TMZ.com Home

A woman who says she was treated like an animal after getting arrested at a protest in the wake of George Floyd's death, is taking legal action against the LAPD and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department over an alleged night of terror while in confinement.

Laura Montilla just sued the City of L.A., Police Chief Michel Moore and other L.A. law enforcement officials ... claiming she and a bunch of other peaceful BLM protesters were wrangled up like cattle earlier this month by cops who showed no humanity.

In her docs, obtained by TMZ, Montilla claims a bunch of officers in riot gear prevented her and others from leaving a June 1 protest when a 5 PM curfew went into effect. She claims they pounced on protesters and arrested them.

She goes on to say they were all thrown on buses and detained for several hours without food or medical attention. Montilla also says cops never told them where they were and claims they never read her Miranda rights.

It gets worse ... Montilla says some people were having panic attacks and pissing themselves on the bus, but the police ignored them ... and even allegedly tried drowning out their cries by blasting loud heavy metal music. She also says cops "aggressively touched and groped her body by patting their hands aggressively on her vagina and breasts in four separate instances."

Montilla also claims her zip ties were on so tight, she lost feeling in her right hand and had bruises and abrasions for days after her arrest.

Once the cops were ready to cut people loose, Montilla says they dumped all these protesters in the middle of a Westwood neighborhood in the middle of the night, but provided no safe way home or access to communication ... she says they were left to fend for themselves.

Tory Lanez made a huge difference this Father's Day, helping 100 black men recently out of incarceration celebrate with their families for the first time on the outside.

The rapper and his Dream City Fund launched 100 Black Fathers with Van Jones and Cut50. The initiative is a partnership with Amazon Music, Door Dash and criminal justice reform organization Dream Corps to provide free dinners and gifts for the former inmates and their loved ones.

The 100 fathers were released from incarceration during the pandemic, so the food deliveries were of course "contactless." Their children got their hands on some Amazon gift cards codes, and gave them to their dads, no doubt leading to some hugs and huge smiles.

Tory is pretty passionate about the project ... he wrote an open letter to each of the fathers offering his support and empathy, because it's not every day you're released from prison straight into a pandemic and period of social and civil unrest.

TL wrote, in part ... "You're with your family. You deserve to enjoy today! I’m grateful to be a very small part of it. I know as a Black father raising Black children in this world, things aren’t easy."

Bubba Wallace -- the only Black driver in NASCAR's top series -- confirms a noose was found in his team's garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday ... and now the racing org is investigating.

The noose was found by a member of Wallace's team -- just hours after someone flew a Confederate flag over the legendary Alabama track to protest NASCAR banning the symbol at all events.

The crew member who found the noose immediately alerted NASCAR, which is now working with law enforcement to find the culprit.

"We are angry and outraged, and cannot state strongly enough how seriously we take this heinous act," NASCAR said.

"We have launched an immediate investigation, and will do everything we can to identify the person(s) responsible and eliminate them from the sport."

Wallace called the situation a "despicable act of racism and hatred" -- and says he's "incredibly saddened."

He added, "We will not be deterred by the reprehensible actions of those who seek to spread hate. As my mother told me today, 'They are just trying to scare you.'"

"This will not break me, I will not give in nor will I back down. I will continue to proudly stand for what I believe in."

LeBron James offered his support to Wallace -- calling the entire situation "sickening."

"[Bubba Wallace] my brother! Know you don’t stand alone," Bron said ... "I’m right here with you as well as every other athlete."

"I just want to continue to say how proud I am of you for continuing to take a stand for change here in America and sports! NASCAR I salute you as well!"

As for the confederate flag flyover which took place before the Geici 500 race was set to begin -- still unclear who was responsible for that. NASCAR says they're looking into that as well.

That wasn't the only display of the Confederacy either -- not by a long shot. While no Confederate flags were allowed inside the venue, a bunch of truck drivers rolled past the Speedway in what seemed to be a coordinated protest parade, with many flying the flag.

Some folks who wanted to show it off some more even set up camp across the street, and were proudly displaying the Confederate flag, alongside some Trump flags too.

Obviously, some people aren't all too pleased with NASCAR's new policy. But, it doesn't sound like the org gives a damn about them, 'cause one of their top dogs took a swipe at the people acting in defiance ... flatly rejecting their thinking, and calling them names too.

Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's executive VP, addressed the fly-over on Twitter, writing ... "You won’t see a photo of a jackass flying a flag over the track here...but you will see this... Hope EVERYONE enjoys the race today."

