CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Maverick Carter, the guy who helped LeBron James score a fortune with Nike, nearly got his own loot jacked in a burglary ... TMZ Sports has learned.

LBJ's honcho of all business deals has a crib in the Hollywood Hills, naturally, and got an unwanted visitor on March 22. According to law enforcement sources ... Maverick heard a sound outside his home around 2:30 AM and flipped on his exterior lights.

He didn't see anything, but called police anyway ... just to be sure.

We're told LAPD officers didn't find any signs of a break-in and left -- but in the morning, Maverick reviewed his surveillance video, and BAM ... there he was. Clear as day, Maverick could see a man in a black ski mask skulking around his property and trying to open doors.

"Black Jesus" on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim is an impostor of the original black Jesus -- the one created by an author in 1999 (not the Bethlehem one) ... according to a new suit.

New York author Saint Solomon says "Black Jesus" -- the live action comedy on TV -- picks up where his short story titled "Thank You, Jesus" left off. He says the TV character is just like the protagonist in his story -- black, homeless, and named Jesus.

In his lawsuit, Solomon says his story ends with his Jesus being kicked out of the house to go live on the streets, and he believes episode 1 of "Black Jesus" picks up the tale 15 years later.

According to the docs ... there are other similarities, like the fact TV Black Jesus has a friend who is always trying to get rich quick, just like in the short story. And both Black Jesuses dress the same, curse a lot and drink booze.

Can we get an Amen?

Solomon's suing Adult Swim for ripping off his idea ... and wants more than $75 million to make it right.

Adam Pally was busted in NYC Tuesday night for smoking marijuana from an E-Cig, and carrying a tiny baggie of cocaine ... TMZ has learned.

The "Making History" and 'Mindy Project' star allegedly took a rip on West 48th Street in Hell's Kitchen ... cops patrolling the 'hood caught a whiff and cited him for misdemeanor drug possession ... according to law enforcement sources.

When officers patted down Adam ... we're told they found the baggie of blow, and hit him with another misdemeanor charge. He was issued a ticket to appear before a judge within 30 days.

A friend of Keshia Knight Pulliam's estranged husband says Ed Hartwell's girlfriend made an ominous request about something to "cause a miscarriage" during Keshia's pregnancy.

The friend, Damia Ward-Henley, made the revelation in new court docs filed by Keshia in her divorce case. Damia describes herself as a friend of Ed and Tonya Carroll ... who she says Ed started dating while he was still married to Keshia. According to the docs, Damia says Tonya found out Keshia was pregnant in June 2016, and was very upset because she wanted Ed to leave Keshia.

In the docs, Damia says Tonya told her "she wanted to get something that would cause someone to have a miscarriage." Damia says she shot down the request and told Tonya and Ed to break off their adulterous relationship.

Keshia also filed docs saying she's worried Ed -- an ex-NFL player -- is unfit to care for their 2-month-old daughter because she's seen him take OxyContin. She says Ed testified in a lawsuit with the NFL that he's suffering severe physical and mental problems, and needs to take many drugs to cope.

Katherine Jackson hopped a flight from London to L.A. to make sure she's in court for her elder abuse case against Trent Jackson ... TMZ has learned.

Sources connected to the Jacksons tell us Katherine jetted back because the judge has said her lawsuit against Trent -- her nephew and longtime caretaker -- would be thrown out of court if she wasn't present to testify. A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.

We're told Trent believes Katherine jetted back, ending her nearly 2 month stay with Janet Jackson, because Jermaine Jackson and other siblings are in her ear ... pumping her up to go full bore against Trent in court.

However, sources connected to Trent tell us he's ready and willing to walk away, literally, if that's what Katherine wants -- even though he's done nothing but care for her for years. That's the odd twist.

If he's prepared to wave the white flag, why go to war in court? We're told Trent thinks some of Katherine's children are pushing her to go forward because they believe it will help them gain control of the estate.

Michelle Kwan's marriage is on ice, because her husband has just filed for divorce.

According to legal docs, Clay Pell cites irreconcilable differences for the breakdown of his marriage to the 36-year-old, 5-time world champion figure skater and 2-time Olympic medalist.

Clay is mum on spousal support but he does want her to foot the bills from his lawyer.

The couple married in January 2013. 35-year-old Clay was a White House National Security staffer under President Obama. He also ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Rhode Island.

