CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Dallas Cowboys' defensive end Greg Hardy just got hit with a tough penalty -- he's benched for 10 games without pay, after the NFL determined he brutalized his ex-girlfriend.

A 2-month NFL investigation determined Hardy attacked Nicole Holder 4 times. They concluded in May 2014, he:

-- used physical force that landed her in a bathtub

-- used physical force that landed her on a futon that was covered with 4 semi-automatic rifles

-- grabbed her by the neck, leaving visible marks

-- shoved her against a wall

Hardy, who was playing for the Carolina Panthers at the time, had been convicted of assault, appealed and had an automatic right to a new trial. But the second time around Holder refused to cooperate and the charges were dropped.

The Panthers deactivated Hardy in September, shortly after the Ray Rice graphic video surfaced, and Dallas picked him up last month.

Florida State University says Jameis Winston NEVER told them about his alleged "hook up" at Publix -- and says the school is now launching an investigation with the NCAA into the QB's fishy crab tale.

FSU's Athletic Director Stan Wilcox just issued a statement saying, "We have become aware of statements made by Jameis Winston during a recent interview with Jim Harbaugh describing the circumstances of his alleged receipt of food from a local grocery store.

"The details disclosed by Winston in that interview were not previously known to the University.

"As is the case with all matters of this type, we will work in partnership with the NCAA to determine whether a violation occurred."

Either Jameis Winston lied to cops ... or he's lying now ... because his story about why he took crab legs from Publix has radically changed ... so says reps for the grocery store.

TMZ Sports spoke with a rep for the market ... who tells us they heard Jameis' explanation for the crab leg theft on ESPN, but insist his story isn't adding up.

FYI -- Winston appeared on the docuseries "Draft Academy" last night and said a Publix employee had "hooked him up" with a free birthday cake in the past and had promised more free stuff the next time Winston came into the market. That's why he claims he took the crab legs without paying.

But Publix says ... after the 2014 arrest, they launched an internal investigation and "never came across any evidence that suggests there was an arrangement that Mr. Winston or any other FSU athlete had with an employee."

There's more ... Publix also points out that when Winston was busted, he told police he had simply "forgot" to pay for the crab and didn't realize the mistake until he got home.

The rep for Publix continues ... "If Mr. Winston has new information about a person he had a deal with, we'd be happy to reopen the investigation."

The Rock, Vin Diesel, and Paul Walker are all names you will see at the end of "Furious 7" ... problem is the people actually responsible for most of the adrenaline pumping action are irate because they were left out of the end credits.

Sources directly connected with production tell us, the 2nd unit crew was responsible for all the major action ... including the parachuting car scene and the mountain road chase.

We're told the stunt team members feel like they were "punched in the gut" when they realized 25 members of their team -- many of whom risked their lives -- were left out of the credits.

And get this ... Paul Walker's 2nd unit stunt double -- who was inside a bus as it fell off a cliff -- was uncredited.

We contacted Universal ... they told us they're looking into it.

'Love & Hip Hop' couple Mendeecees Harris and Yandy Smith might be honeymooning in a federal prison ... because the groom just plead guilty to running a drug ring in upstate NY.

Harris struck a plea deal in the case, and will now face 5 to 40 years in the federal pen, and/or a fine of $5 million. The feds nailed him for a drug trafficking operation that shipped cocaine and heroin to Rochester for 7 years.

Harris will remain free on bail until his sentencing in August -- good thing for him ... since he and Yandy are getting married next month on "Love & Hip Hop Live: The Wedding." By the way, he also has to surrender all his paychecks from 'LHH.'

Odin Lloyd's mother is moving forward with a wrongful death lawsuit against Aaron Hernandez AND the New England Patriots ... hoping to collect on the MILLIONS she claims the team was supposed to pay the former tight end.

Ursula Ward has re-filed docs in state court in Massachusetts that she originally filed back in 2013 ... claiming Hernandez should be held financially liable for the wrongful death of her son.

Of course, Hernandez was convicted of Lloyd's murder -- so, Ward has a pretty solid case against Aaron.

