Legal

Jesse Williams and his ex-wife, Aryn Drake-Lee, have reached a child custody agreement -- one that allows for him to do a Broadway play, and also gives him veto power on COVID-19 issues for their 2 kids.

According to docs, the exes were in court last week when the judge signed off on a few custody modifications. Although Aryn and Jesse maintain shared legal custody ... the judge denied her request to reduce his physical time with the kids -- presumably because he's gonna be spending a lot of time in NYC.

The former "Grey's Anatomy" star was hanging at a Knicks game back in January, but he'll be working in the Big Apple soon ... starring in the Broadway production, "Take Me Out" from March thru June.

As a result, the judge is now giving Jesse 4 consecutive days with the children -- 8-year-old Sadie and 6-year-old Maceo -- in NYC each month, and 2 of those days can be weekends.

Talk about a sign of the times ... the agreement also addresses how they will handle COVID disputes. The judge granted Jesse "tie-breaking authority" for 2022 if, for some reason, he and Aryn can't agree on things like vaccinations or face masks for the kids.

One more thing ... no flip-flopping on parenting time for Jesse. At Aryn's request, the judge agreed the actor can't cancel and then "uncancel" his scheduled daddy time.

Hulk Hogan is turning the page after his second divorce, and his ex-wife is doing the same ... with a new set of wheels that were part of the deal, as they say, when they agreed to part ways.

The pro wrestling icon came to an agreement with Jennifer McDaniel when they finalized their divorce last year -- which flew under the radar until he announced it this week -- and one key point of negotiation was making sure JMD had a brand new ride.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Hulk and Jen's divorce settlement calls for HH to buy her a new car within 45 days, and guarantee she has to make zero payments on the vehicle.

The make and model aren't addressed in the paperwork, but a condition of the purchase is Hulk gets to keep the ride they'd shared during the marriage.

Other takeaways from the divorce docs ... Jen's keeping a property they bought together in Palm Isle, FL, and Hulk holds on to his Clearwater mansion.

As for alimony ... the docs say Hulk paid Jennifer a one-time lump sum of cash, but the amount isn't disclosed. There's a non-disparagement clause that prevents each of them from talking about the relationship without the other signing off.

One last thing ... it looks like Jen responded to his divorce petition the same day he filed it in October -- a sign this was all pretty amicable, and well-planned ahead of time.

Prince Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt's recently-adopted son, Kevin Feucht, can't believe his dad wants to un-adopt him .. and says he won't go quietly, in fact, he's looking punish him.

We got Kevin outside Wally's Monday in Bev Hills and he told us he's "shocked, disappointed, and sad" Prinz wants to reverse the adoption process. While Zsa Zsa Gabor's widower has claimed his son isn't spending time with him, Kevin says, "I've put so much effort and time into this."

Kevin tells TMZ he wants to "slightly punish" his dad, although he wasn't specific about exactly how he'd do that. Not shockingly, we think, he says Prinz has been ignoring him since last week.

You'll recall ... Anhalt says he adopted Kevin to carry on his and Zsa Zsa's royal lineage.

But, if we're keeping it real -- the adoption was featured on the reality show, "Adults Adopting Adults." When A&E canceled it after 3 episodes ... Prinz decided to reverse the adoption process.

Kevin says he really wants things to work out, knowing how big of a legacy Zsa Zsa left behind, and it sounds like he already had big plans.

Cindy Crawford has a stalker who flew thousands of miles to see her about a phantom child he says they share together ... so say cops who arrested the guy.

It's a crazy story ... a man from the UK flew to Cali and ended up on Cindy's doorstep Sunday ... to talk to her about "the kid" he said they had together.

We're told that he made his way onto the property and started banging on the door and windows ... all to get Cindy's attention.

Cindy was not home at the time ... instead, the man was greeted by cops -- who had been called there by security.

He tried explaining the purpose of his mission to cops, but it fell on deaf ears. The man was arrested and booked for felony stalking.

Hulk Hogan is no longer married ... the WWE legend just announced he has divorced his 2nd wife, Jennifer McDaniel, and already has a new GF.

"Yo Maniacs just for the record, the Facebook and Instagram posts are of me and my girlfriend Sky, I am officially divorced, sorry I thought everyone already knew, love my Maniacs4Life," the 2x WWE Hall of Famer announced on social media on Monday.

According to court records obtained by TMZ Sports, Hulk filed for divorce in October 2021. As Hulk states, the divorce was finalized in 2021.