The N.Y. Mets have suspended star pitcher Jeurys Familia 15 games for his domestic violence arrest back in October ... despite the fact a judge dismissed the criminal charge against him.

As we previously reported, Familia was arrested October 31 in New Jersey after cops say they saw visible injuries on his wife after she called 911 claiming he was drunk and "going crazy."

Familia was initially charged with simple assault -- but the judge dismissed that charge in December after the MLB star and his wife met with the judge together.

Still, MLB officials are punishing Familia anyway, according to FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal who says Familia will miss 15 games and 18 days of pay ... totaling roughly $700,000.

Rosenthal says Familia has also agreed to make a contribution to charity and make in-person appearances at MLB rookie programs and at a NY-based domestic violence group.

Familia just issued a statement saying he accepts the suspension but insists he NEVER "physically touched, harmed or threatened my wife that evening."

"I did, however, act in an unacceptable manner and am terribly disappointed in myself. I am alone to blame for the problems of that evening."

Michael Irvin is being investigated for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at a Ft. Lauderdale hotel ... something he vigorously denies.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports, a 27-year-old Florida woman filed a police report, claiming she and the NFL Hall of Famer were out at a bar in the early hours of March 21 when they went back to the W hotel, where Michael was staying.

The woman says they were in Michael's room when she began to feel sick. She says the last thing she remembers is fighting him off. She says when she woke up he was about to check out, leaving her behind. She took an Uber home and called 911 at 7:30 AM.

She told cops she feared she was drugged and raped. She was advised to go to a medical lab for a swab and a blood test, which she did.

She says she also texted Michael, asking him if they had sex. She says he responded that he wouldn't do anything to hurt her.

Our sources say Michael, now an analyst at NFL Network, tells a very different story. He says he was out at a bar with a group of people, including the woman, until around 4:30 AM March 21, when he returned to his hotel and she followed. Michael says he had an early flight, was in the room for only 15 minutes and had no sexual contact with the woman. He also says another male was present.

He says the woman -- a cosmetologist -- texted him a day later saying, "Come for a facial when you get back to Ft. Lauderdale."

Irvin's lawyer, Larry Friedman, tells TMZ Sports, "Michael was in Ft. Lauderdale visiting his nieces and nephews at a track meet. He was also visiting his 90-year-old aunt and attending her birthday party. He was blindsided by news of these allegations."

Friedman adds, "The allegations are completely false. In the few hours since we've learned about them we've already discovered many red flags about this young woman's background and the allegations she made against Michael. Even the complaint that she made specifically says she does not recall the events that took place. She was very drunk that night. Nothing happened and there was no assault."

9:00 AM PT -- Raheem "Fuzz" Thomas is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Wednesday afternoon in Paterson ... and law enforcement sources tell us cops are preparing for the worst. We're told there will be extra patrols outside the courthouse due to worries about rival gang members.

The same guy busted in the Fetty Wap shootout is now charged with jacking his chains -- Raheem Thomas was arrested again Tuesday night.

Cops booked Raheem, aka Fuzz from Muscle Team Entertainment, for armed robbery and gun possession. Our law enforcement sources tell us cops booked him based on seeing video of the robbery where Fetty's jewelry -- including his 1738 chain -- was stolen.

Additionally ... he was all over social media flaunting Fetty's bling.

We're told officers went looking for Fuzz and when they found him he was packing a handgun with hollow point bullets.

He'd already been booked for aggravated assault and gun possession after his initial arrest.

TMZ obtained video from the Paterson, NJ deli right after the robbery went down ... and it shows Fuzz clearly holding a handgun.

Tupac Shakur is about to get posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which makes his personal stuff more valuable than ever ... and all that attention has triggered several new lawsuits.

The estate of Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mom, is suing to retrieve the rapper's passport, driver's license, clothing, jewelry, handwritten scripts and lyrics and notebooks. The scripts and lyrics are clearly the most valuable.

The estate is suing Moments in Time, an auction house, as well as 2 individuals who have possession of the items.

According to the lawsuits, filed by celeb attorney Howard King, the defendants bought the items from 3rd parties who had no ownership rights and therefore no right to sell the items.

The suit claims the estate has repeatedly told the defendants they have no right to the items but the demands have been ignored.

Stephen King stole the idea for his main man in "The Dark Tower" series from a famous comic book character also known as a gunslinger ... according to a new suit.

