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James Franco is being accused in a new lawsuit of pressuring his acting school students to get naked for auditions while he dangled promises of movie roles that rarely panned out.

The suit, filed by Sarah Tither-Kaplan and Toni Gaal, says that both women were students at the L.A. branch of the Studio 4 school -- which Franco co-founded -- back in 2014. The women claim Franco, and other instructors, engaged in "inappropriate and sexually charged behavior toward female students." In docs, they claim Franco created "an environment of harassment and sexual exploitation."

According to the docs, Franco offered them roles in independent films he was producing or directing. Their issue is what they had to do got those roles. In the suit, they claim Franco blew off several film industry guidelines for nude scenes. For instance, they claim young and inexperienced female students were "routinely pressured to engage in simulated sex acts that went far beyond the standards in the industry."

Joe Giudice is getting his wish -- he's returning to his motherland as he awaits a final decision in his deportation case.

According to federal court records, the judge signed off on Joe's request for his immediate release from an ICE detention center so he can travel to Italy while the courts decide on his appeal of deportation.

We broke the story ... Joe wants to return to his native Italy so he can work and send money back to the States to support his wife, Teresa Giudice, and their 4 daughters, who are all living in New Jersey.

Now he's got the green light, but the question remains ... will it be a temporary trip or permanent?

LaVar Ball is firing back at his ex-BBB business partner Alan Foster ... claiming the scathing allegations against LaVar in a new lawsuit are total BBBS.

"Alan Foster’s claims are not only unfounded and devoid of any truth, but are an egregious attempt to turn the attention away from the millions of dollars that he embezzled from the Ball Family and the Ball Family Business," Ball said in a statement.

"Not only will LaVar Ball and his family continue to vigorously pursue their civil action against Foster seeking civil damages, but will also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in order to seek justice for his egregious actions."

"The Ball family are all united in relentlessly pursuing Foster for his grave injustices, and will always fight to protect the respected Ball family name, despite Foster’s futile attempt to defile it."

Foster reportedly filed court docs against LaVar, accusing Lonzo Ball's famous father of embezzling more than $2.5 million from the Big Baller Brand company.

Looks like all of Tekashi 6ix9ine's singing from the canary cage actually paid off, 'cause the jury just handed out a bunch of guilty verdicts ... including for kidnapping.

The jury reached its decision Thursday in an NYC courtroom and found Anthony "Harv" Ellison guilty of kidnapping in aid of racketeering. He was also found guilty of racketeering conspiracy and maiming and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering.

Aljermiah "Nuke" Mack was found guilty of racketeering conspiracy and narcotics trafficking.

Ellison was found not guilty of assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering. The jury did not reach a verdict on the firearms offense charge because Ellison was found not guilty of the dangerous weapon charge.

You'll recall Ellison was accused of kidnapping and beating Tekashi in the summer of 2018.

Gerard Butler's going after the driver who allegedly cut him off in traffic and caused him to crash ... according to a new suit.

According to the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- he was ejected from his Triumph Bonneville motorcycle when a woman "negligently pulled her vehicle off the curb" and cut across lanes of traffic directly in front of him.

The "Angel Has Fallen" star claims he had no time to stop, so he hit the lady's Benz on the driver's side and went flying off ... and he says he suffered "catastrophic injuries."

We broke the story ... Butler was hospitalized after the October 2017 accident. Paramedics arrived on the scene and briefly treated him before he was transported.

Oscar De La Hoya is being sued by a famous ex-Golden Boy Promotions employee -- who claims the boxing star would call him at all hours of the night to save him from situations when he was "highly intoxicated."

The man behind the suit is David Gonzalez -- a famous L.A. radio star known as Tattoo.

FYI -- Tattoo first appeared on Power 106 back in 2001 and agreed to have the words, "I slept with Shaq" tattooed on his forehead in exchange for Lakers' playoff tickets. He later got the tattoo removed.

But, Gonzalez says he was contacted by Golden Boy Promotions in 2010 to work for Oscar's company, mainly doing promotional work and announcing at events.

In his lawsuit, Gonzalez says things got weird quick ... and was ordered to "perform a wide range of highly personal, improper, and elicit non-work-related duties."

There is nothing blessed about a bride and groom's wedding photo in front of the notorious Wall from "The Handmaid's Tale" ... so say some outraged fans of the show.

A photography company shared this shot Wednesday of the happy couple kissing on their big day, but the location and Photoshopping of the pic has not drawn much praise ... instead, people find it sickening.

The newlyweds' photo is in front of the wall in Cambridge, Ontario used for filming "The Wall" on the Hulu series.

For those unfamiliar ... The Wall is a boundary of the city where "The Handmaid's Tale" takes place, and bodies of executed men and women who have disobeyed the laws are often hung there as a warning to others.

Yeah, pretty dark stuff.

The photographers who shared the photo had a much brighter take on it, though, writing ... "Praise be! Kendra & Torsten are married!" If there’s any The Handmaid's Tale fans out there, you’ll know most of it is filmed in Cambridge!"

Robert De Niro is being sued by a former assistant who claims he made sexually charged comments to her, was verbally abusive and assigned her "stereotypically females duties" ... a lawsuit she filed after he sued her.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Graham Chase Robinson claims she was hired by the actor in 2008 as his executive assistant. The then 25-year-old claims De Niro communicated to her in a "hostile, abusive, and intimidating manner" and referred to her as "a bitch" and "a brat." She claims De Niro referred to a female business partner as a "c***."

