Legal

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed -- the armorer for "Rust" -- is doubling down, claiming she was targeted for sabotage and she thinks she's now being framed ... this according to her lawyer.

Gutierrez-Reed's attorney Jason Bowles tells TMZ ... "We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed." This is a step beyond what Bowles said earlier in the week ... he alleged sabotage, but didn't say it was targeted at his client.

But, Bowles wasn't done ... he added, "We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before the police arrived."

It's interesting ... this comes hours after the D.A. scoffed at the sabotage claim, saying no such evidence has surfaced.

Hannah's lawyer says his client met with Santa Fe County Deputy Sherriff's Tuesday, providing a full interview and continuing to cooperate.

Her legal team says more info keeps coming out that the D.A. needs to investigate, and they want the D.A. and FBI to get to the bottom of what happened with the live rounds they claim ended up in the "dummies" box.

Of course, there's another explanation ... that someone was target practicing during the lunch break and failed to take the live ammo out of the chamber.

A second supplier in the Mac Miller overdose case is admitting wrongdoing ... copping a plea with the feds that could see him do serious time.

38-year-old Ryan Reavis pled guilty this week to a single count of distributing fentanyl. He faces up to 20 years behind bars and a lifetime of supervised release -- but it's likely he'll receive a lesser sentence for accepting the plea deal.

Cops had busted Reavis in Arizona, so it wasn't entirely clear how he was connected to Mac's death -- but now we know, according to feds, Reavis was in L.A. around the time the fatal pills were procured for Mac.

Prosecutors say he ended up giving the fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills to MM's alleged drug dealer, Cameron Pettit ... on orders from Stephen Walter, who also recently pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl.

As we reported ... when cops busted Reavis in 2019, their charging docs noted officers found a doctor's prescription pad at his home.

In the chain of people we know who've been arrested in connection to Mac's death ... the alleged supplier and now the alleged runner have pled guilty.

Scores of lawsuits are sure to be filed in the coming weeks over the Astroworld Fest tragedy -- but would-be plaintiffs could hit a legal snag over something on the Live Nation website.

We're talking about liability here ... and whether Live Nation -- the promoter of Travis Scott's event -- is on the hook for it or not as plaintiffs rush to court to file claims against them and others.

On its face, LN may have an out on that front -- or at least a partial one, anyway -- due to a standard form they made everyone agree to before purchasing tickets from the Live Nation site ... It's the limitation of liability waiver most folks don't read ... but always have to accept.

We did some research, and as it turns out ... an ironclad liability waiver in Texas would almost certainly provide cover for basic negligence -- something we know for a fact concertgoers are alleging against LN in the suits we've seen thus far.

The online waiver reads in part, "You voluntarily assume all risks and danger incidental to the event for which the ticket is issued, whether occurring before, during or after the event, and you waive any claims for personal injury or death against us."

What it doesn't provide is protection against gross negligence, among other claims, which may well be brought forth in court as well.

With that said ... you'd think Live Nation might be in the clear here -- at least on the negligence front -- but not so fast. TMZ took a good hard look at the liability waiver, and it's quite possible they screwed themselves ... and might still be exposed.

Not to bog you down in legal mumbo jumbo -- but in Texas, in order for a liability waiver to be enforced to protect against negligence, there are a few things that must be met first.

The company has to feature clear language -- that your average Joe would understand -- directly addressing negligence in their waiver ... and from our check, Live Nation's Texas waiver does NOT seem to do this at all. Plus, the waiver itself is buried on their site -- which is another benchmark waivers have to clear ... ya gotta have it prominently displayed. In fact, there are clearly people who bought tickets without ever going to the website.

So, basically ... because Live Nation's liability waiver does not seem air-tight, it is NOT a foregone conclusion LN can wiggle out of liability in these mounting lawsuits.

Kobe Bryant's legacy could be entering the wine industry -- Vanessa Bryant just filed four new trademark applications for a wine named after the late NBA Hall of Famer.

TMZ Sports has confirmed ... Vanessa submitted docs on Nov. 5 to secure trademarks that indicate her aspirations to enter the wine business ... with "Mamba Vino," "Mamba Vino 2024," "Mamba Vino 8," and "Mamba Vino 24" among the phrases listed, as first reported by Josh Gerben.

Kobe Bryant, LLC -- which is run by Vanessa -- is listed as the applicant on the filing ... with Bryant signing off on all the paperwork.

