Legal

Blac Youngsta is either clueless or he's gonna have a wave of hate coming his way from Young Dolph fans after posing next to a tomb with the late rapper's name on it in a new music video.

Youngsta -- who was a known enemy of Dolph -- released the video for his song "Im Assuming" Monday, filmed almost entirely in a cemetery. While it's very brief, around the 1-minute-mark of the video, you see the last name Thornton on the tomb he's rapping in front of ... Dolph's real name was Adolph Thornton Jr.

While the song's lyrics don't seem to directly talk about Dolph's death, they're certainly violent -- "I been a street n**** that murder s*** ... I'm on the verge, 'bout to purge with the young n*****. They stackin' bodies."

Blac Youngsta and Young Dolph had a very nasty history, back in 2017 BY turned himself in to cops investigating a Dolph shooting in Charlotte ... and he was also named a person of interest when Dolph was shot in L.A. later that year.

Charges against BY in the Charlotte case -- where more than 100 rounds were fired into an SUV Dolph was traveling in -- were dropped for lack of evidence.

Britney Spears' lawyer says it is an "abomination" her father is asking for even more money now that the conservatorship has been terminated and reports have surfaced alleging the conservatorship was one big money grab.

Mathew Rosengart issued a blistering statement -- "The conservatorship has been terminated and Mr. Spears was suspended ignominiously. Under the circumstances, his petition is not only legally meritless. It is an abomination. Britney poignantly testified about the pain her father caused her and this only adds to it. This is not what a father who loves his daughter does."

Jamie Spears filed legal docs to make Britney's estate pay for his legal fees in winding down the conservatorship, asking that it be paid in a "prompt" fashion.

This all comes on the heels of a blistering report by the New York Times, alleging, among many other things, Jamie received a $40,000 loan from Britney's then business manager, Tri Star Sports & Entertainment early on. According to the NYT, Jamie received $6 million from Britney's estate, while Tri Star benefited to the tune of untold millions.

The report also claims the estate paid for a security company that surveilled members of the #FreeBritney movement who went after Jamie and Tri Star and its owner, Lou Taylor.

And the NYT reports Tri Star donated tens of thousands of dollars from Britney's charitable foundation to a Christian counseling group ... a group in which Taylor was associated.

And, the allegations go on ... that Britney's estate paid for advertisements touting Tri Star and Taylor.

As we previously reported, Tri Star was receiving a percentage of Britney's earnings, which for many years were sky-high. When she stopped performing, Tri Star asked Jamie to approve a minimum guarantee of $500,000 which we're told Jamie approved. This drew heavy criticism because the concept of getting a percentage is that you take the good with the bad.

Jamie's lawyer, Alex Weingarten, has said all expenditures were made with the approval of the court or Britney's court-appointed lawyer, saying, "Jamie has nothing to hide and will therefore hide nothing."

Sarah Jessica Parker and her "Sex and The City" costars are breaking their silence on the Chris Noth sexual assault allegations ... giving the alleged victims their full support.

SJP released a statement Monday along with her "And Just Like That" stars Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis ... saying they are "deeply saddened" to learn of the claims against Noth, who plays Mr. Big in the OG show and reboot.

The trio says ... "We support the women who have come forward and shared their painful experiences. We know it must be a very difficult thing to do and we commend them for it."

As we reported ... Noth is facing 3 accusers and he's already been booted by his talent agent. He did not deny having sexual encounters in 2004 and 2015 with the first two accusers, saying both interactions were consensual.

A third woman claims Noth sexually assaulted her in 2010 at an NYC restaurant ... but he says her story is a complete fabrication.

Of course, Noth’s Mr. Big made headlines after the premiere of the ‘SATC’ reboot, dying of a heart attack shortly after working out on a Peloton bike.

Frodo -- the final surviving dog from the infamous Michael Vick dogfighting ring -- has died ... officials at the BADRAP animal rescue org. confirmed on Monday.

The pup was estimated to be 15 years old.

According to BADRAP, Frodo was one of 48 dogs that were saved after Vick's dogfighting ring was broken up by law enforcement back in 2007.

The org. says Frodo found a new home following the former NFL star's arrest, and spent the last 14 years "being pampered like a prince with his new family."

But, sadly, the org. says he died on Saturday ... though they did note the dog had one final steak before he passed away.

