Legal

Drake and 21 Savage's hot new album, "Her Loss" is gonna be their loss in court ... if Vogue gets its way -- the magazine's suing over fake covers the rappers used to hype their record.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Drake and 21 have been promoting "Her Loss" by posing on what certainly looks like a legit Vogue cover, leading fans to believe the company would drop the special edition soon -- some media outlets even reported on the issue.

Condé Nast, which owns Vogue, says that isn't the case ... despite Drake giving the brand and editor-in-chief Anna Wintour a shout-out online for getting a blessing.

Condé Nast claims Vogue and Anna "have not endorsed ["Her Loss"] in any way" ... and have asked multiple times for all promos using the Vogue name to be taken down, but nothing's been done.

The docs say the rappers falsely promoted the Vogue collab on social media, and put up posters of the "cover" in major cities.

Condé Nast also claims Drake and 21's teams sent out an email blast about "celebrating Drake's Vogue cover" ... saying street teams across the country would even be handing out copies.

People on the streets allegedly got their hands on the false mags, according to the docs ... and many claim it's a direct replica of Vogue -- even including a fake pic of Anna posing with Drake. Wow!!! Can't say they didn't go all out.

Condé Nast wants a judge to shut down the use of the Vogue mark immediately ... and it wants at least $4M in damages.

We've reached out to Drake and 21 Savage for comment ... so far, no word back.

Kanye West apparently hasn't done himself any favors in uploading his Andre 3000 collaboration "Life Of The Party" on his Stem Player device … the song is now at the center of a lawsuit filed by the record company that owns a famous track by KRS-One’s Boogie Down Productions.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, the company says it owns the copyright to BDP’s iconic diss track "South Bronx" and claims Ye never got permission to sample the song when he released the "Donda" bonus track on the Stem Player.

The company says Ye and his partner Alex Klein sold around 11K Stem Players within the first 24 hours of its release, raking in around $2.2 million dollars ... but claims they never got permission to use the sample even though the company says Ye’s team initially reached out to try to license it.

The suit alleges the sides never came to an agreement and says Ye’s side eventually retracted its offer to license it.

However, the suit claims Ye & Co. still heavily advertised the track that used the “South Bronx” sample to promote sales of “Donda” and the Stem Player.

The song was originally leaked by Drake ahead of their patchwork reunion during J Prince’s “Free Larry Hoover” concert.

Megan Thee Stallion's lawyer says hip hop artists -- like Drake, apparently -- who side with Tory Lanez in the shooting case are gonna look like fools, and he adds there's already plenty of evidence backing her up.

Meg's lawyer, Alex Spiro, joined us Friday on "TMZ Live" to remind everyone ... she's the victim here, but instead of fellow artists having her back, he says too many are calling BS.

Alex strongly believes prosecutors have built a case that proves Meg is telling the truth about Tory shooting her in the foot back in 2020 ... and, for that reason, he says Meg's doubters are gonna be eating crow.

As we reported, Drake is apparently the latest to say the H-Town Hottie is lying about getting shot in the foot while in an SUV with Tory.

There is another view of Drake's verse on "Circo Loco," which is that he was really rapping about thick women (stallions), in general, lying about getting "shots" for BBLs ... AKA Brazilian butt lifts.

Meg definitely didn't take it that way, and clapped back on Twitter shortly after his album dropped Friday -- calling out Drake and other rappers for ganging up on her simply because she said "one of y'all homeboys abused her."

The woman who initially accused Eric Bledsoe of roughing her up during an incident last month ultimately ended up refusing to cooperate with authorities ... this according to prosecutors.

In official documents, obtained by TMZ Sports, authorities said a 30-year-old woman called cops in Lost Hills, Calif. on Oct. 26 -- claiming Bledsoe had slapped her after she had knocked his phone out of his hand following a dispute.

However, according to the docs, when investigators arrived on scene ... the woman -- who they say had redness on her face -- "told deputies that she did not get into a physical altercation with the suspect, and she did not want to give additional information about the incident."

Bledsoe was still arrested, and booked on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence.

But, according to the docs, when the woman was pressed further about the incident by a follow-up investigator, "she stated she would not cooperate with the prosecution of suspect."

Officials added in the docs that the woman "later emailed the investigating officer reiterating that she was not desirous of prosecution."

Prosecutors formally dropped the case on Oct. 28 ... with officials saying in the documents that the woman's "inconsistent statements about whether there was a physical altercation" played into the decision.

Cops are trying to piece together the argument that escalated to the point of gunfire in the fatal shooting of Takeoff, and the triviality of the whole thing is just mind-boggling.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... angry words were exchanged between Quavo and others after he lost in a dice game at the bowling alley. We're told they took the argument outside, and somehow they begin jawboning over who could beat who at basketball.

