R. Kelly was acquitted in his child porn case because of witness intimidation, evidence tampering, physical threats and payments to witnesses ... so claims attorney Michael Avenatti.

Avenatti does not get specific as to why he believes the various misdeeds were allegedly committed during the 2008 trial.

Kelly's current lawyer, who was not involved in the 2008 case, tells TMZ, the lawyers who repped R. Kelly had the highest integrity and Avenatti's claims are baseless.

Avenatti has been actively involved in the R. Kelly case ... he has turned over a new tape to Cook County prosecutors, which he says shows R. Kelly having sex with and urinating on a 14-year-old girl. As we reported, in the wake of the new tape, several women have come forward claiming to be victims of the singer and have been interviewed by prosecutors. A grand jury has been convened and we're told the tape and various witnesses are being presented to the panel. 

Attorney Gloria Allred was critical of Avenatti, saying she was troubled the new tape was viewed by the news media, worrying that one of her clients may be the 14-year-old girl in the video. Avenatti says the girl is not one of Allred's clients.

Jenna Dewan's boyfriend is stepping up to the plate, proving he's daddy material by enjoying/surviving a day at Disneyland with her 5-year-old girl. 

The actress hit up the Happiest Place on Earth Saturday with BF Steve Kazee and Everly, her daughter with Channing Tatum. Everly got the cush stroller ride around the park with potential-future-stepdad Steve on push duty.

Jenna, Steve and Everly seemed to have a great time riding rides and goofing around, and looked totally comfortable with their new family dynamic ... in the wake of Jenna and Channing's split.

That's not to say Channing and Jenna can't get together from time to time for the sake of their daughter -- they did exactly that this past Halloween, posing together for a selfie while taking Everly trick-or-treating. 

Successful post-divorce co-parenting has become a thing in Hollywood -- Chris Pratt and Anna Faris most recently got it down pat ... and Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow have been at it for years.

We're all here for this trend.   

This'll make Grandma Kris happy -- Kim, Khloe and Kylie are expanding the family business ... adding their brood to the mix.

The Kardashian-Jenner sisters have filed docs to trademark the names of their kids -- Saint, North and Chicago West along with True Thompson and Stormi Webster. In docs, obtained by TMZ, their mommas say they want to slap the kids' names on a number of products ... including a clothing line, toys and skin care products.

Kylie in particular also filed a trademark for "Stormiworld" -- no big mystery what inspired that move, but safe to say Stormi could take after mom or dad.

What's more ... the fam wants the ability to sign endorsement deals to pimp others' products, although the application doesn't list specifics.

Welcome to the family biz, kids. Now get to work!

T.I. and Tiny have zero interest in filming "Family & Hustle" without one of their own ... so they've shut down production following a bad car crash involving the rapper's sister.

Sources close to production tell TMZ ... T.I. and Tiny halted production Wednesday after learning the rapper's sister, Precious Harris, got in a serious car accident in Atlanta earlier that morning.

It's unclear what led to the car crash but here's what we know ... sources say Precious hit a pole, which triggered an asthma attack. The 66-year-old -- who often appears on the show -- was taken to a hospital where she's now in ICU. Her exact condition is unknown. 

We're told Tip and Tiny were devastated and decided it was best not to move forward until Precious pulled through. T.I.'s incredibly close to his sister and so is Tiny.

For Precious' 66th birthday bash last May, Tiny gave her a shout-out and said, "I hope you know how much u mean to me. Always been my road dawg. Love u much! Hope you enjoyed your day!!"

#Prayers 

Kim Kardashian is shooting down any notion that her 5-YEAR-OLD daughter, North West, has a serious boyfriend -- or as she puts it ... the kid is 5. Duh. 

KKW was leaving the Hollywood Beauty Awards Sunday night at Avalon, where our photog asked if Consquence's 7-year-old son, Caiden, publicly courting North should be taken seriously. If ya missed it, Caiden's been putting on a full-court press ... on social media, anyway. 

View this post on Instagram

Shout out to Northie, Babygirl I’ll see you soon 😘😘😘

A post shared by Caiden Mills (@caiden817) on Feb 6, 2019 at 1:16pm PST

Caiden -- who has his own IG page -- has been posting tons of photos of himself buying gifts for North, including one where he's got her wrapped under his arm with the caption ... "Boo'd Up." They even went on a play date with her brother, Saint.

Put the emphasis on "play," based on what Kim told us about her first born and Caiden. Sorry, rom-com lovers ... those V-Day shots of the lil Casanova with a Tiffany & Co. bag are just good fun.

