CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

One of Jay-Z and Beyonce's songs, "Black Effect," leans heavily on a Jamaican artist, who claims she was never given proper credit or compensation ... despite being the leading voice on the track.

Dr. L'Antoinette Stines says she's renowned in Jamaica for "her artistry and wisdom" -- and to that point, she says the Carters sought her ought in March 2018 to provide dancers for a video promoting their upcoming tour.

According to a lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court, Dr. Stines claims she hooked 'em up with dancers, and then Jay and Bey wanted to record her views on love. She claims she was told the interview would be used in the video ... "for promotional purposes" only.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says she was shocked when she heard "Black Effect" -- from The Carters' "Everything Is Love" album -- because the whole first minute of the track is just her voice.

Hearing herself on the song -- uncredited, mind you -- left Dr. Stines feeling "artistically raped" ... according to her lawsuit.

The doc claims a contract for her services was only thrust in front of her on the day of the shoot, and she alleges the Carters' reps told her not to worry ... after all, her interview would only be used for promotion.

So, she signed, but she's pissed she never got a chance to have it reviewed by her own lawyer -- and worst of all, claims she hasn't been paid a dime for her vocal work.

Dr. Stines is suing Jay and Bey for copyright infringement and violation of her right to publicity ... PLUS damages, of course. She also wants a writing credit, and everything that comes with that ... meaning, cash money.

Pete Buttigieg says the Supreme Court ruling making workplace discrimination against LGBTQ+ members illegal in the U.S. is a step forward -- but there's way more walking to do.

The ex-Democratic presidential candidate was on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to discuss the historic 6-3 decision SCOTUS handed down on the issue of civil rights at work. Pete says a lot of Americans might be surprised that, before Monday, it was still legal to fire someone based on their sexual orientation and/or gender identification.

He goes on to explain there was a huge sign of progress in that Trump-appointed conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch saw the Civil Rights Act and its workplace protections afforded to citizens naturally extend to gay and trans people too.

BTW, the President's other appointee, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, was one of the 3 dissenting votes.

Pete warned it's not time to fly victory banners just yet, because there are several outstanding issues for the LGBTQ+ community that aren't being addressed, and he detailed some of them.

Bhad Bhabie has one less legal issue on her hands while she's in rehab -- because one of her foes, Skai Jackson, is tearing up her restraining order.

The former Disney star just filed to have the order against Bhabie dismissed, and we're told a judge has signed off on it ... so it's official. There's no question ... this move comes as a direct result of Danielle seeking treatment.

Skai tells TMZ ... "Because Danielle stopped threatening me after the Court ordered her to do so, and now that she's made the decision to work on herself through rehab and therapy, I’m pleased that I don’t need to extend my restraining order." Now, she left a window for herself ... because Skai's dismissal was granted without prejudice, meaning she can refile if things heat up again.

On that point, Skai adds, “If she goes back to her old ways, of course, we’ll have to change that, but I hope and believe that it won’t be necessary. I think it’s great that Danielle is getting the help she feels she needs. I wish her nothing but the best on her road to recovery."

You'll recall ... Skai got the restraining order against Bhabie in February after a squabble over NBA YoungBoy turned nasty.

Ex-'Teen Mom' star Jenelle Evans appears to be leaving her volatile husband, David Eason, for good -- this after the guy allegedly pistol-whipped a man and got arrested.

We confirmed Eason was busted and booked Friday night out in Columbus County, North Carolina on two different charges -- assault with a deadly weapon and communicating threats.

As for what happened leading up to this ... reports say, and Jenelle seems to confirm on social media, that a scuffle broke out between a couple of her guy friends and David ... when she returned to the house to get some of her things. Eason allegedly pistol-whipped one of the dudes over a misunderstanding over keys.

Jenelle is reportedly staying with a relative now.

She wrote on FB, "I just want to let the public, tabloids, and my fans know that IM OK, IM SAFE AND SO ARE THE KIDS! I'm going to take a few days out to myself to gather my thoughts and focus on what's going on so I won't be on social media much. I love you all for the support that you all have shown me and I'll be stronger and better than ever soon!"

Jenelle also told Celebernation that it was time she and David went their separate ways ... again.

Cops released Eason on an unsecured bond.

