Legal

Arguably the biggest days in Brittney Griner's life have finally arrived -- her drug case trial in Russia has begun ... and it appears she chose to send a loud and clear message with her fashion for the monumental moment.

Cameras at a courthouse in Moscow captured Griner in the minutes before the trial officially began Friday morning ... and they showed the WNBA superstar rockin' a Jimi Hendrix T-shirt for the occasion.

While we're sure Griner is a big fan of the musician's work ... it seems the 31-year-old -- who's been detained in Russia since mid-February after authorities claimed she had hash oil in her luggage at an airport -- was attempting to send an "I'm innocent" note to the world.

You'll recall, Hendrix was arrested in Toronto back in 1969 after he, too, allegedly had drugs in his bags at an airport. Hendrix eventually stood trial in the case, but was found not guilty.

Griner -- who's facing up to 10 years behind bars if convicted on the charges -- is clearly hoping for a similar result in her drug case.

Friday's hearing reportedly lasted around two and a half hours, and is scheduled to continue next week. U.S. officials said at the courthouse following the proceedings that Griner told them she is in good spirits and "is keeping up the faith."

Griner's wife, meanwhile, spoke with CNN on Thursday night ahead of the important hearing ... and stressed she still wants to get in front of Joe Biden to make sure he knows just how important Griner is to her, her fans and America.

"He has that power -- he is the person that ultimately will make that decision for BG to come home," Cherelle Griner said. "And, so while everyone else wants to tell me they care, I would love for him to tell me he cares."

Brad Kelly, the star of Discovery Channel's "Bering Sea Gold," will serve prison time after striking a plea deal for a brutal domestic violence case in Alaska ... TMZ has learned.

The reality TV star was arrested back in February after beating up a woman with whom he shares a child. Cops said hospital staff told them the woman suffered life-threatening injuries after being struck in the head.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, the woman told cops she got into an argument with Kelly, went to sleep and woke up to find him standing over her in a pool of her own blood.

Kelly told officers the woman fell and hit her head on a table, but he was arrested and charged with second-degree assault domestic violence.

Kelly's attorney, Jon-Marc Petersen, tells TMZ ... his client pled guilty to felony assault and prosecutors dropped the remaining charges.

Kelly was sentenced to 4 years behind bars, with 3 of those years being suspended. His lawyer says Kelly could be released after 8 months ... as long as he keeps his nose clean behind bars. Once he's out, he'll be on probation for 5 years.

Wrestling star Jeff Hardy is fighting back in his DUI case -- pleading not guilty to all charges this week, court documents show.

Hardy, according to the docs, pled not guilty on Tuesday to the three charges related to his arrest earlier this month.

During the June 13 incident, cops accused Hardy of driving while absolutely wasted in Volusia County, Fla. Officers said in police documents, breathalyzer tests following the arrest showed the AEW star had a BAC of .294 and .291.

Police footage from the stop shows Hardy slurred his words, stumbled on his feet, and admitted to cops he had drank shots of Fireball before getting behind the wheel.

DDG's celebrating a big legal victory -- he's no longer facing charges for illegal gun possession -- and it's perfect timing, as the platinum-selling rapper has a big summer tour.

We spoke to DDG's manager, Dimitri Hurt ... who tells TMZ Hip Hop the new California gun laws allowing for more concealed weapons also played into the District Attorney's decision to reject the case and not pursue charges.

An excited DDG took to Instagram to celebrate the news, thanking Dimitri and jokingly calling vlogger Charleston White his "lawyer" in Akademiks comment section ... but it's actually Dimitri.

TMZ Hip Hop broke open the story ... LAPD pulled over DDG on June 7 for allegedly speeding and swerving in his Lambo, and he admitted having a loaded firearm in the whip.

Dimitri says DDG did make the honest mistake of speeding to a video shoot with the firearm, but with the charges dropped, he's now clear to travel for work.

This week, it's onward to Europe for the U.K.'s 2022 Wireless Fest, a Rolling Loud Portugal ... followed by shows in Amsterdam, Germany, Denmark and Poland as they make their way back to the U.S.

Ghislaine Maxwell can't go anywhere near kids after she serves her prison sentence in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case ... at least for the 5 years she's on supervised release.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, Maxwell's supervised release calls for some pretty serious restrictions once she's out from behind bars in about 20 years, with a heavy emphasis on keeping her away from minors.

Maxwell can't have any deliberate contact with anyone under the age of 18, unless she gets prior approval from the U.S. Probation Office ... and she can't loiter within 100 feet of places regularly frequented by minors, such as schoolyards, playgrounds and arcades.