This move is the latest in a series of business moves by Vanessa ... as we previously reported, last month she filed a trademark for digital collectible items, websites, training camps, broadcasting platforms, podcasts, TV shows, movies, documentaries and music ... as well as sports cards, food/drink containers and t-shirts.

All four new trademark names include one of Kobe's many nicknames, "vino" ... 'cause many people thought his game got better with age.

The names also pay tribute to the numbers Kobe wore -- 8 and 24 -- of course, both numbers are retired by the Lakers and hang in the rafters at the Staples Center.

The key gaffer on "Rust" is now taking legal action against Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and Dave Halls ... suing them over the fatal shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins.

Serge Svetnoy just filed suit against the above-mentioned individuals -- as well as others -- claiming the defendants' alleged negligence caused him severe emotional distress in the aftermath of it all.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Svetnoy claims the bullet that struck both Hutchins and director Joel Souza actually zoomed by and nearly hit him too. Not just that, but the gaffer claims he was one of the first people on hand to tend to Halyna while she was profusely bleeding ... attempting to comfort her and keep her conscious.

As for why he's suing Baldwin, the suit claims he "owed a duty to the Plaintiff and other crew members and actors on the 'Rust' set to handle the Colt Revolver provided to him by defendant Halls with reasonable care and diligence for the safety of 'Rust' cast and crew." It goes on to say, "This duty called for Defendant Baldwin to double-check the Colt Revolver with Halls upon being handled to ensure that it did not contain live ammunition."

And, it goes on ... "This duty further called for him [Baldwin] to handle the Colt Revolver as if it was loaded and to refrain from pointing it at anyone." In other words, the suit claims negligence on Baldwin's part.

And, there's this ... according to the lawsuit, the scene Baldwin was rehearsing did not call for him to pull the trigger. According to the lawsuit, the scene called for Baldwin to draw the gun and point it in the general direction of the camera, but, "the scene did not call for Defendant Baldwin to shoot the Colt Revolver."

The suit also claims Baldwin was negligent as a producer on "Rust," saying, "... they attempted to save money by hiring an insufficient number of crew members to safely handle the props and firearms ..." It goes on to claim there were other lapses on the set, including violating industry norms, declining requests for weapons training days, failing to allow proper time to allow for gunfire, failing to send out safety bulletins and spreading the staff too thin.

The suit also claims the target practice that was going on shortly before the tragedy was "outrageous."

Svetnoy says he'd known Halyna for 5 years and considered her a good friend.

The ordeal was absolutely traumatic, so says Svetnoy, and has since left him in utter mental anguish ... to the point he feels he might not ever be able to get over it.

The Minnesota Vikings are still allowing Dalvin Cook to practice with the team ... this despite new allegations that he roughed up his ex-GF during a violent Nov. 2020 incident.

Vikes head coach Mike Zimmer just revealed the news ... saying Cook will work out with the team Wednesday.

Zimmer added that, as of now, the star running back is slated to be available to play in Minnesota's game against the Chargers on Sunday as planned too.

Of course, it's a surprising announcement ... considering Cook's ex, Gracelyn Trimble, has accused the football player of being violent with her on multiple occasions since 2018.

In a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Tremble says Cook got physical with her throughout their relationship -- including a Nov. 19, 2020 incident in which she claims he left her a bloody mess.

During the alleged confrontation ... Trimble says Cook hit her repeatedly and even at one point aimed a gun at her head and told her she was going to die.

For his part, Cook -- through his representatives -- has denied the allegations ... and claimed he was actually the victim in the situation, adding that Trimble was attempting to extort him.

The NFL has said it's investigating it all ... explaining in a statement this week, "The matter will be reviewed under the personal conduct policy. We will continue to monitor developments but there's no change to [Cook's] status."

Travis Scott might act like he didn't know how bad things really were at this year's Astroworld Fest -- but his own posts and words demonstrate ... the dude knew how his fans got down, and often encouraged them to risk their safety.

There are a number of still photos Trav has posted on his Instagram account from over the years that show fans of his injured to varying degrees ... from what appears to be simply attending concerts of his.

Many of the times he spotlighted a certain individual who was injured ... and seemed to glorify and glamorize it, with captions like ... "SHE BROKE HER HAND AND SHE DOESN'T GIVE A F***!!!" or "IT'S NOT A SHOW UNTIL SOMEONE PASS OUT."

