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"Vanderpump Rules" star Danica Dow's ex-BF -- the one she got a restraining order against -- is admitting he ransacked her wardrobe, but he's still avoiding criminal charges for the clothing attack.

So, here's the deal ... back in August, Danica got a temporary restraining order against Brett Willis claiming he broke into her home in the middle of the night, cut up a bunch of her clothes, and stole her iPhone.

Danica reported the incident to cops, but TMZ's learned the L.A. County D.A.'s Office will not file charges against Willis, and here's why.

We're told Brett copped to damaging Danica's clothes, but he offered to pay for damage and Danica accepted. He also returned her iPhone, which he said he grabbed by mistake because it looked like his. So, basically ... no blood, no foul so the D.A.'s Office decided not to charge him.

Brett tells TMZ ... he cooperated with law enforcement, and is relieved to close this chapter of his life. He wants to move forward with a positive attitude, but there's still the matter of a couple restraining orders.

Brett also filed for one against Danica, claiming she got violent with him in July over dirty dishes. He claimed she "grabbed my neck twice, each time digging her nails deep."

It might be getting cooler outside, but that's not stopping these sexy stars from finding ways to keep bikini season going strong and bring the heat to social media for the dropping temps!

Anastasia Karanikolaou, Charli XCX, and Demi Lovato are just a few of the stars that are strippin' down to their swimsuits, taking a dip, and sharing all their steamy hot shots!

Barack Obama is reminding the nation he congratulated Donald Trump as soon as he won the election ... a courtesy the President's refusing to extend to Joe Biden.

The former president ripped Trump for failing to acknowledge Biden as president-elect with so much as a congratulatory phone call in an interview with "CBS This Morning," telling Gayle King Trump is damaging our democracy with the way he's eschewing what's traditionally been a peaceful -- and cordial -- transfer of power.

Obama recalled election night 2016, saying he stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to phone Trump and congratulate the president-elect. Obama says he was doing what presidents do, just as George W. Bush graciously did during Obama's historic 2008 victory.

Trump's refusal to concede and call up president-elect Biden is clearly not sitting well with Obama.

As you know ... Obama previously chided Trump and the GOP for continuing to make baseless claims of election fraud in an interview with "60 Minutes," telling Scott Pelley it undermines the country.

Obama points out Biden and 2016 Trump will end up with the same number of Electoral College votes, 306, but says half the country likely won't take that into account if they keep consuming conservative media ... which Obama says presents voter fraud allegations as fact.

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis are no longer an item ... the couple's reportedly called it quits after a lengthy engagement, during which they started a family.

The actors secretly ended things at the beginning of this year, though they've been able to successfully co-parent their 2 young children ... according to People. The report also describes the breakup as amicable.

Sudeikis and Wilde first started dating in 2011, and Jason proposed the next year. Olivia said yes ... but, barring reconciliation, there won't be a walk down the aisle.

They were last seen together in September, and the pics of them on a Malibu beach appear to show they've remained friends after the split ... or maybe even tried to work things out. It doesn't appear their kids -- 6-year-old Otis and 4-year-old Daisy -- were with them on the beach trip.

We reached out to reps for both Jason and Olivia ... so far, no word back.

President Trump has surfaced with great news -- the whole country will be getting the COVID-19 vaccine next spring, unless you live in NY ... where all you're getting is screwed by the Trump v. Cuomo war.

The President made his first public remarks since the election, Friday at the White House ... and proudly announced Operation Warp Speed is ready to distribute Pfizer's vaccine as soon as it gets FDA approval. He's projecting delivery will begin in April.

Great news, right? Well, POTUS also served up a side dish of petty with the vaccine. He said NY state will NOT be getting the vaccine because Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he doesn't want it.

Trump was referring to comments the Gov. has made about not trusting a vaccine if the Trump administration rushes its approval. Well, The Prez is taking him at his word, and went on to rip Cuomo for his COVID-19 response in the Empire State.

The good news for NYers is there's still time for both men to squash the beef, and Trump did say everything could change if Cuomo calls and asks for the vaccine. Translation: Kiss the ring, then you'll get the meds.

However, the Governor's Office tells TMZ, "Trump has failed with his pandemic response, lied to the Americans about how bad it was when he knew otherwise & was fired by voters for his incompetence. Governor Cuomo is fighting to ensure the communities hit hardest by COVID get the vaccine."

Doesn't sound like an attempt to make peace.

The wild card, of course, is President-elect Joe Biden, who it appears WILL be in the Oval Office come April -- so, maybe Cuomo doesn't see a need to bow to Trump.

