Legal

Brad Pitt scored another legal victory ... because an appeals court just ruled the head of the Stoli Group isn't allowed to walk away from a lawsuit involving Brad and Angelina Jolie.

Here's the deal ... documents filed earlier this week reversed a decision made by a lower court in which Yuri Shefler -- the head of the alcohol and spirits conglomerate -- would not be dragged into the winery case that's still raging between Brad and Angelina after Shefler claimed he had very little direct involvement in his company purchasing Angelina's stake in Château Miraval.

The court decided it "defies credulity that Shefler, a sophisticated businessman, would risk almost $40 million on a transaction about which he knew nothing and with which he had no involvement." As such, the court ruled that Shefler couldn't get out of the case on jurisdictional grounds.

A former Arby's employee is in hot water with the law ... after allegedly spitting on a customer's food and giving her herpes ... this according to cops and a new lawsuit.

A rep for the sheriff's office in McCurtain County, Oklahoma tells TMZ ... Amanda Hendricks was arrested last Sunday and booked in jail for felony food poisoning.

As of this morning, we're told Hendricks remains behind bars with her bond set at $25K. The alleged crimes are sickening, and she's now been sued over them by a woman named Jennica Church.

According to the lawsuit ... Church rolled up to the drive-thru at an Arby's restaurant in Broken Bow, OK in late March and placed an order for sandwiches.

She said Hendricks was working that night and was responsible for preparing her food. Church claims "Hendricks intentionally and deliberately spit on the meat or sandwich components."

Church also said Hendricks spit on the food, knowing she had "oral herpes” and was experiencing an active herpes outbreak with visible lesions.

After eating the food, Church claims she started getting flare-ups around her mouth, so she went to a doctor, who gave her an STD test and confirmed she had herpes.

Church says she now lives in constant fear that she'll transmit the disease to other family members and friends. She's suing the restaurant and Hendricks for battery, emotional distress, and more ... and wants unspecified damages, including punitives.

According to the suit, Church believes there is surveillance video from the restaurant showing Hendricks spitting in the sandwiches while preparing Church's order.

Church later told a news outlet during an interview that the two women knew each other and had a history ... but said it was nothing major.

LaVar Ball is being dragged off one court and into another ... because a contractor who built him an at-home basketball court is now saying he was stiffed on the $200K bill.

The father of basketball stars Lonzo and LaMelo Ball is getting sued by MD Steel Inc. for unpaid labor expenses for the installation of a basketball court and subsequent home renovations.

TMZ obtained docs that detail the various work expenses MD says amounted to roughly $970K ... and in the filing, the company claims LaVar paid roughly $750K but never paid off the balance! He's now asking the court to help him collect the remaining $221,928!

Doug Martin's family claims excessive force by police played a "substantial" role in his death last year ... and they're taking the matter to court.

Douglas and Leslie Martin filed a lawsuit against the city of Oakland, responding officers, and an ambulance company this week ... saying they want to get to the bottom of exactly what happened to their 36-year-old son back on October 18.

"Unfortunately the litigation is a mechanism to best get that done," attorney John Burris said.

Kylie Jenner's former chef claims her job was so demanding, it ended her pregnancy ... and now she wants Kylie to pay.

The woman filed a lawsuit against Kylie earlier this week, alleging she regularly had to work 11 to 12 hours a day, 5 days a week and was assigned physically demanding tasks ... according to the Los Angeles Times.

The ex-chef says she was informed she got the gig around Thanksgiving 2024 ... and weeks later told her supervisors she was 3 months pregnant.

Two of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims believe he had help pulling off his horrific sex trafficking ring … and are pointing fingers at former Victoria’s Secret CEO Les Wexner … TMZ has learned.

In new court documents, obtained by TMZ, 2 Jane Does are suing Wexner for allegedly enabling Epstein’s crimes by giving him resources, access to his mansion, and the appearance of legitimacy.

According to the docs, which were filed Thursday, the girls say they were 17 -- and therefore minors -- when they were sexually assaulted at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion on East 71st Street … which they claimed Wexner had bought in 1989 before he "transferred it to Epstein for a fraction of its value."

Tom Sandoval can breathe a little easier after he allegedly got attacked in his own home by his ex-girlfriend and her dad ... because a judge just told them to hit the road.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ ... Tom's request for a temporary restraining order against Victoria Lee Robinson and her father was just granted ... and the judge ordered her and her dad to move out ASAP.

TMZ broke the story ... Tom claims he's been mistreated by Victoria for a while now ... and it all came to a head on the evening of June 3 when she allegedly roughed him up after a night of drinking.

4:05 PM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ there have been no plea bargain negotiations between prosecutors and the defense team.

Luigi Mangione may be mulling over a guilty plea, because a new report states his lawyers have discussed a deal with prosecutors ... but Luigi's team calls the report an intentional attempt to prejudice their client.

According to ABC News ... the alleged murderer's legal team and federal prosecutors have discussed a possible plea ahead of a court hearing scheduled for Monday.

Sources told the outlet it's unclear how close the two sides got to getting a deal done, but they discussed it.

