Legal

Nipsey Hussle's family and the woman who gave birth to his daughter had an emotional showdown in court ... which left his baby mama in tears.

Nipsey's sister, Samantha Smith, and his brother, Blacc Sam, appeared in L.A. County Superior Court Tuesday for a hearing on the guardianship of the rapper's 10-year-old daughter, Emani Asghedom. Emani's mother, Tanisha, was at the hearing as well and broke down crying when she saw her daughter for the first time in what she said was months.

The courtroom was cleared for 20 minutes while Tanisha and Emani spent some time together. However, the hearing was pushed until Friday when a final decision is to be made on custody and finances.

We broke the story ... Samantha filed legal docs requesting guardianship last month because our sources say she believes the child's biological mother is unable to care for her.

Nipsey took care of Emani before he was killed, but Samantha says she's helped raise her too and is seeking legal guardianship "to ensure the continued stability for Emani and ensure that she will be able to maintain her current and ongoing relationship" with their family.

Nipsey's brother, Blacc Sam, has also filed a declaration in support of Samantha getting guardianship of their niece. Meanwhile, Sam's in a legal fight of his own to take control of his brother's estate ... including $2 million worth of assets.

As you know ... Nipsey was gunned down on March 31 outside his Marathon Clothing store in Los Angeles. The suspected murderer, Eric Holder, pled not guilty in April ... but he needs a new lawyer after Christopher Darden quit the case.

Elon Musk says the British diver he referred to as "pedo guy" already got an apology and wasn't harmed by the comment ... but he claims the guy's still milking it for a payday.

According to new legal docs ... Musk's attorney, Alex Spiro, says Vernon Unsworth was a nobody until he got himself involved in the effort to save the 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped in a Thailand cave last year. He adds that Unsworth ignited a feud with Musk by attacking and ridiculing the tech mogul for his efforts to help.

The Tesla honcho admits he responded poorly to Unsworth's insults with the "pedo" tweet, but he immediately took it down and retracted it publicly.

He also says Unsworth's reputation didn't take a hit, and in fact ... he actually got good publicity from the media, AND the Queen of England made him a member of the Order of the British Empire for his help in the rescue.

Spiro says in docs, Unsworth suing him for defamation is nothing more than a "devious desire to milk the media coverage over what he instigated to reap a financial windfall from Mr. Musk, despite the absence of any injury."

Tiger Woods is breaking his silence on a lawsuit that claims his restaurant is responsible for a man's death ... telling media members Tuesday, "It was a terrible, terrible night."

We broke the story ... the parents of Nicholas Immesberger just filed a lawsuit claiming their son was overserved booze at Tiger's, The Woods, restaurant in Jupiter, Florida ... and they say that led to his 2018 drunk driving death.

Tiger was asked about the incident during his PGA Championship press conference ... and Woods said, "We're all very sad that Nick passed away. It was a terrible, terrible night."

"A terrible ending and just we feel bad for him and his entire family. It's very sad."

24-year-old Immesberger worked as a bartender for the restaurant ... and his parents say he knew Tiger personally. In fact, they claim it was Tiger's girlfriend -- restaurant general manager Erica Herman -- who recruited him herself.

According to the suit, Immesberger finished a shift on Dec. 10, 2018 -- but stayed at the restaurant for hours where he was served alcohol to the point of "severe intoxication" before he was sent out to his car to drive home.

Immesberger crashed on his drive home and died in the accident. His blood alcohol level was a .256, more than 3 times the legal limit.

Now, at a press conference of their own Tuesday morning ... an attorney for Immesberger's estate and his parents believe Woods' restaurant DESTROYED video evidence showing Nick drinking at the bar for hours after his shift.

Immesberger's attorneys want Tiger, Erica and The Woods restaurant to be held responsible for the tragedy ... saying they all personally knew Immesberger had a problem with alcohol but allowed him to be overserved anyway.

Anthony Weiner is officially a free man, after doing the remainder of his time at a halfway house for prison inmates ... and he's elated.

The disgraced former Congressman walked out of a residential re-entry center in NYC Tuesday morning, where he's been since February after transferring there from a Massachusetts federal prison.

Weiner, who was barely holding back a smile, said it's good to be out, adding ... "I hope to be able to live a life of integrity and service. I'm glad this chapter of my life is behind me."

Now that he's free, Weiner will be under supervised released for 3 years and will have to register as a sex offender. He's also on the hook for a $10k fine.

Stan Lee's former business partner and friend has been charged with several counts of elder abuse.

Keya Morgan was charged Friday in Los Angeles court with 5 separate counts of elder abuse ... charging docs state the incident happened in June of 2018. We've learned a judge also issued a warrant for Morgan's arrest.

