Fairly Legal

Billie Eilish is seeking court-ordered protection from a man she claims is harassing her and is potentially dangerous.

The singer filed docs seeking a restraining order against a man named John Hearle, who she claims has been harassing and threatening her from outside her Los Angeles home.

Billie says the guy has been camped out at a school across the street from her crib since the summer, and he's been bombarding her with threatening and disturbing letters.

According to the docs, Billie says she got a note from Hearle saying ... "You can't get what you want, unless what you want is to die for me ... You will know that soon the water will rise, and you might very well die ... You will die."

Billie claims Hearle watches her enter and exit her home, and she says he always says something to her or makes gestures -- including a throat-slitting move -- whenever he sees her.

In the docs, Billie says this is making her anxious every time she comes home and she fears for her safety and her family's too.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the LAPD is investigating, but hasn't made an arrest yet. Billie wants a judge to force Hearle to stay at least 200 yards away from her and her parents at all times.

George Floyd's murder trial is set to begin next month -- pandemic be damned -- and the courtroom's setup shows extensive coronavirus precautions are being made.

Here's the first look at the 18th-floor courtroom at the Hennepin County Government Center, where on March 8 ... former Minneapolis PD officer Derek Chauvin will stand trial for Floyd's murder.

The room's been set up for COVID-19 safety, with what looks like socially distanced seating for the jury, plexiglass dividers for the attorneys, judge and those who take the witness stand ... and hand sanitizer everywhere.

As we've reported ... Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter for his role in Floyd's death. He's seen in the horrific arrest video with his knee pressed on Floyd's neck for roughly 8 minutes, including nearly 2 minutes after he stopped breathing.

Dr. Dre's estranged wife is demanding access to their marital home because she's pretty sure someone's been wearing her expensive shoes ... and it ain't Goldilocks.

Nicole Young just filed docs in their nasty divorce war, asking the court to allow her access to the Brentwood home, where she used to live with Dre, because she's left a bunch of personal belongings there.

In the docs, Nicole says she left back in April 2020 with a "bare minimum" of her stuff. Nicole claims she had to get out in a hurry because Dre was drunk and yelling, "F**k you. Get the f**k out. Go to Malibu."

She left a ton behind ... according to Nicole, her loot includes designer and vintage handbags, couture clothing and 20 fur coats in a "cedar and temperature-controlled" closet. BTW, she says her regular closet and "boutique room" at the home is about 1,000 sq. feet!!!

Since she's left, Nicole says she's observed several different women posting photos and videos inside the house -- and she claims some of Dre's visitors might be wearing her stuff.

For instance, Nicole claims one of Dre's playmates posted a photo in his bathroom while wearing what appear to be her Chanel slides. She's also upset Dre throws huge parties -- like one he had in October for the NBA Playoffs -- because she thinks with all the drinking, it's just a matter of time before someone damages or takes her belongings.

FKA Twigs is opening up about the alleged abuse she suffered during her relationship with Shia LaBeouf ... claiming he'd force her to sleep naked and wake her up to berate her for no reason.

The singer-songwriter sat down for her first TV interview with Gayle King on the heels of the lawsuit she filed against LaBeouf in December for assault and sexual battery.

FKA Twigs tells Gayle that Shia would pick fights with her in the middle of the night, insult her by calling her "vile" and "disgusting" ... and essentially play disturbing mind games in an effort to control her.

She says the alleged domestic abuse built up little by little, to the point where LaBeouf made her feel powerless.

FKA also told Elle magazine, "It's a miracle I came out alive," referring to her relationship with LaBeouf.

As we reported ... she filed a civil suit alleging LaBeouf physically abused her, tormented her, and knowingly gave her an STI.

At the time, Shia told the New York Times ... "Although many of these allegations are not true. I am not in the position to defend any of my actions. I owe these women the opportunity to air their statements publicly and accept accountability for those things I have done. As someone in recovery, I have to face almost daily reminders of things I did say and do when I was drinking."

Chicago White Sox manager Tony La Russa says he's still incredibly embarrassed by his recent DUI arrest -- and says the criticism that ensued has been nothing short of "torturous."

There 76-year-old MLB legend was arrested for drunk driving in Phoenix, AZ back in February 2020 (after leaving a dinner with some L.A. Angels staffers during Spring Training).

Cops say La Russa wrecked his car during the incident ... and bloodwork showed he had a BAC of .095.

But, the news of Tony's arrest didn't break until November 9 -- 11 days after La Russa was hired to manage the Sox. And, many wondered if the Sox would cut ties with Tony as a result (they ultimately didn't).

