Allegations

Justin Baldoni's lawyers say he and the other defendants in Blake Lively's lawsuit can't be held responsible for her businesses going belly up ... because she's not a marvelous mogul.

The two sides were in court Tuesday to discuss pretrial issues ... and, damages came up --specifically, Lively arguing Baldoni and others damaged her public reputation, which caused her brands to take a beating.

Baldoni's lawyers disagreed, firing back that Blake has a poor track record of running businesses ... and companies like her liquor brand Betty Buzz failed because people just don't like her.

Diddy is drawing a hard line against Jonathan Hay's explosive lawsuit ... filing a response in court that basically says the publicist's shocking allegations are flat-out false.

The music mogul just filed his official answer to Hay's amended complaint -- and he starts by "generally and specifically" denying every single allegation in the lawsuit. He also denies Hay was harmed at all and says Hay isn't entitled to a dime.

That's a major response to a lawsuit packed with jaw-dropping accusations.

An actor who appeared in the Oscar-winning film "Dances With Wolves" has been sentenced to 37 years to life in prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls over a period of 2 decades.

A Las Vegas jury found Nathan Chasing Horse guilty of 13 of 21 charges he faced in January following an 11-day trial on Friday. He was originally arrested for the crimes by a SWAT team in 2023 and was booked in the Clark County Jail for child abuse or neglect, sex assault, sex assault against a child and sex trafficking of an adult.

Chasing Horse was accused of using his influence in the Native American community to take advantage of his victims. He was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault of a minor under 16, 1 count of open/gross lewdness, 1 count of sexual assault, and 1 count of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child, local outlet KTNV reported.

Joseph Duggar's wife Kendra is back in court over her own criminal case ... and she just scored a major legal win after getting a no-contact order lifted.

According to new court docs obtained by TMZ, Kendra's attorney, Travis W. Story, filed an entry of appearance on her behalf last week and entered a not guilty plea to charges of endangering the welfare of a minor and false imprisonment.

Her legal team also asked the court to dissolve a no-contact order that had been put in place on March 20 ... arguing the alleged victims wanted contact with Kendra restored, that she had complied with all conditions of the order, and that continued restrictions were preventing important third-party evaluations tied to the case.

Donnell Rawlings is standing firmly in Michael Jackson’s corner ... telling us the filmmakers were right to reportedly spend millions reworking the upcoming biopic to remove references to abuse allegations.

Check out the clip ... we caught up with the comedian over the weekend and asked whether the reported $25M overhaul to reshoot the third act -- which featured sexual abuse allegations against the pop star -- was the right move ... and Donnell didn’t hesitate to give his POV.

He pointed to the fact Michael was acquitted in his 2005 criminal trial and said the allegations ultimately amounted to “speculation” ... adding the movie shouldn’t tarnish the King of Pop’s legacy by ending on accusations instead of his contributions to music and the world.

Donnell told us people should remember Michael for “healing the world” and being “the greatest performer that we’ve ever seen” ... making it crystal clear where he stands on the controversy.

Nicki Minaj's ex-assistant is asking a judge to sanction the rapper for failing to turn over potential evidence in their court battle ... TMZ has learned.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Brandon Garrett -- who worked for Nicki in 2024 -- claimed she got physical with him.

He said Nicki called him into her dressing room at a Detroit show. Brandon alleged that Nicki became enraged with him.

"Are you f***ing crazy having him pick up my prescription? You have lost your f***ing mind and if my husband were here, he would knock out your f***ing teeth," Brandon said Nicki told him backstage. "You're a dead man walking. You just f***ed up your whole life and you will never be anyone, I'll make sure of it."

The Lonely Island member Jorma Taccone is looking back at his "Saturday Night Live" days ... and calling out the one guest host who made him seriously uncomfortable ... Kevin Spacey.

Taccone spilled it on the "Obsessed" podcast, saying there was one person he "wasn't super geeked on" -- before finally naming Spacey -- admitting he'd never said it out loud before.

