Legal

Lena Waithe is the latest celeb to fall victim to smash-and-grab burglars ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a group of burglars smashed a window to the actress/comedian's Los Angeles-area home last week while she was out of town.

Our sources say the thieves made off with $200k worth of jewelry. One of Lena's staff discovered the break-in after coming to the home the following day and finding the front door unlocked.

Lena, best known as Denise from "Master of None" and creator of "The Chi," isn't alone ... several other stars have fallen victim to similar crimes in the past couple months.

Burglars in ski masks smashed one of Keanu Reeves' windows and entered his home in early December, and "Entourage" star Kevin Connolly's house was given similar treatment on Christmas Eve.

Model Abigail Ratchford might've endured the most terrifying situation of all ... actually being in the upstairs bedroom when someone broke in.

1/14 2:57 PM PT -- Memphis police have a lead in the Big Jook shooting ... posting photos of a white Ford Explorer they say may have carried the rapper's killers.

They're asking the public for help identifying the car and are offering a $4,000 reward for information.

Yo Gotti's brother, Anthony 'Big Jook' Mims, was shot and killed this weekend ... TMZ has confirmed.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the rapper's older sibling was gunned down Saturday in Memphis on near Winchester Road. Per reports, this murder took place after he'd attended a funeral service in the area.

There are photos and videos circulating online that purportedly show Jook bleeding on the ground with people attending to him. The exact details of the shooting are unclear at this point ... but Jook is confirmed dead.

Big Jook was incredibly close to his famous brother ... he appears to officially be affiliated with Gotti's label Collective Music Group -- promoting artists under the imprint and appearing in music videos for them as well. Jook seemed to be more so on the business side.

It's sad that he happened to be killed during a time of mourning -- something he alluded to in one of his last IG Stories Saturday ... where he was honoring a fallen relative.

Unclear if Gotti himself was with Jook during the killing -- he hasn't addressed his brother's murder just yet either. Another element to this is the possibility that this might be related to the murder of Young Dolph in 2021 ... at least that's the speculation online anyway.

As we reported ... cops rushed to Gotti's Memphis restaurant shortly after the young rapper was shot down himself outside of a cookie store -- this out of fear of possible retaliation.

It's no secret Dolph and Gotti had beef ... and now, many suspect this might be connected. Also worth noting -- the location of Jook's murder is not far from Gotti's establishment ... in fact, it's on the same block. This is also not very far from where Dolph's murder took place.

We've reached out to Gotti's camp for comment ... so far, no word back.

Carmen Electra hizo un gran cambio en su vida, tras presentar la solicitud para cambiar su nombre de nacimiento e ir formalmente por su nombre artístico, conocido hace mucho tiempo, y ahora sabemos exactamente por qué.

Fuentes cercanas a la estrella de "Baywatch" le dicen a TMZ que no hay una gran razón detrás de la decisión, sino que es algo que ha estado pensando desde hace un tiempo y dio el paso porque no hay mejor momento para empezar de nuevo que el Año Nuevo.

Cabe destacar que la actriz no usa su nombre de nacimiento Tara Leigh Patrick desde hace décadas.

TMZ obtuvo los documentos legales a principios de esta semana, los que revelaban que la actriz y modelo quiere cambiar formalmente su nombre a "Carmen Electra", así que parece que se está despidiendo oficialmente de Tara. También está formalizando lo que todo el mundo sabe desde hace mucho tiempo.

Un dato curioso: CE no inventó su nombre artístico, sino que se lo puso el difunto icono Prince, cuando se presentó a una audición para formar parte de un grupo femenino que él estaba formando a principios de los 90.

Por desgracia, Carmen no pasó el corte, pero siguió causando sensación en la televisión y en otros medios, y se quedó con el apodo.

Carmen Electra made a massive life change this past week -- filing to ditch her birth name to formally go by her long-known stage name ... and now we know exactly why.

