Legal

Kanye West and his company, Yeezy, are getting hauled into court by his former business manager, who claims the rapper flagrantly violated their deal ... a deal Kanye says he was never going to honor.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Thomas St. John claims he was hired as Ye's senior financial advisor and Chief Financial Officer for a guaranteed term of 18 months ... and was to be paid a monthly, $300,000 retainer fee.

St. John says after getting the first three payments, Ye got "heated and aggressive" during a meeting at Nobu ... proclaiming he didn't want to work with St. John anymore.

St. John says he brought up the 18-month term, and Kanye responded, “The 18-month term was bulls***” and “You’re insane for even thinking I would stick to it.”

St. John is seeking $4.5M in damages -- $900K for the months missed so far, and another $3.6M for the remainder of the contract. He's gunning for punitive damages as well.

SNL's Chris Redd was leveled by a single punch in front of about a dozen shocked onlookers outside the Comedy Cellar in NYC, and the SCARY attack was caught on video.

Newly released surveillance footage from the club, obtained by NBC News, shows the exact moment an assailant threw a crushing blow to the face of the comedian, knocking Redd clear off his feet. You can see Chris writhing in pain after the punch.

Redd was on his way inside the venue for his late-night act Wednesday, but he had to take a detour to the hospital for his badly injured nose. Redd's performance was canceled, but, thankfully, he's going to be OK as he nurses two black eyes and a gash to his nose.

TMZ broke the story ... Redd drove up to the Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village and got out of his vehicle only to be attacked by the assailant. The suspect, who was apparently wearing brass knuckles and a security guard uniform, then ran off. Police do not have a motive for the assault, though the attacker grabbed his chain, it broke into pieces and was recovered.

Alec Baldwin is one step closer to finding out if he will be criminally charged for the fatal shooting on his "Rust" movie set ... because cops have finally turned over the investigative findings to the District Attorney.

Prosecutors in New Mexico tell TMZ ... the Santa Fe County Sheriff gave its investigative report on the shooting incident to the D.A.'s office Thursday, who will now begin a "thorough review" of the evidence before deciding on whether or not to bring criminal charges.

It will be interesting to see if D.A. Mary Carmack-Altwies charges Alec -- and potentially others -- with a crime.

The D.A. may have already shown her hand, as we reported, she recently asked New Mexico for help in financing several potential prosecutions and named Alec as a possible defendant.

Heather Brewster, a spokesperson for the D.A., tells TMZ ... now that Carmack-Altwies has the evidence, her focus "will be on upholding the integrity of the process, enforcing the laws of the state of New Mexico, and pursuing justice."

It's been over a year since Halyna Hutchins died in the fatal shooting on the Santa Fe movie set ... and Alec's maintained her death was an accident and not his fault.

Kanye West has lost his shirt over his hateful antisemitic rants, but we've learned he still has his divorce lawyer, and that attorney is working with Kim Kardashian's lawyer to hammer out a settlement so the case doesn't end up in a trial.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... although New York attorney Bob Cohen withdrew as divorce counsel amid Kanye's despicable comments about Jews, he still has attorney Nick Salick repping him. Salick is a Beverly Hills lawyer who Ye hired at the same time as Cohen.

We're told Salick is trying to work out both a custody and property settlement agreement with Kim's longtime divorce lawyer, "disso queen" Laura Wasser. The goal is to avert a trial that is scheduled for December.

It's interesting ... one of the sticking points in the case was that Kanye wanted their 4 kids to attend the Donda Academy, but Kim said no way -- especially since the children were all rooted in an accredited school. If Kanye got his way, the kids would have no place to go since he just shut down Donda.

As for custody ... our sources say although Kanye has been present at several sporting events with the kids, he has not exercised any custodial rights in months. He said last month Kim has 80% custody, but it sounds like she has more.

Robert Flaxman, one of the dozens of people charged in the college admissions scandal alongside Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, has died by suicide.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Robert's friends requested a welfare check on him last week at his home in Malibu -- and cops found he'd hanged himself.

According to our sources, coroners marked the case as closed, listing the manner of his death as suicide. We're told no note was found, but authorities did say Robert had a history of depression.

You'll recall, the real estate developer was charged alongside Lori, Felicity, and 47 others in the massive college admissions scandal back in 2019 ... all for paying hefty amounts to get their kids into top-tier schools across the country.

