TV

Netflix and "When They See Us" creator Ava Duvernay are being sued over the police interrogation technique depicted in the film because its creator claims the movie got his method all wrong.

A former cop named John Reid claims in his lawsuit ... the Emmy-winning film defamed him by saying his method was used to squeeze statements out of the Central Park 5 suspects.

In particular, he points out a scene from episode 4 where a detective and someone from the D.A.'s Office are discussing the interrogation of the suspects. The prosecution staffer says to the detective, "You squeezed statements out of them after 42 hours of questioning and coercing, without food, bathroom breaks, withholding parental supervision. The Reid Technique has been universally rejected. That's truth to you."

In the lawsuit, Reid says the technique he created specifically does not teach withholding parental supervision, denying interview subjects any of their rights or making threats of physical harm. He claims it specifically calls for extra caution when interviewing minors.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Reid questions Duvernay saying, "We did our research" before making the film by inviting law enforcement personnel to discuss the case. Reid claims if that were true -- Ava would have learned his technique disavows the type of things depicted in the movie.

Alex Trebek is clearly having some difficulties taking the reigns of "Jeopardy!" as he undergoes a second round of chemo for pancreatic cancer, but it is full steam ahead and there are no signs Alex is throwing in the towel.

Trebek's recent interview with Canadian TV fueled speculation his days as the host of the iconic game show may be numbered. He said chemo has caused mouth sores to erupt, making it difficult to speak. Alex has said repeatedly, if his ability to host the show diminishes, he will step down, but we're told that's NOT on the horizon.

"Jeopardy!" production sources tell us the show is taped 2.5 months in advance, and as of now, they have shows well into December. So, if Alex is under the weather and misses a few tapings, it won't send the show into freefall.

Lilly Ghalichi might not be heading to split city with her husband after all -- either that, or they just play nice around their daughter ... VERY nice.

The former "Shahs of Sunset" star and Dara Mir -- her estranged hubby who filed for divorce from her in August -- threw their daughter, Alara, a lavish party for her first birthday Sunday ... and really seemed to have a good time together.

In photos from the 1-year-old's "Glam Carnival" -- obtained by TMZ -- Lilly and Dara look ecstatic celebrating their girl, and were spotted sharing a passionate kiss.

Joe Giudice is bailing from the U.S., because we've learned he's on a flight to Italy -- TODAY!!!

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Joe got what he wished for -- a ticket to Rome that leaves the mainland tonight while he awaits the decision on remaining in the United States. BTW ... he's flying economy.

TMZ broke the story ... Joe wants to return to his native land so he can get work and send money back to the States to support his wife, Teresa Giudice, and their 4 daughters ... all of whom live in New Jersey.

Aaron Carter can't take direction well ... or so it seems, after losing his cool with paps.

The singer made an appearance at the "Marriage Boot Camp: Family Edition" premiere party Thursday night at the Mondrian Hotel in WeHo where things quickly went from 0 to 100. Aaron had just arrived, flashed a smile and then flipped the double bird to photogs.

It's unclear what paps wanted him to do -- maybe not flip them off -- but as you can see from the video ... Aaron didn't like it and chastised paps, "You don't tell me what to do. I tell you guys what to do." Aaron then walked away and gave paps a death stare.

Bill Cosby should have been ambushed by 27 women, who accused him of sexual assault, with "small, very sharp knives" during a 2015 TV interview ... according to one of the lawyers on the case.

The Montgomery County D.A.'s Office just released -- under court order -- emails regarding Cosby, and in one exchange from October 2015, obtained by TMZ, prosecutor Stewart Ryan responds to an article link sent by Deputy District Attorney Thomas McGoldrick about NBC's "Dateline" airing a joint interview with the 27 alleged victims.

Ryan replies with a joke about setting the disgraced TV dad up "To Catch a Predator"-style ... by inviting him to the interview, ambushing him and allowing the women to interview him.

McGoldrick takes it a step further, though ... by suggesting Cosby's accusers be allowed to "interview" him with knives.

Kenya Moore's returning for the upcoming season of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta," but it seems the war with her nemesis has fired up again ... even though Kenya says she comes in peace.

Moore was at Sally Beauty in Atlanta Wednesday for the launch of her haircare line, when we asked her about her issues with NeNe Leakes ... and she didn't hold back.

Kenya tells us her former friend has shown her true colors over time, but says she doesn't understand why NeNe's so intimidated by her.

She goes on to call Leakes a bully who's treated all of her 'RHOA' costars terribly, and according to Kenya ... NeNe has "very few friends" left because of it.

Spoiler alert ... Luke Perry's character just got a touching sendoff on the new season of "Riverdale" ... with the TV show bidding farewell following the actor's death.

The hit CW series said goodbye to Luke's character, Fred Andrews, during Wednesday's season premiere ... killing off Fred 5 minutes into the new season, and then giving him an emotional funeral.

KJ Apa's character, Archie, is sitting in Pop's having breakfast when he gets a phone call before dropping his phone and falling to his knees. In the next scene, Archie is at home when a cop tells him Fred was driving home to Riverdale when he died in a hit and run.