San Bernardino Police gunned down what's been described as a homeless man, who they say waved what might have been a handgun at them ... but it's not clear if he was actually armed.

The shooting occurred Saturday night at a gas station, where cops were responding to reports of a man brandishing a gun on the premises. When they showed up, cops say the guy was still carrying what appeared to them to be a firearm, and refused to put it down.

In bystander video, you can hear the officers giving the order ... and seconds later, they fire multiple rounds. The man was taken to a hospital and later pronounced dead. It's unclear what made the cops shoot, but SBPD released an image seemingly hinting at the reason.

They put up this photo, which they say shows the suspect pointing what was perceived as a possible weapon at the officers. Interestingly, though, SBPD has not yet confirmed if a gun was in fact found.

Witnesses on scene told the L.A. Times they'd seen the guy there earlier in the day rummaging through trash cans and panhandling. A cashier at the Circle K across the street says she believes the police mistook a flashlight he had as a gun, adding he was harmless.

Beyonce is shining a light on Breonna Taylor's case ... calling on Kentucky's top prosecutor to bring charges against the cops who killed her during a "no-knock" search warrant in March.

The pop star penned and posted an open letter on her site Sunday to Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, highlighting the fact that while a new law has been passed in her name banning the use of no-knock warrants ... her family has still not received true justice.

She says it plainly, writing ... "Three months have passed -- and zero arrests have been made, and no officers have been fired. The LMPD's investigation was turned over to your office, and yet all of the officers involved in the shooting remain employed by the LMPD."

Beyonce adds, "Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly and Officers Myles Cosgrove and Brett Hankison must be held accountable for their actions." They're the ones who busted into her apartment -- believing it was being used to house drugs -- and opened fire upon her and her boyfriend inside ... unloading 20 rounds, eight of which struck and ultimately killed Breonna.

The three officers were put on administrative leave -- the case is still under investigation.

Bey ends her letter with a list of demands for AG Cameron, saying she and the community want to see criminal charges brought against the three men, transparency in the investigation and subsequent prosecution of them, and then calls for a separate investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department's handling of the case from the jump.

Beyonce caps it off with a heartfelt plea ... "Don't let this case fall into the pattern of no action after a terrible tragedy. With every death of a Black person at the hands of the police, there are two real tragedies: the death itself, and the inaction and delays that follow it. This is your chance to end that pattern. Take swift and decisive action in charging the officers."

The City of Richmond, CA and a handful of their police officers are being hauled into court over an incident that reeks of police brutality ... and it's all on video.

According to court docs -- obtained by TMZ -- two black men will sue the city, along with three to four cops who were involved in detaining and eventually arresting these guys over a weed bust back in late April. The body cam video tells the story.

Per the lawsuits -- filed by attorney Daniel Horowitz -- Dejon Brown and Johnathan Spragan claim they were roughed up bad and wrongfully arrested for something they never should have been hassled for in the first place.

Long story short ... cops responded to a call for someone sitting in a car and possibly smoking weed in a residential neighborhood, and when they arrived, they came with a bunch of squad cars ... which was met with curious/outraged neighbors watching it unfold.

As the officers dealt with the two men in the car, another man from the sidewalk starts to call them out for bothering them at all. He gets into a shouting match with one of the officers, ID'd in the suit as Ahmed Khalfan, and eventually turned his back on the officer.

Apparently, the cop didn't like that -- or what Dejon said -- and proceeded to rush over and throw him on the ground as more of his fellow officers came over to help detain Dejon. We're told Dejon's brother, Dareron, tried pushing some of the officers off his brother, and then ran away ... which led to a brief chase and eventual tasing, all caught on camera.

Enter Johnathan, a bystander watching this all unfold, who tried intervening to deescalate the situation, per his attorney, Dan Horowitz. You can see what happened to him when he wouldn't back down. He, too, was manhandled and arrested.

What's crazy ...  before they jump on Johnathan, you can hear a couple cops apparently discussing what they could possibly arrest him for ... and bring up not wearing a mask.

Faith Evans is off the hook in her felony domestic violence case ... TMZ has learned she won't be prosecuted for allegedly attacking Stevie J.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office tells TMZ ... they are declining to prosecute the singer because the alleged victim, her husband, declined to testify against her.

