CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Cristiano Ronaldo is adamant he did NOT rape a woman in Las Vegas back in 2009 -- and then pay her a fortune in cash to keep her quiet ... this according reps for the soccer superstar.

Ronaldo's personal team is responding to a story in a German newspaper which claims CR7 paid a woman roughly $375k in hush money after she claimed he raped her in a Vegas hotel room.

Hunter and Kathleen Biden have settled up their divorce just 4 months after she filed, and 6 weeks after his relationship with his brother's widow went public.

According to court docs ... Joe Biden's son and his ex reached an agreement on "all questions relating to custody, support, property rights, and all other rights." Specific terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Kathleen had sought sole physical and legal custody of their minor child, while Hunter wanted joint custody -- a big gap they've clearly bridged. Both sides made accusations of cheating ... before agreeing to quit the mudslinging in public.

Aaron Hernandez has just been found NOT GUILTY of murdering two people in a 2012 drive-by shooting.

The jury spent more than 35 hours over 6 days deliberating the case.

Hernandez was only found guilty on one lesser charge -- illegal possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to serve between 4 and 5 years in prison for that conviction.

Prosecutors claimed 27-year-old Hernandez killed Daniel Abreu and Safiro Furtado on July 16, 2012 because one of them spilled a drink on him in a Boston club earlier that night.

The families of both Abreu and Furtado were in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

The ex-New England Patriots player was previously convicted of 1st degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 for killing semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd.

Jodie Sweetin's ex-fiance still has to stay the hell away from her, but now he's also been forced to keep a lid on all personal images of Jodie.

The judge modified Jodie's restraining order against Justin Hodak Friday morning. It forbids him from selling, releasing or posting any pics or vids of his ex. We're told Jodie's legal team requested the change just to be safe ... after Justin threatened leaks a couple weeks ago.

Unclear if Justin has anything scandalous/unflattering ... or if he's bluffing, but Jodie wasn't taking the chance.

Hodak was busted last month for violating the restraining order. He was arraigned on Thursday and taken into custody again. He's still in jail.

We got Jodie outside court Friday looking pretty happy about the outcome.

Ryan Lochte's relationship with Brazil is dead ... the swimmer says he'll NEVER go back to the country after his infamous gas station incident at the Olympics.

Here's the thing ... Lochte says he might be banned from the country -- but that's not exactly the case.

The truth is it's still dangerous for Lochte to go back to Brazil since he's still charged with filing a false police report for claiming he was robbed at gunpoint during a night out with Olympic swimmers.

Officials saw it a different way, claiming security guards drew guns on the swimmers after they vandalized a gas station bathroom ... and then urinated in public ... and demanded Lochte's crew fork over cash to cover the damages.

Prosecutors have offered Lochte a plea deal -- essentially a $20,000 fine -- but Lochte hasn't accepted the deal. So, if he does go back to Brazil, he risks being detained and possibly jailed.

But it doesn't sound like that's gonna be a problem since Lochte tells TMZ Sports there's no chance in hell he'll ever return to Rio.

The New York Giants are jumping to Eli Manning's defense against allegations he tried to defraud sports collectors into buying game used helmets that weren't really game used.

Background -- the Giants, Manning and others are being sued by 3 sports memorabilia dealers who claim the star QB was part of a racketeering scheme.

Heavyweight champ Deontay Wilder is being sued by another boxer over a post-fight melee back in February in which Wilder allegedly screamed out, "F*ck your kids."

The man behind the suit is fellow heavyweight fighter Dominic Breazeale -- who fought on the same card as Wilder in Birmingham, Alabama on Feb. 25.

After the boxing matches, Wilder and Breazeale got into it in the lobby of the Westin Hotel -- a violent incident Breazeale claims was started by Wilder and his camp.

In his suit, Breazeale says he was with his wife and kids (ages 5 and 8) when Deontay and his brother, Marcellus, attacked him out of nowhere ... throwing punches, spitting and cussing like crazy people.

Breazeale says his wife begged the Wilders to stop fighting in front of the children to which Deontay replied, "F*ck your kids."

Breazeale says not only was he assaulted and injured in the brawl -- but his kids are emotionally scarred by the incident.

Breazeale says his younger child is afraid for his father's life and repeatedly asked if Deontay and Marcellus are going to kill him.

Jennifer Garner has just filed for divorce from Ben Affleck, TMZ has learned, and it could not be more amicable.

Both Jen and Ben filed pro per -- without a lawyer. Her petition and his response mirror each other completely. The petition and response were filed together, which means it was coordinated.

They both want joint legal and physical custody of their 3 kids. As for spousal support, they left it open, so the judge could award it before the divorce becomes final.

They do not list a date of separation, but in June 2015 they announced their separation.

We've learned there is no prenup, which means all of their earnings during their marriage will be split 50/50, unless they agree otherwise. Ben made a lot more than Jen during the marriage.

There are strong signals the case will not be handled in court, but rather by a mediator, especially by the way the docs were filed. This is the M.O. for disso queen Laura Wasser, who has guided various celebrity couples through mediation and then has them file for divorce pro per.

We're told Ben and Jen are still negotiating a financial settlement. The divorce could become final in 6 months.

Morena Baccarin won big in court Thursday -- a judge greatly reduced the amount of spousal support she has to pay her ex, partly because her TV and movie gigs ain't a lock just yet.

Morena's lawyer, Samantha Spector, told a judge her client's income was truly up in the air, and she couldn't afford to keep paying Austin Chick $20k per month.

Spector pointed out Morena's TV show, "Gotham," hadn't been picked up yet for a 4th season -- and she's not a lock for "Deadpool 2" either. She also argued Austin could support himself with a j-o-b ... at Starbucks.

