Legal

The Tuohy family says before Michael Oher made "outlandish," "hurtful" and "absurd" claims about them in court on Monday ... he actually tried to shake them down for $15 MILLION.

Marty Singer -- the Tuohy family attorney -- said it all happened recently ... and, what's worse, he claimed this is not the first time Oher has done this.

Singer -- in a lengthy statement to TMZ Sports -- said Oher came to the Tuohys prior to filing his 14-page petition in Shelby County, Tenn. ... and threatened them, saying if they didn't pony up an eight-figure check, he'd "plant a negative story about them in the press."

Singer denied all of the allegations in Oher's court filing ... explaining that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy absolutely did not trick the former NFL star into getting into a conservatorship when he was 18 years old as he had claimed.

The conservatorship "was established to assist with Mr. Oher’s needs, ranging from getting him health insurance and obtaining a driver’s license to helping with college admissions," Singer said. "Should Mr. Oher wish to terminate the conservatorship, either now or at anytime in the future, the Tuohys will never oppose it in any way."

As for Oher's claims that the Tuohys used the conservatorship to broker a movie deal with Fox behind Oher's back that netted them millions -- while leaving Oher with nothing -- Singer said that was BS as well.

"The notion that a couple worth hundreds of millions of dollars would connive to withhold a few thousand dollars in profit participation payments from anyone -- let alone from someone they loved as a son -- defies belief," Singer said.

Instead, the attorney claimed Tuesday the Tuohys had "received a small advance from the production company and a tiny percentage of net profits" from "The Blind Side" ... money Singer said the Tuohys have always either shared with Oher or have tried to share with the former Baltimore Ravens tackle.

"Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from 'The Blind Side,'" Singer said. "Even recently, when Mr. Oher started to threaten them about what he would do unless they paid him an eight-figure windfall, and, as part of that shakedown effort refused to cash the small profit checks from the Tuohys, they still deposited Mr. Oher’s equal share into a trust account they set up for his son."

Singer continued, "Unbeknownst to the public, Mr. Oher has actually attempted to run this play several times before – but it seems that numerous other lawyers stopped representing him once they saw the evidence and learned the truth. Sadly, Mr. Oher has finally found a willing enabler and filed this ludicrous lawsuit as a cynical attempt to drum up attention in the middle of his latest book tour."

Singer added the Tuohys are "heartbroken" over it all and they hope to reconcile with Oher soon ... though "they will not hesitate to defend their good names, stand up to this shakedown and defeat this offensive lawsuit."

The white apartment manager in North Carolina on video hitting a Black 11-year-old and pouring soda on him is being taken to court by the kid's parents.

Robert Eury and Joella Lee-Eury filed a federal lawsuit against Kimberly Jennings, claiming she got physical with their son and 8-year-old daughter because they were using the pool at the apartment complex she manages.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the parents claim their kids were swimming in the pool at an apartment complex where their friends live when Jennings ordered them out of the water.

The parents say their kids were attempting to leave when Jennings approached their son and "poured soda over his head and struck him in the face multiple times all because him and his little sister was swimming in a pool at the property she manages."

In their suit, the parents claim Jennings also pulled their daughter's hair and hit her after ordering the kids out of the pool. The parents even claim Jennings told their son "he was acting like a real n*****."

Jennings was later arrested on an assault charge, but the parents say their kids are still reeling from the pool incident ... so now they're suing for discrimination, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Bunk beds at the Little League World Series are out for good ... the tandem sleeping units will be permanently removed from the prestigious event going forward after a player was seriously injured in one of them last year.

Little League officials said in a statement to the Associated Press on Monday ... the decision was made after Easton Oliverson suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed while falling from a top bunk inside the LLWS' dormitory complex in Williamsport, Penn. in 2022.

"Out of an abundance of caution," the officials said, "we placed all beds individually on the floor during last year’s World Series, and in preparation for the 2023 Little League International Tournament, Little League decided to provide its participants with single, one-level beds for all of their player housing at each of its tournament locations, including those in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where the dormitories can accommodate all 14 single beds."

This year's version of the event is slated to begin later this week.

As we previously reported, Oliverson nearly died following a fall at last year's LLWS ... with his family saying the 12-year-old tumbled from a top bunk to the floor while he was asleep.

Oliverson was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery ... but, thankfully, he survived.

