Celebrity Divorce

Brad Pitt's effort to seal his and Angelina Jolie's custody battle from the public was rejected by the judge Wednesday morning.

We broke the story ... Brad requested an emergency hearing to address locking down all the proceedings related to their war over their 6 kids. Lawyers for both sides marched into court, but the judge quickly denied Brad's request.

His side has been fuming since Jolie filed their temporary custody arrangement in court last week -- a move Brad believes only served to air their dirty laundry in public and damage the children.

We're told Angelina felt it necessary to file the docs in order to have the court enforce the terms -- specifically the part about letting a therapist make the call on when Brad can start having unmonitored visits.

In docs, Angelina's lawyer says Brad's effort to seal the whole case isn't so much about protecting the children -- as his side has claimed -- but more about keeping his own actions hidden ... because it was "[Brad's] conduct at the center of the DCFS and FBI investigations."

Sources connected to the case tell us Brad has been trying to "push past the process." As one source put it, he was acting like a "celebrity who is used to getting whatever he wants" ... and after the DCFS investigation cleared him of criminal wrongdoing, what he wanted was to have solo time with the children.

Our Brad sources deny he's made any effort to change the temporary custody deal.

We're told Angelina also wants the whole case to remain private -- as long as Brad sticks to the custody arrangement they both signed off on months ago.

Brad Pitt is going to court to keep his custody war with Angelina Jolie private, and sources connected with Brad say his motivation is to thwart her from further damaging their children by airing their dirty laundry in public.

Sources connected to the case tell TMZ ... Brad filed docs Tuesday in family court, requesting an emergency hearing. We're told he intends to ask the judge to seal all documents and proceedings related to his and Angelina's ongoing battle for custody of their 6 kids.

Several sources say Angelina filed the documents because she feared Brad was angling to change their temporary agreement so that he could have unmonitored visits with the children. We're told Angelina is relying on the family therapist, who says it's too early for Brad to have unmonitored visits -- but she does want him to have solo visits ... once the therapist signs off.

Sources connected with Brad, however, are calling BS ... saying the only document filed in the case is the one Angelina blasted out to the world ... exposing their 6 children to needless pain. Our Brad sources say there was no reason for Angelina to file a private agreement, and make it public other than to trash Brad and make the children collateral damage.

We're told he has made NO move to change the private agreement that was always meant to remain private -- and he feels by gratuitously making it public the way Jolie did ... it's evidence she's a bad parent.

Brad will get his shot within a few hours to argue the case should remain private. We're told the emergency hearing is slated for Wednesday morning.

Angelina Jolie has an endgame in her claims Brad Pitt abused one or more of their children -- she wants to move to London with the kids and score a top position in the United Nations ... sources connected with the couple tell TMZ.

Several well-placed sources say Brad and Angelina have not gotten along for more than a year, and she's been looking for an opportunity to end the marriage and bolt for her dream job ... with all 6 children in tow. We're told she knew that would be nearly impossible unless Brad's right to joint custody was in jeopardy.

As we reported ... Angelina told L.A. County Dept of Child and Family Services officials Brad brutalized Maddox on a private jet and engaged in other conduct that endangered the children. We know Brad strongly denied intentionally striking Maddox or engaging in any abuse, and DCFS clearly saw it his way ... closing out the investigation without taking any action.

Our sources say Angelina's move to involve DCFS was orchestrated by 2 women she's been relying on for advice for more than a year. One is a member of England's House of Lords, and the other also holds a U.K. government position. We're told they've been in Angelina's ear, convincing her she could become Secretary General of the U.N. if she plays her cards right.

Angelina, who has been paying both women handsomely for their consulting services, is all in and taking their cue that a move to London would help get her closer to the U.N. gig.

The rub, of course, is in order to take her kids out of the country ... she'd have to prove some sort of parental unfitness on Brad's part. So far she's struck out.

Jolie's rep denies there's a move planned and says Angelina is focused on the health and well being of her children. The rep adds, Angelina wants to continue therapy with the kids and Brad.

Our sources are clear and insist Europe and the U.N. post is the ultimate goal.