It's surprising news, but not totally out of the blue. We've been receiving tips for weeks that Hogan and another woman were seen around Clearwater, Florida -- hanging out at bars, doing karaoke together.

Hulk and Jennifer married in 2010 ... after Hogan split from his first wife, Linda Hogan.

Linda and Hulk's relationship ended in an ugly way ... with allegations of abuse being lobbed by Linda. Hulk adamantly denied ever hurting his ex-wife.

Simon Leviev -- AKA the "Tinder Swindler" -- is now in the crosshairs of the extremely wealthy diamond-titan family that he pretended to be a part of ... they've just filed a criminal court complaint against him.

Guy Ophir -- lawyer for the true Leviev family -- says charges were filed Monday morning in Israel against Simon, telling us justice must be served for the malice brought against the Leviev name.

The legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- outline the ways in which Simon allegedly took advantage of the family, including most notably changing his name from Shimon Yehuda Hayut to Simon Leviev to give the appearance of wealth ... Simon claimed to be a part of a wealthy family, with ties to the diamond industry.

Ophir tells TMZ ... according to Israel law, only the state can file criminal charges ... but there is an exception to the rule -- in cases of "Malice Defamation" like this one.

In these cases, the person that was hurt can file a private criminal charge and ask for criminal punishment. By using the Leviev family name, Ophir claims Simon committed malice defamation and malice invasion of privacy.

He says this is the first step in an "all-out legal war" that the family's instructed him to unleash against Simon and everyone that will join venture with him -- past, present and future.

Ophir mentions, "The Leviev family intend[s] to donate the money that they will receive to all the victims of his crimes."

Jonathan Rhys Meyers has cut a deal in his DUI case ... and he's going to get the same treatment as an average Joe -- no jail time, as long as he keeps his nose clean.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the actor copped a plea deal and was sentenced to 1-year summary probation. He'll pay a $500 fine and must complete an alcohol ed and counseling program.

TMZ broke the story ... Jonathan was arrested for misdemeanor DUI back in November 2020, after cops said he crashed his car in Malibu.

JRM was eventually hit with 3 charges — 2 DUI-related charges and 1 for reckless driving. As part of the deal, he ended up pleading no contest to the reckless driving charge, and the other two charges were dropped.

Jonathan's struggled with substance abuse problems over the years, going to rehab several times.

Kanye West has just made it clear ... he's not gonna end his marriage without a fight, but the fight he's waging is, well, bizarre.

Kanye just filed legal docs ... trying to make his social media posts attacking Kim, Pete and others inadmissible in next week's hearing. As we reported, a judge will decide next week whether to restore Kim's single status.

Kanye's argument -- How does Kim really know he wrote those posts? His lawyer is arguing these social media posts are not only hearsay ... they're double hearsay!

Ye's lawyer says, "Kim claims she read something online allegedly by Kanye and characterizes the posts in her declaration as misinformation ... Kim needed to offer the social media posts into evidence, and show that the posts were written by Kanye."

The docs never say Kanye didn't write the posts ... just that Kim hasn't jumped through all the hoops.

But, that's not all ... Kanye's lawyer now says the prenup can't be viewed as valid, at least not now. Ye's attorney says there's a presumption in California that prenups signed after 2001 are invalid, and the only way they can be validated is either during a trial or if both parties agree. So, it seems Kanye is saying he hasn't agreed it's valid, so it can't be enforced until there's a full-blown trial, and that means a big delay.

What Kanye is doing is throwing up roadblocks to stop Kim from becoming single. He previously filed docs saying he would agree to it, but one of the conditions is that all assets be frozen for now. The thing is ... they have a prenup that makes all their property separate and Kim needs that money to run her businesses.

It's highly unlikely the judge will buy what Ye's lawyer is selling ... restoring single status is a routine procedure, and the very point is to separate division of assets from marital status.

Amanda Bynes has her parents' full support as she tries to end her conservatorship ... a move that's not inspired by Britney Spears -- instead, her attorney says it's all about Amanda putting in the work.

Amanda's repped by David A. Esquibias, and he tells us ... Amanda's move to pull the plug on her conservatorship is years in the making, starting long before the #FreeBritney movement grew vocal last year.

He says Amanda filing the legal docs a few months after Britney successfully ended her own conservatorship is purely coincidental, and adds she's never even mentioned Britney's battle.

Amanda's lawyer says her conservatorship was never meant to be in place for her entire life -- the goal was always for it to end -- and within the last 2 years, Amanda and her parents realized the significant progress she'd made in coping with bipolar disorder.

