Legal

The Rev. Jesse Jackson is following through on his promise to attend the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial, and sticking it to one of the defense attorneys ... who openly griped about "Black pastors" in court.

Rev. Jackson was in the Brunswick, GA courtroom gallery Monday morning -- shoulder-to-shoulder with Ahmaud's family members -- showing the kind of support Kevin Gough complained about on Friday.

ICYMI ... Gough, defense attorney for William "Roddie" Bryan, said he wanted the judge to limit the number of Black pastors allowed in the courtroom because he feared it could be "consciously or unconsciously an attempt to pressure or influence the jury."

The embarrassing part for Gough -- he singled out Rev. Jackson for being in the courtroom, even though he'd never attended before today. Anyway, the judge denied his request.

Rev. Jackson's blasted Gough's motion as "unacceptable" because a "public trial involves public observation" ... and told us he planned to be in court.

Marilyn Manson is now accused of locking women in a small, soundproof space -- something he allegedly did to punish them for being "bad."

The rocker is facing a new round of allegations from women who spoke on the record to Rolling Stone ... claiming MM had this small booth in the corner of his West Hollywood apartment, where he'd allegedly throw his girlfriends and lock 'em up for hours on end.

The chamber, as it were, was apparently covered with foam and contained any noise emitted from inside -- and this is allegedly a tactic Manson used to psychologically torture women for any perceived transgressions.

The article refers to it as the "Bad Girls' Room" -- and a former assistant of Manson's told Rolling Stone it was common knowledge the room existed, but also said he never saw any women locked inside.

Manson himself appears to have mentioned the room in old interviews over the years -- and while some might have thought he was joking, a handful of accusers -- some of whom are suing him for sexual assault, among other things -- claim it was all too real.

His apartment itself is also discussed by Rolling Stone ... described by some of the folks they interviewed as a "meat locker" or a "black refrigerator" -- because he apparently kept the place super dark at all times, and the temperature no higher than 65 degrees.

Some of the women interviewed claim a lot of what they allegedly experienced at Manson's hands went down at this apartment -- all of which Manson has previously denied.

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari had a date night/dance night as they celebrated the end of her conservatorship.

Brit and Sam were bumpin' jams in the car on the way to dinner ... with Britney challenging her BF to bust a move behind the wheel. Sam reservedly obliges. BTW ... they're playing Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam." Britney started singing Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It."

They ended up in WeHo at Catch -- one of 5 restaurants in L.A. where celebs all know they WILL be greeted by paparazzi -- and cameras were indeed there. Britney ducked down in the passenger seat to avoid the lenses, and wore a ski mask while entering the restaurant.

The couple had a lot to celebrate. As you know, the nearly 14-year-conservatorship came to an abrupt end Friday, when the judge terminated it.

Sam and Britney were all about driving over the weekend. She was tooling around in her Mercedes and he was driving a vintage Ford Mustang.

No word yet on when they're gonna tie the knot. Sam proposed to Britney back in September, but all wedding plans were put on hold until the conservatorship ended. Now they have a clear path.

TMZ broke the story, they're in the early stages of looking for a new home.

The "Rust" film worker who suffered horrific injuries from a spider bite on the job won't need to have his arm amputated ... and it sounds like he's going to get some workers' comp.

The film worker, Jason Miller, tells TMZ ... his left arm will be saved despite the grizzly photos of his severe reaction to a bite from a venomous brown recluse spider, which bit him while he was breaking down the movie set.

Jason, who is diabetic, says he underwent invasive surgery where doctors removed a bunch of muscle and skin from his left arm, but he's responding well to treatment and surgeries, so amputation is being ruled out after initial concerns he might lose his arm.

He says "Rust" should be held accountable for the poisonous spider bite in the wake of the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins ... and the wheels are in motion for him to get workers' compensation.

Jason claims he was getting dodged by folks at "Rust" after reaching out 6 times about workers' comp, but now his attorneys say they are working with the movie's insurance company to get him paid for his troubles.

While Jason says he greatly appreciates the wave of public support, with over $13K donated to his GoFundMe, he insists what happened to him was a freak accident ... and he wants the focus on Halyna Hutchins because he thinks her shooting death could have been avoided.

The 9-year-old boy who was trampled at Astroworld Fest and left fighting for his life has sadly died from his injuries -- making him the 10th death from the festival.

Ezra Blount passed away Sunday at Texas Children's Hospital, after being on life support since Friday, November 5, when he was among the hundreds who were injured during Travis Scott's headlining show.

The family's attorney, Ben Crump, tells TMZ, "The Blount family tonight is grieving the incomprehensible loss of their precious young son. This should not have been the outcome of taking their son to a concert, what should have been a joyful celebration. Ezra's death is absolutely heartbreaking. We are committed to seeking answers and justice for the Blount family. But tonight we stand in solidarity with the family, in grief, and in prayer."

