Legal

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli have just gone on the offensive, claiming federal prosecutors corruptly withheld evidence from them, which they say proves they bribed no one, and they further say the government withheld the evidence so it could squeeze the couple into accepting a plea bargain.

Lori and Mossimo claim in new legal docs, the money they gave Rick Singer to get their daughters into USC was a payment they believed was going to the University itself.

According to the docs, for months the government claimed it didn't have any exculpatory evidence showing the payment was not a bribe to then USC Senior Associate Athletic Director Donna Heinel.

According to the docs, after months of denials, prosecutors finally and belatedly turned over evidence and testimony from Rick Singer that tends to show NO BRIBE was offered ... at least that what Lori and Mossimo believed.

The docs state, "Rick Singer has advised the government, in sum and in substance, that ... the families that do the side door ...typically do not know that Heinel is involved until the time of the first payment."

Singer further stated, "Giannulli and Loughlin thought their payment of $50,000 went directly to USC's program." And, get this ... according to the docs, "The government clearly acknowledges that Giannulli and Loughlin's alleged 'bribe payments' did not go to any USC official personally, but rather went to USC itself."

As for the rest of the money, according to the docs, Singer told prosecutors Lori and Mossimo "thought their $200,000 payment went to [Singer's charity] with some of the funds then 'going to a USC program.'"

And, according to the docs, prosecutors have internal USC emails in which they offer to "flag" one daughter's application and take a customized tour of the campus "to discuss the impact of [Giannulli's] philanthropy."

This is really a core to the case because there's nothing illegal about contributing to the University. In fact, in the docs, USC "has an institutional practice of tightly intertwining admissions and fundraising." They point to then USC Athletic Director Pat Hayden, who reportedly said Lori and Mossimo were "good for a million plus" in connection with their daughters' admission.

Harvey Weinstein rape accuser Jessica Mann claims he began manipulating her as soon as he met her, forced himself on her multiple times and finally raped her ... and she said it all under oath.

The former actress took the stand and gave emotional testimony Friday, breaking down in tears as she described her history with the disgraced movie mogul ... including alleged sexual assaults.

Mann testified she met Weinstein at a party about 7 years ago, and he quickly took interest in her and began offering her work. Mann claims she had several meetings with him to discuss her career, but he asked her for a massage at an early meeting ... and forced oral sex on her at a later meeting in which she thought she'd be discussing a movie role.

Mann testified she faked an orgasm to get out of the situation.

Weeks later, Mann alleges Weinstein raped her at the hotel in Manhattan after injecting his penis with erection medication. She testified that he physically blocked her from leaving the room and made her undress. She says ... "I gave up at that point."

Mann says about a year later, Weinstein told her "She owed him one more time" after she informed him she had a boyfriend ... and claims he had intercourse with her.

Weinstein's side has argued the 2 had a consensual relationship that lasted years after the alleged sexual assault, and have pointed to several emails Mann sent to him in which she expressed affection and love.

The woman Soulja Boy describes as a bitter ex-GF is suing him over the alleged kidnapping and assault case that led to him doing time last year.

Kayla Myers says she was partying with Soulja and co. at his Malibu home on Feb. 1, 2019 when she decided to leave at 2 AM. She admits her exit didn't go smoothly -- as she backed out, her car went off the driveway ... which pissed off one of Soulja's female assistants and sparked an argument between Kayla and the woman.

In her lawsuit, Kayla claims she was knocked to the ground, and then Soulja came over to kick her in the stomach and bash her in the head "with a large gun" -- and then told her she was going to die as he held the gun to her head.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, she claims Soulja directed the assistant to drag Kayla to the garage, tie her up with duct tape and give her a shower. That sounds bizarre, but Kayla claims he wanted to clean her up from the ass-kicking she'd just suffered in the dirt outside the house.

Later, Kayla claims she was being held captive -- tied up with an extension cord -- in the garage when a male assistant offered to release her if she performed oral sex. In the suit, she says she felt she had no choice and did it. After that she was released at 8 AM ... she says with one final indignity -- Soulja allegedly said, "Now get this bitch outta here before I knock her down the stairs."

