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Jim Norton's coming to Bill Maher's defense of the n-word, saying intentions make a difference -- plus, the rules on who can use the word seem kinda arbitrary.

The comedian told us Maher's "house n*****" joke was definitely offensive, but he thinks the rabid backlash ignored the context. Norton points out there are lots of entertainers and artists -- even white ones -- who use the word in their work ... so, why the double standard with Bill?

TMZ Sports has obtained new footage of the Rex & Rob Ryan bar fight in Nashville -- which shows Rex cussing out a bar patron and then spilling a margarita on the guy.

It all went down Sunday at Margaritaville -- you can see Matt Havel chatting up the ex-NFL coaches and another man at the Ryans' table ... until Havel said something that set Rex off.

Unclear what Matt said ... but Rex blows up at the guy. Rob shoves him. And while Rex grabs the guy's drink to move it to another table, someone bumps his elbow ... and Matt gets splashed with booze.

The fight quickly escalated ... with Rob eventually grabbing Matt by the neck.

Havel later filed a police report accusing both brothers of simple assault.

That said ... props to the singer who continued to play a pretty solid rendition of the Kenny Rogers classic, "The Gambler" while the scrap broke out.

Keshia Knight Pulliam's decision to escort Bill Cosby into his sexual assault trial was not only selfish, it violated a court order in her child custody agreement ... according to her ex himself.

In new legal docs, Ed Hartwell says he only gets to see their daughter, Ella Grace, for one hour twice a week, but Keshia traveled out of state with her to be by Cosby's side on day 1 of the trial. Hartwell says she trampled his visitation rights because he was supposed to get Ella on Tuesday, but apparently Keshia was still out of town.

Hartwell says Pulliam's in contempt and wants a make-up visit with his girl, pronto. He also wants her to cover all court and lawyer fees for this. Of course, Keshia recently called out Ed, claiming he's behind on child support payments.

The saga continues.

9:10 AM PT -- Sources connected to Glenne tell us she had checked in to a hospital last week to get treatment for blood clots. We're told she seemed to be getting better, but things took a turn Thursday.

Glenne Headly, who starred in huge movies and TV shows -- like "Dick Tracy," "Monk," "ER" and "The Night Of" -- died Thursday night ... according to her reps.

Glenne's rep says, "It is with deep sorrow that we confirm the passing of Glenne Headly." The rep did not say anything about her cause of death. Glenne was 62.

The beloved actress had her breakout movie roles back in the '80s in "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and also played Tess Trueheart in "Dick Tracy." She was also co-starred with Richard Dreyfuss in "Mr. Holland's Opus."

Glenne earned one of her 2 Emmy nominations for the "Lonesome Dove" miniseries in 1989.

Her most recent feature film was "The Circle" -- she played the wife of Bill Paxton, who died from a stroke in February.

Taylor Swift's not dropping the bad blood with Katy Perry because she decided to drop huge Spotify news at the exact moment Katy released her new album. Boom goes the dynamite.

It might be the pettiest move -- or just brilliant -- but Swift put her entire catalog of songs on Spotify and other streaming services Thursday night. It can't be coincidence Katy's "Witness" album also came out Thursday night. Right?

Seriously ... Taylor pulled her music from streaming sites in 2014, accusing them of not valuing her art. So, what changed and why now? Swift's camp says it's a thank-you to fans after her "1989" album sold over 10 million albums.

Her music will also appear on Amazon and Tidal now. Previously, it had only been available on Apple Music.

Katy Perry released "Swish Swish" a couple weeks ago ... which everyone took as her diss track response to "Bad Blood."

KP's move.

Maya Rudolph tipped her hat to Prince Thursday night with her cover band, Princess ... the last night of back-to-back sold-out shows honoring the Purple One's 59th birthday.

The 'SNL' vet performed at the Teragram Ballroom in L.A., and her old co-star, Fred Armisen, sat in on drums for "Darling Nikki", "Nasty Girl" and "Purple Rain."

Even Prince had said he was a fan of Maya's group ... easy to see why.

If you know what I'm singing about up here, c'mon, raise your hand!

David Spade's come to a scary realization ... burglars are going to get into his home if they want to, but he's still upset about some of the items he lost.

We got Spade leaving Catch Thursday night and asked him about the $80k worth of stuff burglars made off with last week. TMZ broke the story ... the break-in cost him more than just money, and while he was a little sentimental about it ... Dave still managed to crack a joke. It's Spade, after all.

He also hints ... cops might be closing in on a suspect. Or not. Hard to tell.

President Trump broke his silence on James Comey's testimony ... declaring victory over his former FBI Director, and dismissing him as a "leaker."

Fair to say, the Prez was NOT impressed with what he saw and heard during Comey's Senate Intel Committee hearing. Early Friday, Trump said, "Despite so many false statements and lies, total and complete vindication...and WOW, Comey is a leaker!"

POTUS' Twitter fingers were silent during Comey's highly anticipated testimony, making the event kind of a let down. Trump's now revealing his takeaway -- Comey had nothing on him when it comes to Russia ... and Comey admitted leaking info about their meetings.

Obviously, there was much more said -- such as Comey testifying he couldn't trust the President wouldn't lie -- something many took as a blow to 45's character.

Still, Trump's perspective on the event is clear: I win.

A body piercing artist to the stars made a citizen's arrest against an actor whom she claims sexually assaulted her on a United flight -- something he vigorously denies.