The kid was in attendance with his father, who's reported to have lifted his son up onto his shoulders once the crowd surge became unbearable. Unfortunately, Ezra's father passed out during the ordeal ... leaving young Ezra to fall to the ground during the chaos ... and be subjected to being crushed on by the panicked crowd around them.

He sustained serious bodily harm -- ones that left him with severe swelling of the brain and internal bleeding ... and since then, his family has been hoping he'd be able to recover.

Ezra's grandfather gave a heartbreaking interview to ABC13 in Houston ... recounting his son and grandson's harrowing experience at the festival. He didn't seem to lay much blame at Travis' feet, per se -- but rather, said police and security should've stepped in.

Like we said ... Ezra had been hospitalized since the horrific event, and was eventually placed in a medically induced coma -- with the hope that he would be able to heal enough to gain consciousness again ... but that never happened.

As we reported ... civil rights attorney Ben Crump was hired by the family and already filed a lawsuit alleging negligence on the parts of multiple parties -- including Travis himself, Live Nation and others involved in organizing the festival.

Crump said, "This young child and his family will face life-altering trauma from this day forward, a reality that nobody expects when they buy concert tickets."

Rapper Polo G could soon be off the hook for allegedly beating the crap out of a Miami cop, because the bulk of the charges against him are now dropped.

Prosecutors tossed 2 felony charges against Polo -- battery of a police officer and threatening a public servant, according to online court records and a rep for the Miami-Dade State Attorney.

Polo's misdemeanor charge for criminal mischief was dropped too ... we're told prosecutors found insufficient evidence to move forward with their case on all 3 of those charges.

TMZ broke the story ... Polo G was arrested for allegedly attacking a cop during a traffic stop back in June.

The rapper's still facing 2 charges for resisting an officer, but they're misdemeanors -- and there's still a path for him to get those dropped too.

Erika Jayne is eliminating one specific kind of suitor ... telling us she would be hard-pressed to date another lawyer like her estranged husband Tom Girardi.

We got the 'RHOBH' star leaving Jolie in Los Angeles and our photog asked her how her dating life is going, and if she would ever go out with a lawyer again.

Ya gotta see Erika's initial reaction ... but when we press her, she gets real ... explaining why lawyers are probably not the best fit for her going forward, albeit with one big exception.

As you know, Erika is in the middle of a rocky divorce with Tom and she's been sued for allegedly hiding assets through a "sham divorce." Tom is accused of stealing money intended for families of the 2018 Lion Air Flight 610 crash victims.

Remember ... Erika says intelligence and money are the two most important factors in a partner, while looks and age are lower on the totem pole ... and now we know lawyers are out of bounds.

Chico DeBarge got busted for drug possession ... and the motorhome the R&B singer was living in is now impounded.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops got a call back on Nov. 6 about a man causing a disturbance inside a motorhome, and when they got there they made contact with Chico and noticed his RV had an expired registration of over 6 months.

We're told police impounded the vehicle and officers allegedly found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia inside the ride.

The DeBarge singer was then arrested and booked for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia ... and he was later released from custody on a promise to appear citation.

Chico's admittedly struggled with addiction for years, and he's been arrested 3 other times -- in 2007, late 2019 and early 2021 -- for drug possession.

As we first told you ... during the last drug bust, cops say Chico ID'd himself as James, his older brother from the family singing group, before being properly ID'd during the booking process.

Britney Spears is a free woman and can do almost anything she wants ... but one of the things that is out of bounds is another relationship with Sam Lutfi.

There is a 5-year restraining order in full force against Sam ... a restraining order signed by the judge in 2019. This is not the first restraining order against Lutfi ... an earlier one was issued when the conservatorship was established back in 2008.

Lutfi was a singular presence in Britney's life during her lowest point ... just before the conservatorship was established. Lynne and Jamie Spears claimed Sam was lording over their daughter ... controlling every part of her life. They also alleged Lutfi crushed pills and spread them in Britney's food to maintain control, something Lutfi denied. He was also allegedly controlling who could visit Britney, who could talk to her and he even allegedly tried to become the point person for doctors when she was hospitalized.

That restraining order was in effect for the first 5 years of the conservatorship, but in 2019, Britney's lawyer went back to court, alleging Lutfi was trying to get back in Britney's life. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Lutfi had allegedly reached out to Lynne Spears ... offering her $1,000 to "disrupt and take over" the conservatorship process. The docs also say Lutfi allegedly threatened to release confidential information about Britney.

