Legal

Dennis Quaid and his ex-wife, Kimberly, are switching up how they take care of their kids ... and now it's a more even split.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Dennis and Kimberly agreed to a 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedule for child custody ... with each parent getting their twins for 2 weeks at a time and then swapping.

In the docs, the actor's ex says if Dennis can't take care of the twins for some reason, she will look after them and Dennis will pay her $225 per child for every day he misses.

As we first reported ... the 2018 divorce agreement with Kimberly called for her to get the lion's share of physical custody -- 75 percent.

The twins are 14 and will be starting high school in the fall, but will be going to different schools, so Dennis and Kimberly hammered out a plan to get the kids where they need to go.

The docs say Dennis will pay for a nanny to take the kids to school when Kimberly has the kids, and if the nanny is unavailable on any given day, Dennis is responsible for hiring another caretaker to drive the kids to school and foot the bill.

Sherri Papini, the California mom who was charged with staging her own disappearance, just copped a plea deal in her criminal case.

Papini's defense attorney, William Portanova, tells TMZ ... Sherri signed a plea deal Tuesday in which she will plead guilty to counts of lying to a federal officer and mail fraud.

Remember ... Papini made national headlines when she was reported missing in early November 2016 before eventually being found on Thanksgiving about 150 miles away from her Northern California home. She told police she was abducted by 2 Hispanic women and held at gunpoint, even working with an FBI sketch artist to come up with a sketch of her alleged kidnappers.

But, as we reported just last month, Papini was arrested and charged for allegedly making the whole thing up ... with the feds saying she was actually staying with her ex-boyfriend when she claimed she was kidnapped.

Papini was charged with making a false statement and mail fraud, and the judge said she was facing a maximum sentence of 5 years/$250,000 fine and 20 years/$250,000 fine, respectively, if convicted.

Papini's lawyer says they are taking her case "in an entirely new direction" and "everything that has happened before today stops today."

Papini tells TMZ in a statement released through her legal team ... "I am deeply ashamed of myself for my behavior and so sorry for the pain I've caused my family, my friends, all the good people who needlessly suffered because of my story and those who worked so hard to try to help me."

She adds ... "I will work the rest of my life to make amends for what I have done."

While Papini's plea deal has been delivered to prosecutors, those same prosecutors have not yet filed a sentencing memo with their recommended sentence.

Frank Langella is under investigation for alleged sexual harassment on the set of a Netflix project ... TMZ has learned.

A production source tells us there have been allegations of inappropriate conduct by Langella made within the last couple weeks on the set of the limited series "The Fall of the House of Usher." We're told there's currently an investigation into what happened, but Langella has not been fired or suspended from the series.

As for what exactly happened, a source close to production tells us the 84-year-old actor allegedly made an inappropriate joke that was sexual in nature. Our sources also say in the context of his performance, possibly during rehearsal, he touched the leg of a female costar, and further drew attention to the action when he jokingly said something like "Did you like that?"

The show has been filming in British Columbia, Canada ... we reached out to the local police department who says nothing has been reported to them involving Frank.

Our sources say the investigation has not had any immediate effect on production, as Frank -- who plays Roderick Usher in the series -- was not scheduled to shoot any scenes this week.

Langella found massive fame as Dracula in 1979 and more recently played the judge in Netflix's "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

We reached out to a rep for Frank ... so far, no word back.

Cain Velasquez has finally broken his silence on his attempted murder case -- releasing a statement from jail on Tuesday, thanking his supporters and urging "the true victims of this case" to come forward.

Velasquez just posted the message on his social media page -- just hours before he's set to go before a judge for a hearing in the case -- saying he's grateful for all of the fighters and fans who have pleaded for his release from jail following his February arrest.

"To everyone that has expressed your support, my family and I will never be able to thank you enough," Velasquez said. "From the bottom of our hearts and the depths of our souls, we are forever grateful for your love."

The 39-year-old did not go into detail about his side of the story in the case, but he did say it's "complex and slowly unraveling as we speak."

As we reported, officials say Velasquez shot at Harry Goularte multiple times on Feb. 28 in Santa Clara County, Calif. ... after the man was accused of molesting one of Velasquez's close relatives.

Velasquez has been hit with 10 criminal charges, including one count of felony attempted murder.

In his note, Velasquez urged the "true victims of this case" -- presumably others he believes Goularte has molested -- to speak out.

"May God give you the strength to come forward," the UFC legend said. "Though it is most difficult to relive the pain that has happened to you, in speaking the truth, justice will be served and your own true healing will start."

"I will never stop helping or loving my community and all of you. Thank you for loving me."

Velasquez's hearing is slated to begin at 1:30 PM PT. There is a chance he could finally be released from jail following the court session.

