Legal

Spare D.L. Hughley the outrage over Kim Potter getting a 2-year sentence for killing Daunte Wright -- he says America's judicial system consistently lets cops off lightly, while ordinary Joes get the max.

We got the comedian and author at LAX Friday ... just a few hours after ex-officer Potter was sentenced for first and second-degree manslaughter. She could have gotten up to 15 years in prison, but D.L. says that almost never happens because, "There's a certain amount of accountability they refuse to ascribe to police officers."

Potter, who tearfully begged Daunte's family for forgiveness in court, shot and killed him during an April 2021 traffic stop outside Minneapolis. Her body cam appeared to back up Potter's claim she thought she was pulling her Taser, but accidentally drew her firearm.

Check out the video – D.L. seemed totally defeated by the news of Potter's sentence. Although he accepts the killing was accidental, he still can’t understand why police officers like her end up getting such light sentences in fatal shootings.

He compares Daunte's death to the 2009 Oscar Grant killing in Oakland ... where the officer also got 2 years for manslaughter. He was released on parole after serving just 11 months.

Kanye West is not down with Kim Kardashian getting an order divorcing him and restoring her single status ... and he's now made his objections known to the judge.

Kanye's new legal docs are in response to Kim's petition to get the judge to declare her single before all the custody and property issues are resolved. That's scheduled to happen early next month, but now Kanye's lawyer is objecting.

As for why ... Kanye's lawyer seems to be worried Kim might remarry and move some of their assets to her separate accounts. Kanye seems agreeable to Kim becoming single stat, but only if safeguards are in place so the assets remain as marital property.

Kanye's lawyer says he wants 3 conditions, all of which his lawyer claims Kim has rejected.

1. If either of them dies, he wants to make sure any money that might be owing to either gets reimbursed.

2. Kanye wants to block Kim from transferring assets out of any trust they created.

3. He wants Kim to waive their marital privilege pending a final custody decision. This is interesting ... he wants to ensure any communications between the 2 of them can be part of the court record. He also wants to make sure, if Kim remarries, she would waive any spousal privilege between her and her new husband ... in other words, he wants to make sure any conversations between her and a new husband, as it relates to custody, would be fair game in court.

As we reported, there's a prenup that keeps all of their property separate, so it's unclear why there would be alarm on Kanye's part.

Kim Potter was just sentenced to 2 years for the killing of Daunte Wright ... though it won't all be served behind bars.

Potter received a sentence of 24 months Friday in an MN courtroom ... but only 16 months of that will be served behind bars, the remaining time will be on supervised release. On top of that, she'll have to pay a $1,000 fine. The sentence is significantly less than the 7 years prosecutors had suggested.

Potter broke down in addressing Wright's family during the sentencing hearing, apologizing several times for what happened and asking for the family's forgiveness.

As we've previously told you, the ex-Minnesota cop was found guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter after fatally shooting the 20-year-old black man in December.

Daunte's mother, Katie Wright, spoke during the sentencing hearing in an emotional moment that had the courtroom silent. She refused to refer to Potter by her first name, Potter only referred to Daunte as "the driver" through their exchange.

Katie also expressed her frustrations in how selfish she thought Potter was after shooting Daunte, only worried about getting in touch with her union rep ... Katie asked the judge to give the maximum sentence.

On April 11, 2021, Daunte Wright was pulled over by police for an expired tag and an illegal air freshener. Cops attempted to arrest him when they learned he had a warrant, and he tried to flee ... that's when Potter pulled out a gun and shot him.

You'll recall ... Potter has said she thought she pulled out her Taser ... instead of pulling out her firearm. As you can see in the bodycam footage, she yells out "Taser" ... and moments later she says, "Holy sh**! I just shot him!"

She broke down on the stand during trial when recounting the events that led up to Wright's death.

Shortly after the shooting, the incident sparked protests and civil unrest throughout the U.S. over how Black people are treated by police.

The legal team for Wright's family insisted that his death was absolutely preventable.

Kelly Clarkson is pushing for a fresh start, on the heels of her contentious divorce from Brandon Blackstock ... and it includes dropping her last name.

The singer filed court docs this week to simply go by Kelly Brianne. Brianne had previously been her middle name, but now it's getting an upgrade to last name status. In the docs, Kelly said it's more fitting of who she is now.

The switcheroo comes amid another big change for KB ... she'd been married for 7 years to Brandon before filing for divorce in June of 2020. While they were together her legal last name had been Blackstock, although she professionally remained Clarkson.

Kelly has infamously had a tumultuous relationship with her father, Stephen Michael Clarkson -- although, we can't confirm that's what's behind her legally dropping Clarkson.