It's interesting ... before the restraining order was issued, Lutfi was posting that his endgame was to free Britney from the conservatorship. He allegedly told Lynne Spears, "We have hundreds of people, drs, lawyers, journalists, celebrities all working" to disrupt the conservatorship. He encouraged Britney's fans to stop at nothing to free her.

Sean Kingston allegedly punched and pulled a firearm on a music video director who had been staying in his home ... and we're told cops are now involved.

The music video director, who works under the handle GXDLIKE, tells TMZ ... he had been working and living at Sean's Los Angeles-area home for about 3 months when Sean allegedly assaulted him.

The guy claims Sean summoned him from the downstairs area of the home around 2 AM on Nov. 5 and wanted him to film something for the singer, but he says his phone was dead. He claims he then went downstairs to grab his camera and returned upstairs, but couldn't remember the name of the app to transfer the files.

The music video director alleges Sean got frustrated and punched him in the face, then dragged him into the hallway and pulled out a firearm ... telling him to pack up and get out. Law enforcement sources confirm that GXDLIKE has filed a police report with the LAPD for the incident.

The director claims the alleged attack left him with cuts on his face, but no major injuries.

Britney Spears is now a free woman, because the judge has swiftly ended her conservatorship ... effective immediately.

The judge terminated the conservatorship without requiring any further mental evaluation ... something Britney was adamant about.

The hearing started with Britney's lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, quoting Britney's June testimony ... in which she said, "I just want my life back."

The judge then went around to all the lawyers and others assembled both in court and online, asking them whether they had any objections. Not a single person -- lawyers and all -- had a problem with ending the conservatorship.

Both the conservatorship of Britney's person and the conservatorship of her estate have been terminated, with minor exceptions. Rosengart wanted the estate conservatorship to remain solely to execute the necessary documents so the assets she has in the conservatorship can be transferred to a trust controlled by Britney.

The judge then read her order ending this saga ... and it took just around 30 minutes start to finish.

This doesn't end the dispute over the way the conservatorship was handled, because Rosengart has made it clear ... he wants a full accounting from everyone involved in the conservatorship, especially Jamie Spears and business manager Lou Taylor, to show how much money they have moved from the conservatorship to their accounts. Now all that said, Rosengart said ultimately it's up to Britney on whether she wants to pursue Jamie and Lou Taylor.

Rosengart did make one thing clear ... he said after the hearing, "This conservatorship was corrupted by James P. Spears."

Rosengart believes there has been misappropriation of assets by various people in the conservatorship, at the expense of Britney. As we reported, her estate is worth an estimated $60 million ... and Rosengart believes it should be much larger and would be but for lawyers, Jamie, Lou Taylor and others taking cuts and salaries from the estate.

As for Britney, she has her life back in full, and as you know ... the decks are now cleared for her to marry Sam, have a baby if she wants and to buy a new house -- something we know they want. We're told Britney has bad memories in the house where she's lived during the long-running conservatorship.

Rosengart has put in place what he calls a "safety net" so Britney gets support on both personal and financial matters.  Her personal conservator, Jodi Montgomery, has agreed to stay on and work for Britney, and Rosengart has put a financial manager in place to protect and grow her assets.

And, TMZ broke the story ... Britney wants to get back in the studio and record music, although she has not selected a producer or the material for a new album.

We're told she has no plans to perform again ... at least at this time.

The FreeBritney folks were front and center on the courthouse steps as the hearing began. They are going nuts right now ... elated with the decision.

Britney Spears is already making plans once her conservatorship ends, and they involve recording music ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Our sources say Britney has made her intentions clear ... she wants to go back in the studio, but there's a lot that has to fall into place before that happens. We're told she hasn't picked a producer and there are no writers tapped to pen the songs, but she wants back in the game.

We're told she has no plans -- at least for now -- to perform in Vegas or anywhere else.

One more thing ... we're told Britney wants to take dance lessons, and toward that end ... she's already gone to a public dance studio and loved it.

Britney is waiting to hear her fate Friday ... whether the judge ends her conservatorship which has now run for 13 years. The judge in the case has 4 options -- end the conservatorship today, refuse to end it, order a medical evaluation or agree to end it but only if there are guardrails in place.

We know her personal conservatorship, Jodi Montgomery, will stay on to tend to Britney's personal needs, and her lawyer, Mathew Rosengart, has a financial advisor on board to help Brit with money matters. And, as Britney said in court back in June, she will continue with therapy.

Travis Scott has locked himself away in his Houston home, still devastated by the events that took place one week ago ... according to his attorney.

Ed McPherson joined "TMZ Live" Friday to talk about Travis and what happened at Astroworld. While McPherson says there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of the investigation, he remains adamant Travis had no clue as to the dire circumstances -- 8 people dead -- continued to perform.

