Drugs & Alcohol

Robert Shapiro knows a thing or two about defending guilty clients -- sorry, O.J. -- but he says no one could have successfully defended Bill Cosby.

We got the famous lawyer Thursday night leaving Avra restaurant in Bev Hills, and he thinks the 5 women who testified about Cosby's M.O. sealed his fate.

He also thinks it was super stupid of Cosby to go off on prosecutors after the verdict ... because the judge has yet to sentence him.

Hawkeye, aka Jeremy Renner, is M.I.A in the new "Avengers: Infinity War" film, so instead of hitting the press circuit this week with the rest of the crew, Renner did some serious shopping.

Jeremy hit up a Hollywood grocery store Thursday, the day the film hit theaters, and his cart had all the makings of a chill night ... beer, chairs and a few bottles of booze.

Dude should relax all he can because Hawkeye's back in the next 'Avengers' film out in 2019.

For all the non-Marvel nerds out there ... Hawkeye and Ant-Man aren't in the current film, but they haven't been killed off or anything. Story goes ... they took a deal with the government to sit this fight out.

1:15 PM PT -- Cosby's been ordered to remain in his home until sentencing.

11:18 AM PT -- Multiple people in the courtroom claim Cosby lashed out after prosecutors asked he be taken into custody immediately because he owns a private plane and could flee. Cosby shouted, "He doesn't have a private plane, you a**hole!"

Cosby was released on a $1 million bail.

Bill Cosby's retrial for sexual assault has just ended, and the jury found the once legendary TV dad guilty on all 3 counts of aggravated indecent assault.

The jury of 7 men and 5 women deliberated a full day before reaching their verdict and finding Cosby guilty of drugging and molesting Andrea Constand in 2004 at his home.

The 80-year-old faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each charge.

The verdict comes after the jurors spent 13 days in the courtroom hearing lawyers' arguments and testimony from witnesses, including Constand and 5 other women who claim they were also drugged and sexually assaulted by Cosby.

That wasn't enough, though, because on Wednesday the jurors asked for the legal definition of consent. The judge said Pennsylvania law did not provide a definition ... it was essentially left up to the sensibility of jurors.

Cosby's attorneys attacked Constand by portraying her as a liar who tried to frame him to make money ... while prosecutors called out the attack as the reason sex crime victims are afraid to come forward.

Prosecutor Kristen Feden also blasted Cosby for smirking while she talked about his accusers, saying ... "He's laughing like it's funny, but there’s absolutely nothing funny about them being stripped of their capacity to consent.”

As we reported ... Cosby's June 2017 trial ended in a mistrial because the jury then had 2 not guilty holdouts.

Bam Margera just avoided jail time in his DUI case ... instead getting probation, AA meetings and some fines and fees.

We broke the story, Bam was pulled over by the CHP back in January for being on his phone while driving. Cops detected a strong scent of alcohol on the "Jackass" star, he took a breathalyzer and failed and was eventually charged with two counts of DUI.

Law enforcement sources tell us he was hit with 3 years probation, has to attend an alcohol program, pay fines and fees, go to AA meetings and go through a "live in" program.

Johnny Manziel says Baker Mayfield's drunken arrest shouldn't define him -- because it's just a part of being a star QB in college.

"Look, he got in a little bit of trouble last year but that's just part of being in college," Manziel said on the "Comeback SZN" podcast with Barstool Sports.

Manziel says most star QBs are "gonna go out, they're gonna have some drinks and one night you're gonna drink too much and somethings gonna happen that shouldn't have happened."

"It's just the way that things go."

Manziel is clearly referring to Baker's February 2017 arrest -- when he was arrested for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and fleeing after Mayfield tried to run from cops.

Manziel doesn't think it's a big deal. We'll see if the NFL teams agree.

DJ Khaled says he's ready to hop in the studio with Meek Mill whenever he's ready -- 'cause Meek's family ... and Khaled couldn't be happier that he's finally out.