Officials at the org. say two other known surviving dogs from the Vick case died recently as well.

As we previously reported, Vick was released from the Atlanta Falcons and also spent time behind bars over his role in the case.

The ex-quarterback did apologize for it all ... and he later went on to start for the Philadelphia Eagles following his release from prison.

He's since fought tirelessly against animal abuse ... even advocating at the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2015 to pass a bill to allow cops to rescue pets from hot cars.

The chef who accused Antonio Brown of stiffing him out $10K will no longer be pursuing a lawsuit against the NFL star ... 'cause he says AB has settled the debt.

A rep for Steven Ruiz, who owns TasteThatLA in Los Angeles, tells TMZ Sports ... the two parties reached an agreement recently and both sides are now moving on.

"Both parties were satisfied," the rep said. "After two months of being slandered in the press, Mr. Ruiz felt it was in his best interest to move forward and attend to his clients' needs for their Christmas parties this week. He wished the best to AB and the Bucs as they head toward the playoffs."

It's unclear if Brown was required to pay more than $10K to settle the dispute.

We've reached out to Brown's attorney for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

As we previously reported, Ruiz -- who cooked for Brown in the months leading up to the 2021 season kickoff -- was so scorned after his interactions with the football player, he went public with his accusations that AB had submitted a fake COVID vaccine card to the NFL.

The league investigated the claims and said after it wrapped the probe that it had found validity to Ruiz's story -- and suspended Brown three games.

Ruiz told us after the ban was announced that he was preparing to sue Brown.

Kodak Black is clean and sober -- the rapper just successfully completed 90 days of drug rehab, and now he's turning his attention to his career ... prepping to get back on the road.

Kodak had a court hearing this week to reinstate his supervised release -- now that he's out of rehab -- and his lawyer, Bradford Cohen, says the judge was happy with Kodak's progress.

As we previously told you, the rapper and producer was ordered to a rehab facility a few months back after failing a drug test ... a violation of the terms of his supervised release in his federal gun case.

But, now he seems to be turning things around for the better and we're told he's taking his sobriety seriously.

He's already hit the stage too -- Rolling Loud California was his first live performance since his release ... after which, he headed back to Florida.

Cohen says Kodak is looking forward to making good music, and is going to try to stay away from people, places and things that would put him in harm's way, or trigger him to use again.

Trevor Noah will never be the same after he says a hospital and surgeon messed him up for life.

Noah says in the lawsuit ... he went under the knife last year for an undisclosed condition and the defendants -- the Hospital for Special Surgery and Dr. Riley J. Williams -- were "careless in failing to treat and care for [him] in a careful and skillful manner."

Although the lawsuit is unclear, it seems Noah's complaint focuses on both the surgery and aftercare. As for aftercare ... the suit claims the defendants did not "discontinue certain prescription medications" and the medications themselves were improper.

The suit claims, soup to nuts, the surgery was a disaster ... from improper diagnosis, the surgery itself and the aftercare. It goes on to claim had Noah been adequately informed of the "risks, hazards and alternatives," he would have refused treatment altogether.

As a result, the 37-year-old host of "The Daily Show" says he suffered "serious personal injury" -- and the damage he says is "permanent, severe and grievous."

It goes on to use boilerplate language ... alleging his claim of malpractice rendered him "sick, sore, lame and disabled," and he "suffered a loss of enjoyment for life."

Dr. Williams' specialty is knee, shoulder and elbow surgery." Again, the lawsuit doesn't specifically claim the doctor botched the surgery ... rather, the aftercare between August and December 2020 is what's in question.

Noah is suing for unspecified damages.

Eric Clapton went after a woman who was trying to hawk one of his CDs -- a bootleg one, no less -- for about $11 ... and now he's won, meaning she's gotta pay a lot more than that.

Deutsche Welle reports a judgement was filed in Clapton's favor earlier this week at a court in the Düsseldorf area of Germany ... where he'd sued this 55-year-old widow, who says her late husband bought the album years ago at a record store -- arguing she didn't know it was fake or infringing on his copyright.

The woman was reportedly trying to sell it on eBay for less than $12 -- something Eric and his team apparently caught wind of somehow, and decided to fight it tooth and nail.

