Crime

A couple of Lori Loughlin's "Fuller House" costars are hesitant to talk about her legal situation, but the looks on their faces make it pretty clear ... they've got lots of love for her.

Bob Saget and John Stamos were leaving Avra restaurant in Beverly Hills Thursday when we asked if they're still supporting Lori ... or if they're upset with her in any way for her alleged part in the college admissions bribery scandal.

Bob had a little more to say, telling us you love who you love and stick with them ... echoing the message of another "Fuller House" star, Candace Cameron Bure, at the Kids' Choice Awards.

Saget was quick to add ... "Life's complicated."

That's a sentiment with which Stamos agrees, but other than that he's tight-lipped.

As we reported ... Loughlin's not coming back to "Fuller House" for its fifth season, and also lost her Hallmark gig in the wake of her arrest for allegedly paying bribes to get her kids into USC.

Natalie Portman's alleged stalker is now facing new charges after his latest arrest outside her Los Angeles home -- and unlike his past incidents, this one could earn him a stay in county jail.

The L.A. City Attorney tells TMZ ... the man arrested outside of Portman's home has been charged with violating the protective order she had against him, and also for trespassing.

We broke the story ... the actress called cops Tuesday afternoon when she noticed him poking around outside her property. Police rolled up within minutes and arrested him.

The man -- who cops say claims he's the movie character from "John Wick" -- has been caught outside Natalie's home multiple times. We're told he tried to gain access to Portman's property back in January, cops showed up and he was placed on a psychiatric hold.

Tina Tchen, the woman who tried to grease the wheels for Jussie Smollett in Chicago, isn't saying much ... now that he's been cleared of all criminal charges.

We got Tchen in Washington, D.C. -- she's a power player there as Michelle Obama's former Chief of Staff -- but also in Chicago. We asked her, multiple times, what her thoughts are on Jussie's future now that he's no longer facing 16 felony counts.

Watch, she had an answer locked and loaded ... which she fired off. Repeatedly.

You'll recall, Tchen had reached out to Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx shortly after Jussie reported the alleged attack. In text messages, Tchen said she was speaking on behalf of the Smollett family ... which had "concerns about the investigation."

After Foxx's office let Smollett skate, critics speculated Tchen's involvement reeked of the kind of political cronyism for which Chicago's built an infamous reputation.

Jussie Smollett shouldn't show up to the NAACP Image Awards this weekend ... so says an actress on "Power."

Naturi Naughton -- who actually won the award last year for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama -- was very candid with us Thursday at LAX, saying given everything that's happened with him ... he should probably bow out of the award show this time around. Jussie won for Supporting Actor in a Drama in 2017.

Unclear if Jussie's gonna follow her advice, considering he touched down in L.A. Wednesday night, ahead of the NAACP Image Awards this Saturday. It wouldn't be surprising if he showed -- he's been as strong this week as he was at the beginning of the saga -- proclaiming the "attack" was real.

It's 2019 and a grown ass man was arrested Saturday night for weed.

That man is ex-NBA player Kwame Brown ... who was busted in Georgia with a bunch of marijuana ... including pot-infused cookies, tea and mints.

The 2001 first overall pick was a passenger in his Mercedes-Benz van when it was pulled over by Brunswick PD late Saturday night ... when cops say his car REEKED of weed.

Kwame copped to having weed in the car ... and told law enforcement he had some in the trunk of the van. Sure enough, cops found a backpack with all the weed treats.

The 37-year-old was arrested and charged with felony possession of edible marijuana products and misdemeanor possession of less than one ounce of weed.

Worth noting -- Brown is MASSIVE. Like, 7-ft tall big ... and couldn't fit in a regular cop car, so the cops had to wait for a bigger vehicle to transport him for booking.

Brown was released shortly after posting bond later Saturday.

Brown played for 7 different teams during his career ... most notably the Washington Wizards and Los Angeles Lakers ... after jumping straight from high school to the Association.

Kimora Lee Simmons couldn't resist taking a shot at Lori Loughlin after her daughter got accepted to Harvard all on her own.

Russell Simmons' ex-wife just shared a video of their daughter, Aoki Lee Simmons, reading her acceptance letter into the Ivy League school ... with Kimora adding some not so subtle jabs at Lori and all the parents swept up in the college bribery scandal.

Kimora says she's proud of Aoki for getting accepted to Harvard on the strength of her own merit ... and not because she was on a bogus rowing team.

As we've reported ... Loughlin and her husband are facing criminal charges for allegedly paying $500,000 to have their 2 daughters designated as recruits for the crew team at USC -- despite the fact they did not actually participate in crew. Lori's daughters left USC after the scandal broke, and they could be banned from campus for life.

6:37 PM PT -- Donald Trump Jr. just threw some major shade at Avenatti at his father's political rally in Michigan, joking that Michael's presidential ambitions took a serious hit this week.

Junior jokes that Michael went from "Avenatti 2020 to Avenatti 20 to 25" ... clearly hoping his foe is going to prison for his role in the alleged extortion plot.

