Legal

Charlotte Ayanna, the actress who played Ethan Hawke's wife in "Training Day," was arrested in West Hollywood after allegedly kicking a deputy and spreading cremated human remains in a home ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... deputies were responding to a call for a welfare check on October 8 when they say the situation took a violent turn.

According to cops, the alleged victim told deputies Ayanna -- born Charlotte Lopez -- threatened his life, battered him, and spread cremated human remains inside the residence.

Katy Perry and her ex, Orlando Bloom, could be pulled back into an old legal fight by the man who sued over a real estate deal gone south involving the pop star ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the exes are being dragged back into the legal battle brought by businessman Carl Westcott.

As you may recall, Carl sued Katy’s business manager, Bernie Gudvi, to undo the sale of a $15 million home in Santa Barbara. He lost the case and was ordered to hand over the keys to Katy, but she was ordered to pay the remaining balance on the home purchase … which came out to around $4 million.

Jane Doe's attorney worked with a newspaper before he ever filed her explosive lawsuit accusing the Cornell 7 of gang rape ... at least according to Diego Sarabia's lawyers.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Sarabia's defense attorneys claim Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, never denied coordinating with The Cornell Daily Sun before the lawsuit was filed in court.

James Knox and Alishah Bhimani, who are representing Sarabia, also take issue with Giuffra's claim that defense attorneys representing defendants in Doe's civil suit have been leaking documents to the media that are favorable to their clients.

Six Flags Magic Mountain is being sued by someone who claims he was injured on the park's CraZanity attraction ... TMZ has learned.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Simon Kasawa says the ride operator at the California amusement park didn't give him a heads-up before activating the attraction’s mechanical harness.

Kasawa says he wasn't fully sitting down when the harness came down on him … causing "significant injuries."

Katie Zacharia says her mind was elsewhere when she took the bar exam in California ... and she failed because she was too distracted by planning her wedding.

The new White House Press Secretary admitted Thursday that she never passed the bar despite presenting herself as a "lawyer" ... and she went with the wedding-planning excuse in an interview with Jack Posobiec on "Real America's Voice."

Katie says she failed the bar in 2011 after graduating from Pepperdine University's law school ... claiming she was not only distracted by planning her wedding to Tyler Zacharia, but also by her plans to move to China to be with Tyler.

Trump supporter Eric Deters is suing Kimberly Guilfoyle ... and he says things that might come out in the legal process could seriously damage the president's administration.

The former Kentucky congressional candidate released a video Thursday ... in which he said he filed a defamation suit against the former U.S. Ambassador to Greece.

Deters claims he's got a recording of a phone call he plans to play for the world on Friday ... which he says may topple this administration and sink JD Vance and Marco Rubio's chances of winning the 2028 presidential election.

Former Browns receiver David Bell just filed a massive $300 million lawsuit against multiple doctors and a large hospital system, claiming they nearly killed him and ruined his career.

In the explosive suit, filed Thursday in Philadelphia, Bell claims he was pushed into an unnecessary "core muscle repair" (referred to as a "Meyers Repair") to treat residual pain from a previous hip injury. He says docs told him the procedure was relatively low risk.

Instead, he claims the surgery caused severe injury to his femoral artery ... necessitating him being rushed to a local hospital for emergency vascular treatment that the filing describes as “life-saving but career-ending.”

Bryce Hall rushed to court asking for a restraining order against his ex, Mika Lafuente, days after the alleged fight that led to his domestic violence arrest ... TMZ has learned.

According to court records, obtained by TMZ, the influencer filed a petition on August 6 accusing Mika of stalking or harassment ... and five days later, on August 11, the court denied the request.

The case was filed 10 days after Mika called police on July 27 and claimed Bryce got physical with her at his home during their split.

Jane Doe's attorney is a massive hypocrite for claiming lawyers for the Cornell 7 are leaking documents to the media to make their clients look good ... at least according to Gillio Lopes' lawyer.

Andrew Miltenberg fired back at Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, in a scathing statement to TMZ ... "The hypocrisy in Mr. Giuffra's sudden outrage over defense counsel speaking to the media is astonishing. He spent weeks promoting his client's allegations on television, in newspapers and across the internet, helping turn this case into a national media spectacle before the seven publicly identified defendants had a meaningful opportunity even to review the allegations, much less respond."

