Legal

'Bachelor' creator Mike Fleiss THOUGHT he settled his divorce case with wife Laura Kaeppeler, but turns out it's still raging, because Mike paid her $10 mil, she took the kid out of state and she's not communicating with him.

TMZ broke the story ... Mike and Laura settled their divorce case late last month ... he agreed to pay her $10 million, they agreed to 50/50 joint legal and physical custody of their 4-year-old son, Ben, and she agreed to drop her domestic violence restraining request against him.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Mike paid her the cash, and on August 4 she left for Hawaii and went radio silent. He has tried to communicate with her, to no avail. He has not been able to see or speak with Ben since she left.

According to the agreement, Laura is allowed to live in Hawaii, but she has certain obligations. She's supposed to meet with renowned psychologist Stan Katz to figure out effective co-parenting, but according to the legal docs she has not set up an appointment to meet with him.

Fleiss planned to fly to Hawaii August 13, which is when he's entitled to get Ben for custodial time, but he's now in the dark because she won't communicate with him.

Fleiss' lawyer, disso queen Laura Wasser, has filed papers to get some action from the judge, but the hearing was set for late September. We're told they're hopeful they can work things out with Kaeppeler -- especially a co-parenting plan -- but it seems that may not happen easily.

Sources close to Kaeppeler say Fleiss went to court for an emergency order Monday but the judge denied it because it was not an emergency ... in part because the child lives in Hawaii. The sources say they're already working with Stan Katz.

Candytopia's marshmallow pit is shallower than the social media posts -- for which it's popular -- according to a visitor who says he learned the hard way ... DON'T JUMP IN!!!

The interactive candy museum is being sued by a guy who claims he jumped into the marshmallow pit exhibit -- which he says looks deceivingly like a deep swimming pool -- and SHATTERED HIS FOOT.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ ... the man claims he went to Candytopia in San Francisco earlier this year with his fiance, and museum employees actively encouraged him to hop into the marshmallow pit.

Problem is ... the guy says the pit has the look and feel of a swimming pool, complete with a familiar style in-ground swimming pool ladder, but no one told him there wasn't a deep end. The only warning he says he got was to hold on to his cell phone -- which he claims made it sound like the pit was at least waist-deep.

In the docs, the dude says as a result of his injuries he had to wear a walking boot ... and he claims his broken foot ruined his wedding and his doctor told him he'll likely suffer foot pain for the rest of his life!!!

Now, he's going after Candytopia for damages and looking for a sweet payday. If he's awarded a pool of money ... we're guessing he won't dive in.

Djimon Hounsou and Kimora Lee Simmons are now locked in a bitter custody fight, and he's made the latest move by asking a judge for joint custody, and her side says he's threatened to move their 10-year-old to Africa.

It's been a bitter fight that has now bubbled over. As we reported, Djimon complained bitterly on Father's Day Kimora wouldn't let him see their 10-year-old son, Kenzo. He strongly insinuated she was regularly keeping the child away from him, but she maintained he was an absent father who rarely wanted to see the boy.

Our Kimora sources claim Djimon has threatened to take Kenzo to Africa and never bring him back. Russell Simmons, who was once married to Kimora and is still close to her, tells TMZ a few days ago he told Djimon he could take the boy for a visit if he would sign a document promising not to take Kenzo to Africa, but Djimon refused to sign.

Kimora got served Friday with Djimon's joint custody petition.

Russell tells TMZ Djimon now is asking not just for joint custody, but child support, yet Russell claims Djimon hasn't paid her support. We don't know, however, if a court ordered him to do so.

In-N-Out burgers might be delicious, but they're burning the hell outta their employees ... according to one worker who's pissed about his uniform -- 'cause he had to pay for it.

Tom Piplack toiled at an In-N-Out branch in Southern California between February 2016 and November 2018, and like all employees at the burger joint ... had to rock the all white pants and black shoes. He's not complaining about the fashion, it's the cost that's got him fired up.

In a lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Piplack says most In-N-Out workers are paid "near minimum wage" and forcing them to buy their uniform "pushes their wages below the legal minimum."

He isn't disclosing how much he paid ... it's more about the principal of the matter for him.

Piplack wants the court to make In-N-Out pay fines for violating Cali labor laws -- and then he wants that money to be distributed to all employees as reimbursement for the uniform expenses.

You could say Piplack is pulling a Robin Hood, but he also wants the burger giant to cover his attorneys fees. Robin Hood didn't have no stinkin' lawyers.

Cristiano Ronaldo wants his rape case to be taken out of the public eye ... the soccer superstar is asking a judge to force the civil case against him to go to a private forum.

It's all in new court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports ... which show Ronaldo wants his lawsuit with his rape accuser to move from federal court to a private, independent arbitrator.

