Legal

Many of Diddy's former Bad Boy artists have either been silent or critical of his racketeering and sex trafficking case -- but not G. Dep.

The NYC-born rapper, who once had Diddy and the whole world "Harlem shaking" through their "Let's Get It" hit record, tells TMZ Hip Hop he can't distance himself from his former mentor in good conscience -- so he's supporting him outside the courtroom!!!

After all, G. Dep is an Honest Abe ... he confessed to a cold case murder in 2010, resulting in a conscience-cleansing 13-year prison sentence, from which he was released in April 2024.

Iran may be the key to Diddy's defense in his sex trafficking trial ... because we're told his defense may use the growing conflict in the Middle East as a way to take a shot at the federal case against him.

Our sources tell us Diddy's defense may invoke the recent conflict with Iran later this week in their closing argument.

We're told the possible defense goes like this ... this was a manufactured case of bedroom police instigated by Homeland Security Investigations and rather than worrying about what Diddy is doing with baby oil and lube, HSI should worry more about the escalating conflict with Iran.

Diddy is NOT going to take the stand and testify in his criminal trial ... because his defense team plans to rest their case Tuesday without calling any witnesses.

There was some question before the trial whether or not Diddy would testify -- his attorney Marc Agnifilo told us he didn't think he could keep Diddy off the stand -- and now we have our answer.

Frankly, the defense would be taking a huge risk in putting Diddy on the stand, where he'd be subject to cross-examination from some of the best prosecutors in the country ... but it looks like the defense feels they don't need to do a whole lot to counter the prosecution.

R. Kelly's fiancée says her family's telling a bunch of lies about her ... insisting she's not a victim or sex slave despite their concern.

Joycelyn Savage released a video denying the claims Sunday evening ... hitting back at her family after they told us they don't support R. Kelly's pardon push 'cause he's never taken accountability for his actions, and she's still under his thumb.

Savage says she and R. Kelly have been together for 10 years -- engaged for the last three -- and, they want to get married and start a family together.

Johnny Depp says the industry used him as the #MeToo test case ... likening himself to a "crash test dummy" in a rambling new interview.

The embattled actor sat down for an interview with The Times ... and, he was asked numerous questions about his relationship with Amber Heard -- and, his excommunication from Hollywood circles.

Depp says he feels he was a "crash test dummy" for the movement ... pointing out he was taken to task before even allegations against Harvey Weinstein came out. Weinstein was found guilty of sexual assault in a retrial just earlier this month.

Karen Read's defense attorneys are arguing cops framed her for John O'Keefe's death ... but, Massachusetts law enforcement is calling BS -- saying they did everything by the book, even though Read's walking free.

The State Police Association of Massachusetts released a statement about the case Saturday -- a few days after Read was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter.

The association sends condolences to O'Keefe's family and adds that the org. accepts the outcome of Read's trial ... but, they're not apologizing for their police work.

The suspect cops say hit and killed "Million Dollar Beach House" star Sara Burack thought she hit a traffic cone her lawyer reportedly told the court. Saturday

Amanda Kempton -- the woman who was arrested and booked on suspicion of leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident -- made her first court appearance in the Hamptons ... and, the New York Post reports her attorney, William Keahon, argued his client thought she hit a cone.

Keahon reportedly said it was foggy, and Kempton didn't see Burack ... adding she only realized she hit a person when she went to a friend's house and found Burack's pink suitcase lodged under her car.

Ja Rule says Fat Joe's "All the Way Up" amid his new legal headache ... telling us the rapper's in good spirits despite the claims of underage sex against him.

We caught up with Ja at Hot 97's Summer Jam concert in New Jersey Friday ... and, we had to ask him about how his friend and fellow New York-born rapper is doing after a man named Terrance Dixon filed a lawsuit against him this week.

ICYMI ... Dixon -- represented by attorney Tyrone A. Blackburn -- is suing Joe and alleging Joe had a sexual relationship with multiple underage girls. Fat Joe's attorney, Joe Tacopina, called the allegations "lies intended to damage his reputation and force a settlement through public pressure."

