Legal

"Love Island USA" star Hannah Smith has just been slapped with criminal charges stemming from her recent arrest in Atlanta ... after prosecutors say she threatened to kill a police officer.

Cobb County prosecutors reviewed Hannah's case and decided to formally charge her with two felonies ... terroristic threats and willful obstruction of a law enforcement officer ... according to new legal docs obtained by TMZ.

As we previously reported, the reality TV star was arrested at a concert venue in Atlanta back in September, when she was escorted out of the venue for being disorderly. She was released on bail after spending one night in jail.

Justin Baldoni is continuing his legal crusade against his "It Ends With Us" costar Blake Lively -- he and his production company just filed a massive lawsuit against Blake, her husband Ryan Reynolds and her publicist Leslie Sloane ... seeking hundreds of millions of dollars.

Justin and his company, Wayfarer Studios, which produced "It Ends With Us," filed the federal suit ripping Blake and Leslie for their alleged campaign to smear Baldoni and snatch away control of the movie ... which he directed and costarred in with Blake.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Blake was "determined to make Baldoni the real-life villain in her story" to deflect from getting publicly trashed as "tone-deaf" during the film's media tour.

Wendy Williams says her "life is f***ed up" and feels like she's trapped in a prison ... and it's all due to her being stuck in a conservatorship, despite not being "cognitively impaired."

In a rare interview, Wendy opens up about her lack of well-being on "The Breakfast Club," where she went in depth about how she's been mistreated over the past three years by her conservator, Sabrina Morrissey.

Wendy called in to the popular radio show, since she was unable to leave what's described as a "luxury prison." Wendy was joined on the call by her niece, Alex, who helped expand on Wendy's poor living conditions.

Liam Payne's friend Roger Nores -- who was with him in his final chaotic days alive in Buenos Aires -- is suing Liam's father for allegedly smearing him in the media in the weeks after Liam died.

Roger filed the defamation lawsuit Thursday against Geoff Payne for saying Roger was supposed to take care of Liam at the time of his death. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Roger says Geoff submitted a sworn declaration to Buenos Aires police stating Roger had "full responsibility for Liam's care during this last period when I was not there."

But, Roger sternly denies that saying in the lawsuit, he "never agreed to be and was never the caretaker of Liam." He acknowledges they were "dear friends" and supported each other, but says it was never a paid job for him.

Forget the issue of Drake's street cred (just for a moment), because it's his lawyers who clearly know very little about Kendrick Lamar ... the guy who wrote the song they're suing UMG over.

A big part of Drake's 81-page defamation lawsuit over "Not Like Us" refers to the danger the diss track created for the Toronto rapper -- as the song "repeatedly suggests that violence should be used against Drake because he is a pedophile," and "the Recording repeats 'wop, wop, wop, wop' and then says Lamar will 'f**k 'em up.'"

But this is where Drake's legal team gets out over its skis, writing ... "Later, the Recording threatens that if Drake comes to Oakland, where Lamar grew up, he will not make it out alive: 'I think that Oakland show gon' be your last stop.'"

Another legal issue has just cropped up for Conor McGregor ... TMZ Sports has confirmed the UFC superstar has been sued over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman during an NBA game back in 2023.

The suit was filed in a federal court in Florida on Tuesday ... by a woman ID'ed only as "Jane Doe."

She alleges in her court docs that at some point during the Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets playoff game on June 9, 2023 at the Kesaya Center in Miami, McGregor led her into a men's restroom near the arena's nightclub, and sexually assaulted her inside of a stall.

1:00 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Universal Music Group tells TMZ … “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist -- let alone Drake -- is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.

"Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.

"We have not and do not engage in defamation -- against any individual. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more that write a song.”

Drake is not backing down in the war against his own label, in fact he's now upped the ante by suing Universal Music Group for spreading the "false and malicious narrative" he's a pedophile ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Drake filed the defamation case Wednesday morning in federal court in NYC ... ripping UMG for releasing and promoting Kendrick Lamar's vicious diss track, "Not Like Us." In the docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Drake says UMG knew full well Kendrick's lyrics, and images in the music video, referring to Drake as a pedophile were false and dangerous.

In the suit he calls Kendrick's hit -- filled with "inflammatory and shocking allegations"-- was a "gold mine" for UMG ... and he says they had an ulterior financial motive in promoting it.

Justin Baldoni is warning Disney and Marvel to hold onto all docs related to the various characters Ryan Reynolds played in "Deadpool & Wolverine" as he mounts his legal case ... and he's zeroing in on one particular character he thinks was intended to mock and bully him.

