Developing Stories

The madam -- Michelle Braun -- recently pled guilty to money laundering and sending a prostitute over state lines.

Michelle tells us she used Global Travel Network -- GTN -- as a front to pay her escorts. The documents obtained by TMZ show the two women connected to Tiger -- Jamie Jungers and Holly Joy Sampson -- allegedly received payment from the GTN company. The documents do not suggest that Tiger ever paid for any type of service with GTN.

Michelle tells us both women received their compensation for "introductions" to men.

TMZ called and emailed Jungers for a comment about Braun's claims -- nada. Sampson's reps declined to comment.

After leaving her New York pad, Rach hit up a nearby vet and left with enough food to feed a small army of puppies.

And speaking of puppies ... enjoy the footage.

The network says, "It was an editorial decision to show very little from the performance and focus on the fresh, new interview with Adam Lambert."

Interesting, because the "fresh new interview" was all about "the kiss."

ABC went on to explain its decision to show girl-on-girl by saying, "The Lady Gaga kiss was used quickly in context of things that upset her father."

So why not a quick peck from Lambert then?

The network goes on, "ABC never had a problem showing the kiss, In fact we did not edit it out of the west coast feed of the AMAs."

No, instead they banned Adam from "Good Morning America" the next day.

And finally, ABC says, "The network has a solid record of showing gay men and women in primetime which is why GLAAD has given ABC top honors for the positive portrayal of gays and lesbians for the past several years."

Translation: "Some of my best friends are gay."

TLC honcho Edward Sabin is tearing into Jon Gosselin right now in a Maryland court -- claiming Jon's recent behavior has been downright "embarrassing."

Sabin just testified in TLC's breach of contract lawsuit against Jon.

Sabin scoffed at Jon's decision to host a pool party at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas a few months ago ... claiming the network ordered him not to do it because "Jon surrounded by scores of bikini-clad women is inconsistent with the image of our show."

Sabin also ripped Jon for hanging out by the fence outside of his house and chatting with paparazzi, taking his girlfriend on a trip to France with Christian Audigier, and telling people his children were going to model a new clothing line.

Sabin also called out Jon for allegedly breaking his exclusive contract with TLC by accepting money for interviews.

Jon wasn't in court this morning -- but he's expected to show up in about two hours. We'll be there.

In the lawsuit, filed in US District Court, Merriman claims Tila posted all sorts of lies on her website, including stories that Merriman "choked and attacked" her, "sleeps with minors and forces them to take drugs," and that he manufactures drugs in his home.

Shawne also claims in the docs that Tila admitted her lying scheme, at one time stating, "yes that is why I did a 'spin' now ... cuz now everyone is LOVINGGGG me."

Merriman isn't suing for defamation though -- instead he's suing for intentional interference with contract and unfair competition as well as trademark infringement ... because Merriman claims she used his famous "Lights Out" logo on her website. Merriman also claims Tila's accusations screwed up a deal to produce a line of T-shirts for Walmart.

Shawne was arrested on September 6 after Tila claimed Shawne beat her up and trapped her in his San Diego home -- but the charges were eventually dropped due to "insufficient evidence."

Friends say Rachel is particularly upset that Tiger allegedly slept with two porn stars.

Probably a good precaution.

The flowers were delivered to the homestead an hour ago -- where Elin, her kids, mom and twin sis are living sans Tiger.

We're thinkin' .... Tiger needs tu-lips ... to kiss her ass.

UPDATE: 7:00 PM ET Get this ... We just found out the flowers were for Tiger!!! The person who told us -- and this person is in the know -- would not say who they were from.

TMZ has learned a website called BeenVerified.com -- which does criminal background checks on people -- rushed over to MTV to take the vacant advertising slots after Domino's and American Family Insurance bailed out. Both companies abandoned ship after an Italian American group blasted the show for being "offensive."

A rep for the new sponsor tells TMZ, "We may not be hair gel product, but we feel the program's content reinforces our brand's message perfectly."

Nicky Hilton's stolen laptop will not result in another "leaked" Hilton sex tape -- sources close to the heiress tell us the missing computer was 100% scandal free.

