VH1

Arghhhhh ... the star of the VH1 reality show "Black Ink Crew" is also a PIRATE who allegedly stole the Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor fight -- this according to a new lawsuit.

Ceaser Emanuel -- who owns the Black Ink tattoo shop featured on the show -- is being sued for a FORTUNE after he allegedly rigged the TVs at the parlor to play the fight without paying the proper fees.

Remember, the fight cost most people $99 on Pay-Per-View -- but if you wanted to show the fight in a commercial business, you had to pay thousands of dollars extra in licensing fees.

Well, according to the suit ... Emanuel was so cheap, he tried to bob and weave his way out of the fees by illegally obtaining the fight and showing it at his Atlanta location ... hoping he wouldn't get caught.

Problem is ... the company in charge of the licensing, Joe Hand Promotions, said they busted him red-handed.

Ray J says the reason his beanie seemed to have a mind of its own this week on 'Love & Hip Hop' has more to do with Hollywood magic than any real hat trick.

Ray broke down the 50 seconds of the episode everyone's talking about -- not for anything he or Safaree Samuels said, but because Ray's hat seemed to have a mind of its own!! In the brief scene, the knitted hat was in at least 6 different positions.

Fans of the show noticed, then made sure the Internet noticed. Viral video and meme hilarity ensued.

Ray gently put the blame on editing, as he revealed exactly how long they were actually shooting the scene. Hint: It's MUCH longer than what you saw on VH1 or the web.

Considering the hat has stolen the spotlight, Ray tells us it could be getting a bigger role in upcoming episodes. As he puts it ... the hat's in negotiations.

Kamal Givens wants to take another crack at finding love, and hopes a TV comeback can make it happen.

The former VH1 star -- who went by Chance on "I Love New York" and "Real Chance of Love" -- is developing a new dating show with his former producers, Scott Teti and Matt Odgers.

Scott and Matt tell us they're excited to team up with Chance again, and describe the new show -- "Chance @ Romance" -- as a modern take on the dating game with a strong influence from social media.

Chance will choose dates from a pool of women who reach out to him on social. Basically, next level sliding into the DMs. Kamal says. His goal is to find the woman of his dreams while traveling the world. Hopefully, he has better luck than when he traveled abroad last year.

Faith Evans and Stevie J's quickie Vegas wedding ain't gonna cut it ... which is why they're planning a lavish Miami ceremony on a massive luxury yacht.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Faith and Stevie are serious about locking down The Vessel, a 222-foot yacht that's really more like a cruise ship. They recently toured the $40 million craft, and loved the fact it's got tons of space for up to 600 guests.

We're told Faith asked about the ability to film on the yacht, which has us thinking VH1 cameras will capture the elaborate ceremony for Stevie's reality show, "Leave It to Stevie."

The ceremony could smooth things over with friends and family who, as we first reported, were pissed the couple didn't give 'em a heads-up about the surprise marriage.

We're told Faith and Stevie didn't even discuss a budget when they toured The Vessel.

Move over LeBron ... you ain't the only James wanted in Hollywood -- 'cause 'Basketball Wives' star Jackie Christie is BEGGING Savannah to join the show.

"Come on Savannah," Doug Christie's wife tells TMZ Sports. "We need you!"

Jackie's been a staple on VH1's hit ... and when we got her out at LAX with her NBA hubby -- she was all for sharing the show's limelight with LBJ's boo.

"Savannah, come be on 'Basketball Wives,' we think you're adorable!"

Of course ... Jackie IS one of the few 'Wives' stars still with her NBA connect -- so there might be some angling for a new storyline here.

"Love & Hip Hop Atlanta" star Benzino's baby mama, Althea Eaton, went upside his head during an argument Sunday night ... according to cops who witnessed it, and quickly arrested Althea.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... LAPD was called to Althea's home in the San Fernando Valley to check out a domestic dispute. We're told Althea wanted Benzino to get out, and he wasn't cooperating.

Responding officers tried to calm things down, but 'LHHA's' first couple of trouble didn't disappoint -- we're told Althea whacked Benzino in the head right in front of the cops. She was arrested and booked for misdemeanor battery.