A youth baseball umpire was attacked on the field during a game over the weekend and was forced to go to the hospital ... after he says a coach disagreed with some of his calls.

Sam Phelps was behind home plate for a boys baseball game on Saturday in The Colony, Texas ... when he claims a few of his out/safe, balls/strikes decisions pissed off a coach on the field.

Phelps explained the situation to FOX4, saying it all came to a boiling point in the third inning ... seconds after he called a kid safe at home.

Phelps says the coach walked out of the dugout, mocked him and then shoved him to the ground after Phelps ejected him.

Video from the diamond shows the coach put his hands near the umpire's face, pushed him hard -- and caused the man to hit the dirt with force.

Phelps says he went to a nearby medical facility in an ambulance and was checked for head injuries, before he was ultimately released later in the evening.

Phelps said he's now looking to press charges against the coach -- explaining he believes punishment is necessary in order to protect everyone involved at games going forward.

"I don't want to destroy anyone's life," Phelps said. "But, I would like this to be a learning opportunity to get this out there."

We reached out to The Colony Police Dept. ... and a spokesperson told us officers did respond to the scene and did take a report. The spokesperson added an investigation is underway.

As for the coach's future at the baseball park, the org. that hosted the game Saturday told FOX4 it's banned the man and his team from all future events.

Young Buck claims 50 Cent continues trying to block him from dropping new music, and goes so far as to say Fiddy's the reason he filed for bankruptcy.

You gotta see how Buck opened up on the "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper" podcast, ripping his ol' G-Unit pal for the slew of ongoing legal and recording issues between them.

For Young Buck, the 'G' in G-Unit might as well stand for greed ... because he says 50 Cent fired off a cease and desist letter to stop him from making any music. That move forced Buck to find a loophole, though.

He says he filed for bankruptcy to discharge all his debts, including the money 50 claims he still owes.

Quick hip hop history lesson: the "In Da Club" rapper formed G-Unit with Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks and Buck back in 1999 -- but since then their relationship's gone south.

So much so, Buck claims 50 Cent even prevented him from working on his last album, which would have allowed Buck to wipe his hands clean of the contract. He says without the bankruptcy filing, he'd still be sidelined.

As far as ironing out things ... YB says he doesn't want to have to sue 50, and end up in a lengthy court battle -- instead, he'd prefer they squash it all with a mano-a-mano convo.

Two YouTubers have just been sued by USC for busting into classrooms and stopping the instructors so they can film viral videos.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the men of Troy say Ernest Kanevsky and Yuguo Bai -- neither of whom are enrolled at the school -- allegedly performed a series of pranks in various classrooms, with the goal of making "takeover prank videos."

Their most recent disruption went down a few weeks ago, with Ernest and Yuguo pretending to be a Russian Mafia member and Hugo Boss ... interrupting a lecture on the Holocaust. Boss manufactured nazi uniforms during WWII.

The docs claim students were panicked ... some fled the room, leaving their belongings behind. The lawsuit says the YouTubers presented "a credible threat of imminent classroom violence."

Officers arrested them at gunpoint in a parking lot near the classroom. No word on whether prosecutors are going forward with criminal charges, but the school is trying to get cash from the culprits.

Miya Ponsetto, aka "SoHo Karen", is striking a plea deal that will keep her from spending any time behind bars after committing what the D.A. deemed a hate crime.

Ponsetto accepted a deal from prosecutors which will require her to "live a law-abiding life"  for 2 years. She entered a guilty plea and has agreed to continue with therapy and follow the terms of her probation while living in California.

Miya's lawyer, Paul D'Emilia, tells TMZ ... "We are pleased that today’s proceeding brought this unfortunate misunderstanding closer to a final resolution ... We are appreciative of the District Attorney’s thoughtful and empathetic approach to finding an acceptable conclusion."

If she is able to steer clear of trouble for 2 years, she'll be able to withdraw her guilty plea to the felony and re-plead to aggravated harassment in the second degree -- which is only a misdemeanor.

If she gets in trouble again, though, she could face up to 4 years in prison.

Manhattan's DA, Alvin Bragg, says, "Ms. Ponsetto displayed outrageous behavior. As a Black man, I have personally experienced racial profiling countless times in my life and I sympathize with the young man victimized in this incident. This plea ensures appropriate accountability for Ms. Ponsetto by addressing underlying causes for her behavior and ensuring this conduct does not reoccur”.

As we've previously reported, Ponsetto was charged with a hate crime ... after she went viral for attacking a then 14-year-old, Keyon Harrold Jr. as she wrongly accused him of stealing her iPhone.

