Legal

At least one of Travis Scott's attorneys believes Houston police intentionally timed the release of their report on the Astroworld tragedy ... in order to hurt sales of his new "Utopia" album.

Kent Schaffer tells TMZ ... it's no coincidence Houston's PD's full investigation report came out Friday, the same day as Travis' latest album.

Travis' lawyers says cops were well aware "Utopia" was dropping Friday -- it was highly publicized as Travis made an official announcement early in the week. Schaffer believes their motive for precisely timing the 1,266-page release was to hurt Travis' sales, and take some heat off law enforcement for not charging Travis with a crime.

For the record, Houston PD has said it is simply a "coincidence."

While Schaffer isn't buying that, he thinks the report won't have much impact on Travis' fans ... or hurt his album sales, for that matter.

Travis' lawyer is also pushing back on some of the report's contents ... including a statement from a security guard who claims he tried to get Travis' team to stop the show during Drake's set, but was told Drake had to finish first.

Schaffer flat out denies that, claiming all the crowd injuries happened 30 minutes before Drake hit the stage, but no one brought it to Travis' attention ... and he says police could have stopped the concert sooner if they wanted.

Travis told police he was told in his earpiece to stop the show after Drake left the stage ... and his attorney says Travis followed all directions and that's one reason he was not charged with a crime.

Travis' attorney says he was in communication with HPD throughout the investigation, which lasted over 18 months, and the opinions expressed to him were that police did not see any criminal liability on Travis' part.

That's exactly what a grand jury decided last month, refusing to indict the rapper for the 10 deaths at Astroworld. However, he's still facing several lawsuits from victims and families of victims.

Schaffer says the size and scope of the released documents is unusual ... and he thinks police wanted to show the public and the victims' families that they conducted a very thorough investigation.

Meanwhile, an attorney for a family whose child died at the concert tells TMZ ... "The release of this report only reminds the family about the terror, the devastation and the horror which took away their child. The feelings are mixed between sadness, anger and determination to continue pursuing justice regardless of whether it’s in a criminal courthouse or a civil courthouse."

Kevin Costner's estranged wife Christine Baumgartner has moving trucks backed up to the front door ... bolting from their home with a few days to spare before her court-ordered move-out day.

Multiple vehicles were spotted arriving at the Costner ocean-front estate in Carpinteria, CA Friday ... and we're told another U-Haul was seen leaving the property earlier in the morning, too.

As you know, Christine leaving Kevin's property was part of the prenup they both agreed to when the got married back in 2004 ... she must be out of the home by the end of this month.

While Christine is in the middle of her move, Kevin is at one of his other homes in Aspen ... and he's got their 3 children with him for a little summer vacation.

The divorce means the kids get double vacays -- Christine already took them to Hawaii a week ago, where they stayed in a swanky resort while she spent time with a guy who's been a longtime friend to Kevin and Christine.

Now, it's back to reality for Christine.

She's got a moving crew to handle the heavy lifting, but she's there keeping a close eye on the process. As we reported, Kevin filed a detailed list of what she can and can't take.

Christine filed for divorce in May, and the split has been extremely nasty ... with early fights over child support and the prenup, plus allegations by Kevin she took large sums of money and other assets behind his back.

Travis Scott told police someone in his earpiece told him to end the Astroworld concert after Drake's set, but insists he had no clue there was an emergency unfolding in the crowd.

The rapper's account of what unfolded at the deadly November 2021 concert is documented in the 1,266-page report from Houston Police, who interviewed him at his home a few days after the concert.

Travis said the first time he noticed something was wrong was when he was on a lifted platform above the stage and he noticed someone down near the stage who was receiving medical attention.

Before this point, Travis said he recalled seeing lights in the crowd but could not tell what was going on ... so he asked folks in the crowd to put up a middle finger if they were fine and that was the overwhelming response ... so he thought everything was good.

Travis told police he was on the elevated platform for about two or three songs, when he saw someone waving their hands at him near the stage ... and that's when he told the crowd to back up and get medical attention to the area.

For the rest of his time on the elevated platform, Travis said he was in a "trance" going through his performance and getting into the music ... and that there wasn't a "high commotion" in the crowd.

When Drake was onstage, the report said a security guard tried to get two members of Travis' team to stop the show in the middle of the set, but was denied and told Drake needed to finish.

