CELEBRITY JUSTICE ™

Harvey Weinstein's appealing his rape and sexual abuse conviction in New York, and has a laundry list of reasons why he believes he got a raw deal.

According to new legal docs ... Weinstein claims he was deprived of a fair and impartial jury trial, which resulted in guilty verdicts and a sentence of 23 years in prison.

Weinstein's team claims the jury was influenced by sensational, prejudiced media coverage, special interest groups and the public's "magnified moral outrage over claimed sexual misbehavior of powerful men."

Weinstein's appeal highlights several points his legal team brought up during his trial, including the allegation one of the jurors lied about writing a book focused on older men preying on younger women.

In addition, Weinstein claims the jury was permitted to hear allegations of prior bad acts and uncharged crimes ... which he argues is a major error that deprived him of his right to a fair trial.

Weinstein also claims he was barred from presenting a defense against the prosecution's expert witness, and even alleges the judge showed his own bias when he harshly admonished Weinstein for using his cell phone in court.

Finally, Weinstein slams the trial court for allegedly influencing the jury's decision by essentially letting the prosecution put Mr. Weinstein’s entire life on trial instead of just focusing on the charged offenses.

Lori Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, has been sprung from prison early as the dust settles on the college admission scandal -- the only question now ... is he at home, or is he holed up in a halfway house?

Federal prison records show that Mossimo is, indeed, now "located" at a facility called RRM Long Beach -- which is a residential reentry management field office that oversees inmates transitioning back to public life.

RRMLB itself does NOT appear to be a halfway house, but it does regulate inmates who stay at halfway houses. It's also where inmates released to home confinement have to check in routinely until their actual release date -- per our law enforcement sources. In Mossimo's case, that won't be until April 17. In other words, this place is literally just an office ... not where he'll be staying.

So that raises this pickle ... if Mossimo isn't behind bars anymore, where the heck is he? It's possible he could be staying at a halfway house nearby until his deadline -- it's also just as feasible he's been sent home to serve out the remaining days of his 5-month sentence.

Remember, Mossimo was doing his time at FCI Lompoc, which is just outside Santa Barbara -- about a two-hour drive north of L.A. He checked himself in back in November, sporting a new bald look -- which had all the markings of a tough guy heading to the pokey.

MG got the stiffer sentence between him and Lori for their roles in the admissions scheme -- having paid Rick Singer upwards of $500k to help get their daughters into USC ... under elaborate and false pretenses, of course. After initially pleading not guilty, the couple eventually caved ... and copped a plea deal as pressure from prosecutors mounted.

Lori ended up getting just a couple months behind bars, and served a majority of that time ... getting released in December, just 2 days shy of her official release date. Mossimo, however, got three more months on top of that, and has been dealing with COVID/solitary issues.

You'll recall ... Lori was brought home in a jet -- but we wouldn't expect Mossimo to get the same treatment. He's in L.A. County, and it wouldn't make too much sense to fly him back to their home in Hidden Hills. Lori was coming all the way from the Bay Area, so flying her in (private, no less) was definitely the move.

Still, nothing says "Daddy's home!" like wheels up, we suppose.

Jerry Seinfeld looked like a man who was cooped up for a year Friday night as he christened the coming-out-of-the-pandemic Gotham Comedy Club in NYC, and the audience "exploded!"

Jerry stopped to talk on his way home, saying the energy inside was so intense he felt like he had gotten electrocuted.

It's kinda funny ... Jerry said -- believably -- he worried he might have forgotten to do stand up it had been so long, but turns out it was just like riding a bike, or in Jerry's case, playing tennis.

And, the most interesting comment came when someone asked how comedy has changed in the last year amid cancel culture. He shot back ... "Comedy never changes. It's funny or it's not."

He makes a solid point -- comedy uplifts people and lets them shelve their problems for a few hours, and mental health may be our biggest challenge coming out of COVID.

Jerry: "We're all good, everyone's good. New York is going to come back. I've been in LA, I've been in Florida. There's a lot of great places in this country but no place feels like this place. And, people who think they will get used to not living here ... real New Yorkers will realize it doesn't work. Only New York is New York."

Jerry, a die-hard New Yorker who railed on a comedy club owner last fall for declaring New York dead, said anyone who bailed on the City is now filled with regret.

Margaret Cho says she's afraid to leave the safety of her own home as an Asian-American woman ... telling us, "outside it's cloudy with a chance of racism."

Despite that humorous phrasing, the comedian made it clear her fear is very real when she joined us Friday on "TMZ Live." She says the rise in hate crimes against Asian-Americans has her feeling like there's a target on her.

Margaret says it's a really scary time in America, and she's especially rattled by the attacks on older Asian-American women.