Now, TLR is finally addressing the incident and the aftermath -- admitting to USA Today, "I made no excuses, it was an inexcusable mistake."

"It has cost as much embarrassment personally as possible. Anyone to think that this wasn’t something that had a very negative impact ... I mean, part of the embarrassment and negative feelings is the impact on the organization and the fans and the people that hired me."

La Russa later reached a deal in the criminal case -- he pled guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving -- but says the incident added more pressure to succeed in his new role with the Sox.

"There were already enough questions of me managing, and then this. It has been torturous."

There's more ... La Russa -- who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 -- admits he was concerned about taking the Sox job because he wasn't sure if becoming an acting manager again would mean his plaque would be pulled out of Cooperstown.

"If this opportunity, as great as it is, cost me the Hall of Fame, I wouldn’t have taken it. The Hall of Fame is beyond everything else."

Sounds like Tony was worried that if he sucked as a manager this time around, the HOF wouldn't let him back in!

So, Tony says he called the HOF -- and officials assured him he would remain a Hall of Famer even if he took another active role with an MLB team.

Chris Cornell's widow claims she's getting absurdly lowballed by Soundgarden as far as her stake in the band ... so she wants a judge to set things straight.

Vicky Cornell is suing the rock band yet again in the wake of Chris' death in 2017 ... this time because she claims they can't reach a deal over a buyout price.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Vicky says the 3 remaining band members offered her just $300k for Chris' share ... an amount she claims is less than what she got for her cut of just the 2018 royalties for Soundgarden's masters.

Vicky also alleges the lowball is obvious because the guys in the band got an offer of $16 MILLION from an outside investor for Soundgarden's masters -- that would mean $4 mill each, for the band members and Vicky.

That offer put a value on the band, of at least that amount, as far as Vicky's concerned ... which is why she's offended by their $300k offer, and says she has no choice but to file the suit asking the judge to value the band's assets.

A rep for Soundgarden tells TMZ ... "As requested by the Estate of Chris Cornell and as required by the laws of the State of Washington, the surviving members of Soundgarden submitted to the Cornell Estate four months ago a buy-out offer of the Estate’s interests in Soundgarden calculated by respected music industry valuation expert Gary Cohen."

The rep continues, "Since then, the band members have continued to try to settle all disputes with the Cornell Estate and in their several attempts to settle, the band members have elected to offer multiple times more than the amount calculated by Cohen."

The rep finishes by saying, "This dispute has never been about money for the band. This is their life's work and their legacy."

The battle over Larry King's estate is getting nasty ... his widow's contesting his handwritten will, which left everything to his kids and nothing to her.

Larry's seventh wife, Shawn Southwick King, claims in new legal docs ... the late talk show host was no longer pushing their divorce case and reconciliation was possible before he died.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Shawn claims Larry's handwritten will does not change her position as executor under his 2015 will, and also violates 2 post-nuptial agreements between Larry and her regarding his ability to give gifts to his children. So, in her book the new will has no legal effect.

As we first told you ... Larry scribbled his most recent will on October 17, 2019, about 2 months after filing for divorce from Shawn, saying he wanted his funds equally divided among his children.

According to the docs, Shawn claims Larry suffered a stroke around the time he hand-wrote his latest will, and she's arguing he had "questionable mental capacity" at the time.

One of Larry's surviving sons, Larry King Jr., has filed docs asking to be appointed a special administrator of the estate, noting his father was in the middle of divorce proceedings when he died ... but Shawn claims Larry didn't even know about Jr. until his son was well into his 30s.

In the docs, Shawn also claims Larry Jr. received improper gifts from his father's secret account, so he can't be the one to administer the estate ... and besides, she says she's the one with the most knowledge about Larry's businesses, assets and wishes.

As we reported, Shawn was butting heads with Larry's children right around the time he filed for divorce.

According to documents, Larry's estate is worth about $2 million, but a lot more is likely held in separate trusts.

"Ink Master" star Daniel Silva says he's still struggling to deal with the death of his friend, Corey La Barrie, but wants to do what he can to honor him.

As you know ... Corey was killed last May on his 25th birthday after he and Daniel left a party together. Daniel was driving his McLaren sports car, when he got into the fatal wreck.

Daniel joined "TMZ Live" Tuesday to talk about the painful experience, and what he's doing to try to make up for the tragedy ... including being an advocate for safe driving.

He also says he hopes to one day be able to speak with Corey's family in person to express his contrition, but until then ... he's focused on making amends however possible.

Earlier Tuesday, Daniel shared a lengthy video talking publicly for the first time about Corey's death, and what the loss has meant to him.

