Fairly Legal

Tristan Thompson's pockets could get a little more swollen soon ... he's just been awarded a nice chunk of change in the libel case against his paternity accuser.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the court has entered a default judgment in favor of Tristan against Kimberly Alexander for the amount of $50k ... plus 10% interest per year until it's paid off. She's also gotta fork over $2,901.75 in court costs.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan was headed to a victory after the court said it was leaning towards awarding Khloe's ex more than $50k. He sued Alexander for libel last year and wanted $100k in damages after claiming her allegation he fathered her child hurt his reputation, and cost him endorsement deals because companies saw him as a brand hazard.

The judge ultimately slashed the damages in half because Tristan didn't specifically lay out which endorsements he lost due to Alexander's allegations.

The #FreeBritney movement is feeling extra artistic after Britney Spears' impassioned testimony -- a massive art display, made of yarn, is echoing her call to end the conservatorship.

The artist behind the impressive yarn art, London Kaye, tells TMZ ... she used about 36,000 feet of yarn to create 5 iconic Britney looks and the "Free Britney" signage, and the whole thing stands 15-feet tall.

London hung the art outside the Britney Spears The Zone Museum in Los Angeles, it went up Wednesday and she says it will stay there for about 2 weeks.

London is an L.A.-based street artist who ya might recognize from "The Amazing Race," season 29. She says the Brit tribute recreates the singer's outfits from "...Baby One More Time," "Oops!...I Did It Again" and "Toxic" ... and took her about a week to make.

As you know ... Britney wants to end her conservatorship after 13 years. Celebs like Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake and Miley Cyrus have had her back ... and now she can add these yarn figurines to the movement.

Kim Kardashian now has legal protection against the man who allegedly showed up to her home on multiple occasions and sent a package containing Plan B and a diamond ring ... thanks to a restraining order.

KK filed docs Wednesday against Nicholas Costanza, whom she claims is the person who disturbingly shipped Plan B pills and an engagement ring to her home earlier this month ... a package that was intercepted by Kim's security team.

In her filing -- from attorney Shawn Holley -- Kim says Costanza has shown up to her property a handful of times this year ... including once in February, and then again in late May. She claims he sprung up at her gated community, telling guards he was there to pick her up for dinner on one occasion.

On top of the alleged behavior ... Kim says Costanza's been obsessing over her online as well -- posting a bogus marriage cert and other bizarre messages, alluding to her waiting for her "knight in shining armor" (which he clarified as himself).

A judge agreed with Kim's concerns and granted the temporary order ... Costanza will have to stay at least 100 yards away and refrain from contact.

This ain't the first alleged stalker who's been trying to get at her either -- remember, she filed for and received a separate restraining order against another man who said he was just dying to get into her pad.

Shannon Beador wants diet pill companies to keep her name out of their mouth, and her face off their Facebook and Instagram ads ... and now she's suing to make it happen.

The 'Real Housewives of Orange County' star filed suit against FB, which also owns IG, claiming third-party vendors are using her good name to hawk dietary supplements on the social media platforms and tricking customers into thinking she endorses the products.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Shannon claims at least 15 vendors are using her name, image and likeness to prop up their products ... even though she says she has no connection whatsoever with the companies.

In her suit, Shannon claims the whole operation is a big scam ... and she says it's undermining her career, sullying her good name and making it harder for her to endorse brands she actually likes.

Trevor Bauer will be away from MLB mounds for at least another week ... the league just announced it extended the Dodgers star's paid leave 7 more days.

The MLB Players Association signed off on the move Thursday ... meaning Bauer is now out of Los Angeles' rotation until at least July 16.

Bauer had initially been placed on paid leave last Friday ... in wake of allegations that he had punched and choked a woman during two sexual encounters in April and May.

According to MLB insider Jeff Passan, if a police investigation and/or an MLB probe into the matter isn't settled by next week ... the Dodgers and the league could look into putting Bauer on paid leave indefinitely.

Bauer has been arguably the best starter on Los Angeles' roster this season -- he holds an 8-5 record with a 2.59 ERA -- but he hasn't pitched since June 28.

As we previously reported ... a woman -- who says she met Bauer on Instagram -- claims Bauer choked her and hit her so many times during their two meetings earlier this year, she was left with scratches, bruises and lacerations.

The 30-year-old has emphatically denied the allegations ... claiming it was all part of entirely consensual sex.

Michael Avenatti was just sentenced to 30 months in his Nike extortion scheme case.