While Margaret felt empowered by the Asian grandmother in San Francisco who fought off an alleged attacker last month with a piece of wood ... she says it was still a traumatizing moment for the Asian community, and yet another example of why she feels safer at home.

It's pretty shocking to hear an Emmy and five-time Grammy-nominated comedian/actress say she's afraid of becoming a hate crime victim, but Margaret says that's where we are today in this country ... and it's time for an awakening.

Donald Trump loves him some McDonald's, but ain't so keen on paying for it ... at least according to a former bodyguard who claims he's still $130 in the red, thanks to DT.

Kevin McKay says he worked as Trump's bodyguard for 5 years ... and one time in 2008, after visiting one of his golf courses in Scotland, their convoy of 6 Range Rovers hit up Mickey D's before flying home.

Thing is ... McKay says Trump didn't have any UK currency, "so he asked me if I could front him the cash." McKay says he did, and ordered 20 cheeseburgers and fries and around 10 to 15 Cokes.

McKay told the Daily Mail ... Trump ate his usual fave -- 2 cheeseburgers with fries and a diet coke. McKay says $130 at the time was kind of a big deal to him, especially because he only made around $2,700 a month while working for Trump.

McKay says he should have asked for the money, but kept blowing it off ... and Trump never brought it up either. Trump's McDonald's obsession is widely known. You'll recall he served a McDonald's buffet to Clemson and North Dakota State after they won football national championships.

Takeoff will not face charges for allegedly raping a woman at a party last year ... TMZ has learned.

The L.A. County District Attorney's office tells us it's declining to prosecute the Migos rapper for the sexual assault allegations made against him in August 2020 due to insufficient evidence.

Takeoff's lawyer, Drew Findling, says his office spent countless hours investigating the case and concluded the same thing as prosecutors. He tells us, "The allegations were patently and provably false."

We broke the story ... a woman filing as Jane Doe sued Takeoff for sexual battery and assault, claiming he made her extremely uncomfortable at an L.A. party and later raped her in a bedroom. We then learned the LAPD was investigating the incident.

It turns out the man who was arrested after swimming naked in Kendall Jenner's pool had his sights set on Kylie as well -- showing up at her home after his release from jail -- and it's all laid out in terrifying court docs.

Kendall got a temporary restraining order Thursday against 27-year-old Shaquan King. In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Jenner states King made it onto her property early Sunday morning, removed his clothes and got into her pool before her personal security ordered him out, detained him and cops came to make an arrest.

What's more frightening, Kendall says a day-and-a-half after his release -- which was only 6 hours because of jail COVID protocols -- King made his way to Kylie's gated community and was arrested Tuesday for felony stalking.

Kendall also details King's alleged criminal history in the docs, claiming he's been busted for kidnapping and has photos of her on his social media pages ... she says he's left her in fear for her own safety.

The restraining order also protects Kylie and Kris Jenner ... and orders that King stay at least 100 yards away.

TMZ broke the story, Kendall has since hired more armed security and left her home, we're told she has no plans to ever return.

We had previously been told King only attempted to get in the pool, but Kendall states in the new court docs that he actually got into the water.

Draymond Green says he's "really tired of seeing [female athletes] complain about the lack of pay" -- insisting the time for griping is over, and there needs to be more action.

Maybe not the best choice of words -- but ultimately, Green is arguing that women DESERVE better pay, and need to change their PR strategy in order to achieve their goal.

Draymond explained during a Wednesday interview why he believes female athletes -- specifically WNBA players -- are "doing themselves a disservice by just complaining."

NBC Sports Bay Area reporter Kerith Burke pushed back and told Green "the women are doing more" than voicing their displeasure ... and that's when the Golden State Warriors star explained his position.

"They’re not laying out steps that they can take to change [the pay disparity]," Draymond explained ... "So, it’s coming off as a complaint."

"Because the people that can change it, they’re just going to continue to say, 'Well, the revenue isn’t there. The revenue isn’t there. So, if you don’t bring in the revenue, we can’t up your pay.' They’re going keep using that."

Green argued that female athletes need to band together to hold sports leagues, advertisers and other influential organizations responsible for effectively marketing women's sports -- including putting real time, energy and money into promoting talented superstars like WNBA legend Diana Taurasi.

Lil Nas X's "Satan Shoes" likely won't be on the feet of any of his fans soon, because Nike got a judge to shut down the selling of the controversial footwear ... at least temporarily.

The court granted Nike's request Thursday for a temporary restraining order against MSCHF -- the company producing the shoe inspired by the rapper -- which blocks it from fulfilling any orders.

As we reported ... Nike sued MSCHF earlier this week, claiming it has no connection with Lil Nas X's Satan Shoe and did not authorize the production of it.