Daniel also thanked the La Barrie family for showing him empathy and acknowledging the incident was a tragic accident in a legal letter, which he read.

He ended up pleading no contest to vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and was sentenced to 4 years in state prison, but most of the sentence was suspended and he only got 365 days in county jail with 216 days of credit instead. He was released in October.

The La Barrie family filed a wrongful death suit against Daniel last year, and in January ... Daniel's legal team responded by claiming Corey was partly responsible for his own death.

Amy Cooper -- better known as Central Park "Karen" for making a false report against a Black man -- is off the hook in her criminal case after getting some therapy.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has agreed to dismiss Cooper's charge of falsely reporting an incident because she completed a program intended to address racial bias.

According to Assistant D.A. Joan Illuzzi ... due to Cooper's lack of a criminal background, she was offered an "alternative, restorative justice resolution; designed not just to punish but to educate and promote community healing." It's similar to a plea bargain.

Illuzzi says Cooper entered the program and completed 5 sessions, and her therapist reported it was a "moving experience" for Cooper and she learned a lot.

As you'll recall ... Cooper was filmed on May 25, 2020 by a birdwatcher in the park named Christian Cooper (no relation) calling the police on him and falsely claiming ... "There's an African-American man threatening my life."

After their interaction went viral, Amy was fired from her job and briefly lost custody of her dog. Christian decided he did not want to cooperate with prosecutors, saying ... "She's already paid a steep price. That's not enough of a deterrent to others? Bringing her more misery just seems like piling on."

A popular blogger has been calling Tessica Brown -- aka, 'Gorilla Glue Girl' -- a bold-faced liar who made the whole saga up and scammed the world ... but Tessica is now saying the blogger better shut it, or risk getting dragged into court.

An attorney repping Tessica's management team fired off a cease and desist letter to the person who appears to run the IG and Twitter accounts @gossipofthecity_ -- telling them to stop spreading the claim TB hustled everybody into thinking she sprayed Gorilla Glue into her hair.

The account has been posting about it for several days now, including messages and videos to both accounts -- which have close to 610,000 combined followers -- insisting Tessica is a liar and that she pulled a fast one ... especially on those who donated money to her.

The account even re-posted a 15-minute video from another woman who claimed to have sprayed Gorilla Glue in her own hair, trying to debunk Tessica's account. The post read, "Salute to this sister who actually deserves the money y’all donated to that liar. #girlbye."

To that, Tessica's lawyer says her predicament was neither contrived nor a joke, and to suggest otherwise is wrong. Her attorney, Jeffrey Klein, says Gossip of the City is defaming Tessica and warns the account's operator that they're on thin ice.

You can read the letter for yourself ... it's clear that a lawsuit could be filed if the account keeps it up. We're told this letter was sent last Friday -- yet, most of the posts still seem to be live as of now.

@gossipofthecity_ even acknowledged the cease and desist in a separate post, calling it a fake. We've been assured by Tessica's team, though, that it is very much real ... and they mean business.

Now, Tessica herself detailed the pain, embarrassment and agony she was going through with us directly on 'TMZ Live' -- and insisted this was as real (and unfortunate) as one could imagine. Remember, she went to the ER over this, and even flew out to Cali for a procedure to remove the adhesive.

Ahmaud Arbery's mother wants to do something special for her son to mark the 1-year anniversary of his death ... so she's organizing a public candlelight vigil.

Wanda Cooper-Jones tells TMZ ... Ahmaud's family will be gathering at his final resting place -- New Springfield Baptist Church in Waynesboro, GA -- on February 23 for the event.

Wanda says they're asking everyone to wear a blue ribbon in a show of solidarity and in remembrance of what happened. She says blue was Ahmaud's favorite color.

As we reported ... the 25-year-old was killed on Feb. 23, 2020 while jogging in Brunswick, GA, but it wasn't until graphic video of the incident surfaced in May that Ahmaud's death grabbed national headlines and ignited a demand for justice.

Nearly 3 months after the killing, Travis and Gregory McMichael were arrested and charged with murder in Ahmaud's killing ... along with alleged accomplice William "Roddy" Bryan.

As the anniversary approaches, Wanda says she's overcome with a sense of dread thinking about how her son died -- and it's a reminder her son is never coming back.

This past weekend, she remembered she and Ahmaud went to a barbershop together on Feb. 13, 2020 -- and, of course, it turned out to be the last time.

We're also told the family is working on launching a foundation in Ahmaud's honor -- something separate from the 2.23 Foundation ... which is not affiliated with the family.