Travis told police he was told "Yo, this is gonna have to be like the last song," when Drake was performing ... but he says he was not told there was an emergency.

When Drake finished, Travis says he was told in his earpiece ... "Yo Trav, you got to wrap it up, it's getting kinda hectic out there." Travis says there was no mention of the situation's severity.

Travis told police he was first told something happened at the concert when he got back to his trailer, when a friend told him a concertgoer was getting CPR. Travis says he thought only one person was in trouble, but was later informed that two people needed CPR and that's when he started to question what was going on.

It was not until Travis got home, around 2 AM or 3 AM, that he says he learned about the number of people who died at Astroworld.

In total, 10 people died and dozens were injured ... and now Travis is facing civil lawsuits, though he will not face criminal charges.

Victims of Travis Scott's Astroworld tragedy were alarmed the concert continued as they were fighting for their lives, and one security guard even went backstage pleading with Travis' team to stop the concert ... but his team refused to alert Travis.

Police just released their 1,266-page report ... which includes interviews with hundreds of concert attendees, many of whom suffered injuries and were hospitalized. Some of them paint a grisly picture of what happened in November of 2021 ... as the crowd surge resulted in a stampede.

The report says the security guard, Marty, made it backstage to the audio area to try and stop the show while Drake was performing. Marty said he made it clear to two members of Travis' team who allegedly had the ability to communicate with Travis that the concert needed to end, but he was blocked.

The man says Travis' team did not want to shut the show down because Drake had three more songs left ... and he says he told them the situation was "much bigger than Drake" but says Travis' team "actively impeded the ability for anyone to stop the show."

Police interviewed Drake and asked if he noticed any problems going on in the crowd while he was on stage and he told cops it was difficult to see from his vantage point because there were a lot of lights and it was his first time ever on that stage and he wasn't able to rehearse.

Drake also told cops he didn't hear anyone in the crowd begging to stop the show, explaining that his earpiece drowns out a lot of outside noise.

The report also says Drake told police he met up with Travis after the show and at that point, they did not know about the tragic incident in the crowd. Drake said his manager later informed him of what happened.

Travis is still facing civil lawsuits over the deadly concert and if it turns out people on his team were blocking folks from stopping the show it could have legal consequences in those suits.

The police report is also filled with details from concertgoers ... including one named Ayden who said he felt like he was "losing oxygen and he began to yell for help as he fell to the ground." His friend, Brianna, was nearby and he heard her yelling, "I can't breathe" and he went into "survival mode."

Ayden says he got himself out of the pile, but "it did not help that the music continued on playing even though it was clear people were being trampled on." He says he got to the front of the stage and tried to get Travis' attention to stop the concert, but was unable to do so.

Aside from the obvious stamped issues that occurred during the chaos, another fan believed the lighting on the stage caused him to have a seizure. He told police he had no history of seizures and had not taken any drugs that night.

The report also includes interviews with first responders who describe the absolutely horrific scene. One Houston firefighter said they had worked on 11 cardiac arrest patients within 46 minutes, and observed one person with a crushed larynx, one overdose and several other injuries.

Ethan Slater may be done with his marriage, but he "desperately" wants to co-parent his nearly 1-year-old child with soon-to-be ex-wife Lilly Jay ... sources connected to Ethan tell TMZ.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, Ethan has been talking to Lilly daily, mostly about their little boy. We're told Ethan spent a lot of time with his son in London after he had split with Lilly, and is determined to have a major presence in the boy's life.

Our sources say Lilly told Ethan repeatedly she was down with co-parenting. Ethan, we're told, asked Lilly about issuing a joint statement saying they were committed to co-parenting their son, but Lilly wanted to defer releasing the statement, at least for now.

We're also told Lilly had assured Ethan she didn't know where various media leaks were emanating from, so he was more than surprised to read Thursday that Lilly spoke with Page Six, calling Ariana Grande "not a girl's girl," adding her family was "collateral damage."

Sources tell us Lilly told Ethan she did not understand what it meant that she was on the record when she made the comments.

It's unclear what Lilly's position is regarding co-parenting, but Ethan adamantly wants to raise his son.

TMZ broke the story ... Ethan filed for divorce on Wednesday. If they're at odds on who raises the child, ultimately a judge will decide.

