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R. Kelly's racketeering and sex trafficking case is underway in NY ... he's set to appear and officially hear the charges and enter a plea.

Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, tells us the singer will plead not guilty at the arraignment. No major surprise ... Kelly has continued to battle the mounting charges and cases against him, denying all the allegations. Kelly flew to New York Thursday for the hearing.

Just like in his federal case in Illinois, Kelly's 2 girlfriends -- Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage -- are there for moral support. As we told you, they flew from Chicago to attend the arraignment ... and stuck to their phones as they walked in.

Azriel's phone itself is a symbol of her support. Take a close look -- the case is a collage of various photos of Kelly.

There's also a group of Kelly supporters that have gathered outside the courthouse ... one wearing a "Free R. Kelly" t-shirt.

As we reported ... the feds slapped Kelly with a 5-count federal indictment ... which includes racketeering and kidnapping. This is separate from the 13-count indictment in Illinois federal court. The indictment out of the Eastern District of NY also includes several violations of the Mann Act and allegations of forced labor.

Kelly denied the allegations ... blasting his alleged victims as "disgruntled groupies," this according to docs in which he asks the judge to release him pending trial. He's been behind bars since he was denied bond.

According to the federal indictment ... Kelly and others engaged in a scheme to coerce minors to participate in sexually explicit acts on camera. The feds say the purpose of the scheme was to "promote R. Kelly's music and the R. Kelly brand and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly."

The feds also allege "Kelly and his crew traveled throughout the United States and abroad to recruit these women and girls." Further allegations include Kelly made "threats of force and physically restrained the women" to obtain their labor and services.

BTW ... the Mann Act prohibits the transportation of anyone across state lines for illicit sexual purposes. Four of the 5 counts against Kelly are violations of the Mann Act.

Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" is going to cost her a lot of green, but her record label is paying twice as much for ripping off the tune.

The federal jury in L.A. just dished out the damages, and the pop singer will have to pay $550k to Christian rapper Flame. He sued Katy, Dr. Luke and 7 other songwriters on "Dark Horse" for jacking his tune, "Joyful Noise." Capitol Records was also a defendant, and the jury ordered it to pay the lion's share ... $1.2 million.

In all, Flame will get a total of $2.7 million from all the defendants. The jury said his song was responsible for 22.5 percent of the "Dark Horse" profits.

His Grammy-nominated gospel track came out in 2008 ... 6 years before KP dropped "Dark Horse."

The jury's decision on hefty damages came after hearing 2 full days of testimony about how much Perry's megahit and the album it was on, "Prism," have earned since release. Katy's cut, to date, has been $3.2 mil ... while Capitol Records earned $31 million.

Of course, the same jury returned a unanimous verdict that Perry and her co-defendants improperly copied the Christian rap track -- specifically by jacking its continually repeated musical rhythm.

“Our clients filed this lawsuit five years ago seeking justice and fair compensation for the unauthorized copying of their music. It has been a long and arduous path, but they are quite pleased to have received the justice they sought,” Flame's lawyer, Lauren R. Cohen, said.

As we reported ... Flame's music label uploaded a "Joyful Noise" vid on YouTube in 2008, and it's racked up millions of views over the years.

In his lawsuit, first filed way back in 2014, Flame claimed Perry stole the underlying beat and riff in the middle of "Joyful Noise" for "Dark Horse." He also said it destroyed his reputation in Christian music because he became associated with the anti-Christian imagery present in her music vid.

Perry called BS on the 2 tracks having any meaningful similarities, and during her jury testimony earlier this month she claimed she'd never even heard Flame's song before he filed the lawsuit.

Katy told the jury she first heard the beats from Dr. Luke while they were hanging out in Santa Barbara and claimed she wrote "Dark Horse" in only 4 hours.

However, Flame's legal team was able to convince the jury that his song was popular and prevalent enough to have been heard and ripped off ... and that's exactly what Perry and her team did.

By the way ... the "Dark Horse" music video currently has 2.6 BILLION YouTube views. Gotta wonder if it was worth it.

A$AP Bari just took another big L stemming from his sexual assault case ... because the judge tossed his countersuit against his victim.

According to new legal docs ... the rapper's defamation suit against the woman, listed as Jane Doe, and all claims he made against her have been dismissed.

The reason it was tossed is because the woman filed a police report and a lawsuit, and the judge ruled both are protected speech ... so Bari can't sue her over what she told cops or claimed in a suit.

As we reported ... Bari pled guilty to sexually assaulting the woman in a London hotel in 2017. As part of his plea deal, he was ordered to pay a $5k fine and pay the victim $3,150 ... but he avoided jail time.

In leaked video of the incident, Bari's seen chasing the woman around the room and ordering her to give him oral sex.

While his plea deal concluded the criminal case, the civil case is still ongoing. Doe sued the hip-hop designer for sexual assault in late 2017, and he countersued in August 2018 claiming she was a liar and trying to extort him for a big payday.

Kurt Rappaport, who is one of the richest and most successful realtors in the United States, claims his Guess-model wife of 16 months has been extorting him with threats to ruin his life and that of his celebrity friends if he doesn't tear up their prenup and cough up millions.

