Legal

Kanye West just got schooled on what a 5:00 PM deadline means in Wisconsin -- in one judge's view ... which, for now, is keeping Ye off the ballot there, and it's all over 14 seconds.

A circuit court magistrate ruled this week that Kanye was, in fact, too late by submitting his nomination docs last month to get his name on the ballot come November ... even though his team got it in 14 seconds after 5 o'clock, which they felt was still inside the window.

Not the case, so says Judge John Zakowski. Hizzoner writes, "The court believes at the time a grandfather clock rings out five times is the moment it is 5 p.m. Any time after that is precisely that: after 5 p.m." Oof, tough crowd. But wait, there's more to his rationale.

Judge Zakowski goes on to explain ... "The court used the analogy of midnight. There is significant difference between 11:59:59 p.m. and one second after midnight. The passage of a second after midnight confers an entirely new day." Hmmm, we suppose he has a point.

In other words, a late registration from Kanye ... quite literally. And thus, he isn't eligible to rock the vote on November 3rd. That said, Ye could take one last shot in this legal fight.

There's the option of appealing to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and if Kanye and co. do that ... they might actually have a more favorable ruling. Fact is, a majority of those justices lean conservative -- and they could interpret the deadline rules a little differently.

Considering Wisconsin is a big swing state in this election ... he might wanna consider it. Not only that, but Dems there are already trying to rally the base with some cool celeb appearances -- namely, a 'Parks & Rec' Q&A session this month with a bulk of the cast. The goal is getting Wisconsin folks to vote.

A woman battling Leukemia says her 2 French bulldogs -- one of which was her emotional support animal -- are dead after they were placed in an Emirates flight's cargo hold.

The passenger's name is Hannah and we're told she was flying from Dubai to Washington, DC for a cancer treatment -- but upon landing at Dulles International Airport she got the devastating news her comfort dog Panda, and Panda's companion Beluga, had died.

The incident went down on August 21 aboard Flight EK 231. We're told Hannah paid $2,600 to ship her pooches when she was told she couldn't bring them into the cabin because they weighed more than 8 pounds.

That means the dogs should be transported below the cabin in a hold designed for live animals ... separate from the luggage. Apparently, Panda and Beluga ended up in the luggage hold, and a necropsy shows they died from oxygen deprivation. Panda was also bloody, for some reason.

Hannah's attorney, Evan Oshan, tells TMZ ... the family wants justice for the dogs. He says, "Dogs are not luggage they are living breathing family members and in this case, provided tremendous emotional support for a cancer patient."

We're told Hannah had a doctor's letter from June 2018 classifying Panda as an emotional support animal -- and therefore, Panda should have been allowed in the cabin with Hannah ... Oshan believes.

He adds, "Emirates charged for the dogs' passage even though medical documentation was provided by this cancer patient. This is wrong!"

Oshan says other animals aboard the flight, presumably placed in the proper cargo hold, all survived the journey unscathed.

Tamar Braxton beat the crap out of her ex-boyfriend and threatened to kill him ... at least that's what he claimed while seeking court-ordered protection from her.

The singer's ex, David Adefeso, filed for the restraining order, alleging Tamar attacked him while he was driving his car, and threatened to have him killed.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, David claims Tamar started punching him during an argument while he was driving his Rolls-Royce. David claims Tamar violently socked him in the jugular, disorienting him and nearly causing him to crash.

According to the docs, David claims he parked the car and Tamar started trashing it -- allegedly smashing the camera and rearview mirror. He claims he suffered bruising to his neck and shoulder area along with the damage to his Rolls.

Since the alleged attack, which he says led to their breakup, David's ex claims she's been threatening to kill him. In docs, he says Tamar told him her ex-husband wanted to "send goons" to kill him 6 months ago, but she stopped it. He claims she's now threatening to let those "goons" loose.

David beelined it to court, filing for a temporary restraining order.

If true, the allegations are another sign of the turmoil in Tamar's life. As we reported, David called 911 recently saying she'd attempted suicide ... and he claimed it was all over beef with WeTV.