McPherson tells us Travis is devastated, especially because the tragedy happened in his hometown of Houston, and he has not left his home there since.

Travis was supposed to perform in Vegas this weekend -- a show he's since canceled -- and a petition is growing online to stop his headline event at Coachella next Spring.

Ed says performing is the last thing on Travis' mind right now. He wants to give the families of the victims time to grieve, and has set up an email account through his team for them to reach out to him when they're ready. He's promised to pay funeral costs for the 9 people who died as a result of the show.

Jon Gruden is accusing the NFL and Roger Goodell of conducting a "malicious and orchestrated campaign ... to destroy [his] career and reputation."

It's all spelled out in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, filed in a Nevada court on Thursday ... in which Gruden says the Goodell and the NFL obtained his private emails with his friend and former coworker Bruce Allen.

The former Raiders head coach accused the NFL and its commish of holding the emails for months ... only to leak them when they could cause maximum damage to Gruden.

Gruden characterizes this as a "soviet-style character assassination."

In the docs, Gruden points out that the NFL uncovered hundreds of thousands of emails as part of a larger investigation into sexual harassment allegations against the Washington Football Team ... but the only emails that he claims the NFL leaked are the ones that implicate Gruden.

The 58-year-old, meanwhile, says Goodell and the league have kept all of the other ones under wraps.

Gruden also claims the NFL initially only released a single email -- the one containing the reference to NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith's lips -- and immediately began pressuring the Raiders to fire him over it.

But, when the Raiders refused, Gruden claims the NFL then released a batch of other emails, saying the league "weaponized" them, and ultimately caused the Raiders to pressure Gruden into resigning.

Gruden notes in the suit that the NFL has historically tried to appear transparent, by issuing written reports on a host of past investigations, including Deflategate, the Ray Rice incident, and the harassment allegations against the Miami Dolphins.

The former coach says the leak is an attempt to distract from the NFL's failure to properly handle the sexual harassment allegations against the WFT.

Gruden is suing for unspecified damages -- including punitives -- claiming the NFL's actions caused him to lose his sponsorships and recognition (including his place in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Ring of Honor).

It should be noted -- nowhere in the documents does Gruden deny sending the offensive emails.

For its part, the NFL has denied Gruden's allegations ... saying in a statement they "are entirely meritless and the NFL will vigorously defend against these claims.”

A man replacing the roof at a house owned by Olivia Munn fell to his death ... and now she and her mom are being sued by his family.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Olivia and her mother, Kim Schmid, hired Celso Merida to work on replacing the roof at the home back in May, but on his 4th day on the job he fell from the roof and suffered a bunch of injuries.

The suit says the man died a couple weeks later, the cause of death was blunt force traumatic injuries.

According to the docs, Olivia and her mom hired an unlicensed contractor named Fernando, who in turn hired Merida ... and the late worker's family says Olivia and Kim were negligent in pawning things off to an unlicensed contractor.

The man's family also claims Olivia and her mom instructed him to work on the roof, even though the required safety guards and fall protection were not in place ... creating what the family claims was an unreasonable risk of injury.

Olivia actually featured the home in a 2014 project with Vogue.

According to the suit, Olivia and her mother did not give Merida the proper tools for him to work safely on the roof, and they didn't participate in a workers' compensation program.

The family is suing Olivia and Kim for wrongful death ... and going after them for damages.

Britney Spears is not playing her cards close to the vest ... in fact, she's wearing them on her t-shirt -- she wants out of her conservatorship, and it could happen today.

Britney and her fiance, Sam Asghari, mugs for the cam with the words, "#FreeBritney, It's a human rights movement" front and center.

It's no secret Britney wants the 13+-year conservatorship to come to an end at Friday's court hearing. That could happen, but it's by no means certain.

Terminating the conservatorship is squarely before the judge. Her attorney, Mathew Rosengart, has presented his case ... that it's incongruous for someone to be under a conservatorship who is also able to work and function day-to-day. He's also alleged a slew of misdeeds on the part of conservators and others, including Britney's dad, Jamie Spears.

The key to the hearing will be whether the judge orders a mental evaluation ... something that has been regularly done and evaluated every year of the conservatorship. Britney has made it clear, she does NOT want such an evaluation, and even Jamie Spears has done a 180 and said his daughter's conservatorship should end without such an evaluation.

The judge could still order a mental evaluation, but she's given no indication which way she's leaning.

One thing is clear ... Judge Penny is sympathetic to Britney. After the singer unloaded in court last June -- laying out in detail how the conservatorship has been torturous for her -- the judge complimented her bravery in speaking out.

The hearing is set for 1:30 PM and TMZ will be all over it.