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Taylor Swift flipped through an old poetry book and decided to hijack the vibe and design for her own offering nearly a decade later -- at least according to a new lawsuit.

A woman named Teresa La Dart has filed suit against TS, claiming she and her company lifted crucial elements of her own published work -- a 2010 book called "Lover" that includes poems, anecdotes and photos -- for TayTay's 2019 book of the same name.

Of course, Taylor has her "Lover" album ... but this lady is going after her for the accompanying book she released as a companion piece to the hit record.

Per the docs, obtained by TMZ, La Dart insists the similarities between what she put out almost 10 years ago and what Taylor released are too close to ignore. She says her book was widely available and insinuates Taylor and co. saw it and then essentially created carbon copy -- trying to pass it off as original.

As for what exactly she thinks is so alike between her book and Taylor's ... there's a few things actually. Aside from sharing a title, La Dart claims the general concept of what Taylor did -- a "recollection of past years memorialized in a combination of written and pictorial components," according to La Dart -- is exactly what her book is, to a T.

La Dart also claims the style of the photos featured on the cover/foreword are very similar ... pointing specifically to the pastel pinks and blues in the color schemes of both books.

Rex Ryan is putting his beloved feet to the test -- the ex-NFL coach is slated to compete on the newest season of "The Amazing Race" ... in hopes of winning a million bucks.

The former Bills and Jets coach will be teaming up with his partner, Tim Mann ... and the duo will be traveling around the world and competing in several challenges.

If you haven't seen the show, it's been on the air for 33 seasons ... so it might be too late to bring you up to speed. It's basically a scavenger hunt on steroids.

59-year-old Rex coached in the NFL for decades -- he won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens as a defensive line coach ... and led the New York Jets to back-to-back AFC championship games.

He most recently had an analyst job with ESPN ... appearing on "Sunday NFL Countdown."

40-year-old Mann is Ryan's friend of 6 years/golf buddy ... and is a probation officer.

Sylvester Stallone and his wife are calling it quits, she's filed for divorce after 25 years of marriage ... and is accusing the actor of moving assets from marital funds.

Jennifer Flavin filed docs Friday in Florida ... unclear exactly why she decided to pull the plug on their marriage, but some fans started to sense trouble thanks to a recent tattoo coverup -- the "Rocky" star removed an image of Jennifer's face from his arm.

Flavin wants exclusive domain over their house in Palm Beach while divorce proceedings wind their way through the courts.

She also made clear ... she believes Sly is hiding marital assets. In the divorce docs, obtained by TMZ, she says, "Upon information and belief, the Husband has engaged in the intentional dissipation, depletion and/or waste of marital assets which has had an adverse economic impact on the marital estate. Pursuant to Section 61.075, Florida Statues, equity dictates that the Wife be compensated and made whole by receiving an unequal distribution of the marital assets in her favor. Moreover, the Husband should be enjoined from, selling, transferring, assigning, encumbering, or dissipating any assets during the pendency of proceedings."

Jennifer wants to restore her last name -- Flavin. She also wants a judge to put the brakes on Sly moving assets from the marital pot. Closer Weekly first reported the split.

Stallone used to have a portrait of Flavin on his bicep, but recently got it covered by an image of his late dog, and "Rocky" costar Butkus.

When asked about the reasoning behind covering the ink of Jennifer, Stallone's rep told Daily Mail, "Mr. Stallone intended to refresh the tattoo image of his wife Jennifer; however, the results were unsatisfactory and, unfortunately, unfixable."

What's more ... Jennifer took to Instagram to post a photo with the three daughters she and Sylvester share, with the caption, "These girls are my priority <3 nothing else matters. The 4 of us forever."

Jennifer and Sylvester got married in 1997.

We reached out to Sly's rep ... so far, no word back.

Retired NBA star Gilbert Arenas says he's happy to still be breathing after he cost Irv Gotti and Ja Rule $175k ... claiming he purposely busted up a bet they had on a game he was playing in -- and they were FURIOUS over it!!