Baldoni’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, fired off a legal letter, viewed by TMZ, to Marvel’s Kevin Feige and Disney’s Bob Iger, indicating he believes Reynolds was openly mocking Baldoni in a scene from the July 2024 release.

In one scene, Reynolds drops the line, "Where in God's name is the intimacy coordinator?!"

In another scene, playing a character called "Nicepool," he compliments Blake Lively’s character "Ladypool" after just having had a baby, saying "you can't even tell" ... and makes a comment about identifying as a feminist.

One of the stars from a Disney Channel show says he's getting harassed at his new job, slinging ice cream, due to his previous arrest and conviction for interacting with a minor online.

Stoney Westmoreland, who played the grandpa on "Andi Mack," ran to court to get a restraining order against a former neighbor who keeps showing up at the Cold Stone Creamery where Westmoreland works.

In the docs, Westmoreland says the guy has told the store's owner and manager lies about him, accosted Cold Stone customers and told them he's a "child rapist." He says he's feeling frightened by the man's actions, which picked up right around the holidays.

Michael Lewis -- the man accused of stalking Caitlin Clark -- appeared in court on Tuesday and immediately made waves ... exclaiming he was "guilty as charged" before the proceedings even got started.

The bizarre scene all unfolded inside of an Indiana courtroom ... just two days after Lewis was arrested in Indianapolis on allegations he sent harassing and disturbing messages to Clark throughout December and January.

The 55-year-old Texas native -- wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs -- was escorted into the courtroom by authorities ... and as he sat down -- he said out loud he was "guilty as charged."

Diddy says the "freak-off" videos the government is trying to use against him actually prove his innocence ... he says the tapes show consensual sex with Cassie and he even claims she appeared to enjoy herself.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Diddy's defense team says they've seen the 9 so-called "freak-off" videos the feds are making a big stink about ... but his attorneys say the content on the tapes amounts to "private sexual activity between fully consenting adults in a long-term relationship."

Diddy's legal team says his ex-girlfriend Cassie "not only consented, but thoroughly enjoyed herself" and "is evidently happy, dominant and completely in control." The docs reference Victim-1, who we now know is Cassie.

Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann's final days in their home were far from peaceful ... and we have the police body cam to prove it.

As you know, cops were called to intervene back in December when Kroy chose to block Kim's moving truck with his car ... to prevent her from taking off with any of their shared property, which he felt he was entitled to.

Yet, as new police body cam footage obtained by TMZ shows ... Kim hurled her own accusations of theft at Kroy during the moving day debacle.

Kathy Griffin's marriage to Randy Bick is about to be officially dunzo.

The comedian settled her divorce with Bick in L.A. County Superior Court after she filed to end the marriage back in December 2023.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... the former couple got hitched on New Year's Day 2020 and inked a prenup, but three years later they split, citing irreconcilable differences.

Jessica Simpson and Eric Johnson have split after a decade of marriage ... TMZ has confirmed.

Jessica tells us ... "Eric and I have been living separately navigating a painful situation in our marriage. Our children come first, and we are focusing on what is best for them. We are grateful for all of the love and support that has been coming our way, and appreciate privacy right now as we work through this as a family."

The couple first got together way back in 2010, and got engaged that same year as well. It took a little while, but JS and EJ finally got hitched in 2014 ... and since then, they've had three children together ... 12-year-old Maxwell, 11-year-old Ace and 5-year-old Birdie.

The accusations against Diddy keep stacking up -- he's now facing another sexual assault lawsuit by a Jane Doe who says she was underage when the alleged assault occurred.

In legal docs obtained by TMZ -- an unnamed woman has come forward and is suing Diddy and two John Does who she claims were with him.

The woman claims in 2000, when she was 16, she ran into Diddy and two men, who apparently worked for him, in an SUV after leaving a babysitting job in Manhattan. She says they offered her a ride home, and after much pressure from Diddy, she eventually agreed.

A man was arrested in Azusa -- a city just east of Pasadena where one of the largest fires in L.A. is raging -- Friday ... and, cops claim he may have tried to start another fire.

Azusa PD tells TMZ  ... officers were dispatched to a local park just before midnight in regards to a brush fire -- where they claim a witness told them the man who lit the fire was still at the scene.

Officers located the suspect -- a "transient" named Jose Carranza-Escobar -- who they claim admitted to lighting the fire. Cops then arrested Carranza-Escobar.