TLC's Karen Derrico's facing serious charges for allegedly threatening to kill her ex and kids ... and a recording of a heated phone call probably won't help her in court.

TMZ obtained audio of the "Doubling Down With the Derricos" star having a heated phone conversation with some of her 14 children ... and at one point, a child says, "No wonder why you said you were going to kill me."

Karen denies that, and tries to correct the kid, saying ... "I said I'll kill you if you piss me off ... because you're disrespecting me because your little behind is enabled."

The intense conversation came to light after Karen was arrested and charged with harassment, violating a restraining order, preventing a witness from testifying through threat of violence, and aggravated stalking.

6:58 PM PT -- Newly surfaced video appears to show Tom Sandoval shoving ex-girlfriend Victoria Lee Robinson's dad, Will Robinson, into a lit fire pit during a heated confrontation.

3:34 PM PT -- According to court docs obtained by TMZ ... Tom Sandoval's request for a temporary restraining order against Victoria Lee Robinson and her father was just granted ... and the judge ordered her and her dad to move out ASAP.

Tom Sandoval and his girlfriend Victoria Lee Robinson are clearly not in a good place ... because the reality star just filed for a restraining order against the model after she was arrested ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Tom claims he was verbally and physically abused by Victoria after a night of drinking ... the final straw in their rocky relationship in which he says he was often mistreated.

He claims he was having a verbal argument with Victoria when he noticed she was filming him. He said this led to her dad becoming aggressive ... and Tom says he locked himself in a guest bedroom for protection, but her dad "punched a large hole" and then put his face in the hole, smiled -- a la "The Shining" -- and said he'd f**k up Tom.

If that wasn't enough, Tom claims Victoria followed up by hitting him in the face and head so hard his vision blurred.

Trevor Ariza’s ex-wife, Bree Anderson, slammed the former NBA star for failing to pay child support while his new girlfriend flaunts their lavish lifestyle ... TMZ has learned.

Bree filed court docs claiming she believes Trevor pulls in over $50K per month, despite his claims that he only makes around $6K a month. She said she makes around $11K per month but lists monthly expenses totaling $29K.

In her filing, Bree claimed Trevor has failed to pay support owed in their divorce deal.  She also alleged he failed to provide his updated financial docs.

Bode Miller just skied right past a criminal case ... because prosecutors are dumping all charges against him.

Attorney Jeromy Stafford tells TMZ that Fremont County Prosecutor Lindsey Blake has agreed to dismiss the misdemeanor drug possession and paraphernalia charges that stemmed from Miller's June 6 arrest following a traffic stop in Idaho.

Prosecutor Blake tells TMZ ... "I can confirm our office is dismissing the misdemeanor charges against Mr. Miller. Although the deputy had sufficient probable cause to arrest Mr. Miller at the beginning of June, we recently received information which resulted in our office determining it is in the interest of justice to dismiss Mr. Miller's misdemeanor charges. I will not be discussing the specifics of this recent information due to it being related to another active case." 

Floyd Mayweather's return to the boxing ring will have to wait 'cause Saturday's bout against Mike Zambidis has been canceled after an events company sued the legendary pugilist, claiming he took a multi-million dollar advance, and then ghosted them.

Mayweather vs. Zambidis, a Greek kickboxer, was just hours from going down in Athens when Floyd's attorney informed the court they were pressing pause on the event over litigation in the States.

It all goes back to a story that TMZ Sports broke last week.

CSI Entertainment, a company that puts on big events, sued Floyd in New York, claiming they inked a deal with the 50-0 fighter for the exclusive rights to fights with Mike Tyson and then Manny Pacquiao.

The amount that Nicki Minaj’s mom is set to receive as a settlement of the wrongful death lawsuit over her late husband’s death was revealed in court.

TMZ obtained court docs in which the rapper’s mom, Carol Maraj, broke down the settlement between her and the man who fatally struck Nicki’s dad, Robert Maraj, in 2021.

Carol says she agreed to $400K ... $300K from Charles Polevich -- the driver who struck Robert -- and another $100K from an insurance company. In her paperwork, Carol said she agreed to pay her legal team around $133K in fees and another $9800 in reimbursements ... leaving his estate with the remaining $234K.

"The Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum Kim Zolciak is asking a court to set an emergency hearing in her bitter divorce from Kroy Biermann ... claiming she has serious concerns about the current custody arrangement and her ex's alleged anger issues.

Kim filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, claiming the guardian put in place by the court for their four minor kids recommended Kroy undergo anger management therapy.

She also objects to Kroy continuing to have primary custody ... claiming severe issues continue to arise on Kroy’s watch.

Prosecutors have decided not to retry Harvey Weinstein for allegedly raping Jessica Mann ... this after a jury was deadlocked for the second time.

The third-degree rape charge was dropped Thursday because prosecutors say Jessica doesn't want to testify in a fourth trial ... multiple outlets report.

As you know, she accused the producer of raping her in a hotel room in 2013 when she was an aspiring actress.

The prosecution made it clear that they believe Weinstein's accuser and the dismissal is not a question of her credibility ... but they also respect her decision not to want to continue going to court.