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Love and heartfelt condolences from family, friends, fellow politicians and celebrities are pouring in for John McCain ... who died Saturday afternoon at age 81 after a year-long battle with brain cancer.

John's wife, Cindy, says ... "My heart is broken. I am so lucky to have lived the adventure of loving this incredible man for 38 years. He passed the way he lived, on his own terms, surrounded by the people he loved, in the the place he loved best."

McCain's daugther, Meghan, shared an emotional message captioned "I love you forever."

And the tributes go on, from Barack Obama to George W. Bush and many, many more.

"Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" host Robin Leach has died at the age of 76.

Leach had been hospitalized since November after suffering a stroke while in Cabo San Lucas, and passed away Friday morning in Vegas ... according to his colleague John Katsilometes at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Katsilometes revealed before his death, Leach was in hospice care after suffering a second stroke on Monday. A family from his statement said, "Despite the past 10 months, what a beautiful life he had. Our Dad, Grandpa, Brother, Uncle and friend Robin Leach passed away peacefully last night."

The family continued, "Everyone’s support and love over the past, almost one year, has been incredible and we are so grateful. Memorial arrangements to follow. With love, Steven, Gregg and Rick Leach."

Leach -- a veteran journalist -- launched and hosted 'Lifestyles' in 1984 and it aired until 1995. The show gave viewers a sneak peek into the lives of wealthy entertainers, athletes and CEOs.

The show's success came on the heels of a burst of interest in the lives of the filthy rich back in the 80's. Even years after the show ended, Leach remained a figurehead in the world of wealth and luxury. Despite his ritzy reputation, Leach always insisted he was a normal and down-to-earth dude.

Robin moved to Las Vegas in 1999 and spent most of his final years as a journalist working for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and for the Las Vegas Sun covering celeb events on the strip.

Leach started his career earning just $6 an hour at The Harrow Observer. From there, he became the youngest editor at just 18 years old at London's Daily Mail and later worked for the New York Daily News and People magazine.

In a 2011 interview with The Las Vegas Sun, Leach said, "I wanted no other jobs than to work in newspapers."

Leach's mindset clearly changed when he broke into TV on CNN's "People Tonight" in 1980 and followed up in playing a major part in launching "Entertainment Tonight."

In 2007, Leach was the host of "The Surreal Life: Fame Games" on VH1. The show featured 10 celebs -- including Vanilla Ice, Chyna, Verne Troyer, Ron Jeremy and Brigitte Nielsen -- competing in a series of games for $100,000.

We had Vince Neil -- a longtime friend of Robin's -- on TMZ Live Friday ... who dished on Leach and his accomplishments.

He most recently appeared on an episode of VICELAND's "Most Expensivest" where 2 Chainz jetted to Vegas to sip champagne and eat caviar with Robin.

Leach was to turn 77 Wednesday.

John McCain is making a difficult decision in his year-long battle with brain cancer.

The longtime U.S. Senator from Arizona has decided to stop medical treatment for the disease ... according to the Republican's family.

As we reported ... McCain was diagnosed with brain cancer -- known as glioblastoma -- last July. He'd been receiving treatment from his home near Sedona, Arizona since December.

The 81-year-old is a 6-term Senator and was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee.

McCain's family said age is a factor in John's decision to stop getting treatment ... and he's already surpassed expectations for his survival.

A statement from McCain's family says, "John has surpassed expectations for his survival. But the progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age render their verdict. With his usual strength of will, he has now chosen to discontinue medical treatment."

The statement continues, "Our family is immensely grateful for the support and kindness of all his caregivers over the last year, and for the continuing outpouring of concern and affection from John's many friends and associates, and the many thousands of people who are keeping him in their prayers."

McCain has served in the Senate since 1986. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Arizona in '82.

Before his political career, McCain entered the Naval Academy in 1954 and served in the Navy until '81.

Animal Crackers are now FREE ... from their cages, that is.

It took 116 years, but the packaging of Barnum's Animals no longer depicts the exotic creatures in pens.

Nabisco's popular snack now features a zebra, an elephant, a lion, a giraffe and a gorilla roaming free among grass and trees.

Previously, packaging showed animals and their young locked up in cages.

