HOTLIST - 10.18

SESAME STREET: Big Bird, Oscar Retiring

For nearly a half-century, parents have been wishing Big Bird would just shut up for a minute -- and it was bound to happen eventually.

Carol Spinney, the 84-year-old voice of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, will retire at the end of the week. Spinney has voiced the characters for nearly 50 years. He says, "Big Bird helped me find my purpose. Even as I step down from my roles, I feel I will always be Big Bird. And even Oscar, once in a while!"

Spinney's apprentice Matt Vogel will take over as the voice of Big Bird. 

KENDALL JENNER: Stalker Returns, Is Arrested

A determined stalker trying to reach Kendall Jenner recently took advantage of a security lapse at her gated community in California which allowed him to make it all the way onto her property twice in a week.

37-year-old John Ford was arrested last month for breaking into the gated community and was ordered to stay 1000 feet away. But then last week, he allegedly climbed the mountainside in the back of the complex and hopped a wall. Kendall's security team spotted him sitting in her backyard by the pool. They called police but he was gone by the time they arrived. 

But then earlier this week, Ford again climbed the same mountainside and made it over the wall again. This time he was found sitting on Kendall's front porch. Security called police and officers were able to grab him before he could get away. He's charged with criminaltrespass and violating a protective order. He's currently being held in a psychiatric facility. 

TARA REID: Claims Delta Air Lines "Disturbance" Was Over a Dog

Tara Reid was removed from a Delta flight earlier this week -- because of a dog. At least that's what she claims.

In an Instagram post, the Sharknado star says the airline’s statement about her causing a “disturbance on board” was “completely false.” She writes, “The flight attendant wanted me to put my dog in its carry on and in the overhead bin which was an absurd request considering animals cannot breathe in there, let alone an incident such as this one which took place some time ago and that puppy unfortunately died in that very similar overhead bid, therefore I refused to comply with this ridiculous request.”

Tara says the flight attendant then wanted her to put her pooch in the “belly of the plane” -- which she said was an "another ridiculous suggestion."

Reid, who claims her dog is an emotional-support animal, insists she "deboarded the plane on my own accord without any incident.” But an insider tells Page Six that her statement "is inconsistent with what actually occurred on board the plane." 

GEORGE LOPEZ: Fights Trump Supporter at Hooters

George Lopez brawled with a Trump supporter at a Hooters restaurant in New Mexico.

According to TMZ, which obtained video of the incident, the unidentified man harassed the comedian and yelled “MAGA.” When he couldn't take anymore, George snatched the phone out of the man's hand and briefly grabbed him by the neck.

“George wants to fight me, George wants to fight me!” the man said in the video.

The man tells TMZ the comedian got angry when he asked George for a photo. Sources close to the star say he attacked the man after being "egged" on all night with Trump references.

Police are reportedly investigating the incident.