But in the suit, Ward also names the New England Patriots as "reach and apply defendants" -- meaning that if she wins ... she wants to be able to collect her judgment from the Pats.

Now, this is important because Ward claims that Hernandez has a right to collect $3.25 million of a signing bonus that she claims was due back in March 2014.

Mila Kunis has nice breasts ... problem is, she stole them along with other chicken parts, this according to a new lawsuit filed by a woman who claims to have been her best Ukrainian friend.

Kristina Karo claims 25 years ago she was in first grade with Mila in the Ukraine and they were inseparable. But Kristina says Mila had chicken envy -- specifically a chicken which answered to the name Doggie. Kristina alleges in her lawsuit she loved Doggie like a dog, and so did Mila, who would come to her house and play with the little clucker.

But one day Doggie disappeared, and Kristina says Mila confessed that she stole it, saying, "Kristina, you can have any other chicken as a pet, you have a whole chicken farm."

Kristina says in her lawsuit she became an emotional wreck and went into therapy.

Years passed, Mila moved to L.A. and became a big star. Kristina also eventually moved to L.A. to pursue a singing career. But the proximity brought back all the bad memories, and Kristina says the visions of Doggie being stolen by her former best friend threw her right back into therapy.

Kristina now needs shrink money, and a little extra for all the emotional distress ... in all, $5k.

And Kristina says Mila's conduct has prevented her from pursuing the American dream.

Life, liberty and the pursuit of a happy meal.

Odin Lloyd's mother tells TMZ Sports ... she's still deciding whether or not she will file a wrongful death lawsuit against Aaron Hernandez ... a lawsuit that could potentially be worth MILLIONS of dollars.

With Hernandez having been convicted of murdering the former semi-pro football player, the odds are extremely good that Lloyd's family would win a civil case against him.

And since Hernandez was an NFL star who made MILLIONS during his brief career ... there's real money on the line.

But when we spoke with Ursula Ward this week, she told us she had not made up her mind about whether she will go through with the lawsuit.

L.A. County Sheriff's deputies paid a visit to Bruce Jenner's Malibu house Tuesday ... then went on the hunt for the paparazzi who have been perched on a nearby hillside and taking aim with telephoto lenses.

It's illegal for photogs to use telephoto lenses to invade the private spaces of the people they're shooting.

The photographers took pics of Jenner earlier in the day that were being peddled around town. They've also taken pics over the last week from the same perch and Bruce has confronted them. He said he would call the cops if they came back. Tuesday Bruce made good on his promise.

The Detroit Lions cut offensive lineman Rodney Austin on the heels of his arrest for assaulting a woman and a baby.

According to the police report ... Austin shoved Yvonne Gill-Sadler on April 5th around 2 AM during a dispute in her Charlotte, NC apartment -- and when she went down she was holding a female infant ... less than a year old.

The report also says Austin prevented Gill-Sadler from calling 911 by stealing her phone. The baby and Gill-Sadler were uninjured ... according to cops.

Austin was arrested on April 17 and booked for assault, larceny, child abuse and interfering with emergency communication.

The two escorts in Warren Sapp's hotel room told police ... it wasn't just a big 'ol naked dance party -- Warren was aggressive and violent ... and TACKLED the girls when they tried to leave.

TMZ Sports obtained footage of the two escorts -- Britney Osbourne and Quying Boyd -- speaking with police moments after cops arrived to Sapp's hotel in Phoenix on Feb. 2nd.

Both women told cops they tried to leave the hotel room after a dispute over money -- but Sapp flipped out ... with Boyd saying, "He tackled us together. That's why my leg hurts."

Sapp denied "laying a hand" on either woman -- though he does acknowledge there was a dispute.

Nick Loeb says there are 2 unborn girls he wants to father ... and he's not asking the mother, Sofia Vergara, for anything other than cooperation in allowing them to be born.

Loeb's lawyer says, "Nick is not seeking to impose any parental obligations on the egg donor, financial or otherwise, and believes that the sanctity of life, his interest in achieving parenthood, and his desire to bring his daughters to term outweighs any interest the egg donor may have in destroying the embryos."