Arenas -- who was on the Warriors at the time -- said he was playing a road game against the Rockets when he overheard Gotti and Ja mentioning they had bet on the Dubs to cover the spread that night.

Agent Zero says he had no idea what the spread was, but made it his mission to spoil their night ... knowing he had to score some more points to kill the bet.

Arenas said his Warriors were losing to the Rockets, led by Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, and with the game out of reach, he came down the court and threw up a half-court three-pointer.

Naturally, the wild shot went in ... sinking any hopes Gotti and Ja had of cashing out that night.

"[I] came down and shot it," Arenas said. "And I could see the disappointment in their face. I won. I won the game. We're going back to the locker room, and I'm sitting there like, 'Yeah, I hurt somebody's feelings today.'"

"I didn't know how much money they had on the game. I didn't really know it was about betting, but I knew I hurt [Gotti's] feelings. I knew I hurt his feelings. He was disappointed even though they won. He was disappointed, so that means I won."

Thanks to a recent interview on the "Drink Champs" podcast, we now know that Gotti and Ja bet $175K on the Rockets to cover the spread against Gilbert's Warriors.

"We wanted to kill Gilbert Arenas after that," Gotti said on the podcast. "The whole arena knew we had 175 [thousand dollars] on this. The refs knew. Everyone knew."

While Migos continues dodging break-up rumors, Offset's going to war with the group's record label ... filing a lawsuit over his solo career.

Offset filed docs, which TMZ Hip Hop obtained, and in them he accuses Quality Control Records of ignoring a deal they made back in January 2021.

According to the suit, filed Tuesday, Offset says he negotiated his solo deal, and "paid handsomely" for his artist rights ... but now that he's dropped a new solo project, he says QC isn't honoring the deal.

He just released the Baby Keem-produced solo single, "54321" … which he says QC incorrectly tried to claim as its own, an action he calls "hostile."

Offset also plans on releasing another song entitled "Code" with Moneybagg Yo this Friday, presumably just on Motown Records, the label he signed with for his solo career.

Migos sparked break-up rumors earlier this year when Quavo and Takeoff began releasing music under the moniker "Unc & Phew." Quavo was willing to talk about everything -- except the alleged split.

Offset's Migos deal with QC remains in place -- but when it comes to his solo work, he wants the court to declare QC does NOT own anything he's made since January 15, 2021, or in the future.

Kodak Black is lending a major hand to Haitians cut off from food and water -- due to extreme gang violence -- by sending more than 35,000 bottles of H2O.

Kodak heard about the Caribbean nation's crisis, and decided to do something to help the situation -- dropping $50k to get tons of bottled water shipped there from Florida ... according to the rapper's attorney, Bradford Cohen.

We're told Kodak is using cargo ships to send over alkaline water, and the labels on the bottles read "LAST" because Kodak wants this to be the last time anyone in Haiti goes without water.

Once the shipment reaches Haiti ... Kodak and his team are working with Haitian government officials to ensure the bottles get to their intended destinations.

Cohen says Kodak is calling for a ceasefire in the rising gang violence that's turning Haiti into a war zone ... and the water donation is just his latest step in an ongoing effort to help the island.

The nasty letter John Lennon wrote to Paul McCartney in the '70s has sold at auction after 17 days of bidding ... with the winner coughing up some serious dough for the piece of Beatles drama.

Dylan Kosinski, a rep for Gottahaverockandroll Auction House, tells TMZ ... the Lennon letter sold on Saturday for a total of $70K -- a winning bid of $56K, plus the buyer's premium of $14K -- the fee for participating in the auction.

As we reported, John fired off a letter to Paul days after an interview critical of him and The Beatles appeared in a November 1971 issue of British music magazine Melody Maker, and John's reply is mostly scathing ... but also thoughtful and pleading.

John's frustration with Paul is clear from the jump ... telling Paul he's ungrateful for all the money he's getting from The Beatles.

As the 3-page letter rambles on, John takes issue with Paul dismissing his song "Imagine" and berates Paul for allegedly threatening to "get us whatever the cost" -- "us" referring to the rest of The Beatles.