It was back in July when Lee's legal team filed docs requesting a restraining order against Morgan. In the docs, Stan's attorneys claimed Morgan mishandled more than $5 million of Stan's money and he had suffered severe physical and emotional injuries because of Morgan. The docs also claimed Keya tried to isolate Stan from his family and moved him to an undisclosed location.

The order was eventually granted by a judge.

At the time, Morgan told us, "For over 10 years I have shown nothing but love, respect & kindness to Stan Lee, & his wife, a fact he has repeated countless times."

He continued, "This is a witchhunt by his daughter and her lawyer against me because she cannot stand the fact Stan likes me so much. I will 100% prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the allegations against me are false. The truth will come out."

Remy Ma and Safaree derailed a benefit concert after allegedly breaking 2 simple rules -- but it's enough to get 'em sued.

The Circle Foundation -- which mentors Chicago-area youths -- is suing the rappers, saying they signed to perform at a fundraising concert back on April 21, 2018, at the Wintrust Arena in Chicago. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the Foundation was forced to cancel the show after the rappers breached their contracts.

The Foundation claims their contracts specifically stated Remy and Safaree could NOT perform within 60 miles of the arena for 30 days before the event. It's called a "performance exclusivity" clause, and it's a common practice promoters use to make sure their concerts remain in hot demand.

In the suit, the Foundation says the rappers agreed and signed the deal ... with Remy getting a $35k deposit payment and Safaree getting $7,250.

The problem, according to the docs, is Remy performed on April 8 at the Black Women's Expo in Chicago -- and Safaree played the Rockin' Horse Saloon & Grill on April 14 in a Chicago suburb.

As a result, The Circle Foundation says it asked Remy and Safaree to return the dough but got the cold shoulder. It's now suing to get its money back, plus damages.

Remy's attorney Eric Sanders tells us she is "unaware of any purported legal action filed but, if such action is initiated she will respond accordingly."

R. Kelly's ongoing criminal case and assortment of legal issues aren't stopping him from getting action ... at least according to several callers who want it to be known.

Sources close to the case tell TMZ ... the hotline Kim Foxx set up in January for the Cook County State's Attorney's Office -- so alleged Kelly victims could report their claims -- is being exploited by folks who want to report something else -- their sexual experiences with him.

We're told the hotline has gotten dozens of calls from mostly women, who phone in to inform prosecutors they slept with Kelly ... with some bragging about it or detailing multiple trysts.

Our sources say some men called in as well ... to gossip about women they know that allegedly banged Kelly.

We're told the volume of calls coming in from people with R. Kelly sex stories has been staggering to some involved with the case, but at the end of the day ... they are irrelevant.

Obviously, a person can have lots of consensual sex and still be guilty of sexual assault charges. Still, it's just another strange and unexpected aspect of Kelly's ongoing legal drama.

As we reported ... he just avoided another trip to jail by ponying up the back child support he owed his ex-wife Wednesday, and he's getting a do-over in a sexual abuse lawsuit he initially lost by not responding.

Of course, all of this is going down as he waits to stand trial on 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving underage girls.

"Little Women: LA" star Christy Gibel says she needs court-ordered protection against her husband, and she needs it now ... TMZ has learned.

The reality TV star filed court docs Wednesday in L.A. County asking a judge to grant her a temporary restraining order against her hubby of 5 years -- Todd Gibel.

Our Christy sources claim Todd has been making life for her and her 19-year-old daughter from another relationship miserable in a number of threatening ways. For one, Christy says Todd has been impersonating her via email and shutting her out of her social media accounts. She also suspects he's been ripping up her mail.

On a more petty level ... Christy says Todd's been doing stuff like unnecessarily raising the temperature in the house to unbearable levels. For that reason and others ... Christy says she fears for her life and needs a force field between her and Todd.

The married couple has certainly been going through a tough time lately, as Todd has been battling depression. He told us late last month that he'd be seeking treatment to better his condition -- which he explained was severely affecting his marriage to Christy.

At the time, Todd said ... "Right now Christy and I still live together, but we are just co-existing."

There's been more drama at home, it seems, in recent days -- social media posts Todd's been putting up paint a picture of constant arguing over family coming to visit and their dogs.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, Todd even called cops late Sunday night ... complaining about Christy's pup not shutting its yap when her niece came to visit. We're told cops instructed them to figure it out amongst themselves.

They tried doing that by boarding all three of their dogs up for a day -- Monday, we're told -- but it appears Todd's now fighting with Christy about that too ... saying she's not releasing his own dog, Elvis, to him and holding it hostage against his will.

R. Kelly just got a small victory in the sexual abuse lawsuit, which he'd lost by not responding -- 'cause the judge is giving him a do-over in court ... TMZ has learned.

As we first told you ... R. Kelly's new attorneys filed a motion in Cook County asking a judge to throw out the default judgment entered against the singer back in April when he didn't show up to fight the claims he'd allegedly sexually abused Heather Williams at age 16.