Word is, they'd reached out this lady ... demanding she take down her eBay sale -- but word is, she told Eric and co. to kick rocks and to stop harassing her. The Guardian reports she even said if they were that bothered with the $11 sale, then go ahead and sue her.

Well, sue her he did ... and after her arguments of ignorance fell flat with the court following an appeal -- issuing an injunction preventing her from hawking the thing. She's also gotta pay the legal fees of both parties, which reports say amounts to about $3,800. If she keeps it up on eBay, she could be fine hundreds of thousands ... or even go to prison for half a year.

Clapton's team told the Guardian, "Germany is a country where sales of bootleg and counterfeit CDs are rife, which damages the industry and customers with poor quality and misleading recordings. Along with a number of other major artists and record companies, over a number of years Eric Clapton has, through German lawyers, successfully pursued hundreds of bootleg cases in the German courts under routine German copyright procedures."

Chris Noth is starting to get the cold shoulder in Hollywood ... he's in the market for a new agent, after his dropped him due to the claims of rape and sexual misconduct.

The "Sex and the City" actor's reps at A3 Artists Agency gave him the ol' heave-ho Friday ... the day after he vehemently denied 2 separate allegations -- one from a woman in 2004, and the other from a woman in 2015.

But, now Noth is facing a 3rd accuser ... a woman, using the pseudonym, Ava, told Daily Beast she was an 18-year-old hostess at an NYC restaurant in 2010 when the actor allegedly sexually assaulted her. She claims he drunkenly groped her and pulled her onto his lap when he had an erection.

Noth's denying that as well ... a rep told People, "The story is a complete fabrication, and the alleged accounts detailed throughout read like a piece of bad fiction. As Chris stated yesterday, he has and would never cross that line."

Skee-Lo's famous 1995 single "I Wish" is about to put some money in someone's pocket ... because the royalties just sold on the open market.

The songwriter royalty streams for the iconic hip-hop song just went up for sale through the Royalty Exchange with an initial asking price of $375k -- but, apparently, that number was too high ... for everyone. The eventual buyer dropped a mere $245,000 to scoop up the rights for "I Wish". Quite the bargain!

The deal is similar, in principle anyway, to the mega-transaction Bruce Springsteen pulled off this week -- selling ALL his publishing and royalty rights to Sony for $500 million.

As for Skee-Lo ... we're told his hit track's recently been paying off more due to increased plays on streaming services -- "I Wish" has been streamed more than 103 million times on Spotify alone, and the royalties paid out nearly $28k in the past 12 months.

Skee-Lo released the song way back in 1995 and it was an instant hit, rising up the charts and eventually earning a Grammy nomination.

You know how it goes ... "I wish I was a little bit taller, I wish I was a baller, I wish I had a girl who looked good I would call her, I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat and a six four Impala."

Skee-Lo's single is certified gold for selling over 600,000 copies.

NFL legend Lawrence Taylor was arrested in Florida on Thursday ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

The former New York Giants superstar was booked at around 8:45 PM ET and released hours later, jail records show. The 62-year-old posed for a mug shot before his release.

The news was first reported by Andy Slater.

Details surrounding the arrest are unclear -- we're working on it -- but according to a spokesperson for the Broward County Sheriff's Office, Taylor was booked on charges of sex offender violations.

As we previously reported, Lawrence was declared a sex offender back in 2011 ... after he pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct and patronizing a prostitute.

In the case, Taylor was accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl ... though he said at the time he thought she was 19.

Due to his status as a sex offender, Taylor is required to be on top of several things ... including letting law enforcement know of any residence or name changes.

Of course, Taylor is no stranger to run-ins with the law ... the former football player has been arrested several times in his life, including multiple times in the late 1990s after he allegedly tried to buy drugs from undercover police officers.

5 Seconds of Summer's new management team landed big deals worth millions, but the band fired them and stiffed the team on commission ... according to a new lawsuit.

The pop band is being sued by YMU Music, and the management company claims 5 Seconds of Summer owes them a fat check for their hard work securing lucrative deals.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, 5SOS hired YMU back in February and the management team hammered out recording and merchandising deals for the band, which led to millions of dollars in advances and other payments for the band members.

However, YMU claims once the new deals were locked in and right before the money started flowing to 5 Seconds of Summer, the band fired them in what YMU claims was an attempt to avoid ponying up some big time commissions.