Michael Avenatti was loaded for bear Wednesday night, proclaiming his innocence in the extortion case, proclaiming that the R. Kelly case would be unaffected by the extortion case and proclaiming it's only a matter of time before top Nike execs would be led away in handcuffs.

We got the embattled celeb attorney in WeHo Wednesday night ... and we strolled along with him on a long, long walk ... where he unpacked his outrage.

Avenatti said all the talk that his indictment will torpedo the R. Kelly prosecution is BS ... because the evidence is the evidence is the evidence.

And then, he talked Nike. As you know, he's been accused of trying to extort the shoe co. for more than $20 million in return for keeping his silence on alleged misdeeds -- specifically, Nike secretly paid off the families of star high school basketball players in order to direct them to Nike-sponsored colleges.

He goes after Nike execs with a vengeance, saying they are corrupt to the core and it will be exposed. He also insists any money he may have demanded was not a quid pro quo for his silence. Avenatti says he was going to expose Nike regardless of whether the company paid him or not.

The U.S. Attorney claims he has a videotape from a March 21 meeting between Avenatti and Nike attorneys in which he allegedly says, "If [Nike] wants to have one confidential settlement and we're done, they can buy that for $22.5 million and we're done."

Jussie Smollett's alleged "attack" is not over, because the City of Chicago is demanding $130,000 from the actor or else, but the actor has told Chicago officials to go pound sand.

The Chicago Corporation Counsel -- who handles civil claims for the City -- fired off a letter to Jussie demanding he pay the $130k, which represents, among other things, overtime pay for cops who investigated the case.

The Corporation Counsel writes, "Over two dozen detectives and police officers participated in the investigation, ultimately spending weeks investigating your false claims."

The letter goes on to say they have the goods, saying, "The Chicago police investigation revealed that you knowingly filed a false police report and had in fact orchestrated your own attack."

And, then comes the threat ... the City is demanding "immediate payment of the $130,106.15" within 7 days. If Jussie doesn't ante up, the Corporation Counsel vows to "prosecute you for making a false statement under the Municipal Code of Chicago." This is separate from the criminal case that was just dismissed.

The penalty is no jail, but a fine of no less than $500 ... but here's the deal -- the city could go after Jussie for 3 times the actual damages, or more than $390,000. Although the penalties are only monetary, it could amount to a finding by a judge or jury that Jussie faked the attack.

Jussie's response was immediate and clear ... a spokesperson told TMZ, "It is the Mayor and the Police Chief who owe Jussie an apology for dragging an innocent man's character through the mud. Jussie has paid enough."

As you know ... prosecutors in stunning fashion dropped Jussie's case earlier this week -- much to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's chagrin. Jussie surrendered his $10k bond, but that's it.

Jimmy Kimmel's good friend and famous chef, Adam Perry Lang, has been TOTALLY CLEARED in the crazy case involving explosives, a rifle and a girlfriend.

TMZ broke the story, Lang was staying at Kimmel's beachside home last January, when cops got a 911 call saying a man was inside the home with explosives and had assaulted his girlfriend with a rifle.

Cops swarmed the Hermosa Beach, CA home but Adam was sound asleep with his ringer off. Cops stayed for hours and when they finally roused him, they ordered him out of the house with his hands up.

Adam was arrested and taken to the station, where Jimmy came to bail him out. Adam insisted he did not make the call and that his cell phone records would back that up. Cops checked his cell phone and did not find a 911 call, but nevertheless pursued the case.

One of Jussie Smollett's "Empire" costars doesn't want to answer for pulling her support when things were hot ... especially now that the case has gone ice cold and been dropped.

We ran into Tasha Smith -- aka, Carol Hardaway (Jussie's aunt on the show) -- leaving Chelsea Studios in NYC Thursday, where our camera guy pointed out that she was one of many "Empire" stars who yanked their initial supportive IG posts when Jussie was arrested.

Of course, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office decided to drop the charges altogether just this week.

Before our photog can get around to a question, Tasha jumps in to jokingly berate him, asking why in the hell he'd ask that about her "family" ... and turns the question on him.

It's a pretty hilarious back-and-forth here -- which ends with her telling us to kiss it where the sun don't shine. And, while Tasha and our guy made peace by the end of it ... she skated around a serious question, and seems to be pulling back from her initial pull-back.

WWE superstar Jimmy Uso just caught a HUGE break in his disorderly conduct case -- he's essentially off the hook after allegedly squaring up to fight a police officer.

As we previously reported, Uso and his WWE superstar wife, Naomi, were pulled over in downtown Detroit on Feb. 13 after cops say Naomi was driving the wrong way down a 1-way street.

Cops say Naomi reeked of booze so they ordered her out of the car -- but Jimmy was allegedly trying to restrain her and prevent her from leaving.

Eventually, Naomi got out ... and Jimmy followed -- with cops saying the wrestler eventually took off his shirt and jacket and squared up as if he was about to fight.

Jimmy was eventually arrested and booked for disorderly conduct and obstruction of justice.

But, we've learned Uso and his attorney, John Freeman, struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead no contest to interfering with a govt. employee -- and in exchange, he was ordered to pay $450 in fines.

That's it. Case closed.

