Fairly Legal

Harvey Weinstein will likely die in prison -- he just got sentenced to 23 years in his NY state criminal case.

The 67-year-old disgraced movie mogul faced the judge Wednesday at his sentencing, and even spoke briefly. Several of his accusers, including the women who testified against him, were in the court as well.

Model Tarale Wulff was there ... so was Annabella Sciorra, Lauren Young and Jessica Mann, just to name a few.

Before the sentence was announced, Weinstein directly addressed his accusers in court, saying, "I have great remorse for all of you. I have great remorse for all women."

And yet ... Weinstein also said he was "totally confused" by the charges against him. He added, "I think men are confused about all of this ... this feeling of thousands of men and women who are losing due process, I'm worried about this country. This is not the right atmosphere in the United States of America."

He also said, "If I had to do a lot of things over I would care less about movies and more about my children and my family." He admitted he'd been unfaithful to both of his ex-wives and apologized to them.

He wrapped up his statement with, "I really feel remorse for this situation. I feel it deeply in my heart."

After court, Weinstein's accusers walked out -- some of them arm-in-arm -- to applause and chants of "Justice!"

As we reported, Weinstein's lawyers begged for mercy earlier this week, asking the judge to sentence him to 5 years because -- among other things -- he has no prior criminal record, and his life and career had already been destroyed.

His legal team also pointed to huge charitable contributions, including millions for 9/11 firefighters and police officers.

It didn't work.

Weinstein was facing a maximum prison sentence of 29 years after being convicted by a jury last month of Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree and Rape in the Third Degree. Prosecutors were pushing for a harsh sentence, claiming Weinstein had shown a total lack of remorse. He seemed to be responding to that with his statement in court.

Of course, he is, by all accounts, in very poor health ... so, Weinstein could be spending much -- if not all -- of his remaining years behind bars.

As for where Weinstein will do his time -- he'll most likely be shipped to a maximum-security prison in upstate New York. Weinstein has been staying in an infirmary unit at Rikers Island while awaiting sentencing.

Don't forget ... he also has a pending criminal case in L.A. to face.

Michael Strahan is going to war with one of his ex-wives over custody of their twin girls ... and he claims his ex is abusing their kids.

Michael claims his second ex-wife, Jean Muggli Strahan, is physically and emotionally abusing their teenage daughters, Sophia and Isabella, and the ex-NFL star is gunning for a judge to strip Jean of primary custody and give it to him ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Michael claims Jean's been engaging in a "pattern of abusive conduct towards the children for years" ... he claims he's got proof of the physical and emotional abuse and says he's gonna detail it in sealed docs.

Strahan paints his ex as a bad parent ... claiming Jean's not taking their kids to court-ordered therapy sessions and says she's the reason Sophia and Isabella keep missing their volleyball matches and equestrian events.

Michael, who has visitation rights, wants the girls to move in with him in New York ... and he wants his ex held in criminal and civil contempt for her alleged actions. As for Jean, who currently lives in North Carolina with the 15-year-old girls, he wants her to have the same visitation he currently has, but that's it.

Former L.A. Sparks GM Penny Toler says her firing in 2019 is complete B.S. ... and now she's suing the team claiming she was only axed because she complained about fellow executives' inappropriate behavior.

Remember, Toler was canned during last year's WNBA postseason ... after she used the n-word during what she claims was a pump-up locker room speech.

At the time, it was reported the Sparks had fired her over the speech ... but in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Toler claims that wasn't the case at all.

Toler says the REAL reason she was 86'd has to do with complaints she filed about multiple key personnel within the Sparks organization ... including the head coach.

In her suit, Toler says players had complained to her about Brian Agler -- the head coach at the time --  claiming he had made them uncomfortable with "sexually predatory conduct."

Toler says she pushed for the team to investigate ... but said her boss refused to.

Toler also claims she tried to blow the whistle on an extra-marital affair involving high-level team execs -- but her complaints went nowhere.

In her suit, filed by attorney Dawn Collins, Toler also says she wanted to trade Sparks star player Candace Parker -- but former team president Christine Simmons intervened and used her influence to stop the trade talks and get Toler fired.

Why? Toler claims Simmons and Parker are close personal friends and it was more important to keep Parker in L.A. than to do what was in the best interests of the team.

Toler's rep, Holly Baird, tells TMZ Sports ... "It's ridiculous that the organization used Toler's use of the word 'n***a' during a locker-room speech to rally the team against her when during practices and workouts songs played from Spotify, were laced with the same slang expletives or worse."

Michael Lohan needs to be on his best behavior when it comes to dealing with his estranged wife after striking a plea deal in his harassment case.

Michael pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct Tuesday in a Suffolk County Court ... according to law enforcement sources. As we reported ... Lindsay's dad got arrested last month and charged for allegedly choking Kate Major and harassing her.