Kayla claims she suffered 3 fractured ribs and a bruised face. As we reported, she reported all of this to police, who conducted a raid at Soulja's house, where they found guns ... a probation violation. As you know, Soulja ended up doing time in L.A. County jail last summer.

That didn't take long ... DJ Khaled's clearly a believer in carrying your own weight, 'cause he's already making his newborn son bring home the bacon.

The mega-producer and his wife, Nicole Tuck, filed to trademark their newborn son Aalam Tuck Khaled's name through a Florida-based company called ATK Entertainment so they can slap it on just about everything ... this according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

In docs, Nicole signed over consent for the company to trademark the name on January 22 ... just TWO DAYS after Aalam was born at 8 pounds, 4 ounces. Healthy and ready to work!

If the application gets approved, the kiddo's name can be used on fragrances, cosmetics, skin creams, baby products, DVDs, CDs, jewelry, watches, children's books, tote bags, clothing and sporting goods.

This is all part of family planning ... for Khaled and Nicole, anyway. As we first reported back in April 2018, the couple did the same for their first son, Asahd, when hew was just 18 months old.

Startin' em young -- standard ops for junior hip-hop moguls.

Shaun Weiss -- famous for playing Goldberg in "The Mighty Ducks" -- was just arrested again ... another chapter in a tragic downward spiral.

Police in Marysville, CA say Weiss was busted for residential burglary and being under the influence of methamphetamine Sunday around 7 AM.

Cops say they responded to a call for a burglary in progress and when they arrived on the scene, found Weiss ransacking a car in the home's garage.

During the arrest, cops say Weiss displayed symptoms of being under the influence of meth and told officers he did not live in the home and the car wasn't his. Weiss was booked into Yuba County Jail, and his bail has been set at $52,500.

You'll recall ... Weiss posed for a sad mug shot back in August 2018 when he was arrested for public intoxication, also in Northern California. He spent a few hours in the drunk tank and was released but not cited.

As we've reported, Weiss has been stuck in a downward spiral in recent years ... he was busted for petty theft in 2017 before being busted for meth possession days after his release from jail. He checked into a rehab facility after his drunken bust, and then was busted in December 2018 for shoplifting.

Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth are officially single in the eyes of the law ... because we've learned their divorce is now final.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, a judge has already put their John Hancock on the former couple's divorce settlement.

TMZ broke the story ... Miley and Liam worked out all the details of their divorce back in December, and their lawyers -- disso queen Laura Wasser repping Liam and Judith R. Forman repping Miley -- quietly worked through stumbling blocks to submit the paperwork to the judge.

It's a pretty quick divorce ... Miley and Liam have no kids, she's keeping their pets and our sources say there's a prenup, which makes dividing property a helluva lot easier.

Liam's the one who filed to divorce Miley back in August, citing irreconcilable differences ... and now they are both single.

Miley has been very public about her new relationship with singer Cody Simpson, and Liam has been a little more on the DL with his.

Blac Chyna's gotta write a fat check to her former landlord for allegedly bailing on her lease and not paying rent ... because she didn't even bother to fight the lawsuit against her.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... BC's been ordered to fork over nearly $72,000 to Michael Kremerman, who sued her for unpaid rent and damages to the rental home.

It's a default judgment, meaning the judge ruled for Kremerman because Chyna never responded to the suit.

As we first reported ... the landlord filed suit against Blac Chyna back in April, claiming she bolted on her lease 5 months early, didn't pay a dime after leaving and removed fixtures and equipment from the pad.

The landlord said BC was $48,546 in the red, and he sued for that amount plus interest and attorney's fees ... hence the $72k judgment.

One of the most popular faces on the Internet -- you know him as the "Success Kid" meme -- is shaking his famous little fist at Rep. Steve King for screwing up his brand.

Sam Griner is the little guy who became known as "Success Kid" nearly 10 years ago when people started attaching his determined little face to memes. Sam's mother, Laney Griner, has fired off a cease and desist letter to Congressman King.

In the letter, Lainey accuses King of implying his re-election campaign is associated with "Success Kid." She says King is using the Kid's photo with the caption, "FUND OUR MEMES," in large red letters on a crowdsourcing site.

The Kid's mom says she owns the copyright on Sam's image and has licensed it over the years to huge companies like Coca-Cola, General Mills, Microsoft and Marriott. She has not, and it sounds like never will, struck any such deal with Rep. King.