Here's another one that's especially cringeworthy in light of this weekend's tragedy -- it's a post of a young man laid out on the floor, presumably from one of Travis' shows, with the rapper writing, "TO THE KID THAT DIDN'T SURVIVE THE RODEO. UR A HERO IN MU BOOK."

BTW, a lot of these posts are still up on the guy's IG page as of this posting ... which is even more telling. Frankly, this whole "rage" mentality is part of Travis' brand, image and artistic identity ... except now, people are seeing how unsafe and reckless it really is.

Travis has gotten in trouble in the past for encouraging people to rush the stage. In 2015, he pleaded guilty to charges of reckless conduct stemming from an incident at Lollapalooza. In 2017, he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after law enforcement said he incited a riot at a show in Arkansas.

Put aside the fact he's been arrested/cited at least twice for inciting a riot. The real criticism doesn't necessarily lie in him getting his fans hyped ... but more so, him taking things too far, and seemingly, more often than not, refusing to lower the temperature in the room. That has led to lots of his fans getting hurt in his presence. And, even when he does acknowledge an injured person on the spot, it often comes off cold and callous.

The same scrutiny applies for this year's Astroworld Fest -- namely, there appeared to be moments when he acknowledged people were going down, but didn't bring things to a halt.

In one instance that's been captured on video from multiple angles, Travis clearly sees the ambulance cart working its way through the crowd, pauses for a bit, gets approached by some guys whom he shoos away ... and then proceeded to incite the crowd.

That's now the big question ... how much did Travis Scott know ... and when? He claims he was unaware people were dying at the show that night and didn't realize the severity of the situation.

The D.A. heading up the investigation into the fatal "Rust" shooting seems sure of one thing, but says the biggest mystery remains unsolved -- how live ammo ended up on the set.

Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies talked to 'GMA' Wednesday to answer about the ongoing investigation into how Halyna Hutchins ended getting shot and killed, and had to admit she still doesn't have much clarity about the live ammunition.

However, she did acknowledge there were multiple live bullets -- beyond the one that killed Halyna -- found on set ... just one of the "Rust" conditions she found alarming.

One thing she did appear ready to dispel was the notion that sabotage might've been at play -- a theory floated by head armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed's, own legal team just a week ago.

Check out how the D.A. responds ... while she says there's no evidence thus far to suggest anything like that occurred, Carmack-Atlwies doesn't completely rule it out as a possibility -- nor does she look the other way on what potential sabotage could mean criminally.

Indeed, if the evidence supported any sort of purposeful intent behind bringing bullets on set and/or mixing them into the box of dummy rounds Gutierrez-Reed dipped into to load Alec Baldwin's gun ... the D.A. says a higher murder charge could be on the table.

Like she noted the last time she held a press conference ... no one's off the table at this point as far as possible charges, and she reaffirms here.

Henry Ruggs is scheduled to make his second public appearance since his fatal car crash last week -- the ex-Raiders star is due in court in a matter of minutes ... and he's expected to be formally hit with five charges while there.

The 22-year-old, who's accused of getting drunk, speeding in his car and then killing a woman and her dog in a wreck in Las Vegas last Tuesday, has a hearing slated for 7:30 AM.

Prosecutors are expected to formally announce five charges against him -- including four felonies and one misdemeanor -- and Ruggs could enter a plea afterward.

Of course, the last time anybody saw Ruggs publicly was last Wednesday -- a little over 24 hours after his crash -- when he showed up to court for a bond hearing in a neck brace and a wheelchair.

At that hearing, Ruggs was admonished by officials ... with a judge noting he'd never seen a case where the defendant was accused of traveling at such a high rate of speed.

As we previously reported, law enforcement says Ruggs hit 156 MPH in his Corvette before slamming it into the back of a Toyota at around 3:40 a.m.

The collision was so violent, it sparked a fire in the Toyota that killed Tina Tintor and her golden retriever.

Prosecutors say bloodwork revealed Ruggs had a .161 BAC -- more than two times the legal limit of .08 -- and they said last week he could be facing up to 46 years in prison over it all.

We'll be covering the case as Ruggs goes before the judge ... stay tuned.

Travis Scott says he didn't know a calamity was unfolding when he was onstage Friday at Astroworld ... and we found out when he left, he went straight to Dave & Buster's for an after-party.

