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Joe Tacopina is blasting the judge in Wendy Williams' conservatorship case for telling the TV star her career is over ... calling the statements "outrageous" -- and adding Wendy's going to have a massive comeback when the conservator battle is over.

We spoke with Tacopina -- who is serving as Wendy's personal attorney -- on "TMZ Live" Friday ... and, he says these statements by the judge shouldn't have been made in court or in front of Wendy ... especially since the judge who said it isn't in the entertainment industry.

Tacopina doesn't know why the judge would make such statements about Wendy's career in an unrelated court hearing ... and, he adds that from his numerous conversations with Wendy, he knows she's as coherent and lucid as she ever has been.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA are on a red-hot streak with their "Luther" record owning the Billboard Hot 100 for 7 weeks straight ... a feat the song's sample inspiration cannot wrap her head around!!!

TMZ Hip Hop reached out to Cheryl Lynn, the veteran R&B powerhouse whose vocals from her 1982 duet with the late Luther Vandross, "If This World Were Mine," were used to construct "Luther" ... and she's pinpointed several reasons for Kendrick and SZA's latest success.

Cheryl calls the track multi-generational, bold, captivating, and filled with passion, noting how the fusion of Kendrick and SZA's voices seems to appeal to everyone -- Old School meets New School with great respect!!!

Harvey Weinstein's health is failing ... with the disgraced movie producer rapidly gaining weight and suffering from severe tongue inflammation in New York City's notorious Rikers Island prison.

Juda Engelmayer -- a rep for Weinstein -- tells TMZ ... Harvey's health is "rapidly deteriorating in custody," exacerbated by the terrible conditions at Rikers.

We're told Weinstein has gained more than 25 pounds since being transferred back from Bellevue Hospital several months ago ... 19 of those pounds in the last month alone.

America's standing in the world is taking a hit, but Phil Keoghan says turmoil in the United States isn't hurting American competitors racing around the world on a reality TV show.

We got the 'Amazing Race' host at LAX and our photog asked him if he was seeing any consequences on the show from the second Trump presidency.

Phil says from what he's seen, Americans are still welcome in different countries and they're not being treated poorly in areas where Trump's policies, rhetoric and antics aren't being well received.

Sydnee Falkner wants another chance at the grand prize on "Million Dollar Secret" ... saying she's disappointed she couldn't win it all this time -- but, that comes with the territory of being the game's greatest threat.

We caught up with the reality star outside a hotel in Hollywood Thursday ... and, we had to ask her about the hit Netflix show everyone's talking about.

If you don't know 'MDS' ... it's a reality game show a lot like "The Traitors" -- where one contestant is awarded $1 million at the beginning of the game. While they try to keep their identity a secret, the rest of the contestants work to figure out the identity of the newly minted millionaire.

Things are getting weird and intense in the Wendy Williams guardianship war ... multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, during a hearing this week, the judge told Wendy, she has no hope of restarting her career.

It's pretty outrageous ... Wendy showed up in court Thursday and appeared before Judge Lisa Sokoloff. Our sources tell TMZ, the judge railed on Wendy's niece, Alex Finnie, accusing her of leaking information to the media and threatening her with sanctions for future conduct.

The judge wasn't finished. We're told she attacked Wendy's family, essentially saying they were no good.

12:53 PM PT -- The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed in a news release Friday the use-of-force incident is under investigation. Officials said deputies were responding to multiple reports of a man walking in traffic and making obscene gestures at drivers Thursday night. The suspect, identified as Le Chau, allegedly began fighting with the female deputy who was first to arrive and who tried to handcuff the man. The fight went to the ground, and a second arriving deputy helped detain the suspect ... who allegedly ignored requests to stop resisting and fighting, resulting in the strikes to his head.

Chau was handcuffed and then treated at a hospital. When he was later booked for resisting an officer with force or violence, battery on a police officer, and disturbing the peace by intoxication, officials say, he again "initiated a physical confrontation" with deputies, resulting in more charges. The Sheriff's Office says Chau has been arrested more than 20 times since 2014, with multiple convictions for resisting an officer.

Law enforcement in Louisiana used a suspect's head as a punching bag during an arrest in broad daylight on a public street -- and the vicious beatdown was all caught on video.

Check out the wild footage, obtained by TMZ ... two cops are trying to restrain the man who is lying on his side on the the ground in Harvey, LA, in the New Orleans metro area, around 6:30 PM Thursday.

As you can see ... one the officers is kneeling down to cuff the man while the other cop is standing over him during the struggle.

Jo Koy is recalling the moment his international flight needed to make an emergency landing after an electrical fire filled the cabin with smoke ... and he says his son helped his family stay calm with a perfectly timed joke.