The player's family went on to sue Little League Baseball over the fall, alleging the beds were not safe. Little League officials never publicly commented on the allegations in the suit.

Beyoncé is setting the record straight on her feelings toward Lizzo -- not only is she back to name-dropping the artist in song, she also singled her out with a loving shout-out.

Bey was bringing the house down, per usual, Monday night at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in ATL, and performed "Break My Soul (The Queens Remix)," which supports her fellow female artists -- including Lizzo -- by shouting them out.

You may recall, Lizzo was notably absent from the song's callout section during a Beyoncé show earlier this month, but she was back on the lineup a couple of days later. Bey took things a step further this time, though -- saying, "I love you, Lizzo!"

The crowd certainly took that as a sign -- one fan in the crowd even responded, "OK!"

As we reported, Beyoncé ditched Lizzo's name at a Massachusetts show on August 1 ... coming directly after the "About Damn Time" singer was slapped with a lawsuit from 3 of her former dancers, claiming she created a hostile work environment with alleged sexual harassment and fat-shaming, among other things.

Lizzo, for what it's worth, has denied the allegations against her ... and it looks like Beyoncé's got Lizzo's back, and then some.

Kanye West is again connected to presidential politics because his former publicist has been indicted along with Donald Trump for allegedly engaging in an organized conspiracy to overturn election results in Georgia.

Trevian Kutti, once a publicist for Kanye and R. Kelly, is on video trying to strongarm election worker Ruby Freeman to confess to police she engaged in election fraud by tampering with ballots -- a claim that has proven false.

Kutti allegedly went to Freeman's home and ID'd herself as a crisis manager, and somehow got the election worker to travel with her to the police station, where she is seen on body cam video, threatening Freeman with jail time.

Kutti has been charged with 3 crimes, including violating the RICO statute. A RICO conviction has a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison.

Donald Trump can't stop catching cases ... a Georgia grand jury just indicted him for 2020 election subversion -- now the fourth criminal case he's facing as he runs for President again.

The ex-POTUS has been hit with 13 counts from a Fulton County grand jury ... according to D.A. Fani Willis. She also announced indictments against 18 other co-conspirators with Trump ... including Rudy Giuiliani and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

The 97-page indictment includes a total of 41 counts ... among them, RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization) charges -- meaning Trump allegedly engaged in organized crime activity for purpose of overturning the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

One key piece of evidence in the case is a January 2, 2021 phone call Trump made to then GA Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger ... imploring him to investigate alleged voting irregularities, and find more votes in Trump's favor.

Meadows, Giuliani and several other of Trump's lawyers -- and now alleged co-conspirators -- were on the call as well.

Remember, Trump has 3 other criminal cases that are currently pending ... one in New York state for an alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, a federal case pertaining to his classified documents scandal after leaving office, and another federal case tied to his alleged efforts to undermine the 2020 election with his actions on, before and after Jan. 6.

Trump's plead not guilty to the other cases, and he's still pushing ahead -- and leading all other GOP candidates -- with his 2024 presidential campaign, despite mounting legal woes.

There's no date set yet for his first court appearance in Georgia, but D.A. Willis said she would give Trump and the other defendants until Friday to surrender voluntarily.

Sean Tuohy is firing back at Michael Oher ... calling BS on all of the former NFL star's "insulting" allegations -- while insisting he and his family made little money off of the success of "The Blind Side."

The 63-year-old -- who was played by Tim McGraw in the 2009 hit movie -- said he was "devastated" to learn that Oher had accused him and his wife, Leigh Anne, of exploiting him for fame and money in a court filing in Tennessee on Monday morning.

Tuohy told the Daily Memphian he never tricked Oher into getting into a conservatorship ... and he certainly didn't make millions off of it either.

Instead, Tuohy said the whole ordeal went down because the NCAA told him if Oher wanted to attend Ole Miss -- he'd have to be considered part of the family due to Touhy's status as a "booster" at the school.

"I sat Michael down and told him, 'If you're planning to go to Ole Miss -- or even considering Ole Miss -- we think you have to be part of the family,'" Tuohy said. "'This would do that, legally.'"

He continued, "We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn't adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship. We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court."

Tuohy then said he'd "of course" end the conservatorship if that's what Oher wanted.