We got Khaled Wednesday night at Matsuhisa in Bev Hills and asked if any new music could be coming down the pipeline between himself and Meek, now that the dude's been released from prison on bail. According to Khaled, it's not a matter of if ... but when.

There's no denying it -- Khaled clearly has love for Meek, who he praises for successfully being able to come back from a 5-month "vacation" ... as he calls it.

Prince's ex-wife doesn't buy Sinead O'Connor's claims he was violent toward women and abused hard drugs ... because she never saw a shred of evidence to support that.

Mayte Garcia -- who was married to Prince from 1996 to 2000 -- tells TMZ he was never violent with her and she never witnessed him being violent with anyone ... man or woman. She also says he didn't do hard drugs while they were together, and she only saw him drunk once.

Garcia's very skeptical of Sinead's self-proclaimed close relationship with Prince ... telling us she seriously doubts she could have known more than she did.

Mayte has a problem with the timing of Sinead's allegations, too ... because Prince wasn't alive to defend himself.

Garcia admits she found the reports of Prince's deadly pill stash shocking and heartbreaking, because she knew him for years and didn't see anything like that.

We already told you Gennady Golovkin's camp was targeting a rematch with Canelo Alvarez for September ... and now Oscar De La Hoya has confirmed that's the plan.

The Golden Boy touched down in NYC where we asked all about his #1 fighter and the alleged tainted Mexican beef that led to a positive PED test, ruining plans for a May 5 rematch with GGG.

"Canelo is getting really the short end of the stick here because obviously he's a popular fighter and a lot of people are gonna hate on him," Oscar says.

"But he's been one of the cleanest fighters I've known. He's passed numerous of tests, and you know ... it was very unfortunate."

Oscar is adamant Canelo is NOT a cheater ... and says there's proof Mexican beef has screwed all sorts of pro athletes in the past.

We also asked Oscar how he felt about GGG's new Jordan Brand ad that mocked Canelo's meat excuse ... and clearly, De La Hoya wasn't laughing!

"Billions" star Damian Lewis looks totally unrecognizable on set, which is a good thing ... because he's playing Toronto's former crack-smoking mayor, Rob Ford.

Lewis was spotted in character on the set of "Run This Town" in Toronto on Monday, after spending nearly 7 hours in makeup to transform into the disgraced ex-Mayor ... and the resemblance is uncanny.

The film will focus on Ford's last year of his mayoral term, which was rocked by scandal when he was caught on video smoking crack in 2014 and took a leave to go to rehab.

Those involved with the movie have referred to it as "historical fiction," instead of a Rob Ford biopic ... but it certainly has that biopic look.

As we reported ... Ford died in 2016 after a battle with cancer.

Lewis is known for his Emmy-winning performance as Nicholas Brody on "Homeland" and as cocky hedge fund manager Bobby Axelrod on "Billions."

Marvin Gaye's son says his dad was a ladies' man who would've laughed off Quincy Jones' supposed revelation he got into bed with Marlon Brando.

We spoke with Marvin Gaye III who told us he was really upset Quincy had decided to keep himself relevant by spreading rumors about his father's sexual exploits, which Gaye's son says are 100% false.

Gaye III thinks Jones' bad memory got the better of him when he said in an interview, "Brando would "f*** anything. Anything! He'd f*** a mailbox. James Baldwin. Richard Pryor. Marvin Gaye."

Quincy apologized later for his "wordvomit." It's interesting though ... Pryor's widow embraced Quincy's claims.

Prince's family is taking action after it was announced no one would be criminally charged in the singer's death by suing the hospital that treated his overdose a week before he died.

Prince's family -- repped in the lawsuit by trustee Michael A. Zimmer -- just filed to sue Trinity Medical Center out of Illinois for allegedly failing to properly diagnose and treat Prince's opioid addiction before he suffered another, and ultimately fatal, overdose a week later.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the family claims that Trinity's action -- or lack thereof -- was a direct and proximate cause of Prince's death. They're also suing one of Trinity's doctors, Dr. Nicole Mancha, as well as an unidentified pharmacist and Walgreens employee whom they claim were involved in providing care to him in his final days. They're suing Walgreens, too, btw.

