Legal

Scarlett Johansson is going after the Mouse House ... she's suing Disney, claiming the simultaneous release of "Black Widow" in theaters and on Disney+ violated her deal, and cost her serious money.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "Black Widow" star claims her contract with Disney stated the movie would be exclusively released in theaters. Problem is ... Disney broke that deal, she says, when the movie was made available in theaters and on its streaming service.

Scarlett says her salary was tied to how well the film performed at the box office. But, the actress claims, releasing the film on Disney+ meant fewer butts in movie theaters ... which cut into her backend.

Other studios have dealt with similar issues and given their stars additional compensation to make up for their backend loss, and you gotta imagine Scarlett's lawyers and Disney's lawyers tried settling this before she filed her lawsuit. She says she tried settling, but she was pretty much ignored.

Her argument is pretty clear ... the contract says the movie would be released exclusively in theaters, so Disney violated it by putting it on its streaming service. What's more ... Disney presumably benefited financially by getting additional subscribers, while Scarlett was aced out of what she would have made had theaters been the only game in town.

"Black Widow" grossed $80 million in domestic box office opening weekend. It grossed another $78 million overseas and $60 million from home purchases on the streaming platform.

We've reached out to Disney, so far no word back.

Dr. Will Kirby, famous for being one of the best "Big Brother" winners of all time, is pulling the plug on his marriage ... because he just filed for divorce.

The 'Big Brother 2' champion filed divorce docs Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court after nearly 4 years of marriage to Erin Brodie ... according to online records.

It's unclear what led to their split, but in a joint statement to TMZ, they say ... “While we are exploring what our future will look like, our relationship is stronger than ever, just not in a traditional sense. We remain committed to being the best parents to our two children and supportive of each other as we navigate through this transition.”

TMZ broke the story ... Dr. Will tied the knot with Erin back in October 2017 in an intimate, all-white affair in Malibu.

The battle royale between Britney Spears' father and her conservator, Jodi Montgomery, is boiling over ... Jodi wants Jamie out of the conservatorship and says Britney's doctors agree.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Jodi is officially joining Britney's bid to remove Jamie as the conservator of the singer's estate.

In the docs, Jodi says it's in Britney's best interests for Jamie to be sent packing ... and JM claims Britney's medical team wants Jamie out too. This is a huge development and could spell the end of Jamie's role in the conservatorship. If her medical doctors and therapists think Jamie's presence is tormenting Britney, that is probably enough for the judge to boot him from the conservatorship.

Jodi makes it clear in the docs ... she wants Jason Rubin to be appointed conservator of her estate in place of Jamie.

As we first told you ... Rubin is Britney's choice to replace her father. He's a CPA with credentials who Britney's lawyer, Mat Rosengart, presumably believes makes Rubin a good choice to handle the Britney's business affairs.

Bottom line ... Britney and Jodi seem to have forged a united front and they're going full steam ahead to oust Jamie.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is so damn famous, all eyes were glued on him instead of a nearby thief -- with great timing -- who made off with millions in jewels ... on a scooter.

So, get this ... a grey-haired man in a suit reportedly held up the high-end jewelry store Chaumet in Paris earlier this week. Cops say he pulled a knife during the robbery, and while no one was injured ... the suspect took off with a "monumental haul" in jewels and gemstones. Cops say he nabbed somewhere between $2.4 million and $3.5 mil.

What's shocking is the guy got away on a green, electric scooter ... which makes ya wonder how he was able to pull this off -- and that's where JCVD comes in.

Law enforcement says there were plenty of potential witnesses nearby, but they were all distracted by Van Damme ... who was inside a nearby optometrist's office.

The "Bloodsport" and "Street Fighter" star had inadvertently drawn the attention of just about everyone on the block ... allowing Scooter McJewelThief to make a clean getaway.

Well, nearly clean. Cops did have surveillance cameras, and we've confirmed they arrested 2 suspects in connection with the heist. We're told cops also recovered a substantial part of the stolen jewelry.

Another one of NutriBullet's customers claims the machine damn near turned her into a smoothie mess when it exploded ... and did some serious damage to her body.

Folana Jackson filed legal docs claiming she barely used a NutriBullet 900 blender for 1 minute before the thing went haywire ... resulting in gnarly injuries that required surgical repairs, and then Oxycodone to treat her pain.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jackson says she was preparing a juice in May 2020 -- garlic, ginger, sliced lemons and water ... if you're curious what she was whipping up. But, in the suit, she alleges friction and heat from the spinning blades caused a pressure build-up in the canister.