As for the allegations that Tuohy used the conservatorship to negotiate a big movie deal with Fox that netted massive profits for him and his family ... Tuohy said that just simply never happened.

"We didn’t make any money off the movie," Tuohy said. "Well, Michael Lewis ['The Blind Side' book author] gave us half of his share. Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each."

Tuohy says he was in no need of cash after he had sold his fast-food franchises for over $200 million.

"I will say it’s upsetting that people would think I would want to make money off any of my children," he said.

Tuohy also told the outlet his family and Oher had remained very close in the years after the release of "The Blind Side" ... though he began to notice a schism forming about a year and a half ago.

Tyrese Gibson says he's all torn up inside about the $1 million lawsuit he filed against Home Depot ... because the home improvement store is his happy place.

The 'Fast & Furious' actor was at LAX when a photog asked him how he's holding up after suing Home Depot ... and Tyrese explained why it was hard for him to pull the trigger.

As crazy as it sounds, Tyrese says Home Depot was "like my Disneyland" ... estimating he's spent close to $10 million there over the last 2 decades, which made suing the corporation all the more difficult.

Remember, Tyrese is going after Home Depot in court because he believes a cashier racially profiled him and his Latino crew members because she wouldn't allow them to use his credit card to buy supplies.

Tyrese says he hasn't heard a peep from Home Depot since he posted video of the store interaction and filed the suit ... and he says it's just one of the reasons he's thinking of taking his business over to Home Depot's biggest competitor, Lowe's.

It's interesting ... during the Home Depot incident, Tyrese name-dropped the company's CEO, threatening to have him call the cashier because they're neighbors in Atlanta. But, Tyrese says the CEO has clammed up, too, despite their supposed friendship.

Tyrese says despite his reservations, he's going through with the lawsuit on behalf of all the people who claim they've been racially profiled in Home Depot stores across the country ... and he says the lawsuit is not a money grab, but a tool to make a statement.

For Tyrese, it sounds like the defining moment of the whole fiasco was when his crew member was brought to tears by the treatment in Home Depot. Tyrese says he's standing up for minorities everywhere with his suit.

Shocking allegations from Michael Oher ... the former offensive lineman says the family who took him in, helped him become an NFL star and was later portrayed in the hit movie "The Blind Side," lied to him, never adopted him and screwed him out of potentially millions of dollars.

The ex-Baltimore Ravens tackle spelled out the eyebrow-raising claims in a petition filed in Shelby County, Tenn. on Monday ... alleging Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy "exploited" him "for their own benefit" after realizing he was a "gullible young man" with athletic talent.

Oher says he initially got involved with the Tuohys during the summer following his junior year of high school ... after he claimed "a broken social system" in Tennessee left him homeless and in need of aid.

In the docs, Oher says the couple invited him to stay in their home often during that summer to help him out, and took him on shopping trips where they'd buy him clothes. Eventually, before his senior year started, he says they asked him to move in with them.

"The Tuohys did tell Michael they loved him and that they intended to legally adopt him," Oher said in the documents. "Michael believed them, was delighted to be part of a real and stable family, and trusted Mr. and Mrs. Tuohy completely."

A short time later, however, Oher says the Tuohys pulled one over on him.

In the docs, the former football player -- who's now 37 years old -- claims the Tuohys presented him with legal papers that he believed were needed to begin the process of the family adopting him. Instead, however, he says he just learned in February 2023 that they were actually a petition to appoint them as his conservators -- a filing that would allow the Tuohys to "have total control over Michael Oher's ability to negotiate for or enter any contract, despite the fact he was over 18 years of age and had no diagnosed physical or psychological disabilities."

Oher claims the conservatorship then allowed the Tuohys to negotiate a deal with Fox for "The Blind Side," the '09 flick based on Oher's life.

Oher says the Tuohys got themselves and their kids -- but not him -- "a contract price of $225,0000 plus 2.5% of all future 'defined net proceeds.'" The movie -- in which Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy -- ended up grossing over $300 million.

Oher claims as part of the deal with Fox, a contract giving away the rights to his story without any form of payment whatsoever, was signed. Oher says he "at no time ever willingly or knowingly signed this document and that nobody" ever made him aware of what the document actually entailed.

Oher is asking for a judge to end the conservatorship. He's also asking for damages ... as well as an accounting of the money the Touhys made through contracts negotiated on his behalf. It all appears to be potentially a precursor to a lawsuit.