Nevertheless, the devilish shoe still reportedly sold out of its 666 pairs produced within minutes Monday ... even at the hefty price tag of $1,018.

Due to the restraining order, MSCHF will not be allowed to ship them to customers awaiting the shoe that the creative agency put their blood, sweat and tears in ... literally blood!

FYI ... judges grant temporary restraining orders of this type when there's a high probability they will win when there's a full-blown hearing.

A witness who watched George Floyd die in the street was left sobbing on the stand after having to relive the nightmare moment again in court.

Charles McMillian broke down while giving testimony Wednesday about the events he says he witnessed on May 25, 2020 ... as one of the early bystanders who watched Chauvin pin George down just feet away while standing on a curb.

As prosecutors played back body cam video from one of the officers on top of George -- as he shouted out repeatedly he couldn't breathe and calling for his mother -- McMillian started bawling ... which prompted the court to recess as he collected himself.

The prosecution asked what he was feeling right then watching it anew, and McMillian gave a telling response ... saying he felt helpless and sympathized with George's call for his mom. It was pretty heartbreaking to watch ... and made for a compelling moment in the trial, which is on its third day.

Like we said, McMillian was one of the first civilians on the scene as police began to struggle with George while trying to get him into their squad car. He told George before the man was laid down on his stomach that he should stop fighting, and that he couldn't win.

Also in court Wednesday, surveillance footage from inside the Cup Foods store was played showing the minutes leading up to Floyd's death. Floyd can be seen using the alleged fake $20 bill at the root of police being called.

In other video played during his testimony, you can hear McMillian talk directly to Chauvin at the time ... whom he called a "maggot" as the police finally dispersed. McMillian confirmed the "maggot" remark to prosecutors ... and was excused without cross-examination.

Ice Cube is about to melt -- the dude is heated because he says Robinhood used his face to plug their services without his permission ... so now he's taking them to court over it.

The rapper just filed suit against the financial services company -- which a lot of people use to buy and trade stocks -- for allegedly using a photo of him in an ad featured in their news service, Robinhood Snacks, just this past month.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Cube claims Robinhood took an image of him from another project he'd worked on ... and slapped it into a newsletter update talking about stock/market corrections -- and captioned it with a riff on a famous lyric from one of his songs.

The quote ... "Correct yourself, before you wreck yourself" -- which is obviously a play on his famous track "Check Yo Self." Cube says that by the company inserting his image and likeness into their Snacks service, they falsely associated him with their brand ... making it seem like he endorses them, which he makes more than clear here -- he does NOT.

Cube goes so far as to say Robinhood is the "antithesis of everything that Ice Cube stands for" and refers to their products and services as "horrible." He goes on to claim Robinhood has a habit of doing this ... namely, linking celebs and other rappers -- like Jay-Z and Nas -- to endorse its products and services ... but Cube makes it clear he wants no part of that.

IC's also got a theory on why he believes Robinhood roped him in here -- he says his biz partner, Jeff Kwatinetz, has been railing on the company (both in public and in his own lawsuit against them) ... and suggests this is Robinhood's way of sticking it to both of 'em.

'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Jen Shah is out on bond from federal custody following her arrest for wire fraud ... but there are some big strings attached.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Shah is banned from traveling outside of Utah without permission, had to forfeit her passport so she can't leave the U.S. and she can't use her credit cards without prior permission either.

In addition, she's prohibited from transferring any assets worth more than $10k, and of course ... can't engage in any telemarketing activities while out on bond.

As we reported ... the 'Housewife' was busted by the feds Tuesday in Salt Lake City and is facing a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge and a conspiracy to commit money laundering charge.

Shah is accused of participating in a nationwide telemarketing scheme with her assistant, Stuart Smith, in which they allegedly targeted many elderly people.

She's scheduled to appear before a federal judge Wednesday afternoon for her arraignment.

Kendall Jenner is getting protection from a man cops say wants to kill her.

Kendall beelined it to court Monday and got a judge to grant her a temporary restraining order ... to protect her from a 24-year-old man named Malik Bowker, whom she claims traveled across the country to gun her down.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kendall claims an LAPD detective told her Thursday of Bowker's alleged plan. She says police told her Bowker planned to buy an illegal firearm to shoot her and then himself.

In the docs, Kendall claims police told her Bowker is being held on a temporary psychiatric hold at a local hospital's psychiatric ward, but warned her he could be released soon.

What should be noted ... Jenner has a massive team of armed security guards at her home that monitor the property 24/7. If someone like Bowker were to step foot, they'd be immediately apprehended before getting anywhere near Kendall.

Kendall claims she's never met the guy, but his alleged threats are causing her severe emotional distress and anxiety ... and she says she's terrified Bowker will try to find her and harm or kill her when he's released from the hospital.