We broke the story ... Faith was arrested last month after she allegedly got into a heated argument with Stevie at their L.A.-area home, which at some point turned violent.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Stevie was the one who called cops to their home the night of the fight. We're told he just wanted her out of the house, and never wanted her arrested or prosecuted in the first place.

Our sources also tell us cops had no choice but to arrest Faith for domestic violence because Stevie had visible scratches on his face when officers arrived at the scene.

You'll remember ... it was just last year when rumors started that their marriage was in trouble. As we first reported ... there was palpable tension after our camera guy got the couple leaving the Essence Festival in New Orleans.

However, things seem to be OK -- even after this arrest -- the couple is still together and Stevie recently told The Shade Room he's not going anywhere.

Ryan Guettler -- a BMX star and former X Games medalist -- was arrested after he was accused of firing off a shotgun while naked outside a North Carolina home.

Cops say they responded to a call accusing Guettler of roaming the streets nude with a firearm Wednesday afternoon in Wilmington, N.C.

When they arrived, officers say the 36-year-old ran into a garage and barricaded himself ... and refused to come out.

The scene appeared to be pretty intense, the Wilmington P.D. even tweeted about it at the time, saying, "Police responding to a barricaded subject with a gun just minutes ago off Covenant Lane. More details to come."

Cops say SWAT and negotiators arrived on the scene to help extract Guettler ... and, fortunately, he complied with nobody getting hurt.

Cops say they took Guettler to a nearby medical center for assessment ... before they ultimately arrested him and booked him on several charges, including felony "breaking or entering" and "going armed to terror people."

According to jail records, he's still in custody.

Eric Garner's mother says George Floyd's death is largely responsible for an anti-chokehold bill finally getting passed in NY -- making it a bittersweet victory for her after years of fighting for it.

Gwen Carr spoke to us a few days after New York lawmakers passed the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act -- which Gov. Andrew Cuomo has already said he'll sign into law -- and said it's a step in the right direction.

Gwen's been pushing for this bill since 2014, when Eric was killed -- and it will make it illegal for cops to use a chokehold or a similar restraining move, resulting in serious injury or death. Similar language has been in the NYPD rule book since 1993, but now it's on its way to becoming state law.

Gwen told us she feels George's death was the last straw that finally got local politicians to commit to passing the legislation -- as, she notes, his killing has reverberated even beyond Eric's story.

It's heartbreaking, because Gwen says she felt like she was hearing her own son from the grave listening to George plead with officers that he couldn't breathe. New York's State Assembly was also moved, because it passed the bill just 2 weeks after George was killed -- even though Ms. Carr had been lobbying for it for nearly 6 years.

Ya can't say Anson Williams and his wife didn't give it the ol' college try, but the "Happy Days" star is filing divorce docs for the 2nd time in less than a year.

Anson, who played Potsie on "Happy Days," filed in L.A. last Friday ... and we're guessing all he really had to do was change the date from the docs he filed last September.

Anson and Jackie Williams have been together more than 30 years now, and have 5 kids together -- but things have clearly been rocky since at least last year when they broke up, but pretty quickly decided to try again.

As we reported, Anson first went down divorce road last year on 9/11. However, by October 1 he was back in court, filing to dismiss that divorce.

Fast forward 9 months and they're back in splitsville. Unclear what led to their parting of ways this time around. Last year, Anson told us "sometimes you have to do what's best for everyone."

We've reached out to his rep. No word back yet.

An LAPD cop who was caught on video giving a man a beating earlier this year is now going to court ... he's been charged with assault by the District Attorney.

Los Angeles County D.A. Jackie Lacey announced the charge Tuesday against Officer Frank Hernandez -- who video shows pummeled a man with his fists this past April out in Boyle Heights.  As we reported, the officer was responding to a call for trespass. Hernandez now faces one count of felony assault under color of authority.

At the time, Hernandez and his partner encountered the guy after seeing him on a lot he allegedly wasn't supposed to be on -- but after refusing to leave the area entirely on the officers' orders, things got heated ... and eventually, they came to blows.

According to the D.A., Hernandez is accused of repeatedly punching the man over a dozen times over the head, neck and body. The D.A. calls it "a disturbing case of the illegal use of force at the hands of a police officer. In this case, we believe the force was neither legally necessary nor reasonable."

Travis Scott's "Highest in the Room" has a catchy guitar melody that appears throughout -- but one producer claims Travis and his team lifted it.

