Ex-'Law & Order: SVU' star Diane Neal claims her ex was a manipulative, abusive scumbag who hurt their dog, but he and his attorneys are firing back -- claiming SHE threatened to kill HIS dog -- and releasing intense audio as alleged proof.

Pro magician JB Benn makes the bombshell claims about Diane in a new lawsuit he's filed against her which, at its heart, is about money he claims Diane owes him for a property they shared. The real nasty part of the suit, though, are his allegations about Diane's threatening behavior -- especially during one particularly vicious tirade which he recorded.

Diane unloaded in March 2018, yelling at JB ... "You are the least fun person I have ever met. You don't think it's about connections because you refuse to be connected with anybody. Even me! Which is why I am going to punish you with death and kill your f**king dog."

She also eviscerates him for not giving up his mobile phone's security code. Listen to it, 'cause on a scale of 1 to 10, it's an 11. In docs, obtained by TMZ, JB says he often recorded their arguments because he feared she'd eventually blame him for any "misfortune" in their relationship.

The recording is an exhibit in his lawsuit which comes on the heels of Diane suing him last week -- alleging JB is a fraudster who swindled her out of millions, and allegedly abused her physically and emotionally.

Courteney Cox's dogs got loose and darted into traffic, and despite her efforts to save them ... it was a good Samaritan who came to the rescue.

The "Friends" star was desperately trying to chase down her 2 beloved pups on treacherous Pacific Coast Highway Wednesday after they ran off from her nearby Malibu mansion ... and she couldn't keep them from running into a very dangerous situation.

Fortunately for Courteney, a quick-thinking paparazzo driving by saw the dogs and pulled over, jumped out of his car to stop traffic ... and managed to scoop up both little pooches before they got hurt.

Much of the dramatic scene -- in the L.A. rain, no less -- was captured by the guy's dashcam.

We're told when he returned the dogs to Cox, she thanked him profusely and told him, "You saved my dogs' lives!"

Mayor Pete Buttigieg was strong on the debate stage Wednesday night, but the glow of success clearly doesn't translate into dance moves ... at least not by the candidate himself.

The Iowa and New Hampshire frontrunner rolled up to Paschal's soul food restaurant in ATL Thursday morning, and he told our photog he embraces the dance that has become a mantra of sorts for the campaign ... saying it's a symbol of joy. The dance is set to Panic! at the Disco's, "High Hopes."

That said, when our photog asked Pete to step up and dance, he put his foot down, but not to bust a move. He confessed his shortcoming and made it clear ... dancing in the street -- or anywhere else -- was out of the question.

Martin Luther King III says he expects there to be significant movement in the numbers after the latest Democratic debate, but based on his recap ... that movement won't be positive for Joe Biden.

We got MLK3 at Tyler Perry Studios after the 10 candidates duked it out onstage Wednesday night in Atlanta, and he heaped praise on more than half of them.

King III tells us he thought Cory Booker and Kamala Harris particularly stood out, Mayor Pete wasn't too shabby and he's always interested to hear what Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have to say. Andrew Yang got some props too.

Do the math, and that leaves out Amy Klobuchar, Tulsi Gabbard, Tom Steyer and of course ... the former Vice President and one of the favorites to land the nomination, Biden.

The snub's not a big surprise, though ... Joe had a pretty rough night. He came out on the losing end of a couple big moments, including a pot shot from Booker about Biden's resistance to the legalization of marijuana.

MLK's son touched on that subject as well, mostly echoing Booker's message ... but did concede that Biden's insistence on doing more research on the subject isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Speaking of bad things -- Joe had another snafu while addressing violence against women by making a very poor choice of words ... and failing to recognize his mistake.

The Weeknd just moved into a penthouse bachelor pad in Bev Hills, and while the dude certainly doesn't need any help getting laid ... his new place is certain to be filled with chicks.

Our real estate sources tell us the "Starboy" singer plunked down $25 MILLION for his bach pad on the top floor of a super-exclusive high-rise ... and the place is definitively worth every penny.

The 4-bedroom penthouse is 8,215 square feet of pure luxury. It's got breathtaking views of the city, hills and ocean, and you can soak it all in through huge glass windows, or the 4 balconies tucked in each corner.

The Weeknd can wine and dine his guests with his wine vault, wet bar and massive great room decked out with an entertainment system and a wraparound sofa. The chef's kitchen is custom designed by Antonio Citterio.

