CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Cindy Crawford's stock in trade is her body and now her people are out for blood, claiming the person who posted this pic (above) severely altered it to make her look bad.

The lawyer for Cindy's photographer

-- obtained by TMZ -- threatening everyone who posted the pic with a lawsuit if they didn't take it down and apologize. The lawyer says the original pic was stolen and then doctored to make her midsection look haggard.

The lawyer included a statement from the famous photog, who says he took the pic for Marie Claire Mexico and someone stole it from him and Photoshopped it.

The letter apparently worked ... some media outlets are already complying.

Shortly after the altered pic hit the Internet, Cindy's hubby, Rande Gerber, posted the pic below, showing the real deal.

Ex-NBA player Earl Watson claims he shouldn't have to pay up just because his estranged wife's acting career FELL OFF A CLIFF after her days of starring on a hit TV show ... and wants a judge to protect his wallet in their nasty child support war.

Watson has gone to battle with Jennifer Freeman -- who starred as Claire Kyle on "My Wife and Kids" back in the early 2000s. They have a 5-year-old daughter together.

The two are warring over cash -- she claims she deserves way more than the court-ordered $2,500-per-month in child support since he's rich. He claims he's not as ballin' as he used to be ... because he's retired from the NBA and only making $30k per year as a coach in the NBA's D-league.

But in new court docs filed in L.A County Superior Court, Watson also included a few digs at Freeman's acting career ... saying, "She has not been employed on a full-time basis since appearing in the early 2000s on the television show 'My Wife and Kids.'"

"She has secured sporadic acting roles for which she has received nominal remuneration. Her last paying job was in Nov. 2014 when she appeared on the Real Husbands of Hollywood."

Ouch.

We may understand where the hostility comes from ... back in 2010, Watson claimed Freeman attacked him with an iron!! Though the two reconciled after that incident.

As for Freeman, she claims she has a holding deal with BET which prevents her from getting other jobs. She also says she's the primary caretaker for their kid and needs more cash to pay for things like private school, extracurricular activities and other child-related expenses.

Freeman says Watson owns a ton of real estate worth millions ... and can afford to pony up more dough.

Building Michael Bay's new mansion transformed a construction worker into an injured mess ... according to a new lawsuit filed by the guy.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the worker says Bay didn't warn him about a dangerous hole on the property ... which was covered with plastic back in February 2013. In the suit, he says he tumbled through the opening, and was seriously injured.

The worker isn't specific about his injuries in the lawsuit, but says he was hospitalized ... and paid out of pocket for his medical expenses. He also says he couldn't work while he was injured. He's suing to get reimbursed for his medical bills ... as well as damages.

The mansion's been a long, slow, ordeal for the blockbuster director. He bought the property way back in 2009, demolished the home that was there, and eventually started construction on the new crib.

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay's restaurant is no place for "girly" girls ... according to an ex-manager who says she was routinely humiliated because of her expensive taste in fashion.

Michelle Edison claims she was the victim of non-stop harassment, intimidation and sex discrimination during her stint at Bobby's Burger Palace in Maryland and was repeatedly shamed for being a bougie woman who was just "too female."

Edison claims in legal docs, her Louis Vuitton bag, makeup, perfume and hairstyle did "not fit the BBP way."

She's filed a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission asking for moola.

A fleet of cops cars raced to Lil Wayne's Miami Beach home early Saturday morning ... after police got a call reporting someone lurking in the neighborhood ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement officials tell us Miami Beach PD rushed to Weezy's after the call -- around 3 AM -- saying there was a suspicious looking man on the rapper's block.

We're told Weezy wasn't home at the time, but cops searched his yard for the suspect ... and came up with nothing. No one ticketed, no one arrested. The commotion did alarm a few neighbors though.

Lots of dresses in the news. Lupita's got stolen, but then recovered. And who can forget that really ugly dress -- whatever color it is. So we gotta ask ...

Lupita Nyong'o's Oscar gown was returned to The London West Hollywood Friday afternoon where it was taken 2 days earlier ... and the thief called TMZ to tell us where it could be found and added it was a worthless fake.

A guy called us at around 2:30 PM Friday and said he had taken the dress from Lupita's hotel room after he noticed the door was ajar. He said he and others took 2 pearls off of the dress and took them to the garment district in downtown L.A. ... where they were told they weren't real.

The thief says he decided to take the dress back to the London in a garment bag that was inside a trash bag that he deposited in a 2nd floor bathroom adjacent to a fitness center.

We contacted the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. and gave them the info. They went over to the hotel and retrieved the bag and they found a garment bag with the dress inside.

Law enforcement says they were told the Calvin Klein dress was worth $150K, but the thief says it's almost worthless.

The thief told us he returned the bag and called us because he wanted the world to know "Hollywood's fake bulls**t."

The now-famous $150,000 dress that was stolen from Lupita Nyong'o's West Hollywood hotel room is no closer to being found because TMZ has learned the surveillance video is a bust.

Law enforcement sources tell us detectives have reviewed video from The London West Hollywood and it shows nothing leading them to the thief.

A big problem ... the security cameras in the hotel are spotty and there was nothing trained on the area surrounding the door of Lupita's room.

One source put it this way ... "If Ray Rice did what he did at The London, he would have gotten away with it."

Cops are stumped as to how the dress was taken. One source says it was too "long and stiff" to wear with something over it. It could have been placed in a hamper or a bag ... they just don't know.

They also don't know if it was an inside job or if someone who had access to Lupita's room stole it.

What they do know is this ... it's definitely gone.

A photog got Lupita at JFK airport early Friday, but she was mum.