R. Kelly's lawyers argued he was confused and overwhelmed when he got served the court papers in jail. More importantly, they said he's illiterate, and didn't know what he was reading.

Looks like the judge bought that, and vacated the default judgment... which now means he can fight the lawsuit on its merits. Kelly's attorneys, Zaid Abdallah and Raed Shalabi tell us ... "We’ve never been part of a criminal case where an alleged victim has filed a civil case during a criminal proceeding."

The guy who was suing the Duffer Bros. for allegedly stealing the idea for "Stranger Things" from him is doing a complete 180 and yanking his lawsuit ... right before their trial was set to begin.

Charles Kessler reportedly withdrew his suit against Matt and Ross Duffer Sunday, issuing a statement as well that completely recanted any and all claims of plagiarism he'd made against them over the past year.

His reasoning is a bit odd, as it seems he just realized he had no case against them. Kessler wrote, "After hearing the deposition testimony this week of the legal expert I hired, it is now apparent to me that, whatever I may have believed in the past, my work had nothing to do with the creation of Stranger Things."

He added, "Documents from 2010 and 2013 prove that the Duffers independently created their show. As a result, I have withdrawn my claim and I will be making no further comment on this matter."

TMZ broke the story ... Kessler sued the Duffers back in April of last year, alleging that he'd met with them in 2014 to pitch an idea similar to "Stranger Things" but never heard back -- only to see a show incredibly similar to his idea get greenlit by Netflix courtesy of the bros.

He claimed that his 2012 short film "Montauk" was the inspiration for the show, but he never got any credit ... or cash. The Duffers, meanwhile, fired back saying they had documented evidence that they'd been working on "Stranger Things" since at least 2010.

We reviewed some of those documents -- emails that the Duffers were sending back and forth -- and sure enough, it appeared to prove they were, in fact, developing a "Montauk"-like series well before Kessler came into the picture.

Netflix chimed in on the news as well Sunday, saying ... "We are glad to be able to put this baseless lawsuit behind us. As we have said all along, Stranger Things is a ground-breaking original creation by The Duffer Brothers."

The studio continued, "We are proud of this show and of our friends Matt and Ross, whose artistic vision gave life to Stranger Things, and whose passion, imagination and relentless hard work alongside our talented cast and crew made it a wildly successful, award-winning series beloved by viewers around the world."

11:11 PM PT -- An industry source tells us Kim actually pulls in $1 Million per Instagram post ... and it's likely her legal team will re-file the docs with an adjustment.

Kim Kardashian just filed legal docs revealing just how incredibly powerful and influential she is ... and that power and influence translates into insane cash.

Kim is embroiled in a lawsuit against Missguided USA clothing company, a fast fashion brand. She claims the company used her image to hawk its wares. The company apparently didn't respond to her claims, and she's now going in for a default judgment for $5 mil.

That's not why we're telling you about this. In the docs, Kim justifies the $5 mil by explaining her capacity to make big money. She says she gets between $300,000 and $500,000 FOR A SINGLE INSTAGRAM POST!!!

And, get this ... in the docs, she says she frequently turns down offers for that kind of money because she doesn't want to be associated with the brands.

As for the lawsuit, Kim says her brand is being damaged by Missguided USA associating itself with her.

Kim Kardashian is mired in her studies to become a lawyer, but she's already the recipient of a big award from a legal org.

We've learned Kim and her lawyer, Shawn Holley, will receive the Women Leadership in Law Award next month for their work in getting Alice Johnson freed. The award is also for their ongoing work in the area of prison reform.

Kim and Shawn will receive the award at a conference in Bev Hills, sponsored by 2 of California's leading legal publications ... The California Lawyer and the Daily Journal.

One of the officers from the org wrote to them, "You both are truly inspirational, and your work has been life-changing."

As you know, Kim and Shawn worked closely with Jared Kushner for months, before finally meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office to push for Johnson's release. The 2 women are widely credited for gaining Alice's freedom.

"I think prosecutors in this country should have something much better to do."

That's Robert Shapiro -- a famous piece of O.J. Simpson's dream team -- going scorched Earth on prosecutors in the Robert Kraft case, telling TMZ Sports they ALL should be ashamed of themselves.

"You know what, I think this case is something that the people that are prosecuting and the people that are investigating should be ashamed of," Shapiro said leaving the restaurant, E Baldi, this week.

"There is so much crime going on in this country and to take valuable assets and time from law enforcement to enforce something that has nothing to do with the allegations they're bringing, I think it's just irresponsible."

Of course, Kraft is currently in the fight of his life down in Florida ... fending off charges of soliciting prostitutes and scrapping like hell to block videos of the alleged incident from getting out to the public.

Shapiro thinks it's straight-up ridiculous that the 77-year-old is going through this ... telling us prosecutors in the case should just drop the charges now and move on.