Mama Success says of King, "You have a record of vitriolic criticism of individuals who belong to protected classes or disadvantaged groups, or who support legal rights that you condemn."

The letter goes on, but you get the point -- she's not a fan of King or his politics.

She's giving the Iowa Rep. until Wednesday morning to take down his Success Kid imagery, post a retraction and apology, and hand over an accounting of how much his campaign's made off Success Kid. If he doesn't meet the deadline, she strongly suggests a lawsuit is in the offing.

Prince Andrew has not been helpful at all to the FBI or federal prosecutors hoping to talk to him about Jeffrey Epstein ... so says the U.S. attorney in Manhattan.

Geoffrey S. Berman claims Queen Elizabeth's son has not responded to requests for an interview in the Epstein case, adding, he's provided "zero cooperation" to federal law enforcement.

The U.S. attorney revealed Prince Andrew's lack of assistance Monday outside Epstein's home, while answering a question at a news conference about victims of human and sex trafficking.

As you know, Epstein hanged himself in his jail cell in August while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. Prince Andrew's been linked to the Epstein case due to his long and continued friendship with him ... even after Epstein's prison release in 2010 following a notorious plea deal in a separate prostitution case.

Andrew's also accused of having sex with an underage woman named Virginia Roberts (now Virginia Giuffre) -- who he met through Epstein -- at least 3 times from 1999 through 2002.

The Prince denied the allegations and tried, but failed, to do damage control in the scandal, including an appearance on "BBC Newsnight" in which he claimed he couldn't remember Giuffre ... despite posing in a photo with her in 2001.

Our palace sources say the issue will be handled by The Duke of York's legal team. Buckingham Palace will not be commenting on the matter.

Kobe Bryant had already made plans for his daughter, Gianna -- AKA GiGi -- to follow in his legendary footsteps by filing to trademark her very own hoops nickname.

TMZ Sports obtained the paperwork Kobe filed for "Mambacita" on Dec. 30, 2019. Of course, the name is both a tip of the hat to GiGi's father -- the Black Mamba -- and also to her own growing prowess on the hardcourt.

According to the docs ... the plan was to put "Mambacita" on all sorts of sportswear -- shirts, shorts, hats, jerseys, sweatpants, sweatshirts and hoodies.

Kobe had started referring to his 13-year-old daughter by that handle on social media. In fact, one such post, back in November, is eerily poignant today. Kobe praised GiGi's offense, and also the defense of Alyssa Altobelli.

Alyssa, her mother and father -- Keri and John Altobelli -- all perished on the chopper Sunday. Alyssa, like GiGi, was a star player at Kobe's Mamba Academy.

Kobe ended the post by shouting out the "familiar fade" shot by his beloved daughter ... "#Mambacita."

Fetty Wap can breathe a sigh of relief ... he will NOT be prosecuted for allegedly manhandling a woman at an after-party.

TMZ broke the story ... the rapper was under investigation for felony battery after a woman went to LAPD in June and accused Fetty Wap of roughing her up at a home in the Hollywood Hills.

The L.A. County District Attorney's office tells us they are not charging Fetty Wap for the alleged attack ... citing insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the D.A. says the alleged victim told police Fetty grabbed her neck and tossed her against a wall. She claims he grabbed her neck again, applying pressure for about a minute and making it difficult for her to breathe.

In the docs, the D.A. says the alleged victim initially did not want to press charges and returned home to Louisiana before changing her mind 3 months later. Police say there was a witness, but she refused to provide any identifying information.

We obtained video from the aftermath of the incident, and you hear a woman accusing Fetty of putting hands on her, and daring him to do it again. FW then appears to smack the phone.

Aerosmith got its award Friday night, and the acceptance speech was, well, awkward, because the band's wayward drummer was right there on stage with the boys, even though he wasn't allowed to play with them.

Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton and Brad Whitford joined temporarily ousted drummer Joey Kramer on stage Friday night as they accepted the honor from MusiCares at an event at the L.A. Convention Center.

If you've been following our stories this week, you know Joey had temporarily taken a leave of absence from the group for personal reasons. When he said he was ready to come back, his bandmates made him audition, and they say he lacked energy so he couldn't play the gig.