In addition, Maxwell can't view and/or access any web profile of a user under the age of 18 ... social networking sites, chat rooms, community portals, etc. ... unless she secures prior approval from her probation officer.

The guardrails are in place for a reason ... Maxwell was found guilty by a New York jury on 5 of the 6 counts she faced in her sex trafficking trial, including a conviction on one count of sex trafficking a minor.

Remember ... Maxwell stood accused of soliciting and grooming minors for abuse and sex crimes at the hands of Epstein between 1994 and 2004, with 4 women testifying during her trial Maxwell sometimes even joined in on the abuse.

R. Kelly has just been sentenced to 30 years in federal prison following his conviction for 9 federal charges, including sex crimes and human trafficking.

The disgraced singer was in the federal courthouse Wednesday in Brooklyn when Judge Ann M. Donnelly announced his sentence ... bringing a close to one of the U.S. Attorney's Office's highest-profile criminal prosecutions in years.

Kelly's known he could get 10 years to life since he was convicted last September on all 9 counts. He declined to give a statement during sentencing.

As we reported, federal prosecutors had recommended no less than 25 years in prison based on the severity of Kelly's crimes.

Kelly's trial had taken just over a month, and his attorneys seemed overmatched in court -- federal prosecutors called for more witnesses than the defense.

Kelly's legal team called on a handful of ex-Kelly employees and associates -- all saying, under oath, they never saw Kelly abuse anyone.

Prosecutors, however, brought dozens of witnesses to the stand, poking holes in that claim ... some said Kelly had managers, bodyguards and assistants who rounded up his potential victims before the singer groomed them for unwanted sex, among other things.

Kelly himself never took the stand.

We spoke with one of Kelly's victims, Lizzette Martinez, who told us he's more than earned a life sentence ... she says the guy's proven multiple times he's using his power to get what he wants, and he shouldn't be given the chance to prey on women again.

Nipsey Hussle's alleged killer, Eric Holder, got jumped by other inmates on his way to court ... and the beatdown was so bad he apparently needed stitches to close his wounds.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Holder was waiting Tuesday to catch the bus to court for his murder trial when he got jumped, causing the trial to be delayed.

We're in the courtroom today, and Holder showed up with stitches running up the back of his head. Holder also appears to have a slightly swollen left eye, plus more stitches cutting their way through his hair.

It's interesting ... Holder and his defense attorneys are all wearing face coverings, which they generally have not done in the past.

The jury is in the courtroom too, but no one has so far addressed Holder's injuries ... the judge, prosecution and defense are just moving forward as if nothing happened.

Ricky Martin's former business manager claims the pop star shorted him millions of dollars, and now she's filed a lawsuit trying to get a piece of his pie ... which she believes is rightfully hers.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Rebecca Drucker says she originally represented the singer from 2014-2018, but after a 2-year hiatus he called her back into service in May 2020 when his "personal and professional life [were] in absolute turmoil."

Drucker says she did just that ... getting his life and singing career in order, guiding him on recording contracts, touring and sponsorship deals and helping him make millions of dollars on his recent North American tour with Enrique Iglesias.

She also claims she protected him in 2020 when he was allegedly threatened with an unspecified career-ending allegation, bringing in top attorneys to handle the matter ... and Ricky walked away unscathed.

The only problem ... Drucker says Martin stiffed her out of $3 million worth of commissions as she was jumpstarting his career. She says Ricky routinely manipulated and lied to her, ultimately forcing her to quit in April of this year.

She said when she persisted in asking for her money, Martin began threatening her to stay silent and demanded she sign a nondisclosure agreement ... which she refused to do.

Drucker's now suing Martin for the $3 mil, plus punitive damages.

Britney Spears is not going to sit willingly for a deposition ... that was made clear by her lawyer, who filed legal docs saying Jamie Spears is "shameless"  by, among other things, asking a judge for a depo date "shortly after his daughter's wedding and just before Father's Day."

Attorney Mathew Rosengart claims in searing legal docs ... "Mr. Spears refuses to simply go away, as he should and as any decent man or father would do." Rosengart goes on to say Jamie is piling up legal fees to rehabilitate his reputation.

Rosengart says there's no legitimate purpose to force Britney into a deposition and calls it "morally abominable" and "revenge."

Britney and Rosengart have accused Jamie of gross conflicts of interest -- among other things, alleging he approved unjustified fees requested by business manager Lou Taylor and used Britney's money to pay for unwarranted personal expenses.

On the other hand, among the abuses, Britney has alleged ... that Jamie illegally forced her into rehab and refused to allow her to remarry. These are alleged abuses that might convince a judge that he has a right to confront Britney over these claims. The counter to that is that Rosengart is simply asking for an accounting to determine if Jamie squandered Britney's money, and that can be determined without Britney's direct participation.

