Legal

Diddy's ongoing lawsuit with alcohol dealer Diageo just took a nasty turn, with the booze brand announcing they were cutting ties after he filed suit last month ... but Diddy is firing back.

Diddy's attorney John C. Hueston tells TMZ Hip Hop Diageo's attempts to shut out the Bad Boy mogul is essentially like "firing a whistleblower who calls out racism. It’s a cynical and transparent attempt to distract from multiple allegations of discrimination."

Hueston says Diddy repeatedly raised concerns regarding Diageo's senior execs allegedly using racially insensitive comments prior to filing the lawsuit, which they claim caused biased decision-making on the company's part.

For it's part, a Diageo spokesperson tells us, "We are saddened that Mr. Combs has chosen to recast a business dispute as anything other than that and chosen to damage a productive and valued partnership. Mr. Combs’ bad-faith actions have clearly breached his contracts and left us no choice but to move to dismiss his baseless complaint and end our business relationship. Mr. Combs has repeatedly undermined our partnerships and threatened to publicly defame Diageo if we did not meet his unreasonable financial demands."

They continue, "Diageo believes strongly in the CIRÔC and DeLeón brands and remains committed to their success, which is why we tried for years to salvage the broken relationship with Mr. Combs. We funded the purchase of DeLeón for the joint venture and proceeded to invest more than $100 million to grow the brand. Despite having made nearly a billion dollars over the course of our 15-year relationship, Mr. Combs contributed a total of $1,000 and refused to honor his commitments. We have exhausted every reasonable remedy and see no other path forward."

Diageo is said to have acknowledged the issues by specifying in Diddy's contract that they'd treat his DeLeon tequila the same as other tequila brands, and he only filed the lawsuit in hopes to enforce the contract's fine print.

Vanessa Bryant was victorious in a lawsuit over one of the biggest investments Kobe Bryant ever made ... and in the process of winning, she exposed some pretty awful, racially-charged smack talk.

The background -- Kobe plunked down $6 million back in 2013 for a 10% interest in the sports drink company, BodyArmor. Several years later, the company sold to Coca-Cola for a whopping $5.6 BILLION. Kobe's investment reportedly netted him $400 million.

In 2019, six months before Kobe was killed in a tragic helicopter accident, the President of Kobe Inc., Molly Carter, claimed Kobe promised her 2% of his cut. Kobe called BS on her, saying he never made such a promise.

Molly sued, and Vanessa picked up the mantle and not only defended the case, she filed her own counterclaim, alleging Molly violated the duty of loyalty and the non-disparagement clause in her employment contract by trash-talking Kobe and his family.

As for the alleged trash-talking ... Vanessa claimed she referred to Kobe as an "asshole," a "douche nugget," and a "dick wad." She says Molly called her the "f***ing devil," "bitch" and PSYCHO," even mocking Vanessa's newborn as having "botox lips."

Vanessa says while Molly was working for the company, she was permitted to travel to an NBA All-Star game and on the jet she groused, there were "a lot of fancy-ass Black people" on the plane.

The case went to arbitration and Vanessa prevailed on both the lawsuit and her counterclaim and was awarded more than $1.5 mil in attorney's fees.

A convicted double murderer facing the death penalty lost it in a Florida courtroom, attacking his lawyer Monday ... and the violence was all caught on video.

Joseph Zieler was wearing shackles and surrounded by bailiffs in the Lee County courtroom when he turned to his attorney, Kevin Shirley, to whisper something.

When Shirley leaned in to listen, Zieler gave him a sharp elbow to his face, causing all hell to break loose. Check out the video ... two bailiffs immediately jumped on Zieler and wrestled him to the ground.

The judge then asked Shirley if he was ok ... and Shirley gave an amusing response, saying, "I'm fine. I used to box. I've taken a lot better shots than that."

As for Zieler, his life is not going to be so fine. He was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the 1990 slayings of Robin Cornell, 11, and her babysitter, Lisa Story, 32. Zieler was tied to the crimes in 2016 after police matched his DNA to the cold case following his arrest for an unrelated assault.

Michael Jackson will effectively be tried for allegedly molesting choreographer Wade Robson when he was a child ... TMZ has learned.