The piece was estimated to fetch between $30-40K ... we're told there were 11 bidders gunning for the letter, with a total of 14 bids in 2 1/2 weeks' time.

A piece of NFL history can now be all yours thanks to Hakeem Nicks ... TMZ Sports has learned the former NY Giants star has decided to part ways with his Super Bowl ring -- putting it up for auction this month.

Bidding on the bling -- which Nicks helped Eli Manning and the Giants win in an epic game against Tom Brady and the Patriots back in 2012 -- is currently at $25,000, but officials at Heritage Auctions tell us it could ultimately get up to over $80,000.

The ring is massive, it's a size fifteen piece that's so loaded with diamonds and blue sapphires, it weighs in at a whopping 95 grams.

It also has plenty of history attached to it -- because Nicks was a huge reason why NY was able to upset Brady in the SBXLVI game.

The former first-round pick totaled 10 catches for 109 yards in the contest -- and had some huge grabs for Manning in the team's fourth quarter, game-winning drive.

It's unclear why Nicks is selling the piece -- but according to Heritage Auctions, the ring comes with a letter of provenance from the former wideout and we're told a portion of the proceeds will go to charity.

Vanessa Bryant's co-plaintiff Chris Chester is seeking millions in damages as the trial over the Kobe crash photos nears an end ... with his attorney asking for up to $32.5 million in damages.

The Chester and Bryant family attorney's both made closing statements ... but only Chester's specified a dollar amount.

Craig Lavoie, Vanessa's attorney, asked the jury to hold the officers accountable for allegedly taking and sharing gruesome photos of her late husband and daughter.

Bryant's lawyer reiterated Vanessa will constantly live in fear, knowing the photographs could hit the internet at any moment.

"Anytime, any day, that can be the day," Lavoie said. "Every day they will live in the fear that that is the day they will resurface."

It's been an emotional couple of weeks for Vanessa ... who's been in the courtroom every day, forced to listen to painful details about the tragic accident and the subsequent investigation into whether law enforcement inappropriately shared the images.

But, Vanessa hasn't been alone. On Monday, Ciara and Monica were on hand to support Bryant, with the latter showing up on Tuesday, as well.

In Chester's attorney, Jerome Jackson's closing remarks, he asked for $2.5 million for his client ... citing emotional damages sustained over the last two years.

Jackson's also asking for between $100K and $1 million for the rest of Chris' life ... which based off life expectancy data, is 30 years.

FYI, Chester lost his wife and 13-year-old daughter in the crash.

Vanessa's attorney, while addressing the court, made it clear the case was not about the accident ... but rather the alleged improper behavior of the deputies.

"44 years ago, today Kobe was born. It’s an honor to stand here beside Vanessa and ask for justice. Tragedy took both Kobe & Gigi away. We’re not here because of an accident, here because of intentional conduct. We’re going to ask you to deliver justice."

Tennis star Nick Kyrgios is being sued by the woman he had booted from his Wimbledon match for allegedly getting wasted and distracting him ... with the fan instructing her attorney to file a defamation lawsuit in court!

Anna Palus, a fan who was ejected from Nick's July 10 finals match in London, released a statement Tuesday, saying she plans to take the 27-year-old Australian to court for what she claims was a damaging characterization.

As we previously reported, Kyrgios complained to the refs during his match against Novak Djokovic, saying Anna looked "drunk out of her mind" and kept talking to him while he was playing.

When asked by the chair umpire to identify the woman who was distracting him, Kyrgios famously said, "She's the one who looks like she's had 700 drinks."

Anna claims she and her family suffered "very substantial damage and distress" due to the incident ... and now, they're going after Kyrgios for the alleged harm he's caused.

"During the course of the final, Nick Kyrgios made a reckless and entirely baseless allegation against me," the statement read. "Not only did this cause considerable harm on the day, resulting in my temporary removal from the arena, but Mr. Kyrgios’s false allegation was broadcast to, and read by, millions around the world."

"The need to obtain vindication and to prevent [the] repetition of the allegation are the only reasons for taking legal action. Any damages recovered will be donated to charity," the statement continued.

Kyrgios lost the final to Djokovic in four sets.