That lines up with video obtained by TMZ, in which you hear Quavo become increasingly frustrated ... talking about basketball and assuring the group he'd win.

From there is when things hit a breaking point ... Quavo begins to walk away and then, our sources say, a punch was thrown. Suddenly, at least 10 shots ring out. It appears multiple weapons were fired, striking 3 people -- Takeoff fatally.

No arrests have been made, and cops haven't publicly named a suspect. However, in another video obtained by TMZ, you see one man in the group holding and then raising his gun. Cops tell us he's currently a person of interest.

Takeoff's Migos groupmates have not yet made public statements about his death.

While Stephen may have issue with the rescue, we've seen some declarations filed by other neighbors to the property that say there's never been an issue with loud yelping, excessive barking or the smell of animal waste.

What's more ... one of the declarations states Stephen is the mean neighbor, even once allegedly getting into it with a neighbor's gardener.

Stephen Amell is confident a judge will have his back after slapping his neighbors with a lawsuit over their kennel biz ... saying he loves dogs, but his family needs some peace.

We got the "Arrow" star Thursday at LAX and he fired off, for the first time publicly, since filing suit. Stephen told us there are just some things you should not be able to do in a residential zone.

His point is there just have to be some limits, for the sake of residents, and in his eyes this is one.

As we reported, Stephen and his wife Cassandra took their neighbors Kristen Stavola and Jeremy Gardiner to court over their company called Rescues Rock Inc., claiming it's an unpermitted animal adoption biz ... one that's super loud and super stinky!

He and his wife have already lost one battle in the suit -- a judge denied the Amells' request to shut down the rescue and move it from its current location.

Despite this, he's not backing down... telling us he's pretty sure he and his wife are right and ultimately believes they'll come out on top.

There's no magic at the Magic Kingdom, not for an NYC fugitive who successfully dodged the law for a year ... only to be captured at the so-called happiest place on Earth!!! 😂

Quashon Burton was reportedly kicking it at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom park in October when federal postal inspector Jeff Andre spotted him.

Eagle-eyed Jeff identified Burton by a distinctive "H" tattoo on his neck, and reported him to cops ... who caught up to Burton about an hour later. They reportedly found him with 2 family members while they were sitting at a bus stop in the park.

Cops say Burton wouldn't produce any ID and resisted arrest, so they took him down to the ground ... and later ID him with fingerprints.

Officials say Burton ran from his home in Brooklyn last year after fraudulently obtaining over $150K in forgivable PPP loans from the government, and allegedly used multiple identities to get cash out of an ATM at an NYC post office.

He's being held without bail, as NY prosecutors believe he's an "extreme" flight risk.

Elon Musk is sharpening his knives at Twitter...'cause he's planning to wipe out half the workforce to put the company on the right path, or so he claims ... but employees have fired back with a preemptive lawsuit.

The new Chief Twit, as Musk anointed himself after his $44 billion purchase of the social media giant, fired off a chilling memo to his 7,500 employees Thursday.

The email -- which was only signed "Twitter" -- informed workers to stay away from all offices Friday as Musk begins to clean house, the New York Times reported. An exact head count was not provided in the email, but the NYT says half the staff is set to be fired.

The email leaves no doubt ... "In an effort to place Twitter on a healthy path, we will go through the difficult process of reducing our global workforce. We recognize that this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions to Twitter, but this action is unfortunately necessary to ensure the company’s success moving forward."

Twitter staffers read the tea leaves and filed a class action lawsuit late Thursday, asking a judge to declare any firings now would be in violation of California and federal law, in part because there was insufficient notice.

After receiving the ominous note, employees took to Slack -- the company's internal messaging service -- posting heart and salute emojis. Some workers were cut off from the internal computer system -- a sign their heads were on the chopping block.

Musk has already gone on a mini-firing spree after inking the deal to buy San Francisco-based company Oct. 27. As we reported, the world's richest man promptly gave walking papers to several top Twitter executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal. Since then, Musk has reportedly chosen 50 engineers from his other businesses to pore over layoff lists of Twitter employees.

All sounds pretty ugly. Good luck.

The LA County District Attorney's Office tells TMZ Sports ... "We believe this resolution was the best avenue to hold Mr. Bridges accountable for his conduct. We also understand through the victim’s representatives that the victim wanted an expedited resolution of the case."

"The victim and her representatives were consulted about the proposed resolution and agreed with the outcome of the case. The District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Victim Services remains ready to aid the victims in this case."

