CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

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.

Shannen Doherty's husband isn't ready to let her biz managers off the hook for her breast cancer diagnosis -- he's filed his own lawsuit, on the heels of Shannen settling hers.

Kurt Iswarienko says the managing team destroyed his sex life with Shannen. In his suit, he echoes what Shannen said in hers -- that Tanner Mainstain Glynn & Johnson let her health insurance policy lapse, and therefore delayed her diagnosis.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kurt also claims the firm mismanaged his funds, and got him mixed up in bad loans over the years that ruined his credit.

The cop who cited a "Django Unchained" actress for having sex in public has been called out for leaking audio of the incident, and it's gonna cost him some dough.

The L.A. Ethics Commission ruled Tuesday former LAPD Sergeant Jim Parker broke city rules by releasing the audio to TMZ following the 2014 incident with Daniele Watts, who Parker busted for having sex with her BF in their car in broad daylight.

The Commission said Parker was sharing confidential info related to the case when he released it, so he'll now have to pay a $500 fine ... instead of the max $10,000 he was facing.

You'll recall ... when Parker and his partner responded to the scene, Watts played the race card big time. She later apologized to the officers, and pled no contest to the charges.

Will Smith's ex-Saints teammates, including Drew Brees, are in the courtroom as proceedings began in his murder case.

Witness testimony in the second degree murder case against Cardell Hayes began Tuesday ... and Brees and Steve Gleason were on hand to see it.

FYI -- Smith was shot and killed on April 9th in New Orleans ... after an alleged road rage incident involving Hayes.

Another ex-Saint, Deuce McAllister, was also on hand, but was actually part of the trial ... being called as the state of Louisiana's first witness.

Prince's estate just filed new docs in its lawsuit against Jay Z and it exposes something very few people get to see -- Jay Z the mogul, pitching his company in a big-time business deal.

The estate is suing Jay Z's Roc Nation for streaming a ton of Prince's music on Tidal after his death in April. The new docs include a PowerPoint presentation that flaunts the Roc Nation empire's assets -- including music, sports, movies, concerts and more. It's actually incredibly impressive.

There's also a letter from Roc Nation's CEO to Bremer Trust -- the estate's administrator -- trying to persuade them to let Jay's company manage Prince's enormous catalog. As the CEO put it ... "[Prince] confided in and entrusted Mr. Carter and Roc Nation with his most prized possession, his creative expression. They spoke not just as respected businessmen, but as artists aligned in mission."

The man who killed Joe McKnight got out of his car and pointed his weapon at a Navy officer who rushed to the scene to try to help ... cops say.

Sheriff Newell Normand says they interviewed Ronald Gasser for more than 10 hours and spoke with more than 160 witnesses in the case.

They believe after Gasser shot McKnight following a verbal altercation -- he got out of the car to see McKnight's body ... and was approached by a military officer.

The Naval officer told Gasser to put his gun away because it was not in his best interest to shoot a Naval officer.

The Naval officer and cops then tried to help McKnight -- but it was too late.

Sheriff Normand says Gasser has insisted he was fearing for his life -- and that's why he pulled his weapon during the altercation.

Desiigner had no business getting behind the wheel of a rented Ferrari, but since he wrecked it when he did, he needs to cough up some dough ... according to the rental company's lawsuit.

The rental company is suing the "Panda" rapper for destroying a 2014 Ferrari back in June. It had been rented by 2 of his friends, who are also named in the suit.

According to docs ... the friends gave Desiigner permission to drive the whip, and then he crashed it in NJ. The car's valued at $220k, but the company's suing for more than $500k because they say they're going to lose out on future rental money -- as in $1,599 per day.

The docs also included a cryptic tweet, supposedly from Desiigner, saying, "If you have a luxury car you better know how to drive." The rental company thinks it's a confession, but we checked and the account doesn't look like it belongs to Desiigner.

We reached out to Desiigner's rep, who tells us ... "This is the first that Desiigner or his team have heard about this lawsuit. The minute he has had a chance to consult with his attorney, his managers or his attorney will respond."

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.

12:53 PM PT -- The judge just ruled Katherine knew exactly what she was doing when she replaced her previous attorney with Joy Bass ... saying there is no question in his mind.

Prince Jackson looked like man on a mission ... all in the name of his grandmother, Katherine Jackson.

Michael's son appeared in a Santa Monica court Monday for a hearing regarding Katherine getting a new attorney. The new lawyer is Joy Bass, and she says she's now representing Katherine in all matters related to Michael's estate.

This, apparently, was news to the Katherine's current attorney ... and sources close to the family tell TMZ Prince is in court now to tell the judge they're disputing the new attorney's claim she's now speaking for Katherine.

We got Prince and TJ Jackson (Tito's son) on the way into court and they were tight-lipped.

Brad Pitt's child custody arrangement with Angelina Jolie is in the hands of one man ... according to docs filed by Jolie.

