Legal

The mother of a 12-year-old student whose teacher went on a racist rant on Zoom against her and her son is now filing a lawsuit.

Katura Stokes was on a Zoom call with her teacher from Desert Willow Fine Arts, Science and Technology Management Academy in Palmdale, CA, when the call ended.

Unbeknownst to the teacher, the mother was still listening when the teacher, Kimberly Newman, launched into a half-hour-long, despicable tirade about Black families, saying the student was lying and then zeroing in on the mom, "Since you've taught him to make excuses that nothing is his fault. This is what Black people do."

But, she wasn't done ... "I mean these parents, that's what kind of piece of s*** they are ... Black. He's Black. They're a Black family."

Kodak Black's creative juices have been flowing since his prison release, and we're not just talking music -- he's launched a clothing line that'll benefit a cause dear to him.

Kodak's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... the rapper's starting a new clothing line dubbed L.O.V.E. ... an acronym for "Loyalty Out Values Everything." The brand's only in its infancy but Bradford says major retailers like DTLR, Hibbett Sports, City Gear and Snipes have pre-ordered the apparel.

So far, biz is boomin' ... we're told L.O.V.E. has nearly sold out its first run of pre-orders. There are also plans to roll out a sneaker line and possibly partner up with national brands down the road.

The best part of this venture is Kodak plans to donate a portion of the profits to local, national and international charities dedicated to empowering minorities and judicial reform ... according to his lawyer.

As you know, former President Trump commuted Kodak's sentence in January.

Lyssa Chapman, daughter of Dog the Bounty Hunter, won't have to do any hard time for allegedly harassing her girlfriend last year ... as long as she stays out of trouble.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ ... Lyssa pled no contest to 2 counts of harassment she was facing. In exchange, the judge granted her a deferment ... essentially she'll have to keep her nose clean for the next 6 months. She had previously pled not guilty.

Under the conditions of her deferment, Lyssa's not allowed to leave the Hawaiian island of O'ahu without permission, must regularly report to her probation officer, and of course ... agree to not commit any federal or state crimes.

She's also been ordered to pay $535 in fines.

We broke the story ... Lyssa was arrested in Honolulu in January 2020 following an alleged fight with her girlfriend. Soon afterward, she was officially hit with 2 counts of harassment ... one against a man and one against a woman, who Lyssa said was her GF.

Harvey Weinstein had his scrotum pierced as a woman attempted to defend herself during an alleged sexual assault he committed -- this according to a new lawsuit.

The woman's name is Hayley Gripp, and she's just the latest Weinstein accuser to file suit against the disgraced movie producer ... who's now in prison. She claims Weinstein sexually assaulted her in 2012, with the assistance of an unnamed female associate.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Gripp claims she was approached by this anonymous Weinstein associate while she was waiting for a casting call at the Beverly Hilton hotel. She says the two of them got to talking about her career aspirations, as well as her Tourette syndrome.

Gripp claims the woman said she wanted to introduce her to a big producer who was in the building, whom she allegedly said would love to talk more about her journey. Gripp -- who says she was just 19 at the time -- explains she was hesitant but eventually agreed.

That's when she says she met HW, whom she says she didn't know of at the time ... and who apparently intro'd himself as Dom, she alleges. Gripp claims she was served wine and before she knew it ... she says she blacked out, only to awake with Weinstein on her.

Gripp says she started to flailing her arms, and broke one of her acrylic nails on the coffee table she claims he had her pinned on. She claims she was able to stab HW with her broken nail on the bottom of his scrotum, and broke free from his clutches ... making a run for it.

She alleges the woman who initially lured her up there was outside "standing guard" and proceeded to tell her this was on her due to her syndrome and that she better shut her trap, because no one would believe her ... so claims Gripp.

Jacob Blake is going after the police officer who repeatedly shot him in the back as he got in his SUV ... he's suing the officer for the injuries that left him paralyzed.

Jacob's legal team, led by attorney Ben Crump, just filed a federal lawsuit against Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey for the August 2020 shooting.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Jacob claims he made no physical or verbal threats towards any officer and was trying to walk away from the situation when Sheskey shot him in the back 6 times.

In the docs, Jacob says he had a folding knife on him, but he never brandished it or threatened to use it, and when he dropped it on the floor of his SUV Sheskey still opened fire.

Jacob claims one of the bullets severed his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He says he still can't work and needs help with daily tasks ... despite surgeries and physical rehab.

In the suit, Jacob claims Sheskey fired 7 shots, including one that struck the side door of the SUV. He says the bullet could have ripped through the car and struck one of his kids had it not been stopped by the SUV's reinforced steel.

Jacob claims the shooting constituted excessive force under the circumstances and Sheskey must be held accountable ... remember, neither Sheskey nor the other cops involved were criminally charged.

