Celebrity Apprentice

'The Apprentice' will be put on ice during Donald Trump's presidential run ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected with Trump tell us, Season 15 will not air. The networks cannot give one candidate disproportionate airtime.

Our Donald sources say no one will take Trump's place on the show ... it's simply going off the air until his campaign runs its course.

O.G. 'Apprentice' bitch Omarosa Manigault isn't about to let some ‘Real Housewife' from Down Under rip-off her self-help book -- and now she's taking legal action to block the "bitch."

The ‘Apprentice’ vet served Pettifleur Berenger -- one of the "Real Housewives of Melbourne" -- with a cease-and-desist for her recent self-help book, "Switch the Bitch: My Formula to Being the Champion of Your Life, Not the Victim."

Sound familiar? Omarosa dropped her own motivational tome, "The Bitch Switch: Knowing How To Turn It On and Off" ... back in October of 2008.

Gotta say ... Omarosa and her lawyer, Bradford M. Cohen, fired off a pretty entertaining letter. They demand a full accounting of Berenger’s book sales … which they say “should not take long” -- since it's an "absolute bore to read."

Lastly, if Berenger doesn't pull her "literary classic" off shelves immediately ... Omarosa says she will file a lawsuit seeking $150k for each violation of her copyright.

NBC hung Brian Williams out to dry, and guaranteed he will never return to its "Nightly News" desk ... according to veteran news guy Geraldo Rivera.

The "Celebrity Apprentice" runner-up told us Williams got a raw deal when NBC suspended him for 6 months, because it prolonged the inevitable -- what he calls a "death penalty" to BW's career.

Geraldo added ... the Peacock should've just ripped off the band-aid and canned Williams now. Not that he thinks that would've been fair.

Watch the video ... it's the staunchest defense we've seen yet -- blasting network execs and everyone who's judging Brian from "the safety of their parents' basement with their hands on their computer saying tsk tsk."

We smell a budding bromance.

Terrell Owens has been hit with ANOTHER big tax bill from the IRS -- but the ex-NFL star tells TMZ Sports he's already in the process of cleaning up the mess.

According to official documents filed in the L.A. County Recorder's Office, 41-year-old Owens is still on the hook for $107,297.60 in federal income taxes from 2013.

Owens is no stranger to tax issues -- he's been hit with at least 4 tax liens in the past ... but has settled all but one of those debts.

T.O. has been pretty open about his financial blunders -- and has been adamant about his desire to get his bank affairs in order.

Vivica A. Fox sounds like she's taking Kenya Moore to court for allegedly jacking her cell phone on "Celebrity Apprentice" ... because she's already got a witness, who she revealed last night.

Outside NYC's swanky Cipriani ... Vivica told a photog she was looking just too damn good to ever tweet about menopause, and then introduced her key witness -- her makeup artist.

Kenya, of course, denies stealing the phone or sending out the offending tweet, but check out the video -- Fox insists nothing was staged, and claims her makeup artist can prove it.

"Celebrity Apprentice" star Kenya Moore says Vivica A. Fox is off her rocker if she actually believes Moore hacked her cell phone while taping Monday night's episode.

Fox and Moore got into an epic boardroom blowout after Fox blasted her for swiping her phone and tweeting ridiculous things about menopause -- but Moore tells TMZ it's nothing but lies and accusations.

Moore says there's zero proof she hijacked the phone, and if she could, she'd be working for the CIA.

Sources close to the show say a ton of interns were on set, and would have had plenty of opportunity to grab the phone ... so, it's possible Kenya's innocent.

The conspiracy was never cleared up on the show ... since Trump fired Kenya.

Boston Red Sox owner John Henry tells TMZ Sports ... he's got NO GRUDGE against Johnny Damon for leaving the team for the Yanks back in 2005 ... despite Johnny suggesting there was lingering beef between the two.

As we previously reported, Damon told Donald Trump he didn't hit up Henry for a donation during a fundraising task on this week's "Celebrity Apprentice" because they weren't exactly on speaking terms after the whole contract situation from '05.

But Henry tells us he has absolutely NO ill will toward Damon -- saying, "I have nothing but respect personally for Johnny."

Henry continued, "He accomplished a great deal in Boston and will always be welcome at Fenway."

So, seems Trump was right ... maybe Johnny shoulda hit Henry up for a donation after all.

Terrell Owens got the boot from "Celebrity Apprentice" last night ... but he didn't get the wrath of The Donald -- he got one of the nicest sackings in the history of the show.

T.O. -- along with Johnny Damon and Ian Ziering -- were called into the boardroom after losing a fundraiser in which the gang had to sell wedding dresses.

But Owens didn't go nuts when Ian called him out for raising the least amount of money -- instead, T.O. owned up to the failure and essentially called on Trump to give him the axe.

Bill Cosby was the elephant in the room for the season premiere of "Celebrity Apprentice" ... where Keshia Knight Pulliam revealed she has had virtually no contact with the comedian for 5 years.