We got the comedian at LAX and he told us about his scary situation on his most recent flight ... a long journey from the Philippines to Los Angeles that required an unplanned stop in Japan early Thursday.

Jo says he was trying to sleep when he started noticing smoke and heard flight crew running around, slamming overhead compartments ... and he knew something was wrong.

Michael Chandler could walk away an MMA great today ... but the lightweight title contender believes he's still got a ton left in the tank, and he's intent on proving it when he steps into the Octagon against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 314!

TMZ Sports talked to 38-year-old Chandler, who's coming off two losses, just days before his highly anticipated co-main event scrap vs. Paddy "The Baddy" ... slated to go down Saturday night in Miami.

"It's another opportunity for me to prove either I am who I say I am or I'm not. Do I still have it? There's a lot of questions that need to get answered. And I think the answers are going to be emphatic and the answers are going to be in my favor."

UConn star Azzi Fudd says she believes her Huskies got an assist from the Mamba and the Mambacita during their title tilt last weekend ... telling TMZ Sports she felt Kobe and Gianna Bryant "watching down on us" during the big game.

Some five years after the NBA legend and his daughter -- who was a massive UConn fan -- passed away in a tragic helicopter accident ... Fudd says she felt their presence as she and her teammates were taking down South Carolina in the national championship in San Antonio.

She told us it all became crystal clear to her when someone pointed out a few Bryant-related numbers in the matchup's box score.

Weezer bass player Scott Shriner's wife is getting lots of attention for being shot by LAPD officers and getting booked for attempted murder ... but before she got famous for being shot by cops, she shot an episode for Zak Bagans' TV show.

Production sources tell TMZ ... Jillian Lauren Shriner filmed an episode of "Ghost Adventures" back in November at Zak's Haunted Museum in Las Vegas.

We're told the episode was all about serial killer Samuel Little ... Jillian's an expert on the guy because she once wrote a book about him.

Rep. Darrell Issa is defending President Trump using the Justice Department to investigate his political foes ... and he says Trump's no worse than Joe Biden.

The Congressman from California joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and we asked him about Trump directing the DOJ to look into a couple officials from his first term who ultimately became Trump critics.

Rep. Issa says Trump weaponizing the DOJ to go after political enemies isn't all that different from what Biden did with the DOJ in investigating Trump when Biden was in the White House.

Three 6 Mafia's DJ Paul is stoked for his group's upcoming Coachella appearance, and fans of Travis Barker should be too -- because he's joining them onstage!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with DJ Paul at LAX this week, and the desert excursion will be a first for him -- he was unaware he'd be playing for both weekends at first -- but it'll be double the fun ... and double the payday!!!

The Memphis-born hip hop legend reveals to us that they'll have several special collaborators pop up during their set, including Travis Barker -- who will also be paired with a mystery guest who has a logical connection with the legendary drummer.

It could be Trav's red-hot rookie rapper daughter Alabama ... could be his longtime punk-pal Yelawolf ... we'll just have to wait for the Three 6 Mafia Coachella set on Friday!!!

Toni Braxton and Birdman are married, and have been for 8 months ... though it seems the honeymoon period was pretty damn rough.

According to documents, obtained by TMZ ... Toni and Birdman quietly -- and very secretly, obviously -- tied the knot on August 8, 2024.

Now, here comes the shocker ... we know that's when they got married, because the wedding date is mentioned in the divorce docs Toni filed 2 weeks later!!!

The tables have turned -- years after "Black-ish" creator Kenya Barris filed a restraining order against his own sister ... she has filed her own against him.

Colette Barris filed new legal docs through her attorney, Ariel Mitchell, in Los Angeles on Tuesday ... asking a judge to block Kenya from directly or indirectly contacting their 83-year-old mother, Ernestine Barris, about the ongoing legal issue between the siblings.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Colette claims Kenya is attempting to influence Ernestine to testify falsely against her in court, and is "manipulating and intimidating" her over her "refusal to provide false testimony" and desire to remain neutral in the dispute between her son and daughter.

Los Angeles-bred gang leader Eugene "Big U" Henley Jr. has pled not guilty to the slew of charges thrown at him last month, including a murder -- but the mother of the man he supposedly killed is speaking out ... and she's claiming he did what feds say he did!!!

TMZ Hip Hop recently caught up with the family of Rayshawn Williams ... his mother, Shadonna Brown, and her daughter, outside Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles.

According to the federal indictment, prosecutors outlined how Big U allegedly killed Williams after a dispute in Las Vegas before dragging his body into the desert where it began to deteriorate.