Tekashi 6ix9ine's attorney says the director of an upcoming docuseries who called the rapper a "horrible human being" should zip it ... because they've never even met.

Tekashi's attorney, Lance Lazzaro, tells TMZ ... "Supervillain" director Karam Gill is 100 percent wrong in his assessment of 69 and has no clue what he's talking about.

Gill started the war of words by telling the NY Post, "The public and media hates him because he is truly a horrible human being who has done terrible things." Gill also told the outlet Tekashi is "a toxic individual in our culture" who tries to get a reaction out of his every move.

Lazzaro tells us 6ix9ine had nothing to do with the docuseries and he's troubled by Gill's comments seeing as the director disparaged 69 without ever meeting him.

He also thinks the director is just talking to gain viewers and adds ... anyone who gets to know Tekashi realizes "he has a great heart."

Stacey Plaskett -- one of the House impeachment managers for Donald Trump's Senate trial -- clearly isn't pleased with his acquittal, but she thinks he'll face worse punishment ahead.

The Virgin Islands Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives joined "TMZ Live" Monday in the wake of Trump's second Senate acquittal, and she didn't hold back her feelings, calling the former President straight-up evil.

Now that the Senate trial is over, Plaskett told us she's all for the multiple state and federal investigations that could potentially lead to criminal charges or civil lawsuits against Trump. She strongly suggests he deserves "criminal punishment or otherwise for what he has done."

Plaskett also touches on a recent tragedy that befell her colleague -- lead impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin -- whose son, Tommy, took his own life on December 31.

Rod Ponton, the Texas attorney who appeared as a cat in a Zoom court hearing, wants to turn his viral moment into cold, hard cash ... right meow!!!

Rod tells TMZ ... he was initially embarrassed by his 15 seconds of fame, but now he's embracing the fact he's an overnight internet sensation and he wants to milk it by hawking shirts, mugs, and anything else folks will buy.

The guy's in high demand ... Ron says he's already getting tons of requests for speaking engagements about staying professional in the midst of Zoom snafus. He's certainly an expert in this arena.

As for his cat call seen 'round the world ... Ron says he was using his assistant's 10-year-old's computer and still doesn't know how or why the feline filter was activated when he joined the virtual courtroom.

Britney Spears does NOT have her own documentary in the works ... we're told fan speculation and media reports to the contrary are not accurate.

A source with direct knowledge tells TMZ ... a doc from Britney and her team is definitely NOT happening. We're told a project of this magnitude would need to be vetted and authorized by Brit and her conservators, which is a big hurdle.

Another source tells TMZ ... a female filmmaker has been reaching out to people in Britney's inner circle, telling them she's working on a doc about Britney's life, and the filmmaker claims she's going to pitch the project to Netflix.

There are reports and speculation circulating that Britney is quietly working on a doc with a top female filmmaker and Britney fears her father, Jamie Spears, could hijack the project to make himself look better ... but we're told neither Britney nor her team are involved in the production.

There's no shaking Jamie at this point either ... as we first told you, a judge denied Britney's request to have her father removed as her co-conservator during Thursday's court hearing.

Britney and her conservatorship are all the rage again these days ... the new doc 'Framing Britney Spears' is getting a lot of buzz, and it's resulted in Britney's boyfriend ripping Jamie, and Justin Timberlake offering her an apology for the things he said after their breakup.

Adrian Broner is FINALLY getting back in the ring after a wild 2-year layoff -- and he's got a message for everyone who thinks he's washed up.

(Earmuffs, kids)

"Eat a d*** and put gravy on it."

Yep, after all sorts of personal, professional and legal drama ... 31-year-old Broner will return to action on Feb. 20th to fight undefeated Jovanie Santiago on Showtime.

The last time Broner saw action was January 2019 when he lost to Manny Pacquiao via unanimous decision.

In fact, Broner hasn't won a pro fight in 4 years -- but the former 4-division world champ tells TMZ Sports he's got his swag back and will return to greatness.

"Our goal is to be another -- a 5-time world champion soon -- so it's starting off February 20."

Broner has made a TON of headlines since his last fight -- but for all the wrong reasons. He's been accused of sexually assaulting multiple women, assaulting people in public and he's been sued multiple times for not paying jewelry debts.

In the past year alone he was ripped by a judge for failing to pay more than $800,000 to a woman he sexually assaulted in a nightclub back in 2018 and was arrested for DUI after passing out behind the wheel of his Rolls Royce.

But, Broner insists he's turning over a new leaf -- trying to clean up his life and get back to the top of the boxing world.

"I've matured a lot, I've been through a lot and ya know, it's just time to get to business and make my money and do what I do best and that's box."