Oh, and there's an espresso bar and a home gym for those overnight guests -- a perfect way to start the morning.

Antonio Brown is countersuing the woman accusing him of rape -- claiming Britney Taylor is LYING and has "all but ruined Brown's career."

The NFL star filed documents Wednesday lashing back at Taylor who sued Brown back in September. In her suit, Taylor claims AB sexually assaulted her 3 different times ... including a violent rape in 2018.

31-year-old Brown has previously denied the allegations -- but now he's going after Taylor for defamation.

"In summary, after enduring a failed business endeavor and also failing to gain the relationship status she desired with Brown, Taylor began a vicious campaign of lies and deceit targeting Brown both personally and professionally," Brown's says in docs obtained by ESPN.

"Taylor's acts have all but ruined Brown's career, causing him to lose a number of substantial and lucrative business contracts, and impacting the public persona in such a manner as to cause Brown and his family significant personal and financial harm."

Brown has claimed Taylor -- a former gymnast -- only filed the suit to punish him for refusing to invest $1.6 million in a gymnastics "business project" back in 2017.

Taylor's attorney David Haas has issued a new statement in response to Brown's countersuit, saying, "Antonio Brown countersued the woman he raped and blamed her for the self-destructive conduct that led to the demise of his NFL career."

"In the past, Defendant Brown has used intimidation to avoid responsibility for his actions. However, Ms. Taylor will not be bullied and remains steadfast in holding Defendant Brown accountable."

Taylor and Brown met at Central Michigan, where they were both student athletes. After Brown went pro, both sides say Taylor worked for AB as a personal trainer. AB claims they DID have a sexual relationship but he's adamant it was consensual.

Taylor had filed her lawsuit AFTER the New England Patriots signed him to a $15 million contract and stuck with him for more than a week after. The team finally cut him after he sent menacing text messages to a different woman who had publicly accused him of sexual misconduct.

BEFORE the lawsuit was filed, the Oakland Raiders had released the WR after feuding with the team's general manager over fines.

Brown has been on a mission to get back in the NFL -- just this week, he publicly apologized to Patriots owner Robert Kraft after making light of his prostitution scandal.

Will his strategy work? Stay tuned ...

Diddy is calling out one of his biggest business partners -- potentially risking his own neck -- in order to take a stand in a Supreme Court case that will effect discrimination laws for all Americans.

Diddy's pissed off at Comcast, because the cable provider used his name and REVOLT channel as an example of how inclusive it is of minority-owned channels. Comcast is being sued by Byron Allen, who claims it refuses to carry his channels ... while it airs "lesser-known, white-owned" networks.

The case is now being heard in the high court, and when Comcast puffed its chest by using Diddy, the mogul had enough. Diddy says, "It is not accurate to use my name or my network as an example of inclusion." He adds, the cable company is putting "its legal tactics ahead of the rights of millions of Americans to be heard. This is not OK."

In the simplest terms ... Comcast wants the Supreme Court to rule that under the Civil Rights Act of 1866, Byron must prove racial discrimination is the "sole cause" for it rejecting his channels.

As Diddy points out, "If they [Comcast] are successful, it will become much harder for any victim of discrimination to seek justice in court."

Beyond the Supreme Court case ... Diddy's making it clear he's not thrilled with this biz relationship with Comcast, anyway. He says, "REVOLT has never been in a position to truly compete on a fair playing field because it has not received the economic and distribution support necessary for real economic inclusion. Our relationship with Comcast is the illusion of economic inclusion"

Black people would've boycotted the Harriet Tubman movie back in the day if a studio exec got his wish for Julia Roberts to play the legendary abolitionist ... so says Harriet's relative.

Harriet's great-great-great-grandniece, Tina Wyatt, tells TMZ ... the movie would've been blacklisted in the black community because it would've been a slap in the face, and utterly disrespectful if Julia were cast to play the black woman who helped free countless slaves.

As you know ... screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard claims a Hollywood exec listened to his movie pitch for a Tubman project more than 25 years ago and told the room Julia should play Harriet. Howard says someone pointed out the fact Tubman was black and Roberts was white, and the exec said it was so long ago no one would know the difference.

Harriet's relative says it's insulting the exec would think black people would be so ignorant as to not know their own history.

The father of Eva Marcille's 5-year-old daughter says his black skin made him a target before he got into a courthouse scuffle with cops ... and he's going to sue their asses because he got hurt.