The California Court of Appeal just cleared the way for Robson to make his case -- alleging MJ molested him at the Neverland Ranch when Robson was between the ages of 7 and 14.

The issue -- Robson is suing Michael Jackson's corporation -- MJJ Productions, Inc. Jackson's company lawyers argued the company had no legal duty to protect Robson or anyone else from MJ because it had no ability to control him.

The trial court bought the Estate's argument, but the Court of Appeal begged to differ, and according to a tentative ruling -- which almost always becomes final -- the case will be sent back down for trial.

Robson claims when he came to the U.S. from Australia as a young boy, Jackson befriended him and sexually abused him.

In 2005, when Jackson was on trial for molesting another boy, Robson testified that he slept in MJ's bed with the singer but nothing happened.  He changed his story in 2013, filing a lawsuit against the company. He said he had testified falsely on behalf of Jackson due to "complete manipulation and brainwashing."

Another man, James Safechuck, filed a similar lawsuit against MJJ Productions and it too is before the Court of Appeal. Given today's tentative ruling, it appears Safechuck will also have his day in court.

Sources close to the MJJ Productions legal team tell TMZ ... the ruling has nothing to do with the merits of the case and they fully expect to prevail at trial.

Kodak Black made a pit stop Monday at a Florida jail for around an hour … but his lawyer says it's actually a good thing for the rapper.

Bradford Cohen, Kodak's lawyer, tells TMZ ... Kodak's been on a tight leash during his pretrial release for his prescription drug case and he's supposed to regularly check in with authorities and take mandatory urine tests, but he failed to check in recently and they went to court Monday over the issue.

Kodak went on Instagram Live Sunday night and complained about his situation ... leading to concern among fans.

Anyways, Kodak's lawyer says he argued in court to get rid of the stringent pretrial supervision ... and the judge agreed but also ended up increasing his bond from $75,000 to $250,000 ... and we’re told this is why Kodak had to go through the booking process again at the jail.

We’re told Kodak ended up posing for a new mugshot at the Broward County jail and posted the new bond before being released from custody. We're told Kodak was in and out of jail in under an hour and he had to pay $175k, the difference between his original bond and his new bond.

Kodak's attorney sees it as a win for Kodak because now the rapper will be able to travel and tour without the headache of checking in with pretrial services.

As we reported ... Kodak was arrested in July 2022 and charged with trafficking oxycodone after police say they found 31 oxycodone pills in his car.

At the time, Kodak posted $75,000 bail and was released with pretrial restrictions in place ... including mandatory drug tests.

A new lawsuit accuses Nicki Minaj of straight-up stealing the beat for her song "I Lied" from another artist ... a scenario sources close to Nicki say is impossible considering she didn't handle the song's production.

The rapper, along with mega-producer Mike Will Made It, is being sued by Julius Johnson, who says the music playing under the vocals on Nicki's track from "The Pinkprint" sounds like a carbon copy of a song he created years before she dropped "I Lied."

However, our Nicki sources tell us she wasn't hands-on with the beat, saying, "Clearly Nicki is a lyricist, so the claim in terms of production will obviously have to be addressed by the applicable parties."

As for those applicable parties, it appears Mike Will was the one who brought Nicki the beat.

As for the history, Johnson claims he published his song, called "onmysleeve," on YouTube in September 2011 ... 3 years before "I Lied" came out.

In the docs, Johnson claims he had the beat on a hard drive when he attended the Art Institute of Atlanta ... and he says in 2013 the hard drive was taken from a studio session without his consent.

Johnson claims associates of Nicki and Mike Will Made It were at the Institute around the same time and believes they somehow got their hands on his missing hard drive.

When Nicki released "I Lied" in December 2014 it obviously gained attention ... and Johnson claims when he finally heard her song in 2022, he immediately recognized the similarity to his beat ... insisting that, aside from the lyrics, Nicki's track has basically the same underlying instrumentation and beat as his track.

He's going after Nicki and Mike Will Made It for the profits they earned off his song ... and wants a judge to order them to stop using it or at least give him credit on "I Lied" for his contribution.

Kim Zolciak called the cops on her estranged husband, Kroy Biermann, earlier this month -- and it was all because he allegedly accused Kim's friend of kidnapping their young son.