San Antonio Spurs point guard Devonte' Graham was sentenced to probation in his DWI case on Thursday, TMZ Sports has learned.

According to court documents, the 28-year-old hooper -- who pled guilty last month to a misdemeanor charge of driving while impaired stemming from his July 2022 arrest -- received a 21-day jail sentence ... but it was suspended, and Graham was placed on unsupervised probation for 12 months instead.

Per the docs, Graham was also required to pay $393 in fines and fees as part of his sentencing as well.

Graham was initially hit with the DWI charge following his arrest on July 7, 2022. At the time, authorities said they placed the NBA player in custody after they alleged he had been doing 63 MPH in a 40 MPH zone while intoxicated at around 3 AM in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Graham had been a member of the New Orleans Pelicans at the time of the arrest ... though the former second-round pick was sent to the Spurs a few months later in a trade for Josh Richardson.

Todd Chrisley believes he's being treated differently from the rest of his fellow inmates in federal prison ... and he thinks his fame has everything to do with it.

Chrisley's attorney, Jay Surgent, tells TMZ ... Todd believes his celebrity status has resulted in some odd occurrences while locked up at FPC Pensacola in Florida -- even telling us Todd thinks someone took his photo while he was sleeping.

He also claims he hasn't been receiving any mail and thinks it's getting destroyed ... though, he has no clue what the motive would be for someone doing that.

Jay tells us Todd's living conditions are terrible, too, claiming the place is plagued by bad plumbing, possible mold, and no A.C. to help combat the brutal heat. He also claims his wife Julie's struggling with similarly bad conditions over at FMC Lexington, KY, where she's doing her time.

For what it's worth, a rep for the Bureau of Prisons tells us the safety of inmates is a top priority, and both prisons have "contingency plans to address a large range of concerns ... including ventilation temperatures."

Regardless, Jay says Todd submitted an application to try to get switched over to home confinement. Worth a shot, but that seems unlikely, considering the fact the Chrisleys are doing hard time.

TMZ broke the story, Todd and Julie reported to their prisons in January -- Todd got a 12-year sentence, while Julie got 7 ... after the couple was convicted in their bank fraud and tax evasion case.

We're told the plan moving forward is to explore all legal avenues to address the prison conditions.

Vic Mensa's being sued by an ex-landlord, who claims he's way behind on rent ... but the rapper says the landlord was operating an unsafe building, which led to a terrifying incident for Vic's girlfriend.

Attorney George Georgopoulos filed the suit on behalf of the property owner and claims while Vic was highlighting a flashy lifestyle on social media -- pics of fancy watches and sports cars -- he was failing to pay his rent.

According to the lawsuit, Vic now owes $8,340 in rent and late fees.

Georgopoulos adds, his client “is left holding the bag of paying real estate taxes, maintenance, and other costs for the building while Vic Mensa continues to use and occupy the space without paying rent.”

However, a rep for Vic says the landlord's way outta line here ... telling TMZ the landlord actually "put the lives of Vic Mensa's family in danger, particularly his girlfriend." He points to a March incident when cops say someone broke into the place when his girlfriend was home alone.

Police records confirm a man was arrested and charged for breaking in to the apartment -- and court records show that suspect has also been previously arrested multiple times for battery, and for violating the sex offender registry.

Vic thinks the landlord failed to take adequate security measures around the building despite numerous requests, so he moved out immediately after that incident ... and, yes, stopped paying rent, because he no longer lived there.

Kevin Costner's getting his chance to go on a summer vacation with his three kids ... and after his estranged wife took the kiddos to Hawaii, Kevin's bringing them to Colorado.

The "Yellowstone" star is in Aspen this week with his daughter and two sons ... with Kevin picking them up from the airport Monday, hauling their luggage around in cowboy boots and a cowboy hat.

Kevin and the kids beelined it from the airport to a grocery store ... presumably to stack up on supplies for their time together.

As you know ... Kevin and his estranged wife Christine Baumgartner are going through a bitter divorce, but the split means double summer vacations for their children.

Christine took the kids with her to the Big Island of Hawaii just last week ... staying at a swanky resort and also spending some time with one of Kevin's friends.