Outkast's Big Boi is divorced from Sherlita Patton, officially bringing their 20 years of marriage to a close.

Legal documents obtained by TMZ show the court entered the final divorce decree last month, making this a pretty quick dissolution. Big Boi just filed for the divorce in April.

In his filing, he said there was "no reasonable hope of reconciliation" between Sherlita and him -- noting they'd already separated and were living apart.

The two agreed to a postnuptial agreement in 2016, in which they divided up their assets and debts, and more recently agreed to a confidential settlement to tie up any loose ends. The exes also agreed to keep details of their finances private.

Both parties are looking to avoid any mud-slinging -- as part of the divorce, they agreed neither would make threats of "injury, maltreating, molesting, harassing, harming, or abusing" in any way shape or form.

Translation: Let's keep this above the waist and amicable.

As we reported, Sherlita filed for divorce from the rapper way back in 2013, demanding financial support and full custody. Big Boi responded she wasn't getting anything without a fight, but the couple reconciled.

A man who has already been arrested for stalking Ariana Grande has been arrested again ... this time after breaking into her Montecito home on her 29th birthday.

Aharon Brown has a history of dogging Ariana. He was arrested last September at her L.A. home after showing up with a large hunting knife, allegedly screaming at her security, "I'll f***ing kill you and her!" He was arrested for making criminal threats and a judge issued a restraining order prohibiting him from coming near Ariana.

That did not stop him. He violated the restraining order recently by trying to find Ariana and apparently got close. He was supposed to turn himself in Tuesday for violating the restraining order, but Sunday he traveled to Montecito and broke into her house.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... on Sunday, Brown somehow got into Ariana's Montecito home. She was NOT home at the time, but the security alarm went off and cops showed up and arrested Brown.

Cain Velasquez, on behalf of his 4-year-old son, is suing Harry Goularte -- the man who allegedly molested Cain's young boy from 2021 to 2022.

The plaintiff -- identified only as the guardian of "C.V., Jr." -- claims that "on numerous occasions," Goularte "sexually abused, molested, touched and harassed C.V."

Goularte was an employee at Patty's Childcare in San Martin, California, and was supposed to be caring for the young boy.

In addition to Goularte, the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, names Goularte’s mother and stepfather as defendants, asserting that they owned and operated Patty’s Childcare, and they "fostered, maintained, and allowed an environment for its attendees to fall victim to sexual abuse at the hands of Harry."

As we reported, Harry has already been charged with one felony count of a lewd and lascivious act for allegedly molesting the boy.

Velasquez -- a UFC legend -- was arrested on February 28, 2022 after he allegedly tried to shoot Harry outside his San Martin home.

Kim Kardashian is using her celebrity to bully a small business for the rights to a skincare line, according to a new lawsuit ... but Kim's legal team says it's nothing more than a "shakedown effort."

Kim is being sued for trademark infringement over her new brands, SKKN and SKKN BY Kim, by a company out of Brooklyn called Beauty Concepts, which claims it owns the rights to "SKKN+" and says Kim's use of the moniker on her beauty products is confusing customers.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Beauty Concepts says it's a Black and woman-owned business that survived the pandemic, and moved up to a brick-and-mortar store only to learn Kim K was launching her new brand with a strikingly similar name.

In the docs, Beauty Concepts says it reached out to Kim's team after she filed papers trying to lock up rights to "SKKN" ... informing her it already held the trademark for "SKKN+" and asking Kim not to use similar branding. The company claims Kim's team ignored the request and pushed forward, releasing her line anyway.

Kim's attorney, Michael Rhodes, is pushing back, telling TMZ ... "This lawsuit is not what it seems. SKKN BY KIM is a new brand that follows in the footsteps of Ms. Kardashian's successful KKW line of products. Building on independent research and development, her company filed a trademark application for SKKN BY KIM to protect the new branded products. This prompted the current shakedown effort."

Rhodes says, "We applaud Ms. Lunsford for being a small business owner and following her dreams. But that doesn’t give her the right to wrongfully claim that we’ve done something wrong. In its letter, Beauty Concepts claimed to own rights to a logo made up of SKKN+, and had just filed for trademark protection for that logo. The business was a one-person shop offering facials from a single Brooklyn location. The salon had no signage and was by appointment only. To our knowledge, Beauty Concepts sold no products under the SKKN+ name.

He continues, "Beauty Concepts asked that we drop the SKKN name. Of course, we said no. Beauty Concepts then challenged Ms. Kardashian’s trademark applications at the USPTO. Unsurprisingly, the USPTO rejected Beauty Concepts’ own SKKN+ mark saying that “skkn” just means “skin.” Undaunted, Beauty Concepts then tried to make its business seem more than it was – it leased a new storefront, changed its website, etc."