She claims things went south when the blender made a weird noise, and she turned it off -- as she placed her hands near the bottom of the canister, it allegedly separated from the blade and exploded off the motor base.

According to the suit, the still-spinning blades came in contact with Jackson's left hand ... causing severe, deep, lacerations. She claims it got even worse when the contents of her juice splashed onto her breasts, neck and arms ... causing serious burn injuries.

Jackson says she went to the ER for treatment and claims she needed surgery to repair lacerations and torn ligaments in her left ring and pinky fingers ... both of which now have limited mobility and constant nerve pain.

She claims NutriBullet has known about the defective devices for years, and that the blenders have caused more than 100 burns and lacerations since 2014. At the very least, we know Jackson is far from the first to sue the company over such gruesome injuries.

She's suing for unspecified damages. We've reached out to NutriBullet, so far no word back.

Marilyn Manson says Esme Bianco's rape claims are not only bogus, but also come years too late for her to sue him ... this according to new legal docs.

The embattled singer just filed to dismiss the 'GoT' actress' claims of sexual assault -- and the crux of his argument is that she's way past the statute of limitations to go running to court over this, and as a result ... her claims should be tossed before they're heard by a jury.

There's also this, though -- in the court filing, obtained by TMZ, Manson's attorneys write that Bianco's claims are part of a "coordinated attack" among multiple women who he says are "cynically and dishonestly seeking to monetize and exploit the #MeToo movement."

Manson doesn't deny having sex with the women, but describes all the encounters as "consensual" relationships.

Manson's team goes further, saying Bianco "spent months plotting, workshopping, and fine-tuning" her story into "twisted tales that bear no resemblance to reality." They also say the accusers, Bianco included, are trying to publicly conflate his shock rock image with fabricated/horrifying claims of abuse.

A sexual misconduct investigation is NOT keeping Deshaun Watson away from the Texans practice field ... the star QB worked out with his Houston team Wednesday, seemingly unbothered by it all.

Cameras captured the 25-year-old hitting Texans practice in full workout gear ... throwing passes, participating in drills and running around without any issues whatsoever.

It's unclear, though, what the Texans' plan for Watson is going forward ... the team's general manager, Nick Caserio, dodged questions about the QB's status before he hit the field Wednesday.

Caserio declined to say how much Watson would do, if he was the team's starter, if he'd be traded, or how a criminal investigation into Watson plays into all of the above.

"From our perspective," the Houston exec said, "it's a day-to-day endeavor."

The NFL said Tuesday it's placing "no restrictions" on Watson yet ... even though more than 20 female massage therapists have accused him of crossing the line during what were supposed to be routine rubdown sessions.

Twenty-two women have sued the quarterback ... and Watson's attorney says 10 women have filed criminal complaints against Deshaun as well.

Both police and the NFL say they're investigating it all.

Watson has denied the allegations ... and his reps have said any sexual encounters he had with female masseuses were entirely consensual.

Kelly Clarkson will be coughing up almost a quarter of a million dollars every 30 days to her ex-husband in the fallout of their divorce, at least for now ... TMZ has learned.

The judge in her divorce recently signed off on docs formalizing the temporary spousal and child support Kelly will pay Brandon Blackstock -- it's nearly $200k/mo. according to the docs. We're told the ruling actually happened in April, and it merely formalized what Kelly had already been paying her ex since she filed for divorce last June.

According to the docs, Brandon will get $150k in spousal support and $45,601 for their 2 kids. Hard to think of that huge amount as a discount for Kelly, however ... Brandon had requested $436k per month. So, with that in mind, it's a bit of a win for KC.

She does also have to fork over a one-time $1.25 million payment to cover Brandon's attorney fees.

Once the divorce is settled, we're told Brandon will only get 2 more years of spousal support, based on the length of their marriage. The unresolved issue is their prenup. If the judge determines it's valid, all those support numbers go out the window, and Brandon will get whatever is spelled out in the prenup.

Kelly was also awarded primary custody of their children -- 6-year-old River and 4-year-old Remy -- a little while back.

DaBaby's controversial Rolling Loud performance continues to stir up trouble -- not just for him, but also for his surprise special guest ... Tory Lanez.

ICYMI, DaBaby went out of his way to do a big reveal of Lanez Saturday night during his set at the hip hop festival in Miami, but a lot of fans weren't happy about it ... because Megan Thee Stallion performed on the same stage right before the duo.

Tory's accused of shooting Megan in the foot last summer, and Rolling Loud sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... she and her team at the festival were very upset about him appearing on stage with DaBaby less than an hour after she finished her set.

That's because a judge issued a protective order following the alleged shooting incident, requiring Tory to stay at least 100 yards away from Megan ... and we're told she was still backstage when he took the stage with DaBaby.