The NYC bakery employee who had to deal with shocking, racist behavior from a woman with the new moniker "Bagel Karen" has been feeling the love from lots of folks since the incident went viral ... and it goes beyond financial support.

Vic -- the Davidovich Bakery worker who got called the n-word by Stephanie Denaro -- tells TMZ he's received overwhelming support from people all over the world on social media, but also customers flocking to the store.

He says during his Wednesday shift, one guy handed him a $100 bill in an envelope while another gifted him a $100 Metro card to help with his commute. Vic tells us his tip jar's also been stuffed ... and people have been calling the bakery to ask for his Venmo as well.

But, another customer felt helping Vic get rid of Karen's negative energy or any she left behind in the bakery was more important ... so she gave him some sage.

As we reported ... Vic's also been offered representation by several attorneys in case he wants to take legal action against Denaro, but he tells us he's still weighing his options. However, he doesn't plan to press charges against her.

In fact, Vic tells us he mostly wants his experience to be a lesson for others in his position on how a person of color can react to a racist. He says you don't have to respond to their insults and slurs with violence ... it's better to show love, even if they're demonstrating hate.

The marathon continues, but the marathon feud Nipsey Hussle's estate had with the Crips is over ... thanks to a settlement of a lawsuit.

Nipsey's brother, Samiel Asghedom, just informed the court in writing that the estate's reached the settlement with Crips LLC. The notice was filed Thursday in L.A. County court.

As we first reported ... Nipsey's estate sued the gang's corporate arm back in October over the rights to Nip's "The Marathon Continues" slogan.

In the suit, Hussle's estate claimed the Crips org filed a trademark for the phrase less than 2 months after he was murdered outside his Marathon Clothing Store, despite Nipsey's family already owning several 'Marathon' trademarks themselves ... all related to his famous store.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the sides are still hammering out some of the terms -- but they expect to submit the formal terms of the agreement shortly.

Jonny Fairplay -- one of the most notorious "Survivor" contestants of all time -- is off the hook in his criminal case in Virginia ... and he's pretty stoked about it.

A Pittsylvania County court clerk tells TMZ ... Fairplay's larceny case has been dismissed as well as his mother's case.

As we first reported ... he was arrested for larceny back in December in his hometown of Danville, Virginia, where cops say he was accused of stealing furniture and a necklace from his grandmother, Jean Cook.

The criminal complaint was filed by Jonny's aunt, who accused him of removing a leather chair, end table, bar stools and a silver necklace valued at $5,000 from his grandma's home without proper consent.

Jonny tells TMZ ... he was charged with grand larceny based off allegations from a disgruntled family member. He says the case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

BTW ... the aunt is the daughter of Jonny's grandma, the one he infamously pretended had died during that all-time notorious "Survivor" moment.

Bottom line for Jonny ... he tells us he's "disappointed that this ever was allowed to happen and relieved that it is over."

Johnny Depp's suffered another blow in his libel lawsuit in the UK -- he lost his bid to appeal the trial judge's ruling in favor of The Sun, which means he can't shake that "wife beater" label the UK tabloid gave him.

As we told you, Depp was looking to overturn the judge's November 2020 decision stating that allegations he abused his ex-wife Amber Heard were "substantially true."

Heard was The Sun's key witness in the case after Depp sued the tab for running the headline, "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?" in 2018.

Depp's lawyers recently tried to argue that Amber had an unfair advantage and boosted credibility because she vowed to donate her entire $7 million divorce settlement ... something she still hasn't done.

Johnny's legal team hoped that would be enough to turn things around in his favor, but the UK Court of Appeal shut it down and upheld the November ruling. The court specifically highlighted parts of the original trial judge's opinion focused on Depp's text messages about being out of control from drugs and alcohol, and adding ... "the appeal has no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard."

The High Court's decision underscores what many close to Depp believed when he filed the defamation lawsuit -- there was very little upside for him to do it.

It seems now more than ever it was a huge mistake, because the A-list actor was still getting work following his divorce from Heard ... but then he brought the wife-beating allegations back to the forefront again by suing The Sun.

Now he's branded a wife-beater and there's yet another court ruling against him ... which could be a severe blow to his career.

The woman who's been in charge of many of Britney Spears' personal choices for about 2 years now has done a fine job -- so says Britney herself, who's asking to bring her on permanently -- but her lawyer wants to reserve the right to end the conservatorship.

New court docs were just filed in Britney's conservatorship case, and they reveal the singer wants Jodi Montgomery to become the new full-time conservator of her person going forward ... while noting she asked for her father, Jamie Spears, to resign from the position for good.

