Legal

One of the biggest mysteries in the Diddy-Cassie saga was answered at the music mogul's federal criminal trial Wednesday ... Cassie settled her lawsuit against Diddy for a whopping $20 million!

Federal prosecutor Emily Johnson was grilling Cassie on Day 2 of her testimony at Diddy's sex trafficking trial in NYC when the questioning turned to a book she wrote about the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of Sean "Diddy" Combs -- her former longtime boyfriend.

Cassie testified that her mom helped her write a "book with chapters," which she wanted Diddy to read. She testified she sent the chapters to Diddy through her attorney, but Diddy didn't take her book seriously.

3:35 PM PT -- Blake's attorney Michael Gottlieb just filed a motion to strike Justin Baldoni's letter from the court docket as "baseless, unnecessary, improper and abusive."

Blake Lively's attorneys allegedly tried to force Taylor Swift into publicly supporting Lively in her beef with Justin Baldoni by threatening to release Taylor's private text messages if she didn't play ball ... at least according to Baldoni's lawyer.

In new legal docs obtained by TMZ, Baldoni's lawyer Bryan Freedman claims the subpoena he sent to lawyers for Taylor was intended to get information related to possible witness tampering and evidence spoliation.

Freedman claims he has it from a good source that Blake allegedly requested that Taylor delete their text messages.

More fireworks from the Cassie Ventura testimony in the Diddy case ... she told the jury Diddy raped her on the floor of her own home after they broke up -- and she later tried to hurt herself because she couldn't take all the pain.

The singer testified Wednesday that in August 2018 they had a closure conversation to shut the book on their relationship ... meeting at a restaurant in Malibu, where Diddy was being nice, playful and romantic. She said he drove her home and forced sex on her.

Cassie told the jury Diddy's eyes went black as he raped her on her living room floor.

Cassie Ventura says Diddy freaked out on her after finding out she was hooking up with Kid Cudi ... threatening her with a wine opener and telling her he would release a video on Christmas showing her participating in a "freak-off."

The singer testified in court Wednesday that Diddy found out she was seeing Kid Cudi in 2011 when he went through her phone during a freak-off.

Cassie told the jury Diddy found an email about Cassie taking her toiletry bag to Kid Cudi's place ... and he put a wine opener in his hand and threatened her.

Details of Diddy's alleged "freak-offs" have been coming out in public for months ... and now a man who shot up a Trump hotel in Florida years ago and made wild claims about Diddy and Cassie at the time is seeing his story re-examined in context.

Jonathan Oddi -- who's currently incarcerated in Miami -- dropped some sensational allegations in an exclusive "Banfield" segment on NewsNation Tuesday night, claiming he had been hired years ago by Diddy as a "sex slave" to get it on with Cassie ... and some of his assertions are similar to previous reports about the couple's proclivities.

In May 2018, a masked Oddi walked into the Trump National Doral Miami Hotel and Resort and fired his Glock pistol a bunch of times into the ceiling, then draped an American flag over the front desk and started breaking computers ... and when responding officers showed up, he fired at them, prompting a massive shootout with five cops. He fired at least 16 times ... and was arrested after being shot in his legs.

Cassie Ventura says Diddy had blackmail material on her ... namely, videos from their "freak-offs" ... and she says that made her feel trapped.

She testified Wednesday Diddy would hold the freak-off footage over her head as a way to hurt her, make her fearful.

Cassie told the jury she had previously told Diddy she didn't want to do freak-offs, and that on a commercial flight to New York in June 2013, he sat next to her and played her freak-off videos of her on his laptop and threatened to release them.

Cassie Ventura says there was a painful, physical side-effect from all the "freak-offs" Diddy had her doing with male escorts ... urinary tract infections.

The singer testified in court Wednesday she would take opiates after the freak-offs to numb herself from very painful UTIs.

Cassie told the jury the UTIs would give her a burning sensation, and she got them so often that antibacterial medication stopped working, and she needed more powerful pills ... and turned to opiates.

Halle Bailey was granted a restraining order against DDG after filing a laundry list of abusive allegations on Monday ... but let the rapper/streamer tell it, he doesn't have a care in the world!!!

On Tuesday, DDG said he was "chilling" and vowed to still hop on his daily Twitch channel amid "The Little Mermaid" actress' emergency filing.

We broke the story ... Halle accused DDG of physically abusing her by chipping her tooth on a steering wheel during an altercation, breaking her Ring camera and even breaking into her phone and accusing her of cheating.