As we first reported, burglars hit Nicky's Hollywood Hills home Tuesday and made off with a computer and an expensive Lalique crystal.

But we're told Nicky only used the computer that was taken for business -- not pleasure -- and there's nothing stored on the machine that could get her in trouble... like naked pictures, secret diaries, evil plots to take over the world, etc.

As for the Lalique crystal -- we're told it's worth "a few thousand dollars" and Nicky should be able to replace it.

Sources also tell us Nicky is extremely grateful for her gardeners -- who noticed something was wrong and called police.

We're told the gardeners not only scared the perps off -- but they stayed at the house to finish their job while cops checked out the scene. That's dedication.

Kobe Bryant's upscale neighborhood in Newport Beach was a dangerous place to be last night -- cops believe several gun-toting henchmen broke into a home near Kobe's place, roughed up a few residents and then ran from police.

Newport Beach police tell TMZ they suspect five men -- armed with handguns -- broke into one home, struck three residents over the head and then tried to rob them.

After a 911 call was made by someone in the backyard, cops arrived and arrested three of the men -- the other two got away and are still on the run.

We haven't been able to verify if Kobe was home at the time.

After the two men escaped, cops authorized an automated phone system to call every home in the neighborhood -- warning residents to be on the lookout for two armed men.

The call also instructed people to lock their doors and windows and call 911 immediately if they suspected anything fishy.

No word if Jess is recording a pop country alternative album anytime soon.

Nicky's big sis Paris Hilton knows a thing or two about burglary -- she was allegedly hit by the Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch to the tune of around $2 million.

We're told someone working at Nicky's residence noticed something was wrong and alerted the authorities.

Story developing...

According to the suit, filed today in L.A. County Superior Court, Fulton claims in 2001, Cage bought a house for her in the L.A. area and promised he would sign over the title.

Fulton claims this year, she planned to sell the home and realized Cage had never transferred title.

Fulton says in September, she was served with a 60-day notice to vacate the premises.

Fulton is also suing Cage's business manager, Sam Levin. She can join the crowd -- Cage is also suing him, claiming Levin is the reason he went broke.

Fulton claims the reason Cage promised to provide for her is because she gave up her acting career to take care of their child, Weston.

She says in the lawsuit, "Cage, due to his personal choice and lifestyle, was not exercising his joint physical and custody rights." She also claims as soon as Weston turned 18, he "removed" Weston from the home.

Fulton also claims she's in the hole for more than a million dollars in taxes because Levin didn't take care of the liability.

She says, in all, she's suffered damages to the tune of more than $13 million.

Fulton never describes the alleged "mental, physical and emotional abuse" that she mentions in the lawsuit.

Cage's lawyer, Marty Singer, tells TMZ, "The lawsuit is an absurd claim. All of these claims are long-time barred by the statute of limitations and are baseless."

Singer also says, even though Nic was only required to pay Fulton $6,000 a month in support, over the last few years he gave her around $3 mil each year.

Gatorade is shutting down production of their special brand of Tiger Woods' brew this month -- but the drink giant tells TMZ it has "absolutely no connection" to Tiger's current predicament.

Gatorade says Tiger Woods Focus Gatorade will conveniently be discontinued as of December 26, saying "We made the decision several months ago ... our relationship with Tiger continues.''

Chalk it up to coincidence ... or not.

Officials from Health Central Hospital confirm Barbro Holmberg, Elin Nordegren's mom, was rushed to the hospital from Tiger Woods' home early this morning after complaining of stomach pains.

She is still in the hospital and listed in stable condition.

UPDATE: According to a rep for the hospital, Barbro is suffering from stomach pains ... but they're not sure what's causing her discomfort. We do know Barbro is in stable condition ... she's undergoing tests right now.

Tebow -- a very outspoken virginity-possessing super-Christian -- is in NYC for the Heisman Trophy ceremony, and on his way out of the airport, we asked the dumbest question one could ask Tim Tebow -- "So you got all your ladies in check?"

Tebow responded, "No, no ladies for me right now." Duh.

Tebow did drop a bible verse on us on the way out, but the real question: Does this guy have a prayer of winning the Heisman this weekend?