Scandals

The Cornell University disciplinary committee expelled Jonathan Newell, a defendant in Jane Doe's civil lawsuit, because he had sex with her without her consent ... Doe's lawyer tells TMZ.

Attorney Thomas Giuffra tells TMZ ... "We believe that [the text messages TMZ posted] were part of the Title IX process which led to Mr. Newell's expulsion after twelve days of evidentiary hearings and extensive documentary evidence. It is undisputed that the Hearing Panel found that Mr. Newell violated Ms. Doe's bodily safety in commencing intercourse without her consent."

Someone who has reviewed the hearing panel's decision tells TMZ the panel found Newell did not have "affirmative consent," meaning there was not express consent to engage in sex. Title IX says "silence or lack of resistance in and of itself does not demonstrate consent."

Although Jane Doe says in her early texts her initial encounter with Newell and Matthew Ingalls was consensual, her lawsuit she says things changed when Ingalls went to take a nap. She says Newell then began reaching for her vagina multiple times, "and each time [Doe] pushed his hand away." She says another man entered the room, grabbed her away from Newell and began kissing her while Newell groped her vagina.

A man who tried to out the Cornell Jane Doe went nuclear on the Ithaca Common Council ... and his rant is on video.

Michael Tracey -- who previously asked his X followers to identify the former Cornell student accusing 7 frat bros of drugging and sexually assaulting her -- launched into his diatribe Wednesday night as the council got ready to vote on a temporary moratorium on event permits for Cornell and its affiliated organizations.

According to the Cornell Daily Sun, Tracey tried to propose a motion to reconsider after the council didn't name him as one of the public commenters at the meeting.

Mayor Robert Cantelmo responded, saying ... "You're definitely not eligible to make motions."

8:54 AM -- We obtained the dispatch call tied to the swatting incident, and you hear the dispatcher say cops determined there was "nothing going on."

The woman at the center of the "Cornell 7" gang rape case was the victim of a "swatting" incident this week, prompting heavily armed police to respond to her home and causing concern for her and her family ... according to her lawyer.

Her attorney, Thomas Giuffra, told CNN's Kaitlan Collins Wednesday night that his client -- known as Jane Doe -- was still reeling from Tuesday night's swatting incident that brought law enforcement officers to her doorstep with their guns drawn.

Giuffra said Doe's family filed a police report detailing what happened ... according to the report, a person called 911 claiming a man had shot his mother to death before turning the gun on his sister ... they gave cops her address, but the info was totally bogus.

Gillio Lopes -- one of the defendants named in Jane Doe's lawsuit alleging she was gang raped at a Cornell University fraternity -- has no plans to drop out of the Ivy League school despite a recent confrontation on campus.

The student's attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, tells TMZ ... Gillio plans to continue attending classes and earn his Cornell degree.

Miltenberg points out Cornell already punished Gillio ... he was suspended for three semesters and placed on probation for two years following the Title IX investigation for allegedly having sex with Jane Doe without her consent.

Chi Phi frat bros banded together after 7 brothers were accused of drugging and gang-raping a fellow Cornell student in 2024 ... telling investigators on camera they heard the sex was all consensual.

In never-before-seen video obtained by ABC News, you see Cornell University police grilling two members of Chi Phi in the weeks after the alleged October 2024 gang rape at their frat house ... asking them how they knew it was consensual.

The Chi Phi brothers claim they were present in the house that night but did not have sex with the Jane Doe ... and one says, "What people were saying was that there was like multiple consenting adults in this room."

Three of Nolan Wells' friends are suing a TikTok creator who allegedly branded them killers.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, Warren Hudson, Jax Pitalo and Morgan Seymour filed a defamation lawsuit Tuesday in Mississippi against Sandra L. Butler, who allegedly runs the TikTok account "gods_bestgirl" and identifies herself as "Royalty."

The three men claim Butler repeatedly accused them of killing Wells aboard a boat on July 4, fleeing the scene, tampering with his phone and lying to cover up the alleged crime.

11:57 AM PT -- TMZ has obtained video of the incident.

The American Airlines passenger who allegedly took off her underwear and jeans to masturbate on a flight pressed her legs against the window and moaned as she pleasured herself ... at least according to the man sitting in front of her.

According to a witness statement to police, obtained by TMZ, Katy Inzer was seated behind a husband and wife aboard an AA flight from Baltimore to Miami on September 11 when the husband heard "strange loud moaning sounds" coming from the row behind him.

The man told police when he spun around and saw a half-naked Inzer pleasuring herself with her legs against the window.