Sources close to the "Baywatch" star tell TMZ ... there's really no big reason behind the decision -- we're told it's just something she's been thinking about for a while and finally took the plunge, since there's no better time than the New Year to start fresh.

We should note, she hasn't gone by her birth name -- Tara Leigh Patrick -- in decades.

TMZ obtained the legal docs earlier this week ... revealing she wants to formally change her name to "Carmen Electra" ... so looks like this is officially goodbye to Tara! It's also just formalizing what everyone has known her as for decades now.

Fun fact -- CE didn't come up with the zippy stage name herself -- it was actually birthed as a result of the late icon, Prince ... who bestowed the name upon her when she auditioned to be part of an all-girl group he was assembling in the early '90s.

Unfortunately, she didn't make the cut ... but she went on to make a splash on TV and elsewhere, and she kept the cool moniker for herself.

Tory Lanez was paid a visit from a very special person while behind bars -- his son Kai.

Ceasar McDowell, a member of Tory's legal team and CEO of Unite the People tells TMZ ... the 6-year-old got to visit his dad 2 weekends in a row at California Correctional Institution Tehachapi ... where the rapper is less than 4 months into his 10-yr sentence for shooting Meg Thee Stallion in the foot.

We're told a family member brought the youngster to the prison ... and they didn't have to talk through glass. In fact, they got to sit at a table and spend 4-5 hours together on both Sat & Sun.

The father/son duo played board games, did some drawing, and ate food out of the vending machine.

Tory was happy to hug his son ... and it was especially good to see him as he'd been unable to spend time with him for the holidays -- though they communicate frequently.

You'll recall ... Tory brought Kai to court several times during his shooting trial in 2022.

Tory was sentenced in August 2023 ... found guilty of all 3 charges against him -- negligent discharge of a firearm, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm.

Tory Lanez recibió la visita de una persona muy especial mientras cumple su tiempo tras las rejas, ¡¡¡su hijo Kai!!!

Ceasar McDowell, un miembro del equipo legal de Tory y CEO de Unite the People le dice a TMZ que el niño de 6 años pudo visitar a su papá 2 fines de semana seguidos en la Institución Correccional de California Tehachapi, donde el rapero lleva menos de 4 meses de su sentencia de 10 años por dispararle a Meg Thee Stallion en el pie.

Nos dicen que un miembro de la familia trajo al pequeño a la prisión y no tuvieron que hablar a través de un vidrio, de hecho, llegaron a sentarse en una mesa y a pasar unas 4 y 5 horas juntos, tanto el sábado como el domingo.

Tory y su hijo jugaron juegos de mesa, dibujaron y comieron de la máquina expendedora.

Tory estaba feliz de abrazar a su hijo, especialmente porque no lo había podido ver para las fiestas de fin año, aunque se comunican con frecuencia.

Ustedes recordarán que Tory llevó varias veces a Kai al tribunal durante su juicio por disparos en 2022.

Tory fue condenado en agosto de 2023. Lo declararon culpable de los 3 cargos en su contra: negligencia en la descarga de un arma de fuego, asalto con un arma de fuego semiautomática y llevar un arma de fuego cargada y no registrada.

Donald Trump just got a cosign on his upstanding character -- but he received it from none other than a notorious mobster in Sammy the Bull ... and yet, he's still pretty thankful.

The ex-Prez sent a shoutout to the former Gambino crime family underboss on Truth Social -- reacting to a clip of an interview Sammy recently did on VladTV where he discussed once trying to "get to" DT back in the day ... when he was just a big-time developer in NYC.

As Sammy explains, he was able to press a lot of real estate dudes in the game during that time and have his way with them ... but, apparently, Donny himself wasn't having it.

STB goes so far as to say that despite repeated attempts to get into business with Trump -- and getting rebuffed at each stop -- he decided Don was "legitimate" and moved on. It's certainly an interesting anecdote, but Trump loved the "praise" ... and made it known online.