Sources connected to Travis tell TMZ ... the rapper was never told at the festival people had died in the crowd and hundreds more were injured. The sources say, "Travis didn't know the severity of the situation when he arrived at the party, as far as timing, this remains consistent with the fact that no one including the police had publicly confirmed the gravity of the events that had taken place."

The person who threw the after-party -- Drake, who had performed with Travis as a surprise guest just as the tragedy was unfolding. Our Drake sources claim he also didn't have a clue there were people dying in the crowd.

As we reported, there were a number of people who were pleading with camera operators and others to stop the show as the crowd crush took its toll, which is why a lot of people think Travis had to know what was going on ... if not during the concert, before he left. However, our Travis sources insist he was at least 50 yards from that camera operator and did not hear the pleas to end the show because fans were dying.

But, we're told when someone told Travis at Dave & Buster's about the tragedy, he immediately left the party. This seems to support the notion he didn't know ... even when he left the venue.

TMZ broke the story ... Travis has pledged to pay funeral costs for his 8 fans who died at the festival and provide mental health services to anyone who may have been affected.

As we reported, lawsuits continue to pour in against both Travis and Live Nation ... including one filed Tuesday by the family of a 9-year-old boy who is fighting for his life after being trampled at the show.

For his part, Drake released a statement Monday night, saying, "My heart is broken for the families and friends of those who lost their lives and for anyone who is suffering. I will continue to pray for all of them and will be of service in any way I can. May God be with you all."

Master P says the environment at Astroworld Fest was kosher ... while also acknowledging, no one saw this tragedy coming.

We got the rap mogul Tuesday in L.A. and asked for his perspective on the aftermath of what unfolded Friday night ... a day he actually performed himself, albeit much earlier before everything started going south.

Check out his breakdown of what he saw ... MP insists he never felt things got out of hand or weren't safe. Yes, he notes the young folks who went did, indeed, get hyped -- as it's customary at a festival of this nature -- but, nothing ever raised a red flag to him personally.

His main point here seems to be that people knew what they were getting into by coming to Astroworld Fest -- even going on to say an injury or two can realistically be expected.

With that said ... Master P offers his condolences to the families and loved ones of the 8 people lost, saying that's never something anyone ever really plans for, or is actively trying to encourage.

Of course, we had to ask who he thinks is mostly to blame here -- if he had to pick someone to point the finger at -- but he wasn't really in an accusatory mood, saying it'll be sorted behind the scenes while making sure to emphasize -- Trav ain't at fault.

NRG Park -- the venue that hosted the calamitous Astroworld festival -- has an insurance policy totaling $26 million ... nowhere near what the injured and families of the dead will be seeking.

TMZ has obtained the Certificate of Liability Insurance ... a document that was filed with the City of Houston. Proof of insurance is required for such events.

The policy provides for $1 million in primary coverage with a $25 million umbrella. With 8 dead and more than 300 injured, damages could go into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

If the policy doesn't cover the judgments, then NRG would be responsible for anything above the policy limit.

Now it's possible NRG has additional coverage, but there's no evidence of that from the documents.

We do not know what insurance policies are carried by Live Nation or Travis Scott, although it's certain they have some coverage. But, whatever it is, when you total all of it together, it's unlikely it will cover the enormous judgments that could be coming their way. If the injured and the families of the dead get judgments, the policies will cover them as far as the money goes, but once the limit is reached Travis and the various companies would be personally on the hook for the balance.

It's not that the policies were not written properly, because no one could have anticipated the scope of the disaster.

A staffer at Houston's NRG Park -- which hosts Astroworld Fest -- made a very specific plea to Houston city officials to establish a wide perimeter ... in anticipation of unruly behavior.

TMZ obtained permit and planning documents and correspondence between NRG and the City of Houston, and in them ... the guy in charge of the facility's parking emailed people at the mayor's office just days before the 2-day festival was set to start.

The message -- sent by parking rep Sandeep Prasad -- is pretty detailed on what NRG was going to need from the City before Astroworld, due to what he described as past "transgressions."

Specifically, Prasad wanted to see if Houston could accommodate having a couple main road lanes entirely blocked off just outside NRG Park ... as he felt it would allow for safer entry into the premises, especially considering what had happened in 2018 and 2019.

Prasad's email reads, "During the Festivals in 2018 and 2019, there were a lot of transgressions on the Main Street side of the Yellow Lot. Those included destroying property and various acts of violence."