Ronaldo says because Kathryn Mayorga agreed to a settlement and a non-disclosure agreement in 2010, after accusing him of rape in 2009 ... she should be compelled to at least try to litigate the dispute in arbitration -- not court.

Ronaldo is asking a judge to to put a hold on all proceedings in the case in the meantime.

As we previously reported, Mayorga says she met CR7 at Rain Nightclub in the Palms hotel in June 2009, and after he invited her up to his penthouse suite to party, she claims he raped her.

She reached a settlement with Ronaldo shortly after, accepting $375,000 in exchange for her silence -- but, last year, she announced she wanted that agreement voided, claiming she was in no mental state to make that deal.

Ronaldo is calling BS on that claim in his new court filings, saying she WAS in the proper state ... adding that her family accompanied her to mediation meetings, and saying she "undoubtedly understood she was free to leave at any time and settlement was optional."

Unclear when a judge will rule on Ronaldo's motion to move the case ... but it shouldn't be long.

For his part, Ronaldo has denied ever raping Mayorga, saying in a statement last year, "Rape is an abominable crime that goes against everything that I am and believe in."

No ifs, ands or buts about it ... a judge has ruled Ron White and Margo Rey are officially married.

The ruling came down Tuesday in L.A. Superior Court where a judge sided with Margo and declared the couple was in a common-law marriage under Texas law. The judge just wasn't buying Ron's assertion that the October 2013 wedding in Texas is invalid because Margo refused to sign a prenup.

The judge made it crystal clear ... Ron shelled out $100k for the extravagant wedding, wanted money to be donated to a specific charity in lieu of gifts and the couple was pronounced husband and wife by an officiant under the powers granted to him by the state of Texas.

What's more ... Ron moved forward with the wedding despite Margo never signing the prenup. The judge says it's significant that, despite having 2 separate attorneys, Ron took no steps to halt the 300-person wedding.

In short ... the judge said if it looked like a marriage and acted like a marriage, they're married.

As we reported ... a family friend said Ron professed his love for Margo and referred to Margo as "my wife." Now that this is settled ... the case can move forward. As you might know by now ... she demanded $81k per month in spousal support claiming Ron left her high and dry.

Jussie Smollett says the City of Chicago is simply trying to exact a pound of flesh from him after his criminal case was dismissed -- a move he calls unprecedented and unfair.

Jussie filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Chi-Town filed against him to recoup the cost of the investigation into the alleged racist and homophobic attack. In the docs, Jussie says the City has no business suing him because even IF you assume he did lie about the attack -- although he's not admitting that -- there's no way he could have foreseen the enormous amount of money Chicago PD spent on the case.

Jussie also says the city's argument that he's responsible for the investigation costs falls flat because Chicago hasn't shown "a direct link between [Jussie's] statements and the costs the City incurred."

Chicago claims the investigation cost Chicago PD at least $130,000 just in overtime. As we reported, the City also wants Jussie to cover its attorneys fees, and wants punitive damages. In all, it's seeking nearly half a million bucks from Jussie.

"Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta" star Joseline Hernandez is on the verge of getting arrested after she blatantly disregarded the child custody agreement she has with Stevie J by denying him the right to see their daughter.

Stevie had a right to take custody of their 2-year-old daughter, Bonnie Bella from July 28 to August 11. Joseline was in Miami shooting "Marriage Boot Camp," so he traveled there on the 28 to pick up his daughter. According to court documents, obtained by TMZ, instead of turning Bonnie Bella over, Joseline took the child and flew to L.A.

After Stevie's attorney, Adamma McKinnon ran to court, the judge in the custody case issued an arrest warrant Thursday, ordering Joseline to turn the baby over STAT or she would be taken into custody.

We've learned Stevie J flew to L.A. late Friday and the stage is now set for a showdown. The judge made it clear ... if Joseline doesn't turn the child over, the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. is ordered to immediately arrest her.

And, there's more ... because Joseline violated the custody agreement -- which gave her physical custody and Stevie J visitation -- the judge switched it around and now Stevie has sole physical custody of Bonnie Bella ... until August 15 when they're back in Fulton County court.

We'll let you know if Joseline complies, or if she's arrested.

Stormy Daniels is getting a taste of justice after the Ohio cops who busted her at a strip club last year are now facing some consequences ... but she ain't done with them yet.

The ex-adult film star was beaming Friday night as she strolled through LAX -- without any makeup at that -- as she reacted to the news that five of the officers who went undercover and arrested her at a strip joint in Columbus will be reprimanded by their department.

When a pap asks how she feels about the update a year later -- she actually corrects him with a more precise time frame (387 days, to be exact) ... so yeah, she's definitely been keeping tabs on the case.