Morena's been fighting to get this discount, claiming Chick was sucking her finances dry instead of finding work. As of June 1, she'll only have to pay him $5k/month.

Move over, United ... American Airlines has its own mess to deal with after a 75-year-old pastor claims AA blocked him from a flight just because he's Korean.

Benny Shin filed a lawsuit Thursday barely 2 hours after Dr. David Dao's lawyers' news conference to announce an imminent suit against United.

Shin says back in June 2016 he was waiting to board a flight from Dallas to Corpus Christi when the gate agent told him he couldn't. In the docs, he says "5-7 white passengers behind him" were all allowed on board. Benny says he paid for his flight and had a seat assignment, but still no dice.

He admits American gave him a voucher for a flight the next day, but says the experience humiliated, embarrassed and scared him -- so he's suing for at least $6 million.

Dr. David Dao's attorney dared to go there ... bringing up a comparison of Dao's brutal removal from a United flight to the plight of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.

It happened during the nearly hour long news conference in Chicago -- Tom Demetrio mentioned an email from a Dao supporter, who suggested the doctor is the "modern day Asian" version of the great Rosa Parks.

Now, Demetrio was quick to distance himself from that remark, but still -- there's clearly a reason he mentioned it in the first place.

The question ... did it backfire?

Blake Shelton has reached a settlement with In Touch in his lawsuit over its cover story which labeled him a drunk who was going to rehab.

According to docs filed Thursday, Blake and the magazine are asking the court to dismiss the defamation lawsuit he filed in 2015. The mag ran a cover story in September 2015 declaring the country star had hit "rock bottom" and was drinking vodka before noon.

Big win for Von Miller ... an L.A. judge has BLOCKED a woman from releasing the sex tape featuring the NFL superstar after months of fighting it out in court.

As we previously reported, Elizabeth Ruiz claims she owns the rights to 50% of the video which was shot during a trip to Mexico in June 2016. She claimed Miller knew he was being recorded and consented.

But Miller claimed Ruiz was trying to shake him down for $2.5 MILLION -- insisting she was only using the tape in a cash grab scheme.

She denied trying to extort Miller -- saying it was HIS legal team that made the first cash offer and she was down to play ball.

But earlier this week, a judge issued a permanent injunction in the case -- forbidding her from not only distributing the tape ... but she's not even allowed to let anyone see it.

The judge also ordered Ruiz to pay Miller $50,000 in attorney's fees.

And get this ... the judge also ordered that a copy of the sex tape that Ruiz had submitted as evidence must be destroyed ASAP.

Dr. David Dao and his attorneys aren't suing United or the City of Chicago ... YET, but they put intense pressure on them with a blockbuster news conference where they revealed Dao's injuries.

Attorney Tom Demetrio said, "We're not ready to sue. We're doing our due diligence." However, Demetrio said Dr. Dao is taking a stand for the rights of all airline passengers. He added the law is clear ... IF a passenger is to be removed "under no circumstances can it be done with unreasonable force and violence."

Although it's not filed yet, Demetrio hinted the lawsuit is coming, telling reporters "it will be filed in Cook County."

Demetrio revealed Dao suffered a "significant concussion, a broken nose and sinus injuries." He said he also lost 2 front teeth and will be undergoing "reconstructive surgery." He said Dao was released from a Chicago hospital late Wednesday night and is now in a "secure location."

One of Dao's 5 children, Crystal, said the whole family was "horrified and shocked and sickened" by the video of her father getting dragged off the United flight.

Dao's lawyers already filed docs in Chicago demanding United preserve all evidence and personnel records related to his incident.

Demetrio spoke about United CEO Oscar Munoz's apology on 'GMA,' saying it seemed "staged" and an attempt to backpedal from his initial statement fully backing his employees' actions.

Another win for the greatest of all time ... with Bill Belichick finding a way to get out of testifying in the Aaron Hernandez double murder case without getting in trouble with the court.

The New England Patriots head coach was initially named a witness for the defense. Unclear what they expected to get out of Belichick, but nonetheless, they wanted his testimony.

So, when he didn't show up during the hearing, questions arose ... until today.

The judge addressed Hernandez's lawyer, Jose Baez, and said the clerk had received a call from Belichick's attorney wondering if he was in trouble for not participating in the case.

Baez explained that his people TRIED to serve Belichick with papers compelling him to testify -- but they had a very hard time getting the papers to the coach in a timely manner.

"The reason for the delay on that part was the community where he lived," Baez told the judge ... "Our process server was not able to get him numerous times."

When they finally got to Belichick, the trial was wrapping up so Baez and his team "made a strategic decision to release him from service of process."

Ultimately, Baez said ... "We didn't think his testimony was critical to the defense so we released him."

Bottom line -- Belichick ducked the court without consequences.

United passenger David Dao is pulling out the heavy artillery Thursday as his lawyers and daughter get in front of reporters, and there's a likelihood they will announce a lawsuit against United and the city of Chicago.

Dao's daughter will speak to reporters at 10 AM CT, along with Dao's lawyers. One lawyer is especially significant -- Tom Demetrio, a renowned aviation lawyer who has handled scores of personal injury cases related to airline mishaps.

Demetrio -- the former Prez of the Chicago Bar Ass'n -- filed legal docs Wednesday, asking a judge to order United to retain all videos, cockpit voice recordings, passenger and crew lists, incident reports, police documents related to the incident, and personnel files for the officers involved in removing Dao.

The documents are a prelude to a lawsuit, and it's virtually certain the 2 law firms Dao hired were retained to go after United and the city, which operates the Chicago Dept. of Aviation.

We're told a lawsuit is certain, unless United and the City of Chicago ante up a big check, but that's unlikely.