Kanye West wants to block Taylor Swift and Beck again ... but this time the stage is a courtroom.

Kanye's lawyer wants a judge to prohibit a photog, who's suing the rapper for assault, from making any reference to the two infamous interruptions at music awards shows.

Photog Daniel Ramos claims Kanye beat him bad at LAX and he's suing for what he claims are substantial injuries. Kanye's lawyers say the only reason to dredge up the 2009 MTV Music Awards -- where Kanye jacked Taylor Swift's acceptance speech -- and this year's Grammys -- where he jumped on stage after Beck won -- is to poison the jury by making Kanye seem like a bad guy.

In the legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Kanye's lawyer says the incidents aren't relevant, but what's really interesting is the admission that Kanye ended up looking bad. The lawyer says the videos would "cause jurors to form a negative opinion of West."

Ramos' lawyer, Gloria Allred, tells TMZ, "It is laughable that Kanye West appears to be so ashamed of his conduct that he doesn't want the jury to know what he did," adding, "Millions watched his conduct. Why does he want to hide it from a jury?"

BTW ... Kanye already pled no contest to criminal battery. He's on probation, which includes anger management courses.

Courtney Love hates Nirvana's latest release because it's not theirs ... there's no way it's Kurt Cobain singing -- and she's siccing her lawyers on whoever's responsible for the fake song.

Sources tell TMZ ... Love caught wind of the tune -- which was uploaded to YouTube last week -- and with the help of a real Nirvana member ... confirmed it was fake. Courtney is part owner of Cobain's music rights, and got YouTube to take down the song.

The people behind the fake jam claimed to have hacked Love's computer to uncover a rare track ... which Cobain never planned to release. We're told that whole story is also fake -- Courtney never had the song ... nor was she ever hacked.

Still, her lawyer Richard Dongell tells us Love is pissed off enough about the phony recording that she's working with law enforcement to track down the impostor.

Lupita Nyong'o's pearl Oscar dress got a ton of attention at the award show -- and also back in her hotel room ... where someone stole the damn thing!

The gown's worth $150K, but you might see it on Craigslist for $99 soon ... if cops can't find it.

David Silveria took a temporary break from drumming for KoRn -- and when he tried to rejoin the metal band, they turned him away ... so now he's suing.

According to the docs ... Silveria says his leave in 2006 was merely a hiatus, and he never gave up his ownership interest in KoRn. So, even though he wasn't jamming with 'em, he was still sharing the profits.

Silveria says when he was ready for his triumphant return in 2013, the other KoRn members -- Jonathan Davis, James Shaffer, Brian Welch, and Reggie Arvizu -- told him to kick rocks.

Silveria feels especially slighted because he claims Welch had taken a leave of absence, and was welcomed back with open arms.

Now, he's asking a judge to force the band to reveal how much cash they've made since he left -- so he can get his cut -- and then he wants to dissolve the partnership.

Dez Bryant's mom sat in front of a camera and told cops the NFL star roughed her up, threatened her and ripped her shirt during a 2012 incident in Texas ... and TMZ Sports has the interview video.

Dez was arrested for assault following the incident ... but the charge was eventually dropped when Dez cut a deal with prosecutors -- which required the NFL star to stay out of trouble for the following year (he did).

But in the video, Bryant's mother Angela describes a heated exchange between herself and Dez -- which started when Dez "was trying to fight my brother."

Angela says she tried to stop Dez -- and warned him that he was going to get in trouble with the Dallas Cowboys -- but she claims he only got angrier and turned the rage on her.

After allegedly grabbing her, smacking her with his baseball cap and tearing her shirt ... Angela says Dez "started talking about how he's going to knock me out."

Angela says she wanted to contact Jerry Jones to discuss the incident -- so he could help Bryant moving forward.

The cop at the scene said he didn't see any blood or bruising on Angela -- but pics were taken for police records.

We reached out to Dez and Angela for comment -- no word back from either side.

Lupita Nyong'o's now-famous Oscar dress -- adorned in pearls -- was stolen right out of her hotel room ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the dress was taken out of Lupita's room at The London West Hollywood. The dress is made of pearls ... 6,000 white Akoya pearls. It's valued at $150,000.

Our sources say Lupita told cops it was taken from her room sometime between 8 AM and 9 PM Wednesday ... while she was gone.

We're told there is security footage that cops are looking at that could catch the culprit right in the act.

12:00 PM PT -- Sheriff's deputies were at The London Thursday morning. We know they were in the manager's office and we're told they have looked at security footage to determine if they can ID the culprit.

Aaron Hernandez was in one helluva good mood in the hours before Odin Lloyd was murdered ... dancing on his way into a local gas station ... and it was all captured on video.

The video was shot around 2AM on June 17, 2013 ... about 90 minutes before officials say Lloyd was murdered.

Prosecutors believe the video plays a key role in the timeline ... connecting Hernandez with the car that Lloyd got into a short time later ... the same car that was seen driving into the secluded area where Lloyd's body was found later that day.

The clock is ticking very loudly for Birdman -- because the guy who discovered Drake says he's done talking about the millions he's owed for hooking up Cash Money with Drizzy.

Jas Prince talked to us about the lawsuit he recently filed ... as he was leaving Mr. Chow in Bev Hills. We asked if there's been any progress with Birdman on the financial front, and it's clear he -- like Lil Wayne and Turk -- doesn't have much left to say about the debt.

Keep in mind ... it was Jas' dad, James Prince, who issued a very threatening "courtesy call" to Birdman.

Watch the vid -- sounds like the whole Prince family is getting impatient.