Gossip / Rumors

A vicious "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" brawl has triggered a lawsuit ... which now alleges one of the stars was smoking crack cocaine at the reunion show.

Althea Eaton has filed suit against Joseline Hernandez, who is caught on tape punching Althea in the face and dragging her to the ground ... then hitting and scratching her for good measure.

In the suit, Althea claims eyewitnesses allegedly observed Joseline smoking crack cocaine out of a pipe backstage during the show. Althea believes Joseline was high as a kite when she attacked.

It's interesting ... Althea is NOT suing the show or the network, which means one of 2 things:

Katt Williams says he was with Suge Knight when he was shot at the pre-VMA party ... and the comedian maintains Suge was trying to protect someone else when the bullets started flying.

Our photog spotted Katt out in Malibu Monday, where he broke down the shooting of his friend Suge, like this:

-- Suge was not the intended victim and he was merely trying to save someone else ... possibly Chris Brown?
-- Suge's shooting was NOT gang-related because ... has there ever been a gang-related shooting where the other side didn't shoot back?

As for who pulled the trigger, Katt uncorked a rant about "nobody" shooting Suge ... theorizing the shooter might never be caught just like MLK Jr. and Malcolm X's assassins -- which makes zero sense since their killers were tried and convicted.

The man who shot Suge Knight and 2 others at a pre-VMA party early Sunday is on tape clear as Knight -- problem is ... so far the eyewitnesses are clamming up.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... 1Oak has a sophisticated surveillance system that covers almost the entire club, and at least one of the cameras clearly shows the gunman firing the shots. We're told the shooter's facial features are clear enough to make out.

As TMZ first reported ... cops are zeroing in on gang rivalry as a motive. Suge and Chris Brown -- who were inside the club -- make no secret of their Bloods affiliation. The Game -- who was denied entry -- also wears his Bloods affiliation on his sleeve.

We're told none of the witnesses want to be the person who fingers the gunman -- for obvious reasons.

We're told cops still have others to interview -- including Suge, who is currently sedated.

Riff Raff tried telling us he was dating Katy Perry months ago and we didn't believe him ... but Sunday night, the two looked like quite the couple -- the key word being ... LOOKED.

Following the VMAs, our photog spotted the happy couple leaving Mastro's wearing matching denim outfits. They were both clearly tipsy and joked about picking baby names.

But when you see the car door close ... and Katy's hand press against the window -- this all starts to look like they're both trying way too hard. It's not that we don't want RR to land a chick like Katy ... it's just that their gushing stinks of a publicity stunt.

Back in March, Riff Raff told us he and Katy were a thing, but check out the other girl in the video ... we assumed he was just kidding. Based on last night's video, we were probably right.

Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart insist they're not back together, and Sunday night at the VMAs ... they went through great lengths to show they aren't ... which totally means they are.

As TMZ first reported, despite being photographed together last week ... her people swear they're leading separate lives and just friends.

So J.Lo and Casper walked the VMA red carpet separately, sat separately at the VMAs (except for a quick reunion for candy) and each showed up at Mastro's following the show ... but left separately.

Where there's smoke ...

Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart REUNITED at the MTV VMAs ... if only for a quick second ... when the dancer made J.Lo an offer she couldn't refuse -- Skittles.

Despite the fact they were sitting in different sections, Casper made his way over to Jennifer's section during a commercial break with a sugary peace offering ... and the whole thing was captured on the VMA livestream.

As we previously reported, the two were spotted out together earlier this week -- despite the fact they recently broke up.

Little boys can't have grown man toys ... is what Tyson Beckford said about Justin Bieber ... and it's AWESOME!

A somewhat drunk Beckford was leaving 1Oak in West Hollywood ... when our photog asked him about Justin hanging out with his ex-GF Shanina Shaik on a yacht in Ibiza.

Beckford then said things about Shanina, himself and most of all the Biebs that rank among the 10 most awesome celeb comments in 2014.

YOU GOTTA WATCH THIS VIDEO!

We anxiously await Bieber's Instagram response.

Draya Michele just got sued by a club that had claimed she cancelled a gig because there were too many gay people ... but there's now evidence she may be the victim of a smear campaign.

TMZ broke the story ... a VIP hostess at Penthouse nightclub claimed Draya showed up for a scheduled event August 10, surveyed the crowd and then homophobically groused there were too many "f**s" and "d**es." The hostess said Draya stormed out, making the night a disaster.

But in the club's lawsuit ... there is not a word mentioned about homophobic comments. In fact ... the lawsuit doesn't even say Draya showed up. It says they got a text from her saying she was too tired to show.

The story in the lawsuit syncs up with the one Draya told us ... that she never showed up because she was sick. She also told us the club owner threatened to trash her in the media for being a no show.

The question ... did the owner make good on his threat?

