Crime

Two men accused of having gay sex in Indonesia were savagely beaten with canes after neighbors reported them to police, and the punishment -- under Islamic law -- is tough to see.

The men, both in their 20s, were flogged 77 times each by Sharia police in the country's conservative Aceh province, where a huge crowd gathered to watch the lashing ... carried out by officers wearing robes and masks.

Pleas for mercy and cries of pain could not save the men ... and the lashes continued even after one officer's cane shattered on impact with one man's back. Sharia police only paused the punishment to allow the men a drink of water ... then the caning resumed.

Both men were arrested back in November, when police say officers, tipped off by locals, broke into a rented room and found the pair having sex. They served 3 months in prison, so their original 80-lash sentence was reduced by 3.

The Aceh province is the only part of Indonesia where gay sex is illegal ... and public flogging is a common punishment in the province, which started using Sharia law back in 2001.

Rita Ora went to expensive extremes to hold her 30th birthday soiree during lockdown in London -- paying almost $7,000 to make it happen ... TMZ has confirmed.

The British singer was already in hot water for the November event she held at Casa Cruz because it violated London's lockdown, but this new detail's coming out because of an upcoming court hearing.

According to law enforcement ... one of Rita's reps offered a manager at Casa Cruz $6,829 for the joint to host the party. The manager told police he wanted to "facilitate" the occasion because he was "greedy" after his staff had been furloughed.

The manager also told police only 7 guests were supposed to show up ... according to The Sun, which first reported the story.

Of course, we already know almost 20 showed up for the bash ... which became a PR nightmare for Rita. As we reported, she eventually apologized for breaking the country's COVID restrictions, admitting it was a "serious and inexcusable error of judgement."

A local government official tells us there's a hearing scheduled to decide whether the restaurant's license will be revoked or if other measures will be taken against Casa Cruz following the incident. They are NOT investigating Rita's payoff.

Chad Wheeler's girlfriend told police ... the NFL player had stopped taking his medication for bipolar disorder in the days before he brutally attacked her -- and had "snapped into a bad place" on the night of the incident.

It's all spelled out in the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, in which the alleged victim attempted to explain why she believes the Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman violently attacked her.

The Kent Police Dept. in Washington say they first received a call from a friend of the victim around 9:45 PM on Jan. 22 -- saying the woman was locked in a bathroom after a physical fight with her boyfriend.

Soon after, the victim called 911 herself and told the operator she was being "killed."

When cops arrived at the scene, officers say they "could hear a female screaming from inside the apartment" and forced their way inside. They also forced their way into a locked bathroom where they found the woman with blood all over her face and Chad standing behind her.

Cops detained Chad, who was not being cooperative, and he began to repeatedly yell, "sorry" while crying out, "I don't beat women," according to the police report.

The woman was transported to a nearby hospital where she told cops she had been dating Chad for 6 months without any notable issues.

She also explained, "Chad suffers from bipolar disorder and is medicated but has not been taking his medication recently."

According to the police report, the woman said, "Chad had a rough week and had a manic episode this evening. She said it was not provoked by an argument of any sort."

The woman says Chad "snapped into a dark place" out of nowhere and told her to bow to him -- which she refused. And that's when he beat her up, according to the police report.

The woman told cops Chad strangled her "with both his hands for some time" -- and continued his attack even after she fought back.

The woman says she lost consciousness -- and when she came to, Chad said, "Wow you're alive?"

That's when the woman says she ran to the bathroom, locked the door and called cops and family members.

Bam Margera's Bentley had one helluva ride ... a thief stole the car and crashed into someone's front porch during a wild police pursuit ... and it's on video.

The "Jackass" star says his expensive whip was stolen Tuesday night in Vista, CA, where he had stopped to charge his phone and get gas on his way to his shaman's house.

Bam says he looked out a store window to discover his car was missing, and then suddenly a bunch of cop cars swarmed and police helicopters appeared overhead and the chase was on.