The choking charge has been dropped, but Michael is now subject to a limited protective order for the next 2 years. It means he can have contact with Kate, but must not threaten, harass or abuse her. The estranged couple has 2 young boys.

We're told Michael also has to pay a fine. The good news for him? No jail time or probation.

As we first reported ... Michael was busted one day after Kate's DWI arrest last month. He claimed she made bogus allegations that he choked her because she was pissed he'd called cops when he suspected she was drinking and driving.

Michael denied he attacked Kate. Meanwhile, she's due back in court next month for the DWI case.

The Boiling Crab restaurant chain ain't about to let some lesser bottom dwelling crustacean pinch its biz ... the popular joint is suing The Boiling Shrimp for stepping on its claws.

Tensions have been simmering for awhile, but the Crab finally pulled the trigger. Here's the deal ... TBC says its been cooking since 2004, when it's first restaurant opened in California. They've since expanded to several states including Florida.

That's key because The Boiling Shrimp is now opened in neighboring Georgia ... and the Crab is steamed.

In a shell, here's the meat of their complaint. TBC says in the lawsuit, TBS is trading off its good name in the shellfish game -- copying interior designs, significant portions of the menu and even used similar color schemes in their signage.

The Crab says it's fired off multiple written warnings to The Shrimp, but they've seen no sea change ... and quite frankly, they're pretty salty about it now.

So, they're serving up this lawsuit -- The Boiling Crab wants an injunction to put a lid on The Boiling Shrimp's copycatting ways. It also wants the Shrimp to hand over its profits, or at least pay royalties to the Crab.

And, that's it ... when ya boil it all down.

Harvey Weinstein is asking the judge who will sentence him Wednesday for mercy ... a 5-year prison sentence.

Weinstein's lawyers filed legal docs late Monday, laying out personal matters they want the judge to consider in handing down the sentence.

For starters, the lawyers honed in on Ronan Farrow's New Yorker article ... "Since the New Yorker article was published in 2017, Mr. Weinstein's life has been destroyed. His wife divorced him, he was fired from The Weinstein Company, and in short, he lost everything."

The lawyer goes on to describe "his fall from grace [as] historic, perhaps unmatched in the age of social media."

The lawyer asks the judge to consider that Weinstein otherwise has no criminal history. The lawyer tried reopening the case by writing, "Both [victims] continued consensual relationships with Mr. Weinstein after the alleged assaults and contacted him for jobs, tickets, and professional advice."

The lawyer also wants the judge to give weight to Weinstein's charitable contributions, including millions for the 9/11 firefighters and police officers. He also helped raise $2.5 billion for the Robin Hood org.

The lawyer wrote, "...the trial did not fairly portray who he is as a person. His life story, his accomplishments, and struggles are simply remarkable and should not be disregarded in total because of a jury's verdict."

67-year-old Weinstein faces a maximum of 29 years in prison for a Criminal Sexual Act in the First Degree and Rape in the Third Degree. Prosecutors have asked the judge to impose a sentence that reflects the seriousness of his offenses, his total lack of remorse and the need to deter him from engaging in further criminal conduct.

Niecy Nash and her ex have divvied up their property and are just one final, formal step away from no longer being husband and wife.

According to new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the "Claws" star and Jay Tucker have reached a property settlement and will be officially single in the eyes of the law June 21.

In the settlement, Niecy gets their house in Bell Canyon, CA and the 2016 Tesla. She also gets to keep her production company, Chocolate Chick.

Jay -- who's an electrical engineer -- gets the 2011 Ford F-150 truck and will receive a final payment from Nash of $184,820, which represents his cut from the sale of another property.

Both parties have agreed to forever waive the right to spousal support, and get to keep all earnings made after their official separation date ... which was June 1, 2019 -- right after their 8-year anniversary.

We broke the story ... Nash filed for divorce in December, but the exes broke the news a couple months before, saying they'd realized they'd become "better friends than partners in marriage." They added ... "Our union was such a gorgeous ride."

So is a Tesla.

Nicki Minaj's husband finally got his ducks in a row on the West Coast -- getting himself registered as a sex offender, and looking kinda ticked off in the process.

Kenneth Petty is now entered into the California Megan's Law database, which tracks sex offenders in the state. We don't know exactly what day he was registered, but it was clearly very soon after his arrest on Wednesday last week -- so a matter of days, really.

He's listed as 5'9", 170lbs ... and has a Bev Hills address. Check out his booking photo too -- Ken doesn't look very happy to be in custody.

TMZ broke the story ... KP was initially picked up by cops after a traffic stop last year in Bev Hills -- prosecutors say that's when they discovered he was registered as a sex offender in NY, but not yet on the books in California.