The mother of 1 of the drowning victims at Carl Crawford's Texas mansion last month says the former MLB star is responsible for her son's death ... and now, she's suing for over $1 million.

It's all spelled out in new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... in which Liban Hersi claims 38-year-old Crawford didn't do enough to prevent tragedy from striking on May 16.

In the docs, Hersi says her 5-year-old son was visiting Crawford with a family friend for a party at the former L.A. Dodgers outfielder's mansion in Harris County, Texas.

Hersi claims Crawford has a massive pool on the property ... but says it has no fencing around it -- and adds Crawford didn't take steps to protect her child from getting into the pool.

Hersi says her son fell in ... and when another partygoer jumped in after him -- they both tragically died.

Hersi claims Crawford could have done MUCH more to prevent the double drowning ... saying he had no alarm system set up for the pool and claimed the swimming hole's design was "unreasonably dangerous."

Hersi is now suing for wrongful death -- asking for over $1 million in damages.

Crawford spoke about the incident days after ... writing in a statement on social media, "My Hearts Heavy. The tragic events that occurred at my home will be with me forever. I'm at a loss for words I've struggled all week to manage my emotions and I keep thinking of the families of those who've passed and their grief, I know they have it the hardest."

He continued, "They are the first and last thing I think of these days. Please keep them in your prayers, I know they will always be in mine."

We've reached out to Crawford's reps for comment on the new lawsuit ... but, so far, no word back yet.

Karen is canceled ... at least when it comes to baby names.

The name, which has become a slang term for an overly demanding or entitled middle-aged white woman, is fast becoming the way of the pet rock -- extinct -- because parents know the name's become toxic.

Honchos at Babynames.com tell TMZ ... none of their millions of website users have added the name Karen to their favorite name lists in the past year, and over the past decade, they've seen a 75% decrease in popularity.

Karen is trending in the world of baby names, we're told, but for all the wrong reasons ... babynames.com says it's seen a 10-fold increase in searches for the meaning behind the name, but expectant parents are running for the hills ... no Karen's in their baby reveals.

The moniker was originally a Danish form of the name Katherine, meaning pure, but that reference is now dated and irrelevant. We're told Karen was most popular from 1938 to 1968, but it's seen a steep decline in the past two years, as more and more examples of "Karens" flood social media.

Offset got showered with love on Father's Day by the 2 very important ladies in his life -- his wife, Cardi B, and their almost-2-year-old daughter.

The family trio hit up Tao restaurant in Hollywood Sunday night to celebrate dear old dad's special day, and the parents looked super flashy while Kulture went with downright adorable ... in a plaid dress with matching shoes.

The kid was also holding some sort of toy she seemed real happy about.

Though Offset was the man of the hour, it was Cardi who walked out at the end of the dinner with a huge bouquet of flowers ... but it looks like Kulture snagged one of those for herself too.

One of Jussie Smollett's alleged attackers wants some personal belongings back from Chicago PD ... including some stuff that sounds like the exact items used that infamous night.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Abel Osundairo had a number of personal items seized in February 2019 when cops executed a search warrant at his home ... and now he wants them returned.

Some of the seized items Abel wants are pretty interesting, because, if you've followed the case, this will sound familiar -- a black ski mask and a red hat. Yep, just a couple of the things Abel and his brother, Ola, allegedly bought and used on Jussie.

You'll recall ... surveillance video days before the "attack" showed the Osundairos buying the gear. Remember, Jussie said his attackers were wearing ski masks, and cops seized red hats when they raided the brothers' residence.

Abel, who was released from custody without any charges being filed against him, also wants police to hand over a script from "Empire" recovered from his place. He and Ola had been extras on Jussie's hit show.

Other notable items Abel wants returned include 2 firearms, 2 iPhones and 5 bottles of bleach -- relevant, of course, to the alleged attack.

In the new docs, Abel's lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, says her client's "been patient but has now been deprived of his personal property for over a year and there exists no good cause for any further delay in returning his items to him."

Abel's gonna have to wait a little longer for a final decision. A judge is giving the special prosecutor in Jussie's case at least another week to figure out if handing over the stuff would prejudice the case in any way.

Lana Parrilla played an evil queen in "Once Upon a Time" ... so it's not surprising she's not afraid to confront trouble ... like pointing a shotgun at a woman who she claims went on an expletive-laced rant and accused her of murdering 13 children.