BM says the high-speed chase ended when the thief crashed his whip into a house ... and video shows the Bentley stopped on someone's front lawn, right up against a house, with tons of police on the scene.

The only good news here ... sources close to Bam tell us the car was NOT totaled, but it's been towed to a dealer and needs some repairs.

Oh, and the icing on the cake -- Bam says his phone ended up in someone else's hands too!!!

We think he summed it up best while talking to his buddy, Danny Way ... "I can't write this s*** dude!!!"

Megan Thee Stallion recently sounded off about Tory Lanez allegedly shooting her, and now he wants to level the playing field, and speak his mind.

A judge had ordered Lanez to keep his lips sealed about info he gets from prosecutors in his case, and also barred him from contacting Meg on social media -- but in a new court filing he says that's totally unfair.

In the docs, Lanez says it's unfair Megan is able to say whatever she wants ... while he is basically prevented from defending himself.

Lanez says he is particularly miffed about what went down last week, when erroneous reports began circulating that the charges against Tory were dropped.

Megan responded on social media, saying ... "AT THIS POINT IM GETTING ANNOYED! STOP BELIEVING EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE MF INTERNET. Imagine how I feel waking every day seeing people LIE and turn my trauma into a joke? That whole team figures out ways to create doubt with my story every week and the media eats it up."

According to Lanez ... Megan falsely insinuated he and his legal team had something to do with the bogus reports, therefore maligning their integrity.

Megan also commented, "I can’t wait until the MF FACTS come out! Bitch you shot me AND MY STORY NOT CHANGING AND BITCH YOU GOING TO JAIL."

According to the docs, Lanez claims there's evidence refuting Megan's side of the story -- including "evidence of gunshot residue implicating others" -- but because of the protective order ... he's not able to disclose any of it.

Tory's also worried about optics -- in the docs he worries his silence might make it look like he's conceding what Megan says is true. So, he's asking the judge to modify the gag order against him.

Somehow a topless photo of 16-year-old Claudia Conway ended up on her mom, Kellyanne Conway's Twitter page ... and the teen vows her mom's going to jail over it.

Twitter users saw the pic posted to Kellyanne's Fleet story on Twitter Monday night. It was quickly deleted, but not before folks captured and shared it like wildfire. Claudia took to TikTok shortly after, and confirmed it's a legit photo.

The teenager says it was taken months ago, and her mom must've gotten it when she confiscated Claudia's phone during one of their frequent spats.

As for how it might've made its way to Kellyanne's Twitter account, Claudia speculates her ma either did it on purpose ... or she was hacked.

In any case, she clearly says Kellyanne's gonna pay for this -- legally speaking.

This is the latest dustup between the mother and daughter, who've been at each other's throats for a long time now, especially lately. As we reported, Claudia recorded herself saying Kellyanne was being abusive toward her, and even spurred someone to call in a welfare check, which resulted in a visit from cops.

We've been told the matter is still being investigated ... it's unclear how this new development might factor in, if at all.

One thing's for sure ... there doesn't seem to be any love lost in the Conway household these days.

Lori Loughlin's husband, Mossimo Giannulli, just got shut down by a judge ... who basically said his coronavirus worries weren't enough to get him out of prison early.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the judge lays out exactly why Mossimo was denied, and it basically comes down to this -- he didn't give compelling enough reasons to spend the rest of his sentence in home confinement.

The judge says Mossimo's gripes about having to be in solitary for quarantine in and of itself isn't a good reason to cut him loose. The court also writes ... Mossimo should've seen a quarantine period coming from a mile away -- 'cause he went into prison right in the thick of the pandemic.

The court says. Mossimo has been let back into general population since his filing ... and says that the prisons are getting better at handling COVID issues, so at this point, it can be handled by BOP. The judge goes on to say the vaccine is on the way, which will further alleviate the COVID problems.