While Trump did not take any questions from reporters, he did make one reference to the election, saying, "This administration will not be going to a lockdown. Who knows which administration it will be ... I guess time will tell."

It's the closest he's come to acknowledging defeat, but still ... NOT a concession speech.

Claudia Jordan thinks Donald Trump was always cool to her because he wanted to get in her pants, and now she's comparing him to folks like Thomas Jefferson. That's NOT a Presidential reference, either.

The "Celebrity Apprentice" alum opened up about her reality show days with Trump while on the latest edition of the Political Junkeez podcast. It's no secret she hates DT now, but back then she says they got along fine enough -- but added that was only "because he wanted to f**k."

Now, she didn't accuse him of trying anything untoward -- sounds like it was more of a vibe she got from Trump -- but did say no one should take his admiration for her as a sign he's not racist.

In fact, she compared him to slave owners who had sex with their slaves.

Claudia competed on seasons 2 and 6 of "Celebrity Apprentice," but also knew Trump from her days in the Miss USA competition.

Everyone knows Kamala Harris made history by being voted in as the first Black, Asian and female Vice President, but some people don't know she used to date Montel Williams!!!

That fun fact is all the buzz on the Internet Friday, as photos of the VP-elect and the longtime talk show host from a 2001 charity event have popped up again.

The pic also includes Montel's daughter, Ashley, as he has an arm around both women ... who are all smiles along with him.

Funny thing is, Williams dropped this juicy nugget of info more than a year ago on Twitter, when he confirmed a story circulating about his relationship history with Harris. Guess people weren't paying attention to Montel's tweets back then, plus she hadn't been selected as Biden's running mate back then.

Montel said they "briefly dated" about 20 years ago while they were both single. He also seemed annoyed over the love life stories about the Senator, and wondered if there was some sexism to it.

The father and son charged with the murder of Ahmaud Arbery are staying put in jail pending their trial ... a judge just denied their request for bond.

Travis McMichael and his father Greg McMichael were back in a Georgia courthouse Friday for the second straight day of court hearings, and that's when Judge Timothy Walmsley made his decision, saying they need to stay locked up pending their trial because they are a danger to the community.

During the hearing, the state played police body cam footage from the aftermath of the Arbery shooting ... and the judge said there was "significant danger" in the McMichaels' actions. The video shows Greg McMichael repeatedly mentioning his previous ties to local law enforcement, which prosecutors believe was an attempt to "obstruct justice."

Ahmaud's mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, again spoke in the courthouse during Friday's hearing ... and was visibly emotional, saying it was the first time she'd seen the police footage.

As we reported ... Ahmaud's mom addressed the court Thursday, saying the McMichaels didn't give her son a chance to go home when they allegedly murdered him, so they shouldn't get to go home either.

Wanda also said the McMichaels are just as dangerous now as they were when Ahmaud was shot dead ... and it sounds like the judge agreed.

As you know ... the McMichaels and William "Roddie" Bryan, the man who authorities say recorded Ahmaud's slaying, were indicted by a grand jury back in June, and they're facing 9 felony charges ... including 4 counts felony murder, 1 count of malice murder, 2 counts aggravated assault, 1 count false imprisonment and 1 count criminal attempt to commit false imprisonment.

Kobe Bryant is still a titan of industry -- even in death -- so says Forbes which just ranked him #6 on its "Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities of 2020" list.

The NBA legend passed away on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash -- but in the months that followed, his estate pulled in an estimated $20 million in earnings, Forbes says.

The main source of income is from shoes and apparel -- with Nike reportedly raking in around $250 mil annually from Mamba items.

In addition to sneakers, Kobe's 2018 autobiography, "The Mamba Mentality: How I Play" sold more than 300,000 copies this year --TEN TIMES the number of copies it did in 2019, Forbes says.

There's more ... after the Lakers won the NBA championship in October, Bryant's jersey was the #2 seller for the organization, behind Finals MVP LeBron James.

As for the rest of the Forbes list ... Michael Jackson is still #1 with $48 mil in earnings in 2020. Dr. Seuss is #2 with $33 mil. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz is #3 with $32.5. Arnold Palmer is #4 with $25 million. And #5 is Elvis with $23 mil.

Elvis' estate has lost a ton of money this year because of the COVID pandemic -- tourism at his legendary home Graceland is a big moneymaker, but it's been hit hard by the shutdowns.