According to the paperwork, obtained by TMZ, Britney notes Jamie relinquished that power temporarily in September of 2019 ... and Jodi was appointed a temporary conservator of her person at that time. Now it looks like Britney wants to keep Jodi in the position going forward. Sources connected to the case tell us ... Jamie has no objections to the change, and Britney really likes Jodi in that role. He's fine with it.

As for the difference between the conservator of Britney's person and Britney's estate -- the latter of which Jamie is still co-conservator alongside Bessemer Trust Company -- is that Jodi is basically in charge of Brit's personal decisions, which entails quite a bit in her day-to-day.

The docs lay out exactly what they want Jodi to continue running as it pertains to Britney's well-being -- which include powers to limit visitors (so long as she isn't restricted from access to counsel), retain caretakers and security guards for Britney, prosecute civil harassment restraining orders that may arise and the power to communicate with medical personnel with respect to any treatment for Britney.

As co-conservator of the estate, Jamie still plays a role in managing her finances and business decisions.

Miya Ponsetto now has a civil lawsuit on her hands -- this on top of the criminal charges she's already facing -- for her infamous "SoHo Karen" hotel confrontation.

Keyon Harrold and his family are suing Miya claiming she falsely accused his teenage son of stealing her phone, and then proceeded to pounce on the kid ... much of which was captured on cameras.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the Harrolds say what happened to their son was blatant racial profiling -- and they're now alleging assault/battery, false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress and other loss on behalf of their son ... whom they say was emotionally scarred by the incident and incurred medical expenses.

The family is also suing the Arlo Hotel -- where this nasty face-off went down -- claiming it failed to provide a safe environment for guests ... while also hiring crappy staff who the Harrolds say didn't do a good job in de-escalating when Miya went after their son.

You'll recall ... what appeared to be a hotel supervisor actually asked Keyon Jr. to hand over his phone for inspection when Miya started hurling the baseless accusations -- which his dad was flabbergasted about at the time the original video was posted.

As we reported ... the family detailed the aftermath following their scary run-in, telling us Keyon Jr. was left asking awful questions that his folks had to address ... like why he had been targeted.

Of course, Miya has since been arrested and criminally charged over this. Once her identity became known, we learned she'd been arrested for multiple other incidents in 2020.

We've reached out to Miya's attorney for comment ... so far, no word back.

The attorney representing the female masseuses in the sexual misconduct cases against Deshaun Watson is also digging in ... firing back at the QB's counsel and filing 2 more lawsuits against the NFL player on Tuesday.

Tony Buzbee -- who has now brought a total of SIXTEEN suits against Watson in the past week -- took aim at Rusty Hardin, calling B.S. on the Texans star's attorney and insisting more evidence of wrongdoing against Deshaun is on the way.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Buzbee said he'll be releasing a copy of an NDA Watson allegedly asked massage therapists to sign sometimes before and after sessions.

Buzbee insisted more court filings would be coming as well ... and also had some strong words and some questions regarding the scathing statement Hardin had released against him earlier in the day.

"Alleged sexual misconduct is serious," Buzbee said. "Attempting to criminalize or minimize those that speak out or step forward is wrong."

"I have been asked to respond to a released statement by Mr. Watson’s counsel. My first reaction is that there have been so many massage sessions from Instagram that Mr. Watson can’t keep track of them ... I can’t tell you how many people have stepped forward to report similar conduct or provide information."

"That info will be released, again in public filings -- not in the media."

Buzbee continued, "My second reaction is a question: why would his marketing agent admit Watson had sex for pay with a massage therapist, consensual or otherwise?"

"We will also provide a copy of the non-disclosure agreement that Deshaun Watson and his marketing manager repeatedly insisted that Jane Doe (and others) sign after (and sometimes before) the 'massage session,' which she refused to sign."

Buzbee concluded, "I do appreciate Mr. Hardin’s professionalism and his words of support for victims, but would respectfully suggest there are many facts here, that we will put in public filings, that Mr. Hardin might not be aware of."

As we previously reported, Hardin accused Buzbee of orchestrating "a circus-like atmosphere" with the public lawsuits against Deshaun ... and adamantly supported Watson, calling all the misconduct allegations against the 25-year-old "completely false."

Hardin also released a statement from Watson's marketing manager, Bryan Burney, in which Burney claimed that everything that had happened between Watson and one of the accusers was consensual.

Deshaun Watson's attorney, Rusty Hardin, is going scorched earth on the attorney representing the QB's accusers -- claiming Tony Buzbee has "orchestrated a circus-like atmosphere" to unfairly paint Watson as a sexual predator.

In his statement, Hardin stands by his client -- saying matter of factly, "I believe that any allegation that Deshaun forced a woman to commit a sexual act is completely false."