In the court's view, Mossimo doesn't have any particularly heightened risk of contracting the virus as it stands -- so they don't see any extraordinary reason he oughta be released early. Unless something changes, he'll probably have to sit tight until April -- when his 5-month sentence is up.

Lil Wayne wasted no time getting back to stuntin' after he received a pardon from President Trump ... and it looks like he was enjoying the hell out of his free pass.

Tory Lanez says Tunechi was on set to help out with his music video for "Big Tipper" the very next day after Trump pardoned the rapper in his federal gun case.

In the clip Lanez shared, Lil Wayne's in a hot pink getup, flashing serious ice on both wrists, smoking and vibing to the music. Oh, and that's all with a nude model in front of him on a table.

As we reported ... Weezy was facing serious time behind bars after pleading guilty in federal court last month to illegally possessing a loaded weapon on a private jet.

Trump's pardon -- on the heels of Wayne endorsing Trump for President -- let him off the hook for all that, though ... which cleared his schedule for music vid shoots like the one with Lanez.

Tory gushed with all sorts of appreciation for Weezy coming through for him ... after Trump came though for Weezy.

Dr. Fauci has offered up the nitty-gritty about receiving death threats since the pandemic began, and it sounds awful ... especially one time when he got powdered.

The top infectious disease doc in the U.S. told the NYT, during the last year of the Trump Administration, his whole family was getting threats ... "The threats would come directly to my children's phones, directly to my children's homes. How the hell did whoever these assholes were get that information?"

He says there was lots of online chatter, with people saying stuff like, "Hey, we got to get rid of this guy. What are we going to do about him? He’s hurting the president’s chances," which he characterized as "right-wing craziness."

One of the scariest incidents ... Fauci says he once received a letter in the mail ... "I opened it up and a puff of powder came all over my face and my chest." He says he didn't know what to do, but his security said, "Don't move, stay in the room." A hazmat team came and sprayed him down.

Fauci was fatalistic, saying ... "It had to be one of 3 things: A hoax, or anthrax, which meant I'd have to go on Cipro for a month. Or if it was ricin, I was dead, so bye-bye."

Dr. Fauci also says this ... he has no idea if Trump was ever told about this, nor did he want to alert anyone or make a fuss. He explains, "What good would it be to tell anyone? Also, it was under F.B.I. investigation, and they don’t like you to talk about it."

Fauci and his family have been receiving Secret Service protection since late March ... and clearly, with good reason.

One of the Capitol insurrectionists had plans to kill Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ... according to the Department of Justice.

The DOJ revealed new charges against Garret Miller of Texas, alleging he posted online death threats against the New York congresswoman the day of the siege, including one tweet that simply read, "Assassinate AOC."

That's terrifying, considering Rep. Ocasio-Cortez herself said she felt her life was on the line that day, and that she didn't know if she'd live to see tomorrow. Turns out, she was on to something ... at least according to authorities.

In addition to the alleged AOC threat, the DOJ says Miller also threatened the officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt. He said the officer "deserved to die" and that he wouldn't live long, because it was "huntin season." The feds say he was posting a ton before and during the attempted coup, and was saying things like, "civil war could start" and "next time we bring the guns."

In addition to the new death threats charges, Miller faces charges of knowingly entering or remaining in any restricted buildings or grounds without lawful authority, violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, obstructing or impeding any official proceeding and certain acts during civil disorder. He's one of several rioters who've been rounded up.

Interestingly, Miller said on social media that he wanted to implicate himself in the siege, and was not shy about copping to the deed ... based on screenshots the feds attached as evidence. AOC herself latched onto his stupidity when she heard about this guy.

She took to Twitter -- where a lot of his activity was captured, including his own footage of himself from inside the Capitol that day -- and wrote, "'Just wanted to incriminate myself a little' Well, you did!"

Justin Bieber is looking back at his tumultuous teenage years with humility -- reminiscing on how much he's changed since getting arrested for DUI, and everything else in between.

