Legal

Warren Sapp was investigated for an alleged battery at a senior living facility in Florida ... but prosecutors declined to charge the former NFL star with a crime ... TMZ has learned.

According to a police report, obtained by TMZ, the Apopka Police Department responded to the Solaris Healthcare facility on May 25 after a female employed claimed Warren got physical with her.

The employee alleged Warren came to Solaris asking for records and answers regarding their family members’ insurance ... due to issues with claims being denied ... and she said he "became verbally hostile."

10:00 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the Reuters report about the ransom notes being fake is not accurate.

The series of alleged ransom notes sent to media outlets about Nancy Guthrie's kidnapping are bogus, according to a new report.

Reuters published an article Tuesday, saying the Federal Bureau of Investigation determined the notes are fake, but did not say how investigators came to that conclusion.

TMZ and other news outlets received the notes, which were then turned over to the FBI for analysis. The 2 alleged ransom notes were sent early on in the case ... and Reuters references the separate notes from someone claiming to know the kidnappers' identities, which TMZ obtained.

A suspect in Oklahoma City should've let sleeping dogs lie ... because he's almost certainly nursing a sore leg -- and facing an extra charge -- after dragging a K9 unit with his truck in a shocking video.

Dramatic footage shows cops performing a traffic stop that goes from routine to chaotic in seconds ... when a suspect standing out his box truck suddenly makes a break for it.

The K9 unit -- named Dash -- runs after the guy as he runs to truck, opens the door and gets behind the wheel ... latching onto the guy's leg with his jaws as the man starts to drive away.

Taylor Frankie Paul's mom is going to bat for her in her custody battle with her ex, Tate Paul ... blasting Tate for trying to keep Taylor's children away from their mother.

Liann May took a shot at Tate on social media ... saying he knows darn well Taylor's a great mother, and keeping her kids away from her only hurts the children.

Taylor's mama says her grandkids "LOVE their mommy more than anyone or anything in this world."

Colleen Zenk failed multiple sobriety tests and tried fleeing the scene before her latest DUI arrest ... at least according to police in Florida.

"The Young and the Restless" star was booked on two DUI charges on May 15 after cops say she drunkenly crashed into a parked car in front of a Tommy Bahama store in Naples.

Police say a witness at the scene told them Zenk initially tried leaving the scene, but she was stopped a few feet down the road. The witness told cops Colleen was stumbling when she exited her vehicle.

Jermaine Jackson looks like he no longer has to cough up millions of dollars to his rape accuser ... a judge voided the $6.5 million default judgment against him because the woman did not use his legal name while trying to serve him the lawsuit ... TMZ has learned.

We told you all about it ... plaintiff Rita Butler Barrett sued Michael Jackson's older brother in December 2023, claiming he "violently" raped her. She said Jermaine unexpectedly showed up at her Encino, California home in the spring of 1988 and raped her for several minutes until he abruptly stopped, leaving her traumatized.

According to the filings, she and her attorney tried tracking Jermaine down to serve him the lawsuit -- even publishing a legal notice in the Los Angeles Times in August and September 2025.

Sexyy Red wrote an emotional letter to the judge presiding over late music producer Tay Keith's lawsuit over unpaid music royalties ... TMZ has learned.

Sexyy wrote the note, obtained by TMZ, on June 6, 2026 ... just days before Tay's death. He was suing her label when he died.

In her letter, Sexyy disputes the claims made in Tay's case and says she recently learned that she was named as a defendant ... adding, "I am appalled and furthermore hurt by the allegations made."

Chris Brown is on the hook for a massive judgement to his ex-housekeeper after a jury found him liable for her injuries from a dog attack on his property, TMZ has learned.

A jury came down with the decision on Tuesday after a lengthy trial between Chris and Maria Avila. 

Maria sued Chris claiming he was negligent in allowing the large dog to roam his backyard … which is where she claims she was mauled while taking out the trash. In his initial response to the lawsuit, Chris argued Maria provoked the dog and caused her own injuries. 