In the docs, YMU claims it sent the band invoices over the last few months looking to get paid what they say were agreed-upon 15% commissions but haven't gotten paid. The management team thinks the band and other advisors believed that they could pressure YMU into giving a discount ... but instead, they now have a lawsuit on their hands.

YMU is going after 5 Seconds of Summer in court now and seeking more than $2.5 million.

Fetty Wap made a trip to the airport that ended with handcuffs after police allegedly got an alert about his ankle monitor.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Fetty was at Newark Liberty airport Friday, when for whatever reason, cops got an alert about his ankle monitor. We're told after officers spoke to FW and ran his info, they discovered he had a warrant out for his arrest.

Details about the warrant aren't exactly clear, but we know it was for public nuisance out of North Bergen, NJ.

We're told Fetty was arrested and booked for the warrant, but will be able to make bail and get released.

It's not the first run-in Fetty's had with the law lately, he was taken in by the FBI back in October. The feds claimed Fetty and his associates helped to distribute over 100 kilograms of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine across Long Island and New Jersey.

Agents say the investigation yielded $1.5 million in cash, 16 kilograms of cocaine, 2 kilograms of heroin, fentanyl pills, pistols, handguns and a rifle.

Fetty was able to come up with his $500,000 bail for that arrest, so it's possible that's why he had the ankle monitor.

Kim Potter -- the MN cop on trial for shooting and killing Daunte Wright -- just broke down during her testimony about the second she realized what she had done.

An emotional Potter was questioned Friday on exactly what happened in the moments leading up to Wright's death. Potter has maintained she thought she was pulling out her taser, when in fact, it was her gun.

Fighting back tears, she told the court, "I remember yelling Taser, Taser, Taser and nothing happened. And then, he told me I shot him."

By the end of the sentence, Potter was sobbing, and grabbing for tissues.

Potter's been charged with manslaughter for Wright's death, which happened back in April. Bodycam showed the exchange between Potter and 20-year-old Wright -- who was trying to drive away from cops after officers stopped him on a weapons possession warrant.

One of the victims from O.J. Simpson's Las Vegas armed robbery -- which landed him in prison -- says he has no problems with Simpson finally getting loose earlier than expected, 'cause life moves on.

Bruce Fromong, a sports memorabilia dealer, tells TMZ ... he's already forgiven O.J. for the incident, and it does no good to dwell on the past -- even though he also says the robbery nearly destroyed his life.

As we reported, Simpson is a completely free man now that his parole ended earlier than expected. Simpson was on parole after serving 9 years behind bars for his 2008 conviction in the armed robbery case.

Remember, he was found guilty of leading a group of men into a Vegas hotel room in 2007 to steal memorabilia from people -- including Bruce -- who he claimed had stolen from him.

Bruce really means it when he says he's forgiven Simpson ... telling us they still do some memorabilia shows together and see each other on golf courses.

Not everyone feels that way -- the sister of his slain ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, hopes Simpson is shunned by Hollywood types.

Alec Baldwin's phone might contain crucial evidence in the "Rust" shooting investigation ... at least cops think so, and that's why they now have a warrant to comb through it.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Dept. got a New Mexico judge to sign off Thursday on a search warrant for Alec's mobile phone ... a move that comes nearly 2 months after the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Alec told investigators about emails between head armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and himself, in which she showed him different styles of guns and knives for the film. He says he requested a bigger gun, and she showed him an antique Colt.

We know Alec was using a replica of an 1873 Colt 45 at the time of the shooting.

Remember, during his ABC interview ... Alec said he's sure he's not responsible for Halyna's death, although he wouldn't say who was. District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies begged to differ though ... saying neither Baldwin nor anyone else who had contact with the weapon was in the clear yet. She stressed the investigation was ongoing.

In the docs, cops say they're trying to gather information about the production from before filming started. They clearly feel Alec's emails and/or texts might contain some of that data. When they asked for his phone, they were told to get a warrant.

One interesting anecdote about Hannah -- during an interview with detectives, they say she said she didn't believe anyone on the "Rust" production would be malicious enough to bring live ammo on the set.

That's weird because, as we reported, her attorney told us he thinks someone sabotaged Hannah by intentionally mixing live rounds with dummy ammunition. The D.A.'s dismissed that theory.