TMZ obtained audio from the 911 call Kim placed on June 16 in Alpharetta, GA. In her chat with the dispatcher, Kim says she's stressed out about her husband flipping out ... claiming he accused her friend of trying to kidnap their son.

The backstory is a little murky ... but essentially, KZ explains that she'd signed off on her girlfriend to take her son on a playdate. However, based on Kim's description, it sounds like when Kroy caught wind of this, he lost it and threatened to file a kidnapping report against the woman who was picking up their son.

Kim says this caused not only her friend to freak out, but also left Kim's son in tears ... and Kim tells the dispatcher she's going to pick up her son. It's a strange call -- obviously, it doesn't seem to be an emergency -- something Kim acknowledges herself.

BTW ... Kim also accuses Kroy of stealing her bag, which she says is full of divorce docs.

Based on police records, it appears nothing came of this at the time. Kim ends the call by telling the operator she'd call them back if she needs further assistance -- but, on its face, she seems to have just wanted to put this on the cops' radar ... which is exactly how the police noted it in their write-up. They didn't follow up on this address in the aftermath.

Now, when it comes to Kroy's side of things ... sources tell us this was just a case of bad communication. We're told Kroy had no idea their son, KJ, had gotten the green light to go to a rodeo with his friend/their mom. Our sources tell us Kroy's deeply distrustful of the woman who took KJ -- for reasons unexplained -- which is why he was on edge.

We're told when Kroy learned KJ was under the supervision of this woman -- he called her up, but apparently felt like he wasn't getting his point across. At one point, our sources say Kroy demanded she brings KJ back ... she allegedly hung up on him -- which is what led to him threatening to file kidnapping charges over it. He never did, though.

Amber Heard has bounced back from her devastating defeat in her defamation trial against ex Johnny Depp ... making her triumphant return to the silver screen and a huge splash at an Italian film festival.

The actress -- who seemed down for the count after a civil jury awarded Depp over $10 million in damages at their 2022 trial -- arrived at the 69th Taormina Film Festival for the premiere of her new film with costar Luca Calvani.

Amber was all smiles and laughter as she sipped drinks with Calvani -- proving nobody is defined by one bad moment in time ... and for Amber, that means the Depp case.

Amber also looked radiant in a white top, cream-colored skirt and black shoes as she mingled with the masses to promote her new movie in which she plays a widowed American psychiatrist who flies to Colombia to investigate the case of a disturbed child allegedly possessed by the devil.

It certainly appears Amber has ripped a page out of the Lindsay Lohan playbook ... You might recall ...  Lindsay also made a comeback from her drug and alcohol problems to star in the 2022 Netflix movie, "Falling for Christmas" -- her first major film role in years.

Jussie Smollett has a lot of balls in the air ... at the same time he's appealing his conviction in his hoax hate crime case, he's also directing a new movie with a big star, who just so happens to be one of his biggest supporters.

Jussie was in his element Thursday in Orange County on the movie set for "The Lost Holiday," an upcoming film starring Vivica A. Fox.

As you see, Jussie and Vivica worked closely together on set ... adding another layer to their long-standing working relationship.

Remember ... Jussie and Vivica both starred on "Empire" back in 2019 when Jussie was allegedly attacked in Chicago ... a claim that police said turned out to be a hoax and ultimately led to the conviction he's now appealing.

If the appeal fails, Jussie will have to spend 5 months behind bars. The appeal has been continued 5 times, and the court said no more ... the hearing is set for December.

Vivica has staunchly stood by Jussie's side throughout the entire saga ... telling us in 2021 she wanted to work with him again ... and now she's getting her wish.

Jussie had a huge smile on his face on set, though it's unclear if he's getting in front of the camera for this project or just directing.

As for his case, Jussie is appealing and his legal team is arguing the conviction should be overturned because his due process rights were violated.

The document the 4 passengers signed before getting in the ill-fated submersible could prevent their families from filing a wrongful death lawsuit, but there's one big exception.

The relevant jurisdiction according to the contract is the Bahamas. Bahamian law adopts many provisions of United States law, and in most U.S. states a company can absolve itself of liability for injury or death even if it was negligent, provided it fully discloses the risks to the participants.

