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Now we know what incited Azealia Banks into a fit of racial rage last month ... DC Young Fly's joke on "Wild 'N Out" that Azealia was a poor substitute for Cardi B.

TMZ has obtained a clip from the show, during a game called "So Petty." DC cracked that Azealia was booked because Nick Cannon and co. couldn't land Cardi.

Azealia didn't find it funny at all, calling the punchline "anti-black." The intimation ... that Cardi B was a light-skinned woman and therefore more beautiful than the darker-skinned Azealia.

So, now we know why Azealia went HAM on social media last month, saying, "Some little scrawny black Atlanta twink was prepared for me. They planned this - hit me on short notice, told me I didn’t have to participate in the coon ass freestyle battles, (not my style) and I was to sing my song and go home."

Nick was clearly annoyed by Azealia's comment, saying essentially she opened herself up to attack by resorting to racial insults.

Kylie Jenner did NOT want to come face-to-face with Nicki Minaj at the VMAs, 'cause she completely changed course on the red carpet to avoid her.

Nicki was making her entrance at Radio City Music Hall Monday night, and Kylie was walking in her direction from the other end ... when she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Nicki. It's pretty clear she didn't want a confrontation -- 'cause she doubled back fast.

Can't blame her. Nicki put Kylie and her baby, Stormi, on blast this weekend ... blaming them for unscrupulously boosting Travis Scott's album sales by promoting his merch. She later went on to call Travis a "hoe n**** of the week" on her Apple Music radio show.

VMA producers had already accommodated Travis and Kylie by seating them far away from Nicki after placing them right behind her at first in a seating arrangement.

Looks like you can't avoid running into your problems sometimes -- but you can always run away from them. Kylie definitely didn't want that smoke.

Justin "Bobby" Brescia is thrilled to be working with a smaller cast on "The Hills" reboot ... 'cause he says Lauren Conrad and Kristin Cavallari killed the good vibes on the original MTV series.

We got Justin in NYC Monday leaving the Four Seasons Hotel ... and he suggested LC and Kristin were difficult to work with -- so he's glad the 2 aren't joining him on the reboot, "The Hills: New Beginnings."

Justin tells us ... there were "s****y people" involved in the original show, which ran for 6 seasons from 2006-10 ... and says the new cast is way better.

The new show features Audrina Patridge, Heidi Pratt, Whitney Port, Spencer Pratt, Stephanie Pratt, Jason Wahler, Frankie Delgado and Justin.

LC and Kristin aren't coming back for different reasons. LC is focusing on her family and business ventures. Kristin is under contract with E! for her own reality show.

Justin says the condensed cast is happy and they all have positive vibes.

Madonna tried (and failed) to adequately pay tribute to Aretha Franklin at the VMAs this week -- and while many of Aretha's fans are pissed ... the woman's own kin isn't.

We spoke with one of Aretha's nephews, Tim Franklin, who says the family was not upset over Madonna's awkward VMAs speech about how Aretha led her to who she is today. It was long-winded and rambling ... but more importantly, all about herself and not Aretha.

Tim tells us not only are the Franklins not mad, but they believe Aretha herself would not have been upset either. While they didn't catch Madonna's misfire, their point is this ... Aretha's far bigger than any kind of tribute, and her fans shouldn't be so sensitive. She wouldn't have been, according to Tim.

Madge herself addressed the controversy Tuesday, saying her "tribute" was never meant to be a full-blown thing or production. She says she was instructed to share a personal anecdote about Aretha, and that's exactly what she did. Considering the tight restraints of a televised award show, Madonna says ... "I could never do her justice in this context or environment."

As we reported ... Aretha died last Thursday from advanced pancreatic cancer. Tributes of all forms have been coming in from across the country since she passed.

Cardi B didn't perform at the VMAs, but she DID drop some bars at an afterparty ... and it was all new music. Cardi was feeling herself as she rapped on stage at Tao NYC ... throwing some major shade at Nicki Minaj in the process.

With baby daddy Offset hugging on her, Cardi B busted out some new lyrics ... 'I know how to do it / Get a bag, don't I / I know how to get a b**** mad' ... pretty clear she's referencing Nicki.

The shots didn't stop there.

In another new track, Cardi B raps ... 'I'm the queen of talking sh*t / yeah I'm backing it up / yeah, back, back, backing it up' ... that's another clear swipe at Nicki and her new album, 'Queen.'

