Scandal

Comedian Russell Peters thinks Billy Bush is getting a raw deal over the "Access Hollywood" fiasco.

Peters was leaving Catch in WeHo Monday night when he made his case for Billy, who has all but been fired from "Today."

The woman who got Chris Brown arrested Tuesday got stripped of her beauty pageant crown in part because of nude photos that surfaced, and pageant officials say she lied and said it wasn't her.

Baylee Curran, the woman claiming Chris pulled a gun on her, was crowned Miss California Regional 2016, but 2 months later pageant officials were fed up with her and dethroned her.

An official tells TMZ, shortly after she won the title someone sent nude photos to the pageant director, who confronted Baylee, saying, "This is not what the pageant stands for." We're told Baylee insisted it was not her in the photos.

The director told her she'd give her another chance, but we're told Baylee repeatedly screwed up and deceived them. She would fail to show for community functions ... while photographers were tagging photos of her frolicking on a boat. She was also MIA for events ... choosing various photo shoots instead.

The director had enough 2 months into her reign, and told Baylee she was stripping her of her crown, but Baylee shot back, "You're the director. You can make or bend the rules. I'm keeping the crown and we can move on."

She still hasn't returned the crown.

Larry and Shawn King just shot a segment for Hallmark Channel's "Home & Family" and they sat side by side -- at times even touching -- and scoffed at reports she cheated on him.

Larry and Shawn sat down with Mark Steines and Debbie Matenopoulos and didn't exactly shoot down the stories, but still labeled them as "rumors."

Then they got in bed together.

Usain Bolt might have some 'splainin' to do ... 'cause the Jamaican track god was grinding all over some chick at a Brazilian nightclub this weekend ... a chick who ain't his GF.

Bolt hit up the All In nightclub in Rio to celebrate his 30th birthday -- and went full crotch to ass with his female dance partner in front of a packed crowd ... while Rihanna's "Work" played in the background.

As we previously reported, Bolt's been dating Jamaican fashionista Kasi Bennett -- but she was nowhere to be seen at the club.

We've reached out to Usain's camp for comment -- stay tuned.

Ryan Lochte was not the only swimmer who lied to the U.S. Olympic Committee about the so-called "robbery." TMZ has learned all 4 of them told the same false tale.

An official from the USOC tells us the Committee interviewed Lochte as well as Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger Sunday and all 4 told the exact same lie -- that they were in a cab when robbers posing as armed cops stopped their cab and demanded cash.

We're also told the 4 swimmers were interviewed individually, so they had clearly gone over their story beforehand.

TMZ reported Sunday ... an IOC official told us when they issued the initial denial of the incident occurred they were relying on the USOC, but the USOC official says they did indeed interview the 4 swimmers Sunday and they all told the story Lochte ended up telling on TV.

Ryan Lochte is finally doing a mea culpa for the lie he told on NBC that's become an international incident ... but he kind of doubled down on the version of events he told cops.

Lochte just posted ... "I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend -- for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics. I waited to share these thoughts until it was confirmed that the legal situation was addressed and it was clear that my teammates would be arriving home safely."

Lochte continues ... "It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country - with a language barrier - and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave, but regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that I am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event."

He goes on to say he's proud to rep the USA in Olympic competition and this was a situation that could and should have been avoided.

He adds, "I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons. I am grateful for my USA Swimming teammates and the USOC, and appreciate all of the efforts of the IOC, the Rio '16 Host Committee, and the people of Brazil who welcomed us to Rio and worked so hard to make sure that these Olympic Games provided a lifetime of great new memories."

"There has already been too much said and too many valuable resources dedicated to what happened last weekend, so I hope we spend our time celebrating the great stories and performances of these Games and look ahead to celebrating future successes."

The statement is clearly crafted to thwart police efforts to have Lochte prosecuted. The biggest problem the swimmer faces ... going on TV, trashing the city by claiming armed men posed as cops robbed him as he was innocently taking a cab back to the Village.

Ryan Lochte told the U.S. Olympic Committee the same lie he told NBC, and he now faces possible discipline in addition to criminal charges ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Lochte and familiar with the situation tell us, Ryan repeated the story to USOC officials ... that he and his fellow swimmers were in a cab going back to the Olympic Village when men posing as cops robbed them and took their wallets.

The USOC and the IOC took heat Sunday after Lochte told the lie on TV. However, we're told once it heard the reports, the USOC got in touch with Ryan immediately, who said the story was untrue and the USOC passed that info to the IOC.

We've now learned after Lochte went on TV, USOC officials talked to him and he repeated the concocted story line and verse.

TMZ has also learned Lochte is preparing an apology to the U.S. and Brazil.

Talk about two guys STOKED to be home.

Here's Team USA swimmers Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz finally returning to the states ... after Brazilian officials pulled them off their homebound flight earlier this week.

