BROOKE BURKE had her thyroid cancer surgery yesterday . . . and it sounds like everything went well. She even Tweeted about it. She said, quote, "Thank God it's over. I'm clean, surgery went well and I can talk. Losing my voice was my biggest fear. Thanks for all your prayers and light." She added, quote, "Feels like I got hit by a car." Pre-surgery, Brooke posted a picture of herself in her hospital gown, to give us the, quote, "last looks at her neck" before doctors sawed into it.

"Playboy" skank HOLLY MADISON is due to give birth to a baby girl early next year. And if Holly has her way, the kid will never end up in the pages of the magazine that made her mom famous. Holly does NOT want her daughter posing nude because, quote, "I don't think people are treated with respect in that environment." Holly isn't saying that the people in the smut industry don't have respect. She's talking about the rest of us. She says, quote, "I'm from a small town and you grow up seeing people like Jenny McCarthy or Pamela Anderson, who made it big after doing 'Playboy'. You think it's this glamorous thing until you realize how much you're judged for it. But she adds, quote, "Luckily kids don't want to be like their parents, so I don't think she'll see anything cool or rebellious about posing for 'Playboy'. I'm down for whatever direction in life she wants to go but I think she can do better."

STEPHEN BALDWIN was arrested in New York yesterday for TAX EVASION. He allegedly owes the state more than $350,000. And they don't think it was a simple oversight. They claim he never even filed a return in 2008, 2009 or 2010. The D.A. says, quote, "At a time when Rockland County and New York State face severe fiscal shortfalls, we cannot afford to allow wealthy residents to break the law by cheating on their taxes." This is a felony, and Stephen could face up to four years in prison for it. But he pleaded not guilty, and his lawyer says he did nothing wrong.