NBA free agent Miles Bridges will not spend another second behind bars in connection to his domestic violence case -- he reached a deal with prosecutors, pleading no contest to one felony charge.

But it's not going to be a walk in the park for Bridges -- he will spend three years on probation as a result of the deal ... and there are a lot of requirements he will have to follow.

Bridges is required to go through a year of domestic violence counseling and parenting classes, participate in 100 hours of community service, and submit to weekly narcotics testing -- with the exception to marijuana with a doctor's prescription.

On top of all that, Bridges is prohibited from owning guns and ammunition or any other dangerous weapon.

Bridges will also have to follow a 10-year protective order ... which means he must stay at least 100 yards from the mother of his children, Mychelle Johnson, and make zero contact with her.

Bridges and Johnson will maintain custody of his two kids, but any exchange or visitation must be done through a third party.

It's a punishment that's sure to upset many of Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón's critics ... who have accused the prosecutor of being soft on violent crime during his tenure.

Johnson agreed to and approved the agreement.

LAPD arrested Bridges on June 29 ... after he was accused of beating Johnson with their two kids present.

He was facing three felonies as a result of the incident ... but as part of the deal, agreed to plead no contest to one count of domestic violence toward a spouse or other cohabitant. The other two charges were dismissed.

It's a huge break for Bridges ... who was facing years in prison.

Bridges was the 12th overall pick out of Michigan State in 2018. During his 4 seasons in the league, the former Hornets forward averaged 13.4 points, 5.6 boards, and 2.3 assists.

Prior to his arrest, the Hornets extended the star hooper a qualifying offer ... allowing the organization the right to match any offer made by another team. The offer was pulled following the incident.

Johnny Depp wants total victory over Amber Heard, and he's just filed an appeal trying to get it ... claiming the jury got it wrong when it ruled in favor of his ex-wife on a single count of defamation.

You'll recall, Johnny was the big winner, by far, when the jury came back in their landmark trial, saying Amber had defamed him and had to cough up $10.35 million dollars -- but it also ruled Amber was defamed, and awarded her $2 mil.

In docs filed Wednesday in the Virginia Court of Appeals, Johnny says the jury had erroneously ruled in favor of Amber ... when it said one of Johnny's attorneys, Adam Waldman, defamed Amber by telling a media outlet she had lied while describing a blowout fight that ended their marriage.

Waldman said, "So Amber and her friends spilled a little wine and roughed the place up, got their stories straight under the direction of a lawyer and publicist, and then placed a second call to 911."

In the appeal, Johnny makes the point that his lawyer said that, not him, and he shouldn't be held responsible for Waldman's remarks. He also says Amber's team failed to prove Waldman made those comments with malice ... a requirement to win a defamation claim.

Johnny wants the court to overturn the jury on that single count. Remember, Amber has also filed an appeal of the counts she lost.

So, scoreboard review: Amber's $10.35 mil check to Johnny is on hold and, likewise, his $2 mil check to her is on hold.

The family of Gabby Petito is taking the Moab City Police Department to court, filing a wrongful death suit, claiming officers could've saved her life in the weeks leading up to her death.

Legal docs, obtained by TMZ, say Moab PD failed to protect Gabby when police investigated the reported domestic violence incident roughly 2 weeks before she was killed by Brian Laundrie.

You'll recall, officers interviewed Gabby and Brian on the side of the road with one officer acknowledging she was crying uncontrollably and had cuts on her face and arm.

Still, Brian told officers Gabby had just been under distress -- and officers simply separated them for the day.

The suit claims police didn't probe hard enough on Brian's side of the story ... and even claims the officers treated Brian as if he were the victim, rather than the perpetrator, of domestic violence.

In the family's eyes -- all signs pointed to Brian, and they say the cops "egregiously misinterpreted" the situation.

Her family also calls out the department for failing to train its cops for situations like this -- characterizing this case as a "vehicle for systemic change and a reckoning about how the police enforce the State's domestic abuse laws." They are seeking $50 million in damages.

The city of Moab tells TMZ ... "We feel profound sympathy for the Petito and Schmidt families and the painful loss they have endured. At the same time, it is clear that Moab City Police Department officers are not responsible for Gabrielle Petito’s eventual murder."

The city says it will defend itself against the suit.

There's apparently a cocaine problem amongst employees working on a new Denzel Washington movie ... two caterers working on set were arrested after cops in Italy say they seized a bunch of coke following a man's death.

Italian paramilitary police say they seized 120 grams of cocaine during a Tuesday afternoon raid at a hotel on the Amalfi coast, near where Denzel and Dakota Fanning are filming "The Equalizer 3."