'Bachelorette' alum DeAnna Pappas scored a win in her battle over money with her ex-husband Stephen Stagliano … after claiming she was living off her savings to survive, TMZ has learned.

DeAnna and Stephen faced off in a L.A. courtroom, where the judge ended up siding with the reality star. 

The judge ordered Stephen to pay DeAnna $109k she claimed to be owed in their divorce settlement ... and $27,240 for legal fees.

Taylor Frankie Paul's ex-husband beelined it to a Utah courthouse seeking a restraining order and sole custody of their kids ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Tate Paul filed the request Tuesday against "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star with the former couple's 2022 divorce proceedings.

Sources close to Tate tell TMZ ... he has also filed to seek sole custody of their two children ... Indy and Ocean.

The docs show Tate also submitted five exhibits and a declaration in support of his request. All of the filings are under seal, and as a result, it's unclear what prompted Tate to seek the restraining order.

A source close to Taylor tells TMZ the restraining order petition is a direct result of Dakota telling Tate lies about her. She feels Dakota will do anything to hurt her ... including using the children, but she is a survivor.

Lil Durk says the feds pulled a fast one ... claiming prosecutors completely changed their case against him just weeks before trial ... and now he wants the judge to either break apart the case into separate chunks or throw the whole thing out.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Durk says his lawyers have spent 19 months getting ready to fight the murder-for-hire case tied to the 2022 killing of rapper Quando Rondo's cousin in Los Angeles ... only for prosecutors to call an audible.

Durk's lawyers Drew Findling, Brian Steel Marissa Goldberg and Christy O'Connor, say prosecutors have suddenly piled on a bunch of new allegations and charges -- including drug trafficking, robbery, and an old Atlanta shooting -- turning the case into something entirely different.

Maryland teenager Jonah Poole was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder for killing his former boss, Edward Koza ... burning him to death inside his car.

The Anne Arundel County Police Department announced Poole's sentence last week ... saying Poole was ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison and forfeit approximately $215,000 he stole from Koza, his former boss at Tropic Bay Water Gardens in Davidsonville, MD.

It remains unclear if Poole's brief employment with Koza was part of his motive for the killing.

Denise Richards is asking a judge to make sure her estranged husband, Aaron Phypers, promises not to leak her financial records before she's forced to turn them over in their nasty court battle ... TMZ has learned.

The "Wild Things" star filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, claiming Aaron has spread all sorts of private information about her to the media in the wake of their split.

Denise says Aaron wants her to turn over bank statements and information about her pay for "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" ... but she insists much of that information is subject to confidentiality agreements with production companies, and she wants to make sure a protective order is in place before she sends them over.

Keanu Reeves went to bat for his old director ... but it wasn't enough to keep Carl Rinsch out of prison after the filmmaker was sentenced in his $11 million Netflix fraud case.

Here's the deal ... Keanu personally wrote to the judge asking for leniency for Carl -- who directed Keanu in the 2013 movie "47 Ronin" -- calling Carl an "exceptional artist" while acknowledging Carl has a tendency to self-sabotage. Keanu also praised Carl's unfinished Netflix series at the center of the case as "superb and visionary."

The heartfelt endorsement didn't carry the day, though ... a federal judge sentenced Carl to 30 months behind bars Monday after he was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes tied to the failed project.

NPR may have jumped the gun on one of the biggest political scoops of the year ... reporting that Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is retiring, only to quickly reverse course and retract their story.

The Alito retirement story, written by prominent SCOTUS reporter Nina Totenberg, was published Tuesday morning before quickly disappearing from NPR's website. In its place now sits a brief editor's note that reads, "This story has been taken down. It was published in error."

The report spread quickly because the stakes couldn't be much higher. If Alito steps down, President Trump would get the chance to nominate a fourth Supreme Court justice -- further cementing his influence over the nation's highest court for years to come.

The twist here is who's behind the scoop ... Totenberg has spent decades covering the Supreme Court and is widely regarded as one of the best-sourced reporters on the beat -- having broken countless major stories involving the justices. That's already fueled speculation the underlying reporting may be sound and the story simply went live before NPR intended.