The guy's name is Benjamin Lasnier, who says he's a Danish music producer who's made beats for lots of people, especially rappers like Trippe Redd, Desiigner, Don Toliver and if he's right ... you can add Travis Scott to his resume.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Lasnier says he wrote and recorded the guitar refrain featured in Trav's hit song, 'Highest,' back in early 2019 ... which he then started shopping around to different producers, engineers and even artists themselves.

He says he also posted this guitar recording on his IG stories 3 different times -- although it's unclear if he still has them up or not for reference. Either way, Lasnier says he put it out there to more than 700k followers.

Welp, around springtime ... Lasnier claims he got in touch with a guy who works with Travis named Jamie Lepr -- who goes by Jimmy Cash on IG, and apparently solicits beats. Lasnier says he sent Lepr a beat pack, which included the guitar melody in question -- and with no formal deal struck between them ... Lasnier claims he eventually heard a slightly tweaked version of his melody on Trav's new song in late 2019. He says a strikingly similar arpeggio appears around 24 times, which he says makes it the meat of the song.

Of course, Lasnier says he never explicitly authorized Lepr to use the music -- and now wants his cut of the loot for what the song has gone on to make -- which is a lot, BTW. He claims "Highest in the Room" has generated north of $20 million for everyone involved in making it -- it's even had crazy success on the charts ... reaching No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.

If you know, you know it's one of Travis Scott's most popular songs to date, without question. Now, Lasnier's asking a judge to give him an accounting of the profits, damages, and a running royalty share too.

We've reached out to Travis' team ... so far, no word back.

The NYPD police officer who shoved a female protester to the ground -- on camera -- has now been arrested and charged with assault ... among other crimes.

Officer Vincent D'Andraia surrendered to authorities at the Downtown Brooklyn precinct Tuesday morning. He was booked for assault, criminal mischief, harassment, and menacing. He appeared for his arraignment by a video feed, due to coronavirus concerns. He was released on his own recognizance.

D'Andraia has been ID'd by city officials as the officer seen in a video pushing a woman to the ground in late May near the Barclays Center ... where she was participating in a George Floyd protest. She says she suffered a concussion and a seizure.

The cop was suspended without pay shortly thereafter, and his supervisor was reportedly transferred to another precinct. The case is already being reviewed by Internal Affairs.

Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez says of the case, "I fully support the long-held American tradition of non-violent protest. As District Attorney I cannot tolerate the use of excessive force against anyone exercising this Constitutionally guaranteed right."

He adds, "This is especially true of those who are sworn to protect us and uphold the law. I am deeply troubled by this unnecessary assault. We will now seek to hold this defendant accountable."

Members of the Minneapolis City Council say they're overruling Mayor Jacob Frey and WILL commit to dismantling their police department -- meaning, get rid of it completely.

The stunning announcement was made Sunday, with nine out of thirteen members coming out in support of the idea, which gives them a majority that can't be vetoed by Mayor Frey.

So, what does it mean exactly? Welp, the council members admit it won't be an immediate change -- but make no mistake, they say when the dust settles, Minneapolis will not have a traditional police department.

The alternative, according to them, is community-based safety ... a term they've yet to fully explain.

The announcement comes the day after Mayor Frey was publicly shamed for refusing to, as he put it, "fully abolish" the police department.

That's what he said when put on the spot by a rally organizer ... and that response got him booed off the street, as he walked through a sea of middle fingers in his face.

This new development -- less than 2 weeks after George Floyd was killed -- is potentially monumental if Minneapolis actually does it and makes it work.

Toronto PD probably saved this jackass' life ... he showed up in blackface for a protest against racism -- seriously -- and yes, protesters were furious about the spectacle.

The wild moment was captured on video Saturday during a demonstration in the city's Nathan Phillips Square. The white guy walked into the crowd completely decked out in black makeup on his face and hands.

We can't imagine it took long for people to turn on him, and even as police whisked him away ... pissed off protesters were still screaming at him.

People were reportedly barking threats at him and calling for the police the whole time he was trying to wade through the rally. Eventually, bicycle officers did step in and escort the guy away -- almost completely surrounding him to keep the angry crowd off of him.

Cops say the agitator was arrested for breaching the peace -- yeah, he did that and then some. Oh, the beatdown he might have caught.