Legal

Jussie Smollett might’ve gone straight from his jail cell to the studio ... because he just dropped a new song where he directly addresses his court case.

The former “Empire” star released a single Friday dubbed, “Thank You God,” and some of the lyrics are very interesting, considering his recent circumstances.

Jussie sings ... “Some people chasing that clout / Just remember this ... this ain’t that situation / You think I’m stupid enough to kill my reputation?”

The song comes on the heels of Jussie’s jail release pending his appeal. He’s been out for about 3 weeks, and seemingly put the song together in that time.

Jussie also sings ... “It’s like they’re hell-bent on not solving the crime / Taking out the elements of race and trans and homophobia that’s straight taking lives / But turn around and act like I’m the one that killed the strides.”

He dedicates the song to “the people who kept it real, who kept it true” ... and he says he’s donating all profits from the track to the Rainbow Push Coalition, Secure the Bag Safety and the Illinois Innocence Project.

As you know ... a jury found Jussie guilty of 5 of the 6 felony counts against him for lying to Chicago police about being the victim of a racist, homophobic attack ... and a judge sentenced him to 5 months behind bars.

But, Jussie was released from jail March 16 while he tries to get his sentence for the hoax attack overturned.

Megan Rapinoe clearly believes Dwayne Johnson jacked her fiancée's company's logo for his new XFL brand -- and now, she's demanding the actor changes it before lawyers get involved.

The soccer superstar explained her beef with The Rock on social media on Thursday -- just one day after Dwayne revealed his football org.'s new "X" logo -- saying she thinks his new logo looks a bit too much like Sue Bird's Togethxr's.

And, Rapinoe said if he doesn't change things quickly -- Bird's team will be sending over a cease and desist letter.

"Welp. This is awkward," Rapinoe said. "Only thing @TheRock and @XFL2023 are gonna be cookin up is a response to the Cease and Desist and an ENTIRE new brand ID. @togethxr got this on [lock] boys."

If you're unfamiliar, Bird and other star female athletes started Togethxr -- a company designed to promote equality in the media and highlight the achievement of women in sports -- several years ago, and used a unique "X" as part of their logo.

Rapinoe and Bird clearly believe The Rock's "X" logo too closely resembles Togethxr's -- and they made it apparent, they're not going to let it slide.

"Well," Bird said of The Rock's new design, "doesn’t this look familiar."

No word yet on if The Rock is aware of the two athletes' gripe, or if he has any plans to change the image going forward.

Jovan Vavic -- a former USC water polo coach -- was found guilty by a federal jury on Friday for his part in the "Varsity Blues" college admissions scandal ... the same bribery case that put Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli behind bars.

As we previously reported, Vavic, USC senior associate athletic director Dr. Donna Heinel, ex-USC women's head soccer coach Ali Khosroshahin and ex-assistant soccer coach Laura Janke were all indicted in 2019 for taking money from rich parents to get their kids admitted into prestigious schools.

Vavic was accused of getting two fake recruits into USC, taking $250k and getting other coaches involved in the "Operation Varsity Blues" scandal.

The 13-time national coach of the year was arrested on March 12, 2019 and charged with fraud and bribery -- the only coach to stand trial rather than taking a plea deal.

His trial began three years later ... and on Friday, the Boston federal jury found the 60-year-old guilty of conspiracy to commit mail, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit federal programs bribery.

Former "Grey's Anatomy" star Jesse Williams is getting his monthly child support payments drastically reduced after his income plunged following his exit from the show ... according to new legal documents.

The docs, obtained by TMZ, say Jesse's original payments of $40,000 a month have been "temporarily modified" to $6,413 ... following last month's request from the actor.

As you'll recall, he asked for his monthly payments to be reduced since his switch from TV to Broadway profoundly affected his bottom line ... telling the court he was currently earning $1,668 per week on Broadway with the production "Take Me Out."

As we reported, Jesse and ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee reached a child custody agreement at the end of February ... the judge denied her request to reduce his physical time with the kids.

This has been one of the bitterest divorces in Hollywood.

The Instagram model covered in blood after her boyfriend's stabbing death proudly talked about needing to be in control of her relationships and only dating "rich Black men" just weeks before he was killed.

Courtney Tailor went on the "We In Miami Podcast" we're told just 2 weeks before Christian Tobechukwu Obumseli's death. A newly surfaced clip from the interview makes her taste in men pretty clear -- "Let me clarify, I only date rich Black guys."

As the interview goes on, she reveals she doesn't like being controlled in her life ... saying she never wants to be told what to do.

