CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Former Dream singer Melissa Schuman claims Nick Carter raped her back in 2002 ... when she was 18 and he was 22.

Melissa says she and the Backstreet Boys singer started talking because their managers suggested they date -- presumably for good PR -- even though she says she already had a boyfriend.

She claims Carter invited her and a friend to his Santa Monica apartment for what she calls a "casual hangout" -- and after some boozing he started making out with her. In a very graphic blog post, Melissa claims he eventually took her into a bathroom, he forcibly performed oral sex on her ... and then forced her to reciprocate.

Melissa says she repeatedly told him she did not want to have sex, and was saving her virginity for her husband. She claims Carter took her to a bedroom, and then forced her to have intercourse.

Schuman says she told her manager about the alleged rape, but was told Carter's legal team was too powerful, and publicly accusing him would hurt her career.

The man who obtained a restraining order against Ray Allen says he was NOT catfishing the NBA star -- the two were in a romantic relationship ... but Ray's attorney tells TMZ Sports the man is lying.

As we previously reported, Allen is in a legal war with Bryant Coleman -- a staffer in the communications dept. at the University of Central Florida.

Coleman says Allen's allegations that he pretended to be a woman to obtain "private information" about Ray are false.

The truth, according to Coleman, is that Allen offered up info -- along with pictures and videos -- knowing full well that Coleman is a man. He says their relationship goes back several years.

"[Ray's] account of our relationship is false," Coleman says in a statement to TMZ Sports.

"Ray knows how I look, he knows how my voice sounds, he knows how I think, and most importantly, he knows my heart."

"However, because of confidentially considerations, I am not in a position to provide a more detailed response to Mr. Allen's false and salacious claims. I will rely on the courts to protect me against Mr. Allen's violent threats and false accusations."

The exact nature of the alleged "violent threats" is unclear, but as we previously reported ... Coleman obtained a restraining order, claiming Allen was stalking him.

We reached out to Allen's legal team for comment and his attorney shot down Coleman's claims.

"Mr. Coleman’s statement would be funny if it wasn’t so crazy," Ray's lawyer tells us.

"There has never been and never will be a relationship or friendship between Ray Allen and Mr. Coleman. They have never met and never have spoken."

"Ray obviously hasn’t threatened anyone. Any statement or inference otherwise is a complete fabrication. Ray wants nothing to do with Mr. Coleman, who obviously has some serious issues with understanding the difference between fact and fantasy.”

Ray Allen claims he was catfished by a man pretending to be a number of attractive women -- and now he's filed legal docs to make sure the alleged catfisher doesn't leak his private information.

It's all in legal docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... the ex-NBA superstar claims he met these "women" in "various online forums" and communicated with them ... sometimes sharing "private information."

Ray claims he eventually figured out he was being catfished and ended the relationships -- but the man behind the rouse became obsessed and began posting items on social media about Ray and his family.

In the docs, Allen claims the man would physically go to Ray's wife's restaurant in Orlando and post about Ray -- tagging family members in the posts. Creepy stuff.

Ray says he got the guy to sign a confidentiality agreement in which he agreed to stop posting about Ray -- but the guy violated the deal.

Things continued to escalate -- and the man eventually filed for a restraining order against Ray claiming the NBA star was stalking him, which the court granted.

Ray is adamantly denying the stalking allegations and is now seeking a restraining order of his own.

"Ray wants nothing to do with [the alleged catfisher] and merely wants to be left alone," Allen says in the court docs.

We spoke with Allen's attorney, David Oscar Markus, who tells us, "Ray Allen was the victim of an online scheme to extract money and embarrass him by someone who appears to be troubled."

"The person who perpetrated this scheme has now started to stalk him and make threats against Ray and his family. Ray has taken legal action to put an end to the threats and to expose his manipulation and wrongdoing."

"Ray regrets ever engaging with this person online and is thankful they never met in person. This experience has negatively impacted Ray, and he hopes that others might use his mistake to learn the dangers of communicating online with strangers."

Cassidy was just chillin' in a parked van outside his house when cops busted him -- which they say has more to do with the joint and baggie full of marijuana allegedly in the van.

The Philly MC was busted Sunday afternoon in Jersey City when police say they spotted him in the vehicle, and noticed a strong marijuana odor. Officers say there was a joint sitting in clear view on the dashboard. They also found a baggie of weed and a grinder, typically used to crush weed ... according to the police report.

Cassidy was booked for possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.

Law enforcement tells us they discovered Cassidy has an outstanding warrant in another county -- for the exact same offenses. So, now he has 2 court dates ... for the old and new charges.

The lesson? Don't park and smoke. Allegedly.

The lawyer for the woman accusing Ryan Seacrest of demeaning and sexually aggressive behavior demanded 8 figures, and if Seacrest didn't pay up her attorney vowed to go to the media ... sources tell TMZ.