Trump wrote in response, "Thank you to Sammy the Bull. I hope Judges Engoron & Kaplan see this. We need fairness, strength and honesty in our New York Courts. We don’t have it now!" The robes he's referring to here are the ones overseeing a couple of his cases at the moment, BTW ... he seems to think they need to take a cue from Sam on morality.

1. Of course, the backdrop to this is Trump being in court on a number of different fronts as we head toward the '24 election. He's being prosecuted criminally, and being sued civilly too.

NY's Attorney General, Letitia James, for example claims DT is totally corrupt and a very shady business guy ... something she and her team have been trying to prove in court.

Donald Trump acaba de recibir un espaldarazo de su íntegro carácter, lo recibió de nada menos que un notorio mafioso, Sammy the Bull, y aun así está muy agradecido.

El ex presidente le envió un saludo al ex jefe de la familia criminal Gambino en Truth Social, como reacción a una reciente entrevista de Sammy en VladTV donde habló de cómo intentó contactarse con Donald Trump en su momento, cuando era solo un gran promotor en Nueva York.

Como Sammy explica, él fue capaz de presionar a un montón de tipos en el juego de los bienes raíces en ese entonces y pudo negociar con ellos, pero, al parecer, con el propio Donny no pudo conseguirlo.

STB  fue tan lejos como para decir que a pesar de sus repetidos intentos por hacer negocios con Trump -y ser rechazado en cada intento- decidió que Don era "legítimo" y siguió adelante. Es sin duda una anécdota interesante y a Trump le encantó el "elogio", tanto que lo hizo saber en línea.

En respuesta, Trump escribió: "Gracias a Sammy The Bull. Espero que los jueces Engoron y Kaplan vean esto. Necesitamos justicia, fuerza y honestidad en nuestros tribunales de Nueva York. Ahora no la tenemos". Los jueces a los que se refiere son los que están supervisando algunos de sus casos en este momento. Por cierto, parece pensar que deben seguir el ejemplo de Sam en cuanto a moralidad.

Por supuesto, el telón de fondo de todo esto es que Trump está en la corte por distintos frentes a medida que nos dirigimos hacia las elecciones 2024. Está siendo procesado penalmente y también demandado civilmente.

El fiscal general de Nueva York, Letitia James, por ejemplo, afirma que Donald Trump es totalmente corrupto y un hombre de negocios muy sombrío, algo que ella y su equipo han estado tratando de demostrar en los tribunales.

Anderson .Paak se está divorciando y poniendo fin a un matrimonio largo y muy privado que parece haberse desmoronado muy de repente ... TMZ ha averiguado.

El cantante acaba de presentar los documentos legales para pedir la disolución del matrimonio con su esposa, Jae Lin, con quien ha estado casado durante mucho tiempo.

De hecho, a diferencia de lo que se pensaba, AP cita el 2010 como el año en que se casaron y no el 2011 como todos creían.

Ahora, en cuanto a su fecha de separación, parece que ni Anderson lo sabe, pues dejó en blanco esa casilla en el papeleo y simplemente escribió "TBD".

Sin embargo, no oculta el hecho de que quiere un divorcio directo, a diferencia de una separación legal, y nombra a sus dos hijos menores de edad como individuos con los que tendrá que negociar la custodia, y de buenas a primeras, parece dispuesto a compartir los deberes de crianza.

Anderson señala en su solicitud que él y Jae quieren tener la custodia legal y física conjunta de sus hijos, con un régimen de visitas para ambos. En términos de la división de sus bienes y propiedades, Anderson .Paak dice que él y su equipo legal todavía tienen que determinar quién es el dueño de qué.

Como hemos dicho, han sido pareja desde hace un tiempo y Anderson es bastante discreto con su vida privada, a pesar de que, profesionalmente, se ha disparado en los últimos años.

Anderson .Paak is getting divorced -- ending a lengthy and very private marriage that seems to have fallen apart very suddenly ... TMZ has learned.

The singer just filed legal docs asking for a dissolution of marriage from his wife, Jae Lin ... to whom he's been hitched for a long time. In fact, contrary to the year the public seems to have thought they tied the knot (2011) ... AP cites 2010 as the year they got married.

