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Nick Cannon pissed off some NBC execs with a joke he made during a stand-up comedy special -- and it nearly cost him his job on "America's Got Talent" ... TMZ has learned.

While Nick was recording the special more than a month ago, he joked with the audience that NBC was making him lose his "black card" -- strongly insinuating the network wanted him to show less swagger on 'AGT.'

Sources familiar with the situation tell us NBC execs got wind of it when Nick was promoting the special on "The Howard Stern Show" ... and thought he was disparaging the network -- a violation of his contract. We're told his deal has a clause that bars him from talking about the network without approval.

There were serious discussions about axing him for breach of contract, or simply because ... if he's so miserable, why not just let him go?

Ultimately, the execs decided Nick had simply made a passing comment. We're told they like him and didn't want to blow the relationship. He'll be shooting 'AGT' next month.

As for the comedy special, it airs Friday night on Showtime and we're told the "black card" comment is in it.

Education Sec. Betsy DeVos had a loud, angry, face-to-face clash with protesters ... which sounded like a recreation of a famous "Game of Thrones" scene.

DeVos, in only her 3rd full day on the job, was attempting to visit Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C. -- but was turned away when the protesters blocked an entrance and screamed, "Shame!"

The visit was organized by the teacher's union, which says it wants to make sure DeVos knows they support public schools. She's come under fire for having zero connection to public schooling or the education field at all.

Shia LaBeouf vowed Donald Trump would not divide us, but the museum where he held the protest did -- the 24/7 webcam has been shut down.

The Museum of the Moving Image in NYC says it turned off the cam mounted on one of its walls because it had become a "flashpoint for violence." Shia was arrested on January 25 when he allegedly got physical with a protester who showed up to oppose the movement.

There had been other physical altercations where no one was arrested -- with and without Shia -- and NYPD started patrolling the spot regularly.

He opened the display on Prez Trump's inauguration day ... standing in front of the camera, chanting "He will not divide us" around the clock. Supporters showed up, sometimes by the dozens, to help him keep it going 24/7.

His plan was to continue the protest through Trump's 4 years in office. Oh well.

Oprah Winfrey has the keys to the kingdom at CBS, because the big boss says so.

Les Moonves was leaving Madeo in WeHo Thursday night when we asked about Oprah's increased presence on CBS. She's becoming a special correspondent on "60 Minutes," she did a primetime special recently and she pops up on other shows as well.

Mr. M made it clear ... if Oprah has an idea for a show, it gets on his air -- period.

Morgan Freeman has played a president in the past, but an older Obama may be off the table.

Freeman was at Milos restaurant in NYC Thursday night when our photog posed the question ... if there is an Obama role in his future, and Morgan shut it down with haste.

It's unclear what he meant by "Don't speak Obama" ... but there are some clues. The actor said back in 2011 Obama made racism worse, but only because he motivated the Tea Party to get more vocal.

And when he was a no-show in Sept. when Obama presented a bunch of celebs with a National Medal of Arts -- the prez joked Morgan was off somewhere playing a president. Seems like they're fans of each other.

It looks like The Weeknd's got a type ... after showing up to dinner near a woman who's the spitting image of Selena Gomez.

The "Starboy" singer was out at Cecconi's restaurant in WeHo Thursday night ... with Selena's doppelgänger. But it's not what it looks like -- she's the wife of Abel's manager, Sal, and her name is Rima. They were both there supporting Sal, who was getting an award.

Rumors are swirling Abel and Selena's relationship has hit the skids ... and the dinner comes on the heels of Abel's cryptic tweet, "playing with me is a dangerous game."

Kendall Jenner gave the audience a surprise with a turn at a New York Fashion Week show.

Kendall was strutting the runway for La Perla along with Jourdan Dunn, Stella Maxwell and Naomi Campbell, and stole the show in her sheer gown ... with a little help from her ass.

"Cash Me Ousside" girl struck a sweet deal to star in Kodak Black's new music video -- for him anyway ... 'cause she did it for free!

Danielle Bregoli’s manager tells us she was already shooting video last weekend to promote her new line of merchandise, and the director cranked up KB's “Everything 1K” to loosen her up.

Her manager sent the footage to Kodak Black’s peeps, knowing he didn’t have a vid yet for the track. Smart move. He says Kodak's team loved it, and immediately planned to drop it Thursday as the official music video.

We're told Danielle got zero cash, but she is getting valuable publicity for her catchphrase gear, which will be sold online and at Zumiez.

13-year-old mogul ... in training.

NeNe Leakes and Kim Zolciak won't get a warm welcome from their fellow 'RHOA' cast members, who think the former dynamic duo is too messy and too expensive.

Sources close to 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' tell us the women are saying there's no need to bring back NeNe and Kim because all they bring is over-the-top drama just to get camera time. As one source put it, there's "no substance."

We're told there's also a financial concern -- that Kim and NeNe's bloated salaries might chew up the budget, resulting in lower raises for the current cast.

Our sources say certain housewives called production Thursday to complain about the infamous frenemies returning. We're told some of the current housewives feel dissed after working hard to keep ratings up -- which they have, and now producers want to "add bulls***."

Ironically, it sounds like all this dissent would create real drama ... with substance.

However, Sheree Whitfield told us Thursday ... she'd welcome them with open arms. You buyin' it?

Joe Montana was asked point-blank if 5-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady has finally surpassed him as the greatest QB of all time.

The guys who made Blac Chyna a thing -- according to them -- are on the warpath to get a cut of her riches, and if they don't get it ... they're gunning for the producers of her reality show.

Jason Alston and Lincoln Hayes of Infinite Grind Multimedia sent letters, obtained by TMZ, to NBCUniversal, Ryan Seacrest Productions and Bunim/Murray Productions ... putting all parties on notice about their legal war with Chyna.

The duo says shooting, promoting, or airing "Rob & Chyna" only fattens her pockets and since she refuses to pay them their fees ... they're threatening to add the producers to a potential lawsuit.

We broke the story ... Alston and Hayes claim Chyna signed a 10 year contract with them in 2007 and owes them at least $3 million in unpaid fees. They've threatened, but have yet to actually sue her for the dough.

Khloe Kardashian is just Khloe Kardashian again ... officially dropping the 'Odom' from her last name on her passport.

Khloe and fam celebrated the official name change Thursday with an appropriate cake.

Take a look below at probably one of the last times Khloe signed her name as an Odom ... on her divorce docs..

DJ Khaled's hit track with Jay Z and Future features stolen property ... according to a producer who's suing over beats in "I Got the Keys."

Chris Hill says he produced a beat in March 2008 which appeared on "Chris Hill Beats (Gangsta Boogie Vol 2)." He says he met Khaled in October 2008 at an Atlanta nightclub, and handed him a CD.

Hill says he never heard a peep from Khaled -- then lo and behold, 8 years later, 'Keys' dropped. In the lawsuit, Hill says he immediately recognized his handiwork. He notes just how popular Khaled's track has become -- more than 79 million YouTube views.

Miss Cash Me Ousside is cashing in on her infamy ... and starring in a music video.

Kodak Black just dropped the vid for his track, "Everything 1k" ... and every frame of it features Danielle Bregoli ... lip-syncing, posing all over a Rolls-Royce, flashing cash and pretending to pull triggers.

We're guessing this was shot prior to the 13-year-old's near-arrest for punching a passenger Monday night on a Spirit Airlines flight.

No humans were injured in the production of the video ... far as we can tell.