Evelyn Lozada has beelined it to court asking for a restraining order against "Basketball Wives" costar OG Chijindu.

Evelyn's filed legal docs asking for a temporary restraining order against OG in light of all their beef over the last few months. A judge has yet to rule on Evelyn's request for a restraining order. Evelyn's been down this road before back in September ... following a meltdown on the show's reunion.

As we first reported ... Evelyn sued OG claiming she's called her a racist bigot on social media ever since Evelyn posted a cryptic message back in September.

You know Marvel's "X-Men" as defenders of justice, but a TV show -- in Hungary of all places -- claims Wolverine and co. are guilty of stealing the theme song to their hit cartoon.

A guy named Zoltan Krisko is suing every media giant you can imagine -- Marvel, Disney, FOX, Apple, Amazon and more -- claiming the TV execs behind the animated series from the '90s jacked the intro music from an even older show ... called "Linda."

Bear with us ... "Linda" aired in Hungary from 1984 to 1991, and according to a lawsuit filed by Krisko it was a hit cop comedy/thriller. Hey, genres are different over there.

Anyway, Krisko says he manages the estate of a Hungarian composer named Gyorgy Vukan, who created and copyrighted the "Linda" theme song in 1983. Krisko says it sounds exactly like the tune the "X-Men" cartoon used years later.

Todd Chrisley and his wife, Julie, can put their tax woes behind them -- at least at a state level -- but they're not yet in the clear of their federal tax evasion case.

The "Chrisley Knows Best" couple reached a settlement with the Georgia Department of Revenue last week stemming from allegations they evaded nearly $2 million in state taxes between 2008 and 2016 ... and it's mostly good news.

According to the Chrisley camp ... Todd and Julie were found to have incorrectly filed for just one year in that time span, 2009, and in the end they agreed to pay $77,000 in overdue taxes.

The Georgia DOR has subsequently dropped its claim the Chrisleys owe more than $2.1 mil in unpaid taxes, interest and fees.

Todd says, "Julie and I knew all along that we had done nothing wrong and that when all the facts came out, we would be fine."

Lamar Odom was feeling a little contained below the belt as he waited on deck at "Dancing with the Stars" -- so he made a BIG adjustment ... which was caught on camera.

The former NBA superstar grabbed his crotch and aggressively shifted the family jewels Monday night during the live broadcast. The 'DWTS' cameras caught ALL the action ... to be fair, it was hard to miss ... right after Hannah Brown finished her dance.

Towering Lamar paso'd his doble right behind Erin Andrews as she interviewed Hannah. It seems like he didn't know he was in the frame during his not-so-low-key move.

Simon Cowell appeared to have a wonderful time at his 60th birthday dinner, but nothing like the joy of a superfan -- a woman who shook off a crappy day at work to celebrate her hero.

The "America's Got Talent" judge was feeling the love from the paparazzi Monday night after celebrating his milestone birthday at Nobu Malibu, and then he made a woman's night -- hell, maybe her entire year ... with a handshake and a side hug.

Simon's warm exchange with the woman is also hilariously awkward ... especially when she offers up some troubling employment news right away.

D.L. Hughley's not necessarily pointing the finger at police following the death of Botham Jean's neighbor ... but he's not yet convinced they have clean hands either.

We got Hughley Monday at LAX, and his take on the shocking murder of Joshua Brown -- who testified against ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger days before getting gunned down -- is definitely an interesting one.

D.L. said if Brown had testified against a gang member and then got shot, it would be natural to suspect the gang was involved. So, in this case, it only makes sense to wonder if cops had something to do with the slaying.

He says if the police really had nothing to do with Brown getting killed in a Friday night drive-by shooting, they'll be extra motivated to find the true killer. But, if they don't solve the case ... Hughley says they're opening themselves up to serious suspicion.

Liam Hemsworth's busting out the big guns ... in wake of his ex, Miley Cyrus, publicly flaunting her new man, Cody Simpson, and his glorious abs.

Liam's ripped arms and huge biceps were on full display Monday as he filmed some action scenes in a sleeveless tee for his upcoming new TV series, "Dodge & Miles."

Though Hemsworth hasn't commented on Miley apparently moving on with Simpson -- who's Australian just like him, by the way -- he's letting his guns do the talking for now.

We broke the story ... Miley and Cody were seen kissing last week at an L.A. eatery, and she confirmed their "morning make out session" and fawned over him and his abs on Instagram.

The guys behind "South Park" are taking shots at the NBA for apologizing to China ... and it's pretty funny in an international-political-incident sort of way.

Here's the deal ... both South Park and the NBA are in hot water in China for recent criticisms about the government.

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted out on Friday, "Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong" ... which led to the Chinese government essentially blackballing the Rockets.

Over at "South Park," last week's episode mocked China mercilessly for censorship ... and pointed out how Winnie the Pooh is bear non grata over there because people have used the cartoon character to mock President Xi's physical appearance.

According to reports, the Chinese government has blocked the "South Park" episode from TV and the internet.