Amanda was placed under the conservatorship in 2013 following a string of bizarre episodes. She was temporarily committed to a psychiatric facility and once released, her parents started taking care of her.

We're told Amanda's gained important structure and support in her life through attending AA, and has been sober for 3 or 4 years.

She's also doing really well in classes -- almost straight A's -- at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising as she works toward a Bachelor's degree. We're told she's focused on using fashion as a creative outlet, and also wants to develop fragrances.

Interestingly, she's not mentioned anything about getting back into acting.

Amanda's lawyer says she's been working hard with her parents to reach the common goal of ending the conservatorship, and she's put in a lot of work and effort to get there.

As we've reported, this is significantly different from Britney. Sources directly connected to her conservatorship told TMZ ... they thought it would be in place for her lifetime, because they believed she couldn't safely care for herself and others.

Jussie Smollett wants a do-over in court, he's asking for a new trial in Chicago and taking issue with the initial jury selection process -- but he'd also willing to accept a not-guilty verdict.

The actor's defense team just filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, asking the judge to reverse the verdict and find him not guilty of disorderly conduct for faking a police report ... or at least give him a new trial.

Remember ...  a jury in Illinois decided Jussie was lying to cops about being the victim of a homophobic and racist attack. The jurors found the "Empire" actor guilty of 5 of the 6 felony counts against him, including disorderly conduct charges or allegedly providing a false report to cops.

In the docs, Jussie claims the court violated his constitutional rights when it prevented his defense team from actively participating in the jury selection process.

Jussie claims his lawyers were not allowed to ask questions of potential jurors ... and his defense claims the jury pool for the high-profile case was tainted.

He's also claiming prosecutors showed a pattern of racism in selecting jurors.

In the docs, Jussie's defense also claims the judge wrongfully barred the media and public from the courtroom ... and he says prosecutors pressured witnesses to give false testimony.

That's not all ... Jussie's legal team also says the judge wrongfully limited the defense questioning of witnesses.

Amanda Bynes just took a huge step on the path to personal freedom ... because she officially filed to pull the plug on her conservatorship. And, it doesn't seem coincidental she's doing it on the heels of Britney Spears ending hers.

The former child star filed docs in L.A. Wednesday to end her 9-year conservatorship.

Amanda was placed under the conservatorship back in 2013 following a string of bizarre episodes ... including when she soaked her dog in gasoline while setting a neighbor's driveway on fire, which shed light on some of her struggles with mental health. She was committed temporarily to a psychiatric facility and once released, was cared for by her parents.

Amanda's move to end the conservatorship is interesting ... as we reported back in September, a judge signed off to keep it in place until March 2023.

She's mostly been staying out of the spotlight, pursuing other interests besides acting, dabbling in rap music and pursuing a design career while getting engaged. She also got a degree from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, which certainly shows an ability to function.

There's definitely a movement to end conservatorships with young people where it runs indefinitely, so the judge's reaction will be both interesting and important.

A Los Angeles woman says she was unable to see her Rams hoist the Lombardi Trophy after spending nearly $9,000 on tickets to the Super Bowl ... claiming she suffered "life-altering injuries" during the big game -- and now she's suing SoFi Stadium.

Rams fan Lita Abella made the allegations in a lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- claiming she missed the rest of the game due to an incident in the third quarter.

In the docs, Abella claims she was sitting in her seat when she "suddenly, and without warning," felt a forcible blow to the back of her head.

Abella says the impact was so strong, it forced her out of her assigned seat and sent her flying into the back of another seat rows ahead.

In the suit, the woman alleges that a man lost his balance and fell after "high fiving" another man ... causing him to fall into where Abella had been sitting, which resulted in her face and head colliding with another seat.

The woman says she suffered gnarly injuries -- including a concussion, orbital fracture, fractured nose, and fractured shoulder -- and ended up missing the trophy ceremony because she was in the hospital.

Abella is accusing SoFi Stadium of negligence and premises liability -- saying the stadium was ultimately responsible for what she describes as the "dangerous and defectively planned" seating which led to her injuries.

She's suing for unspecified damages.

The former police officers who stood by as George Floyd was being murdered by Derek Chauvin were just found guilty on all charges by a jury of their peers in their federal case.

Tou Thao, J. Alexander Kueng and Thomas Lane were convicted after a 12-person panel rendered their verdict following less than 2 full days of deliberations ... this after nearly a month-long trial.

The ex-cops were found guilty of all charges against them -- all 3 were facing a count of deprivation of rights under color of the law for failing to render medical aid to Floyd ... and Thao and Kueng were, additionally, hit with charges for failing to intervene in Chauvin's use of unreasonable force.