Her bail was set at $20k, and we're told she bonded out early Monday morning.

James R. -- a newcomer on this season of "Love & Hip Hop" -- jacked a song that doesn't belong to him and is trying to pass it off as his own -- including on the show ... according to a new suit.

Music producer Luis Vargas is going after James R. and Viacom -- which owns VH1 -- claiming 'L&HH' used his song "Bad Girl" on 2 episodes of season 8 so far ... but the show has no right to do that.

Here's the backstory -- Vargas says he signed James R. to his label, Bully Sound Records, last year, and together they made "Bad Girl" ... but Vargas' company owns the rights to the track.

Vargas claims James R. tried to part ways with Bully and take "Bad Girl" with him, but when they couldn't work out a deal ... Vargas says James R. just jacked the song and changed the name to "Bah Gurl."

According to the docs ... James R. appears on 2 eps. of this season VH1's show making an unauthorized music vid for "Bah Gurl" and having a release party for it. To make it worse -- he claims James R.'s promoting the jacked version of "Bad Girl" online, as well.

Vargas is suing for damages ... which he believes are more than $1 million.

Coco better check with models Melyssa Ford and Esther Baxter among others who TRULY created the big butt movement ... so says former 'Flavor of Love' star Deelishis, who btw counts herself among the booty trailblazers.

You'll recall Coco posted a photo with a long-ass caption ... bragging how 21 years ago she embraced her ass and curves during a time when they were considered fat in the modeling world.

Coco also said she paved the way for thick girls well before the plastic surgery craze. Deelishis says Coco's talking outta her ass because Melyssa (The Game name-dropped her in "Wouldn't Get Far") and Esther (appeared in Kanye, Nelly and Ludacris videos) are the real booty queens.

Deelishis makes no bones about it -- just another white chick trying to steal the thunder.

Rah Ali tried to exact vengeance against her archenemy and reality TV foe, Sky, in a sneak attack at Diddy's New Year's Eve "Black Excellence" party ... but Sky quickly caught on.

TMZ has obtained video of a fight between VH1's 'Love & Hip Hop' star and "Black Ink Crew" bruiser Sunday night at Diddy's crib in Miami, as the 2 met up on the black carpet.

You see Rah says "hi" to Sky, and then acts like she's going in for a hug ... before grabbing the back of Sky's head in an aggressive manner. Sky immediately starts hitting back, and the pair falls into Diddy's Ciroc backdrop before being broken up.

This ain't the first time the 2 reality stars came to blows -- they went at it in 2016 after getting into an Instagram beef about eyelash endorsements ... yep.

12/20 10:30 AM PT -- Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Williams went to the station and accused Norman of stalking her, claiming she spotted him driving past her house a few times last week and he was even parked in front of it one day. However, we're told there's no investigation into Norman at this time.

Ex-"Basketball Wives" star Jennifer Williams allegedly has it out for her ex-boyfriend, who claims she tried to run him down with her car once.

James "Tim" Norman filed for a restraining order against Jennifer, and in the docs says she's taken rage out on his car. James says he was driving around Sunday afternoon in L.A. when he spotted Jennifer tailing him.

According to the docs, James parked at home and an hour later went outside to find 2 of his tires slashed. He reported it to cops, and says this was just the latest incident. In the docs, he says last summer -- when they were still dating, mind you -- Jennifer got behind the wheel of HIS car, and tried to run him down. James -- who's on the reality show "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's" -- says he had to dive out of the way or die.

He also claims she's broken into his pad, sent him harassing texts and threatened he's "playing with the wrong one." James says they broke up in September, and Jen's just angry he's moved on with a new gf.

Hazel-E says she has proof "Love & Hip Hop Hollywood" only dumped her because of her homophobic social media post -- despite producers claiming she was fired beforehand.

Sources connected to Hazel-E tell TMZ ... she got a letter delivered by FedEx on Saturday, informing her the show wasn't picking up an option on her contract. The letter was sent on Friday, October 20 -- that's 16 days AFTER producers say they decided to drop her.