It's a big deal considering Uso was facing jail time if convicted of disorderly conduct.

As for Naomi, she was neither arrested that night nor charged with a crime.

Jimmy Uso is a big deal in the pro wrestling world -- his father is WWE legend Rikishi and his cousins are The Rock and Roman Reigns.

12:08 PM PT -- Jenny Sushe -- along with Allred -- just addressed the media and said the boxer not only kissed her without consent, he also groped her butt after the interview.

After the interview, Sushe claims the boxer asked her to remove the kiss from the interview because he knew how it would play out in public, but she refused.

In a letter to the California State Athletic Commission, Allred says, "We hereby request that the commission conduct an immediate investigation into the serious allegations."

"We request that Mr. Pulov's boxing license be suspended."

The female reporter who was suddenly kissed by a boxer she was interviewing AFTER his fight has lawyered up ... hiring Gloria Allred to go after his ass.

The video went viral over the weekend -- showing 37-year-old Bulgarian heavyweight Kubrat Pulev planting a kiss on the mouth of reporter Jenny Sushe during a post-fight media session.

Following the incident, Pulev said the Vegas Sports Daily reporter is a "friend of mine" -- and he passed the whole thing off as no big deal.

"On the video, after our kiss, we both laughed about it and thanked each other," Pulev said ..."There really is nothing more to this."

Well, clearly Sushe thinks it's a big deal ... she's hired Allred and she's planning to take legal action against the boxer.

In fact, in classic Allred form ... the attorney is holding a press conference Thursday to announce the plan of attack.

Jussie Smollett is back on the west coast and the timing is interesting ... considering he's up for a big award in L.A. this weekend.

The embattled "Empire" actor landed at LAX Wednesday night, where he was flanked by security guards and family members as paparazzi peppered him with questions, like whether he thinks he'll get his career back on track ... and if he thought he wasted the Chicago PD's time.

Jussie remained tight-lipped and made his way to a waiting car.

His arrival makes sense ... he's nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the 50th NAACP Image Awards for his "Empire" role. That's going down Saturday, and while he hasn't officially said he'll attend ... this is a strong sign he'll be there.

R. Kelly was a sexual deviant who wouldn't take no for an answer ... so claims his former hairdresser who spoke publicly for the first time about the alleged sexual assault.

Lanita Carter -- a woman ID'd as "L.C." in the 10-count indictment against Kelly -- says he pounced on her after she denied his request for a head massage. Lanita described the alleged attack, from February 18, 2003, telling "CBS This Morning" the singer was undeterred when she told him she doesn't do massages.

She said, "He pulled my braid down by him. And he say, 'Suck it for daddy, suck it for daddy.' And I said, 'No.'" Lanita claims Kelly then began spitting, several times.

After the incident, she says she immediately went to police ... and claims officers found semen on her shirt. Although no charges were filed, she ultimately settled a lawsuit against him for $650k. She claims she got another $100k from Kelly when he released a 2009 track about having sex with a woman who braids his hair.

Lanita says she went to the Cook County State Attorney's Office when prosecutors put out the call earlier this year for victims to come forward.

Of course, Kelly vehemently denied the allegations in the indictment during his interview with Gayle King. You'll recall, he got up and started shouting, "I'm fighting for my f***ing life!"

We reached out to Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, shortly after Carter's interview and he tells TMZ ... "Chicago police did an extensive investigation. The State's Attorney's office decided not to charge up. I think that speaks volumes about the strength of the case. And that decision was made not withstanding the scientific testing."

Jussie Smollett knows his career's on the line, and he's tasking his team with pulling off the highly improbable -- making him likable again.

Sources close to the "Empire" star tell TMZ ... even though his criminal record's scrubbed clean, he's in crisis management mode to repair his public image. We're told he's ordered his team to come up with a plan to fix that pronto, because if they don't ... he's screwed professionally.

Our sources say Jussie's open to anything that will give him an opportunity to tell his story and convey he's not the bad guy. Yes ... he will stick to the victim narrative.

We're told he's down for interviews, appearances and going outside of his comfort zone if it means getting a chance to connect with an audience ... because he knows if he does nothing, he'll never get work again.

We broke the story ... Jussie's showbiz job offers have completely dried up since he was arrested and charged for allegedly orchestrating a fake attack in Chicago in late January.

Despite the charges getting dropped this week, we're told Jussie has not been contacted about any potential work and knows he's more or less a Hollywood outcast for now ... so, it's time for a full-on PR blitz.

Journey's guitarist, Neal Schon, can't believe a security guard hired by Live Nation manhandled his wife at one of his concerts ... so he claims in a new lawsuit.

Schon and his wife, Michaele, are suing Live Nation claiming she was assaulted while taking pictures at his concert in Fort Wayne, Indiana back in March 2017. In docs, obtained by TMZ, the Schons claim she was taking pictures in front of the stage when, out of nowhere, a security guard who was hired by Live Nation violently assaulted her and threw her into the PA system.

It's unclear what triggered the attack, but according to docs ... Michaele says she suffered emotional distress and humiliation from the assault. Neal's suing, claiming he's suffered emotional distress because he's now worried about his wife's safety while he's performing.