Oher -- who's previously been critical of "The Blind Side" over the way he feels he was wrongly portrayed as dumb -- played in the NFL from 2009 to 2016 ... starting 110 games in his career.

Here's what life is like right now for Tory Lanez inside Los Angeles County Jail ... he's being held away from general population and only gets a few hours a day outside his cell.

Law enforcement tells TMZ ... Tory is being held in what's called the administrative segregation unit, which is for inmates who cannot be safely housed with the rest of the folks behind bars.

With that, Tory is only allowed out of his cell for 2 hours a day ... and for those 120 minutes, he's by himself.

We're told he is allowed to get some fresh air during recreation time, but that's only for 3 hours each week.

This is the status quo for Tory as he waits to get shipped out of county jail for prison ... remember, the judge just sentenced him to a decade behind bars after being found guilty of shooting Megan Thee Stallion.

We're told Tory will be on the move within the next month, when he will be transferred to an intake center ... and that's when California will reveal which prison he'll be calling home for the duration of his sentence.

In the meantime, we're told jail staff is checking on Tory every 30 minutes ... as they do with all the inmates in administrative segregation, and he's able to load up on goodies at the commissary.

We're told whatever Tory buys from the commissary -- snacks, soap, etc. -- goes with him to the big house, as well as any money he has on the books.

Tory's vowed to appeal, and said he won't apologize to Meg ... but this is his life for the time being.

Britney Spears' ex-husband, Jason Alexander, is being ordered to steer clear of the woman he's accused of stalking.

Jason had a hearing this week in his aggravated stalking case in Tennessee ... and the judge ordered him to have no contact with his alleged victim, and to refrain from posting about her on social media.

TMZ broke the story ... Jason's arrest came after he allegedly texted, called, and followed a woman from a gym multiple times. She claims it even escalated to the point where he showed up at her home.

Remember ... the alleged victim also claimed Jason followed her to the parking lot of a Life Time Fitness in Franklin, TN back in June ... and she says she told him to leave her alone -- instead, he blew up her phone with tons of calls and texts.

What's more, the woman claims Jason allegedly drove past her house a few times, and even approached her at the gym's pool when she was there with her kid.

Jason's got to stay away from her for a while ... the next hearing is in August 2024.

David Montgomery and his girlfriend's offseason move to Detroit didn't get off to an auspicious start ... TMZ Sports has learned one of the couple's dogs was involved in a bloody biting incident just days after the new Lions running back got settled into his new Michigan home.

According to police documents, officers were called out to Montgomery's new Grosse Pointe Shores residence on June 4 ... after his and his GF's pitbull mix, Lola, was accused of escaping the house and attacking a smaller dog on the sidewalk.

In police body cam footage from the scene ... Montgomery's girlfriend -- Tatum Causey -- can be heard explaining to officers that she was in the backyard when she realized her pooch had gotten out.

"I go inside, literally opened the door and I said, 'Anybody see Lola?'" she told an officer at the scene. "So, I'm looking in the backyard for her -- she normally stays right in the backyard -- but when I walk out, I see my brother carrying her."

The owners of the dog who claimed Lola bit their pup said in an incident report that during the attack, Lola grabbed their animal's leg and would not let go.

"I heard our dog's leg break," one of the complainants wrote in the documents.

The owners said they suffered bite wounds and lacerations of their own during the attack. They added that their pup was diagnosed by the vet with two leg fractures. They also claimed it required stitches.

Causey -- who has a child with Montgomery -- was charged with misdemeanor harboring a vicious dog over the incident ... though court records show she pleaded not guilty to the count at a hearing in late June. The records show she's due for another hearing on the matter in September.

As for Lola, Causey shared an emotional tribute post to the dog one month after the biting incident that seemed to indicate the animal had passed away.

"So many quiet days just filled with your unconditional love," she wrote on the IG post. "You are and always will be the best. My soul dog, I love you forever and ever my Lola Bear."

A Kansas newspaper was raided by cops after leaked DUI intel made its way to the publisher -- and many are calling it a chilling attempt at censorship over freedom of the press.

The Marion County Record was paid a visit Friday by the local authorities ... who were executing a warrant that had been signed by a judge, giving them the green light to confiscate a ton of items -- including computers, phones, hard drives and other data.