The letter was sent one day after her homophobic comment -- saying all gays should burn in hell -- earned her swift Internet backlash. We're told Hazel thinks the timing makes it obvious she was only cut due to the Instagram post.

We contacted 'L&HH' producers about Hazel's letter, and they're standing by their initial statement -- they decided to can Hazel on Oct. 4. Point, blank, period.

"Love and Hip Hop Hollywood" is done with Hazel-E -- she's been dropped from the hit show, but producers claim it's NOT because she said all gays should burn in hell.

A spokesperson for VH1 and the show's producers, Monami and Eastern, say they collectively decided not to pick up Hazel's option for the next season of 'LHHH' -- but the decision was made on Oct. 4. That's a full 2 weeks before Hazel and her boyfriend went on a heinously homophobic social media rant.

Sources connected to production tell us Hazel had already worn out her welcome by the time she made the remark about gays and the Bible. We're told she pissed off producers back in September, during the reunion show taping, which is why they pulled the plug.

"Love & Hip Hop Hollywood" creator Mona Scott-Young is disgusted by Hazel-E's homophobic social media rant, and if she gets her way ... Hazel will be canned ASAP.

Sources close to the 'LHHH' executive producer tell TMZ ... she made it clear with VH1 she expects Hazel to get booted from the show for saying gays should burn in hell, but contrary to popular belief ... Mona doesn't get final say on personnel decisions.

Our sources say it's not just the homophobic rant that pissed her off ... Hazel's negative remarks about women of color have disgusted her as well.

We're told Mona's production company is not the only one involved with 'LHHH' so Hazel's fate will be a group decision -- but she's pressing the network hard to 86 her.

As we reported, Hazel told us she's sorry about her homophobic comments. Mostly.

DeRay Davis has a funny way of explaining his on-set blow up with Tamar Braxton last week ... which involves board games, family, and only a partial denial.

We got the comedian Saturday night at Bootsy Bellows in WeHo, where we asked about his beef with Tamar on the set of "Hip Hop Squares" ... where he jokingly accused her of lip-syncing, and eventually threatened to get his sisters to beat her ass after an argument.

DeRay says the story's BS -- well, only part of it actually. He admits he and Tamar got into a spat, but that's only because they were competing ... and Tamar's a cheater, according to him. He denies threatening to sic any of his six sisters on her.

Tamar Braxton and comedian DeRay Davis got into an explosive argument over lip-sync trash talk and threats he'd unleash his sisters on Tamar to open up a can of ass whoopin'.

Production sources tell TMZ ... the altercation went down Wednesday during filming of VH1's "Hip Hop Squares."

DeRay accused Tamar of lip-syncing, as a joke. She wasn't in earshot but noticed others laughing ... prompting her to ask what was so funny.

We're told Lil Mama relayed the joke to Tamar, and that's when she went off ... getting all up in DeRay's grill, but he wasn't having it. We're told DeRay barked back he didn't care who Tamar was or who her sisters were ... because he'd get HIS sisters to beat her ass.

For what it's worth ... Tamar was accused of lip-syncing her BET performance back in June.

They were eventually separated and filming resumed. No lingering beef, though. We're told Tamar and DeRay hashed things out after the show, which BTW returns Sept. 25 at 9/8c.

Mike Vick is officially on a sex time out -- with his wife formally pulling booty privileges over his stupid comments about Colin Kaepernick's afro.

Kijafa Vick called out the QB on their reality show, "Baller Wives" -- saying she was sick of getting attacked on social media over the bad advice Mike dished out last month on FS1.

"Why does he have to change his hair to get a job?" Kijafa asked.

"I don’t know, Kijafa – I was wrong."

Mike tried to explain himself ... "I shouldn’t have said what I said. No one in any race should be stereotyped based on the way they look, dress, act -- but that’s the reality of the world we live in."

Kijafa says the drama surrounding the comments makes her "relive a part of our life that I want to put in the past" ... a clear reference to the dog fighting scandal.

In the end, Vick apologized to his wife -- but still, no booty.