The ugly 2020 incident was caught on camera as she went after the teenager in the lobby of the Arlo Hotel in SoHo.

That wasn't Posetto's first run-in with the law either. In California, she'd also been busted twice for DUI in 2020 and got arrested for being drunk in public with her mom another time ... and remains on probation for that.

Tory Lanez is flirting with legal disaster by dropping a new song with lyrics someone -- like a judge -- might think refer to Megan Thee Stallion, which is exactly what got him 'cuffed in court recently.

The "TMZ Hip Hop" crew broke down Tory's newly-released single, "Mucky James," and it sounds like the rapper is taking his words right up to the line, at the very least. In one line from the song he raps "I can't lie, temporarily that bitch came and ruined s**t."

Some fans assume he was referring to Megan with the "that bitch" line -- something that could be a second violation of the protective order banning him from communicating with or to MTS.

As we reported, Tory was handcuffed in court last week due to a February tweet the judge saw as direct communication with Meg ... even though he never called her out by name.

His bail was increased to $350K ... which makes ya wonder why he'd even flirt with that kinda violation again.

"TMZ Hip Hop" is digging into the Tory-Megan case -- along with lots of other stories, and it's all on Monday through Friday on these stations:

New York: 11 PM MY9 (WWOR)
Los Angeles: 2:30 PM FOX11 (KTTV)
Chicago: 12 AM FOX32 (WFLD)
Philly: 12 AM FOX29 (WTXF)
Dallas: 12:30 PM FOX4 (KDFW)
Houston: 12:30 PM FOX26 (KRIV), 10 PM MY20 (KTXH)
Washington, DC: 12 AM FOX5 (WTTG), 6:30 PM FOX5 PLUS (WDCA)
Seattle: 11:30 PM FOX13 (KCPQ)
Phoenix: 11:30 PM FOX10 (KSAZ)
Minneapolis: 11:30 PM FOX9 (KMSP)

Kim Kardashian's support is going a long way for Texas death row inmate Melissa Lucio, who has newfound hope ... despite her looming execution date.

We caught up with Melissa's son, John Lucio, who was heading to a rally in Dallas to protest the impending execution.

John tells TMZ ... when he told his mom Kim Kardashian was advocating on her behalf, she was shocked and couldn't believe it. He says, Kim supporting her, alongside many others, really uplifted her spirit.

Kim has called on Texas Gov. Abbott to halt the execution ... which is scheduled for April 27. She's spoken out on this issue on her social media and shared a letter to the Governor from Melissa's 14 children.

Melissa has been sitting on death row for nearly 15 years. She was convicted back in 2008 of murdering her 2-year-old daughter. Melissa told cops her daughter fell down a flight of stairs when they arrived.

Melissa's family, attorneys and supporters all note she initially asserted her innocence but was coerced into a false confession ... after hours of tough interrogation.

As you know, Kim has been a long-time advocate for criminal justice reform ... speaking out on other death row cases in Texas, like Rodney Reed.

Kat Von D is getting the hell out of Los Angeles and closing her famous tattoo shop, but not without a legal headache.

The former "L.A. Ink" star is being sued for unpaid rent and damages to the rental property she transformed into the famous High Voltage Tattoo in West Hollywood ... according to new legal docs.

In the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, the landlord claims Kat owes over $92,000 for remodeling fees and back rent from several months in 2020 and future rent that will come due in 2022.

According to the suit, Kat is being dinged for removing ceiling tiles, painting the ceiling, removing wallpaper from the entire store and demolishing a wall in the middle of the shop.

Remember, High Voltage Tattoo has seen all sorts of issues over the years ... including a fire and a couple of car crashes into neighboring businesses.

TMZ broke the story ... Kat is moving out of California, and her mansion is up for sale at $15 million. It's the home featured in the 2003 movie "Cheaper By the Dozen."

Moving's never easy, and now Kat's got a legal issue to deal with too.

Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are going to trial next week -- and the latter says she's unplugging from the world as she heads into court to defend herself against his claims.

The actress opened up on social media Saturday, just a couple days before she and her ex-husband are set to face off in front of a judge and a jury in Virginia Monday ... where they'll hash out once and for all if Amber defamed him by suggesting she was a victim of DV.

AH writes, "I’m going to go offline for the next several weeks. As you may know, I’ll be in Virginia where I face my ex-husband Johnny Depp in court. Johnny is suing me for an op-ed I wrote in the Washington Post, in which I recounted my experience of violence and domestic abuse."

She notes she never named him, but discussed the price women pay for speaking against powerful men, adding, "I continue to pay that price, but hopefully when this case concludes, I can move on and so can Johnny. I have always maintained a love for Johnny and it brings me great pain to have to live out the details of our past life together in front of the world."