Conger and Bentz were part of the Ryan Lochte party crew that allegedly vandalized a Rio gas station bathroom Sunday morning and then lied about it to police.

The two were interviewed by police -- but were ultimately allowed to fly home on Thursday.

The song Calvin Harris wrote for John Newman -- which Calvin says chronicles a love triangle between him, Taylor Swift and her new BF Tom Hiddleston -- just dropped ... and it sure sounds like a play-by-play.

TMZ broke the story ... Calvin wrote the cheating song "Olé" from Tom's POV. But Taylor's camp's calling BS ... saying Calvin wrote the song long before she hooked up with Tom.

The lyrics we said would be in the song are there ... with Tom's famous 'Thor' character, Loki, kicking off the song -- "Low key you won't tell none of your friends about me."

And ...

-- "You've hidden my name in your phone so you can call me to tell me you've been going through hell. Left him alone and you booked in a hotel."

-- "I see online that you begun to be a good girl and take trips with your boyfriend. Being attentive, continue to pretend ..."

Sounds like a hit!

Calvin Harris has beaten Taylor Swift to the punch, writing a cheating song ... about her.

The John Newman track is called "Olé," and it's written from Tom Hiddleston's POV. The lyrics make it clear ... Calvin believes Taylor had hooked up with Tom way before she broke up with him.

One lyric goes, "I see online that you begun to be a good girl and take trips with your boyfriend. Being attentive, continue to pretend ..."

If that wasn't clear enough, the song goes on ... "You've hidden my name in your phone so you can call me to tell me you've been going through hell. Left him alone and you booked in a hotel."

And, using Tom's famous 'Thor' character, Loki, the song goes on, "Low key you won't tell none of your friends about me."

Our Calvin sources say he has no animus towards Tom ... he feels he's under Taylor's spell, and the one who made the fateful decisions was her and her alone.

The pic below was taken in Mexico last week with Newman, the singer on the track. They shot the music video south of the border.

Hillary Clinton strained mightily to read a menu as she stomped with the Prez in North Carolina.

Clinton -- who got an enormously lucky break from the FBI Director, despite a criminal law that explicitly says it's a crime to do what she did (using gross negligence in mishandling classified docs) -- chowed down on BBQ at Midwood Smokehouse.

Obama was at the ready with a wad of cash.

Gilbert Arenas says Iggy Azalea has no one to blame but HERSELF for the Nick Young cheating scandal -- saying she KNEW he was a dog who was going to mess around on her.

Nick Young's baby mama is anything but ashamed for being the alleged "other woman" in his relationship with Iggy Azalea ... she's already sold her story, TMZ has learned.

Keonna Green is pregnant again with Nick's kid, if you believe some of the stories that have been posted. It's unclear if she's one of the women allegedly skulking into and out of the home Nick shared with Iggy, but apparently she will talk about it ... for a price.

Green hired a lawyer to shop her story, and someone bit and apparently bit hard.

Any media outlet interested in getting Green's story gets this back from her lawyer ... "Due to an exclusive deal with another media outlet, Keonna and I cannot comment on the validity of any of the [allegations]."

The eye in the sky don't lie ... so says Iggy Azalea who claims Nick Young cheated on her in THEIR HOUSE ... and she caught the whole thing on video.

Iggy went on social media -- claiming she has no idea if reports that Nick impregnated his other lady (said to be his previous baby mama) are true -- but says her NBA ex-fiance was definitely messin' around.

"I have never even been told by nick that his baby mother is pregnant," Iggy wrote before dropping the hammer.

"I broke up with Nick because I found out he had brought other women into our home while I was away and caught them on the security footage."

"This is just like a second shot to the chest. And I feel like I don't even know who the hell it is I've been loving all this time."

"People in this world are really f***** up."

Earlier this week, Nick was joking about the situation ... telling TMZ Sports he "lost" the engagement ring so he could collect the insurance money.

(WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE)

Ben Affleck appeared on the series premiere of Bill Simmons' "Any Given Wednesday" and it was extremely bizarre ... to say the least.

A red-faced Affleck ranted about "Deflategate" on the HBO show and even though we can't say for sure what was up with him ... social media was quick to call Affleck out for his slurred speech and angry tone.

Sources close to Affleck tell us he's stone-cold sober, and the slurring is just how passionate he is about Tom Brady. We're told he and Simmons got into a heated, loud debate before cameras started rolling. So when the taping started at 11 AM, Ben was already fired up.

Calvin Harris is putting on a good face ... even if he's hurting inside.

The superstar DJ stepped out Thursday in L.A. and said he's aces with Taylor Swift's new relationship with Tom Hiddleston. Check out the vid ... Calvin tries to play it cool as the ex.

On the surface he's putting on a happy face ... but as TMZ reported he's actually PISSED it went down and dirty.