Cardi then celebrated winning 3 awards by making a pit stop at McDonalds for a delicious treat.

Cardi pretty clearly shaded Nicki Minaj when she called herself "empress" during her speech. Nicki not only thinks of herself as the queen ... as we showed you, she actually thinks she's Harriet Tubman, something that has outraged non-fans and, frankly, even some of her diehard fans. Between Travis Scott, Kylie and now Cardi, Nicki had no place to safely turn in the venue.

Cardi B just showed up to the VMAs -- her first public event since giving birth last month -- and the rapper looks incredible.

CB arrived to Radio City Music Hall Monday evening in NYC rockin' a beautiful purple gown and a sweet new pixie cut. Oh, and her post-baby body is absolutely on point.

Believe it or not, Cardi just popped out baby Kulture a little over a month ago ... and it's clear she's snapped right back.

We broke the story ... Cardi will be opening the televised show in just a few minutes -- not with a musical performance, but with either a monologue or skit of some sort.

Nicki Minaj isn't just comparing herself to Harriet Tubman -- she's now saying she IS Harriet Tubman ... just new and improved.

We got the "QUEEN" MC leaving her hotel Monday night on her way to the VMAs at Radio City Music Hall, where our camera guy asked about a new controversy swarming around Nick from a tweet she put out earlier in the day ... conjuring Harriet's name, and drawing comparisons.

Some Twitter fans were furious Nicki insinuated she was in the same league as Harriet, although Nicki never explicitly compared herself to the civil rights icon. Until now, that is. Our photog has her on camera saying it straight-up ... "I am the new Harriet Tubman."

We press her to make sure she knew what she's saying, and the implications of her remarks -- which are certainly shocking. She pushes right back, insisting she is the next Harriet Tubman. You do you, Nick?

BTW ... we also got Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner heading to the VMAs, and asked if they were gonna try to squash the beef Nicki started on Sunday. They were mum on all that ... but we're guessing that whole mess will sort itself out in the stands.

We got 50 Cent out after the VMA's and asked him what he thought about the Harriet Tubman reference and he was ... guarded.

The 2018 VMAs were out of this world, and you can tell by just how damn happy everyone was behind the scenes.

Radio City Music Hall was lit up with A-listers Monday night during MTV's signature award show, and based on what we're seeing here ... it was kinda the Cardi B/Ariana Grande/Jennifer Lopez show heading inside. They definitely took up a lot of the spotlight.

Cardi was radiating in her purple gown just over a month after giving birth, and AG was showing plenty of PDA with her fiance, Pete Davidson. As for J Lo ... well, she was just being J Lo with A-Rod. 'Nuff said.

Safaree says he isn't worried about potentially running into his ex, Nicki Minaj, on the red carpet at the VMAs ... but he does have some advice for her.

We got the 'Love & Hip Hop' star Monday as he was heading to Radio City Music Hall in NYC to attend the MTV awards show when he took some clear shots at Nicki on the heels of their online beef ... not to mention all her other Twitter squabbles this week.

As we reported ... Safaree claimed Nicki once tried to stab him with a knife in 2014 -- she called him a liar. Nicki also called out Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner over the weekend for working together to push his album sales past hers on the charts.

Safaree's got some thoughts on that too ... pick your battles, Nick. And grow with the times.

Our guy also asks if he beefed up security to avoid any nasty run-ins with Nicki on the red carpet -- like MTV brass is already doing to accommodate the feuding exes -- but he insists he's only rolling deep as a result of his robbery earlier this year.

Aerosmith will be the closing act for the 2018 VMAs this week -- and it might very well give us a glimpse of what's to come in Vegas.

Sources close to the band tell us Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and co. are taking the stage Monday night at Radio City Music Hall in NYC to close out MTV's award show. We're told they're going to be performing their smash hit "Walk This Way."

We got the band out in NYC Monday ... and each member seemed to drop hints at a possible collab for their performance.

Considering the size of the venue, it'll be the perfect warm-up for Aerosmith ... the band's got a Vegas residency coming up. As we reported ... the band announced they'll be hitting the strip next Spring and putting on 18 shows at the MGM Grand Park Theater ... which seats 5,200 people.

RCMH seats more people -- a skosh over 6,000 -- but is significantly smaller in square footage. All in all ... we're guessing it'll be good practice for the Boys from Boston on a smaller stage than what they're normally used to. Might as well get it in early and often.