As we reported, cops responded to a domestic violence incident Sunday ... they found 27-year-old Christian with an apparent stab wound. Christian was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The footage, obtained by TMZ, shows Courtney handcuffed in her luxury apartment in Miami with her clothes are covered in blood after the event.

Police have yet to announce Courtney as the woman in the video, but Lee Merritt, an attorney working with Christian's family, says she's the one.

Trey Songz has officially been cleared in a sexual assault investigation out of Vegas.

A rep for the Las Vegas Metro. PD tells us, "The LVMPD has concluded the investigation into the sexual assault allegations against Tremaine Neverson and determined that no criminal charges will be filed. If any new evidence comes to light, the case will be reopened for further investigation."

TMZ broke the story, Songz was accused of misconduct while in town to celebrate his 37th birthday back in November. Trey allegedly brought a group of women back to his room at The Cosmopolitan, and that's when the accuser had claimed things went South.

Trey's attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, tell us, "We are pleased that Trey Songz' has been cleared of wrongdoing and the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department investigation has officially been closed."

They continue, "We are grateful to the LVMPD for the professional police work done and their thorough investigation, which included findings of inconsistency in witness testimony and insufficient evidence. We are pleased that Trey can now return to what he does best, entertaining."

The suspect who allegedly shot Lady Gaga's dog walker was accidentally released from jail ... and the L.A. Sheriff's Department is investigating how such a blunder could occur.

19-year-old James Howard Jackson was released Wednesday. Jail records simply say  "dismissed." The Sheriff's department says Jackson was the beneficiary of a clerical error.

Jackson had appeared in an L.A. courtroom Tuesday ... and somehow got released the following day.

The LASD Major Crimes Bureau is now trying to find Jackson .... they're asking anyone with info to contact the Sheriff's Dept.

As we reported, Jackson was in custody for attempted murder in connection with the shooting of Lady Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fisher, and the theft of two of the singer's French Bulldogs.

Ryan suffered a collapsed lung and serious mobility issues and is still enduring the physical and emotional aftereffects of the shooting.

NFL coaches Steve Wilks and Ray Horton have joined ex-Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, and are also suing the National Football League, alleging racial discrimination in its hiring practices.

Wilks, who was head coach for the Arizona Cardinals in 2018, is going after the Cards' organization ... claiming the team discriminated against him in a manner consistent with the experiences of many Black coaches.

In the suit, Wilks says he was hired as a "bridge coach," meaning he was never given a real chance to succeed, and his tenure was only meant to "keep the seat warm" until they found his replacement.

The 52-year-old was fired after finishing 3-13 with the Cards -- the worst record the franchise posted in almost two decades (and worst record in the league) -- and struggled to find success with rookie quarterback Josh Rosen under center.

According to the suit, "Wilks was not given nearly the time nor authority to develop the team or culture for the Cardinals -- certainly nothing at all commensurate with the time and opportunities afforded to white Head Coaches throughout the League."

The suit points out the organization hired Kliff Kingsbury to replace Wilks ... but despite Kingsbury having Kyler Murray -- the No.1 overall pick in the draft that year -- he only managed to win 2 more games (5 wins total) than Wilks did the previous season.

"But Mr. Kingsbury was not fired," the suit reads. "He kept his job and was given time to develop the team. In year two, 2020, Mr. Kingsbury improved the team to 8-8, and to 11-6 and a playoff berth in 2021."

"Mr. Wilks was never given close to the same opportunity. 262. Like many other Black Head Coaches, Mr. Wilks has never been given a second opportunity to become the Head Coach of any other NFL team."

As for Horton, the longtime NFL coach (who's now retired) accused the Titans of only interviewing him in 2016 to satisfy the league's Rooney rule -- which requires minority candidates to be interviewed for head coaching and senior football operation jobs.

Horton believes his interview process was a sham and meant to deliberately show the Titans were an equal opportunity employer willing to consider a minority candidate to fill their head coaching vacancy.

"As Mr. Horton now understands," the complaint reads, "the rush to interview him was an orchestrated attempt to make it appear that the Titans had complied with the Rooney Rule and otherwise appear to have given an equal opportunity to Black candidates so the team could announce the pre-made decision to hire Mr. Mularkey as Head Coach."

Wilks and Horton's claims are similar to the ones made in the original lawsuit filed by Flores -- where he alleged the NY Giants interviewed him, but never intended to hire him 'cause Bills assistant Brian Daboll was their guy all along. Flores says he only found this out after Bill Belichick accidentally texted Flores thinking it was Daboll.