He was charged by the L.A. County D.A. for not registering ... before the feds arrested him last week for the same crime. While the L.A. County charge has been dropped, Petty will be back in court next month for the federal case -- and he has to wear an ankle monitor until then.

He also has to keep his nose clean substance-wise -- one of the conditions of his bond is no drugs, including legal weed.

"Basketball Wives" star Evelyn Lozada's nothing but a money-grubbing, attention seeker with a bad suing habit -- at least according to Ogom "OG" Chijindu, who claims one of those lawsuits triggered a medical scare.

Evelyn's 'BW' costar OG is countersuing her, claiming she suffered severe chest pains a few days after Evelyn sued her defamation in October 2019. OG says it was so bad, she had to go to the ER for treatment ... according to the new lawsuit.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, OG claims Evelyn has a tendency to file lawsuits "for the purpose of financial gain and media attention." OG goes on to list several lawsuits Evelyn has filed in the past.

You'll recall Evelyn sued OG claiming she lost several endorsements after OG called her a racist.

This whole thing started with shots fired on social media back in September. Evelyn first posted a cryptic message on Instagram with a picture of a laughing orangutan. OG felt it was straight-up bigotry and clapped back, calling Evelyn a racist.

Evelyn tried to get a restraining order against OG but it was denied. Fast forward to now ... and OG's countersuing because she claims the whole ordeal's caused her emotional distress.

At this rate, these 2 could be suing each other back and forth longer than "Basketball Wives" remains on the air.

The son of ex-"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Lauri Peterson is off the hook for attempted murder -- thanks to a sweet plea deal -- and he's walking out of jail.

Josh Waring pled guilty on Friday to felony counts of assault with a firearm, evading a peace officer, 2 counts of assault, hit-and-run with property damage and battery ... this according to court records. Waring's attorney, Joel Garson, tells us Waring will get time served and be released later today.

As we've reported ... Waring's been locked up for nearly 4 years while waiting for his trial since his July 2016 arrest when he was accused of shooting a man outside a sober living home. He initially pled not guilty.

It's been a harrowing time for Waring behind bars. As we first reported ... he was ambushed back in October 2019 at the Orange County jail in Santa Ana and brutally assaulted by another inmate wielding razors wrapped in towels.

Waring suffered deep gashes to his chest and face. Waring's lawyer believed the attack could have been retaliation against Josh for filing a federal lawsuit against Orange County and its Sheriff's Department for violating his civil rights.

Feathers are seriously ruffled over at Drake's company, OVO, after a couple of companies jacked their famous owl logo ... or at least that's what OVO's claiming in a lawsuit.

OVO is suing Australian-based Bellroy and L.A.-based Clae claiming the merch companies collaborated to create, among other things, a shoe featuring a bird which OVO claims is the spitting image of its famous owl ... and it's crying fowl.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, OVO claims Bellroy "changed the design of the owl by altering its posture, width, wings and feet in order to blatantly mimic the OVO owl." OVO thinks these changes were intentionally made to maximize similarities with Drake's brand.

Specifically, OVO gives a hoot because Bellroy first sold wallets, smartphone cases and small luggage, but recently added footwear and clothing which OVO says is the core of its biz.

OVO alleges Bellroy and Clae are misleading consumers into thinking they're in bed with OVO's world-famous brand.

It's suing for trademark infringement and is asking for an injunction to stop Bellroy and Clae from jacking its owl -- plus any profits it's made so far and damages.

Megan Thee Stallion is now square in the middle of a dispute between her Roc Nation managers and hip-hop mogul J. Prince ... who claims she's been brainwashed by lawyers.

The Rap-a-Lot Records founder also consults with Megan's record label 1501 Certified Entertainment ... the label she's suing over her contract. In her lawsuit, Megan accused J. Prince of bullying and intimidating people in the record biz, and now he's firing back.

Prince lays blame squarely at Roc Nation's feet, insinuating Jay-Z's management company is trying to profit off 1501's hard work building Megan's career. He says, "These record labels and managers don’t want sh*t to do with these artists until the hard work, risk, sacrifices, and resources have been spent by the little guys."

He adds, "This is the same technique of the culture vultures. I didn’t allow this to happen to me when New York and LA record labels attempted to take my artists- so they labeled me as malicious for fighting back. I didn’t allow it then so I damn sure ain’t gonna allow it to happen to 1501 Records or any of the other independent record labels that I’m associated with."

He also says Megan's complaints about the contract she signed when she was 20 years old are unfounded because, "Any artist in the music industry will testify that a 40% profit share is a great deal especially for an unestablished artist that til this day has never delivered an album."

As for Megan's claims about him strong-arming people, he blames Roc Nation attorneys, saying ... "Megan even though she signed an affidavit, talked down, and lied in court documents on me... I understand how lawyers brainwash artist to milk them of funds in lawsuits that they know they can’t win. Megan seems to be a perfect candidate for self destruction."

