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Jay-Z famously sips on D'Ussé, but he no longer wants to own the liquor brand -- TMZ Hip Hop's learned he's selling it to his partners at Bacardi, but he suspects the company's playing a high stakes "shell game."

As we first reported ... Jay's filed docs demanding Bacardi open up the books on its 50/50 partnership with him on D'Ussé -- the top-shelf cognac they've co-owned since 2012 -- and now we know why.

According to docs, Jay's company, SC Liquor, exercised its right to a buyout about a year ago. Under their agreement, Bacardi now has to "negotiate in good faith" to come up with a fair price for Jay's stake in D'Ussé. Therein lies the problem ... Jay thinks they're not playing fair.

In the docs, SC Liquor says Bacardi's subsidiary, Empire Investments Inc., is trying to "stall and stonewall" all efforts to get financial info on the valuation of D'Ussé.

Keep in mind, no one's done more than Jay to hype the brand, shouting it out in countless verses -- and after a year of Bacardi dragging its feet, Jay thinks their endgame is lowballing him on the price.

Even further, Jay accuses Bacardi of mismanaging in all sorts of ways with the intent of lowering profits.

As for how much it might be worth -- the documents reference a potential value, but Jay's lawyers redacted those numbers. We do know both sides are not seeing eye-to-eye on the value, because they've each thrown out a potential value -- again, it's redacted -- but Jay described their number as "well below" fair value.

If you're wondering why Jay-Z -- who's already a billionaire many times over -- might be haggling over the price, there's BIG liquor money at stake here. Remember, George Clooney and Rande Gerber sold their stake in Casamigos tequila back in 2017 ... for nearly $1 billion!!!

Tia Mowry's giving off super positive vibes ... about her life, her family and even her estranged husband -- just a couple weeks after filing for divorce.

Tia was wrapping up a grocery run when we got her in L.A., and she opened up about how life's been for her and Cory Hardrict -- because to fans observing online, it seems like there's still a ton of love between them.

The exes have been supporting each other in the comment section of their social media posts -- and Cory even posted a video flat-out sending love to "my wife."

We asked Tia the obvious ... any chance of reconciliation? She didn't say no, and instead hit us with, "I'm just taking everything a day at a time, and that's all I'm going to say to that." 🤔

Tia also told us she and Cory are "amazing" at co-parenting in the wake of their split.

Kim Plath, star of TLC's "Welcome to Plathville," has been arrested for DUI ... following a gnarly crash a few months back that cops say sent her straight to the hospital.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, cops arrived at the scene of an accident in Florida In June, finding Kim's vehicle flipped upside down, in a ditch filled with water.

Police say Kim was notably intoxicated after the incident, with the smell of booze coming from her mouth -- the report says she was then taken to a nearby hospital so her injuries could get looked at.

After an initial inspection by cops, Kim was simply charged with careless driving, but investigators got a blood sample, and waited months for the results.

Her lab results came back in September according to the report, revealing she was in fact under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.

WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash's son, Tristen, who recently started working with his father's podcast, tragically passed away this week ... it was announced Thursday.

He was only 26 years old.

No cause of death has been revealed.

Sean Ross Sapp shared a statement on behalf of Tristen's parents, Kevin and Tamara, confirming the terrible news -- adding the family is asking for privacy during this difficult time.

Tristen's death comes seven months after Kevin lost one of his best friends in the wrestling industry, Scott Hall, who died earlier this year at 63.

Today actually would have been Scott's 64th birthday.

Rest in peace.

Olivia Wilde ain't gonna talk about her elusive salad dressing ... but she does have an important message that she wants the whole world to know.

We got Olivia Thursday at Tracy Anderson's fitness studio in Brentwood, CA ... takin' off after getting a good sweat in. Of course, there was one thing on our photog's mind -- even if it wasn't on Olivia's.

We try and get some answers about her making some more of that dressing, but mum's the word ... instead, she's hoping for people to get out there and vote in the U.S. midterms, coming up in just a few weeks.

As we reported -- OW's former nanny, Erika Genaro, told DailyMail of an incident when Olivia was whipping up her special salad dressing, getting ready to go see Harry Styles for a dinner date -- which allegedly triggered Jason Sudeikis.

After the nanny story spread, Olivia posted an excerpt from Nora Ephron's memoir "Heartburn" which details a salad dressing ... which many believe to be the one Olivia made.

"Southern Charm" star Naomi Olindo is a two-faced business owner who screwed over the woman who helped her start a profitable online clothing store ... this according to a new lawsuit.

Naomi is being sued by Ginny Cox, who claims she helped Naomi start up a successful clothing brand, L'ABEYE, only for Naomi to go behind her back and force her out of the biz and misappropriate company funds.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Cox claims Naomi came to her in 2018 seeking help in starting an online clothing store because of Cox's experience in retail fashion. Cox says Naomi offered her a 50% ownership stake and promised to handle the business and marketing side.