She finishes ... "At this time, I recognize the ongoing support I've been fortunate to receive through these years, and in these coming weeks I will be leaning on it more than ever."

Of course, Amber is referring to this article, where she says, in part ... "[T]wo years ago, I became a public figure representing domestic abuse, and I felt the full force of our culture’s wrath for women who speak out," going on to detail how she felt she'd been blackballed for speaking her truth ... this in the wake of her tumultuous 2-year marriage with Depp.

Interestingly enough, JD has also argued he's been blackballed from the industry ... and the proof is kind of in the pudding -- especially as it relates to his 'Fantastic Beasts' recasting.

At any rate ... he's looking for a much-needed W here in the States -- his reputation took a major hit after he lost his libel case in the U.K. ... where he was labeled a "wife-beater" by a newspaper there, and which a judge ultimately agreed was "mostly true" after trial.

As we've reported ... their witness list is a who's-who of Hollywood, with the likes of Elon Musk, James Franco, Paul Bettany and others who are expected to take the stand.

Like we said -- this thing is set to get underway in about 48 hours or so, and it'll be interesting to see where the dust settles when it's all said and done.

Lady Gaga's dog walker is weighing in on the bungled release from jail of the man who allegedly tried to murder him.

Ryan Fischer called for the accused, James Howard Jackson, to turn himself in. As TMZ reported, he was released this week due to some sort of clerical error, and he's still on the loose.

Ryan says, "While I'm deeply concerned at the events that led to his release, I'm confident law enforcement will rectify the error. I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time."

The 19-year-old Jackson allegedly shot Ryan in the chest as he and others attempted to nab Lady Gaga's 3 French bulldogs as he was walking them in a residential area.

TMZ obtained the video which shows the brutal scene. Jackson allegedly took 2 of the dogs and left Ryan bleeding on the street.

The dogs were returned, but Ryan had a much tougher time. He suffered from a collapsed lung and is still enduring the physical and emotional aftereffects of the shooting.

Boris Becker has been convicted by a jury of his peers who believed he committed bankruptcy fraud, and he could spend years behind bars as a result.

The 54-year-old tennis great was convicted on multiple charges, including concealing assets and debts, and we're talking about more than a million bucks in debt.

It wasn't a total loss ... Becker was acquitted on 20 additional charges, including allegations he failed to turn over his Olympic gold medal and Wimbledon awards to the bankruptcy trustee.

Boris now faces 7 years in prison. He's free on bail pending sentencing, which is scheduled for later this month.

Becker was mum on the verdict. As you probably know ... he was an unstoppable force in tennis, winning 6 Grand Slams.

During the trial, Becker admitted he squandered his fortune -- $50 mil -- on his first divorce, child support and an extravagant lifestyle.

Hayden Panettiere's boyfriend Brian Hickerson could be in big trouble over video of them getting into a huge brawl at a famous Sunset Strip hotel ... because his probation officer says it's a clear violation of his probation.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Brian's PO says the fight at the Sunset Marquis in WeHo started when Hayden's BF confronted another bar patron for not leaving a large enough tip, resulting in a fight that spilled out into the street.

Brian's probation officer references the video TMZ first posted last month ... which shows Brian throwing down with a large group of people. The PO notes Brian is clearly seen and heard asking for a round two of the fight.

What's more, Brian's PO points out the portion of the video where Hayden is heard yelling, "Brian, jail!"

Remember, Brian's on probation until 2025 as a result of his domestic violence conviction back in April 2021.

In the docs, Brian's probation officer says he violated to conditions of his probation by failing to refrain from using force or violence against any person.

The PO is asking the court to find Brian in violation of probation and order him to complete 26 weeks of anger management and 26 weeks of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Rapper Polo G's final 2 charges in his cop attack case have been dropped after he completed anger management classes ... putting an end to this whole saga.

The artist recently completed a 6-hour anger management course, resulting in his final 2 counts of misdemeanor Resisting an Officer Without Violence being tossed.

As for why he got cut a break, this was part of the Pre-Trial Intervention program -- PTI -- which allows offenders with non-violent offenses to have charges dropped when they complete such programs.

Polo never pled guilty, so he won't be on probation. It's case closed.

Polo's celeb attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells us the rapper is happy to put this behind him and get back into the studio ... thanking the State Attorney for Miami-Dade County for her professionalism in resolving the matter.

As we reported, Polo G was arrested for allegedly attacking a cop during a traffic stop back in June. According to an affidavit, obtained by TMZ, the cop suffered abrasions to the face and a swollen right cheek ... the officer took multiple punches and elbow strikes to his head while trying to cuff the rapper.