We're now seeing the full unedited 15-minute-long video of Sean "Diddy" Combs assaulting Cassie in a hotel hallway in 2016, and it reveals the full story -- more than the CNN version showed -- of what went down between them that morning.

The video was released Tuesday night after the second day of testimony in Diddy's federal sex trafficking trial in NYC -- security video from the InterContinental Hotel in L.A.'s Century City on March 5, 2016, showing Diddy following Cassie out into the hallway, pushing her to the ground and kicking her.

The extended video shows different angles from what we've previously seen ... first, a hooded figure emerges into the frame in a hallway on the 6th floor -- it's Cassie -- then we see Diddy wrapped in a towel follow her, and a moment later he's got a bag in one hand, and with the other he's dragging Cassie by her hooded sweatshirt. We see a few other angles from different cameras, some of which we've previously seen.

Kim Kardashian spent the day testifying in the Paris jewelry heist trial -- then did what she does best ... hit a fancy dinner, and made sure every eye was on her while doing it.

Check it out ... the SKIMS mogul was quick to ditch the courtroom suit and stepped out in full glam, rocking a look so opulent it could’ve headlined a royal ball -- all for a dinner outing at Paris’ Le Voltaire Tuesday night.

Kim wore a fur-lined leather jacket draped off her shoulders, flaunting a slip mini-dress underneath -- all topped off with flawless glam.

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman talked about the "L" he took in court during a public meeting just hours after convicted double murderers Erik and Lyle Menendez inched closer to freedom with their big legal victory Tuesday.

TMZ obtained video of Tuesday night's panel discussion hosted by Fox L.A. News anchor Elex Michaelson, who questioned Hochman about his loss at the Menendez Brothers resentencing hearing earlier in the day.

Check out video, obtained by TMZ, which shows Michaelson seated next to Hochman and others onstage at L.A.'s Temple Isaiah — and things get tense right from the get-go in front of the crowd.

Patrick Mahomes Sr. will be allowed to watch his son tee off for a good cause this week ... TMZ Sports has learned authorities in Texas have given the elder Mahomes permission to attend Patrick Mahomes II's charity golf event in Vegas.

The Kansas City Chiefs star is throwing the bash at Shadow Creek Golf Course starting on Wednesday ... in an effort to help raise some funds for his 15 and the Mahomies Foundation.

Earlier this month, according to court documents we obtained, Mahomes Sr. asked his probation officer if he could go see it in person -- and on May 7, the plans were approved.

As Cassie gets set for Day 2 of her testimony in Diddy's federal sex trafficking trial, TMZ is rolling out some more exclusive unseen video of the disgraced music mogul and his A-list pals.

This time we see them at a Super Bowl LII party in Minnesota in 2018, partying hard and engaging in fiery conversations.

In this footage, Diddy and his pal, fellow rapper French Montana -- who Diddy spent a lot of time with during the mid-2010s -- and DJ Khaled are attending a Super Bowl party at an undisclosed location in Minnesota.

Erik and Lyle Menendez can celebrate a new court victory -- the judge gave them a new sentence, which allows for parole ... so now, they can get out of prison after facing the state parole board.

The brothers attended Tuesday's resentencing hearing by video, and they were emotional as the judge changed their sentence to 50 years to life ... instead of the life without possibility of parole sentence they originally got.

Menendez family members -- many of whom testified they wanted Erik and Lyle to be released from prison -- also erupted in joy, hugging each other in court as they celebrated their new sentences.

Another big day is in the books for the Diddy sex trafficking trial ... and today was all about Cassie Ventura's testimony as the prosecution's star witness.

Cassie took the stand and testified about freak-offs, Diddy's violent temper, his affection for baby oil and how he made her feel objectified by men ... namely, by urinating in her mouth so much she started choking.

The singer's lawyer, Douglas Wigdor, applauded Cassie for sharing her story when our photog got him outside the courthouse ... and he told us she's likely to be on the stand all day Wednesday, answering questions from prosecutors and being cross-examined by Diddy's legal team.

Halle Bailey says she's had enough of DDG allegedly abusing her ... she's filed a police report, and now she wants court-ordered protection from the father of her child ... TMZ has learned.

In docs, filed Tuesday in L.A., she claims things first got physical in January -- they broke up back in October -- and Halle says DDG came over to pick up their son, Halo, and she tried to start a convo with the rapper about a child visitation schedule.

As she was buckling Halo into the car seat, she claims DDG grew agitated and repeatedly said, "Get out of my car, BITCH." Halle says the baby was crying, and she got nervous about DDG leaving with him in such an agitated state.