Hardin says his team has already begun to investigate the numerous lawsuits filed against the NFL star, but it's been extremely difficult because Buzbee will not reveal the identities of the women making the claims.

"The tactic of refusing our requests to confidentially provide the names of the plaintiffs so we can fully investigate their claims makes uncovering the truth extremely difficult."

"Anonymity is often necessary as a shield for victims but opposing counsel has used it as a sword to publicly humiliate Deshaun before the truth‑seeking process can even begin."

Hardin says his own investigation has already uncovered "strong evidence" showing one of the accusers is lying.

Hardin also claims ... in January, "a woman attempted to blackmail Deshaun by demanding $30,000 in exchange for her 'indefinite silence' about what she stated was a consensual encounter."

Additionally, Hardin says his team has received "numerous unsolicited comments in the past week from many licensed massage therapists who have worked with Deshaun in recent years."

"These women describe him as a gentleman and a model client who never engaged in inappropriate conduct. Indeed, before these salacious claims, everyone who associated with Deshaun described him as an outstanding, respectful, and compassionate man."

Hardin had strong words for Buzbee ... saying, "Opposing counsel has orchestrated a circus-like atmosphere by using social media to publicize 14 'Jane Doe' lawsuits during the past seven days in a manner calculated to inflame the public and malign Deshaun’s otherwise sterling reputation."

In other words, Watson is not backing down and judging by the statement, he's digging in his heels to fight this thing out as long as it takes.

Bobby Shmurda's gotta keep his nose clean now that he's out on parole, and though he's already back to living that rap star life ... he can't drink alcohol, hang out at bars or with gangs.

Shmurda's under parole supervision until Feb. 23, 2026, and there are some special conditions that come with it ... like an 8 PM curfew. According to docs, obtained by TMZ, he also has to submit to substance abuse testing and get counseling for aggression and anger.

The easy part for him is that he's gotta seek, obtain and maintain employment. Done, done and done. As we reported, he already had a few performances in Atlanta during NBA All-Star Weekend -- and right after his release from prison, Bobby boarded a private jet with Quavo to hit a studio.

TMZ broke the story ... Shmurda was released last month from New York's Clinton Correctional Facility, getting sprung about 10 months earlier than expected.

The 14th female massage therapist to accuse Deshaun Watson of sexual misconduct says the NFL star is "a serial predator" who assaulted her in Los Angeles last year.

The masseuse -- using the pseudonym "Jane Doe" to protect her identity -- spelled it all out this week in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports.

In the suit, Doe says Watson reached out to her via Instagram last summer ... and set up an appointment for a massage at a Beverly Hills, Calif. residence on July 15, 2020.

Once there ... Doe says Watson led her to a room in the home, closed the doors and locked them.

She says once she began the massage ... the 25-year-old Houston Texans quarterback turned aggressive, and at one point, attempted to force her to grab his penis.

In the suit, Doe says she was "terrified" during the session ... and after the massage had ended, she claims Watson told her, "I will not have you sign a NDA [Non-Disclosure Agreement] but don't ever talk about this."

Doe says the whole incident left her feeling "violated, ashamed, and disgusted."

Doe claims several months later, in December 2020, Watson reached out to her again ... but she says she did not respond.

The woman -- like the previous 13 female massage therapists who have filed lawsuits against the NFL superstar -- is suing for unspecified damages.

Dabo Swinney is clearly torn up about the sexual misconduct allegations directed at his former Clemson QB Deshaun Watson -- saying he's "disappointed" by the accusations but still supports the guy.

Swinney coached Watson at Clemson for 3 seasons -- from 2014 to 2016 -- and they became pretty close during their time together.

Swinney was asked if he was surprised to see so many women making accusations about Watson ... and when it came time to answer, Dabo kept it real.

"Yeah ... I mean, certainly [I was surprised]," Swinney told reporters during a Monday news conference.

"[I was] disappointed to see his name in the news and all that's going on .. but hey, look, I love Deshaun Watson."

Swinney continued to explain why he's supporting Watson throughout the situation.

"He’s like a son to me. That's how I love him. As far as the legal stuff and all that ... that will take its course. Certainly can't speculate or comment on any of that stuff, but all I can tell you is I've known Deshaun since the 9th grade and he's been nothing but exemplary in every area that I've ever known him in."

He continued, "In the 3 years that he was here as a player, I think I had a chance to yell at him one time. He was 5 minutes late to a team meeting that he overslept for. That's it."

"That's the Deshaun I know. I can only base my thoughts on my experiences with him, which have been wonderful."

"Again, I love him like a son, and we'll just have to see where everything else goes from there."

So far, 14 women have filed lawsuits against Watson -- with attorney Tony Buzbee claiming there are still 10 more women who could also take action.