Remember ... family sources connected to Tamar have told us they think she changed while dating David, and we'd also been told he seemed controlling in her upcoming WeTV spinoff reality show.

'Bachelor' Colton Underwood's split with Cassie Randolph just got that much more nasty ... she's filed for a restraining order against the reality star.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Cassie filed Friday in Los Angeles. It's currently unclear what her allegations are against him and if a judge has signed off on the order.

Colton picked Cassie at the end of his season of "The Bachelor" in 2019 ... but the two never got engaged. The couple announced their split in May of this year, and there were rumors that the breakup was a bad one ... but it was unclear what exactly happened.

Colton also had some health issues just before the split ... as he tested positive for COVID-19.

We've reached out to Colton's rep ... so far no word back.

Story developing ...

Britney Spears is jumping the gun on making decisions about the future of her conservatorship ... according to her father, who says the court first needs to make some other big decisions about Brit's health.

Jamie Spears just filed new docs, obtained by TMZ, saying Britney's lawyer is grandstanding by trying to unseal parts of her ongoing conservatorship case ... opening it up to the public.

In the docs, Britney's dad says before she can waive her right to privacy, the court needs to determine she has "the capacity to understand the consequences of her waiver."

Jamie's arguing for keeping her medical records sealed, and says he's worried they could have a detrimental effect on Britney if the public gets their hands on them. He also says keeping that info sealed is in the best interest of Britney and her 2 children.

Britney's dad also addresses her lawyer's statement about Britney wanting more "personal autonomy" in her life, now that she's not performing. In his docs, Jamie points out the conservatorship is voluntary, and Britney can file a request to terminate at any time -- but has not up to this point.

As we reported ... Britney says she doesn't want her father to be the only one in charge of her financial decisions, and instead wants to add a co-conservator of her estate.

The 4 accused ex-cops involved in George Floyd's death appeared in court ... triggering hundreds to take the streets outside the courthouse to protest.

Derek Chauvin, Tou Thao, Thomas Lane and Alexander Kueng arrived in court Friday in Hennepin County, Minnesota for a hearing covering a number of things ... including motions about change of venue to jury sequestering. Floyd's family also attended the hearing.

Thao, Lane and Kueng appeared to have entered the courtroom undetected ... as hundreds marched outside the Hennepin County Family Justice Center.

Derek Chauvin, who pressed his knee on George's neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, has been in custody since his arrest in May. Thao, Lane and Kueng all posted bail. That trio has been charged with aiding and abetting murder. Chauvin's been charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter, as well as an additional count of second-degree murder.

As we reported ... new body cam footage was released back in August showing Thao's point of view. He was the one who was doing crowd control during George's arrest. The new video showed that as Chauvin pressed his knee on George's neck, Thao had walked to the curb where a handful of onlookers could immediately tell George was in life-threatening distress.

The new angle also showed the crowd's worry increase with every minute that passed. It had been painfully obvious to them a man was dying, and they got more and more agitated as the clock ticked through the 8 minutes and 46 seconds.

The Minnesota Attorney General has said he would seek a harsh sentence for Chauvin.

It's the nickname born from a strip club chicken wing scandal -- "Lemon Pepper Lou" -- and now Lou Williams says he's trying to lock up the trademark.

The L.A. Clippers star says he's already tasked his lawyer to file for the rights to the nickname ... claiming if anyone should profit from the scandal, it should be him!!!

Remember, Lou was busted at the legendary Magic City strip club in ATL back in July while on an approved leave from the NBA Bubble to attend a memorial service.

He was specifically instructed to stay out of crowded areas due to the COVID pandemic -- but Lou had a hankering for MC's famous lemon pepper wings ... and made a pit stop at the club for some takeout.

Williams tried to keep a low profile, but rapper Jack Harlow accidentally dimed Williams out on IG ... which led to a mandatory 10-day quarantine when Lou finally returned to the bubble.

Social media went crazy over the story -- with everyone referring to Williams as "Lemon Pepper Lou."

But, Williams ain't mad about the jokes -- he's trying to MONETIZE! He immediately called his lawyer and ordered him to try and lock up the trademark for LPL, stat!