The episode was filmed way before the latest round of allegations surfaced against Cosby, but years after a female employee at Temple University sued him for sexual assault.

Cosby became the focus of the episode because Pulliam refused to hit him up for a donation as part of the show's challenge. Pulliam was called on the carpet by Donald Trump for not making the call.

Pulliam explained her decision not to reach out to her TV dad ... saying she hadn't spoken to him in years.

But she tweeted Monday, insinuating the silence between them has nothing to do with sexual assault allegations, saying, "That's just not the man I know, so I can't speak to it."

In the end, Trump fired her.

Omarosa Manigault is ripping her old boss Donald Trump ... saying he's talking out of his ass when he blames President Obama for the Ferguson riots -- and Trump has no clue what's really happening there.

Omarosa -- a veteran of 3 seasons of "The Apprentice" -- tells TMZ Trump is entitled to his opinion ... but claims he's making up facts when he says Obama's weak leadership is responsible for America's racial divide.

Trump tweeted ... Obama has "no control (or respect) over the African-American community" -- and blamed him for blacks doing "so poorly" under his presidency.

Omarosa tells us ... she thinks Trump is full of BS, and claims she personally spent time in Ferguson working alongside White House personnel sent by the President to deal with the crisis.

She also says Trump is the one who's making things worse because -- "With tensions high in our community we don't need more divisiveness! And the Obama bashing is getting a bit redundant."

So much for that 4th go-round on 'Apprentice.'

Joan Rivers made one hell of an impression on her former "Celebrity Apprentice" co-star Herschel Walker ... who just told us a story about Joan that's pretty awesome.

First off, Walker says Rivers was one of the nicest people he'd ever met -- and says he's "very depressed" after learning about her passing.

"I didn’t know much about Joan before 'Apprentice' besides the fact she's a comedian -- but she’s much more than that. She taught me a lot. She's an amazing person."

Now for the story ... Walker says," After 'Celebrity Apprentice,' she asked for my mom’s address. Then, she sent my mom a letter saying how I was such a nice man and sent her a charm necklace by the Joan Rivers collection."

How cool is that?!

"So, unexpected and kind of her," Walker tells us.

R.I.P.

Terrell Owens says he's ready to do "bigger and better things with his life" -- and step one is becoming first black "Bachelor" so he can score his "special someone."

Owens was doing a video session on "Hang w/" alongside “Celebrity Apprentice” co-stars Ian Ziering and Lorenzo Lamas ... who both suggested T.O. could be the perfect man for the ABC show.

"You heard that? From two white guys! I should be 'The Bachelor!' Holla back!"

Ya gotta watch Terrell sell himself as a the ultimate catch -- "I'm a guy of good taste, quality ... I've had my share of women, so to speak."

One of those women is Rachel Snider -- who's currently in a nasty divorce with T.O. after a Kardashian-esque two week marriage.

Still, Owens swears he's ready to commit to the right woman ... a woman he hopes to find on a show featuring people that crave attention even more than he does.

Mark Cuban tells TMZ Sports he does NOT believe Donald Trump can afford to purchase the Buffalo Bills all by himself ... a statement that Trump says is DEAD WRONG.

Trump also says Cuban's a "lightweight whose net worth is a fraction of mine" ... and claims he has first-hand knowledge that Mark sucks at golf.

The Buffalo Bills could have a new owner -- one Donald J. Trump -- who says he's been contacted about buying a piece of the team and will "take a look at it."

Trump was on WBEN radio in Buffalo, NY when they asked him about taking over the NFL team now that longtime owner Ralph Wilson has passed away.

"People have actually talked to me about the Bills. I mean, the group of people called me -- would I be interested in investing, and I'll take a look at it. I mean, I look at a lot of things. I'll take a look at it."

Terrell Owens tells TMZ Sports he's "excited" about his shot to impress Donald Trump on "Celebrity Apprentice" -- but wants everyone to know he's still READY TO GO if an NFL team comes calling.

T.O. was in NYC yesterday getting ready to meet with producers -- when he told us the money he raises on the NBC show will go toward the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.

But the 40-year-old says he still hasn't given up on playing pro football -- telling us he was "on the field" training earlier this week ... just in case.

Owens hasn't been with an NFL team since 2012, when he spent some time with the Seahawks -- but "Apprentice" has been know to jump start seemingly dead careers.

"Celebrity Apprentice" is still weeks away from announcing its latest contestants, but TMZ spies have come through again ... with a list of celebs who will be duking it out this season.

TMZ has learned Geraldo Rivera and former "Cosby Show" star Keshia Knight Pulliam are among the cast members for the upcoming season.

In addition, our spies say two "Real Housewives" -- Brandi Glanville from Bev Hills and Kenya Moore from Atlanta -- will also be doing the show.

Kate Gosselin's name has been rumored for a while now ... and TMZ can confirm she'll be trying to get on Donald Trump's good side as well.

"Celebrity Apprentice" is still a ratings force on Sunday nights and has helped re-launch the careers of Joan Rivers, Arsenio Hall, Trace Adkins and Piers Morgan.