Right now, the exes and their 6 kids are operating under a temporary custody deal agreed upon by both sides. As we've reported ... she has primary custody and Brad gets monitored visits, but the docs Angelina filed spell out the details.

According to the docs ... when and how Brad sees the children is determined by a psychologist who specializes in child custody issues. The deal says, the "frequency and conditions of the therapeutic visitation shall be determined by Ian Russ, Ph.D." Brad and Angie also must participate in group therapy sessions with the kids.

The terms of this deal must stay in place until there's a court order, or both parents agree to change it.

Additionally, the docs say Brad will submit to random drug and alcohol tests at least 4 times per month.

Pitt and Jolie made this arrangement in October, while Brad was still under investigation by the DCFS, but as we've reported ... the agency cleared him of any wrongdoing a month ago.

Jolie's filing essentially memorializes the temporary deal with the court. The judge signed it on Friday.

Sean Penn usually lays low, but apparently not low enough for one fan who allegedly tried reaching him dozens of times ... and got busted for her latest attempt.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ cops picked up the woman last week after Sean says she swung by his Malibu home twice in 2 days. We're told Sean was home the first time and contacted the police to file a report -- he said she had tried to contact him about 50 times this year by phone or email.

When she came back to the house a second time, someone called police and the 51-year-old woman was arrested for felony stalking. It's unclear if Sean was home at the time of for the arrest.

Sacramento Kings star Matt Barnes is wanted by NYPD for questioning after he allegedly choked a woman inside a nightclub early Monday morning -- and TMZ Sports got video of him right after the incident.

Law enforcement sources tell us cops got a 911 call to Avenue Nightclub after midnight, reporting a man assaulting 2 women and another man. We're told things got physical when Barnes allegedly choked one woman during an argument -- and when 2 other people tried to intervene ... he punched both of them.

In the video, Matt and his teammate, DeMarcus Cousins, are talking about the fight. Cousins is clearly heard saying, "I hit hit the s*** out this ni***!"

Barnes fled the scene before cops showed up. The Kings were in town to play the Knicks on Sunday. They lost.

Jerry Ferrara's pissed at his former friends and sandwich biz partners for suing him, and he's fired back with a million-dollar countersuit for screwing him over ... according to the docs.

The "Entourage" star says he co-founded Fat Sal's with 2 of his friends and was the "driving force" behind its success. Ferrara claims he not only provided $74,500 for start-up money, but also used his celeb status to heavily promote the sandwich shop, and boost revenue.

Turtle says his old buds started squeezing him out when they opened several more locations. In the docs, he says they went to great lengths to hide profits from him. Jerry says they even deleted the "Our Story" section from their website where he was credited as co-founder.

Fat Sal's sued to officially 86 Jerry in August, but in his suit Jerry's demanding his equity share and at least a million dollars in damages before he goes anywhere.

A$AP Rocky is refusing to pay his old landlord a dime for "damage" done to his Soho apartment ... because he says the landlord owes HIM dough, and should be more grateful.

A$AP filed a countersuit ... saying the landlord was negligent in maintaining the building, and that caused 2 floods in the unit -- one of 'em so bad, the rapper says he had to rent another place for a month.

The landlord originally sued A$AP for more than $100k, claiming the rapper turned a closet into a recording studio and damaged the downstairs bathroom -- all of which A$AP finds laughable. In his docs, he says whatever changes he made actually increased the pad's value.

Translation: You're LUCKY I lived here.

Sammy Hagar's gotta be pissed -- a Cabo Wabo restaurant that doesn't serve tequila sounds like a ripoff, and that's exactly what it is ... according to a lawsuit filed by Sammy's old brand.

Campari America -- which bought the rocker's chain of nightclubs, restaurants and tequila -- says 2 San Diego-based restaurants ripped off its trademark name to confuse customers looking for the real deal.

According to docs, both Cabo Wabo Grill and Cabo Wabo Grill 2 -- opened in 2010 and 2013 -- knowingly used the name's established popularity to attract patrons. What's worse, Campari says the joints don't have proper licences to serve liquor ... so they can't even sell Cabo Wabo tequila shots!

Campari is demanding the grill owners change the names and fork over some dough for damages. We reached out to the restaurant owners ... but no word back.

Anna Faith Carlson, the model who's a dead ringer for Elsa from "Frozen," is claiming a website posted fake nude pics of her ... and says the proof is in the waistline.

The site Celeb Jihad posted a bunch of "before-and-after" nude selfies it claims are Anna showing off a recent boob job. The pics show a topless woman with tan lines, and bandages under her breasts. It appears to be a post-op shot.

Anna's team claims that's not her in the pics, insisting the nude chick is "much heavier than Anna has ever been in her life." They added, Anna is in "great shape with a very small waist" ... unlike the alleged impostor.

They say there are also differences in the nose, teeth and face that prove Anna's NOT the nudie pic chick. Her camp is threatening to sue if the post isn't deleted.

So, no -- she's not willing to let it go.