Her powerful 2015 ballad, "Piece by Piece," is partially about her father's neglect during her childhood.

Since Kelly kept using Clarkson throughout her marriage, we presume she'll continue to do so even though she's now legally Kelly Brianne.

DaBaby's lawyer wants to make a couple things VERY clear -- DaniLeigh's brother has no basis to sue the rapper over that bowling alley brawl -- and the whole thing smells like a shameless cash grab.

Drew Findling, who reps DaBaby, says it was Brandon Bills who first initiated threats against DaBaby when he told our photog last year he wanted to fight, saying, "It is offensive that this alleged victim threatened and instigated violence and has now used this incident to make a quick money grab."

Findling believes cops should stop wasting their time with the criminal investigation, because BB's decision to immediately file a civil lawsuit is a clear sign ... he's all about the Benjamins. Beyond that, Findling says a criminal case would be laughable.

TMZ broke the story, DaBaby and his team outnumbered Brandon Bills in a beatdown at a CA bowling alley last week ... a beatdown that had everyone slipping and sliding down the lane.

Cops are indeed investigating it as a possible assault with a deadly weapon. In the meantime, DaBaby and his crew have been banned from the alley.

Findling added ... "Garbage like this has no place adding to the backlog and wasting law enforcement time and energy."

IKYMI, things between the rapper and Brandon heated up, seemingly after DaBaby and his child's mom, DaniLeigh, got into a fight ... she was arrested on 2 counts of assault.

Prince Harry is putting his children's security first, saying he doesn't feel safe bringing them to the U.K. because they won't get the kind of protection he had before leaving his royal duties.

The Duke of Sussex's attorney, Shaheed Fatima, repped him Friday morning in the High Court in London during a hearing to reinstate Harry's family's protection. She expressed Harry's concern that the security arrangement put in place when he and Meghan Markle left the royal family in 2020 is inadequate for Archie and Lilibet.

When they removed themselves, the family lost their public-funded protection in the U.K ... and have paid out of pocket for their security while in America.

However, they were also told they couldn't buy British police protection with their own money.

Harry now fears his children won't be safe in the place he calls home. His lawyer added, "It should go without saying that he wants to come back: to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart."

Harry and Meghan have recently been raking in the cash ... an estimated $100 million deal with Netflix, and a deal with Spotify for somewhere north of $25 million. So, with all that revenue, why not use it to buy a private security force?

One downside of that option would be the lack of government intelligence ... which the U.K. police could offer.

After a sketchy incident went down with Harry last July -- getting chased by photographers while driving through the streets of London -- he began the process of trying to get a legal review of his security arrangements.

Ronald Bruner Jr. -- ex-drummer for Suicidal Tendencies -- was arrested in Burbank, CA for public intoxication after getting pissy, if you will ... with his rideshare driver.

Burbank PD tells TMZ the driver called cops on Sunday to complain about Ronald getting difficult during his ride. When officers arrived, they say they found the rocker wasted in the back of the vehicle, and worst of all ... he's apparently a fan of the "Wiz!"

Yep, he allegedly urinated all over the backseat.

Bruner was arrested and booked for public intoxication -- and about 12 hours later, cops released him with a citation and a court date.

RBJ started professionally playing drums at the age of 15, jumping from band to band until landing a spot in the punk rock group Suicidal Tendencies, and jammed with them for 7 years. He also played with the Stanley Clarke Band, which earned a 2010 Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.

Brad Pitt says Angelina Jolie double-crossed him by secretly selling her interest in a winery they jointly owned ... sold it to a Russian oligarch, and he's now suing her to undo the deal.

Brad's legal docs, obtained by TMZ, are part of their never-ending divorce war. The 2 bought Chateau Miraval in Correns, France back in 2008.  Brad says he invested a ton of money and time in the winery over the years, although he acknowledges Angelina plunked down 40% of the $28.4 million purchase price.

Brad says he alone made the winery successful because by 2013 she wasn't doing much in that department. He claims they always had an understanding ... neither of them could sell off their interest without the other's consent.

Fast forward to 2016 ... Angelina filed for divorce and it became super contentious.

Last July Angelina went to court and told the judge she had reached an agreement to sell her interest to an unnamed person. Pitt says in September he agreed to allow Angelina to pursue the sale but made it clear ... he was not consenting to the sale, but rather would give thumbs up or down to the proposed buyer.

Brad says in October he was shocked to learn a company called Tenute del Mondo -- a subsidiary of Stoli Group (the vodka co.) -- controlled by Russian oligarch, Yuri Shefler, bought her interest in the winey.

He says Angelina never sought his consent and intentionally kept the terms of the deal from him.

Brad says Shefler has wreaked havoc on his ability to run the winery.