Cox says she poured in her heart and soul to start the brand with Naomi, logging tons of hours making the e-commerce venture into a profitable business ... but she says while Naomi told her she was a co-owner and was presented as a co-founder on the company's social media, she claims Naomi actually controlled the money and withdrew more than her fair portion of the profits while paying Cox less than her 50% share.

What's more, Cox says she only drew a modest salary from the biz while Naomi used company funds to line her own pockets and pay personal expenses.

Cox claims Naomi recently fired her from the company and took the position that Cox was never a 50-50 owner of the business ... so Cox is dragging her to court over the falling out and wants to collect what she claims she's owed.

Cox is going after Naomi for damages and she wants to be recognized as an equal co-owner in L'ABEYE.

Naomie's lawyers, Benjamin Joyce and Ellis Lesemann, tell TMZ ... "Our client does not comment publicly on pending litigation. However, obviously these allegations made by a disgruntled former employee are false and misleading. We will soon be filing a formal response to these allegations that will help set the record straight."

Kevin Spacey just scored a big victory in the sex abuse lawsuit brought by actor Anthony Rapp ... because he's been found not liable.

The jury reportedly took less than an hour to deliberate Thursday after a 2-week trial.

As we reported, the "Star Trek: Discovery" actor sued Spacey for $40M in 2020 ... claiming he met the disgraced actor in 1986 while performing on Broadway in "Precious Sons."

Rapp said Spacey invited him, 14 at the time, to a party at his home on the East Side of Manhattan. Rapp alleges Spacey, without consent, made an unwanted sexual advance -- allegedly grabbing his buttocks, lifting him onto a bed, and laying on his body.

Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann is suing one of the sport's biggest legends for $100 MILLION ... because he says the guy made up claims that he cheated during a match.

Niemann played Magnus Carlsen -- a five-time reigning World Chess Champion and the highest-ranked chess player ever -- at the Sinquefield Cup in St. Louis back on Sept. 4 ... and, in Niemann's words, "soundly defeated" him.

Afterward, the 19-year-old budding superstar danced on Carlsen's grave, taunting him during an interview ... and that's when Niemann claimed all of the trouble began.

The chess player, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in Missouri, said 31-year-old Carlsen couldn't accept defeat, became "enraged" ... and launched an all-out attack on his rival.

Niemann says Carlsen fabricated a story that he had cheated to win the match. Days later, when the two were supposed to run things back at the Julius Baer Generation Cup ... Niemann says Carlsen "gutlessly forfeited the game after making one move" and then repeated the "false" cheating accusations against Niemann.

Niemann says the ramifications of Carlsen's lies were endless.

He claims that despite several independent and unbiased sources clearing him of any wrongdoing during the Sept. 4 match ... Carlsen used his partnership with Chess giant Chess.com to essentially blackball him in the chess world.

He says in the suit that the org. banned him from its website and all of its future events -- which comprise the majority of the world's most prestigious chess tournaments.

Niemann says he's suffered irreparably from Carlsen's defamatory allegations ... and is suing for NINE figures.

Peter Rosenberg says it's startling to hear Kanye West drop his name during his antisemitic rants, but doesn't believe Kanye has the ability to influence folks enough to cause harm.

The famous radio DJ joined us on "TMZ Live" and talked about Kanye singling him out, and if there was a reason for Kanye's ire ... like, for example, being snubbed from an interview.

Ye claims Jewish people in the media are trying to blackball him and keep him from being interviewed, but Peter says there's no real reason for Kanye to have a bone to pick with him and his Hot 97 radio station. For Peter, it's just baseless bigotry from Kanye.

As you know ... Kanye has been going after Jewish people a lot recently, and Peter says the antisemites are starting to come out of the woodwork, telling us it's a scary situation for him and other Jewish people because he says it's similar to what happened at the start of the Holocaust.

While Peter says he sees and hears all the noise, he's got his fingers crossed Kanye won't be able to steer folks into doing something really bad to Jewish people ... pointing to Ye's political track record.

Festival organizers are working to put the legal fallout from Travis Scott's Astroworld tragedy behind them ... reaching a settlement with one victim's family, marking the first known settlement of all of the cases surrounding the deadly music festival.

Attorney Tony Buzbee, who reps the family of Axel Acosta, tells TMZ ... the family settled out of court after suing Travis, Live Nation and others.

Remember ... 21-year-old Axel died from injuries suffered at the November 2021 concert. Buzbee previously told us Axel traveled all the way from Washington to see the Houston festival and was a huge Travis fan.

Terms of the settlement are confidential, Buzbee says, and the family wants people to remember Axel as a "beloved son, brother and student" who was also "kind and loving" and is "greatly missed."

While Travis is done with the first of the many lawsuits against him ... the legal side is far from over. There were 10 people in total who died at Astroworld, and Travis is still dealing with lawsuits filed by others impacted by the tragic incident.

Conor Kennedy, who briefly dated Taylor Swift, recently opened up about a scary period in his life -- one where he went overseas to fight in the war in Ukraine.

Conor took to Instagram, saying he, like many others, was moved by what was happening in Ukraine, and wanted to help -- he realized the best way to do that would be to go to the embassy and enlist.

