toys, bubbles, chalk, kickballs, basketballs, baseball gloves and bats ... and some workout gear.

Probably not exactly what the criminals had in mind.

For the country band, the burglary news comes on the heels of another unfortunate situation. TMZ broke the story ... Little Big Town's 4 AMA trophies accidentally got sent to Lil Wayne.

Just call it a lil mix-up.

Paris Hilton is absolutely one to hold a grudge when it comes to Lindsay Lohan, and because of that she says there's NO chance she'll watch LiLo on MTV.

We got the reality TV OG -- as she describes herself -- and her fiance, Chris Zylka, Thursday at LAX -- and asked if she had any advice for Linds as she shoots her reality show, "Lohan Beach Club."

The couple laughed it off in unison, although Chris did have one very harsh tip for Lohan.

It's funny ... the dynamic here with Chris and Paris kinda reminds us of 2006, when Paris' pal, Brandon Davis, did all the Lindsay bashing and Paris did all the snickering.

Old habits die hard ... kinda like that grudge, which Paris says is all about Lindsay crossing her fam.

YG is demanding answers from Madden and/or the NFL about why Colin Kaepernick's name was censored from his song ... because he sure as hell didn't approve it.

Sources close to YG tell TMZ Sports, the rapper was completely unaware his track, "Big Bank," would be edited when it was included in Madden NFL 19. The track features Big Sean, Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz, and Sean's verse includes Kaep's name. At least it did until someone scrubbed it.

We're told the move blindsided YG and his team, and his camp's furiously trying to find out who called for the edit -- the game's producer, EA, or the NFL. Either way, he's not happy and wants the song to run unedited.

In case you missed it, Sean's verse went like ... "Feed me to the wolves now I lead the pack and s**t. You boys all cap, I'm more Colin Kaepernick." The final in-game version completely nixes the name.