Stephanie Anders says she was flying back from her best friend's funeral last week when she fell asleep in her seat. She claims she was awakened by the man sitting next her who allegedly had his hands all over her butt.

She claims the offending passenger -- 6'5" Cody Deal, who's appeared in "Hangover" and starred in a sci-fi movie, "Almighty Thor" -- got aggressive when she called him out to a flight attendant, saying the touching was all consensual.

Deal's lawyer, Michael Kraut, tells us his client never laid a finger on her and never screamed anything was consensual.

Anders, who works at Royal Heritage Tattoo and Piercing in L.A. and counts numerous celebs as her client, including Jessica Alba, AJ McLean and Gwyneth Paltrow, made a citizen's arrest. The LAPD took Deal to the station and booked him for misdemeanor sexual battery.

Deal claims she made up the whole thing, and she was angry because he got pissed off when she repeatedly coughed on him. Attorney Kraut adds, both the FBI and LAPD refused to arrest Cody and that's when she decided to make the citizen's arrest.

The L.A. City Attorney now has the case, but rather than filing formal misdemeanor charges the matter will be handled in an informal office hearing, though the City Attorney says he reserves the right to prosecute.

Anders' lawyers, Ben Meiselas and Mark Geragos, tell TMZ they plan on suing both Deal and United. The lawyers blame the airline for not having a "sexual assault protocol" and felt it was outrageous all the flight attendant did was move Anders to another seat across the aisle.

Bill Cosby arrived to the courthouse Friday with comedian Joe Torry by his side, oblivious to the fact he dodged a fatal bullet courtesy of his own lawyers.

Cosby's attorneys had filed legal docs asking the judge to allow them to introduce evidence accuser Andrea Constand was gay. He bizarrely wanted to show the jury she deceived him ... suggesting he would not have had sex with her if he knew she was gay.

The prosecution claimed it was "victim shaming" and also violates Pennsylvania law which prohibits the use of evidence involving an alleged victim's sexual past.

The judge denied the defense motion, and unless we're missing something, the admission could have nailed Cosby's coffin shut.

Andrea Constand told cops she had a boyfriend when she was 14 and had sexual contact with a man when she was in her late 20's. That said, if she wasn't into guys, the prosecution could have destroyed Cosby's argument she consented to sexual contact with the comedian.

Halle Berry couldn't stomach rumors she was pregnant, so she let her stomach do the talking to prove she's not.

The 50-year-old actress was leaving Cecconi's restaurant in WeHo Thursday night ... baring just enough to throw shade on everyone who jumped to conclusions based on photos taken a few days ago.

As we reported, we confirmed Halle's not having another kid, but hey ... this is hard evidence.

Another big star calling "fake news" on a major newspaper -- with Dana White saying reports he's not involved in the Mayweather vs. McGregor talks are complete BS.

The UFC honcho was at Mastro's in Bev Hills on Thursday when we asked about a Los Angeles Times article that says it's the UFC's ownership group (WME-IMG) and NOT White currently involved in negotiations.

"We live in a world right now where you can't believe anything that you read," White said in a shot at the L.A. Times ... "Who else would be running the Mayweather, McGregor deal than me?"

When we asked if WME was running point, White told us, "What does WME know about making big fights?"

"Trust me, I'm running the Mayweather, McGregor deal."

Singer August Alsina can't buy groceries without getting hounded by fans ... and that's why he allegedly flashed a gun to get them to finally back off.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... August was shopping at Food 4 Less around 9 PM Wednesday in the San Fernando Valley when 3 chicks and a guy hounded him to take pics with them.

We're told the singer told them he wasn't feeling well -- he's battling liver disease -- but they wouldn't budge. An employee saw it happening and called cops.

Sources say when August left the store, the group followed him. We're told August grabbed a gun from his car, slid it down his waistband and showed the butt of the gun as the group approached.

August was long gone by the time cops showed up, but law enforcement sources say cops determined the singer did NOT point the gun at the group or make any verbal threats.

Cops took down a brandishing firearm report but law enforcement sources say because the alleged crime is he-said, she said, law enforcement sources say the case will likely go nowhere.

We've reached out to August's camp, so far no word back.

Aaron Carter doesn't want fans worrying about terrorism at his shows -- like his L.A. Pride gig this weekend -- and has a warning for anyone thinking about targeting him: He's a big 2nd Amendment guy.

Aaron will hit the stage Saturday in L.A., and he's well aware of increased security concerns all large scale events in the wake of the bombing at Ariana Grande's concert. He got emotional talking about recent attacks, and then got defiant.

As Aaron put it ... "I live in America. I'm allowed to have guns." He wasn't specific about when and where he's packing, but his message was clear -- don't tread on me. Or my fans.

One of Earth, Wind & Fire's OG members says Blue Ivy Carter is not a shoo-in for stardom, despite her lineage ... but it sure helps.

We got Ralph Johnson at LAX, and talked to him about Blue doing her thang to "September" during her ballet recital. He says she put on one hell of a show, but that doesn't mean it's time to start engraving her name on Grammys just yet.

As Ralph put it ... only time, and the public, will tell if she can follow in Mom and Dad's footsteps.

But let's keep it real -- if Blue Ivy wants stardom ... Bey and Jay will make sure she gets it.

If you need proof that the NBA players battling it out in the Finals are already big winners ... look no further than their smokin' hot WAGS.

Check out the gallery and see if you can match up the sexy significant other with her baller bae.