Robert pled guilty and was sentenced to a month behind bars, followed by a year of supervised release. He was also ordered to complete 250 hours of community service and pay a $50K fine.

He was 66.

RIP.

Tory Lanez is going to be spending a lot more time inside -- a judge just placed him under house arrest until his trial against Megan Thee Stallion begins ... and it all stems from an alleged incident with August Alsina.

The order came down Wednesday during a court hearing in L.A. ... where it was ruled that Tory needs to be on lockdown until November 28 -- the start of the trial -- as a result of accusations he beat the crap out of Alsina in Chicago in September.

Prosecutors argued TL deserved to be remanded into custody because -- in their eyes -- he'd violated the conditions of his bail in the Meg case. They say he continues to pose a threat to public safety and that monetary bail alone wasn't enough of a deterrent.

Tory's attorney, Shawn Holley, pushed back, noting ... no charges had been filed in the Alsina case, and there were only allegations. As we reported, Alsina took to social media to allege Tory had sucker punched him, with bloody photos to boot -- this after he'd apparently been snubbed by the singer in passing earlier in the day.

The judge ended up splitting the difference, ordering Tory be confined to his home with a GPS ankle monitor beginning Friday.

Tory has to remain under house arrest until his felony assault trial gets underway. Remember, he's pleaded not guilty after being charged with firing the gun that seriously injured Meg in 2020.

The two Ohio fishermen who left the sports world stunned after allegedly stuffing fish with weights during a tournament pled not guilty to multiple charges on Wednesday.

42-year-old Jacob Runyan and 35-year-old Chase Cominsky were indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on felony charges of cheating, attempted grand theft and possessing criminal tools ... as well as misdemeanor unlawful ownership of wild animals.

Both anglers appeared in a Cleveland court on Wednesday ... but neither spoke.

Runyan, a native of Ohio, and Cominsky, a native of Pennsylvania, were on the verge of winning $28,760 for the two seven-pound walleyes fish they caught during the Lake Erie event in September.

The problem ... officials were suspicious of Runyan's and Cominsky's haul -- and once they cut the fish open, they noticed they contained weights and other fish filets inside.

Both Runyan and Cominsky had been suspected of cheating in past tournaments, though there was never enough evidence to nab the two.

Fans at the event were frustrated ... and insisted that the honchos in charge file a police report against both men.

Deshaun Watson is adamant he NEVER pressured his latest accuser into giving him oral sex ... claiming he has a bevy of DMs from the massage therapist that contradict her story.

Watson was sued by the woman, ID'ed as Jane Doe, back on Oct. 13 over an alleged 2020 encounter with the QB ... but in a new court filing, obtained by TMZ Sports, the Cleveland Browns star is calling BS on her allegations.

In the documents, Watson and his attorneys showed several direct messages as well as texts that they say revealed the woman was experiencing "unrequited love" with the football player.

Watson and his team of lawyers claim some of the messages were sent in Sept. 2021, nearly one year after the 2020 meetup where Watson was accused of being inappropriate with the woman.

In one of the messages, which Watson's attorneys say he did not respond to, they say the woman told the 27-year-old, "do you want to meet?" In others, they claim she said, "I have the best head in all of Houston," and, "Let me know when your ready to make big deposits."

Watson and his attorneys also say the woman sent him texts just days after their 2020 meetup, where she told him, "I'd like to see you again we should hang out."

Watson's lawyers say in the documents the woman did go to authorities with her allegations ... but they "were considered -- and ultimately rejected -- by police, the Harris County District Attorney's Office and a Harris County Grand Jury."

They also claim the woman was interviewed by Watson's counsel in 2021 over the claims ... and she said at the time, "I wasn't scared, I wasn't intimidated. I didn't do anything I didn't want to do."

Lil Durk might have to pay a very steep price for missing a scheduled performance in the Bahamas, due to his 2019 arrest for a Georgia shooting.

According to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ, Durk was slated for a concert in Nassau back in December, 2019 ... and promotors say they negotiated a deal with Durk, sending him $24k in up-front payments. They also claim they poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into promoting and putting on the event.

But, Durk never made it on that stage, because when he flew into The Bahamas, immigration authorities learned he had pending felony charges against him in Atlanta for a shooting earlier that year, and they refused to let him into the country. So, he was a no-show.

Interestingly, Durk fought the criminal case -- he'd been facing 5 felonies, including assault and weapons charges -- and although it took years, he eventually came out on top. As we reported ... the D.A. just dropped the case.