The whole trademark process can take a while -- but Lou says it's already begun ... and he's already cracking jokes about it.

"Ya'll make jokes and t shirts but it's gonna cost ya lol," Williams said on IG ... "Yep. First time I've owned a joke lol."

Gotta love the business savvy -- maybe a line of chicken wings next?

Lindsay Lohan's art of the book deal consists of agreeing to write it, getting a huge sum of money and then failing to turn in a draft ... at least according to a new suit.

Publishing company HarperCollins is going after Lohan, claiming she breached a contract she signed way back in March 2014 to write a book. According to the legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Lohan and her production company promised she'd have it completed by May 2015 ... but it never happened.

Instead, HarperCollins claims it revised the due date to March 2017, and even paid her a $365,000 advance against future royalties.

However, HarperCollins claims the deadlines came and went, and Lindsay never delivered a manuscript. So, the publisher says it informed her in Sept. 2018 the book deal was off, and it wanted its money back. There's a lawsuit, so you guessed it ... HC says LiLo never refunded the cash.

Jussie Smollett still insists the alleged assault he suffered in January 2019 is not a hoax, but now says there's evidence to back it up ... and suggests there are forces working against him to keep the truth hidden.

The former "Empire" star opened up about the infamous "hate crime" that went down in Chicago -- more than a year and a half ago -- in a rare interview, because he's over staying quiet about the case.

Jussie tells activist Marc Lamont Hill he doesn't believe the City of Chicago or law enforcement will ever stop going after him, and he believes they are trying to make an example out of him ... even though he claims he didn't do what he's accused of doing.

Smollett blasts police for focusing on winning the case instead of trying to solve it based on truth, and hints there may be a conspiracy against him because of that. As he puts it -- law enforcement is willing to throw people under the bus, get people to lie, and switch the narrative based on their agenda.

As for the lack of video evidence of Jussie being attacked ... he claims it's out there. He also says there are 2 witnesses who can corroborate his story of seeing 2 white men -- one of them carrying a rope -- before he was attacked.

Smollett says this evidence has been buried by a bunch of lies and misleading information, but there's more. Jussie claims there's a tape that shows the action leading up to his alleged assault, but it cuts off right before it happens.

He doesn't say outright who may have doctored the tape, but strongly implies the Chicago PD may have had a hand in it.

To sum it all up ... Smollett says he now realizes he was set up from the beginning to look like he was lying, and he thinks it has something to do with "the MAGA of it all."

It seems Jussie believes if his alleged attackers hadn't yelled something suggesting they were Trump supporters, things would be different ... but he concedes he doesn't know that for sure.

What he does know for sure is he's done trying to convince people ... and the truth will eventually come out.

We broke the story ... on Wednesday, the City of Chicago requested the FBI hand over its records about the Bureau's probe into the "hate crime" and what may have led up to it.

So Jussie's right ... this case isn't going away anytime soon.

Boxing star Gervonta Davis is finally admitting he was "wrong" for getting violent with his ex-GF back in February ... and claims he's since sought professional help.

As we previously reported ... the 25-year-old WBA lightweight champ was caught on camera aggressively grabbing his ex, whom he has a child with, at a celeb basketball game in Miami on Feb. 1.

Footage of the altercation was disturbing ... it showed the boxing superstar clearly putting his hands near the woman's neck and violently grabbing her away from her courtside seat.

In other angles of the incident, obtained by TMZ Sports, the footage appeared to show Davis later attempting to throw a punch at the woman when the two got inside the locker room area.

Police say the woman suffered injuries to her lip and left jaw in the altercation ... and Davis was eventually arrested and hit with two charges of misdemeanor battery.

Now, Davis -- who's pleaded not guilty to the charges -- is speaking out about it all ... admitting on the Last Stand Podcast with Brian Custer that he wishes things had gone differently.

"I was just mad," said Davis, who claimed the whole thing started because he was angry over the woman attending the event. "And, once I seen her, it's not [like] I grabbed her by her neck, I grabbed her shirt, like, you gotta get outta here type thing."

"And, I probably was wrong for doing that. I WAS wrong for doing that. But, it wasn't so much of not me trying to hit her, it was just me angry."