The woman -- who worked as Seacrest's stylist -- alleges Seacrest engaged in various forms of misconduct from 2007 to 2010. Seacrest has adamantly denied the claims.

Sources familiar with the case tell TMZ, the woman's lawyer contacted Seacrest's attorney and first demanded $15 million and, when the lawyer was told to take a hike, later said somewhere in the 7 figures would be acceptable.

Our sources say the woman's lawyer had a meeting with Seacrest's attorney -- Seacrest was on the phone -- and her lawyer read aloud a press release that he said he would send to the media unless Seacrest met her financial demands.

It appears the statute of limitations both civilly and criminally would have run out on all of her claims, which are older than 6 years. As a result, the only leverage in getting money would be making the allegations public and embarrassing him.

Bruno Mars engaged in a little jailhouse rock when he slapped a pic of himself as a pint-sized Elvis Presley impersonator all over his social media ... at least according to the photog who just sued Bruno.

Catherine McGann says she snapped this 1989 shot of Bruno -- when he would've been just 3 or 4 years old, but was already famously performing the King's hits. McGann says she owns the copyright on the shot ... so, she was shocked to see it pop up all over Bruno's social media.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says he posted it back in June on his IG, FB and Twitter pages ... for a "Way Back Wednesday" that blew up. McGann says it garnered more than 1.2 million likes on Instagram alone. In other words ... 24k magic!

Now, it doesn't take a suspicious mind to figure out the alleged problem here -- McGann says Bruno never got permission to use her copyrighted work. She's suing Bruno and his record label, Warner Music, for damages and all profits they earned from her photo.

Thank you very much.

Roger Ailes, the late CEO of FOX News, engaged in a campaign to cover up sexual harassment and racial discrimination, according to a lawsuit filed by shareholders ... which has just been settled.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Ailes paid former FOX employee Laurie Luhn $3.15 million in 2011 to keep quiet about 2 decades worth of allegations ... which include sexual harassment at the hands of Ailes himself.

The suit also alleges a similar cover-up with Gretchen Carlson -- claiming she was paid $20 mil and given a public apology to settle the sexual harassment lawsuit she'd filed against Ailes. The shareholders call out Ailes for his alleged treatment of Megyn Kelly, too. According to the docs, Ailes made sexually charged comments about her lingerie, and offered her promotions in exchange for sexual favors.

The suit was filed Monday against Ailes' estate, FOX CEO Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, who are also FOX honchos. FOX News released a statement, also on Monday, saying a settlement had been reached. FOX News will now form a Workplace Professionalism and Inclusion Council.

The panel's purpose is improving reporting of misconduct, and recruiting and advancing female and minority employees.

Tyrese may have regained 50/50 custody of his daughter, but turns out there were strings attached.

The judge issued a series of conditions, including:

-- Neither Tyrese nor Norma Gibson can use corporal punishment in disciplining 10-year-old Shayla.

-- Tyrese must take parenting classes focused on appropriate disciplining of his daughter.

-- Both Tyrese and Norma must enroll in "high conflict parenting classes."

-- Tyrese and Shayla must enroll in joint therapy with a psychologist. Shayla must also undergo individual counseling.

According to the order, Tyrese has Shayla for both XMAS and New Year's -- and all of his visits with her must be spent in Southern California ... until April 30.

As we reported, Norma claimed Tyrese brutally disciplined their daughter, but the judge didn't buy it.

Ron Goldman's father is demanding O.J. Simpson get before a judge ASAP ... because he's concerned Simpson is pocketing cash he owes to the Goldman and Brown families.

In docs obtained by TMZ ... Fred Goldman says the first available hearing date isn't until July 3, 2018 ... which he says is way too far away. He believes in that 7-month span O.J. "could flood the market with sports memorabilia" and try to keep all the money for himself.

O.J. responded in his own docs, saying the secret autograph session he held in October was a one-off ... and he's just trying to "readjust to civilian life." O.J. says even though he's had a lot of money-making offers ... he's rejected all of them except for that one autograph sesh.

Meek Mill had a celebrity phone call during his time in prison -- speaking with Colin Kaepernick -- and he gave the QB a message to spread to his supporters.

"Spoke to Meek Mill & he wanted ppl to know regardless of his unjust situation, he’s in good spirits & humbled by the support the people have shown him," Colin tweeted.

"We'll continue to fight against the harsh sentencing practices that have affected Meek & millions of other POC for generations."

Colin had spoken out against Meek's sentence -- claiming 2 to 4 years in prison is way too harsh for a non-violent probation violation.

Meek was locked up earlier this month stemming from a conviction in a 2008 drug and weapons case.

Amber Rose did not inflict emotional distress on Wiz Khalifa's mom by allegedly blaming her for Wiz's sister's death ... so says a judge who just tossed the lawsuit.