Joey went to court to get an order forcing the band to let him play, but the judge shot him down.

Aerosmith, which is celebrating its 50th year, performed "Big Ten Inch," "Dream On" and "Sweet Emotion" ... and Joey was nowhere to be seen because he left the stage.

The group's entertainment lawyer, Dina LaPolt, put it best when she introduced the band ... "They are brothers. They refer to each other as brothers and they even fight like brothers."

R. Kelly missed a court date this week, but had a pretty good excuse -- going under the knife ... in an operating room, not his jail cell.

Sources close to Kelly tell TMZ ... the singer was briefly taken outta MCC Chicago, and transported to a hospital earlier this week where doctors performed emergency surgery to repair a hernia. We're told he was transported back to the big house after the procedure.

We don't know how long of a hospital stay he had, but he was back in his jail cell by Thursday evening. We're told he wasn't allowed to have any visitors at the hospital.

Seems the hernia's been plaguing Kelly for a while. His lawyer filed docs back in September, outlining several medical issues facing Kelly ... including anxiety, numbness in one of his hands and the then-untreated hernia.

The State of Mississippi is doing nothing to prevent inmates from dying under hellish conditions, according to Yo Gotti ... who's sounding alarms in federal court.

As we've reported, the rapper's been outraged by what's going on at Parchman State Penitentiary and got Team Roc involved in a legal battle to improve conditions. Their latest move is filing for an emergency restraining order, on behalf of more than 25 inmates.

According to the docs, 8 people in the prison have died in the last 26 days -- and it's no wonder when you hear what's allegedly going on behind Parchman's walls. In the filing, they say there's just ONE guard for 160 inmates, in a particular cell block. Even worse, inmates throughout the prison are allegedly being served cold, rotten food containing rocks, insects, and bird and rat droppings -- and toilets are spilling out onto floors. They also claim Parchman's drinking water is contaminated with human waste.

The biggest issue with the grossly understaffed cell block -- in docs, they claim the limited number of guards "can't, or won't, enter Unit 29 buildings to prevent violence or even render much needed emergency medical assistance." Prisoners have resorted to setting fires just to get the attention of guards.

Widespread prison riots have been reported all month at Parchman.

Antonio Brown is turning himself in ... TMZ Sports has learned the NFL star just arrived at a Florida jail after police issued a warrant for his arrest earlier this week.

We broke the story, Brown allegedly threw rocks at a moving company truck and then attacked the driver over a dispute stemming from payment for a scheduled delivery at his Hollywood, Fla. home.

The New Orleans Saints are adamantly DENYING helping top Catholic church officials in N.O. cover up sex abuse crimes, despite allegations to the contrary ... this according to court docs.

Here's the deal ... more than 20 men are suing the Archdiocese of New Orleans for employing George F. Brignac, a schoolteacher and deacon who allegedly sexually abused several boys.

Despite allegedly knowing about the abuse, the church continued to employ him as a lay minister until 2018.

Several alleged victims are suing the church for keeping him around while knowing he was a danger to kids.

Now, attorneys for the accusers are going after the Saints -- claiming team executives used their official Saints email accounts to help advise the church on how to deal with the crisis.

In fact, the attorneys claim there are HUNDREDS of emails showing an attempted P.R. effort from the Saints and they want a judge to release them to the public, according to the AP, which broke the story.

The attorneys are pointing the finger at the top Saints people -- including owner Gayle Benson and Senior V.P. of Communications Greg Bensel ... suggesting they aided the Archdiocese of New Orleans in its "pattern and practice of concealing its crimes."

What is known is that Saints owner Gayle Benson is a major backer of her local Catholic archdiocese and she’s given millions to the church ... and, she’s buds with Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Gayle inherited the team when Tom Benson died in 2018.

"Obviously, the Saints should not be in the business of assisting the Archdiocese, and the Saints’ public relations team is not in the business of managing the public relations of criminals engaged in pedophilia," the attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in the court filing. "The Saints realize that if the documents at issue are made public, this professional sports organization also will be smearing itself."

According to the AP, the Saints have strongly denied the allegations in court filings.

The Saints had no immediate comment when we reached out Friday.