The reason law enforcement stormed the place -- not to mention the home of the publisher, Eric Meyer -- is due to a complaint a restaurateur in town filed ... namely, accusing the Record of identity theft/unlawful use of a computer in putting together a piece about her.

It's a complicated backstory -- but, essentially, this woman (Kari Newell) and the newspaper have apparently had some bad blood of late ... and, in the aftermath of that, the Record says it recently obtained a tip about her past, revealing she'd once gotten a DUI and had driven without a license thereafter. This info could've hindered her business prospects.

While investigating the tip and confirming its veracity, the Record's publisher, Meyer, concluded the info was likely coming from Newell's husband ... whom she was in the middle of divorcing. In other words, questionable motives ... so he decided to pass on it altogether.

However, he did more than just that ... he actually alerted cops to the fact that this information had been leaked to them -- although it's unclear why. In any case, it backfired.

It seems Newell became privy to the fact Meyer and co. had fallen into possession of this information, and believed they'd done so illegally ... something the Marion County Record denies. Nonetheless, she went to the cops and filed a complaint ... which escalated into a full search warrant that Marion County District Court Magistrate Judge Laura Viar signed.

The nearly six-figure transaction for the microphone Cardi B chucked into her crowd, sparking a police investigation, has hit a snag ... we're told the winning bidder didn't pay up.

Here's the deal ... Cardi's infamous microphone was being auctioned on eBay and the bidding war came to an end Tuesday with a $99,900 winning bid ... or so it seemed.

Scott Fisher, the mic owner running the auction, tells TMZ … unfortunately, his suspicions came true and the winning bidder failed to pay for Cardi's mic.

We're told the person who placed the winning bid had 48 hours to fork over the cash, but didn't respond to multiple messages ... so Scott still has the mic. The proceeds from the auction were supposed to benefit charity, and Scott says he's exploring his options ... including sending a purchase offer to the second-highest bidder.

LM Cases, a case company in Ohio, heard about the story and hooked him up with a mic case for whoever ends up with it.

Scott says if the other top bidder doesn't end up buying the mic, he's considering selling it privately.

There's quite a story behind the mic ... as we reported, Cardi was performing at Drai's Beachclub in Las Vegas when she asked the crowd to splash her with water, only to get pissed when someone later tossed ice and liquid on her, resulting in the mic toss.

Tory Lanez still insists the system screwed him with a 10-year sentence for shooting Megan Thee Stallion -- but, that's just the consequence of the crime if you ask Trinidad James.

We caught up with Trinidad at LAX and his stance is clear: jail time should always follow the act of shooting someone in a criminal fashion, and since Tory was convicted ... Trinidad has no issue with the sentence.

The "All Gold Everything" rapper used Kendrick Lamar's "Money Trees" lyrics ... "Everybody gon' respect the shooter/But the one in front of the gun lives forever" ... to summarize his POV.

Trinidad also tells us Iggy Azalea should've kept quiet, after her public support for Tory became a hot-button issue following the sentencing.

Iggy grew close to Tory while they worked on music prior to his trial, and wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency -- a bad move according to Trinidad, but he still respects her right to have an opinion.

Jose Baez, Tory's lawyer, told us Tory's in the dumps after getting sentenced, and Tory himself remains defiant -- insisting he didn't shoot Meg.

The guy caught on video smashing people over the head with a folding chair in that riverfront brawl in Montgomery, Alabama has just been arrested.

The Montgomery Police Department announced Friday that Reggie Ray turned himself in ... and he's been charged with disorderly conduct and is being held in the Municipal Jail.

TMZ obtained the 42-year-old's mug shot ... and he doesn't look happy about the consequences of his actions in the epic melee.

Ray is the fifth person arrested for the brawl ... remember, Chief of Police Darryl Albert previously identified Reggie as the Black man who infamously wielded the chair on the dock, bonking several people on the head.

Ray got in on the action late, after men from a pontoon boat that was blocking a passenger ferry from docking ganged up on the ferry's co-captain ... sparking a huge brawl along racial lines.

The other 4 arrested include Allen Todd, 23, and Zachary Shipman, 25, who turned themselves in Wednesday and are each charged with one count of 3rd degree assault.

Richard Roberts, 48, was the first arrested ... he's accused of punching a 16-year-old dockhand.