A very emotional Avenatti appeared in court Thurdsay in NYC where the sentence was handed down, on top of the 30 months, he'll also have 3 years of supervised release. The sentence is light considering the recommended sentence was 108-135 months ... a recommendation the judge called "excessive."

Avenatti addressed the court during the hearing, having to stop several times while he fought through tears. At one point, he said, "I betrayed my profession. I became driven by the things that don’t matter in life. Over the last 2 years, I have often thought to myself, why did this need to happen? What lessons am I supposed to learn from this experience, from what I’ve done?"

He continued, "Your honor, I’ve learned that all the fame, notoriety and money in the world is meaningless. TV & Twitter mean nothing. Everyone wants to ride in a limo with you but very few are willing to sit next to you on the bus."

The disgraced attorney was given a surrender date of September 15.

As we reported ... Avenatti was arrested and charged with trying to extort $20 million out of Nike. The feds had claimed the infamous lawyer told Nike's legal team that if they didn't pay him between $15 million and $25 million he would hold a news conference and allege misconduct by employees at the shoe company.

According to the criminal complaint ... Avenatti had demanded Nike hire him to conduct an internal probe for the enormous salary. Prosecutors said Avenatti was repping a client who was the coach of an AAU basketball team. They said Avenatti gave Nike the option to not hire him but pay $22.5 million to resolve the dispute and buy his silence.

Prosecutors would later allege the Nike scheme played out over the course of a few days back in March 2019. Prosecutors said Avenatti repped an AAU coach whose team had just lost a Nike sponsorship worth $72k a year.

The coach had claimed Nike made payments to families of some HS basketball players ... and Avenatti had allegedly demanded payment from the shoe giant to keep him quiet.

Avenatti was ultimately arrested at the location where he was supposed to meet with Nike brass ... presumably to iron out a deal or keep the convo going.

Prosecutors also have conversations and video recordings ... in which they allege Avenatti made threats. Avenatti also allegedly told Nike he had them by "the balls."

Avenatti's also facing fraud charges after prosecutors in California claim he embezzled client money to cover expenses for his coffee corporation. He's also alleged to have committed bank fraud by submitting false tax returns to get $4.1 million in loans.

Britney Spears shouldn't have to foot the bill for round-the-clock security guards for Jodi Montgomery, her personal conservator ... at least according to Britney's dad.

Jamie Spears filed an objection to Montgomery's request for increased security in the wake of what she calls a flood of death threats since Britney testified. Jamie's reaction to that is, basically ... welcome to the club.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jamie says he's been getting threats for years, as has Brit's attorney, Sam Ingham, and others connected to the conservatorship. He's not totally cold-hearted, though, saying the court should evaluate how much security is necessary to keep Jodi and others involved safe.

He bristles at the cost for 24/7 security -- which Jodi herself estimated at more than $50k per month -- and says the estate can't afford that kinda cost for multiple people over an extended period. Jamie also says if the estate covers that expense for Jodi, there will be others coming forward with similar pricey requests for protection.

TMZ broke the story ... there's already tension between Jamie and Jodi because he suggested she's to blame for most of what Britney complained about in her testimony. His rejection of her demand for protection won't help.

According to the docs, Jamie suggests Jodi and the court should consider other security measures ... such as calling the local Sheriff's department -- something Jodi herself says she's already done.

The guy who unleashed that racist tirade on his Black neighbor -- before getting hauled away by cops -- could have more trouble on the horizon ... as prosecutors in New Jersey dig into past allegations of similar incidents.

Sources with direct knowledge of the case tell TMZ ... Edward Cagney Mathews is being investigated by the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office ... not just for last week's ugly run-in and arrest, but for several other allegations -- including a 2016 confrontation with a Black woman named Jazmyn Jene.

Jazmyn tells us she exchanged words with Mathews within the condo community where they both lived, and she captured a good chunk of their wild -- and seemingly threatening -- interaction on camera.

In the video, Mathews openly claims to have cops in his back pocket, and he's giving Jazmyn 2 options: handle a dispute they were having cordially, or legally. He strongly suggests the legal route won't work, because he's so tight with cops ... they wouldn't do anything to him.

Eventually, things get racial -- Jazmyn accuses him of hurling the n-word -- which Mathews somewhat denies by clarifying he did use the word, but not the way she's suggesting. You can see in the video ... it's a pretty weak defense.

Now, she says she did report the incident at the time, but nothing came of it. However, since Mathews' arrest -- as scores of angry neighbors jeered and hurled objects -- Jazmyn says investigators have apologized to her for not acting earlier.