The death of 15-year-old Quawan "Bobby" Charles has all the markings of a modern-day lynching according to his family -- who say the case reminds them of the Emmett Till tragedy.

The Black teenager's body was found in a sugar cane field in Louisiana on November 3 after he'd been reported missing on October 30. Although the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office has said it's investigating the "suspicious circumstances" of his death, it has not released many details.

Cops did tell Quawan's family that he drowned and water was found in his lungs. His family, including his cousin, Celina Charles, calls that explanation "bogus" ... saying Quawan's terribly disfigured face tells a much different story.

Quawan's mother, Roxanne Nelson, chose to release a photo of his face -- apparently taken at the morgue -- which bears a tragic resemblance to Till ... the 14-year-old who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955, and whose horrific death helped spark the Civil Rights movement.

An autopsy has reportedly been performed on Quawan, but the Sheriff's Office says results could take up to 12 weeks. Quawan's family says it has not seen preliminary results nor a police report.

Quawan's family claims cops dropped the ball from the start, when he was reported missing to the Baldwin Police Dept. on Oct. 30. Quawan's family attorney says the cops gave no indication they were actively looking for him, and instead suggested he might have just gone to a football game.

According to the family, they discovered on their own that Quawan had been picked up on the day of his disappearance by a 17-year-old white friend and his mother ... but Quawan's family claims it does not know this family and did not give them permission to take him.

The family reportedly confirmed they picked up Quawan because the kids wanted to hang out, but say Quawan later left alone.

Quawan's family and civil rights advocates believe racial bias played into law enforcement's delayed investigation, and Quawan's mother wants more answers from the white family that last saw him alive.

So far, no suspects have been named in the case and it has not been designated as a homicide.

Quawan's family has launched a Gofundme to conduct an independent autopsy and help cover costs of investigating his death.

The only thing Americans have to fear from murder hornets is fear itself ... experts say odds are low the remaining queens out there give birth to an army of killers.

Here's the deal ... a lot of folks were alarmed by recent reports that scientists in Washington found nearly 200 queens in the nest that was eradicated last month, the fear being ... how many escaped alive and are now buzzing around?!?

But, you can breathe a sigh of relief ... Chris Looney from the Washington State Department of Agriculture, which is studying the insects, tells us there's no particular reason to believe a lot of murder hornets got out of that nest, and even if they did, the majority of those queens are unlikely to start their own nests. Phew.

Of course, there are scenarios where those queens might start their own nests, but fortunately, we're told those odds are low ... even in 2020.

The doomsday scenario would have to play out like this ... a queen would need to mate with a male murder hornet, but that's no simple task. It's not like they have Bumble.

Let's say the queen mates ... the queen would then have to spend this winter hibernating. Well, surviving hibernation is not a given, and we're told some of the queens would surely die in the process, just like any other bug.

There's more hurdles after mating and hibernation ... in the spring, a queen would have to find food and an appropriate nesting site. Again, no easy task, and the process exposes the queen to more potential danger and puts them at risk of dying.

Feel better now?!?

And, there's this ... Chris says murder hornets have only been found in Northwest Washington, so folks in nearby states have no reason to fear murder hornets flying their way.

In fact, he says WSDA scientists recently conducted a study showing it would take about a decade or more for murder hornets to invade another state ... and that's the worst-case scenario, because it's likely to take even longer.

And, if you do live in Washington, we're told the only worry should be about the murder hornet nests that are already made and haven't been found. Just like the nest the WSDA eradicated last month, we're told there could be a nest out there with a ton of queens, some of which will go off and form their own nests.

Quando Rondo didn't come looking for trouble when his crew got into a violent altercation with King Von that ended in a fatal shooting ... at least according to Quando's camp.

Sources close to Quando Rondo tell TMZ ... the rapper wasn't seeking out a fight with King Von the night Von was shot dead outside an Atlanta hookah lounge, and they say Von was acting as the aggressor in the brawl that preceded gunfire.

Our sources say Quando was napping in a car outside the club and when he woke up, Von's crew was there, and things suddenly got tense. We're told Von approached Quando and his crew with anger, which led to the brawl.

New footage from outside the club appears to show King Von throwing punches at Quando Rondo's crew, and our sources claim Quando's camp was just defending itself. We're told Quando didn't know what was going on and believed his life was in danger.

As we reported ... police also opened fire while confronting the gunmen, but cops say King Von was shot during the initial shootout with Quando Rondo's group.

One of Quando Rondo's crew members was arrested for felony murder, and our law enforcement sources tell us QR is NOT under investigation and cops consider the case closed.