21 Savage's battle over his immigration status isn't moving forward, and it all has to do with his criminal case ... this according to the artist's lawyer.

21's immigration attorney Charles Kuck tells TMZ ... the pending criminal charges basically paused the rapper's now 3-year-long immigration case -- and nothing will happen on that front until the criminal case in DeKalb County wraps up.

As we reported, 21 was detained by ICE officials way back in 2019 ... agents say he had been illegally living in the U.S. for years after his visa expired.

Authorities later claimed the rapper threw out a bottle of codeine during that ICE arrest ... and they say a handgun was also found in his vehicle.

Here's the crazy part -- the Dekalb D.A. didn't even formally charge 21 with possession of a controlled substance and possession of a firearm until January of this year. Think about it, a whole worldwide pandemic came and went before that much happened, and as a result ... he's still in limbo as to where he'll end up living.

BTW, we're told there are currently no pending court dates for the criminal case, so this ain't ending anytime soon.

Savage's lawyer says his client is still allowed to travel domestically, but can't leave the U.S. because he has no visa to reenter the country.

Conor McGregor clearly ain't too worried about his dangerous driving case in Ireland ... the UFC star was seen smiling ear-to-ear and talking fighting outside a Dublin courthouse following a hearing on the matter.

McGregor showed up to court early Thursday morning amid accusations that he drove dangerously in his pricey Bentley Continental GT on March 22 -- and he didn't seem all that concerned about the case after appearing before a judge.

The 33-year-old -- wearing a fitted suit, white shirt and tie -- smiled big for photogs who had camped outside the courthouse, and he even discussed a potential return to the Octagon with some of the photogs.

"Just straight back into training, my man," McGregor said when asked for a comment on the case.

"I'm looking forward to getting back into the Octagon."

McGregor also shot down a potential fight with Henry Cejudo, who he's been bickering with on social media, adding that he's looking to come back to the UFC and fight at 170 pounds.

As for his legal issues, the hearing on his case reportedly lasted just minutes.

Two men have been hit with several felony charges in Southern California, after police say they found enough fentanyl to kill 4.7 million people ... in one of the largest busts the county has seen in 16 years.

You read that right. Police arrested 36-year-old Edgar Alfonso Lamas and 53-year-old Carlos Raygozaparedes ... after authorities found 821 lbs of meth, nearly 190 pounds of cocaine and 20.5 pounds of fentanyl pills inside a minivan pulling out from an Orange County, CA home.

As little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl is a lethal dose. The Orange County DA previously warned it would be cracking down on drug dealers ... even saying murder charges would be on the table in cases involving drugs like fentanyl that all too often result in a person's death.

Both guys now face a list of felony drug charges and a max sentence of 37 years and 4 months, if convicted.

WWE legend Tammy Sytch allegedly caused a car crash last month in which a 75-year-old man died ... and police suspect she was under the influence of booze at the time of the wreck.

The Ormond Beach Police Dept. spelled out the allegations against Sytch in a new traffic crash report, obtained by TMZ Sports, saying the accident happened at around 8:28 PM on March 25 on U.S. Highway 1 in Volusia County.

According to the docs, Sytch was driving a 2012 Mercedes when she crashed into the rear of a 2013 Kia Sorento that had been stopped at a stoplight.

Police in the docs say the front of the Kia then crashed into the rear of a 2011 GMC Yukon that had also been stopped at the stoplight.

Cops say two witnesses said Sytch had been "driving at a high rate of speed" before hitting the Kia.

In the docs, officers say the driver of the Kia was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died from injuries suffered in the wreck. The officers say Sytch was also transported to the same hospital with unknown injuries.

In the docs, cops say the driver and the passengers in the Yukon complained of neck, back, side and head injuries -- but were not transported to the hospital.

Police say in the docs that they believed Sytch was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. They added that a blood sample was taken -- though the results of that test are still pending.

In a statement to TMZ Sports, a spokesperson for the Ormond Beach Police Dept. said they are actively investigating the crash -- and said toxicology results could ultimately lead to criminal charges against Sytch.

"OBPD has requested an expedited timeframe on the processing of these samples," the spokesperson said, "and the results will be made available as soon as the department receives them."

Sytch has been accused of drinking and driving before -- she's been arrested at least six times for DWI, including back in 2019 in New Jersey.

Sytch -- who was elected into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011 -- was also arrested earlier this year for allegedly threatening to kill a man with scissors.

Joe Exotic's estranged husband Dillon Passage is willing to sign off on divorcing the 'Tiger King,' but he wants to work out a settlement first.