Kevin's got a place of his own in Aspen ... so the kids probably aren't staying in a resort like they did in Hawaii ... but they're getting a second vacay all the same.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are finally in agreement on one thing -- they both want to try squashing their legal war over the winery they once owned together ... and their willing to do it out of court.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Brad and Angelina have agreed to mediation as a means to settle their dispute over French vineyard Chateau Miraval ... which is potentially a big development in this bitter legal battle.

The wine dispute's been brewing for a while ... as we first reported, Brad claims Angelina double-crossed him by secretly selling her interest in the winery to a Russian oligarch in 2021, and now Brad's suing her to undo the deal.

Remember ... Brad and Angelina bought Chateau Miraval in Correns, France way back in 2008, when they were still happily married.

Brad's claimed he invested a ton of time and money in the vineyard over the years, though also acknowledging Angelina ponied up 40% of the original $28.4 million purchase price, and he's claimed they always had an understanding neither could sell off their interest without the other's consent.

As we've reported, Angelina went to court in July 2021 and told a judge she had reached an agreement to sell her interest to an unnamed person ... and Brad says in September 2021 he agreed to allow Angela to move forward with a potential sale, while making it clear he would still reserve the right to give a thumbs up or down to the proposed buyer.

Cut to a few months later, when Brad says he was shocked to learn a subsidiary of the famous vodka company Stoli Group, controlled by Russian oligarch Yuri Shefler, bought Angelina's interest in the vineyard -- so, he sued in an attempt to get a judge to undo the deal.

With all the nastiness between Brad and Angelina over the years, it will be interesting to see what comes out of the mediation.

Maybe we can all get along, but also ... maybe don't hold your breath.

OnlyFans model Courtney Clenney had security guards right outside her front door while she allegedly stabbed her boyfriend to death, but security did nothing about it ... so say the lawyers for the BF's estate.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, security at the luxury apartment building in Miami was notified about a fight going down inside the couple's unit on April 3, 2022 -- the same day Christian was killed.

Attorneys repping Christian Obumseli's estate say guards knocked on their front door and even heard yelling coming from inside, but they just stood outside for 12 minutes and didn't do anything to break it up ... despite what they say was a long history of past disturbances and complaints from neighbors.

The estate claims by the time Courtney opened the door, security saw her and her dogs covered in blood with Christian lying unconscious on the floor.

The estate insists the building and its security were well aware of Courtney and Christian's explosive relationship, saying the building got its first complaint about a domestic dispute between them back on move-in day in January -- months before the fatal incident -- and claim the building got flooded with complaints over time.

According to the docs, Courtney even notified the building's general manager in late March that she had been recently diagnosed with "a severe borderline personality disorder."

The estate lawyers are saying the building should have known at that point that she was "extremely volatile and aggressive," adding that if they'd intervened sooner, Obumseli could have survived.

Ariana Grande's boyfriend wants a totally clean slate going into his new relationship with the singer ... filing to divorce his estranged wife.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ethan Slater decided to legally end things Wednesday with Lilly Jay ... filing divorce papers in New York. We don't yet know the specific reason Ethan's listed for the split.

Ethan and Lilly were high school sweethearts -- getting hitched back in 2018 -- and welcomed a son together last year.

The move isn't necessarily surprising, TMZ broke the story ... Ariana and Ethan have been together for several months now, sources told us both were single when they started dating after meeting on the set of "Wicked."

However, sources close to Lilly told us she was heartbroken to hear about Ethan's new relationship ... and feels he abandoned his brand-new family.

As for Ethan and Ariana's side of Lilly's claims, a source close to the two told us, "It's understandable that emotions are high and it's hard seeing your ex move on, especially in such a public way, and her friends are trying to protect her. But Ari and Ethan are just trying to lay low and be respectful of their exes as they pursue this new relationship."

Bam Margera says he's working hard on sobering up and staying clean ... all in the hopes he can be reunited with his son and maintain a relationship with him.

In new court docs, obtained by TMZ, Bam says he's currently sober, and is actively working through his struggles to better himself.

As a result, he's requesting joint legal and physical custody of Phoenix -- asking for things like overnight stays for the 5-year-old every other weekend -- so he can forge a better bond with his son.

Bam says he's surprised Nikki, his estranged wife, is unwilling to support him on his journey to sobriety, because he claims she's also struggled with sobriety in the past. In his defense, he adds .. he's already gotten treatment from multiple resources, completed courses and started therapy.