A source close to BP tells us, "Unfortunately, this is another example of the same person disregarding her legal and ethical obligations. In doing so, she has violated the rights of the only person who poured money and sweat equity into the success of the business by purporting to sell both the business and family home to a third-party competitor."

They continue, "She is seeking a return on an investment she did not make and profits she did not earn.”

Brad now wants the judge to undo the deal. He also wants damages.

Just days after Saints star Alvin Kamara was arrested for felony battery, two other men have been charged in connection with the alleged beating of a man in Las Vegas during Pro Bowl weekend.

TMZ Sports has learned two men -- Darrin Young and Percy Harris -- turned themselves in to Clark County jail on February 14 ... and both were booked on battery resulting in substantial bodily harm.

It's the same charge that 26-year-old Kamara is facing -- a felony -- that can carry up to 5 years in prison, if convicted.

As for what happened ... there are a few versions of the story, depending on who you ask.

Police say surveillance video show Kamara pushing a man outside a nightclub on Las Vegas Blvd. ... before punching the man at least 8 times.

According to an incident report, Kamara's friends then got in on the action ... punching and stomping the man.

Due to his injuries, the guy had to be treated at a local hospital.

The incident occurred early Saturday morning ... but Kamara wasn't arrested until after the Pro Bowl (he caught 4 passes during the game) on Sunday.

And, that's caused controversy ... 'cause the NFL allowed the Saints superstar to play in the game, despite knowing police wanted to speak with him in connection to an alleged battery.

After the game, Kamara spoke to investigators and admitted to hitting the man ... claiming the guy said something disrespectful to his group.

However, cops say CCTV shows Kamara hitting the man at least 8 times.

But, Kamara's attorneys believe there is more to the story.

"Alvin Kamara has gained a well-deserved reputation for being a hard-working and community-minded individual. The recent Las Vegas allegations are not consistent with who Mr. Kamara has shown himself to be in both his public and private life."

"Therefore, we are conducting our own investigation into all of the circumstances and individuals associated with this matter to determine both the facts and motivations of all involved."

After the Valentine's Day arrests, three men have now been charged in total for the alleged attack.

Former Angels staffer Eric Kay has just been found guilty of distributing the drugs that led to the death of ex-MLB pitcher Tyler Skaggs.

The jury just announced the verdict ... finding Kay guilty of one charge of conspiracy to possess fentanyl with the intent to distribute and one charge of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death.

Kay is now facing life behind bars. Sentencing has been set for June 28.

According to The Athletic's Sam Blum, who was in the courtroom for the Kay trial this week, Skaggs' mother and wife broke down in tears and hugged following the verdict.

As we previously reported, Kay -- who had worked as the communications director for the Angels for several years -- had been accused of supplying Skaggs with the drugs that ultimately led to his overdose death before an Angels game in Texas in June 2019.

Skaggs was just 27 years old.

Story developing ...

Rockmond Dunbar is taking Disney and 20th Television to federal court over his ouster from "9-1-1" ... accusing the studios of discriminating against him based on his race and religion.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Rockmond claims he was the only Black male lead actor on the TV show and his dismissal severely damaged his career.

In the docs, Rockmond claims he submitted paperwork seeking both a religious and medical exemption for the COVID-19 vaccine, and says producers assured him they wanted him to remain on the show and his schedule would be adjusted to accommodate him being unvaccinated.

Instead, Rockmond claims he was barred from the set and assured his character's storyline would show him leaving temporarily, keeping open the possibility for him to return down the road.

But Rockmond claims that never happened either ... in his suit, he says Disney and 20th Television fired him in retaliation and refused to pay him the hundreds of thousands of dollars he says he's still owed.

What's more, Rockmond claims the studios not only refused to accommodate his vaccine exemption requests, but also deliberately made it sound like he was an anti-vaxxer ... and he says he essentially became persona non grata in Hollywood.

Rockmond's going after the studios for money, and he wants an injunction barring the studios from discriminating against anyone based on race or religion when it comes to vaccination policies.

We reached out to Disney and 20th Television ... so far, no word back.

Kendall Jenner’s tequila brand -- 818 -- is being sued by competitor Tequila 512 for brazenly ripping 512 off and even getting Kendall's famous sister involved.

For starters, 512 claims in the lawsuit it's a cheap trick for 818 to copy its schtick by using an area code for its moniker. BTW ... 818 is the San Fernando Valley, and 512 is Austin.

But, there's more ... 512 claims the color scheme on the 2 bottles is so similar, it's meant to confuse consumers. And, 512 adds, it was in the game first ... since 2015.

Check it out for yourself ... when the 2 bottles are placed side-by-side, they do look similar, both in color and design.