Dillon's attorneys, Chris Kirker and Holly Davis, tell TMZ … their client is eager to finalize the divorce, as long as Joe agrees to his terms.

His legal team says they actually started negotiating a divorce settlement back in September with Joe's previous lawyer when DP and Exotic were already estranged ... but they hit pause on moving forward when Joe announced his cancer diagnosis.

As we first told you ... Joe ended up filing for divorce last week after more than 4 years of marriage, saying he wants to make their split official so he can marry his new prison lover.

Joe's new divorce attorney, Autumn Blackledge, tells TMZ … Joe wants to hammer out a deal, and it shouldn't be a problem, as long as Dillon's terms are "reasonable."

As for his terms -- Dillon's attorney says he wants both parties to walk away with what they owned coming into the marriage ... and he wants a permanent injunction preventing Joe from contacting him directly, stalking or harassing him.

Dillon's camp says those are the terms they offered back in September, when Joe's response was, "It will be a cold day in hell before I sign these papers ... You're out of your f***ing mind."

Sounds like it's gonna take some doing to reach a settlement, but Dillon's team stresses he's not looking for any big payday -- and Joe's camp says he wants something simple that allows each of them to take their own stuff and move on.

Albert Pujols is going into his farewell season as a single man -- the MLB legend just announced his divorce from his wife of more than 2 decades.

"I've been asked a lot of questions over the past few days regarding what's been going on at home and sadly, after 22 years of marriage, I have made the decision to file for divorce from my wife, Deidre," Pujols said in a statement.

Pujols acknowledges the timing of the news -- considering his wife had brain surgery to have a tumor removed last week -- is not ideal ... but the split wasn't "something that just happened overnight."

"As a devout Christian, this is an outcome that I never wanted to see happen. For many long days and nights, I prayed, asking the Lord for His guidance."

Pujols -- who married Deidre in 2000 -- did not go into detail about the breakup.

"I am thankful for the five beautiful children that we brought into this world and remain committed to raising them in a loving and safe environment."

Pujols -- who spent the majority of his career with the Cardinals and Angels -- is a 2-time World Series champ, 3-time National League MVP and 10-time All-Star. He's hit 679 home runs in his career ... which is fifth all-time.

Tory Lanez was handcuffed in court and had his bail increased after a judge ruled he violated the protective order in his case with Meg Thee Stallion for talking about her on social media.

The Canadian rapper had a hearing Tuesday in L.A. where he was remanded into custody of the Sheriff's Department, and the judge set his bail at $350K. Prosecutors had requested he be held without bail, or at least set it at $5 million.

We're told he's in the process of posting the $350K.

The judge said Tory's tweet, where he directly addressed Meg as "U" was a violation of a protective order -- he's not supposed to contact or mention her at all. Tory fired off that tweet back in February when he said, "Good d*** had me f***ing 2 best friends ... and I got caught ... that's what I apologized for ... it's sick how u Spun it tho ..."

Prosecutors also voiced concern about a tweet from DJ Akademiks from February which read, "BREAKING: It was revealed in court few moments ago that Tory Lanez DNA WAS NOT found on the weapon in the Meg Thee Stallion case."

The prosecution believes that info was given to Ak from Tory's team. However, Tory's attorney, Shawn Holley, said that wasn't possible, because DJ Akademiks's initial tweet was wrong ... Tory's DNA wasn't on the magazine, and a sample from the gun was inconclusive.

About 15 minutes after posting his initial tweet, Ak posted a new one which reflected the inconclusive finding.

Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker were determined to get married, even if the financial aspect of their relationship wasn't quite ironed out.

Sources connected to the two tell us ... prior to Sunday night's Vegas wedding, the two had started working on a prenup, but nothing had been signed. We're told the plan now will be for a postnup -- and should be handled without issue.

Kourtney is reportedly worth around $65 million and Travis around $50 million ... so there's a lot of money on the line.

Prenups and postnups at this level typically separate earnings during the marriage ... that's the way Kim and Kanye handled it. What they bring into the marriage stays as separate property.

TMZ broke the story -- Kourtney and Travis beelined it to a Vegas chapel Sunday night after the Grammys for an Elvis-themed wedding ceremony. We're told they didn't allow the venue to take any photos, bringing their own photog instead as well as their security team.

What's more ... we're told the two came prepared with a marriage license -- which they presented to the chapel's owner -- so while it may have seemed impulsive, there was still some planning behind the scenes.

Our sources say Kourtney and Travis are planning on something more elaborate in the future with close friends and family.