That being said, the concert promoters say Lil Durk kept their cash and has refused to reschedule. They also allege he's tried to milk them for an additional $200k, on top of the original fee, if they ever want him to make up the show.

Fresh Entertainment, the event organizers, claim they specifically asked Lil Durk’s people back in 2019 whether he had any legal issues that might prevent him from getting into the Bahamas, and they were assured he did not.

They're now suing Durk for breach of contract, and seeking $350k -- which is the money they've paid him, plus what they spent planning the concert.

George Floyd's brother isn't moving forward with legal action against Kanye West -- at least for now -- but that doesn't mean Ye's out of the woods just yet.

Lee Merritt -- who's repping Philonise Floyd -- tells TMZ ... Philonise is temporarily standing down on his original threat to bring a lawsuit against Ye, Candace Owens and others for pushing the narrative George died from fentanyl, as opposed to the actions of Derek Chauvin.

Remember, George's brother, and other family members, were incensed after those remarks were made on a "Drink Champs" episode ... and Philonise instructed Lee to research a possible lawsuit.

As for why he's standing down ... we're told Philonise is hitting pause, specifically pertaining to Kanye, because he just wanted Kanye to stop repeating that false narrative about his brother's death -- and that's exactly what's happened over the last week and change since the "Drink Champs" episode aired.

Lee points out the controversial episode in question has been yanked and the podcast host, N.O.R.E., has gone on an apology tour for letting Ye speak freely without pushback.

We're told that Philonise feels like Ye has complied with the demands made in the cease and desist letter sent on behalf of George Floyd's daughter, Gianna, last week -- although, he clarified that Philonise wasn't really part of that potential legal action in the first place, but supported it from the sidelines.

As for whether Gianna's lawyers might still move forward with a lawsuit -- one in which they said could seek more than $250 million in damages -- no word on that front at this time.

Now, when it comes to Candace ... Lee says that's a more difficult case to bring, because her role as a journalist presenting opinions in a documentary about BLM and the conviction of Derek Chauvin is very different from Ye spouting what Lee and Philonise see as lies about the Floyd case.

Kansas City Chiefs star Frank Clark was hit with a 2-game suspension on Tuesday ... as a result of two gun arrests in 2021.

As we previously reported ... Clark was busted two separate times within a three-month period for having illegal firearms in his car.

In March 2021, the 29-year-old was booked for illegal possession of a firearm after he and another man were initially pulled over in a 93 Toyota Supra for failing to display a front license plate.

During the traffic stop, cops say they saw the muzzle of a handgun sticking out of a bag in the back seat ... and after searching the vehicle, they discovered 2 loaded firearms -- a rifle and the handgun.

At the time of the arrest, Clark claimed the guns were not his ... and belonged to his security.

Clark was also pulled over for a routine traffic violation in June 2021 ... when cops say they noticed an uzi sticking out of a duffle bag in his Lambo SUV.

He was arrested and booked for illegal possession of a firearm.

In September, Clark pled no contest to two gun charges to close out the cases ... and was sentenced to community service and one year of probation.

Blac Chyna is denying allegations of kidnapping and sex trafficking Ava Louise ... she says the claims are just a desperate attempt to boost the TikTok star's following.

BC had her lawyers fire off a cease and desist letter to Ava after the social media star recently uploaded a series of TikTok posts where she accused Chyna of holding her hostage and trying to pimp her out.

In the legal letter, obtained by TMZ, Chyna says everything Ava's alleging is "false, extreme and outrageous" ... and her lawyers are demanding that she immediately cease and desist ... or face the legal consequences.

Blac Chyna's legal team is also taking aim at Ava's credibility ... they say it's part of a pattern of "menacing and outrageous conduct" to increase Ava's social media platform, saying Ava previously admitted to making up false rumors about Kanye West hooking up with YouTube beauty guru Jeffree Star.

It's worth noting ... Kris Jenner threatened Ava with a lawsuit last year after Ava claimed she received a cease and desist letter from Kris' company threatening legal action if she didn't stop making allegations about Kim and Kanye.

Kris' camp says they never sent Ava such a letter and her story was all made up.

This cease and desist letter, however, is legit.

Antonio Brown's bank account is about to take a serious hit ... TMZ Sports has learned the former NFL star has been ordered to pay a moving truck driver $1.2 MILLION after he allegedly attacked the guy nearly three years ago.