Even worse, our sources say Megan's camp is miffed DaBaby performed one of her songs on which he's featured -- "Cash Sh**" -- right before bringing out Lanez. We're told those close to MTS feel this was a giant "f you" to her ... mocking her and the ongoing criminal case with Tory and, in a way, menacing her.

Our sources say after the elaborate reveal of Lanez went down -- and of course, after DaBaby also went on a homophobic rant during his set -- Miami PD were contacted about the possible violation of Megan's protective order ... and the L.A. County D.A.'s office was also informed.

A source close to Tory tells us he never saw Meg at the festival nor do they believe he ever got physically close to her.

Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Alex Khadavi is under investigation by a governing body of medical professionals ... following his homophobic rant.

A spox for the Medical Board of California tells TMZ ... they're aware of Dr. Khadavi's recent episode and are reviewing it to see if any disciplinary action is warranted.

As for what that punishment could include ... the board wouldn't speak specifically to Khadavi's case, but did say the range of possibilities include everything from public reprimand to license revocation when it comes to violating the standards of patient care. Of course, Khadavi's incident didn't involve patient care, but was disturbing nonetheless.

The Board also pointed out Dr. Khadavi has no record of discipline on his license at this time.

As we reported ... Khadavi was caught on camera having a meltdown in the lobby of his apartment complex -- where he made homophobic comments, including using the f-word. He appeared to be fuming over a couple of neighbors.

The neighbors -- a gay couple -- filed for a restraining order over this ... claiming they'd been told Khadavi had made mention of wanting to kill them, and that he also allegedly once flashed a gun at the concierge, seemingly to show he was packing and meant business.

A rare Wu-Tang Clan album once owned by convicted felon Martin Shkreli has been sold by the feds ... wiping his slate clean with the U.S. of A., financially speaking.

The feds said Tuesday it sold "Once Upon a Time in Shaolin" ... Wu-Tang's only known physical copy that exists. You'll recall Shkreli, the guy who jacked the price of the AIDS/cancer medicine from $13.50 to $750 a pop, dropped $2 million for it back in 2015 at auction.

The sale of the album will cover the balance remaining on the $7,360,450 in forfeiture the judge ordered Shkreli to pay at his 2018 sentencing. According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the feds have already collected $5,121,967.70 ... leaving an outstanding balance of $2,238,482.

As for what the album sold for and to whom ... the feds aren't telling. According to prosecutors ... the sale's contract includes a confidentiality provision that protects information about the price and the buyer.

BTW ... the album includes a hand-carved, nickel-silver box as well as a leather-bound manuscript with lyrics and a certificate of authenticity.

Ben Crump just held a press conference further discussing the lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson ... and things turned emotionally quickly as he let some of the women in the National Council of Negro Women speak for themselves in heartbreaking terms.

The attorney pled with the company ... saying that instead of fighting the lawsuit, they should embrace it and do the right thing by the ladies he says are affected. Speaking of them, a few stepped up to the podium and delivered incredibly personal remarks.

One woman broke down in tears remembering her grandmother, whom she says died of ovarian cancer she claims was contracted after using J&J products. Another woman said her usage of the talcum-based J&J powder had started from a young age, and was something deeply embedded in her and her family's hygiene routine ... as a direct result of the advertising and literature she says they'd been fed over several years.

Based on how J&J has reacted thus far, though, it seems this case may go to court ... despite Crump's cry for understanding.

TMZ just obtained the lawsuit Ben Crump and his associates filed against J&J ... and, boy, did they deliver on the goods.

The suit is damning on its face, with claims of a mountain of evidence and studies dating back to the '60s and '70s (which apparently continued on through the '90s) clearly finding that talcum and talcum-like particles appeared to be naturally carcinogenic, easily mobile once in the body and most importantly, cancerous and dangerous to human health.

Crump cites over a dozen case control studies done by several different health orgs and science groups looking into how talcum was affecting women ... and, time and again, Crump says the studies often landed on the same conclusion -- namely, that talcum seemed to be linked to ovarian cancer that had developed in ladies who'd used talcum-based products.

He goes on to say these studies and findings were widely published and easily accessible, going on to further allege J&J were well aware of it ... and yet, continued to push Baby Powder and Shower to Shower powder -- both of which are talcum-rich.

Then comes the true bombshell ... and that would be a detailed accounting of what Crump describes as a calculated effort -- spaninng at least two decades, if not more -- to go after African-American women, who turned out to be one of J&J's largest consumer bases to use their talcum powder products.