She also doubles down on what's come to light about the arrest since it went down -- that it never should've happened, and it was completely bogus. Stormy was a guest at the venue she was performing at -- she was just booked for a special appearance -- and the no touching law the Columbus cops tried nabbing her on only applies to regular employees.

The charges were dropped, and since then ... Stormy also sued some of those officers, and she tells the photog here that the lawsuit's still on. In the filing, she claimed the cops targeted her for speaking out against Trump ... alleging the arrest was purely political.

She obviously wants damages, but funny enough ... there's one other thing they could give her that might smooth things over.

Seal is lecturing Katy Perry about the differences between borrowing and stealing ... he says being influenced by other artists is fine, but ya can't just jack someone else's beats!!!

Seal was at LAX Friday when he weighed in on Katy being ordered to cough up $550,000 for ripping off another musician's work. He says there's a fine line between being inspired by a tune and straight up stealing it.

As you know ... Katy lost a huge lawsuit this week, a jury decided she and her codefendants improperly copied Christian rapper Flame's song, "Joyful Noise," for her smash hit, "Dark Horse."

Seal rattles off a list of artists who influenced his music when he was breaking into the industry, but he says he never went so far as to steal from them ... and ya gotta hear the shade he throws at Dr. Luke and the 7 other songwriters who worked on Katy's disgraced track.

R. Kelly's racketeering and sex trafficking case is underway in NY ... he's set to appear and officially hear the charges and enter a plea.

Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, tells us the singer will plead not guilty at the arraignment. No major surprise ... Kelly has continued to battle the mounting charges and cases against him, denying all the allegations. Kelly flew to New York Thursday for the hearing.

Just like in his federal case in Illinois, Kelly's 2 girlfriends -- Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage -- are there for moral support. As we told you, they flew from Chicago to attend the arraignment ... and stuck to their phones as they walked in.

Azriel's phone itself is a symbol of her support. Take a close look -- the case is a collage of various photos of Kelly.

There's also a group of Kelly supporters that have gathered outside the courthouse ... one wearing a "Free R. Kelly" t-shirt.

As we reported ... the feds slapped Kelly with a 5-count federal indictment ... which includes racketeering and kidnapping. This is separate from the 13-count indictment in Illinois federal court. The indictment out of the Eastern District of NY also includes several violations of the Mann Act and allegations of forced labor.

Kelly denied the allegations ... blasting his alleged victims as "disgruntled groupies," this according to docs in which he asks the judge to release him pending trial. He's been behind bars since he was denied bond.

According to the federal indictment ... Kelly and others engaged in a scheme to coerce minors to participate in sexually explicit acts on camera. The feds say the purpose of the scheme was to "promote R. Kelly's music and the R. Kelly brand and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly."

The feds also allege "Kelly and his crew traveled throughout the United States and abroad to recruit these women and girls." Further allegations include Kelly made "threats of force and physically restrained the women" to obtain their labor and services.

BTW ... the Mann Act prohibits the transportation of anyone across state lines for illicit sexual purposes. Four of the 5 counts against Kelly are violations of the Mann Act.

Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" is going to cost her a lot of green, but her record label is paying twice as much for ripping off the tune.

The federal jury in L.A. just dished out the damages, and the pop singer will have to pay $550k to Christian rapper Flame. He sued Katy, Dr. Luke and 7 other songwriters on "Dark Horse" for jacking his tune, "Joyful Noise." Capitol Records was also a defendant, and the jury ordered it to pay the lion's share ... $1.2 million.

In all, Flame will get a total of $2.7 million from all the defendants. The jury said his song was responsible for 22.5 percent of the "Dark Horse" profits.

His Grammy-nominated gospel track came out in 2008 ... 6 years before KP dropped "Dark Horse."

The jury's decision on hefty damages came after hearing 2 full days of testimony about how much Perry's megahit and the album it was on, "Prism," have earned since release. Katy's cut, to date, has been $3.2 mil ... while Capitol Records earned $31 million.

Of course, the same jury returned a unanimous verdict that Perry and her co-defendants improperly copied the Christian rap track -- specifically by jacking its continually repeated musical rhythm.

“Our clients filed this lawsuit five years ago seeking justice and fair compensation for the unauthorized copying of their music. It has been a long and arduous path, but they are quite pleased to have received the justice they sought,” Flame's lawyer, Lauren R. Cohen, said.

As we reported ... Flame's music label uploaded a "Joyful Noise" vid on YouTube in 2008, and it's racked up millions of views over the years.

In his lawsuit, first filed way back in 2014, Flame claimed Perry stole the underlying beat and riff in the middle of "Joyful Noise" for "Dark Horse." He also said it destroyed his reputation in Christian music because he became associated with the anti-Christian imagery present in her music vid.