If this smells like a brewing battle between J. Prince and Jay-Z, Prince is saying he wants peace, and is willing to negotiate Megan's deal.

However, he's clearly pissed at Jay's company, adding ... "I find it very interesting that Roc Nation would allow their employee to sign an affidavit and statement full of slanderous lies on my methods of doing business when we have partnered together on several occasions. I don’t think Jay Z is aware of this but only time will tell."

Brooke Burke and David Charvet are free to move about Malibu as single people -- they've finally hammered out their divorce and they're both walking away with plenty of assets.

Brooke filed to divorce the ex-'Baywatch' star way back in April 2018, which might make ya think this was a nasty split, but the divorce docs -- obtained by TMZ -- make it seem pretty damn amicable.

First off, they're putting the co in co-parenting -- agreeing to 50/50 physical and legal custody of their 2 kids -- Shaya and Heaven. They're also going 50/50 on all expenses for the children, and neither will pay child support.

As for property, Brooke gets 2 homes -- one in Malibu and a condo in Santa Monica -- while David gets a Malibu property of his own. Let's face it ... both of those bodies belong at the beach.

The exes share an art collection that they plan to divvy up down the road. Brooke gets ownership of 2 fitness companies, and David gets a few other companies, including Malibu Stone and Building Materials.

As for money ... they're splitting up their bank accounts, and they've agreed neither will pay spousal support. That's it. Easy, breezy divorce ... and both have already moved on.

Chris Cornell's widow is spilling more bad blood in her legal war with Soundgarden ... she says the surviving band members didn't so much as text her after her husband's tragic death.

Vicky Cornell just blasted the band in legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- saying Soundgarden never reached out to her in any fashion after Chris committed suicide.

In the docs, Vicky also says the surviving band members charged her private flight to Chris' memorial as a tour expense instead of paying for it out of their own pockets.

And, get this ... in the docs, Vicky says Chris never signed a written partnership agreement with the band because he "was tired of others unfairly capitalizing on his creative talents, or in his words, 'the stupid communist bulls***.' "

Vicky's explosive filing, prepared by legal pit bull Marty Singer, is part of her ongoing legal dispute with Soundgarden.

As we reported ... Vicky is suing Soundgarden for unpaid royalties, but the band claims she filed her lawsuit in the wrong court -- a federal court in Florida -- because Soundgarden is actually based in Seattle.

Vicky claims that's nonsense because the songs were created in Florida by Chris.

We reached out to Soundgarden ... so far, radio silence.

Megan Thee Stallion will NOT be releasing new music this week, after all ... not if her label gets its way, and 1501 Certified Entertainment wants an emergency court hearing on the matter.

Label honcho Carl Crawford just filed a motion to dissolve the temporary restraining order Megan got earlier this week ... which allowed her to drop new music on Friday. However, the label says she had no right even taking them to court in the first place.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Crawford says Megan's contract stipulates all disputes between her and the label must be handled in arbitration. Coincidentally, this is the very contract Megan complained was one-sided and unfair when she signed it as a naive 20-year-old.

He also claims Megan's guilty of booking several gigs without its approval -- but what really chaps Crawford's britches (it's a Texas case, after all) is her plan to release music on March 6.

In docs, 1501 Certified says she can't drop that music without its approval ... it's part of her contract. Even if she wants out of it, it remains in place for now, and Crawford says he's exercising his contractual right to control distribution of her music.

Crawford's also not buying Meg's claim that "disappointment of her fans" is a basis for getting a restraining order to release the music.

He's demanding a hearing today in Harris County, Texas ... so a judge can hear the label's side of the story before the music comes out on Friday. No word yet if that hearing will be granted.

Tim Story, the successful director of the 'Ride Along' franchise, is facing a lawsuit over a tragedy in his backyard ... the death of a 2-year-old boy in his hot tub.

The child's father, Miguel Raygoza-Castillo, is suing over what went down Nov. 18 at Story's L.A. home. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Miguel's son, named I'M, fell onto an un-fenced spa tub and suffered fatal injuries.

The boy's father says Story's hot tub not only lacked proper fencing, but it was also missing warnings and alarms. In the suit, he also claims there was no alarm to detect someone falling into the water. He claims Story -- who's also directed "Barbershop" and the 'Think Like a Man' flicks -- didn't have an exit alarm on his home's back door to the hot tub area.

According to a GoFundMe page started for I'M ... the child was hospitalized for 4 days before his family made the difficult decision to turn off life support.

Raygoza-Castillo is suing Story and his wife for damages including medical, funeral and burial expenses ... as well as pain, suffering and the emotional distress from losing a child.