He goes on to say due to those issues, NRG is requesting to have the City close the two outside lanes going northbound on Main Street starting November 3. Main is a road that borders NRG and a section of its lot.

Prasad also mentions this request isn't coming out of thin air ... but on the heels of many public safety meetings in conjunction with Houston PD, which apparently thought this would be in the public's best interest.

No word on whether NRG got what it wanted, but it's telling the request was made at all. We don't know for certain if Prasad was specifically referring to the massive stampeding that took place in 2019 -- which was well-documented -- as the park opened.

You might recall, folks were trampled in 2019 -- the last time Trav held an Astroworld Fest at NRG -- with many climbing over barricades and breaking through security gates. Three people were seriously injured back then, and the email makes it seem like NRG honchos had that on their minds ahead of this year's concert.

And, that's what makes this document so important ... it shows NRG was aware of the risk for more violence and rowdiness, and attempted to take steps to curb it -- although, the tragedy still went down on the premises.

A woman who chucked soup right in a restaurant manager's face might think she got away scot-free, but the cops are hot on her ass ... 'cause the victim's gunning to press charges.

You might've seen this ... an irate customer who's arguing with what appears to be a staffer at a restaurant down in Temple, TX eventually gets so fed up, that she opens her to-go bowl of soup and throws it right onto the woman she's talking to ... hitting her square in the face.

We spoke to the soup-throwing recipient, Jannelle Broland, who's actually the manager at this Mexican joint ... and she tells TMZ, yes, she is pressing charges -- and hopes her assailant is brought to justice to serve some jail time.

As for how all this unfolded, Jannelle says the customer called in to place a to-go order on Sunday around 1 PM, picked it up and left ... and then called back about 10 minutes later.

She explains the woman was furious some plastic from the packaging was in her food, so she came back ready to talk to a manager about it.

Seeing as how Jannelle was the only manager working that day, she says she tried to handle it by apologizing and offering a full refund and/or a replacement item from the menu. That apparently wasn't good enough for the irate customer.

According to Jannelle, the woman cussed up a storm, demanded to speak to someone higher up on the totem pole, and when that didn't happen ... the soup went flying. She also claims the woman made a run for it with her hubby in tow, and some other workers followed her ... and were even able to get quick shots and video of her driving away from the scene.

Temple PD has said they're investigating this as a crime, and if they can track down the unidentified suspect ... Jannelle is more than willing to press charges. In the meantime, the woman's been banned from the establishment.

Delonte West is fighting back in his resisting arrest case -- the former NBA player has pled not guilty to three charges, TMZ Sports has learned.

Court documents show West's attorney entered the not guilty pleas on Monday ... less than 3 weeks after Delonte was accused of drunkenly arguing and scuffling with officers in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Police say on Oct. 19, West was yelling and banging on a local station's doors while holding two open containers of booze.

The cops say when they went to detain West -- he was non-compliant at times ... and they eventually arrested him.

Body cam footage of the incident appears to show West hurling anti-gay slurs at the officers ... and claiming he was Jesus Christ and the President of the United States.

West was also heard on camera saying he was a better basketball player than LeBron James.

West was ultimately hit with three misdemeanors over the incident -- obstruction/resisting without violence, open container, and disorderly intoxication.

Ezra Blount, the youngest victim of the Astroworld concert tragedy, is suing Travis Scott and Live Nation for the horrific injuries he suffered -- injuries that still might cost him his life.

Ezra is the 9-year-old who was "trampled nearly to death" during the Friday night concert in Houston. According to the lawsuit, filed by renowned civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Ezra was "suddenly forced to watch in terror as several concertgoers were injured and killed" during the crowd surge.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Crump says Ezra was "kicked, stepped on, and trampled" as people around him were lifting up "unconscious bodies of friends and strangers and surfed them over the top of the crowd, hoping to send them to safety."

The suit vividly describes many of the images we've seen in videos from the ill-fated concert, adding that many people were shouting for "help with CPR and pleading" with Travis and concert organizers to stop the concert.

According to the suit, Ezra remains in a medically induced coma and on life support after suffering severe damage to his liver, kidney and brain ... and the injuries will impair his quality of life and "ability to grow and thrive."

The lawsuit lays blame for Ezra's injuries squarely on Travis, Live Nation and several other entities ... saying they "egregiously failed in their duty to protect the health, safety and lives" of all concertgoers. Specifically, Crump says they didn't have enough security to implement crowd control measures and emergency medical support.