View this post on Instagram

Boo’d Up 🥰🥰🥰

A post shared by Caiden Mills (@caiden817) on Feb 9, 2019 at 6:08pm PST

Kim did get serious about one thing -- her security. Check out the tension between some autograph seekers and her hired muscle.

Her dress is pretty damn serious too. Those straps put in some work!

Soulja Boy and Blac Chyna's relationship started as a total troll job against Tyga, but just like in a rom com ... it transformed into the real deal.

Sources close to the new couple tell TMZ ... when they initially started chatting a couple weeks ago by sliding into each other's DMs, they concocted a plan to piss off Tyga -- start pretending they were dating.

As you know ... Tyga is Chyna's ex and Soulja Boy and Tyga have had serious beef in 2019 over who had the biggest comeback last year. So, we're told they both were down to hang out, hook up and piss off their nemesis.

Then a funny thing happened -- the 2 actually started to like each other after a few dates and decided to make it official ... according to our sources.

We're told they appreciate and respect that the other one has their own career rolling right now, and they feel like they can take things slow. So far, no talk about moving in together or anything too serious.

As we reported, they already took things to the next level on Valentine's Day ... with a pricey shopping outing in Beverly Hills.

Cops nabbed a guy they say pulled the home invasion that forced Magic Johnson's daughter to run for her life.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD identified the suspect after reviewing surveillance video from the neighborhood where Elisa Johnson's friends were renting a house back in December.

We broke the story ... 2 armed men got inside the home and started terrorizing Elisa's friends, holding them at gunpoint and making off with a Rolex, cash and electronics. She was able to escape out of a sliding glass door at the back of the home.

Our sources say the suspect is a 25-year-old man with a long rap sheet. In fact, we're told he was at his parole office when cops picked him up. He's now facing multiple robbery charges for the home invasion and is being held without bail. We're told the 2nd suspect remains at large.

As we reported, Elisa -- who appears on her brother EJ Johnson's E! reality show -- ran down the street and knocked on neighbors' doors, until she got someone to call 911. 

TMZ obtained surveillance video from a neighbor's home which showed two men lurking on the block a few hours before the home invasion. We don't know if either of these guys are the suspect, but we know neighbors were suspicious. 

Chris Hansen is out on his ass ... with practically none of his belongings.

Sources tell TMZ ... the former host of "To Catch a Predator" was escorted out of his Manhattan apartment February 6 by city marshals, but not before throwing a Hail Mary.

We're told Hansen tried to be slick ... telling the marshals the attorneys worked out a deal. The marshals weren't buying it and called the landlord's legal muscle. Sure enough ... no deal was in place. We're told Hansen didn't put much of a fight after that, and -- as one source put it -- "went out like a church mouse."

And, get this ... after the locks were changed, our sources say Hansen tried getting back into the apartment, but obviously couldn't. He tried in vain to convince the super to let him inside ... to no avail.

We're told Hansen ultimately got permission ... and someone in his lawyer's office picked up some items Hansen left behind in his 1,000 square foot apartment. Sources say there's still TONS of stuff in the pad ... including furniture, electronics and jewelry. 

As we first reported ... Chris had trouble making rent back in August and stopped sending checks altogether. The owner went to court to have him evicted ... and the judge issued an order.

It's been a rough year for Chris. He was busted in January for bouncing checks. That charge was dismissed.

YBN Almighty Jay is being investigated for allegedly jacking another rapper's chain, Rolex and cash ... TMZ has learned. 

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... YBN Almighty Jay was filming videos Thursday in Chatsworth, CA with another rap artist, when he and his crew allegedly ran off with tons of loot after the last take. We're told YBN Almighty Jay has been named a suspect felony grand theft in the police report.

We're told YBN Almighty Jay and his entourage allegedly stole a $40k chain, $20k Rolex and $20k cash from rapper Skinnyfromthe9.

In surveillance video, obtained by TMZ, you see 2 men approach Skinnyfromthe9 as he chills in a Range Rover. After a struggle, the 2 men hightail it outta there.

Sources say the rappers were using Skinnyfromthe9's chain, Rolex and cash as props in a skit for social media. 

And, get this ... we're told Skinnyfromthe9 invited YBN Almighty Jay into his home a few days prior, letting him crash there while they worked on music together. 

Before this cheesin' chick was an actress on a hit teen drama, she was just another happy human growing up in Culver City, California. Can you guess who she is?