Jorma didn't go into much detail, just saying the vibe around Kevin during his guest-hosting in 2006 made him uneasy.

James Safechuck -- one of Michael Jackson's sexual assault accusers -- says there's no way he's going to watch the new biopic about the King of Pop ... and he doesn't think it should have been produced in the first place.

A photog got Safechuck in Sherman Oaks over the weekend and asked him if he planned to go check out "Michael" on opening weekend ... and Safechuck gave an emphatic "no."

Safechuck says the movie shouldn't have gotten the green light ... he says he doesn't believe in supporting alleged child abusers.

He also reiterated his support for abuse survivors.

Brian Hooker calmly ... very calmly ... explained what happened to his wife just days after she went missing near the Bahamas in a new video obtained by TMZ.

The clip -- taken on Monday, April 6 -- two days after Lynette disappeared and two days before Hooker was questioned by the Royal Bahamas Police Force -- shows a fellow seafarer engaging in a conversation with Hooker.

The two have a conversation from their separate ships ... with Brian standing on "Soulmate."

Katie Couric says the woman who has accused Matt Lauer of rape has shown a lot of courage in coming forward with her allegation.

The veteran journalist made the comment about her former colleague during a conversation with Page Six at City Harvest Presents The 2026 Gala: Shaken, Not Stirred earlier this week ... telling the outlet she's read an excerpt from Brooke Nevils' new book.

Couric said, "I feel terrible for her. I think she’s very brave to write the book.”

Jermaine Jackson could be facing a massive payout to his rape accuser -- without ever stepping foot in court.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, the Jackson family singer could be on the hook for $6.5 million after Rita Butler Barrett -- the woman accusing him of rape -- asked a Los Angeles judge to enter a default judgment ... claiming Jermaine has essentially ghosted the case.

In the filing, Rita's attorneys say they were unable to track Jermaine down -- and had to get court approval to serve him through legal notices published in the Los Angeles Times after traditional methods allegedly failed. Court records show a judge approved service by publication in 2025 ... and notices ran for four consecutive weeks in August and September.

Smokey Robinson's $500M legal clapback in an ongoing sexual-assault civil suit hit a major speed bump in court ... but it wasn't a total wipeout.

A Los Angeles judge dismissed several claims filed by Robinson and his wife, Frances -- including major defamation claims -- against the women publicly accusing him of sexual assault.

The judge this week found the women's allegations against the "legendary musician" were a matter of public interest ... noting their press conference was broadcast on YouTube, spread across social media, and picked up by major media outlets worldwide.

David Del Rio is a long way from Hollywood ... he's now living it up in Paris with his wife after his dramatic departure from "Matlock" amid unwanted sexual contact allegations.

TMZ has obtained the first photos and video of David and his wife in the City of Light ... and it looks like Katherine Del Rio is sticking firmly by his side following his exit from the hit CBS series.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... David and Katherine have temporarily relocated to Paris with their children, where she's currently enrolled in culinary school.

We're told David continues to deny the sex assault allegations as the situation plays out in arbitration ... and the couple is focused on staying grounded and united.

Brian McKnight says his ex-wife, one of his sons, some bloggers, and a newspaper rolled out a coordinated assault on his reputation to make money from "malicious character assassination" ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

The legendary singer filed a lawsuit claiming he's the victim of a "shockingly dishonest" and "sensational but false narrative" alleging he abandoned his kids and refused to tell his dying son Niko he loved him.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Brian says the false narrative was cooked up by his ex-wife, Julie McKnight, and he says it's been peddled by his son Brian Jr., bloggers Marc Lamont Hill and Tasha K, and the New York Post.

Kash Patel is lashing out at what he calls the "fake news mafia" after a report alleged he has an alcohol abuse problem.

The FBI director took some pointed shots at the media Tuesday after filing a $250 million defamation lawsuit on Monday following an unflattering article about him in The Atlantic magazine.

Patel denied reports he shows up to work drunk or sometimes doesn't show up at all ... claiming he is working more days than his predecessors.