He writes, "Going in, I had no prior military experience and wasn’t a great shot, but I could carry heavy things and learned fast. I was also willing to die there. So they soon agreed to send me to the northeastern front."

Conor admits his time in the country wasn't long, but calls the experience "scary" ... adding he's lucky to have made it back alive, and "I would also take all the risks we took over again."

He's been met with an outpour of love in his comments ... with many calling him inspiration for the dangerous feat.

Ari Emanuel, CEO of William Morris Endeavor, has some stern advice for any companies still doing business with Kanye West ... telling them to back out of their deals following his antisemitic comments.

Emanuel issued the warning in an op-ed posted by the Financial Times Wednesday ... urging companies associated with Kanye to stop working with him -- including streaming services like Apple and Spotify that have his music available on their platforms.

He even points to Parler -- a conservative-leaning social media app that the rapper is planning to purchase ... telling them to refuse the sale.

Emanuel talks about Kanye's impact on society, writing "He is a pop culture icon with millions of fans around the world ... and among them are young people whose views are still being formed. This is why it is necessary for all of us to speak out. Hatred and antisemitism should have no place in our society, no matter how much money is at stake.”

Tom Brady has just issued an apology for comparing the NFL season to military deployment ... admitting Thursday afternoon that it was all a "poor choice of words."

Brady actually interrupted a reporter at the beginning of his Buccaneers press conference to deliver the mea culpa -- saying he wanted to express to everyone who "may have taken it in a certain way" that he was sorry.

Brady initially made the war-themed comments during his "Let's Go!" podcast on Monday ... while talking with Kevin Durant about the struggles he's encountered when trying to balance work and pleasure in the middle of a season.

"I almost look at like a football season like you're going away on deployment for the military," Brady said. "And it's like, 'Man, here I go again.'"

The remarks were hit with backlash almost immediately, with many on social media calling them tone-deaf. Army veteran Brad Thomas, who fought in Black Hawk Down, even took to his Instagram page to blast the quarterback over it all.

"Hey @tombrady - this statement is naive and offensive on many levels," he wrote. "You play a game, for entertainment, and seem to have lost your perspective."

Brady clearly felt bad about everything ... looking downtrodden as he delivered his apology Thursday.

Fivio Foreign was excited to bring his hit singles to the Brooklyn Nets season opener at Barclays Center ... but something was clearly off with his performance, and the fans let him have it.

Fivio took center court at halftime to deliver a medley of "Say My Name," "City of Gods" and "Big Drip" but there were apparently some technical difficulties ... the Brooklyn rapper missed the cue on most of his lyrics, resulting in a live performance of ad-libs.

Fans split the blame down the middle ... with some blaming the Nets audio crew and others just chalking it up to Fivio being a slouch on the job.

Of course, Twitter users let him have it, writing, "If you’re illegally streaming this Nets game you know that this fivio foreign halftime performance is one of the worst things in history." Another wrote, "I don’t know who fivio foreign is, but this one of the worst halftime shows I ever seen."

T.I., being the experienced rapper, noted Fivio's lack of in-ear headphones to hear the songs properly.

The glitchy performance certainly didn't inspire the home team ... Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans blew out the Nets on their home floor 130-108.

Cardi B's back in court for a new legal battle ... a development a bunch of local teenagers is fully aware of because one of 'em showed up at court to offer her a night of dancing!!!

Cardi was leaving court in Santa Ana, CA Wednesday when a swarm of young fans met her outside the courthouse, clearly thrilled to get a glimpse of the rapper.

One in the crowd decided to shoot his shot ... walking up to Cardi and asking if she'd hit up the homecoming dance with him -- no answer, but we're guessing she's got her hands full at the moment. Bold move, though, kid!

As we reported, CB is in a legal battle over the cover art for her "Gangsta Bitch Music Vol. 1" mixtape ... which shows a guy with a bunch of back tattoos goin' down on her.

The guy in question -- Kevin Brophy -- filed docs back in 2017, claiming he's the guy in the pic, but claimed he didn't authorize her to use his image. He added he's never met or even spoken to Cardi or her people.

Kylie Jenner is getting real about her struggles with postpartum depression, admitting she suffered from "saggy t--s" and the "baby blues."

The billionaire cosmetics mogul goes deep about the birth of her second child she shares with Travis Scott during a second season episode of "The Kardashians" Hulu show.

Kylie says, "I cried non-stop all day for the first three weeks. 'It's just the baby blues and then it kinda goes away. I had it with Stormi too." She added, before it went away she had to "lay in bed and my head would hurt so much."

Kylie also offered this ... "Nothing's stopping me [from wearing mini dresses]," she says. "I feel really good about my body. Like, I see my body and I love my body, my saggy t--s."

Kendall reveals she's starting "a new chapter in my career. 818 is my baby. I've been working on it for about five years now and I can't wait to just continue to grow the brand and it is just the best and really crazy."

Well, smart move ... because that's clearly where the money is. Just ask Clooney, Gerber, etc.