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Melania Trump's speechwriter is stepping forward to take the blame for plagiarizing Michelle Obama's 2008 speech.

Meredith McIver says the almost word-for-word lifting happened after Melania gave her passages, over the phone, from Michelle's speech. McIver says she "wrote them down and later included some of the phrasing in the draft that ultimately became the final speech."

As we first reported on Tuesday's "TMZ Live" ... Melania likes the First Lady and had watched some of her speeches for inspiration prior to her own speech in Cleveland.

Indeed, McIver says that's exactly what happened, but the mistake occurred because, "I did not check Mrs. Obama's speeches. This was my mistake, and I feel terrible for the chaos I have caused Melania and the Trumps, as well as to Mrs. Obama. No harm was meant."

McIver has been a co-author on several of Donald Trump's books. She says she attempted to resign on Tuesday, but Donald told her people make "innocent mistakes" and said she could learn and grow from the experience.

Kylie Jenner might be a slave to fashion, but she's definitely NOT to her employer -- since she's rocking Air Jordan 1s instead of PUMAs.

KJ signed a brand ambassador deal for PUMA's Fierce sportswear line, but we've learned the fact she was out in L.A. on Monday sporting Nike's Jumpman logo ... is no problem at all.

A PUMA spokesperson tells TMZ ... they don't restrict Kylie from wearing other brands. They believe it's better to give her the choice and let her express her own personal style. This explains why we've also seen her showing love for Kanye's Adidas brand Yeezys.

See? There's plenty of Kylie to go 'round.

Some people keep it 100, The Game keeps it 1,000 by dropping tons of cash on groceries for a mother in need.

It was part of his Yo Mama My Mama campaign, which is his way of paying it forward.

Best of all ... the rapper and social activist scored $1,000 worth of groceries for only $700, thanks to the woman's frequent shopper card.

Earlier in the day he tipped the valet at The Ivy with a crisp $100 bill for bringing around his Lamborghini Aventador.

Game's definitely on one. A really good one.

Michael Jackson dressed up like a clown, or even faked illness, just to meet random women ... at least that's what the man who killed him is reportedly claiming in a tell-all book.

Talk about chutzpah ... Conrad Murray has written a memoir called, 'This Is It' ... in which he says he will reveal all kinds of family secrets about MJ, yet also claims he's giving him "due respect."

Some of the secrets reportedly in the book include Murray claiming Michael would put on a clown costume and then hire strippers and call girls to hang with him in hotel rooms.

Murray -- who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter -- also claims Michael would use fake accents and pretend he was a stroke victim as a ploy to meet women.

Murray was MJ's confidante -- as well as his doctor -- and reportedly writes extensively about his and Michael's frequent encounters with call girls while they were living in Las Vegas.

Best of all, Murray claims Michael wanted him to make all these revelations.

A champion big mountain skiier was killed during an avalanche in Chile -- after she was caught in a snowstorm while shooting scenes for an upcoming video game.

The skiier is 30-year-old Matilda Rapaport -- who was in the Andes mountains near Santiago to work on the Ubisoft game "Steep" when she was caught in an avalanche on Thursday and trapped beneath the snow.

Jeremy Piven opened his car door Tuesday -- no big deal. Problem was ... he didn't look first and a bicyclist slammed into the door, cutting his chest open.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Jeremy was near The Grove when he parked his car next to the curb and flung open the door of his 2015 CTS Cadillac. The 44-year-old man who was peddling along was badly hurt and taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Our cop sources say they believe Jeremy was at fault but he didn't get a ticket because cops didn't see it happen. We're told Jeremy was cooperative.

The victim received stitches on his chest. Too early to know about a civil suit, but you can bet on it.

Shannen Doherty revealed a telltale sign her fight with breast cancer won't be ending anytime soon.

Doherty got her head shaved and posted photos of the heart-wrenching process. Her mother and friend were with her through the ordeal.

45-year-old Shannen was diagnosed last year. She sued her former business managers, blaming them for the severity of her cancer. She claims they screwed up her insurance, which delayed her diagnosis and treatment.

Lane Thomas Graves' parents say they're not going to sue Disney over the alligator attack that killed him.

Matt and Melissa Graves say they're still struggling to "comprehend why this happened" ... and admit, "As each day passes, the pain gets worse." Still, they released a statement Wednesday morning saying they will not pursue a lawsuit.

Instead they plan to open the Lane Thomas Foundation "to keep his spirit alive."

Taylor Swift is not waving the white flag in her war with Kanye West over the secret audio recording ... our Taylor sources say she may still file a police report because she says Kanye committed a felony.

As we reported, Kanye had Taylor on speaker when he recorded her as they spoke about his song "Famous," and there were clear voices in the room from the camera crew as well as producer Rick Rubin ... as such, they could all overhear the conversation so the law does not prohibit the recording.

But Taylor sources say she had NO IDEA Kanye had her on speaker. Although she could hear other voices she assumed they could not hear her, so she believes Kanye had a legal duty to ask permission to record her, and by not doing so he violated the criminal law.

Taylor is still deciding whether she'll file a police report.

What's more ... we're told Taylor wants them to bring it on ... the call lasted a full hour and Kim was very selective in what she posted. Taylor wants the entire conversation released, because everyone would hear -- Kanye never said he'd call her a "bitch" in the song. We've listened to the tape and the word "bitch" is never mentioned.

We're told she's also upset Kanye made the song sound lighthearted, when in fact it's mean-spirited. Taylor's rep said in a statement ... Kanye never asked Taylor for approval -- which the tape proves -- but she believes he was deceptive.

A tennis star with a HUGE backhand directed at Taylor Swift -- says she's sick of the singer always portraying herself as the victim ... just like she's doing in the Kanye West feud.

Jon Gosselin has gone from starring on a TV show with a brood of 8 to slinging food for a party of 8 ... at T.G.I. Friday's.

Jon's been working at the Lancaster, PA franchise for a few months, prepping and cooking family fare. The pic was taken at the restaurant when he started working there a month or so ago.

We're told JG even had to go through chef boot camp.

Friday's is giving Jon a chance to spread his chicken wings ... when he's not cooking, he gets to DJ once a month. It is his true passion, after all.

Two Wilhelmina models got down and dirty ... which would explain the wet t-shirts.

Ashley Robbins and Nereyda Bird flaunted their stuff Tuesday during a Miami photo shoot.

As soon as Donald Trump's Presidential run became official, the wall went up ... around his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Someone with a great sense of humor erected a 6-inch high concrete wall Tuesday -- complete with tiny barbed wire -- around the Donald's star. Most people are crediting popular street artist Plastic Jesus for the wall ... since he's done several other anti-Trump pieces -- like "No Trump Anytime" signs.

A famous pic of Prince with a come-hither stare was plastered on sweatshirts and t-shirts and sold without the photog's permission ... according to a new lawsuit.

Famed photographer Deborah Feingold is suing online retail store Rebdolls for using the pic, which she says is from a shoot she did with Prince in 1980. She says it started selling the Prince items between 2012 and 2014 ... with the caption "Girl Bye."

It appears Rebdolls caught wind of the suit -- we did a search and the merch is already off their site.

Johnny Manziel was involved in a fistfight at a fancy Hawaiian resort the night before his friend's wedding, TMZ Sports has learned ... but the QB insists he wasn't the aggressor.