CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Lori Loughlin just suffered a big blow in her college admissions case ... the judge rejected her claim that prosecutors dealt her dirty by allegedly browbeating the star witness until he screwed her over.

The judge rejected Lori's motion to dismiss her case entirely because of gross misconduct on the part of the team that is prosecuting her. TMZ broke the story ... a government investigator screamed at college admission's scandal ringleader Rick Singer because he kept saying the money Lori and other parents paid was a donation and not a bribe.

The judge didn't buy it, ruling the government did NOT lie.  The judge said the screaming was not to get Singer to lie ... it was simply to get Singer to corroborate what they already knew.

Lori did score a few points when the judge said the government dragged its feet in producing notes revealing the Singer screaming match. The judge said the delay was "irresponsible and misguided," but not willful.

Joe Exotic does everything big, and clearly so does his new, massive legal team, that has produced a Texas-style video asking President Trump for a pardon, saying Joe is not only NOT GUILTY of putting a hit out on Carole Baskin, but he was actually FRAMED.

The video was shot and produced in Ft. Worth, and it features the bus TMZ showed you a few days ago that is wrapped in a plea to spring Joe from the prison, where we're told 1/3 of the inmates now have coronavirus.

The team is led by a super colorful figure -- Eric Love, a P.I. who is now the Lead Investigator and Executive Manager for all things Exotic.

The video makes it clear ... the legal team will attack on all fronts. They are appealing Joe's conviction and asking Trump for a pardon. They're also pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of folks involved in the criminal trial.

As we previously reported, there's evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind ... he told us his testimony against Joe was "payback" and he wishes he could have done more to hurt Joe. Those are markers of a biased witness.

There's also this ... the prosecutor in the case chose to throw in allegations Joe killed tigers. A lot of people think the prosecution's murder-for-hire case was weak, and the prosecutor threw in tiger-killing allegations just to dirty Joe up so the jury would hate him. Joe's legal team thinks that's a reversible error, as well as unethical.

Chris Cornell's widow, Vicky, is threatening members of her late husband's band, accusing them of making a fortune off Chris' back and then viciously attacking her and her kids and screwing them out of what's rightly theirs.

Vicky's lawyer, legal pit bull Marty Singer, fired off a blistering letter to the remaining members of the group, expressing outrage at their latest legal move -- accusing Vicky of stealing money from the Chris Cornell Tribute Concert. Singer says the claim is BS, noting almost 2 million bucks went to charity and overhead was only $43k.

Singer also claims the tribute to Chris lined the pockets of the band members, who demanded reimbursement for expenses. Singer clearly doesn't buy the "expenses" argument.

The demand letter, obtained by TMZ, calls the allegations against Vicky "mean spirited drivel." Singer says band members have tried to "brow-beat her into giving up the rights to her late husband's copyrighted works" by initiating a hate campaign, enlisting "cyber-stalkers and trolls" to harass not only Vicky but her kids.

The letter notes band members have liked defamatory, social media allegations ... like suggesting Vicky operates a brothel from her home and that she "pimped out" her daughter.

Vicky's lawyer succinctly said, "Shame on you and shame on your clients [who] have made millions of dollars off of Chris Cornell's hard work and talent."

The letter ends with a threat of a malicious prosecution lawsuit against not only the band members but their lawyer as well ... that is, unless the band immediately drops its fraud claim against Vicky.

Originally Published -- 6:15 AM PT

Chris Cornell's former bandmates are digging in their heels in an escalating legal war against his widow -- and are now wondering where the money she raised from a charity concert really ended up.

Soundgarden is once again responding to Vicky Cornell's lawsuit, filed last year, in which she claims to be the rightful owner of 7 tracks she says she found on Chris' computer after his death.

The band is firing back now, claiming Vicky has been unwilling to provide sufficient information on the proceeds from a tribute concert after Cornell's death.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the surviving band members say they performed for free based on her promise the proceeds would go to charity, but they claim Vicky never explained where all the money went. They say she's only mentioned $643K going to a medical research charity. The band wants a full accounting of where any other revenue was donated.

Vicky posted a statement, saying, "When you attack the foundation, you attack my husband's legacy. The foundation has nothing to do with who owns Chris' vocal recordings. Their knowingly false allegations are a deliberate attempt to harm not just my credibility, but the foundation my husband and I created and everything WE stand for."

Soundgarden wants damages and for the judge to declare once and for all that they are the rightful owners of the unreleased tracks.

Ariana Grande will have a court-ordered force field around her for the next 5 years -- which will hopefully deter an obsessed fan who was arrested on her property 2 months ago.

A judge just signed off on a permanent restraining order for AG's mother, Joan -- which also extends to Ariana -- which will run through May 5, 2025. Under the order, Fidel Henriquez -- the man in question -- can't come within 100 yards of Joan's home, her vehicles ... and of course, her and Ariana. Basically, he's gotta stay the hell away.

The guy's also been instructed not to harass, threaten, intimidate or contact them in any other fashion -- which covers everything from written correspondence to phone calls as well as any form of electronic messages, including texts and social media DMs.

We broke the story ... Henriquez was hit with a TRO after he got busted for trespassing on their property back in March. They said they were scared for their lives and needed a judge to step in.

You'll recall ... Henriquez is alleged to have slipped onto the property by following a delivery truck through the gates, and once inside ... cops say he was rummaging through the garbage before knocking on Joan's front door, with a love note to Ari in hand.

If you thought pirates were just out at sea being bad, you'd be wrong -- Washington state cops say there's piracy happening on their own porches ... by none other than nurses!!! Fake nurses, rather.