There are other factors to consider, including lopsided bargaining power and the clarity of the language in the waiver. In this case, the passengers were all well-to-do and sophisticated, with access to counsel.

In short, even if OceanGate negligently constructed or operated the submersible, the families could very well be out of luck if they sue for wrongful death.

Now there's a big exception ... if a court were to determine OceanGate was "grossly negligent," the liability waiver would not be enforceable. Gross negligence is defined "a lack of care that demonstrates reckless disregard for the safety or lives of others." In short, a company cannot enforce a waiver if it engaged in reckless conduct.

That will be for a judge and/or jury to decide -- whether issues of design, materials, and operation crossed that line.

Hidden Hills isn't big enough for Nicki Minaj and her convicted felon husband ... at least that's what some of Nicki's neighbors think ... and they want the couple out pronto.

There's a petition circulating online from Hidden Hills residents worried about Nicki and her hubby, Kenneth Petty, moving into the fancy neighborhood ... and hundreds of folks have signed on.

The petition, which was started by Hidden Hills resident Beverly Bardan, takes issue with the fact Kenneth is a registered sex offender after being convicted in New York of attempted rape back in 1995 in a case that landed him in prison for more than 4 years.

As for why the new attention on Petty, he recently filed new legal docs changing his address on the Megan's Law website, so you gotta imagine the neighbors took note.

Nicki and Kenneth bought a mansion in Hidden Hills back in December, and as we first reported ... Kenneth is currently serving one year of home detention for failing to register as a sex offender in California.

The way Beverly seems to see it ... the mere presence of Nicki and Kenneth in Hidden Hills would hurt home values and create safety concerns.

Beverly is encouraging Nicki's neighbors to warn residents about Kenneth ... and she wants folks to sign the petition to "SHOW that you are against sex offenders in our Hidden Hills neighborhood!"

The petition, titled "SAY NO TO SEX OFFENDERS IN HIDDEN HILLS," was launched shortly after Nicki dropped $19.5 million on her estate ... but it's gained a lot of traction lately, with over 100 signatures in the last few days, bumping the number to 862 and counting.

Hidden Hills is becoming the new Beverly Hills ... other celebs with homes in the area include Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner, and Kris Jenner, plus Will and Jada.

Originally Published -- 12:20 AM PT

Young Thug surprised fans Friday by dropping an album from behind bars that's LOADED with A1 features -- and, clearly, released to rival Gunna's own surprise project!!!

Orchestrated by Metro Boomin, "Business Is Business" officially stands as Thugger's third album, but due to his ongoing YSL RICO case ... it leans heavily on Drake, 21 Savage, Future, Travis Scott, Lil Gotit and many more to complete the project.

The album proves Thugger's got real friends in his corner when he needs it most, and while he could've asked Gunna to add more star power ... it's conspicuous that he didn't!!!

Akademiks claims to have audio of Thug instructing Lil Durk to save his Gunna disses for his "BIB" album for a song that would've featured Durk and Lil Baby.

Interestingly, there's no such Durk and Baby track on Thug's album and his sister insists Ak's recording is AI, so it all could be a ploy to generate album streams.

Either way, the clear intention of Thug's album is to dwarf Gunna's that dropped last week.

The company behind the ill-fated submersible designed to explore the depths of the sea covered itself from the perils of underwater exploration with a comprehensive liability waiver, and we have a copy.

The document -- used on a trip from last summer -- repeatedly mentions the risk of serious injury or death, and tells passengers they assume the risk without any recourse against the company.

OceanGate makes it clear ... even if it's negligent in the design or operation of the vessel, the passengers have no legal recourse. The document states, "I hereby assume full responsibility for the risk of bodily injury, disability, death, and property damage due to the negligence of [OceanGate] while involved in the operation."

Here's how robustly the company covered itself, telling passengers what they're up against.

-- "A portion of the operation will be conducted inside an experimental submersible vessel. The experimental submersible vessel has not been approved or certified by any regulatory body and may be constructed of materials that have not been widely used in human occupied submersibles."

-- "When diving below the ocean surface this vessel will be subject to extreme pressure, and any failure of the vessel while I am aboard could cause severe injury or death."