Crump claims to have obtained internal marketing presentations, in-house data and even proposals drafted up between J&J and outside firms -- all of which he says conclude the same thing ... that Black and minority women were "highly important to business" and that company "need(ed) to maintain" their cash cow, while also allegedly acknowledging it was becoming “difficult to efficiently retain core AA consumer.” AA, Crump says, was how J&J referred to African-Americans amongst themselves.

He goes on to say that among their strategies for getting Black women to continue buying their talcum powder products was the continued tactic of stopping in at churches and salons in predominantly Black communities ... and handing out free Baby Powder samples. But it was more than just on the ground, person-to-person interactions, Crump claims. He also alleges J&J considered recruiting Aretha Franklin and/or Patti LaBelle to be a spokesperson for them in the mid-2000s, for the sole purpose of catering to Black women, and to have them continue being loyal customers.

Unclear if the Franklin/LaBelle idea ever materialized, but it's just one example of what Crump claims J&J were kicking around to keep their grasp strong. On top of that, he says they put out Baby Powder/Shower to Shower ads on radio stations with predominantly Black audiences. In short, Crump says J&J were well aware of who their main clientele was for their talcum goods, and they went to incredible lengths to push it on Black women by several different means.

Because of that, Crump says a countless number of African-American women, including women from the National Council of Negro Women, contracted ovarian cancer ... and endured pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and in many instances, their actual lives.

He's asking for a court to sanction J&J over the alleged targeted campaigns, by forcing them to design a system to monitor who's been adversely affected by their talcum sales, track their medical needs and to reimburse them -- not to mention new ads to address what Crump says J&J did to the Black community. Of course, he's seeking damages as well.

In response, J&J says they empathize with anyone suffering from cancer -- but deny their products are the cause of it, explaining ... "our products are safe, do not contain asbestos, and do not cause cancer." They say the accusations against them in this suit are false -- adding that the idea they'd purposefully and systematically target a community with bad intentions is absurd.

Ben Crump is suing Johnson & Johnson for allegedly targeting Black women with a product he says has been linked to cancer -- and it sounds like they're going class action with this.

The civil rights attorney put on his personal injury lawyer hat Tuesday with a major announcement -- saying he and fellow attorney Paul Napoli are taking the pharmaceutical and packaged goods giant to court on behalf of the National Council of Negro Women.

Ben says it's all over an alleged decades-long campaign at J&J he says was angling to get African-American women to buy its famed powder products over the years with tailored advertising and marketing ... namely, talcum powder, (found mostly in their popular baby powder) which he says has been the subject of research and studies, with ties to ovarian cancer.

Ben insists he's got inside info -- including internal memos from the company -- that prove their efforts to get Black women to buy talcum ... which he says has caused irreparable harm to so many for too long. Ben claims to have data to support the suggestion that Black women were the focus of these talcum sales efforts -- and that, by and large, they worked.

More than just that ... Ben and co. are claiming J&J knew its product was poison for the body -- saying they betrayed that trust with their consumers ... and with the African-American community at large.

Now, he's inviting anyone who might've been affected to hop on ... presumably to get in on the suit, potential damages and/or any settlement that may come of this. Ben will be holding a press conference later in the day to get into the nitty-gritty of the lawsuit.

Stay tuned ...

Todd Chrisley's daughter had the cops called on her after allegedly throwing a drink at one of her brother's friends -- but she says the guy was getting in her and her friends' faces.

Lindsie Chrisley -- who's appeared on her parents' show, 'Chrisley Knows Best' -- is under the microscope of the Atlanta PD after a pal of her younger brother, Chase, filed a report this weekend following an altercation that went down Saturday night in the ATL.

According to the police report, obtained by TMZ, a guy named Austin Duriez claims he was at a bar in town where Lindsie also happened to be. He says, for some unexplained reason, she threw a glass with a drink at him -- which he says hit him in the head. He says he flagged down a bouncer and had her removed.

He says after she was bounced, Lindsie made a scene -- so he decided to leave. Austin called the cops the next day ... he wasn't sure if he wanted to press charges since Lindsie is his friend's sister. There's body cam footage of his interaction with cops -- and this all seems to harken back to the 2019 drama.

You'll recall ... the Chrisleys faced tax evasion charges at both the state and federal level -- mucked up further by allegations of an affair Todd claimed Lindsie had started with a tax official, which is what he believed led to the authorities getting the dirt they needed.

It was a whole ordeal, and essentially left Lindsie estranged from a good chunk of the family, including Chase.

As for what she has to say about all this ... her attorney, Musa Ghanayem, tells TMZ, yes, Lindsie may have gestured toward Austin as if to throw the drink ... and that if any liquid made contact, it was a tiny bit. The real perpetrator though, according to the lawyer, is Austin.