Now, as far as their separation date ... it doesn't sound like Anderson even knows when that was -- 'cause he leaves it blank here in the paperwork, and simply writes "TBD."

Still, he makes no bones about the fact that he wants a straight-up divorce -- as opposed to a legal separation -- and goes on to list their two minor children as individuals they'll need to hash out custody over ... and right off the bat, he seems willing to share parenting duties.

Anderson notes in his filing that he wants himself and Jae to have joint legal and physical custody of their kids ... with a visitation schedule for both of them. In terms of divvying up their assets/property ... AP says he and his legal team still need to ascertain who owns what.

Like we said, they've been a couple for a while now -- and Anderson's pretty low-key about his private life ... even though, professionally, he's been skyrocketing over the past few years.

Supa Emcee -- the Michigan-born rapper whose biggest claim to fame is being cut OUT of Eminem's "8 Mile" -- has been charged with murder following the death of his girlfriend.

According to the local reports, Supa -- real name Jimmie Brown -- has been accused by the authorities of stabbing and slashing his partner of 13 years, Kelly Mays, around 17 times in the neck and chest during an alleged altercation in their Detroit apartment on January 7.

Cops claim he fled the scene before turning himself in later in the day ... when he was ultimately charged with murder.

Mays' daughter denounced all association with Brown, telling local Fox 2 Detroit, “I hate him now and he is no father of mine. I touched her foot, and it was cold. I have nightmares about it so every time I fall asleep, I see it.”

Brown's a seasoned veteran on the Detroit rap scene ... he got the chance to battle rap against Em in the iconic hip hop film but the scene got downgraded to the DVD ... destined to become a relic soon.

We obtained the court docs ... Brown's next hearing is scheduled for January 25. He faces up to life in prison if convicted. Mays was 49.

Sam Haskell Jr. is officially denying culpability in his triple murder case this week -- and the guy continues to go shirtless before a judge ... this as officials have fears of self-harm.

The murder suspect had an appearance in court Friday in Los Angeles, where he and his lawyers officially entered not guilty pleas to the 3 counts of murder Haskell is facing. Also of note ... the fact he was trotted out in front of everybody with his bare chest exposed again.

Remember, he was rocking the same sorta look when he first appeared in court last month ... something correctional officers relegated him to because of what they said were suicidal thoughts he was expressing.

Now, more than a month later of his being in custody ... he's still shirtless, something his lawyers griped about Friday -- claiming their client has not indicated he intends self-harm upon himself. Despite this, hizzoner denied Sam a shirt ... offering a self-harm vest instead.

Doesn't sound like Sam took the judge up on that ... and now, he's due back in court next month. It's unclear what exactly he's wearing behind bars, but when he's appeared in court ... he's been shirtless both times.

Remember, prosecutors allege Sam killed his wife, Mei, as well as her parents Yanxiang and Gaoshan. TMZ obtained surveillance video that appeared to show Haskell dumping something off at a dumpster shortly before he was arrested.

He remains in custody without bail.

Jenelle Evans' husband, David Eason, is now facing a more serious charge in his criminal child abuse case as it pertains to her teenage son ... and the charge itself is troubling.

An official at the Columbus County Courthouse in North Carolina confirms to TMZ that Eason's charges have, in fact, been recently updated ... and it's bad news for him because now he's got a felony that he's facing.

We're told that, as of right now, he's in their system with one count of misdemeanor child abuse and one count of felony assault by strangulation.

Before this, we'd been told that David was facing just a single charge -- misdemeanor child abuse -- but now ... that's changed, and it appears as if a new one has been added ... which perhaps isn't surprising based on what allegedly happened.

TMZ broke the story ... law enforcement in NC accused David of roughing up Jenelle's 14-year-old, Jace, in late September and the injuries he allegedly sustained included marks on his arm and neck.