We broke the story ... the 'RHOA' star's baby daddy, Kevin McCall Jr., was arrested earlier this month at the Justice Center Tower in Fulton County, GA after he refused to stop recording video on his phone, and an effort to detain him allegedly led to a sergeant falling down an escalator.

McCall claims he got injured in the chaos too ... but he has a bigger issue with what led to the altercation in the first place -- he thinks he was singled out because he's black.

It's an interesting allegation because according to the Instagram Live video he shared before his alleged physical confrontation with cops ... the officer who told him to quit FaceTiming is black too.

Regardless, McCall believes the fact the cop specifically said "FaceTiming" supports his theory he was targeted ... it's unclear how. He also offers up some excuses why things went south for him at the courthouse ... and why he didn't help deescalate the situation -- no pun intended.

As we told you ... McCall was in court to fight for custody of his and Eva's daughter, Marley Rae, but instead ended up in jail and booked on 5 charges. He's facing 4 misdemeanors and one felony count of criminal damage to property in the 2nd degree.

Los Angeles native O-Lan Jones is best known for playing the god-fearing neighbor, Esmeralda -- who warns the well-trimmed community of the evil surrounding Edward -- in Tim Burton's 1990 fantasy flick, "Edward Scissorhands."

O-Lan Jones was cast alongside some sharp stars in the dark film including Dianne Wiest, as the cosmetics salesperson and companion, Pegg Boggs, Winona Ryder, as the high school crush turned granny, Kim Boggs ... and of course Johnny Depp, as the man-made artist, Edward Scissorhands.

Jones also has had parts on other big-name movies like "Natural Born Killers," "Mars Attacks" and "The Truman Show."

Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan wanted to be single in the eyes of the law while they settled their divorce ... and a judge just granted their wish.

The former couple recently filed court docs asking the court to grant the divorce while they hash out a property settlement and custody agreement. As for why they wanted the divorce decree now ... we're told they're both in relationships and it just makes things easier. It also clears the path if they want to remarry.

According to the new docs, filed by Jenna's lawyer Samantha Spector, the divorce judgment became final Tuesday. So, now they have to work out custody and support issues involving 6-year-old Everly.

Jenna recently announced she and her new boyfriend, Steve Kazee, are expecting their first child together. Rumors of a coming engagement have been swirling ever since.

While it would appear Jenna is the one zeroing in on another marriage, that doesn't mean Channing hasn't moved on himself ... he's just as free to tie the knot.

As we reported ... he's been dating Jessie J as of late, but things don't seem to have been moving as fast as they have for Jenna and Steve.

"Entourage" star Kevin Dillon's ongoing divorce drama is finally over, and although he probably won't be shouting, "VICTORY!" ... it seems like a pretty good deal.

According to new docs, obtained by TMZ ... the judge signed off on a final judgment in Jane Stuart's divorce from Kevin, ending a process that started way back in 2016.

Kevin and Jane get joint legal and physical custody of their daughter, Ava -- and he'll pay child and spousal support. According to the docs, Kevin will pay $1,823/month for Ava and $2,100/month to Jane.

As for big-ticket items ... Kevin keeps their house in Malibu as well as his New York residence and another pad in L.A., along with a motorcycle and NINE cars -- including a couple classic Corvettes and Camaros. That "Entourage" dough is loooong, yo!

Meanwhile, Jane gets their Ford Escape, but Kevin also has to make equalization payments to her totaling $1,705,594 and owes her an additional $242,411 for her share of a brokerage account.

As we reported ... the now-official-exes have squabbled for years over issues like their date of separation, the amount of temporary support he was paying (before this settlement), and the cost of their daughter's tuition.

Gordon Sondland has wrapped up his bombshell impeachment testimony in D.C., but he's not worried about a hostile work environment ... he was just eager to get outta Dodge.

We caught the U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Wednesday after he pretty much rolled over on everyone in the Trump administration -- including DT himself -- by saying that despite Donald's protestations of "no quid pro quo" with Ukraine ... there absolutely was.

As the U.S. diplomat -- who works for 45 -- was on his way to his plane at Dulles International Airport, we wanted to know if he was concerned about going back to work now that he's blown the whistle on his boss.

Check it out ... Sondland tells us he's ready to get back to the grind, and that all of his coworkers from across the pond -- and, presumably, here at home in the State Dept. -- still talk to him, suggesting there's no worries with what he just said in front of Congress.

He doesn't seem stressed about any repercussions, including possibly being fired. Then we try asking him an interesting question about what he'll do on the flight back.