Deadline

Ryan O'Neal said he backed out of "Dancing with the Stars" because of a bad knee, but multiple sources connected with the show tell TMZ ... he REALLY backed out because he can't stand Nancy Grace.

Sources tell TMZ O'Neal feels Grace has been "disrespectful" to his family ... claiming she has gone after Redmond, who has had ongoing drug problems, and even suggested the reason Redmond is messed up is because Ryan is a bad parent.

George Stephanopoulos could lose his "Good Morning America" anchor chair within a year to the news reader who towers over him ... this according to network sources.

The buzz at ABC is that Josh Elliott -- a former ESPN sports anchor who has been the GMA news reader since March -- is on the fast track for the anchor seat. Josh filled in on "World News Tonight" last week and network suits are in love with him.

The network will deny it's contemplating a change, but that's not what we're hearing.

The ratings at GMA have actually gone up a bit with George, so why would the network mess with the show? Our sources say the suits think Josh and Robin Roberts have better chemistry and look better together.

Our sources say the buzz is that George could go back to his old job, anchoring "This Week," especially because execs privately now admit Christiane Amanpour is a disaster as an anchor.

Not that there's anything wrong with it.

7:55 AM: An ABC News spokeswoman tells TMZ, "This is Total Nonsense."

Jennifer Lopez might be moving on from hubby Marc Anthony in a big way -- because last night she went out on a date with Bradley Cooper ... TMZ has learned.

We're told the two hit up Per Se, a restaurant located at Columbus Circle in New York City. We're told the dinner was "romantic" and was just the two of them.

Andy Whitfield -- who left the show "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma -- died today in Sydney, Australia. He was 39.

Whitfield's wife issued a statement, saying her husband died on a "sunny Sydney morning" in the "arms of his loving wife."

Chris Albrecht, President and CEO of Starz (which aired "Spartacus"), released a statement saying, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our dear friend andcolleague, Andy Whitfield. We were fortunate to haveworked with Andy in 'Spartacus' and came to know that the man whoplayed a champion on-screen was also a champion in his own life."

Simon Cowell is pulling out all the stops to make sure the U.S. version of "The X Factor" is a hit -- we've learned he's snagged Rihanna as a guest judge.

Judges on the show bring on guests to help them decide which contestants to mentor -- and Antonio "L.A." Reid, who signed Rihanna back in 2005, will bring her on board to help him decide.

The 84-year-old woman who hit Reese Witherspoon with her car says she feels awful about the situation ... but also thinks there's a big problem with the intersection where the accident happened.

According to a family member, the woman thinks the Santa Monica corner is especially dangerous because there's a large tree blocking sight lines for drivers.

We're also told she was very shaken up by the accident -- and had no idea she had hit an Oscar winner when it all went down.

You never know where Jim Carrey is going to turn up next these days -- this weekend, it was on stage at a bar in New York City singing the classic Smashing Pumpkins song, "Bullet With Butterfly Wings."

George Clooney and his girlfriend du jour Stacy Keibler were photographed together last night ... leaving an event in Toronto.

Cliff Robertson, who won an Oscar in 1968 and became known to modern audiences for his roll as Uncle Ben in the "Spider-Man" movies, died yesterday. He was 88.

Robertson famously portrayed John F. Kennedy in the movie "PT-109," the first movie to portray a sitting president.

He won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1968 for his portrayal of a mentally disabled man in the movie "Charly."

Mel Gibson has a passion for the story of Judah Maccabee, one of the greatest Jewish heroes of all time, but is not doing the movie as an act of contrition.

Sources very close to Mel tell TMZ ... Gibson does not feel the need to bridge a gap between himself and the Jewish community, because he doesn't believe a gap exists. They say Mel is adamant -- he does not hate Jews, noting that his lawyers are Jewish, his publicist is Jewish, and he has many Jewish friends and employees.

As for Mel's anti-Semitic rant during his 2006 DUI arrest, Mel has written two public letters of apology and also met with numerous leaders in the Jewish community to discuss where he went wrong.

Mel Gibson is facing criticism from some members of the Jewish community who think it's a travesty for him to do a movie about Judah Maccabee, a famous Jewish hero. Now that Warner Bros. has signed on, we gotta ask:

CBS's web series -- "What's Trending" -- tweeted an item which said, "Reports say that Steve Jobs has passed away. Stay tuned for more updates."

But almost immediately, they yanked the item and tweeted an apology of sorts: "Reports of Steve Job's [sic] death completely unconfirmed."

Notice CBS didn't say it wasn't true -- they're just saying they have no idea one way or the other.

The British rapper who dropped $37,500 on the badass new Marty McFly kicks tells TMZ, he wasn't planning to buy them at last night's L.A. auction -- he just got caught up in the moment.

Tinie Tempah tells us, "It was a total spur of the moment decision. I was really touched in the moment by the presentation and next thing I knew I owned these iconic sneakers."

Tinie -- a longtime sneaker-collector -- says he's also a HUGE fan of "Back to the Future" ... so the shoes "were an all-around great purchase that will go on to help [The Michael J. Fox Foundation]."

The actor who played bad guy Random Task in "Austin Powers" has been sentenced to life in prison for his role in the brutal gang rape and torture of a woman on Christmas Eve in 1990.

Joseph Hyungmin Son had been found guilty of felony torture -- for an incident in which a young woman was kidnapped, shoved into the back of a trunk ... and then raped and sodomized multiple times by Son and another man.

During today's hearing, an Orange County, CA judge ruled that Son may become eligible for parole during his sentence.

The victim, who wishes to remain anonymous, released a statement to the court saying, "My emotional scars are intense. My twenties were stripped from my life as I relearned how to walk, see, hear and cope with the outside world again."

So ... what kind of a person drops $37,500 on a pair of crazy "Back to the Future" shoes??? A 22-year-old British rapper named Tinie Tempah ... that's who.

TMZ spoke with Tinie's rep ... who told us the London native is a serious shoe collector ... and he simply fell in love with the Marty McFly sneakers at the charity auction in L.A. last night.

We're told Tinie -- whose new song "Written In the Stars" has become a worldwide hit -- is on his way to South Africa at the moment.

No word if he's actually wearing the shoes on the plane ... but he should be.

Two powerful Jewish organizations are lashing out against the decision to hire Mel Gibson to produce a movie about biblical Jewish hero Judah Maccabee ... TMZ has learned.

The Anti-Defamation League has released a statement -- demanding Warner Bros. pull Gibson off the flick immediately ... saying, "As a hero of the Jewish people and a universal hero in the struggle for religious liberty, Judah Maccabee deserves better."

The statement adds, "It would be a travesty to have the story of the Maccabees told by one who has no respect and sensitivity for other people’s religious views."

TMZ also spoke with Rabbi Marvin Hier -- founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center -- who tells us putting Mel Gibson work on a movie about a Jewish hero is "like having a white supremacist portray Martin Luther King Jr."