The custody war is now in family court -- she wants sole physical custody and he wants joint. We're told Angelina has a slim to none chance of taking the kids 6,000 miles away from Brad.

Phaedra Parks said she was officially single again, but Apollo Nida said otherwise -- now we know who was actually right ... turns out, it's all Phaedra.

Court docs unsealed Monday back up Phaedra's original claim 100% -- she's been officially single since July.

According to the docs, Apollo was served in March -- while behind bars -- and even asked the court for time to respond, which he was granted. Still, 4 months went by and he went radio silent ... so the judge went ahead and signed off on the divorce without Apollo's signature.

The docs also include a parenting plan. Phaedra gets physical custody of their 2 kids while Apollo finishes his 8 year bid. When he's out, he'll get visitation, but she gets final say over any parenting disagreements.

Apollo denied knowing anything about the divorce, and even went so far as to file his own petition last week. Clearly, he's got time to kill right now.

Phaedra Parks and Apollo Nida are getting divorced -- for REAL this time, according to Apollo, who filed docs from prison.

Apollo filed his divorce petition in Georgia on Thursday ... requesting joint legal custody of their 2 children and an equitable split of their assets. He says they separated in June 2014 after nearly 5 years of marriage.

In the docs, he says they can no longer live together as husband and wife and the union is "irretrievably broken." He doesn't mention the fact he's doing 8 years in a federal pen for financial fraud.

It's interesting ... Phaedra proudly told us last month her divorce was finalized, but we've never seen any docs to back that up, and Apollo told us that was news to him.

Looks like he wanted it to be over just as badly. As we told you, he's got a new fiancée.

We've reached out to Phaedra. No word back yet.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard finally hammered out their divorce settlement, and the charities she promised to fund will get their cash ... with a slight delay.

Sources connected to the exes tell us Johnny will pay Amber $6.8 million -- that's the $7 mil originally agreed upon, minus the $200k he already donated to the ACLU and Children's Hospital L.A. in her name. We're told she'll get all the money within about 12 months.

Amber will then follow through on her vow to donate ALL of her settlement dough. We're told she'll make multiple payments to CHLA and the ACLU ... with the plan being to pay the full amount by the end of 2018.

Sources not connected with Amber are scoffing, saying they don't think the charities will ever get the money.

Bottom line -- Johnny will get a charitable tax write-off for $200k, Amber will write-off her $6.8 mil worth of donations ... and they can both put the nightmare marriage and divorce behind them.

Scheana Shay is officially going for the big D ... pulling the plug on her marriage to Michael Shay.

The "Vanderpump Rules" stars have been married for 2 years -- Scheana says she filed divorce docs Wednesday in L.A. She tells TMZ, "We might have failed at our marriage, but we are committed to succeeding as friends and will continue to support each other's personal happiness and professional success."

Everyone saw this coming. We broke the story ... earlier this month, Michael went MIA after she claimed he cleaned out their bank account. He's battled addiction in the past, but claims he's been sober since January. We're told Scheana fears he fell off the wagon.

The ex-couple who founded Barry's Bootcamp got a pretty even split in their divorce with one major exception ... she's getting the keys to the house.

Rachel Mumford filed for divorce from John Mumford back in May 2014, but they just reached a final settlement. They'll share custody, joint and physical, of their 2 teenage kids ... divvy up their bank accounts, and they get an equal share of their interest in the hugely popular fitness biz.

Rachel gets the prize ... their pad in Malibu. The divorce was nasty from the start ... with her dropping allegations of violence and drug abuse.

Amber Heard paid the ACLU $350,000 3 days after she struck a $7 million settlement deal with Johnny Depp ... TMZ has learned.

Amber said she would give the entire $7 mil to Children's Hospital and the ACLU domestic violence unit, in equal shares, but the deal unraveled after Johnny said he would just give the money directly to both orgs. Johnny paid the first installment of $200k ... $100k to Children's and $100k to the ACLU.

We were told neither org. got any money after that, and the settlement deal still hasn't been signed.