"It's a very private, personal matter," Shapiro says ... "He's moved on and I think prosecutors in this country should have something much better to do."

Tekashi69's got a new banger just begging to be heard, but a Danish rapper claims his label's stonewalling it and screwing him over ... so he wants a judge to step in and help him out.

According to new legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Tekashi struck a deal with Danish musician Sleiman in September 2018 to drop the vocals on his track, titled "Red Bandnna [sic]/Black Hoodie." Sleiman claims Tekashi signed over the rights to him, and got paid 88,000 euros for his services.

That's nearly $100k in the U.S.

Sleiman claims after the song was recorded, he began working on getting it released when Tekaski's label, 10k Projects, reached out saying it had exclusive rights to Tekashi, so the track couldn't be released without its permission.

According to the docs ... 10k also threatened Sleiman with legal action if he released the track on his own online.

Sleiman claims 10k's meddling has thwarted him landing a recording deal to release the song ... and he's also out the 88k euros.

He's asking the judge to declare him the rightful owner of the track so he can distribute it ... and he wants his Tekashi money back for his troubles.

Kim Kardashian has her first job offer in the legal world, and it comes from one of the famed attorneys who worked closely with her dad on O.J. Simpson's dream team.

Robert Shapiro, who defended O.J. alongside Robert Kardashian, tells us Kim has what it takes to become a sensational lawyer. And, once she passes the bar ... the door's open for her at his law firm.

Shapiro was leaving E Baldi restaurant in Beverly Hills Wednesday when he broke it down for us ... he says Kim's already done incredible work with no experience, so the sky's the limit now that she's seriously practicing law.

He makes it clear she has a long, difficult road ahead of her and there's a high chance of failure ... but Robert believes she'll pull through.

In fact, Shapiro says it won't take much for her to surpass her father's lawyerin' skills -- a not-so-subtle dig at how much Kardashian actually contributed, strategy-wise, to Simpson's defense.

As we reported ... Kim's been studying hard for the baby bar exam and was hitting the books earlier this week for a torts essay with attorneys Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney, with whom she's apprenticing.

She says she aced it, by the way ... and don't count Shapiro among the doubters.

11:34 AM PT -- Michael Avenatti has waded into the Jussie Smollett drama down in Chicago, saying he almost got directly involved when the case was at its peak in February. Avenatti explains -- in a statement he posted and then deleted from Twitter -- that counsel for the Osundairo brothers reached out to him to see if he could potentially help 'em out.

Avenatti says he ultimately declined, but along the way ... he says he reached out to Kim Foxx to give her a heads-up about his possible involvement as a courtesy. He insists there's nothing improper about this, as he claims it's routine.

There's more -- Avenatti goes on to slam R. Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, saying SG is trying to muck up the Kelly case by personally attacking Avenatti over his own legal woes. What's more, Avenatti says Greenberg is "attempting to create a smokescreen to distract away from the mountain of evidence" Avenatti claims the Cook County State Attorney has against the singer to prove he abused underage girls.

Avenatti says the evidence will speak for itself, adding that he hopes Kim Foxx and co. will bring justice to Kelly's alleged victims. He goes further in praising her, saying she and her staff are "extremely professional, unbiased and focused on the delivery of justice."

It's almost a word-for-word counter to Greenberg's claim that Foxx's office is barely functioning in chaos in the ongoing fallout of the since-dismissed Jussie case.

R. Kelly's legal team thinks Kim Foxx calling the singer a "pedophile" before he's even been given a fair trial is a clear look into how her office is run ... totally dysfunctional.

Kelly's attorney, Steven Greenberg, tells TMZ ... Foxx's texts to a fellow staffer -- in which she implicitly referred to his client as a pedo in comparing his case to Jussie Smollett's -- was outrageous, considering Kelly hasn't been convicted of any such crime.

Greenberg says Foxx is letting her personal biases color the way she characterizes Kelly's case -- which she implied was a way bigger deal than Jussie's in her correspondence that was made public Tuesday.

As we reported ... Foxx called Jussie a "washed up celeb" who'd been slapped with 16 felony counts, while going on to indirectly compare that to R. Kelly only getting charged with 10 counts ... saying there was a discrepancy there as far as priorities go.

Of course, her office ultimately dropped all the charges against Jussie.

Greenberg tells us that the fact that Foxx is even having these types of conversations with her staff in this manner paints a larger picture about the Cook County State Attorney's Office ... he calls it "dysfunctional and chaotic." He also thinks Foxx lacks objectivity.

That said, Greenberg says he isn't calling for Foxx to be removed from the Kelly case just yet. He tells us there's evidence and discovery he wants to get his hands on first before doing anything.

Greenberg adds ... once he and his team get everything they need, they'll make a decision on what to ask as far as Foxx's involvement is concerned.