We're told Jazmyn has shared the video of her run-in with Mathews with law enforcement, and it will be included in prosecutor's expanded probe.

The wife of "American Pickers" star Michael Wolfe is picking a whole new lane, as in the single lane ... 'cause she's quietly filed for divorce from the reality star.

Jodi Catherine Wolfe filed docs on their home turf of Williamson County, Tennessee back in November after nearly 10 years of marriage. She cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split. They got married back on September 7, 2012 in Franklin, TN.

Seems the marriage had been on the fritz for a while before Jodi pulled the trigger .... 'cause she listed June 2020 as the date of separation.

In any event ... they will have to hammer out a child custody agreement for their 9-year-old daughter. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jodi says their kid lives with her.

Michael -- dubbed "The Jack Kerouac of Junk" by the New York Times -- co-hosts the popular History Channel series that's currently in season 22. The show follows Michael and his longtime pal/co-host Frank Fritz around the country in search of valuable antiques.

PGA Tour star Angel Cabrera -- who won the 2009 Masters -- was sentenced to 2 years behind bars on Wednesday ... after he was convicted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend.

The 51-year-old learned of the prison sentence at an Argentinian court.

Officials say the golfer -- known as "El Pato" on the Tour -- roughed up, threatened and harassed his former partner.

Cabrera had denied the allegations during his trial.

As we previously reported, several women had accused Cabrera of being violent with them ... with one of the women alleging he had punched her in the face and tried to run over her with his car in 2016.

Cabrera had been arrested in Brazil in January ... and he was extradited to Argentina in June.

Cabrera is slated to serve his sentence right away.

Cabrera is one of the more decorated pro golfers in the history of the sport ... he famously beat out Tiger Woods for the trophy at the 2007 U.S. Open -- and he later went on to win the 2009 Masters.

Bill Hutchinson, a wealthy man famous for dating much younger women, got busted by cops in Texas for allegedly sexually assaulting a high school girl without her consent.

Hutchinson, who appeared on the most recent season of "Marrying Millions" on A+E, was arrested Tuesday in Dallas after the accuser told cops he assaulted her inside his Highland Park home.

According to the arrest affidavit, obtained by TMZ, police say the 17-year-old girl reported the alleged incident last month. She claims Hutchinson frequently let kids drink alcohol and smoke marijuana at his home and, in May 2021 -- after she'd passed out on his couch -- he allegedly digitally penetrated her vagina.

She told cops she woke up to Hutchinson sticking his finger inside her and she was frozen with fear.

To be clear Hutchinson isn't facing charges for assaulting a minor, because the age of consent in Texas is 17.

According to the affidavit, the officer says the investigation led police to believe the girl's allegations, so cops got an arrest warrant on June 29.

Hutchinson's been released on $30,000 bond.

Carnell Davis -- a freshman wide receiver on the Rutgers football team -- was reportedly knocked out by a violent punch in a street fight ... and the whole incident was apparently caught on video.

It's unclear where and when the altercation took place ... but The Press of Atlantic City reports the 6-foot-1, 175-pound wideout is the shirtless man wearing blue shorts in the footage that was posted on social media this week.

In the clip, you can see the man purported to be Davis, get into a tiff with another shirtless male in a red hat apparently over comments about Davis' mother.

The man in the blue shorts can be heard on the footage saying, "you were just talking about you were going to f*** my mom" -- before the two squared up to fight.

Eventually, the man in the red hat tagged the other male in the chin with a right hook ... sending him crashing to the ground.

It's unknown if Davis suffered any severe injuries ... a spokesperson for the Rutgers football team issued a short statement to The Press of Atlantic City, only saying the freshman is currently at home "recovering."

"Our main concern is Carnell’s health and well-being," the spokesperson said. "He is home with his family and continues to make progress in his recovery."

"We look forward to getting him back on campus soon."

We've reached out to both Rutgers and law enforcement for further comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Davis -- who played his senior season of H.S. football at Eau Gallie in Florida in 2020 -- signed on to play for Rutgers in Dec. 2020 and enrolled in the school just weeks later.

He was a touted H.S. recruit -- piling up offers from 24 schools, including Auburn, before landing with the Scarlet Knights.

Angelina Jolie is running to court so she can shed one of the last remnants of her marriage to Brad Pitt -- including the wine business they owned together, which she wants out of ASAP.