Dolly Parton's nephew Bryan Seaver went scorched-earth in a series of emails ... calling one man a "f***ing s***bag loser" and warning his lawyers would "start f***ing you up the ass" ... according to newly filed court docs.

The wild alleged messages, obtained by TMZ, appear to stem from a dispute over security and construction issues at a Nashville property tied to Dolly's estate.

In the emails, Seaver complained about staffing, alleged drug use by subcontractors, and a build-out he claimed was badly behind schedule.

The father of 21 children embroiled in a surrogacy scandal genuinely wanted to raise a bunch of kids who would contribute to the world ... at least according to his lawyer.

Here's the deal ... last summer, Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang of Arcadia, California, were arrested on suspicion of felony child endangerment after the 21 children were discovered to be living in one home. According to a search warrant, the investigation began after an infant suffered an apparent head injury.

Investigators claim video from inside the home shows a nanny -- Chunmei Li -- holding the infant. The infant allegedly cries for a few seconds before "a thud or hit is heard," and then the "crying suddenly stops."

Sebastian Maniscalco taking over a SiriusXM comedy channel has caused an uproar with some comedians ... but the radio company is defending the famous comedian against the backlash, TMZ has learned.

The comedian took over Raw Comedy Channel earlier this year, which was a channel that focused on spotlighting a wider pool of lesser known comedians.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... SiriusXM regularly reviews how its channels are performing and decided to pursue a new creative direction for the comedy channel while keeping comedy programming on the platform.

Jane Doe called frat bro Matthew Ingalls 3 weeks after the alleged gang rape to figure out what exactly went down, and she recorded their tense convo about consent.

During the phone call, Jane reportedly told Ingalls she'd had 10 shots of booze before she got to the Chi Phi house party, but you hear Ingalls suggest the opposite ... telling Doe, "You did tell me you were sober, by the way. You said you hadn't been anywhere."

But, ABC News reports Jane insisted she was out of it, and wondered how so many guys ended up in the room with them, telling Ingalls ... "If I wanted to take this somewhere, what y'all did would be classified as gang rape."

Two zebras just got benched.

The NFL has suspended two officials -- line judge Jeff Seeman and ref Adrian Hill -- for unprofessional conduct towards players in two separate incidents on Sunday ... a very rare move from the league.

Seeman’s two-game suspension comes after the official was seen jawing with Cardinals star tight end Trey McBride, yelling, "F*** you!" at him twice ... which was captured by television cameras.

Nolan Wells' family is turning up the pressure on authorities ... calling once again for the FBI and DOJ to step in and investigate the 18-year-old's mysterious death ... 93 days after he passed.

Attorney Ben Crump joined join Nolan's parents and Stop AAPI Hate Executive Director Cynthia Choi at a news conference Monday in Inglewood, California.

His mother Christine Wells-Wonsley and father Elmore Wonsley renewed demands for a federal investigation into what happened to Nolan, who disappeared during a Fourth of July boating trip to Horn Island in Mississippi and was found dead two days later.

Cornell University regularly turned a blind eye to frat parties that posed health and safety risks, and after a Cornell University police officer complained ... rather than enforcing its own rules, the University relaxed them.

TMZ has obtained the rules that were in effect up to the end of 2022 ... it says if a fraternity violates the rule by holding an event which poses health and safety risks -- including underage alcohol consumption -- there is a MANDATORY interim suspension while the University investigates. In other words, the fraternity must cease all activities immediately pending the outcome of the investigation.

Furthermore, if the University finds the fraternity violated the rules, there is a MANDATORY MINIMUM 3-YEAR SUSPENSION.

One of the men accused in the Cornell gang rape lawsuit wants New York Attorney General Letitia James off the case ... arguing she's already picked a side.

Attorney Andrew Miltenberg, who represents one of the 7 fraternity brothers accused in the civil suit, is calling on James to recuse herself from the reopened criminal investigation after she posted a message supporting the accuser.

James wrote that what Jane Doe had "been forced to endure" was "horrific and unacceptable," adding ... "we stand with you."

Some of the frat boys accused in a lawsuit of gang raping a Cornell University student went into "damage control" to try to save their reputations and futures at the Ivy League college, according to ABC News. 

ABC reporters recently reviewed text messages, phone records, and other documents connected to the alleged October 2024 sexual assault of the now-former Cornell student by 7 young men at Chi Phi fraternity house. 

Last month, the ex-student filed her lawsuit against the 7 frat brothers, claiming they drugged her with ketamine and then gang raped her during a night of drug and alcohol debauchery.