This story comes to you from Kennewick, Washington ... where the local police department released photos of two women dressed as nurses that they say are going around to local neighborhoods and STEALING packages off people's doorstep. In broad daylight, no less.

KPD says of the crimes ... "Officers are currently investigating a case of porch piracy and need your help. Both suspects have been reported as stealing packages delivered to Kennewick residences," going on to tell folks to contact 'em if anyone recognizes these gals.

They also make a point to say that they don't believe the perps are actually nurses -- even though they certainly look the part in their full scrubs, gloves and lanyard badges. The department takes a dig at them and gives a shout-out to real nurses, saying ... "The nurses we are fortunate to know only give their time, lives, and take the vitals of their patients (not their property)." And, it gets even weirder.

One of the residents who had a package swooped from her porch says she played back the surveillance tape she had and describes one of the ladies arriving at her front door, only minutes after a FedEx driver dropped off her package, and casually walking off with the goods. Not a batted eye, not a fumble ... all very smooth and calculated.

Calvin Harris is allegedly a terrible neighbor who refuses to fix a steady flow of gross, disgusting water pouring from his house ... at least that's how one pissed off neighbor sees it.

Julie Opperman is suing the famed DJ ... claiming Calvin's Bel-Air property leaks and leaks and leaks filthy water that's coating a driveway and access road to her house. She says it's so bad, car tires spin in the muddy slime.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ, Calvin's downhill neighbor claims the sludgy mess has been oozing for nearly a year, and it's only a matter of time before it causes an accident.

Opperman says the city has cited Calvin twice for the mess, but she claims all he did was throw down some sandbags to block the flow ... and it was a band-aid fix at best.

The alleged leak isn't the only thing pissing off Ms. Opperman ... she says Calvin has also failed to fix some hefty fissures in his giant retaining walls directly above her property, thereby placing her in constant peril of serious injury. She claims the wall could collapse at any minute and crush anyone beneath it.

Opperman wants the judge to force Calvin to stop the smelly flow permanently, and build a new retaining wall. She's also suing for damages for mental and emotional distress, and loss of property values.

Drew Barrymore and Walmart are getting dragged into more than a pillow fight ... they're getting sued for allegedly copying a fabric design studio's patterns to sell pillows.

Rule of Three Studio just filed a lawsuit against Drew and Walmart for copyright infringement ... claiming the actress and big box store straight-up ripped off the fabric design studio's work and tried to pass it off as their own.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ, the fabric designer claims Drew copied their intricate Turkish Plume patterns, slapped it on pillows and sold it at Walmart in the Flower Home By Drew Barrymore collection.

The fabric designer claims Drew was bragging about coming up with patterns that aren't her own ... the studio thinks it's rich Drew hawked the pillows by saying, "One of the things I’m most proud of is that every single one is completely our own and original—we created each print that we developed for the line."

According to the docs, the fabric designer says it released its Turkish Plume pillows way back in 2015, and it wasn't until last year that Walmart started selling the Barrymore collection.

Rule of Three Studio is fed up with seeing their allegedly stolen designs on Drew's products ... the fabric designer is suing to stop sales and for all the profits from the design, plus additional damages.

BTW ... the studio says their pillows retail for between $315 and $565.

Kristin Cavallari claims Jay Cutler is already getting petty in their divorce by refusing to let her buy her own house, while also declaring he won't leave their current crib.

Kristin reportedly filed new docs Wednesday, and accused Jay of withholding money from her -- money she claims he had no problem with her spending last fall. According to the docs, things were bad enough in the marriage late last year, that she started house hunting and found something she liked. Kristin claims Jay "never objected" to her getting her own place.

She says she started the buying process, but stopped when she and Jay decided to give the marriage one more chance. That didn't last more than a few months ... Kristin says they realized "divorce was inevitable," and started talking about it in early March.

Kristin claims the nastiness started later that month when they got back from the Bahamas. In the docs, she claims Jay told her he would not release the funds she needed for the house. She thinks that was his way of "punishing" her.

It seems they also didn't see eye-to-eye on child custody. Kristin reportedly claims he tried to intimidate her into accepting a custody arrangement she deemed "unfavorable" ... and told her he wouldn't leave the Tennessee home they currently share.

Kristin claims living under the same roof with Jay creates a bad environment for their 3 kids, because he's constantly trying to pick fights with her in front of them.

As TMZ first reported ... Kristin's response to Jay's divorce filing accused him of "marital misconduct," but it wasn't about cheating. Her new filing makes it clear she thinks his decisions could cause "irreparable harm" to the kids.

Kristin wants out of their house now -- she's asking the judge to force Jay to release "her portion of their funds," so she can buy her own pad.

Tekashi 6ix9ine keeps racking up more W's ... a judge has given him the go-ahead to film music videos, but it comes with strings attached.

Judge Engelmayer gave the rapper permission "to conduct employment-related activities outside of the residence but within the confines of the rented property" ... this according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

In the docs, the judge says Tekashi can perform employment-related activities for 2 hours per week and 1 specific day that needs advanced approval by the probation officer. He's also allowed to do work in his basement but it's "limited to no more than an 8-hour period per day" with a schedule also approved by the probation officer.

As we reported ... Tekashi made his request last week and told the judge his probation officer was aware of the request and had no objection. All 69 needed was the judge's approval ... and now he's got it.

Remember, we told you Tekashi's super close to releasing new music and he's now dropped a major hint something's coming May 8. He said as much on his Instagram story ... and dude seems psyched. He also keeps winning. It's his second major win this month after convincing the judge to let him out of jail early due to fears over coronavirus.

So, snitching can really work ... well, until it doesn't.