She also claims De Niro was often intoxicated and would lash out at her. He would also joke with her about his Viagra prescription, and would ask her to "imagine him on the toilet."

De Niro allegedly suggested Robinson could get pregnant by using sperm from a male coworker.

Air Force's beloved falcon mascot, Aurora, took her last flight on Wednesday ... the school announced the iconic bird has died. She was 23.

Aurora -- a rare white phase gyrfalcon -- played a huge role at Air Force sporting events over the years and was touted as "an ambassador for all falcons."

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Aurora passed away earlier today," the Academy said in a statement. "Aurora was the Academy’s longest-serving live mascot. In her 23 years at USAFA, she interacted with tens of thousands of people at sporting venues and military and community events."

USAFA credits Aurora for "helping us educate the public on the importance of these majestic birds."

Kylie Jenner's split from Travis Scott wasn't the result of a cheating scandal or a blowup fight ... they were simply done in by a harsh dose of reality.

Sources close to the ex-couple tell TMZ ... their decision to break things off came weeks ago, following a very long honeymoon phase that was full of love, touring, going on vacations and of course ... raising their daughter, Stormi, together.

We're told after Travis' Astroworld tour wrapped up and the two got back from Kylie's lavish bday getaway, everything slowed down and they were confronted by the grind of normal life ... and things felt different between them.

Simply put ... our sources say they fell out of love.

We're told Kylie and Travis tried to work it out for awhile -- including around the time she accompanied him to his 'Look Mom I Can Fly' documentary premiere in Santa Monica on Aug. 27 -- but couldn't make it happen.

Antonio Brown was a childish, foul-mouthed monster during his deposition for his condo-trashing case last week ... this according to new court docs filed by the opposing lawyer.

As we previously reported, Brown appeared at a Miami office building on Sept. 24 to be questioned as part of a lawsuit in which he's accused of going berserk at his luxury condo, causing thousands of dollars in damage, but never paying the bill.

But, attorneys for the complex -- The Mansions at Acqualina -- say once AB sat down for the depo, things quickly spiraled out of control.

"Antonio Brown was extremely noncompliant and flagrantly disorderly, to the point that he frustrated the totality of the proceeding."

Oh, it gets worse ... the attorney claims Brown's deposition was filled with "tumultuous tirades, defiant rants, use of profane language and refusal to comport himself in a civilized and grown-up manner."

Corey Lewandowski had a little bit too much wine at dinner before hopping on TV for an interview about President Trump and the whistleblower ... at least that's what the show's host suggested.

Lisa Kennedy Montgomery -- AKA Kennedy from MTV -- had Trump's former campaign manager on her FOX Business show Wednesday night and quickly became suspicious of his blood alcohol level as he appeared to struggle with a few words.

Take a look ... Kennedy's brow furrows as Lewandowski alleges the White House whistleblower is someone who "hates this president more than they love their country."

Good news for the Knowles family -- Beyonce and her sister, Solange, have both tested negative for the mutated BRCA2 gene linked to a higher risk of breast, ovarian and other types of cancer.

The sisters' dad, Mathew Knowles, tells TMZ ... they went and got tested following his breast cancer diagnosis to see if they carry the same gene he does, and the results are in -- he says they're in the clear.

Demi Lovato is NOT taking a political stance in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but someone thinks she is -- and now she's had to do a mea culpa for her trip to religious sites.

Demi felt enough backlash Wednesday night that she felt compelled to post a detailed apology ... in which she admits accepting a free trip to Israel "in exchange for a few posts."

She added, "No one told me there would be anything wrong with going or that I could possibly be offending anyone." Demi went on to say she was sorry, and make it clear she didn't intend to hurt people.

The mystery here is ... WHO lashed out at her for what appeared to be purely a spiritual journey?

Demi's turned off comments on her Instagram, so there's no way to see what anyone said in response to the pics she posted of herself getting baptized in the Jordan River, touching the Wailing Wall and visiting several other landmarks.

Did you know Michael Bisping has a glass eye? Wanna see him pull it out of his face?!

Great!! Because that's exactly what the UFC Hall of Famer did on his podcast this week ... and it's AMAZING VIDEO!!!

"The Count" was explaining why he used to wear sunglasses so often during his fight career ... and then reached into his right eye socket and plucked out a prosthetic eyeball!

"That's why I used to wear f**king sunglasses, baby boy!!"

Of course, Bisping has spoken publicly about his eye issues over the years -- but it's unclear exactly when he got his replacement peeper.

On the heels of criminal charges being filed in the death of Mac Miller, 6 men have just been arrested in connection with the fatal OD of HQ Trivia co-founder and CEO Colin Kroll ... and federal authorities say the men went to great lengths to avoid getting caught.

The group allegedly peddled coke and heroin daily in NYC through their drug delivery service called "Mike's Candyshop," which counted Kroll as a customer ... this according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

According to the feds, the NYPD and DEA's investigation turned up an illicit enterprise that allegedly allowed people to order heroin and coke to their doorstep as simply as if they were ordering a pizza.

In the indictment ... one of the victims identified as "Victim 1" -- TMZ's confirmed it's Kroll -- died from a cocktail of drugs that included heroin and coke allegedly provided by Mike's Candyshop.

What's more ... the feds claim Mike's changed its phone number twice to avoid getting caught. Still, the delivery service continued operating its on-demand drug service.