Courtney Thorne-Smith has filed for divorce from her husband, Roger Fishman, nearly four years after she says they separated ... TMZ has learned.

The veteran actress filed the docs without a lawyer earlier this week ... citing the boilerplate irreconcilable differences.

Thorne-Smith lists the date of separation as September 1, 2021 ... so, it looks like the two have been living separate lives for some time now.

50 Cent's calling BS on the claim that Fat Joe wanted him dead back in the day ... showing love for his fellow New Yorker in a recent social media post.

The rapper took to Instagram to address claims made about Joe in a lawsuit earlier this week -- where the plaintiff Terrance Dixon accused him of allegedly offering a bounty on 50's life.

Dixon also alleged that Fat Joe ordered a hit to go down in NYC ... but, 50 was surrounded by "Navy Seal" type security -- so he was never attacked.

Prosecutors just released text messages they say show a Diddy escort getting detailed instructions for a paid trip to participate in a marathon freak-off.

Federal prosecutors did another document dump of exhibits in Diddy's racketeering and sex trafficking case Friday, with reams of texts between the male escort known as Jules and an unidentified "Device owner."

The August 2009 messages kick off with the "Device owner" making a spur-of-the-moment pitch to Jules to fly from Los Angeles to NYC for the freak-off -- and being promised a nice "tip" if he can make it work.

The Chucky doll from "Child's Play" is not scary enough to warrant a lawsuit from a woman who claims it gave her PTSD at work ... at least according to lawyers for the folks she's dragging to court.

Here's the deal ... Debra Jones sued Truist Bank, claiming her former manager placed a Chucky doll in her office chair last year, even though she says he knew she was afraid of dolls. She claimed the alleged incident ended up leading to a PTSD diagnosis.

Lawyers for Truist are firing back ... they want a judge to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming the Chucky doll is way too vanilla and isn't "extreme and outrageous" enough to sue over.

The Diddy trial is entering the home stretch because prosecutors are almost done with their case and the defense is now saying they only need one or two days to make their case ... and it sounds like we could get a verdict as early as next week.

Prosecutors called one of their final witnesses Friday and we heard more of the same ... this time from Brendan Paul, Diddy's former assistant, who said he is not a drug mule.

Paul testified about getting drugs sometimes for Diddy and setting up hotel rooms for freak-offs -- like other former Diddy helpers -- but he helped the defense by saying on cross-examination it didn't feel like 'Jane' was being coerced into participating in freak-offs.

Former "Shahs of Sunset" star Lilly Ghalichi just filed for divorce -- for the fourth time -- from husband Dara Mir.

According to docs obtained by TMZ, Lilly filed the divorce docs on June 20 and listed the official date of separation as June 19. We guess she didn't need much time to think about it.

The two originally said "I do" in 2017, but the marriage has been anything but smooth. Dara first filed for divorce in 2019, they reconciled, but Lilly followed up with not one -- but two -- more filings in 2020.

Luigi Mangione's defense team says he's not a terrorist, as the feds would have you believe ... and they're telling it to the judge.

The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is facing a murder as an act of terrorism charge ... but Luigi's attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo is laying out a slew of reasons why they feel the terrorism charge is unwarranted.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Luigi's defense says prosecutors have failed to adequately make the case for the terrorism charge from their indictment ... arguing terroristic intent cannot be inferred from Thompson's murder.

Chris Brown's providing some shock factor here ... because there's a viral image coming out of a recent meet and greet ... and he's got his hands wrapped around a woman's neck.

Breezy had no issue posing for a photo with a well-paying fan who seemingly asked him to get handsy with her and glare menacingly into her eyes ... despite a long history of domestic violence convictions and allegations.

As you can see, CB has his right hand grasping the heavily tattooed woman's neck as she straddles him in a chair. He's also got an intense look on his face.