The former "Jackass" star claims Nikki's doing everything she can to keep Phoenix away from him, even allegedly refusing to let them talk on the phone anymore ... and says she's also isolating their son from Bam's extended family.

As we reported, Bam and Nikki were at an L.A. court this month to, in part, establish if their 2013 marriage was valid -- Bam believes their wedding in Iceland wasn't an official ceremony, because they weren't residents there.

Bow Wow's getting dragged for allegedly swindling a child rapper outta her hard-earned pennies when she requested a feature -- but he insists there was no deal with him, the kid just got catfished.

The case is currently pending in a Georgia court, but Bow Wow is claiming the plaintiff fell victim to an all too common online scam. However, on social media -- where no one waits for a verdict -- folks went on the warpath against Bow.

TMZ Hip Hop got ahold of the docs ... the suit was actually filed back in March by a man named Steven Roberson.

According to Steve, he wired Bow Wow $3K via Cash App, back in 2021, to guest star on a song for his daughter back in 2021 called, "Daddy's Girl." He says the deal required Bow Wow to record his feature within 2 weeks of getting the payment, but that never happened.

Bow Wow is now defending his reputation, insisting he never conducts business through Cash App and doesn't intend to in the future. He says this incident marks the 3rd time someone got duped by someone pretending to be him.

Kevin Spacey is cleared of sexual assault charges in his UK trial -- a London jury just found him not guilty.

The verdict was handed down in Southwark Crown Court Wednesday in London after 2 days of jury deliberation.

Spacey was originally facing 13 counts including sexual assault, indecent assault, and causing a person to engage in a sexual activity without consent. The 4 indecent assault charges were dropped, with the judge citing its removal as a "legal technicality." He was found not guilty of the remaining charges.

It's a huge victory for Spacey, who had been facing the possibility of life in prison if he'd been convicted.

As we reported, Spacey's been on trial in London for allegedly sexually assaulting 4 men from 2001 to 2013. The trial kicked off at the end of June, and he was spotted looking cheerful as he headed into court for the first day.

Prosecutors claimed Spacey performed oral sex on a man while he was asleep, was aggressively "touchy-feely" with one of his drivers, and even groped a man backstage -- something the alleged victim said was done "with such force it was painful."

A lot came out during the trial -- for starters, one of his alleged accusers compared him to his serial killer character in "Se7en" ... telling cops in a prerecorded interview the actor was "a bit like that. A bit creepy. Maybe not quite as bad."

Spacey took the stand last week, describing one of the accusers as funny and charming, describing himself as a "big flirt" and insisting what went down between them was gentle and consensual.

He admitted he really liked the man, but claimed he never knew he would "stab me in the back" 20 years later. Spacey said he thinks his 4 accusers were attacking him after regretting being intimate with him.

Elton John's name came up during the trial because one of the accusers claimed he was groped by Spacey while driving to the singer's annual White Tie and Tiara Ball in either 2004 or 2005.

The Rocket Man himself actually testified remotely during the trial, saying Spacey only attended 1 of his bashes in 2001, not 2004-05. Elton's husband, David Furnish, also said Elton's recollection of the timing was backed up by photos of the past events.

In closing arguments, Spacey's defense team told the jury, "It is not a crime to have sex, even if you’re famous" -- adding it's also not a crime to sleep with someone "of the opposite sex, because it’s 2023 and not 1823."

Judge Greg Mathis got into it with some Los Angeles City employees ... but there are drastically different stories from each side as to just how intense things escalated.

Law enforcement sources tell us an employee from the L.A. Dept. of Water and Power made a report Tuesday accusing Mathis of threatening workers with a gun after a heated confrontation. According to the employee, Mathis got pissed after they asked him to move his vehicle -- words were exchanged -- and things escalated to the point of Mathis allegedly flashing and pointing his gun at the workers.

However, we spoke to Mathis, who has a much different story. Mathis tells us the employees were actually blocking his vehicle in, and he was unable to pull out of his driveway.

Mathis says one of the employees got smart with him when he stood in the street, saying if he didn't move, he'd get run over by their work truck. Mathis took that as a threat, and tells us he informed he had a weapon -- though he says he NEVER showed the gun, let alone pointed it at anyone.

Eventually, both sides cooled off ... and the LADWP employees continued on with their work further down the street.