Gayle King is catching some flak online after casually using a gay slur on live TV … throwing it out in the middle of a joke she was quoting.

The TV host was interviewing Matteo Lane — a well-known author and comedian — on “CBS Mornings” about his new book “Your Pasta Sucks: A Cookbook” … when she quoted one of Lane’s jokes back at him.

King says, “Can we talk about the stand-up? Can I just say one joke? I hope I don’t get in trouble. You do a riff about white women who approached you, and they said something about cooking, and you said, ‘What in the f****try are you talking about?'”

So, Lane clearly wasn’t offended by the use of the word … and, King hasn’t apologized — so, it seems everyone’s walking away from this moment without any outrage. At least, everyone directly involved in the moment ain’t outraged.

While it was a lighthearted moment on the show, some online didn’t appreciate Gayle’s words much … calling the host out for using the slur even though she was quoting a joke.

Paul Walker‘s daughter is living her best life south of the border … and she’s blessing us with some bikini photos from her oceanfront vacation.

Meadow Rain Walker is down in Los Cabos, Mexico … soaking up the rays in an itsy bitsy piece of swimwear.

Check out the photos … Meadow is kicking back at her beachfront resort in a black bikini, showing off her toned figure and a couple tattoos near the edge of her bikini bottoms.

She even relaxed with a cigarette … lighting up right in front of her villa.

Paul’s only daughter, Meadow was born in California and raised in Hawaii before moving back to Cali with Paul … and looks like she’s a Dodgers fan these days … which is a lot easier now that they’re the best team in baseball.

Russell Brand‘s firing back at the charges leveled against him by the British government … claiming he may have dealt with drug and sex addiction — but, he never raped anyone.

The actor shared a video to his X account mere minutes ago … kicking it off by saying the only positive about people realizing the rule of law is being wielded like a weapon in Britain is that everyone can see his innocence.

After speaking in generalities for a while, Brand addresses the allegations head-on … admitting before he met his wife and had kids he was a “fool” in the throes of drug and sex addictions.

Brand thanks all of his fans for their continued support … and plugs his hit show on Rumble — next episode scheduled for release on Monday.

As you know … Russell was charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and 2 counts of sexual assault Friday.

The alleged incidents are said to have occurred between 1999 and 2004 … and, the charges are bringing renewed interest to past interviews Brand has given — including one from 2007 with disgraced media personality Jimmy Savile.