A couple of Maryland cops went overboard to send a message to a little kid who allegedly left school without permission -- a disturbing encounter that's just now seeing the light of day.

This bodycam video from the Montgomery County Police Dept. was just released, capturing an ugly incident that went down January, 2020 ... when they tracked down a 5-year-old boy who was off school grounds, and proceeded to berate him to no end on camera.

It's tough to watch this ... you see a male and female officer scream in the kid's face over and over, as they throw him in the back of a cruiser and escort him back to campus. Both say the kid deserves to be beaten and spanked by his mom.

Eventually, they end up back in an office of some sort at the school ... where the kid's mother is called in to deal with the situation. There, too, they continue to get in the boy's face and lecture him on how "bad" he's being ... the child screams and cries throughout the ordeal.

At one point, his mom shows up ... and the officers proceed to give her advice on parenting. It's a bizarre interaction -- definitely overstepping, to say the least. The icing on the cake is when they put cuffs on the kid ... presumably to "scare him straight."

That's what a lot of people are also saying after seeing this -- there are calls for the officers to be fired, not to mention for these school officials to be disciplined ... as they just stood by and let this unfold. Even some Montgomery County City Council members are decrying this interaction ... as has Montgomery County Public Schools, the district overseeing this place.

Harvey Weinstein had his scrotum pierced as a woman attempted to defend herself during an alleged sexual assault he committed -- this according to a new lawsuit.

The woman's name is Hayley Gripp, and she's just the latest Weinstein accuser to file suit against the disgraced movie producer ... who's now in prison. She claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her in 2012, with the assistance of an unnamed female associate.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Gripp claims she was approached by this anonymous Weinstein associate while she was waiting for a casting call at the Beverly Hilton hotel. She says the two of them got to talking about her career aspirations, as well as her Tourette syndrome.

Gripp claims the woman said she wanted to introduce her to a big producer who was in the building, whom she allegedly said would love to talk more about her journey. Gripp -- who says she was just 19 at the time -- explains she was hesitant but eventually agreed.

That's when she says she met HW, whom she says she didn't know of at the time ... and who apparently intro'd himself as Dom, she alleges. Gripp claims she was served wine and before she knew it ... she says she blacked out, only to awake with Weinstein on her.

Gripp says she started to flailing her arms, and broke one of her acrylic nails on the coffee table she claims he had her pinned on. She claims she was able to stab HW with her broken nail on the bottom of his scrotum, and broke free from his clutches ... making a run for it.

She alleges the woman who initially lured her up there was outside "standing guard" and proceeded to tell her this was on her due to her syndrome and that she better shut her trap, because no one would believe her ... so claims Gripp.

Deshayla Harris -- one of the stars of 'Bad Girls Club' -- died after falling victim to one of several shootings that occurred in her home state ... TMZ has confirmed.

Virginia Beach PD confirmed Deshayla's ID Saturday as one of two fatalities resulting from three separate shootings from Friday night ... which appear to be unrelated, but happened within a short time of one another. The other victim is 25-year-old Donovan Lynch.

Cops say Deshayla was a bystander for the second shooting, in which a stray bullet from the crossfire hit her. Police do not believe this was a mass shooting -- simply shots fired erupting from feuding parties near the beachfront area of town, where all the resorts lie.

Deshayla is said to have died at the scene. Upwards of eight other people were injured from the shootings -- and police say they have 3 individuals in custody in connection to at least one of those. Ahmon Adams, Nyquez Baker and Devon Dorsey Jr. were arrested and charged with several different counts -- including assault, use and reckless handling of a firearm, among others. VBPD says none of these guys were involved in the shooting that killed Deshayla ... it's unclear if any suspects have been apprehended for that just yet.

Deshayla is known for her appearance on Season 17 of 'BGC' ... which was dubbed 'East Meets West.' They slugged her on the show as the Firecracker Fashionista. Deshayla was portrayed as feisty and a proud East Coaster. She was also a brawler -- getting into a memorable fight with another cast member, Francesca, after spitting in her face.

Despite the bad blood on the show, it appears some of her fellow costars sent their condolences on word that she'd been killed, including Key Marie who posted a tribute to Deshayla on Instagram.

She writes, "No matter how much I refused to talk to you...you never took no for an answer you popped up to my show just to prove fixing our friendship meant something to you 🥲 hardest part about losing you is I never fully forgave you 😫😔 I literally let that TV s*** stand between us building a connection outside of tv 😔🥲🥲🥲 you didn’t deserve this man this shit jus don’t feel real ....I’m sick affffff 🥲🥲 rest easy Babygirl "

Deshayla's final IG post from Friday appears to show her out and about in downtown Norfolk, VA -- which is a stone's throw away from where she was ultimately gunned down.

She was 28.