Katie Wimbush-Polk just got thrown out of a Pennsylvania court because Amber's alleged statement was insulting, but it wasn't extreme and outrageous ... which is required in order to prove emotional distress.

The judge ruled, "Mere insults, indignities, threats, annoyances, petty oppressions, and other trivialities" do not give rise to a claim for emotional distress. The judge said Amber's alleged tirade was nothing more than beef between former in-laws.

As we reported ... Katie initially sued Amber for defamation earlier this year after the model allegedly called her an unfit mother and blamed her for Wiz's sibling's death ... who died in February of complications from lymphoma. The judge had already thrown out the defamation claim.

Sylvester Stallone's ex-wife, Brigitte Nielsen, says there is no way Stallone could have sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in Las Vegas because she was with him the entire time.

The Daily Mail posted a story that the 16-year-old met Stallone in 1986 during the filming of "Over the Top" and he invited the girl to his hotel room at the Vegas Hilton where he allegedly forced her to have oral sex with him as his bodyguard raped her.

Nielsen tells TMZ, "During the summer of 1986 we were newlyweds. I was inseparable with Sylvester when 'Over the Top' was being shot in Las Vegas. The story claims that at approximately 8:30 in the evening during the shoot of the movie the person claims she was in our suite at the Hilton Hotel."

Nielsen goes on to say, "This incident did not occur. Most of the day, I would watch him film, then we'd have dinner and go to our room. No other person was in the room with him, but me."

The Daily Mail post says the girl was introduced to Stallone by his "Over the Top" co-star, David Mendenhall. Mendenhall tells TMZ, "I was shocked when I read the Daily Mail article. It's completely false that I introduced a 16-year-old female stranger to Mr. Stallone near an elevator in the Hilton, or anywhere else for that matter."

He goes on ... "The only people I introduced to Mr. Stallone were my relatives who visited me on the set."

As for Nielsen, we're told she and Stallone haven't spoken in nearly 30 years. Nevertheless, she says, "I can say for certain that it is impossible for this incident to have occurred," adding, "It's unbelievable that Sylvester and his family have to suffer through this over something that never happened."

The Daily Mail post includes what looks like a police report filed by the 16-year-old. Vegas police have no record of the report. According to the story, the girl decided she did not want the case prosecuted so Vegas police dropped it.

Drake seems to have buried the hatchet with Meek Mill -- at least for now -- 'cause even HE wants his archenemy out of prison.

Drake was performing in Melbourne, Australia Sunday for his Boy Meets World Tour when he took a moment to shout out a fan who was wearing a "Free Meek Mill" shirt.

Drizzy echoed the sentiment by saying, "Free Meek Mill too, man. For real" ... to which the audience roared in approval.

The words are pretty powerful coming from Drake -- who, as you know, has had a long-lasting beef with Meek that seeped into this year ... despite Rick Ross trying to squash it.

Diddy -- aka the man of a thousand names -- is gonna run into some issues if he wants to go slapping his new Brother Love alter ego on music and merch because there's already another BL in the game.

Rocker Larry Florman has been using the Brother Love alias since 2000 and has released 2 albums under the name. Florman told us he's shocked that he's the first to go after the trademark, considering he only did so a week ago after learning about Diddy infringing on the title.

It's also too late for wrestling's OG Brother Love, Bruce Prichard, who told us last week that he would be going after the trademark.

Unclear how far Diddy was planning on taking his own Brother Love alter ego. He told us last week it was just the booze talking when he decided to make the change.

Terrell Owens is giving Ezekiel Elliott props for manning up and accepting his 6-game suspension -- telling TMZ Sports Zeke is absolutely doing "the best thing" for him and the Cowboys.

"Why fight it? Go ahead, take your suspension -- you live, you learn from it and keep it moving," T.O. said.

Elliott's been battling with the NFL for months over whether or not he should have to sit out over domestic violence allegations ... but officially threw in the towel on Tuesday.

Tyrese just scored a big victory in court after a judge denied his ex's request for a permanent restraining order which would have severely restricted the actor's access to his daughter, Shayla.

The judge ruled Tyrese and Norma Gibson will get 50/50 joint custody beginning in January. Until then, we're told both sides have worked out a visitation schedule that will allow Tyrese to see Shayla over the holidays.

After court, he didn't have much to say about the ruling ... but made it clear he will eventually.

As we reported ... Norma claimed Tyrese physically abused the 10-year-old, claiming he beat her 12 to 16 times. Tyrese says he only struck her once on the bottom, and that Norma is simply vengeful.

Over the course of the 3-week court battle, Tyrese has posted multiple videos chronicling his own personal turmoil.

Tyrese had an online meltdown that he blamed on a Rx drug he was taking for depression.

He also claimed Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith gave him $5 million to dig himself out of a financial hole, but that turned out to be false.

Nonetheless ... the restraining order is now history, opening the door to a renewed relationship between father and daughter.