Perry called BS on the 2 tracks having any meaningful similarities, and during her jury testimony earlier this month she claimed she'd never even heard Flame's song before he filed the lawsuit.

Katy told the jury she first heard the beats from Dr. Luke while they were hanging out in Santa Barbara and claimed she wrote "Dark Horse" in only 4 hours.

However, Flame's legal team was able to convince the jury that his song was popular and prevalent enough to have been heard and ripped off ... and that's exactly what Perry and her team did.

By the way ... the "Dark Horse" music video currently has 2.6 BILLION YouTube views. Gotta wonder if it was worth it.

A$AP Bari just took another big L stemming from his sexual assault case ... because the judge tossed his countersuit against his victim.

According to new legal docs ... the rapper's defamation suit against the woman, listed as Jane Doe, and all claims he made against her have been dismissed.

The reason it was tossed is because the woman filed a police report and a lawsuit, and the judge ruled both are protected speech ... so Bari can't sue her over what she told cops or claimed in a suit.

As we reported ... Bari pled guilty to sexually assaulting the woman in a London hotel in 2017. As part of his plea deal, he was ordered to pay a $5k fine and pay the victim $3,150 ... but he avoided jail time.

In leaked video of the incident, Bari's seen chasing the woman around the room and ordering her to give him oral sex.

While his plea deal concluded the criminal case, the civil case is still ongoing. Doe sued the hip-hop designer for sexual assault in late 2017, and he countersued in August 2018 claiming she was a liar and trying to extort him for a big payday.

Jon Gruden said this week he expects "more drama" involving Antonio Brown ... and guess what -- he got it.

The Oakland Raiders superstar has been sued by his famous personal trainer who claims the WR stiffed him out of thousands of dollars stemming from a week-long off-season workout program.

The man behind the suit is Sean Pena -- who's trained pro athletes like NFL star Darius Leonard.

Pena somehow connected with Antonio Brown in 2019 -- and the two started working out together.

Pena claims AB had him fly up to NorCal for one week of hardcore training in April -- and he even posted footage of the two grinding it out in the gym at the University of California Berkeley.

They did everything from foot speed drills to weight training, balance work and water-resistance work in a pool. The sessions actually looked pretty intense.

But, when it came time to pay up, according to the lawsuit ... Brown never ponied up the dough.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Pena is demanding $7,194.81 for "unpaid therapy and training services; agreed-upon reimbursement for hotels, airfare, rental car, and [miscellaneous fees], in addition to late penalties disclosed on accepted invoice."

The case has already been assigned a trial date for October -- which will go down unless the two sides can reach a settlement before that.

When reached for comment, Brown's attorney, Darren Heitner, tells TMZ Sports ... "Mr. Brown has already paid the Plaintiff everything that he was due. The Plaintiff has no foundation for coming after Mr. Brown, and we will ensure that this case disposed of quickly."

FYI, Brown signed a 3-year, $50 MILLION contract with the Raiders during the off-season.

Kurt Rappaport, who is one of the richest and most successful realtors in the United States, claims his Guess-model wife of 16 months has been extorting him with threats to ruin his life and that of his celebrity friends if he doesn't tear up their prenup and cough up millions.

Rappaport filed for divorce from Sarah Mutch back in February. In a new civil lawsuit just filed, Rappaport says almost immediately after their lavish, $3 million wedding, Mutch began bitterly complaining about the terms of the prenup and demanded -- "violently at times" -- that he change the terms or "the marriage is over."

His lawsuit goes on to say ... when he refused to tear up the prenup, she went wild with his credit card, charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for various things. The suit claims Mutch threatened that if he didn't pay her bills, she would "release false information about [Rappaport] and his friends to the press and social media outlets."

He says after he filed for divorce, she went on a rampage, demanding millions of dollars or she would "go to the press and f*** s*** up" by disseminating false information about him and his celebrity friends.

Rappaport filed a police report in April, detailing some of the alleged threats. According to the report, obtained by TMZ, Rappaport says Mutch "threatened to fabricate a 'Me Too' sexual harassment report at the hands of his wealthy friends." He says she threatened to go to the media with the allegations if he didn't give her "millions and millions of dollars." He told cops she said, "If I don't get what I want, I'm going to drop a bomb and end your career in a week!"

He says one of her demands was that he give her partial ownership of a $60 million property he owns.

Rappaport says when he refused to put the property in her name or tear up the prenup during the marriage, she began berating him, calling him "selfish, cheap, greedy and disgusting."

The $3 million wedding in September 2017, was crazy ... Christina Aguilera performed. The guest list included Diddy, Ryan Seacrest, DJ Khaled and Larry King.