Davis -- who had said immediately after the incident he NEVER hit the woman -- insisted yet again on the podcast he did NOT physically strike his ex with his fists in the confrontation.

"I'm a fighter," Davis said. "If I touch you in any kind of way, like as far as fists, I'mma hurt you. So it wasn't that. It was just me removing her from that situation that she wasn't supposed to be in."

Davis, though, did say he believes he has "a little" anger problem ... and added he's gotten professional help over it all since the incident.

"It wasn't because I have to," Davis said of the help, "it's more so of because of the situation in the future -- knowing how to deal with stuff in the future."

Davis' battery case, meanwhile, is still playing out in the court system.

Davis is 23-0 as a pro fighter -- and has been hailed as one of the best young fighters in the world.

Chuck Norris is going after a company that's using his iconic action star status and masculine reputation to sell boner pills ... according to a new lawsuit.

The "Walker, Texas Ranger" star's suing a company he believes goes by a couple different names -- Bio-Molecular Solutions and Biogenetics -- claiming it's using his famous name and face to promote a product called Provitra ... which is like Viagra.

Norris claims his wife, Gena -- who's also suing the company -- discovered the scam in June, when she saw an online ad with a provocative headline, "A Tragic End Today for Chuck Norris."

According to the docs ... once the ad is clicked, the reader is taken to another site that looks very similar to a Fox News article with the headline, "Big Pharma In Outrage Over Norris' New ED Product...Chuck Kicks Back With This!"

Norris claims the phony article -- which features a photo of him and his wife -- includes completely false assertions throughout, including that he "revealed his new Erectile Dysfunction cure on the Dr. Phil Show."

Finally, the phony article includes a call to action to receive a free bottle of the ED pills, and all the hyperlinks take the reader to a third website -- a point-of-sale page for Provitra ... according to the lawsuit.

Norris says neither he nor Gena have ever authorized the company -- or any others in the boner biz -- to use their names, photos or likenesses and are not receiving any compensation for the ads.

He also says this isn't the first time they've had to do battle over scam ads. According to the suit, they tried to stop a similar illegal scam in 2019 and were successful for awhile ... but it recently came raging back.

Joe Exotic's team has great timing -- or awful, depending on your perspective -- as they're handing his pardon request to President Trump on a day when there's A LOT going on in the Oval Office.

The Tiger Team leader, Eric Love, flew into D.C. Wednesday night with Joe's lawyers, packing a 257-page document he calls 4 months worth of hard work ... and he tells us it fully proves Joe's innocent.

As Eric says, this is the team's second major attempt to grab the President's attention ... but this time around they have more than a huge bus to persuade him to pardon Joe, and are even more optimistic about their pitch.

We asked him if going to the White House as the President's embroiled in controversy over his recorded convos with Bob Woodward was a good idea.  Eric thinks this timing could work in Joe's favor, and Trump's too.

As we first told you, Joe's 257-page case argues various reasons why he should be pardoned from his 22-year murder-for-hire sentence ... including a claim that he was sexually assaulted behind bars.

Love apparently has an in at the White House to deliver the goods, and he tells us Joe is so focused on the mission, he's even moved past hating on his rival Carole Baskin ... and wishes her well on "Dancing with the Stars."

Ex-Univ. of North Carolina basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell has pled guilty to a "death by vehicle" charge after a fatal collision with an 89-year-old woman.

Officials say 68-year-old Hatchell was making a left turn out of a gym parking lot in NC back in January when she struck Betty Sue Colby with her driver's side mirror.

According to police, Colby fell backward and hit her head on the pavement, suffering grave injuries.

She was rushed to a nearby hospital -- but ultimately passed away 2 days later.

Hatchell was prosecuted over the incident -- and ultimately pled guilty to misdemeanor death by vehicle.

She was sentenced to 6 months of unsupervised probation, 50 hours of community service and ordered to pay roughly $300 in fines and court costs.

At the time of the incident, Hatchell's attorney said the coach was "absolutely devastated" by Colby's death.