We've now received an email from the ACLU, in which an ACLU rep acknowledged Amber made a $350k payment on August 19th. A source connected with Amber tells TMZ, she advanced the money, relying on Johnny paying her the settlement. We're told she took steps to send Children's Hospital money but didn't send it because she and Johnny began squabbling over the settlement deal.

As we reported, Amber's lawyer, Pierce O'Donnell, says he's confident the settlement will be signed this week.

"How To Get Away With Murder" star Charlie Weber just dodged a bullet ... his divorce is final, and he won't have to pay his ex-wife a lick of spousal support.

The divorce, which Charlie filed, is now final ... a process that took 9 months which is exactly the length of their marriage.

As we previously reported, there was a prenup so there were no issues in the money department. Giselle won't be getting spousal support, but frankly, even if there wasn't a prenup, the marriage was so short she wouldn't have gotten it under any circumstances.

Well, that was quick ...

Just weeks after announcing her split, Abby Wambach and Sarah Huffman have already barreled through the divorce process ... and are officially dunzo.

Bethenny Frankel's ex-husband is bristling over threats by her current boyfriend to sue him for trashing her in emails, saying he's forced to interact with the BF because the guy's constantly around his daughter.

Jason Hoppy fired off a letter to the lawyer for Dennis Shields, who threatened to sue Hoppy claiming he was sending a flurry of disgusting, harassing emails to Bethenny and cc'ing him.

Hoppy, who Shields claimed sent emails calling Bethenny ugly, old and irrelevant, never specifically disputed the content of what he sent, but he did say, "As a concerned father, I often have to contact others when I cannot reach my daughter through her mother."

Hoppy goes on to say as long as Shields is in his daughter's life, "I have no choice but to have some type of relationship with him."

If Steve Sarkisian wins his $30 MILLION lawsuit against USC, his now ex-wife won't get a dime ... this according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

Sark's divorce from his longtime wife, Stephanie, has been finalized -- ending their 19 year marriage.

There was a ton of money at stake (he reportedly made more than $10 million coaching at Washington and millions more at USC).

Sources connected to the ex-couple tell us there was a private settlement in regards to the bulk of the family fortune.

When it comes to cars ... he gets the Mercedes, she gets the Land Rover. He also has to cut a 1 time check for $293k as an "equalization payment."

They also agreed on no spousal support, no child support and joint custody of their 3 minor kids.

But get this ... when it comes to Steve's $30 mil wrongful termination suit against USC, the two worked out a deal in which he gets 100% of any judgment if he wins.

It's unclear what he had to give up to keep her hands off any potential judgment, but you can bet it was substantial.

George Harrison's son knows all things must pass, including his marriage, which he just filed to end.

Dhani Harrison is splitting from his wife of 4 years, Solveig "Sola" Karadottir. He filed the divorce petition last week, citing irreconcilable differences ... and based on the docs it could be a cleaner split than the average celeb divorce.

Naya Rivera's surprise marriage to Ryan Dorsey has fallen apart ... according to new court docs.

Naya filed for divorce last week, and -- according to her lawyer -- she's asking for primary physical custody of their 1-year-old son, Josey, with visitation rights for Ryan. The couple was married for a little more than 2 years.

You'll recall ... Big Sean said he broke off his engagement to the former "Glee" star back in the spring of 2014 after accusing her of being too controlling. Just a few months later, Naya was married to her longtime actor pal, Ryan -- seemingly out of nowhere.

Somewhere out there ... Big Sean is smiling. Probably.

Angelina Jolie has re-surfaced -- the first time we've seen her since she filed for divorce from Brad Pitt -- and it's harder than hard to believe her words are not an attack on her estranged hubby.

Angelina videotaped a message for the International Criminal Court Friday, saying, "I particularly welcome the commitment to include charges for crimes against children wherever the evidence permits as part of a more systematic approach."

TMZ broke the story, Angelina accused Brad of brutalizing 15-year-old son Maddox on a private jet and worked with the L.A. County Dept. of Children and Family Services, which investigated and closed out the matter without action. Jolie and her people put the word out ... they believe Brad was a danger to their 6 kids.