It appears that as the investigation continued, officials determined a separate strangulation charge was warranted -- which just ups the ante on the case. Of course, we'd been told there was a possibility Jenelle herself might possibly be charged in connection to this too ... but that apparently hasn't happened yet.

Speaking of Jenelle ... she was airing some grievances of her own on social media Friday -- teasing the possibility of doing a doc about her own life ... and inviting production people to hit her up for the opportunity to collaborate.

Actress Mia Goth -- known for the films "X" and "Pearl" -- is being sued by a background extra of her upcoming film in the series ... after allegedly kicking him in the head on purpose during a take.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Mia, director Ti West, and A24 are all being sued by an extra for the upcoming flick, claiming things got physical last year while they were shooting late at night.

The background actor says the scene called for him to wear a robe and be covered in fake blood from head to toe ... and he says he had to lay down in the dirt and play dead for several hours, "enduring ants and mosquitoes."

Mia, who plays Maxine, was supposed to run past the actor, step over him and look at him, then keep running ... but after a few takes, the actor claims Mia "nearly stepped" on him.

He says Mia was warned to be careful but instead, he claims she "intentionally kicked" him in the head with her boot on the following take, causing serious pain and neck stiffness. He says doctors later told him he suffered a concussion.

He claims no medical assistance was provided on set. Instead, he says Mia approached him in the bathroom and "taunted, mocked, and belittled" him ... daring them to do anything about what went down.

What's more, he says the fake blood had stuck to his body, so peeling off the blood-stained robe caused more pain -- and he claims he experienced headaches on the drive home and "nearly passed out twice" during the trip.

Miley Cyrus was apparently plush with trouble this morning after cops say some weirdo showed up on her doorstep with a token of love that was full of cotton ... and it landed the guy in jail.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ 52-year-old Alexander Kardalian was arrested early Friday near Miley's L.A.-area home -- this after they got a call around 1 AM on a report of a suspicious person Miley and co. suspected might've been somebody she's dealt with before.

As it turns out, they were right ... 'cause Miley previously got a restraining order against Kardalian for something similar last year ... and he was ordered to stay away from her.

Now, we're told he showed up at her front gate and was trying to give something to MC -- specifically, a stuffed animal of some sort, according to our sources. Doesn't sound like the guy got far though ... we're told Miley security detained him and waited for LAPD to arrive.

When cops showed up, we're told they hauled him away and ended up booking him for violating a court order. Remember -- Miley claims she's been dealing with this Kardalian since at least 2018 ... and notes he did some time in San Quentin before allegedly pulling up at her crib in 2022 upon release.

Miley Cyrus fue aparentemente envuelta en problemas esta mañana después de que la policía dijera que un bicho raro se presentó en su puerta con una muestra de amor que estaba llena de algodón, y el tipo aterrizó en la cárcel.

Fuentes policiales le dicen a TMZ que Alexander Karddalian, de 52 años, fue detenido el viernes cerca de la casa de Miley en Los Ángeles. Esto, después de que recibieran una llamada alrededor de la 1 AM sobre una persona sospechosa que Miley y compañía temían que podría ser un sujeto con el que ella había tratado antes.

Resulta que tenían razón, porque Miley obtuvo una orden de restricción contra Karddalian por algo similar el año pasado y le ordenaron mantenerse alejado de ella.

Ahora, nos dicen que se presentó en la puerta principal de su casa y estaba tratando de entregarle algo a Miley Cyrus, en concreto, un animal de peluche de algún tipo, según dicen nuestras fuentes. Parece que el chico no llegó lejos, sin embargo ... Nos dicen que la seguridad de Miley lo detuvo y esperó a que la policía de Los Ángeles llegara.

Cuando los policías aparecieron, nos dicen que se lo llevaron y terminaron fichándolo por violar una orden judicial. Recuerden, Miley afirma que ha estado tratando con este Karddalian desde al menos 2018 y señala que pasó algún tiempo en San Quintín antes de supuestamente aparecer en su casa en 2022 después de la liberación.