Hatchell was widely considered one of the best coaches in women's college basketball -- she left the Tarheels from 1986 to 2019, racking up 8 ACC titles and 1 national championship.

But, Hatchell resigned in 2019 following an investigation into allegations she made racially insensitive comments to players.

Rumors of a looming discrimination lawsuit against Bravo has absolutely nothing to do with NeNe Leakes whatsoever ... TMZ has learned.

A source close to the reality star tells us ... NeNe is in no way ramping up to file suit or any type of legal action against Bravo at this time, nor is she "teaming up" with other women of color who might be considering such a move. Any notion to the contrary simply isn't true.

We're told NeNe is focused on herself and her own career right now -- specifically, fleshing out her newly announced show with E!, "Glamsquad Showdown," while also trying to work through negotiations with Bravo on potentially coming back for another season of 'RHOA.'

We're also told that NeNe is seeking a larger role in the NBCUniversal TV-sphere, and that those talks take a while. So no, she ain't biting the hand that feeds in the meantime.

As for why folks might've thought something was brewing with NeNe in the first place ... well, that might have to do with her own words and a whole lot of innuendo. NeNe herself has alluded to mistreatment during her tenure there, both explicitly and implicitly.

She recently hopped on her YouTube channel to air some grievances about how she felt some of the showrunners and execs were treating her differently than some of the other ladies come reunion time. Not only that, but she also fueled intrigue when she dropped some suggestive comments about the 'Vaderpump' racism scandal from a few months back.

On top of that, former 'RHOA costars of hers, like Eva Marcille, have also been throwing NeNe's name around when mentioning this supposed lawsuit that's coming down the pike.

She recently did just that while talking on Rickey Smiley's morning show ... and while she didn't exactly connect the dots, one could assume NeNe was in on the suit by the way she was talking.

Fact is, there is no connection ... period. Seems like NeNe still has plans with Bravo on the horizon that she very much wants to keep intact.

The City of Chicago wants a judge to force the FBI to hand over records of the Bureau's probe into the Jussie Smollett case -- especially his claim he was the target of a racist and homophobic threat before the infamous alleged attack.

According to new docs, obtained by TMZ, the City wants to know what the FBI dug up related to a letter that was sent to Fox Studios in Chicago on January 22, 2019 -- a week before Jussie claims he was attacked. The letter contained an "unknown substance" and contained "racist and homophobic imagery and slurs" ... according to Jussie.

The City also wants the FBI records about the "attack" itself ... according to the docs. Basically, Chi-town officials want to know if the FBI uncovered any evidence about Jussie faking the threatening letter or his "attack."

What's interesting here is the docs show the FBI told the City disclosing any of the requested material would "reveal information acquired as part of an ongoing criminal investigation."

Bottom line is ... as of now the FBI is refusing to hand over its investigation results because it still hasn't closed the case.

You'll recall ... in the aftermath of Jussie's "attack," President Trump mentioned the FBI was looking into the situation.

"Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp is suing Kevin Spacey for an alleged sexual assault ... and now there's another plaintiff making an additional claim.

Rapp filed suit in NYC claiming he met the disgraced actor in 1986 while performing on Broadway in "Precious Sons." Rapp claims Spacey invited him, 14 at the time, to a party at his home on the East Side of Manhattan. Rapp alleges Spacey, without consent, made an unwanted sexual advance and grabbed his buttocks, lifted him onto a bed and laid on his body.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Rapp claims he got scared and ran into the bathroom, and although Spacey tried to persuade him to stay ... he left. Rapp says he suffered psychological injuries, severe emotional distress, humiliation, fright, anger, depression and anxiety.

What's more ... Rapp claims the experience has forced him to step away from his work as an actor and feels he'll be compelled to spend tons of money for medical expenses to recover from the ordeal.

As we reported ... Rapp first made these accusations back in October 2017. Spacey responded by apologizing and coming out as gay.

BTW ... there's another plaintiff in Rapp's lawsuit but he's anonymous. He says he was also 14 and an acting student and alleges he had intercourse and oral sex with Spacey. In the suit, he claims he resisted Spacey's repeated attempts to sodomize him before he was able to flee Spacey's apartment.