Rhodes says Kim's team tried to work with Beauty Concepts to figure something out, and says he "pointed out running a small esthetician business in Brooklyn does not give it the right to shut down a global skincare line."

Ghislaine Maxwell was just sentenced to 20 years behind bars for her role in the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal.

Maxwell was sentenced Tuesday ... learning her fate nearly 7 months after being found guilty by a New York jury. She'll also have to pay a $750k fine and 5 years of supervised release once she's out.

As we reported ... Maxwell was convicted back in December on 5 of the 6 counts she faced in her sex trafficking trial, including a conviction on one count of sex trafficking of a minor.

Maxwell stood accused of soliciting and grooming minors for sex crimes and abuse at the hands of Epstein between 1994 and 2004.

During her trial, 4 women testified Epstein sexually abused them when they were all under the age of 18 ... and they also told the jury Maxwell recruited and groomed girls for Epstein to abuse and sometimes even joined in on the abuse.

At the sentencing, a few of Maxwell's victims spoke. One of the victims, Annie Farmer, said "Maxwell had many opportunities to come clean, but instead continued to make choices that caused more harm. She chose to lie about her behavior, causing additional harm to all of those she victimized."

Maxwell addressed the court as well and apologized to the victims. She said, “Your honor, it is hard for me to address the court after listening to the pain and anguish expressed in the statements made here today. The terrible impact on the lives of so many women is difficult to hear and even more difficult to absorb, both in its scale and in its extent."

"I believe that Jeffrey Epstein was a manipulative, cunning and controlling man who lived a profoundly compartmentalized life and fooled all of those in his orbit. Jeff Epstein should have been here before all of you. He should have stood before you in 2005, again in 2009 and again in 2019. ... All the many times he was accused, charged and prosecuted. but today it is not about Jeffrey Epstein ultimately. To you, all the victims ... I am sorry for the pain that you experienced."

Maxwell pled not guilty to all the charges and her legal team insists she's been made a scapegoat for Epstein ... who committed suicide in custody in 2019 while awaiting his own trial.

AEW star Jake Atlas is breathing easier today ... his domestic violence case has been dropped, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to court documents, a month after Atlas was arrested for allegedly scratching his boyfriend following an altercation in Orlando, officials said they were declining to prosecute the 27-year-old.

"From the investigation which has been made," officials wrote in docs that were filed last week, "it is the opinion of the writer that this case is not suitable for prosecution."

Court records show a hearing in the case that had been slated for Tuesday has been canceled, and the matter is considered closed.

As we reported, Atlas -- real name Kenny Sanchez Martinez -- had been hit with a misdemeanor domestic battery charge after he allegedly got physical with his BF on May 23.

The two, according to police documents, quarreled over a sexual encounter. Atlas had been accused of scratching his boyfriend and tearing the man's tank top during the tiff.

We've reached out to prosecutors for comment, but so far, no word back yet. Atlas' attorneys, meanwhile, declined to comment on the case.

The Houston Texans have just been sued ... by a woman alleging the team "enabled" Deshaun Watson's sexual misconduct against her and other female masseuses.

Plaintiff Toi Garner claims during a November 2020 massage, Watson "assaulted and harassed [Garner] by aggressively exposing his naked body to her, purposely touching her with his penis, and ultimately ejaculating onto her."

What’s more, Garner claims the Houston Texans are partly to blame for what Watson did to her and to dozens of other woman.

Garner’s attorney, Tony Buzbee -- who represents the more than 20 female massage therapists who have alleged Watson was inappropriate with them during therapy sessions – writes in the suit that the Texans not only turned "a blind eye" to Watson's "egregious behavior," but in fact helped.

The suit claims despite the fact the Texans were well aware of Watson’s conduct, they allowed him to use one of their massage tables and provided a non-disclosure agreement to Watson which he then "pressed women to sign at the massage sessions."

Buzbee, in a statement following the suit's filing, said this case was the first "of what will likely be many against the Houston Texans related to Deshaun Watson’s behavior."

"Suffice it to say," Buzbee added, "the overwhelming evidence collected indicating that the Houston Texans enabled Watson’s behavior is incredibly damning. We believe the Texans knew or most certainly should have known of Watson’s conduct. Beyond that, we believe the filing speaks for itself."

The Texans also issued a statement following the suit's filing, saying, "We are aware of the lawsuit filed against us today. Since March 2021, we have fully supported and complied with law enforcement and the various investigations."

"We will continue to take the necessary steps to address the allegations against our organization."