Cops say the drug bust was in response to the sudden death of the movie production's head of catering, a 55-year-old man who reportedly collapsed leaving a bar and died of a heart attack. Police say they found several bags of cocaine in the man's pockets, leading to suspicion of more drugs on the 'Equalizer' set.

A couple of catering workers from Italy were placed under house arrest on suspicion of drug dealing after cops say they seized cocaine from their hotel room during Tuesday's raid. They were reportedly detained by police away from the movie set.

And, get this ... a different caterer was allegedly in possession of a small amount of cocaine, reportedly for personal use.

Italian police say they also searched for drugs at a local port, which is serving as the main staging area for the movie Antoine Fuqua is directing ... but the sweep didn't turn up any cocaine.

There were two other people shot in the gunfire that killed Takeoff -- and one of those people is Quavo's assistant -- TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us Joshua "Wash" Washington is the 23-year-old male who was shot and rushed to a local hospital by someone at the scene in the minutes following the melee ... cops described his injuries as non-life threatening.

Wash has been close with Quavo for years, and describes himself as Quavo's assistant and part of operations management at Huncho Records on his social media profile.

As we reported, there was also a 24-year-old female who was shot ... she was also taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

While the shooter (or shooters) have yet to be publicly named, the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office says Takeoff was shot in both the head and torso early Monday morning.

In video obtained by TMZ from the scene, you can see Quavo in an argument and then start to walk away as shots ring out. There's also video showing one man holding a gun to his side ... police have named that man as a person of interest in Takeoff's death.

Jeff Bezos is going to court because one of his former housekeepers claims he racially discriminated against her, and forced her to work under conditions so bad ... just going to the bathroom was a nightmare.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Mercedes Wedaa says Bezos' team allegedly treated her and other Hispanic cleaning staff members much differently compared to the white employees ... claiming his household manager was "aggressive and abusive" to her, while being "respectful and polite" to the white staff.

Wedaa, who began working at Bezos' Seattle mansion back in 2019, claims she would often work 10-14 hour shifts, but was unable to take a break while Bezos and his family were on-property.

She claims she wasn't allowed to enter the home unless actively cleaning ... which is where going to the bathroom became a major issue.

According to the docs, Wedaa and other housekeepers "were forced to climb out of the laundry room window to the outside. Then run along the path to the mechanical room, through the mechanical room and downstairs to a bathroom.”

Wedaa's now seeking damages from Bezos and 2 companies that manage his properties.

Bezos' attorney, Harry Korrell, tells TMZ, "We have investigated the claims, and they lack merit. Ms. Wedaa made over six figures annually and was the lead housekeeper. She was responsible for her own break and meal times, and there were several bathrooms and breakrooms available to her and other staff."

He continues, "The evidence will show that Ms. Wedaa was terminated for performance reasons. She initially demanded over $9M, and when the company refused, she decided to file this suit. Given their backgrounds, the suggestion that Mr. Bezos, Ms. Sanchez, or Northwestern LLC discriminated against Ms. Wedaa based on her race or national origin is absurd."

Kanye West could dig himself an even bigger hole if he tries to sell his "White Lives Matter" shirts in America ... because that phrase has already been trademarked -- and guess what? It's owned by 2 black men.

Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, hosts of the radio show Civic Cipher, legally got rights to the phrase last month ... telling CNN it's all about making sure it doesn't end up in the wrong hands.

The trademark covers the right to sell clothing with those words displayed.

The trademark was acquired by an anonymous listener of Ramses and Quinton's racial justice show ... filing it the same day Ye wore his controversial outfit at Paris fashion week.

The listener transferred ownership over to their show a few weeks back.

Ramses and Quinton said it was a tough call to take the trademark ... but added, “Once it was clear that someone stood to gain significant profit from it, because as you’ve seen, even though (Kanye) says some really hurtful, divisive and sometimes crazy things, he has a bit of a zealot following and every time he releases something, it sells out.”

Xavien Howard is firing back at his accuser in new court documents, obtained by TMZ Sports ... calling the woman "a scorned ex-lover" -- and insisting her STD lawsuit against him is "the epitome of a shakedown."

The Miami Dolphins star filed the docs on Friday -- one day after the woman, who filed her suit anonymously as Jane Doe, claimed he negligently gave her genital herpes.

In the documents, Howard argued the woman's suit should be thrown out ... and he says the woman has stalked him, threatened him with violence, and tried to extort him for cash.

In the docs, Howard claims he has text message proof that showed the woman is "nothing more than a scorned ex-lover who has elected to prey on [Howard's] public status for the purpose of obtaining a financial windfall without right or claim."

The cornerback even included texts that he says show the woman calling him curse words ... before threatening to "come to your job tomorro and cause a whole scene."