Bieber posted a photo of himself getting hauled off by cops in Miami in 2014, when he was arrested on suspicion of DUI, resisting arrest and driving without a valid license. Cops say he was drag racing in the streets, and later blew below the legal limit for people under 21.

He was 19 at the time, and in his caption ... Justin says he's come a long way since then, mostly due to the grace of God. He writes, "7 years ago today I was arrested, not my finest hour. Not proud of where I was at in my life. I was hurting, unhappy, confused, angry, mislead, misunderstood and angry at god."

He adds, "I also wore too much leather for someone in Miami. All this to say God has brought me a long way. From then til now I do realize something.. God was as close to me then as he is right now. My encouragement to you is to ‘let your past be a reminder of how far god has brought you."

JB finishes by saying, "Don’t allow shame to ruin your “today” let the forgiveness of Jesus take over and watch your life blossom into all that God has designed you to be. LOVE YOU GUYS WITH MY WHOLE HEART"

It's true, Justin was going through a lot back then. Right around the time he was busted for DUI -- which was later reduced to reckless driving and resisting arrest after the Biebs copped a plea -- he got nailed for egging his neighbor's house.

Bieber was charged with vandalism and ended up copping a plea. The egging was also the subject of a lengthy lawsuit that dragged on for years, which was ultimately settled.

There were other bumps in the road -- namely, him getting sued by a photog, which resulted in Bieber sitting for an infamous deposition where he gave tons of lip. He's had several paparazzi run-ins in Hollywood, figuratively and literally with cars of his and otherwise.

He also peed in a mop bucket in 2013, and randomly shouted "F*** Bill Clinton." His legal woes go on and on, but as far as criminal arrests ... he's just got the DUI to look back on.

Ariel Robinson -- a former winner of 'Worst Cooks in America' -- jokingly discussed raising kids in a brutal manner before she was charged with killing one of her own ... and we've got the video.

We've obtained footage of Ariel performing an impromptu stand-up routine in Spartanburg, SC in 2019, in which she's discussing trying to adopt a daughter ... and a social worker coming to her home to make sure she was a fit parent.

As Ariel recounts the story, she talks about two other children of hers -- an 8-year-old boy and an 11-year-old boy, both of whom wanted a little sister -- and how they were acting wild while the worker was there. She says she should've locked them up in cages as a result.

Nothing too crazy ... but watch what she says next. She jokes that at one point, she turned around and screamed upstairs to the boys, "Shut up before I come in there and punch in your throat!" ... adding that she'd reached her "mommy level" of frustration.

It got a bit of a mixed reaction from the crowd, which Ariel also played up ... saying the social worker looked at her like they all were. Then, she says she got "approved." Unclear if this story relates to the adopted daughter she and her husband are accused of killing.

As we reported ... Ariel and Jerry Robinson were arrested and charged with homicide of a 3-year-old girl -- who has since been identified as Victoria Smith, a toddler who'd spent a majority of her life in foster care. Reports say the Robinsons adopted her at some point.

Authorities list a series of blunt force injuries that led to her death.

Miley Cyrus has some bad luck when it comes to burglars ... we're told someone broke into another one of her storage units.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Miley's L.A.-area storage unit was broken into a few weeks ago, and someone made off with clothes, family photos and other mementos.

There's no dollar amount on the missing items, but ya gotta imagine there's some significant sentimental value.

We're told it doesn't appear the thieves were specifically targeting Miley -- other storage units in the same facility were hit as well.

Police are still investigating the heist, but they've had some success already. Our sources say some items -- for Miley and others -- have already been recovered.

Senator Chuck Schumer went in hard Friday on Donald Trump, saying he's responsible for the "erection."

Schumer was on the Senate floor when he pressed for an impeachment trial. There's conflict over when that trial will be held. Mitch McConnell wants to delay it for a few weeks, while many Democrats want the trial held STAT.