-- "If I choose to assist in the servicing or operation of the submersible vessel, I will be exposed to risks associated with high-pressure gases, pure oxygen servicing, high-voltage electrical systems and other dangers that could lead to property damage, injury, disability and death."

And then comes the waiver ... "I understand the inherent risks in the activities that will be undertaken during the operation, and I hereby assume full responsibility for all risks of property damage, injury, disability, and death .... I hereby agree to defend, indemnify, save, and hold harmless OceanGate Expeditions, Ltd. ... from any loss, liability, damage, or costs they may incur to due to any claim brought in violation of this Release."

As you know, the 5 passengers onboard the Titan vessel were declared dead, after the craft apparently imploded deep below the surface of the ocean.

Kesha and Dr. Luke are no longer beefing in court ... because they just announced a settlement in their defamation battle after years of nasty back and forth.

The singer says she and the famous music producer agreed to a resolution of the lengthy legal battle ... though the terms of the settlement are unclear.

It's the end of the road for a long legal war that's been winding through the courts for nearly a decade ... remember, Kesha accused Dr. Luke of an alleged 2005 rape back in 2014 and he denied her claims and sued her for defamation.

In a statement, Kesha says ... "Only God knows what happened that night. As I have always said, I cannot recount everything that happened."

She adds ... "I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved."

Dr. Luke says he appreciates Kesha acknowledging she cannot recount what happened on the night she claimed he drugged and raped her, and he still denies it ever happened.

Luke says ... "I never drugged or assaulted her and would never do that to anyone. For the sake of my family, I have vigorously fought to clear my name for nearly 10 years. It is time for me to put this difficult matter behind me and move on with my life. I wish Kesha well."

Eric Bellinger has no qualms with Jonathan Majors and Meagan Good's whirlwind romance, something he's seen up close and personal ... because he's Meagan's brother-in-law!!!

TMZ Hip Hop caught up with the R&B maestro in NYC ... he's been married to Meagan's sister La'Myia since 2015, and he informed us he's not only met Jonathan, but thinks he's a helluva swell guy to be around!!!

We broke the story back in May ... the 2 actors officially became a couple amid Jonathan's assault case with his ex-girlfriend, and Megan was recently spotted supporting him in court, an indication the 'ship is sailing strong.

Eric admits he hasn't inquired about the details of the case, but insists he's seen no reason to grill him ... due to Jonathan's character.

His stamp of approval echoes the thoughts of Meagan's longtime friend and former castmate Robert Ri'chard ... who vouched for her decision-making when we spoke to him on the subject.

Aaron Rodgers made a huge push for the legalization of magical mushrooms and more on Wednesday night, insisting they have changed his life ... and could help alter many others too.

The New York Jets quarterback stumped for the hallucinogens for nearly an hour ... while giving a passionate speech on a stage at the Psychedelic Science 2023 conference in Denver.

He and his good pal Aubrey Marcus, who sat alongside the NFL star at the podium, glowed about their uses of psychedelics while addressing a big crowd ... and Rodgers repeated over and over again that everyone should have an open mind to the drugs.

"I know in Colorado that psilocybin has been decriminalized," Rodgers said. "Is it not ironic that the things that actually expand your mind are illegal and the things that keep you in the lower chakras and dumb you down have been legal for centuries?"

The 39-year-old -- who's been vocal in the past about his use of ayahuasca -- said, yet again, his trip on the psychedelic tea helped transform him from one of the league's best signal-callers back into an NFL MVP.

"It's going to be hard to cancel me," he said, "because, you know, the previous year, 26 touchdowns, four interceptions. We had a good season. Ayahuasca, 48 touchdowns five, interceptions, MVP. What are you going to say?"

Rodgers also ribbed his critics -- whom he referred to as "bums" -- saying they're the ones who need to try psychedelics the most.

As part of his speech, Rodgers also said he's heard from all kinds of athletes since he initially opened up about his ayahuasca use ... claiming everyone from basketball players to baseball players to surfers and entertainers have reached out to him to share their similar experiences.

Officials at the conference, meanwhile, praised Rodgers for showing up and speaking his mind ... with Rick Doblin, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies' founder, telling the New York Post he expects it to all have a "massive impact" on relieving the stigma surrounding the drugs.