Custody Battles

The biological father of the 7-year-old girl who lived with Chris Rock and his estranged wife for 7 years tells TMZ the Rock family never adopted the little girl, but he refuses to say if any money changed hands.

Crispen Khanyile says his ex-girlfriend gave birth to Ntombi on February 23, 2008 ... this according to a private investigator's report commissioned by an interested party in the case. According to the report, both Crispen and the mother, Precious Ndebele, were unemployed at the time, living on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

The couple had 2 other kids and it appears the situation was increasingly desperate. When the private investigator interviewed Precious last year, she said she was living in a slum and selling secondhand clothes on the streets. The investigator said the conditions were "not conducive for human living."

Crispen would not discuss the arrangement with the adoptive parents, but simply said we should speak with Malaak, Chris' estranged wife.

It's interesting ... the P.I. says Crispen told him last year Ntombi was living with adoptive parents in the U.S., but when we spoke with Crispen on Wednesday, it was clear ... there was NO adoption.

As we reported, Ntombi has been living in the U.S. with the Rock family on a visitor visa, requiring her to return to South Africa once a year. Chris has not seen the girl since he split with Malaak and we're told he believes she did something shady to get Ntombi into the U.S.

Time for Sherri Shepherd to crack open that checkbook -- her last ditch effort to avoid paying child support to her ex was shot down in court.

Sherri had claimed her estranged husband Lamar Sally defrauded her by getting a surrogate to carry a baby for them. She thinks he did it only for the purpose of securing a fat child support check, once he knew they were divorcing.

Well, Lamar is going to get that check after all -- because an appeals court agreed with the lower court's decision that Sherri was fully on board with the surrogate plan and in fact, paid for most of the process.

Bottom line for Sherri, she'll continue with the terms of their settlement ... paying $4,100 per month until the infant hits 13 -- then it's $4,600.

We suggest auto-pay. Less fuss.

Michael Lohan and his kids might soon be homeless ... because his landlord wants them out.

Lohan's landlord says there might be a serious mold problem, but Lohan mysteriously won't allow workers to come in and abate the problem. The landlord says in legal docs Michael refused to let anyone in because he had $40,000 in cash and $300k in watches inside the house.

The landlord claims the mold problem was made worse because Michael hasn't replaced the air conditioning filters.

The docs say Michael's also a crappy landscaper, the lawn, shrubs and trees are all dead.

And to make matters worse, Michael won't pay his rent.

The senior Lohan claims he's not paying because the house is a health and safety trap, and not worth the $4,700 a month in rent. He says his family has suffered "severe health issues" because of the mold problem.

Tyga and Blac Chyna will have to be extra careful not to puff any smoke near their son ... or they could face the wrath of the family law judge ... but there could be an enormous loophole.

TMZ got a copy of the former couple's custody order for 3-year-old King ... the judge made it very clear ... no smoking around him. The docs refer to secondhand "cigarette smoke."

There's obviously an interesting omission .... WEED. It's unclear what would happen if either parent smoked marijuana around the kid. What's more, as far as we know, neither Tyga nor Blac Chyna smoke cigarettes.

Tyga was also ordered to pay BC's rent, car payments and nanny expenses. The 2 are also prohibited from talking smack about the other around King or on social media.

We're guessing Tyga will start to do a better job hiding his stash.

Cops have cleared Michael Lohan of criminal child abuse, despite Kate Major's assertion he struck one of their kids.

Kate told child services Michael choked her on Oct 11 during an argument and slapped their son in the face.

Kate showed cops a video she shot during the argument ... according to the police report, the video did not prove Kate's assertion that Michael struck their son. We're told Michael also played audio for cops in which Kate acknowledged he never struck their kid.

TMZ broke the story ... the kids were taken by child services because of the hostile environment they were living in with Michael and Kate ... and the bitter arguing in the video helped prove the point.

Cops were called again to Kate's house just a few days later on Nov 2 after she said Michael came banging on her door. You can hear from the 911 call ... it seems Kate was scared for her life.

Michael Lohan and Kate Major just got shut down by a judge, who has awarded custody of their 2 children to Michael's mother ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ broke the story ... the Florida Dept. of Children and Families took the kids last week and placed them in foster care after the Dept. obtained a video showing Michael and Kate in a blowout fight in front of 2-year-old Landon and 10-month-old Logan. Michael's mother was given temporary guardianship.

Michael and Kate showed up in court today but a judge was unmoved by their pleas to regain custody. Michael's mom will care for the kids and Michael and Kate can only see their children with a DCF monitor.

Chris Brown's friends and family are extremely worried about him, because they think he's addicted to sizzurp.

The latest evidence is this picture of Chris and some friends taken over the weekend at an L.A. pumpkin patch where Chris took his daughter, Royalty, to buy a pumpkin. You see Chris sitting on a bale of hay with a double-stacked red cup at his feet. Right behind him there's another double cup.

Chris' friends and family are worried for several reasons. The problem has been getting worse over the last few weeks. They say he's drinking sizzurp around Royalty and they're worried he'll lose custody.

TMZ broke the story, during Chris' custody battle he tested positive for codeine, but the judge gave him a pass because Chris had a prescription.

This video shows Chris at a birthday party for Tyga's son a few weeks ago, and you see him drinking from a double cup while riding a bike. You also see a guy carrying a bottle of codeine and soda, and it appears they're mixing it in the parking lot ... in broad daylight, at a kid's party.

Chris isn't buying it, and says it's "bulls***" that anyone around him is concerned.

Michael Lohan is going for the jugular ... attacking his estranged wife Kate Major, claiming Children's Services took their kids away because she set him up.

TMZ broke the story ... the Florida Dept. of Children and Families took their 2 small kids and put them in foster care for a day. We're told because the Dept. obtained video of a blowout argument Michael and Kate had in front of the kids.