The stark change has been driven by PETA. In April 2016, the animal rights organization gave notice to Nabisco's parent company, Mondelez International, saying circuses would shock, chain, beat and whip animals in order to intimidate them and force them into performing tricks.

PETA also brought to light dubious practices like circuses separating mothers from their babies and holding animals in chains and cages.

Circuses across the country have also been undergoing change. Ringling Bros. shut down in May 2017 after 146 years in operation, the result of mounting pressure from animal welfare groups, skyrocketing operation costs, legal battles and declining ticket sales.

April Ryan is throwing some serious shade at Omarosa ... saying she never put pen to paper because she used a ghostwriter.

Ryan -- who has reported at the White House for more than 20 years -- bashes Omarosa for her secret recordings and being a backstabber.

April says her upcoming book, "Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House," unlike Omarosa's book, is the real deal.

As for bowing down to Trump before she broke ranks ... April says O shouldn't wait for invites to the church social anytime soon.

This just in ... LESTER HOLT CAN SING!

The "NBC Nightly News" anchor got out from behind the desk Sunday night and took center stage at the Hill Country BBQ joint in NYC to sing his face off -- and it's pretty good!

Holt channeled his inner Bill Withers and belted out the 1977 hit "Lovely Day" with his band, The Rough Cuts.

The whole thing went pretty smoothly -- but Lester definitely loses some cool points for having to check his lyrics sheet a few times during the set. Come on man, it's a classic!!!

Asia Argento -- one of Harvey Weinstein's first accusers and a prominent figure in the #MeToo movement -- reportedly paid off her own accuser, a then 17-year-old boy.

The NYT cites documents it obtained outlining an agreement between Argento's lawyer and her accuser's attorney to pay former child actor Jimmy Bennett -- who once co-starred alongside Argento in a 2004 film -- $380,000 over multiple installments.

The Times reports Bennett's attorney reached out to Argento's camp late last year -- shortly before Ronan Farrow's bombshell New Yorker piece -- stating an intent to sue ... and describing alleged "sexual battery" between Argento and Bennett in 2013 -- when he was only 17 years old. He's 22 now.

According to the Times, the documents claim Jimmy met Asia at a Ritz-Carlton hotel in Marina del Rey, CA on May 9, 2013 and that she proceeded to give him alcohol, kiss him, push him back onto the bed, perform oral sex on him ... and then climb on top of him to have intercourse.

Argento has photos of her and Bennett on her social media account from the day in question. One post shows a photo of the two of them with her caption reading "Happiest day of my life reunion with @jimmymbennett xox". The Times says Bennett's lawyer claimed his client had more photos, one of which allegedly depicts both of them lying topless in bed from that day.

According to the Times ... Argento agreed to pay Bennett $200,000 this past April as an initial installment for the copyright to the risque photo that was in his possession. The Times also cites an email written to Argento from her lawyer saying ... "Ultimately, you decided against the non-disclosure [NDA] language because you felt it was inconsistent with the public messages you’ve conveyed about the societal perils of non-disclosure agreements."

The alleged email ends with this ... "Bennett could theoretically tell people his claims against you. However, under this agreement, he cannot sue you for them. Nor can he post the photo of the two of you. At the very he is not permitted to bother you for more money, disparage you or sue -- so long as you comply with your obligations in the agreement."

Rudy Giuliani just added a new edition to the "alternative facts" library from the Trump White House -- telling a reporter "truth isn't truth" when it comes to ... well, the truth.

The President's personal attorney was on NBC's 'Meet the Press' with Chuck Todd and got grilled on why 45 hasn't sat down for an interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to wrap up the Russia investigation. Giuliani's reason ... let's not rush into a lie under oath.

He basically says Mueller's gonna get a he said, he said -- from Trump and Comey -- as to who said what to whom ... who knew what ... and when. And, because Comey used to be tight with Mueller in the FBI, Rudy says it's a no-brainer who the latter will believe.

Omarosa had some trouble explaining why she was a fierce supporter of Donald Trump given that she says very clearly in a secret conversation she recorded in 2016 that she knew he had used the n-word.

We talked to the ex-White House staffer on "TMZ Live" about the barrage of secret recordings she's revealed to promote her new book, 'Unhinged,' including the latest in which Donald Trump's daughter-in-law, Lara, tried bribing her with hush money after she got fired.