V. Stiviano has just filed new legal docs in her war with Shelly Sterling -- claiming she NEVER slept with Donald Sterling ... 'cause he's into men and she was his beard.

TMZ Sports has obtained the lawsuit -- which Stiviano filed in response to Shelly's allegations that V. accepted cars and property from Donald that he didn't have the authority to give her.

In the new docs, Stiviano argues that the items in question were given to her in exchange for being Donald's "beard" -- and she insists Shelly knew about it.

Stiviano states ... she was "not ever a sexual partner of Donald T. Sterling" and "believes that [Sterling] is a homosexual and enjoys sexual acts and or sexual congress with males."

In the legal doc, filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Stiviano says Shelly was "acutely aware of [Donald's] sexual orientation and condoned same as well as acknowledged and approved [Donald's] gifts of money [to Stiviano]."

Stiviano also says the gifts she received were NOT community property -- but rather Donald's separate property.

Stiviano is also suing Shelly and Donald for defamation -- claiming they slandered her in the media by calling her a thief and saying she embezzled money and property from Donald. She's demanding no less than $10 MILLION.

We reached out to Donald's camp -- so far, no word back.

Story developing ...

Our sources say ... Nick's appearance on Big Boy's radio show in March was the beginning of the end. Nick played Big Boy's game -- name the 5 celebs you've slept with. Nick named 5, but our sources say the one that made Mariah insane was Kim Kardashian.

We're told Mariah tore into Nick for weeks ... feeling humiliated and the relationship never recovered.

We're told it went from bad to worse when Nick went on Howard Stern and talked about Mariah not giving it up before they got hitched. She went nuclear.

Our sources say Mariah feels Nick has abandoned her by taking every gig that's on the table ... when they don't need the money. She's especially angry because it keeps him away from their kids.

For Nick's part ... we're told he feels Mariah has become impossible because she surrounds herself with "yes men." He says she can't handle it when he dares to disagree with her.

We're also told Nick is incredulous Mariah is bitching about his work ethic ... he says he's generated $75 million since 2011 for the family.

Taylor Swift and John Mayer showed up at the same place Wednesday night ... eating dinner within eyeshot of each other ... and we know what didn't happen.

We got pics of Swift and Mayer leaving Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood in separate cars ... so there's smoke.

But there's no fire. Our Chateau spies say John and Taylor saw each other but didn't exchange a single word.

They famously dated a few years ago and traded breakup songs about their relationship.

Beyonce and Jay Z are NOT breaking up ... in fact, their relationship is "perfect' ... so says a woman who would definitely know -- Beyonce's mom.

Tina Knowles was leaving lunch with Kelly Rowland at Via Alloro in Bev Hills -- and in a super-rare moment, actually opened up about rumors that B and J's marriage is on the rocks.

Mama Knowles even had some choice words for people like Akon -- who recently told us the couple's relationship "feels corporate."

Rihanna's antics at Tuesday night's Drake/Lil Wayne concert left little doubt ... she and Drake are banging again ... and she really, really wants people to know.

RiRi was front and center during the show and made quite a spectacle while Drake was on stage. You'd have to be blind to not spot her jamming in the crowd next to a few of Wayne's family members. Hasn't she ever heard of keeping things on the DL?

The concert wasn't the end of their night ... with sources telling us Drake and RiRi showed up to after parties at 1Oak and The Attic following the show. The flammable duo were both at a NYC nightclub Monday as well.

Hollywood badass Chuck Zito is deeply remorseful for saying he would clobber a girlfriend who cheated on him ... and he says in actuality he would go nuclear on any guy who attacks a woman.

The "Sons of Anarchy" star went on TMZ Live to explain his comments about War Machine's brutal attack on ex-GF Christy Mack.

Zito's anguish over his comments is palpable.

Jennifer Lopez and Casper Smart were back together Monday ... and when she spotted the photog she ducked for cover -- which totally means they're banging!

We think it's JLo's car ... it's definitely not his, although he's driving.

JLo and Casper broke up in June after dating 2 1/2 years. There were reports Smart cheated on JLo with a transsexual, but he denied it and threatened to sue.

As we reported ... the breakup was amicable and they parted as friends. Now it appears there may be benefits to the friendship.

Chris Brown says he's back with Karrueche because she finally realized he did NOT have sex on a St. Tropez yacht.

The on-again-off-again couple is now on again ... and Chris says it's because Karrueche now realizes he was telling her the truth when he said he was not having sex with anyone else.

Sources close to Karrueche tell us ... he was frantically texting and calling her -- more than 20 attempts a day -- to acquit himself, but she ignored him.

We're told Saturday ... Karrueche showed up at Chris' celebrity flag football game to talk it out ... which they did, and she believes him.

As for the whole yacht thing ... there definitely was smoke ... he was on the vessel cavorting with several women, including one of Karrueche's close friends.