The actress just filed docs asking a judge to lift a restraining order on the transfer of their assets, which was put in place automatically when their divorce paperwork got underway. The asset she's particularly interested in unloading is Nouvel, LLC, their French winery company.

It's a standard thing courts do in cases like these, but now Angie's saying she needs the freeze removed immediately so she can sell her portion of the biz to a third party ... a deal that's apparently on the table, but needs the barrier removed to go through.

Her attorneys note they contacted Brad's legal team over this as well in hopes of resolving things without needing a formal hearing, but she says Brad's lawyer said he'd get back to her on it. Angelina says she was worried about losing the deal in the meantime so she went ahead and asked the judge to intervene.

Nouvel appears to be the LLC started to operate the chateau/vineyard in Provence that the former couple snapped up in 2011 ... for a reported $60 mil or so. Unclear how much the company is worth now ... but the booze biz has been booming.

Lynne Spears is wasting no time ... just a day after Britney's court-appointed lawyer resigned, she's asking the judge to allow her daughter to hire her own private lawyer to get the ball rolling in ending her conservatorship.

Lynne filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, in which she says what may have been the case 13 years ago when the conservatorship was established is no longer the case. Lynne's lawyer says Britney is now able to care for herself and further notes she "had to perform in front of millions of people, has had to manage hundreds of performances, has had to use her artistic and creative talents to prepare for shows by choreographing each and every move for and interacting with many co-performers, and has had to rehearse and perform for many thousands of hours over the years."

Lynne's lawyer lists 10 demands Britney made during her June 23 hearing, but says first among them must be the appointment of counsel of her choosing because that impacts each and every one of her demands.

Lynne notes Britney said she was unaware she could even end the conservatorship ... something we're told is strongly disputed by others involved in it.

Lynne is asking either for the court's permission for Britney to choose her own lawyer, or for the court to appoint a lawyer acceptable to Britney.

It's interesting ... Britney went after Lynne when she testified last month.  Furthermore, this will be an uphill climb for Lynne, because the judge could easily say she doesn't have legal standing to file such documents.

Britney Spears has been pushing Jodi Montgomery, the conservator of her person, to help her hire a private lawyer to fight the conservatorship, but Montgomery says she's not equipped to handle this but has an idea on how it can be accomplished.

Montgomery's lawyer, Lauriann Wright, filed legal docs obtained by TMZ ... in which she says Britney has made it clear in private conversations with Montgomery ... she wants her own lawyer -- one that she chooses and not one who is court-appointed.

Jodi says 13 years ago, when the conservatorship was created, the court determined after a medical evaluation Britney was not mentally able to retain her own lawyer, which is why the court appointed Sam Ingham, who resigned Tuesday.

Montgomery says Britney wants to choose Ingham's replacement herself, without first getting a medical evaluation that she's competent to do it.

Jodi says she has an idea ... the court should appoint a guardian ad litem -- someone who squarely represents the interests of a person whose mental capacity is questioned -- to help find a replacement lawyer. The idea -- since the guardian would be there to represent Britney, there would be no need for a medical evaluation.

Diplo's being sued by a woman who claims he coerced her into performing oral sex, and recorded it -- but the DJ's attorney tells us the whole thing is BS, and the woman's accusations are almost identical to those made by her alleged friend.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the alleged victim claims she was invited back to Diplo's after-party following one of his Vegas concerts at the Wynn in 2019 ... which she says she attended with friends, already intoxicated from drinking at the show.

Once there, she says Diplo gave her and everyone else more weed and alcohol ... which they accepted. She claims Diplo eventually invited her to his personal room, and his security team started kicking out everyone else ... including a male friend, the bodyguards allegedly punched in the face when he refused to leave without her.

The woman alleges Diplo told her she couldn't leave until she performed sex acts on him -- and after realizing there was no way out, she says she acquiesced and performed oral sex on him. The woman believes Diplo filmed the encounter without her consent. In fact, she says she wasn't fit to consent to any of it.

She goes on to claim she was in fear for her safety throughout the alleged ordeal, and she's suing Diplo for damages.

However, Diplo's attorney, Bryan Freedman, claims there's a connection between this woman and Shelly Auguste ... who sued the DJ in June for sexual battery and made claims he filmed the encounter against her will.

Freedman says, "This complaint is completely outrageous, wildly untrue and yet also entirely predictable, given that it simply repeats the exact same claim already made by the plaintiff’s friend Shelly Auguste, an individual who has been harassing Mr. Pentz and his family for more than a year and already has repeatedly violated the restraining order issued against her."