Miltenberg's return volley comes after Giuffra filed legal docs claiming his media appearances were kosher and the defense attorneys were leaking like a sieve. Giuffra name-dropped TMZ and highlighted our relationship with Mark Geragos.

One of Russell Brand's alleged sexual assault victims took photos of him shirtless on the night she says he raped her ... and, in the pics, he seemingly blew a kiss for the camera.

The photos were presented in court Thursday ... and they show a young Brand wearing just a pair of white pants and a belt -- no shirt.

In one pic, Brand is leaning casually against a wall and smiling ... while in another he seems to have just blown a kiss toward the alleged victim and her camera.

11:30 AM PT -- Chief White House Spokesperson Katie Zacharia tells TMZ ... “I practiced international transaction law, with all the appropriate credentials.”

A White House official also says ... Katie has her JD from Pepperdine. Katie moved to China with her husband after graduating because of his job at an American private equity firm while she worked on international transaction law.

Katie Zacharia -- the new White House Press Secretary -- never passed the bar exam ... even though President Donald Trump insists she's a lawyer.

The Wall Street Journal published an article Thursday that cites an anonymous source with direct knowledge of the matter who claims Katie took the bar exam shortly after graduating from Pepperdine University's Caruso School of Law and didn't pass.

Katie then went to China with her future husband ... where she worked as an associate on the international-practice team at a law firm in Beijing. The source told the WSJ that Katie was told by real lawyers that she could provide legal analysis based on her law degree and international transaction experience.

Russell Brand's tongue was "lizard-like" when he allegedly raped a woman back in 1999 ... at least that's what the woman told police.

The alleged victim's 2023 interview with cops was played in court on Thursday ... and, in it, the woman explains she came forward with her claims after seeing a documentary about Brand's alleged misconduct.

She says the alleged encounter started when she and Brand were chatting after a theatre show he performed in ... she says he suggested they go back to his hotel room.

8:26 AM PT -- Winston Lee's lawyer, Teny Geragos, tells TMZ ... "To the extent Mr. Giuffra is implying I’m leaking anything, that is false.  But, the facts will come out and they will show my client did not assault or harm this person.”

Jane Doe's lawyer claims lawyers for the defendants in her lawsuit are the ones leaking documents to the press ... and he's name-checking us in the new filing.

Thomas Giuffra filed the legal letter Wednesday asking a judge not to enter a broad order restricting both sides from speaking about the case in the media ... insisting that, while the Cornell 7 have been on a coordinated media blitz, he's just been reacting to the fervor around the case.

In the documents, Giuffra claims it's the lawyers for the so-called Cornell 7 leaking documents to the press ... and, at one point, he highlights TMZ's relationship with Mark Geragos -- implying he's been carrying the water for the defense's position and getting information out through TMZ.

Matt Gaetz -- the former congressman from Florida -- has been sued by two women who claim he sex trafficked them.

The pair -- who are going by Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 in the lawsuit -- allege they met a man named Micah Greenberg through the online dating website Seeking Arrangement ... a website commonly used to facilitate relationships between older, wealthy people and young people who could use a little extra dough.

Jane Doe 1 says she met Greenberg in 2017 ... at first allegedly engaging only him in sexual acts in exchange for money.

"NYPD Blue" star Kim Delaney and her husband, James Morgan, are back together ... just months after she sought a restraining order against him ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the actress filed to dismiss her divorce after her attorney told the judge Kim had reconciled with James.

The move comes after several years of trouble for the couple ... and just months after James was arrested for public intoxication at LAX in July after reportedly getting into it with Kim and a flight attendant.

Diddy busted his head during a fight with another famous, or infamous, inmate ... a Jamaican drug lord known as "Dudus," and TMZ has learned the fight was over Diddy getting all the inmates in trouble.

Multiple sources inside Fort Dix FCI tell us ... Diddy and "Dudus" -- real name Christopher Coke -- came to blows last Friday, and Diddy got the worst of it ... suffering a head injury so severe, prison officials rushed him to an outside facility for treatment.

We're told the two men were fighting because Dudus, and many other inmates, are pissed at Diddy for getting exposed in that NBC News report about his luxurious life behind bars. As a result, prison officials have conducted at least 2 raids and confiscated cell phones from inmates ... including Dudus.