Now here's the twist ... 512 zeroes in on Kim Kardashian in the lawsuit, claiming something shady happened when Kim's app, "Kim Kardashian: Hollywood" was promoting Kendall's 818 and for some reason the 512 bottle was front-and-center on the in-game images. It's unclear if this was intentional or a mistake, but the irony ... a mistake would be even worse because it validates 512's claim that people are easily confused.

In screengrabs from the game, you see a bottle with a similar shape to 512. 512 claims they reached out to game creators after first noticing the product in the game, and it was then changed to the green design ... and it appears the bottle made another change to yellow.

As it was put in the lawsuit ... “Either Defendant intentionally used Plaintiff’s bottle, hoping to further blur the lines between the two products, or Defendant was itself confused about the difference between the two brands."

Kendall was not named as a defendant ... only the company is being sued. A company rep says, "We are reviewing the complaint and believe the allegations are without merit."

Eric Dickerson says one of the first steps the NFL needs to take following Brian Flores' lawsuit is to hire a new, Black commissioner.

The Rams legend did an interview with OSDB on Wednesday ... and told them he truly believes change in leadership could lead to more Black coaches in the league.

"We’re being told basically that we’re good enough to play the game, but that we don’t have the brainpower to coach the game," Dickerson said. "The only way this is going to change is at the top of the power structure."

In his lawsuit ... Flores alleged teams were racist in their hiring practices -- claiming owners were only interviewing him and other Black candidates to satisfy league rules before going on to hire white coaches.

Dickerson made it clear he believes the lack of Black head coaches in the league is a problem ... and he said in addition to changing out commissioners, adding Black owners could help things.

"A shift in power is the only thing that will change the way it is," E.D. said. "You’re not going to make everyone happy, and I understand that. That’s not how life works, but we need to make real progress."

The former running back pointed toward the NBA as an org. the NFL should model itself after -- saying he believes its structure at the top has led to more diversity in its coaching ranks.

Britney Spears got a special invite ... to speak before Congress.

Reps. Eric Swalwell and Charlie Crist fired off a letter to Spears, asking her and her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, to explain "how you achieved justice..." The 2 congressmen wrote, "There is no doubt your story will empower countless others outside the millions that are already inspired by you and your art."

The 2 Congressmen say they want to learn "about the emotional and financial turmoil you faced within the conservatorship system." The letter goes on to say they are concerned that Britney was "forced to engage in employment against your will."

The Congressmen make it clear in the letter ... they're fully on board the #FreeBritney movement, saying, "We applaud your inspiring fight and stand ready to assist in any way we can."

For her part, Britney said she was grateful ... "I felt heard and like I mattered for the first time in my life !!!" She got the letter in December, but said she wasn't nearly at the healing stage she's in now.

Rep. Crist appeared on TMZ Live today to talk about the invite.

George Floyd's aunt, Angela Harrelson, knows his murder ignited a worldwide wave of activism, and she wants to make sure it continues ... as the federal trial continues for 3 ex-cops involved in his fatal arrest.

Angela joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live," but on Tuesday she'd been in court to see ex-officer Tou Thao testify. He and fellow ex-cops J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane are accused of violating George's civil rights during the arrest.

She called it a triggering day -- having to see the gut-wrenching video again, as well as listening to Thao's testimony.

Unlike Derek Chauvin, Thao, Lane and Kueng did not have their knees on George's neck ... but Angela told us why she feels they still bear responsibility for his death.

Angela, who was extremely close to George, has also written a memoir, "Lift Your Voice: How My Nephew George Floyd's Murder Changed the World." As she explained, writing it was cathartic -- but it also gave her a chance to be a voice for George.

She says she's urging others to keep using their voices as they did during months of marches for equality and justice after George's murder. Angela's point is ... when you see something that isn’t fair speak up, because every person can make a difference.

DaBaby is dealing with more fallout from his bowling alley beatdown of his baby mama's brother ... because now he's facing a lawsuit.

DaniLeigh's brother, Brandon Bills, is suing the rapper over their recent fight at a SoCal bowling alley.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Brandon claims he walked by DaBaby in the bowling alley when DaBaby suddenly attacked him, leaving him with severe injury and pain.

Brandon claims he didn't fight back ... and says DaBaby's assault resulted in physical and psychological damage, plus medical bills and sustained disability.

As we reported, the brawl was caught on camera ... with the fight spilling into bowling lanes. Law enforcement says they're now investigating DaBaby for assault with a deadly weapon, because Brandon was kicked in the head while on the ground.

DaBaby's already claimed it was self-defense ... and he's been banned from the bowling alley, Corbin Bowl, in Topanga, CA.

DaniLeigh's bro is suing DaBaby for assault, battery, emotional distress and negligence.