Now Michael is swinging back, saying Kate "is a proven alcoholic, a liar ... and an abuser. I have so many videos of her abuse, her lies and admitting her lies and saying she'll lie and do anything she can to set me up."

Michael Lohan and Kate Major had their kids taken away last week ... TMZ has learned.

Sources familiar with the situation tell us, the Florida Dept. of Children and Families (DCF) sent social workers to Kate's apartment in Boca Raton Wednesday after obtaining a video of some sort of extreme argument Michael and Kate were having in front of 2-year-old Landon and 10-month-old Logan.

We're told DCF told Kate they were taking the kids temporarily until a responsible family member could take temporary custody. We're told the kids were put in foster care overnight.

Our sources say Michael's mother flew from Long Island immediately and the kids were taken to Michael's home Thursday under the guardianship of grandma.

We're told Michael and Kate can both see the kids, but only in grandma's presence.

It doesn't sound all that peaceful ... we're told 911 was called to Kate's apartment after Kate claimed Michael was banging on her door.

There's a hearing scheduled Tuesday in family court to go over the video and the plan.

4:09 PM PT -- Michael tells TMZ Kate came over to his house last Wednesday when Michael wasn't there. When he came home with the kids, he thought she had been drinking so he told her to leave and she did. He says the reason DCF took the kids was because Kate wasn't supposed to have the kids without a monitor and they felt that he didn't protect the kids from her. He does not address the video.

'CSI' star George Eads will face off with his soon-to-be ex-wife over the custody of their one-year-old daughter in an ugly divorce.

Eads filed divorce docs against Monika Casey ... the two have been married for 4 years. Eads wanted joint physical and legal custody of their daughter Dylan. However, Monika is asking for sole physical custody of the kid.

The two disagree on more than just custody of their daughter. Eads claims the two had a prenup but Monika doesn't mention it. In fact ... she's asking for spousal support.

They cite irreconcilable differences as the reason for the divorce ... the two appeared on an episode of "Flipping Out," but no word if a rough home remodel led to the split.

Olivier Martinez will not wage a custody war with Halle Berry, sources connected with the couple tell TMZ ... because he does not want to go through with the savagery he witnessed between Halle and Gabriel Aubry.

We're told Olivier was horrified by the bitterness between Halle and Gabriel, and the toll it took on their daughter Nahla. He's satisfied with joint custody of their 2-year-old son, Maceo, and we're told Halle is also down with that.

We're also told Olivier has no intention of moving to France and starting a Kelly Rutherford/Daniel Giersch type international war.

It's lucky for Halle, because she wanted to move Nahla to France, and tried unsuccessfully to convince a judge it was a better place to raise kids than the U.S.

DMX has a touching message for the poor guy who was mistaken for him in a paternity case -- and that message is ... WHERE'S THE CHECK, FOOL??

We got X in NYC, fresh off his jail sentence for a different child support case, and asked him about the story we broke -- an Earl Simmons in Massachusetts got a demand for a paternity test from DMX's baby mama in Florida.

Considering DMX knows the baby mama, and doesn't dispute the kids are his ... you'd expect him to clear up the confusion and let the guy off the hook, right?

Jeremy Renner's estranged wife thinks his pool is a death trap for their 2-year-old daughter because he won't install a safety fence ... so she's fighting him in court over it.

Sonni Pacheco's attorney was in court Wednesday in L.A., and told the judge Jeremy's koi pond and pool lack protective fencing. Sonni's afraid little Ava could fall in and drown before Jeremy gets to her.

Renner's side doesn't think a fence is needed because his laser detection system will alarm him if Ava were to fall into the pool or the pond.

They're also fighting over social media -- Sonni's uncomfortable with Jeremy posting pics of Ava.

DMX almost got a free pass on his latest paternity case, because the docs went to the wrong person ... someone unlucky enough to share X's real name!

We're told Earl Simmons from Massachusetts got docs in the mail from the Florida Dept. of Revenue, informing him he'd have to start paying child support to 2 of DMX's kids.

Yadira Borrego -- X's ex -- tells TMZ she filed the docs to establish paternity with the state, so DMX can pay child support through the proper legal channels ... and avoid another jail stint. She says he already supports their kids, but it's been off the books.

The person who's really screwed is the faux DMX, who works in the biomedical field. Poor guy's got 2 kids of his own, and we're told Florida is insisting he take a DNA test to prove he's not the real Ruff Ryder.

Damon Dash was shut down in court Thursday during a custody hearing for his two kids, and a judge made it very clear ... Damon hurt his chances by smoking too much pot.

Dash wanted an LA judge to drop the monitored visits he currently has with seven-year-old Tallulah for regular visitation and overnight stays. Dash's ex-wife Rachel Roy claims he smokes too much weed around their kids ... and during one visit they ate Damon's pot-laced cake and rice krispies.

In the end, the judge agreed with Rachel. He upheld the monitored visits and ordered Damon stay away from the green stuff for 24 hours before each visit.

We're told Damon was extremely upset and went off on the judge and was almost dragged out of the court. Big difference from 24 hours ago, when he was still optimistic about his chances.

Former "American Idol" contestant Corey Clark's arrest was the result of a conspiracy -- set in place by his estranged wife and her detective stepfather ... at least that's what Clark is claiming now.

Clark got busted September 23 in Yuma, AZ, and was eventually charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. But Tuesday in L.A. he told us the whole thing was a revenge plot.

Clark says he'd filed a report against Monica Clark just prior to his arrest, claiming she was violating their child custody agreement. Clark thinks it's no coincidence he was arrested right after that, especially because his wife's stepfather is a Yuma PD detective.

We've reached out to Yuma PD for a response ... so far, no word back.