We also asked about the 2016 conversation she had with Trump campaign staffers to figure out a spin in case Trump had used the n-word. A staffer said she had talked to Trump who denied ever using the word, to which Omarosa said, "That's not true."

It's now clear why Donald Trump pretended not to know his Chief of Staff fired Omarosa, because he and his family were clearly on a campaign to buy her silence ... or at least to hush her up and not talk trash.

Omarosa just released another secret audio recording ... this time with Eric Trump's wife, Lara, and it's shocking. She straight-up offers her around $180k to work on Trump's reelection campaign -- what she made at the White House, but there's a string attached.

Lara says, "It sounds a little like, obviously, that there are some things you've got in the back pocket to pull out. Clearly if you come on board the campaign, we can't have ..." and then she says Omarosa's got to keep it positive.

Here's what's really shocking ... General Kelly told Omarosa she was being fired for financial improprieties involving "integrity" issues that could run her afoul of the law. She wasn't fit for the White House, but she's fit for Trump's reelection campaign?

If you're wondering if people will flock to see Aerosmith in Vegas, look no further than exhibit A on the "Today" show ... where fans literally couldn't keep their hands off the band.

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry and co. were making their way onto the NBC morning show set Wednesday to talk about the residency with a sea of people around them begging for high fives and cheering them on. One daring spectator actually crossed the barricade to bum-rush Steven for a selfie.

Gotta say, he handled it like a pro ... sloughing him off with ease and keeping it moving without incident. If this dude thought he could get away with that ... Steven pretty much told him to dream on. He basically said as much on Twitter, anyway.

Sarah Huckabee Sanders can't say for sure there isn't a recording of President Trump saying the n-word.

The White House Press Sec. was bombarded Tuesday with questions about Omarosa's many secret recordings ... during the campaign and after Trump was in Office.

Sanders was asked multiple times if she's ever directly asked Trump if he used the n-word. She deflected each time, and refused to use the g-word ... guarantee. As we reported, Omarosa recorded Trump campaign staffers discussing how to handle a possible recording of him using the racial epithet.

Corey Lewandowski has his sights set on Hollywood ... he just needs to channel his inner Prez to blow past some negative pub and make it happen.

Sources close to Donald Trump's former campaign manager tell TMZ ... he's been shopping ideas for his own TV show around Hollywood, and is starting getting some takers.

We're told he had major interest months ago following the release of his book, 'Let Trump Be Trump,' but it quickly dissipated after he dropped a "womp womp" in response to a story about an immigrant child with Down syndrome being separated from her parents.

Apparently, enough time has passed for TV execs to forget about that, because we're told Corey met with Pilgrim Studios -- the home of Sean Spicer's upcoming talk show -- last week.

Our sources say Lewandowski wants to host some sort of unscripted political talk show that's more interview-driven and less Fox News, like "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" ... but with a different angle.

Stormy Daniels' lawyer thinks Michael Cohen has more dirt to spill on President Trump, and he's forecasting a spanking ... the likes of which Donnie has never felt.

We got Michael Avenatti Saturday leaving Craig's in WeHo, where he was being followed by paps like your standard A-lister. He rattled off answers on the Cohen tapes -- one of which has already featured 45's voice -- and speculated on what's next for the Prez.

Mike says Cohen has turned the corner on his former client, and will probably leak more tapes in the days to come. In other words ... a second spanking for DT, according to him.

Sean Spicer's book signing got heated very quickly when a former classmate of his showed up to confront him ... and shouted out a serious n-word accusation in front of Sean's fans.

The former White House Press Secretary was signing copies of his new book 'The Briefing' in Middletown, Rhode Island Friday, when a man named Alex Lombard -- who attended prep school with Spicer -- accused him of trying to fight him when they were teens ... then claimed, "You called me a n***** first!"

The people waiting in line initially laughed at Lombard bringing up his past with Sean, but gasped and groaned at the n-word allegation. Lombard was then led out by security.

The vid by Newport Daily News doesn't catch Sean's reaction to the racial slur accusation.

David Spade had nice things to say about Roseanne ... that is until our photog asked if he'd ever work with her again.

We got David Friday night in WeHo leaving Craig's, and at first he was chatty ... how he opened for Roseanne back in the day, when neither was making any real money.