The creator of "The Rook" comics claims King's protagonist, Roland Deschain, is based on his main character, Restin Dane. He says Deschain has striking similarities to Dane other than just their initials -- both are "time-traveling, monster-fighting, quasi-immortal, romantic adventure heroes."

"The Rook" creator also points out King's Deschain dresses like a cowboy despite not being from the Old West -- just like Restin Dane -- and the towers in both books look the same.

According to the docs ... the Restin Dane character was in more than 5 million comic magazines from 1977-1983 and King admits he read those stories. The first book in King's 'Dark Tower' series was released in 1982.

Translation -- "The Rook" creator thinks it's more than just a coincidence Roland is a lot like Restin, and he wants the King of Horror to fork over $500 million for ripping him off.

The lawsuit is impeccably timed ... teaser footage from the upcoming "Dark Tower" movie, starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey, was just revealed this week.

Ex-NBA star Steve Francis has struck a deal with prosecutors in his burglary case, and he'll avoid jail if he stays out of trouble ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported, Francis was hit with a felony burglary charge after allegedly breaking into a stranger's BMW and taking more than $1,700 of stuff in Florida back in June.

A rep for the State Attorney's Office tells us Francis was accepted into a pretrial intervention program on Monday, which means he'll avoid prosecution if he completes certain conditions.

We're told Francis will be under supervision for a year. During that time, he has to undergo drug and alcohol evaluations and complete any recommended treatment.

He also has to do 50 hours of community service, pay a $7,300 fine and apologize to/stay away from the victim.

Donald Trump doesn't think he'll have time to deal with civil lawsuits while he's running the USA ... and he's asking a judge to agree with him.

Trump's lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, filed court docs this week in New York, arguing Summer Zervos' defamation lawsuit against President Trump should be tossed, for now, since it'd distract him from his public duties ... and hurt the country as a result.

Kasowitz claims the U.S. constitution's supremacy clause backs up his rationale that a sitting president can't be sued in state court while in office. He also says the Supreme Court left this specific issue undecided when they ruled against Bill Clinton in the '90s.

Although SCOTUS firmly decided a president was not immune from private litigation while in office, Kasowitz claims it did not address dismissing a case based on the likelihood to distract the president before it begins.

As we reported ... Zervos is suing Trump for allegedly ruining her good name by calling her a liar for her sexual assault claims. Her lawyer, Gloria Allred, said Tuesday "no man is above the law and that includes the president of United States."

Emmy Rossum's West L.A. home was hit by burglars who targeted 2 safes, and she made it easy for them to pull off the heist ... because she left the combos right there.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Emmy was in NYC last week when the housekeeper showed up on Wednesday and everything was fine. But on Friday, the housekeeper returned to a crime scene.

The housekeeper noticed the power was off and a glass pane on a back door was smashed.

The next thing the housekeeper saw ... the "Shameless" star's 2 safes were wide open with nothing inside.

Our sources say $150,000 in antique jewelry was missing from the safes ... nothing else was taken.

As for how the burglars were able to open them ... we're told Emmy left written combinations next to the safes.

Law enforcement believes the thieves cut the power to deactivate the alarm system.

Lionel Messi has been suspended 4 games by FIFA -- and slapped with a $10k fine -- for "directing insulting words" at a ref during a match last week ... the soccer federation announced.

Messi got into with a referee during the Argentina vs. Chile match on March 23. Messi, who was frustrated he wasn't receiving calls, blew up on an official late in the game.

FIFA's disciplinary committee investigated Messi's actions, and found him guilty Tuesday ... before handing down the suspension and fine.

Katherine Jackson will be a no-show Tuesday in a case that has become a family war over control of Michael Jackson's estate.

Katherine has filed for a permanent restraining order against her nephew, Trent Jackson, who has been caring for her since Michael died in 2009. The matriarch filed a declaration saying she thinks Trent has stolen from her and committed elder abuse against her, something Trent has strongly denied.

Katherine is in London, where she's been for months. She has not been seen but some of her kids say she's scared to come back to the U.S. because she's afraid of Trent.

Trent says Katherine's being manipulated by Jermaine and some of her other kids, adding the kids made the stories up and Katherine may not have even signed the declaration.

Trent points to a crazy incident in 2012, where Jermaine and some of the other kids took her to Arizona. At the time Paris went nuclear, saying the her grandma had essentially been kidnapped.

The judge has indicated he may boot the case if Katherine doesn't show, so we'll know at 1:30 PM PDT Tuesday.

Stay tuned.