Ghanayem says Austin accosted Lindsie and her group at their table ... and then started to harass and intimidate them, to the point one of her friends had to push him off her. He also claims Austin was trying to snap pictures of them, and made them feel uncomfortable.

Austin McBroom admits Bryce Hall was NOT paid for their "YouTubers vs. TikTokers" fight, but the social media star claims it ain't his fault ... 'cause another company is holding the money hostage!!

TMZ Sports recently ran into McBroom -- who KO'd Hall in the 3rd round of their June 12 fight -- in L.A. ... and the man behind the event made it clear neither he nor his company, Social Gloves, are to blame for the delayed paychecks.

"Fighters have not gotten paid yet, including myself, but that is because Live X Live," Austin said.

McBroom later explained it like this ... "Everyone thinks that Social Gloves just did everything. No, Social Gloves partnered with Live X Live who live streamed it and collected everybody’s money. Right? So, the reason why the fighters haven’t gotten paid yet is because Live X Live has been holding on to all the funds."

However, in a lawsuit recently filed by Live X Live in L.A., the company tells a very different story.

According to the suit, LXL claims McBroom refused to promote the event ... insisting his popularity alone would translate into millions buying the fight for $49.99.

Not even close, per Live X Live ... who says they ultimately sold only 136,000 PPV's for the fight -- significantly less than they say Austin expected.

There's more, Live X Live says McBroom badmouthed their company after the event ... resulting in a 20% loss in their stock price -- "causing nearly $100 million in damages."

Money Live X Live wants back ASAP ... hence the lawsuit.

But, McBroom isn't giving in without a fight. He says he has also filed a lawsuit (we haven't seen that one) ... against, you guessed it, Live X Live.

Britney Spears' mother is staying pretty tight-lipped about her daughter, which is interesting ... because she said a lot in new legal docs about removing Britney's dad from her conservatorship.

Lynne Spears was at LAX Sunday with Britney's brother, Bryan, but neither had much to say about the ongoing "Free Britney" saga.

Other than Lynne muttering that her daughter is doing fine, she seemed to want to keep her thoughts to herself ... but we know precisely where she stands on Jamie.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... Lynne says she supports Britney's petition to remove her father as conservator of her estate.

Lynne says she became involved in the conservatorship in May 2019 during a "time of crisis" for which she clearly blames Jamie, saying he had "absolute control" over Britney's money and health decisions.

Lynne claims Jamie hired a doctor to treat Britney, but she and many others believe the doc was prescribing her "inappropriate medicine" she didn't want to take and forced her to enter a health facility after threatening punishment if she resisted.

According to the docs ... Lynne says with the conservatorship in place, the relationship between Britney and her father has "dwindled to nothing but fear and hatred" of Jamie.

Worth noting -- our sources say Britney can't stand her mom as well and they've been estranged for years. Britney also blames Lynne for her current circumstances.

DaBaby just attempted to explain why he went on an anti-gay and sexist diatribe during his set at Rolling Loud ... by now saying his gay fans don't have HIV/AIDS because they're not "nasty gay n****s" or "junkies."

ICYMI, the rapper performed at RL over the weekend, and at one point encouraged the crowd to put their cell phone lights up in a very disturbing way ... telling fans to put their phones up, "If you didn't show up today with HIV/AIDS or other STDs that'll make you die in 2-3 weeks" and "Fellas, if you didn't suck a n**** d*** in the parking lot."

The rapper attempted to clear up his vile comments Monday, posting a video and claiming his words weren't directed at his gay fans because they're not "nasty gay n****s" or "junkies" and they take care of themselves.

We reached out to festival organizers, but they've been radio silent.

Earlier in his set at RL ... DaBaby also pissed some fans off -- namely, Megan Thee Stallion fans -- when he revealed his surprise guest was Tory Lanez.

Meg had just performed before DaBaby, and in case you forgot ... Lanez is accused of shooting her in the foot after leaving a party last summer. Clearly, many folks think this was deliberate and abhorrent shade thrown at MTS.

Also getting involved in the controversy is T.I., who seemingly defended DaBaby's homophobic comments online, commenting ... "If Lil Nas X can kick his s**t in peace... so should dababy." He added the #equality hashtag as well.

Later, T.I. attempted to clarify his remark by saying he respects gay people, but doesn't believe homosexuals should have more rights than heterosexuals.

He also said he respects all gay people who are living their truth -- like Lil Nas X -- but added that X's performances and music videos "ain't for me" and said he doesn't want his kids watching them either.