Schumer said, "There will be a trial and when the trial ends, Senators will have to decide if they believe Donald John Trump incited the erection." He realized what he had said almost immediately, and corrected himself with the word, "insurrection."

No reaction from his colleagues, but Twitter certainly noticed. One person wrote, "Well, it WAS an uprising!" Another person wrote, "There are gonna be a lot of hard questions asked during the erection hearing."

A woman who says Soulja Boy hired her to be his personal assistant claims he raped and assaulted her for nearly 2 years .. but he denies laying a hand on her.

The rapper's being sued by a Jane Doe, who alleges he began to abuse her shortly after he hired her in December 2018 -- beginning with sending her unsolicited photos of his penis within the first month.

But, according to the lawsuit ... they eventually developed a romantic relationship and she moved in with him.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says Soulja started acting violently toward her in January 2019 ... including an argument they had while driving. She alleges he pushed her out of the vehicle and forced her to walk 5 miles.

The accuser claims Soulja sexually assaulted her for the first time in February 2019 ... and "expressed remorse" afterward by paying her $1,000.

In May 2019, the woman claims the rapper spit on her when she told him she wanted to quit, and alleges he would become insanely jealous when she got social media comments or phone calls.

In the suit, she alleges he would "punch, kick and body slam" her due to his jealousy, and once threatened, "I should have killed you." Further, she claims he locked her in a room with no mattress, food or water on multiple occasions.

She also claims she was sometimes sexually assaulted twice a day ... and after one violent attack in August 2020 -- where she thought she would die -- she moved out. According to the suit, she went back to get her belongings the next month, and he allegedly raped her again.

The woman is suing for sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress and -- on top of everything else -- she claims she wasn't paid properly for her work ... so she wants damages for that too.

A rep for Soulja tells us, "Soulja would never put his hands on a female. He wouldn't beat a woman or put his hands on a woman ... this is non-sense!!!"

As you may know ... he was also sued for assault in January 2020.

The Tiger King is not free to run wild again ... President Trump snubbed Joe Exotic's request to be pardoned, and he and his team aren't taking it well.

What seemingly started as a pipe dream way back in April 2020 -- when Trump said he'd "take a look" at pardoning Joe -- turned out to be exactly that. Joe's team tells TMZ ... "140 million Joe Exotic fans had a hard time getting out of bed this morning."

Yeah, that 'Tiger King' viewers stat might be inflated -- and assumes all of them were rooting for Joe's release -- but you get the point ... they're bummed.

His team added, "We are as disappointed that the President did not sign Joe’s pardon, as we were confident yesterday that he would." Joe's team adds ... it's only because of his fans that the pardon was even a possibility.

As we reported ... shortly after Trump's comment, Team Tiger -- led by P.I. Eric Love -- produced a video asking to free Joe and hopped in a customized tour bus to head to D.C. in hopes of pitching Trump for a pardon.

Those early efforts didn't yield success, but Love and the team were persistent ... and he returned to D.C. in September to hand-deliver Joe's pardon request. As we reported ... the 257-page case to Trump included Joe's claims that he'd been sexually assaulted in prison.

Again, there was silence from Trump about a possible pardon, but Joe continued to publicly plead for one as recently as 2 weeks ago ... when he asked to be pardoned in time to attend his father's funeral.

It didn't happen, and Joe's patience and persistence was all for naught ... because he didn't make the cut for Trump's list of 73 pardons and 70 commutations. In other news -- Steve Bannon, Lil Wayne, Kodak Black and the co-founder of Death Row Records all did.

As you know ... Exotic's been doing hard time for the murder-for-hire plot, and though he's maintained his innocence, he'll remain behind bars.

Team Tiger says they're not giving up though ... and spent 2 hours on the phone with Joe this morning listening to his Direct Appeal Oral Arguments. Love says they "will never leave Joe’s side and will continue to work until his freedom is gained."