Lana beelined it to L.A. County Superior Court for a restraining order against a woman named Antoinette Hinckley, a 50-year-old who allegedly showed up to Lana's crib twice in 5 days. According to Lana's docs, Hinckley harassed her to the point the actress was forced to show force.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the bizarre incidents began June 9 when Antoinette was walking barefoot in front of Lana's home. Lana said hello and asked, "Are you just going for a walk?" Lana says Antoinette laughed and said, "I just wanted to look someone in the eyes" before asking Lana, "How do you sleep at night?" Lana says she responded she sleeps well. Antoinette scoffed, "f*** off!!" before walking away.

The second incident went down on June 14 ... Lana -- who says Antoinette is a friend of a former male friend -- claims Antoinette rang the gate bell that morning and things quickly got crazy. Lana claims Antoinette started yelling and making up stories ... like alleging Lana owed her $400,000. She says Antoinette threatened her before making this bizarre allegation: "I have video of you murdering my 13 children last night."

In docs, Lana says she was scared for her life ... she called cops but also "grabbed a bat and an unloaded shotgun and went to the porch." Lana claims she confronted Antoinette and told her she needed mental help and to "get the f*** off my property." That's when Lana claims Antoinette shot back, "f*** you. I'm going to jump over this fence and beat the s*** out of you."

It's at this point when Lana claims she pointed the shotgun at Antoinette, who yelled back but walked away. Cops were called and ultimately tracked Antoinette down, telling her she'd be arrested if she threatened Lana again. But, Lana says it didn't end there ... she claims 45 minutes later a homeless man came to her gate and called for her. Lana says she fears for her life and worries Antoinette will send people she knows to her house to hurt her.

Antoinette must now stay at least 100 yards away from Lana, her home and workplace.

Joey Chestnut is BUMMED there won't be fans at this year's Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, but there's a huge silver lining ... Jaws says the conditions are ripe for a NEW WORLD RECORD!!

Chestnut -- the greatest competitive eater of all time and 12-time Nathan's champ -- currently holds the record for most dogs devoured in 10 minutes ... 74 in 2018's contest.

But, Joey tells TMZ Sports come July 4 -- thanks to the competition being moved indoors without fans 'cause of COVID-19 -- he's primed for a record-shattering performance.

"There's a little bit of a bonus 'cause we're gonna be eating in air conditioning and they're less eaters, so they're making less hot dogs so they might taste better," Chestnut says.

"There's a good chance that we might have better conditions for a world record and I'ma be pushing for it."

FYI, the hugely famous contest usually takes place on NYC's Coney Island. New York City in July = insane heat and humidity ... making it difficult to scarf down pounds of meat.

But, with the changes, Joey's confident he will set a new record ... but how many more wieners can a human possibly scarf down in only 10 minutes?

"I'm breaking the record this 4th of July! This is gonna be a weird 4th of July, but I'ma make it memorable. My record 74, 75 just sounds like a good number but we'll see," Chestnut tells us.

"If I'm feeling it, if I'm in the perfect rhythm, 77 is doable."

Before this grinning guy was the father of Latin Caribbean music and Spanish rapping, he was just another smiling sweetie growing up in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

This fashionable fella popularized a new genre of music that he likes to call Reggaeton. As a famed record producer, rapper, singer, and actor, you can't help but wonder how this busy media machine doesn't run out of Gasolina.

One of his singles gained so much popularity that it became the first Spanish song since "Macarena" to hit number 1 and was even remixed by Justin Bieber.

A statue of Teddy Roosevelt that has greeted visitors for nearly a century at NYC's Museum of Natural History is set to be removed ... at the behest of the museum.

Honchos at the AMNH broke the news Sunday, saying a statue of the great trust-busting President that has stood at the foot of the entrance doors since 1940 will soon be gone.

In case you haven't seen it, the sculpture shows Teddy -- who once served as Governor of New York -- on horseback, with a Native American man on one side, and an African man on the other ... both of whom are below him.

Mayor Bill de Blasio says the museum asked the City for permission to remove the statue, because ... "it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior." He added, "It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue." It goes without saying ... New York's City Council has approved the request.

The statue has been a hot-button issue for a while -- some folks saw it as promoting imperialism and colonization ... which was alive and well in Teddy's day.

The museum justified the move, explaining ... "Over the last few weeks, our museum community has been profoundly moved by the ever-widening movement for racial justice that has emerged after the killing of George Floyd." They added, "We have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism. Simply put, the time has come to move it."

While Teddy's officially out ... another historical statue in our nation's Capitol, no less, is currently on the hot seat -- and may very well be the next slated for removal, unless protesters get to it first. Out in D.C., the Emancipation Statue featuring Honest Abe is being discussed as the next to go ... because of racial insensitivity.