Ultimately, Anna says she hopes Kyrgios will reflect on the harm he's caused her and her family and offer a "prompt resolution" to address the situation.

Miami rapper Zoey Dollaz recently dropped "Dollaz" from his handle, but added a money notch to his biz profile -- essentially starting a bulletproof version of Uber or Lyft.

On Tuesday, Zoey hit up "TMZ Live" to discuss Aegis -- the bulletproof car service he named after the Greek god Athena’s protective cloak -- and he told us he was partially inspired by his own brush with death.

Zoey is actually a shooting survivor himself, having been shot in December 2020 outside Teyana Taylor’s birthday party in Miami.

On top of that, he and Young Thug survived a shooting while driving around Atlanta … where he guestimates 75 rounds were fired in their direction.

That was enough of a spark for him to start Aegis operations with just 2 vehicles back in January 2021. Zoey says proudly he rented out 23 cars to artists during this year's Rolling Loud Miami festival.

Zoey says his company isn’t just for rappers ... he actually counts Manny Pacquiao as a past client and he wants pro athletes and regular citizens fearful of road rage to utilize his services.

He's based in Miami but has availability in major U.S. cities such as Los Angeles, Atlanta, Texas, Chicago and NYC.

The Washington Post reports Americans have purchased more than 43 million guns over the last 3 years -- and many, in and out of the industry, have called rapping. "the world's most dangerous job."

George Lopez is all for getting his comedy out into the world by any means possible -- but he claims streaming giant Pandora never even bothered to license his comedy specials before streaming them ... which is why he's dragging them to court.

The legendary comic just filed suit against the radio streaming giant, claiming they've exploited his copyrighted material -- namely, his standup from 2 different specials -- without first getting a proper license to distribute it.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, George alleges Pandora has been streaming upwards of 37 works of his contained in 2001's "Right Now Right Now" and 2003's "Team Leader," which are 2 of his stand-up specials that became albums.

There are 18 chapters on the former, and 19 on the latter ... so essentially, George is saying Pandora's ripped off the entirety of each special and streamed it without his permission ... and, perhaps more importantly, without paying him.

You can tell he's pretty fired up about this too, because he's got a fiery introduction to this suit.

His attorneys write, "Pandora not only did not obtain any license for the Works but admitted that it did not do so in SEC filings, and admitted that it would very likely face copyright infringement liability as a result. But Pandora did what most goliaths do: it decided it would infringe now to ensure it had this very valuable intellectual property on its platform to remain competitive, and deal with the consequences later. Later is now."

George wants an accounting of all profits made from streaming his stuff and is looking to collect big damages. In the alternative, he's looking for statutory damages totaling $5.5 million for the alleged infringements.

Rick Ross is tired of Jake Paul's boxing opponents backing out, so he's reaching deep into his pockets, offering up a whopping $10 million on top of the fighter's purse ... all to secure a fighter for the Problem Child.

Of course, 25-year-old Paul was scheduled to fight Tommy Fury (twice) and Hasim Rahman Jr., but both men never made it to the ring ... and Ross tells TMZ Sports he's so sick of it, he's cutting an 8-figure check.

Rick, who is friends with Jake, says the $10,000,000 will be awarded in addition to whatever fighter pay is negotiated with promoters. He doesn't care how the cash is split up (all to the winner, 50/50, etc.).

Ross believes fighters are (let's say) a bit hesitant to step into the ring with Jake ... after the YouTuber turned boxer starched Nate Robinson in 2020, turning the former NBA star into a meme.

It's unclear how Ross, a renowned businessman, would make his money back.

Rozay says the 10 milli isn't directly tied to any one fighter, but the rap mogul tells us he'd love to see the Fury fight finally go down.

Tommy and Jake, who have beefed for years, were twice supposed to fight in the past. In 2021, Fury, brother of heavyweight champ, Tyson Fury, withdrew from his bout with JP over a chest infection and broken rib. Tyron Woodley stepped in ... losing by KO.