We broke the story ... Prince made an emergency landing in Moline, Illinois, where emergency responders gave him 2 shots of Narcan to save his life. He was taken to a nearby hospital at the time, which apparently turned out to be Trinity.

In regards to Walgreens, Prince's family claims the drug store chain was dispensing narcotic prescription medications to Prince for an invalid medical purpose and failed to make sure he was using the drug properly.

Verne Troyer had 3 times the legal limit of alcohol in his system when he was rushed to the hospital and sources tell us he never recovered from it.

Sources familiar with the death investigation tell TMZ, Verne told the 911 dispatcher and someone at the hospital he was suicidal when he called in distress ... with triple the .08 legal limit for driving.

Our sources say when Verne was at the hospital he became unresponsive and was transferred to another hospital which was better suited to care for him. We're told his organs started failing, he was put on life support and went steadily downhill until life support was pulled Saturday.

We broke the story ... Verne passed away Saturday. Sources say an autopsy has been completed, but toxicology results are pending. Verne fought a losing battle against alcoholism for years.

He was 49. RIP

Steve Wilkos caught a big break Monday in his DUI case after a judge ordered him to participate in an Alcohol Education Program in a case that could have landed him in jail.

The program will last 15 weeks. Wilkos must also participate on a panel with drunk driving victims. If he completes the program and keeps his nose clean for 1 year the DUI conviction will be erased from his record.

Wilkos had a shocking blood alcohol level of .29 -- more than 3 times the legal limit.

He was arrested after his SUV struck several polls and a tree before flipping over. He was taken to the hospital but miraculously suffered only minor injuries.

Wilkos told TMZ he was suffering from depression. He told us at the time, "This experience reinforces my commitment to get the professional help that I need and I have recently completed an intensive, medically supervised program."

Avicii's friends and family members feared the superstar's drinking problem would catch up to him in the months leading up to his death.

Sources close to the DJ tell TMZ his alcoholism he battled for so many years had recently gotten out of control and those around him were concerned it could kill him. Avicii suffered from pancreatitis -- the inflammation of the organ -- made worse by heavy alcohol consumption.

TMZ broke the story ... Avicii was photographed on a yacht in Muscat, Oman just a day before his death with what appeared to be an alcoholic beverage in his hand.

Lamar Odom's new lease on life since coming out of a coma has made him want to improve other people's lives too ... enter his cannabis company.

We got the former NBA Champion at Five Star Juice in Torrance, CA Friday and talked to him about the release of his brand of marijuana products, called Rich Soil, which he believes can help people with their ailments ... like it's helped him.

Odom says his goal to get people "healthy high," saying ... "I want to get people better, bro. If I can get 'em high, I can get 'em better."

He tells us he's been working on the cannabis idea for a year, and doesn't give a damn about haters who think he shouldn't be in this business ... because he believes he's living proof the stuff works.

Lamar also touches on making a basketball comeback, which he told us about a couple days ago too.

Fentanyl wasn't the only drug found in Prince's stash of counterfeit Vicodin pills -- in fact, they were laced with so many drugs ... there's no way he could have known exactly what he was taking when he popped one.

According to law enforcement, hundreds of the fake pills stamped "Watson 853" -- a brand of Vicodin -- were found around Paisley Park in several different non-prescription bottles. The pills were in over-the-counter bottles, such as Bayer, Aleve, and Target brand Vitamin C instead.

All of the pills were tested, and the results were a total mixed bag. Within in one bottle, some pills tested positive for lidocaine, some for fentanyl, some for lidocaine and fentanyl. Still others contained a combination of hydrocodone (generic Vicodin) and synthetic lidocaine.

Point is, almost none was actually Vicodin, and they appeared to contain almost a random cocktail of drugs -- even though they all looked exactly the same on the outside.

Carver County Prosecutor Mark Metz said Thursday it was likely Prince had no idea he was taking the fatal dose of fentanyl. Based on the lab results ... it seems impossible anyone taking those pills could know.