You might recall ... Lane was seen on camera at least trying to speak up about what was going on, asking if they should roll Floyd over -- only to be overruled by Chauvin.

As you know, Chauvin was convicted of murder last year ... and has since copped a plea on the federal charges he was also facing. Thao, Kueng and Lane aren't out of the woods yet either, BTW ... they have a state criminal trial later this year.

For this case, though ... Thao, Kueng, and Lane argued that they were deferring to Chauvin's seniority and experience in the situation ... and that they didn't intend for Floyd to die under the circumstances.

Kueng and Lane also tried to explain their behavior by pointing out how new they were to the Minneapolis PD force at that point -- each of them was just days into the job when the incident occurred in May 2020.

You'll recall ... Chauvin, Lane and Kueng held Floyd down -- with Chauvin pinning him at his neck. Thao was on crowd control behind the police vehicle.

As for what's on the table sentence-wise ... the men are facing the possibility of several years or even life in prison. The death penalty is technically possible given the charges, but prosecutors have given no indication they would seek it.

Jay-Z's pockets just got fatter after coming out on top in a 6-year legal war with Parlux ... the perfume company that sued him over his now-defunct fragrance.

Parlux had sued Jay in 2016, claiming he failed to hold up his end of the promotional bargain when they teamed up to launch his cologne, Gold Jay-Z. The company said the whole deal was a stinking disaster because the rapper refused to do media and public appearances to pump up sales when the fragrance dropped in 2013.

It was seeking $18 mil from Jay-Z, but now he's effectively turned the financial tables on Parlux. On Thursday, an appellate court ruled Jay is entitled to the $4.5 mil in royalties from past cologne sales which he had requested during the NYC trial last fall.

That jury said Mr. Carter didn't owe Parlux a dime, but also rejected his royalties demand. However, the appellate court overruled the jury decision, so ... big win for Jay-Z.

Jay-Z's attorney, Alex Spiro, declined to comment.

Shanna Moakler's boyfriend, Matthew Rondeau, has been arrested for felony domestic violence on the heels of a disturbing video in which he accused her of cheating and said their relationship was over.

Law enforcement sources tell us Shanna and Matthew got in a fight Wednesday night at their home after he accused her of cheating. Our sources say Shanna left the home, but returned Thursday morning where the fighting continued and allegedly became physical.

We're told cops were called, and Shanna had visible marks on her body ... Rondeau was arrested for felony domestic violence.

Moakler was just a contestant on "Celebrity Big Brother" -- the show's finale was Wednesday night.

In a video posted to Moakler's Instagram page Thursday, an irate Rondeau -- who was recording himself -- accused Moakler of cheating on him and called her a fake person. Rondeau said he and Moakler were finished as a couple and he'd never speak to her again.

Kim Kardashian wants a judge to make her single ASAP ... because Kanye West's Instagram posts are hurting her emotionally, and all she wants now is to move on and co-parent in a healthy manner.

In new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Kim says it very directly, "I very much desire to be divorced." She tells the judge she's asked Kanye to keep their divorce private, "but he has not done so," and talks about Kanye's barrage of social media posts about their relationship.

Kim says, "Kanye has been putting a lot of misinformation regarding our private matters and co-parenting on social media which has created emotional distress."

As we've reported, Kanye's accused Kim of kidnapping their daughter, Chicago, says she's accused him of ordering a hit on her, and gone after her for allowing North to be on TikTok.

Kanye had also asked to prevent Kim from transferring assets out of any trust. Kim says that ridiculous -- they have a prenup which keeps all their trusts and other assets separate, and Kim needs access to her trust to run her businesses. And, in the docs, Kanye's lawyers recognize the prenup is valid.

She also notes Kanye's lawyers acknowledge they're having trouble getting through to him. In October 2021 they wrote to Kim's attorney about trying to break down the prenup for Ye, saying ..."But as you also know, we face challenges in communicating with our client -- and the validity of the prenup (with all of its related legal implications) is a heavy issue to broach."  The upshot -- it seems Kanye isn't throwing up the roadblocks -- his lawyers are, because Ye isn't involved.

Kim bottom lines her request for single status by stating ... "While I wish our marriage would have succeeded, I have come to the realization that there is no way to repair our marriage. Kanye does not agree but at least it appears that he has come to the realization that I want to end our marriage, even if he does not."

She adds that she needs to be single, so "I can begin the healing process and so that our family can begin the healing process and move forward in this new chapter in our lives."