As TMZ reported, Nick is suing Sofia, claiming she wants to destroy the embryos now that she's moved on. Sofia says she will not destroy the embryos, but as we reported she refuses to allow them to come to term. We're told Sofia does not want to stir up a hornet's nest with her right-to-life fan base.

Nick's lawyer goes on ... "I created these two female embryos with the purpose of taking them to term and not destruction, because I have always dreamed of being a father."

He says he wants no money from Sofia ... Nick is loaded. He adds he's willing to give her an opportunity to be involved in the children's lives.

Jarret Stoll had been raging in Vegas with several of his L.A. Kings teammates in the hours before the NHL star was busted for trying to bring a BUNCH of cocaine and molly to a pool party ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Multiple sources confirm ... the Vegas vacation was essentially an unofficial end-of-the-season celebration to unwind and party as a team.

As far as how many Kings were part of the festivities -- sources tell us there were more than a dozen people from the organization on hand ... many of whom continued to party in Vegas throughout the weekend even AFTER Stoll was arrested.

We know Drew Doughty and Martin Jones were part of the Vegas crew -- but they were NOT arrested or accused of any wrongdoing whatsoever. In fact, the only person who got into any trouble was Stoll.

We reached out to the players and the Kings organization -- but no one wanted to comment on this specific story.

Gary Payton is being sued by a woman who claims the NBA legend beat her up over and over again during a quick getaway to Seattle ... though Payton denies the whole thing and says it's nothing more than a shameless cash grab.

TMZ Sports has obtained the lawsuit filed by Trishtan Williams -- who claims Payton invited her as his date to an awards function in Seattle back in January ... but after the ceremony, things got violent.

According to the suit, Gary and Trishtan went to a local bar -- where she claims Payton shoved her over something she said. Williams did not say exactly what set Payton off.

Eventually, Williams claims they got in a car to leave together and he assaulted her again.

Williams says Payton struck her a third time when they got back to their hotel room.

Now, she's lawyered up with Gloria Allred -- and is seeking a ton of money.

We spoke with Payton's agent, Aaron Goodwin, who claims the whole thing is nothing more than a shakedown in an effort to get Gary to cut a fat check.

Goodwin also says Williams has changed her story several times -- and has "no physical evidence to substantiate these claims."

Damon Dash just lost custody of the daughters he shares with ex-wife Rachel Roy, and it's probably all news to him ... since he didn't even show up for the hearing.

Roy just got sole legal and physical custody of 15-year-old Ava and 6-year-old Tallulah. Dash also wanted full custody.

The former couple each accused the other of being an unfit parent. He claimed she drove drunk with one of the girls, and threatened to cut him with a knife. She claimed he smokes weed around the kids. She said all the women and drugs were a bad influence on their daughters.

The judge clearly sided with Rachel, ruling Dash only gets supervised visitation.

Roy also got a three-year restraining order against Dash.

TMZ Sports has obtained footage of Warren Sapp speaking with cops moments after his Feb. 2nd prostitution arrest in Arizona -- in which he says he told a talkative hooker to shut up and use her mouth for other things instead.

In the video, which was recorded by law enforcement, Warren explains his side of the story ... how he picked up two women in a Phoenix hotel bar and offered them money for sexual favors.

"I put the $600 dollars on the table, everybody got naked," Sapp explained.

At one point, Sapp says one of the escorts started talking ... so he told her, "Why don't you use your mouth on me, instead of using it?!"

During the video, Sapp says he was snapping photos and joking around with the women because ... as he put it ... "I'm silly like that sometimes."

At one point during the interview, Sapp realizes he's going to jail -- and has a bit of a mental breakdown.

Sapp says a dispute began when one of the women asked for a "tip" -- and he told both of the women to leave. Sapp says one of the women grabbed his cell phone and called hotel security.

Sapp says the woman then spit on him -- which angered the other escort ... and the two women began to argue.

Eventually, Sapp says the argument spilled into the hallway ... and he chased after them while naked to get his phone back.

Luckily, Sapp says the dead bolt kept the door from closing and he went back into the room.

Warren was charged with two counts of assault and one count of soliciting prostitution. Sapp denies ever laying a hand (aggressively) on either woman.