A Broward County jury awarded the damages to Anton Tumanov earlier this month, according to court records ... after Brown failed to respond or show up to hearings in the case.

Per court docs, the jury found Brown liable for $407,000 for Tumanov's past and future medical expenses ... as well as $793,000 for past and future pain and suffering.

Tumanov initially sued the ex-Buccaneers receiver back in May 2021, after he said Brown beat him up while he was trying to make a delivery to the football player's Broward County, Fla. home on Feb. 11, 2020.

In his suit, Tumanov -- who was represented by Jeffrey R. Davis of Jeffrey R. Davis P.A. and Michael Lotto of the Ward Law Group in the case -- claimed Brown snapped on him when the two got into a dispute over payment for the services.

Tumanov said the 34-year-old damaged his vehicle and hit him multiple times. In the suit, he said it all caused him "severe bodily injuries."

Tumanov also went to police over it all ... and Brown was eventually hit with three criminal charges.

The boxing judge who Jake Paul said helped fix two recent, huge fights is now firing back at the former YouTube star ... suing the 25-year-old for defamation.

Glenn Feldman filed the suit in New York on Monday, TMZ Sports has learned ... claiming Paul "made outrageously false and baseless accusations" against him during an interview last month.

Paul made the comments -- which also implicated famed boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, who has already sued Paul -- during a talk with IFL TV on Sept. 20.

Paul accused Feldman during the interview of taking money from Hearn and his Matchroom Boxing promotion company to influence the outcomes of the fights between Oleksandr Usyk vs. Anthony Joshua and Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano.

Paul said: "Glenn Feldman shows up in Saudi and scores Anthony Joshua to win the fight when everyone who watched the fight said it was not a split decision ... Clearly, this guy is getting paid money by Matchroom Boxing."

Feldman said in his suit the words "crossed the line from banter and clearly amount to defamation." He added Paul's statements were "made with malicious intent and have caused financial and reputational harm."

Feldman has filed a motion to join Hearn's initial lawsuit, which was filed on Sept. 23. In that case, Hearn's attorney, Frank Salzano, said Hearn was seeking more than $100 million in damages.

No word so far on what dollar figure Feldman is seeking.

"My client has an unblemished record and impeccable reputation which he built over 30 years and Mr. Paul’s defamatory remarks have directly impacted and damaged my client’s reputation," Feldman's attorney, John Laudati, said in a statement TMZ Sports. "As such, Mr. Feldman is seeking legal redress as a result."

Brittney Griner's 9-year prison sentence in Russia has been upheld ... a court just denied the WNBA star's appeal at a lengthy hearing on Tuesday morning.

The 32-year-old did not appear in person for the proceedings -- but was present via a videoconferencing feed from inside of a cell. She looked downtrodden throughout the process as cameras caught her both sitting and standing behind bars.

Griner and her team of attorneys had hoped officials would overturn a previous ruling in the case, or at the very least, reduce the sentence. They argued the punishment did not fit the crime.

Griner's team, however, had anticipated this outcome. On Monday, her attorneys admitted in a statement that they did not "expect any miracles to happen."

It's unclear if Griner now has any further avenues to appeal the decision.

As we reported, the basketball player has been in custody in Russia since February -- after she was accused of bringing hashish oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport.

At her trial, she pleaded guilty to the charges -- but insisted she did not intend to break the law.

She was initially sentenced in August.

The United States has called Griner wrongfully detained ... and multiple U.S. officials have said they've offered Russia a significant deal involving a prisoner swap to get her home.

Armie Hammer has hit the pause button on his acting career, and big potential paydays ... and now a credit card company's coming after him for a fat balance they say he owes.

American Express is suing the disgraced actor, claiming he owes upwards of nearly $67,000 for unpaid charges and/or cash advances, plus balance transfers. Unclear when he allegedly racked up the balance, but AmEx says he's had the account since 2011.

AmEx claims they've demanded he pony up in the past -- but they say Armie hasn't satisfied the balance ... and now, they're taking him to court over it.

2011 is right around the time Armie's career started blowing up. He was fresh off a great performance in 'The Social Network' and had booked a role in 'J. Edgar.' Thereafter, his fame skyrocketed ... only to come crashing down in 2021 amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

As of a couple months ago, it appears he's been working down in the Caymans selling timeshares.