There's a slave below Abe breaking free from his shackles, with AL hovering above him. A petition's circulating to remove it.

Less than a week after New York City said no more chokeholds to cops, an NYPD officer used one while making an arrest ... to the point the person he's subduing loses consciousness.

A handful of NYPD officers were filmed Sunday near Rockaway Beach attempting to detain and arrest a black man -- with one of the cops wrapping his entire arm around the guy's neck and putting his body weight on him from the ground, while the others put cuffs on.

You hear bystanders -- who are filming the whole thing -- start to scream out in a panic, telling the officer to stop choking him, which eventually gets him to release.

At that point, it appears the man being arrested has gone limp and is unresponsive -- some of the folks standing around say "he's out." He had indeed passed out and was led away by police moments later.

It's unclear if and when he regained consciousness -- his current condition is also unknown.  We also don't know why he was being arrested, and the NYPD isn't saying.

The NYPD did say, "We are aware of the video and there is an active investigation underway by the Internal Affairs Bureau. This matter is taken extremely seriously and we expect to have an update this evening as the investigation unfolds."

Bear in mind ... the City JUST made it illegal for cops to do this, unless their lives are in immediate danger. They even named the law after Eric Garner.

Again, and again ... what is so remarkable about these encounters is that cops know they're being videotaped but it doesn't seem to deter much.

Skaters from Cali to Texas hopped on their boards in unison this weekend to peacefully protest and show support for the Black Lives Matter movement -- and the scene is unreal.

This weekend proved to be another few days filled with anti-racism demonstrations to decry the death of George Floyd and others, but none were quite as creative as skateboarders coming together and going for a communal ride through the streets of S.D., L.A. and Austin.

They call it Skate for Peace, or Push for Peace. Pretty straightforward.

Sounds cool, right? Wait till you see it in action ... it's like something out of a movie, honestly. Nothing but the sound of wheels rolling across the pavement -- purely awesome.

Now, these types of get-togethers have been going on for weeks nationwide -- but this weekend's skate protest was especially noteworthy because of the sheer numbers -- and the fact that they took up entire streets without too much pushback, it seems.

Ja Rule has made his services widely available to the general public -- the dude's offering up private party bookings now ... something his old foe, 50 Cent, finds awfully hilarious.

The rapper made an appearance this weekend at a private house party in New Jersey, where it looks like he was hired by a bunch of hotties to perform a few hit songs and hang out for a bit. One classic jam of his that he got around to playing ... "I'm Real," featuring J Lo.

Everyone was having a good ol' time, and Ja certainly had no shame in announcing that, yes, people CAN book him for gigs like this now. He's partnered up with ICONN, and there's an official way you can go about getting Ja to come to your shindig ... for a pretty penny.

Sounds neat, but of course ... there's always haters lurking in the back ready to pounce. In this case, Ja's nemesis, Fitty, came with a bag of jokes ready to fly at JR's expense.

He took to IG and wrote, "if you don’t want to end up doing private birthday parties for 15 people. 🤷🏽‍♂️stay out of my way, OK." Some folks credit 50 with stunting Ja's career -- at least that's how 50 sees it -- and he rides that narrative to no end ... constantly clowning the guy.

Florida Man is back with a vengeance -- this time, he's fighting his way into a Walmart, which has a mandatory face mask policy ... but FM NEEDS his discounts, 'rona be damned.

This wild scene went down Saturday in Orlando, and it starts off right in the thick of the action. An elderly man tries storming his way into a Walmart without a face covering -- but gets stopped by an employee at the front door. That wasn't gonna stop gramps here though.

He immediately got physical and started pushing his way through -- even shoving the masked employee out of his way ... to some success, at first. The guy did get by him -- after taking a tumble during the struggle -- and then started heading for some aisles. But, this Walmart employee (of the year?) caught up to him and held his ground ... give him a raise!

On the second go, he had backup with him -- just a regular Joe, it seems -- who chimed in and told the guy to get the hell out. He also noted the dude was getting his germs all over the place by making such a big fuss -- meanwhile, almost everyone else had coverage.

It seems the two-man press was enough for the old-timer to call it quits and scram, empty-handed at that. Guess he'll have to wait to get his weekly batch of $5 DVDs ... too bad.

Anyway, the whole time you can hear the cameraman laughing it up -- and while we'll admit it's pretty funny watching this absurdity unfold ... it's also pretty jarring and surreal.