In 2022, Fury, citing issues traveling internationally, again pulled out of his scheduled bout with Jake. Rahman Jr. stepped in ... but that fight was also canceled after contractual disagreements relating to the weight of the son of the former heavyweight champ.

But, despite the fight seeming cursed, all hope isn't lost that the men will face in the squared circle. Earlier this week, Tommy hit social media and reaffirmed his desire to scrap with Jake, flatly saying "no one is afraid to fight you!"

Paul, 5-0 (4 KOs) professionally, announced several days ago he'd fight at 185 lbs. in October ... but did not specify an opponent.

Capitol Records is raising eyebrows with its recent signing of a digital rapper named FN Meka -- an artificial lifeform that creates music through computer intelligence -- and veteran human MC Krayzie Bone has mixed thoughts!

We got the Bone Thugs-N-Harmony member outside of Dash Radio and on one hand, he thinks it could start a booming trend ... which isn't hard to see, given the popularity of TikTok, the metaverse and cryptocurrency.

Of course, Krayzie sees the writing on the wall ... real rappers could be out of work and label signings as a result of the digital uprising.

He's not alone in his thinking ... The Game, Lil Mama and R&B singer Sammie all railed against the announcement ... forcing FN Meka (or its handlers) to make the Instagram account private, which is not a good look for a new artist -- real or otherwise.

One weighty cosign FN Meka has going for him/it is Gunna, who was featuring with gaming streamer Clix on the AI rapper's debut single, "Florida Water."

Krayzie also took time out to address the ongoing legal drama brewing between Swizz Beatz, Timbaland and their Verzuz partners at Triller.

If you remember, Krayzie was a part of one of the most memorable episodes ... Bone Thugs Verzuz Three 6 Mafia, most notable for Bizzy Bone's wild on-stage brawl that almost shut down the event.

Tom Girardi and Erika Jayne's stuff from their ritzy property has got to go -- so there's a fire sale of sorts underway ... and it's first come, first serve to the highest bidder.

Contents from the former couple's Pasadena mansion are now up on the auction block, helmed by John Moran Auctioneers ... which is hawking any of the goods in an effort to pay down debt owed in Tom's bankruptcy case.

There's a lot of stuff they're trying to unload here ... everything from furniture and décor to valuable art pieces and sports memorabilia that have graced Tom and Erika's home for a long time.

Here's some of the most valuable items up for grabs -- the biggest ticket item is a 1997 Steinway piano that's expected to fetch anywhere between $40,000 and $60,000. The auction house says it's a rare edition, and considered one of the finest instruments of its kind in existence.

There's also mid-century art from guys like Joan Miro and David Hockney -- paintings and etchings that could rake in thousands of dollars on their own -- plus a few Glenna Goodacre bronze sculptures ... one of which is valued at between $30k-$40k alone.

Other things being sold include ... Girardi's personal library, which includes his own personal law books, rugs, wall mirrors and a variety of sofas and lamps. They could all bring in a haul of tens of thousands of dollars combined, if not more.

The court-ordered sale is scheduled to get underway on September 21, starting at noon.

This is a place that Erika was once proud to show off on camera -- she's given a tour of the Pasadena estate -- but, of course, her ex-hubby has fallen into trouble with the law ... as authorities have alleged his old firm mismanaged tons of client assets for their own use.

LeBron James will now have a crown everywhere he goes -- 'cause the King just got his iconic "LJ" logo imprinted on his tooth!!

The Lakers shared a pic of James -- who's gearing up for his 20th NBA season -- on social media minutes ago ... showing the 4-time NBA champ sporting his new bling.

In the pic, you see James' signature "LJ" logo -- which was created to go on all his shoes and apparel when he signed his deal with Nike -- etched on his tooth.

It's plausible Bron got the idea from his homie Odell Beckham Jr. ... who dropped $1.8 million on 13-carat diamond porcelain veneers in 2021.

The flashy wide receiver didn't stop there, though ... 'cause Odell then spent $5K to get diamonds implanted on his teeth -- which aren't removable!!

No word yet on who hooked LBJ up or how much it cost, but he just signed a 2-year, $97.1 million contract extension with the Lake Show ... so he can definitely afford it.