Also noteworthy ... Aerosmith had a pretty epic opening performance at the VMAs in 1999, where they also played "Walk This Way" ... but had some help from Kid Rock and Run-D.M.C.

The ugly war of words between Nicki Minaj and Safaree could come to a head if the exes run into each other at the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards, but there's a plan in place to avoid that ... TMZ has learned.

Nicki and Safaree will be at the VMAs Monday night in NYC -- she's performing and he's repping VH1 -- so both will be doing press on the carpet outside Radio City Music Hall beforehand.

It will be the first time the 2 will be in the same vicinity since Safaree claimed Nicki stabbed him and tried to kill him. She fired back, calling him a thief and a liar.

We're told people in charge of security at the event are well aware of the bad blood, and extra measures -- including more guards -- are being taken to ensure the 2 don't have any interaction ... and no nasty confrontation.

Jenelle Evans has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in a child abuse investigation ... law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

Jenelle's baby daddy, Nathan, triggered the investigation by telling cops their son, Kaiser, would repeatedly come to his house with bruises. Nathan thought the bruises were at the hands of Jenelle's husband, David Eason.

Social workers from the Dept. of Social Services visited Jenelle's home late last month and determined there was no abuse. We don't know how they determined the nature and cause of the bruises.

We've learned the Columbus County Sheriff's Office has just cleared both Jenelle and David of any impropriety.

When Nathan filed the police report, he also tried to wrestle custody away from Jenelle and refused to return Kaiser to her, but that was short-lived ... authorities ordered him to return the child to his mother.

Lindsay Lohan is backtracking on some eyebrow-raising comments she made about #MeToo -- calling women who speak out as looking "weak" -- and is setting the record straight.

LiLo issued a statement Sunday apologizing for her remarks and any harm inflicted. She says ... "The quote solely related to my hope that a handful of false testimonies out of a tsunami of heroic voices do not serve to dilute the importance of the #MeToo movement, and all of us who champion it."

She continues ... "However, I have since learned how statements like mine are seen as hurtful, which was never my intent. I’m sorry for any pain I may have caused."

The original comment came out recently in a Times interview, in which she criticized some women for coming out with their stories of sexual abuse way after the fact -- rather than address it in the moment -- and added speaking out now made strong women "look weak."

Lindsay Lohan isn't letting the backlash from her recent comments on the #MeToo movement keep her from doing her thing in Greece.

Lindsay was spotted Wednesday heading out to film her new MTV reality show, "Lohan Beach Club," in Mykonos. She was smiling and wearing a floral sheer dress with a Moschino belt.

The "Mean Girls" star recently slammed the #MeToo accusers, calling them weak in an interview with The Times. But it doesn't look like the actress is too worried about her comments.

The good news ... Lindsay's back on her feet after being hobbled by a bum ankle during filming.

Nev Schulman wants Cardi B as his next 'Catfish' co-host 'cause he likes it like that ... but landing her's a different story.

We hit up Nev on the heels of Max Joseph announcing he's leaving the show after 7 seasons as its co-host and wanted to know who's sliding next to him on MTV. Nev starts graciously and says Max is irreplaceable, but adds the show must go on.

And, with that said ... Nev's set his sights on the "Bodak Yellow" rapper. Of course, he's singing her praises, but he knows landing her is tricky for obvious reasons. No problem, he's already thinking of ways to hook her in for at least a guest hosting gig.

If not Cardi, Nev says he's definitely keen on getting a woman's take on the show.

Nev Schulman is losing his longtime TV partner and 'Catfish' co-host, Max Joseph, to life behind the camera ... TMZ has learned.

Max tells us he's quitting the MTV show -- which he helped create and co-host for 7 years -- to pursue his budding career in filmmaking. He says, "For a while now I have been straddling two careers as TV host and filmmaker and, while this level of busy-ness is a dream come true, my life can no longer sustain it."

Max adds ... "With 'Catfish' still going strong after 7 seasons, 115 episodes, 31 specials and showing no sign of slowing down, I feel it is finally the time for me to make my exit."

Nev says he's gonna miss Max for "his ability to listen, empathize and advise" and adds ... "While selfishly I'd love to keep him all to myself, I know that unleashing the creativity and passion that he has will benefit so many of us."

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.