Rappaport filed for divorce from Sarah Mutch back in February. In a new civil lawsuit just filed, Rappaport says almost immediately after their lavish, $3 million wedding, Mutch began bitterly complaining about the terms of the prenup and demanded -- "violently at times" -- that he change the terms or "the marriage is over."

His lawsuit goes on to say ... when he refused to tear up the prenup, she went wild with his credit card, charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for various things. The suit claims Mutch threatened that if he didn't pay her bills, she would "release false information about [Rappaport] and his friends to the press and social media outlets."

He says after he filed for divorce, she went on a rampage, demanding millions of dollars or she would "go to the press and f*** s*** up" by disseminating false information about him and his celebrity friends.

Rappaport filed a police report in April, detailing some of the alleged threats. According to the report, obtained by TMZ, Rappaport says Mutch "threatened to fabricate a 'Me Too' sexual harassment report at the hands of his wealthy friends." He says she threatened to go to the media with the allegations if he didn't give her "millions and millions of dollars." He told cops she said, "If I don't get what I want, I'm going to drop a bomb and end your career in a week!"

He says one of her demands was that he give her partial ownership of a $60 million property he owns.

Rappaport says when he refused to put the property in her name or tear up the prenup during the marriage, she began berating him, calling him "selfish, cheap, greedy and disgusting."

The $3 million wedding in September 2017, was crazy ... Christina Aguilera performed. The guest list included Diddy, Ryan Seacrest, DJ Khaled and Larry King.

R. Kelly just filed legal docs blasting his alleged victims, referring to them as "disgruntled groupies."

The singer's docs ask a federal judge to release him before his pending trial. His lawyers say he does not represent a threat, because they claim the allegations against him are bogus. In explaining their position, they say the "groupies sought out Robert's attention, even fought each other for it, voluntarily contacted him, came to his shows, pined to be with him ..."

R. Kelly's lawyer, Douglas Anton, doesn't stop there. He claims in the doc the government is trying to paint a picture of a nefarious pattern, but it all amounts to "five disgruntled groupies, not all of which are alleged to be underage, who now show groupie remorse so many years later and only after a TV Show and an aggressive, vocal Cook County prosecutor makes a public cry for 'victims come forth,' tell your story and be famous."

And, there's more ... R. Kelly's team zeroes in on one of the alleged victims who was not a minor when she first had contact with him. They say she came to his door and "wanted him so much that she alleges that she did not require or even request that a condom be used." As for her allegation Kelly gave her herpes ... Kelly's lawyers say she was "admittedly promiscuous," and the feds never looked into how many other sexual partners she had.

A$AP Rocky's bodyguard absolutely choked the hell out of the alleged victim in Sweden -- it's clear as day in this surveillance video -- but the video also presents a flaw in the prosecution's case.

This video was captured before the street brawl broke out, AND before the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, threw a punch at the bodyguard. It's pretty brutal ... the massive hired muscle grabs Jafari by his throat, lifts him off the ground and tosses him down the street.

What's puzzling is ... why clear the bodyguard? When prosecutors announced Jafari would not be charged for punching the bodyguard, they said he was acting in self-defense. Sooo, if he's defending himself, why not charge the guy attacking him? Especially when there's such clear video evidence like this.

Moments after the choking, Jafari swung a punch at the bodyguard and then hit him with his headphones.

Chuck D is suing his record label ... claiming they stole over a million dollars in commissions, as well as a substantial portion of his music publishing catalog.

In the lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- the Public Enemy MC says after he signed with Reach Global Music and Terrordome Music Publishing in 2001, they took advantage of his lack of business acumen and screwed him out of tons of cash and the rights to his songs.

In the docs, Chuck D claims the record label's created a complex master plan to hide money from him ... including what he says were hidden transactions, false and fraudulent copyright registrations and accounting tricks.

According to the suit, Chuck D says he only became aware of the scheme against him in February, when he finally got his hands on some of the documents that he claims were used to defraud him. Chuck D claims he's lost a 42% stake in his music catalog, as it existed in 2012, forever.

Kenya Moore's ex-boyfriend, Matt Jordan, was hauled in by cops in Arizona over the weekend for a list of alleged crimes, which include assault and theft.

The former 'Real Housewives' star was booked Saturday in Pinal County for trespassing, plus 3 separate charges -- aggravated assault, theft and threatening/intimidating with damage to property -- which stem from an arrest warrant issued in Maricopa County.

Matt's bail was set at $3,250, but no one's paid it -- he's still in custody, and has a hearing this week to face the charges.

As for how all this got started, court docs show the initial incident allegedly went down back in April -- but, apparently, Matt never showed up in court to deal with it. He got nabbed for trespassing Saturday, which revealed the outstanding warrant.

The guy is a 'RHOA' notorious for a number of reasons, but he's probably best remembered as the one who brawled with fellow reality star Peter Thomas, who Matt claimed had a weapon on him ... believed to be a box cutter or knife of some sort.

Kenya also got a restraining order against Matt in 2017, after claiming he was hounding and harassing her by calling her up to 30 times a day and allegedly threatening her.

A$AP Rocky is finally getting his day in court ... entering a not guilty plea in a Swedish court, and his family's also there showing support.

A$AP's mother, Renee Black, was escorted through the crowd of reporters, photographers and onlookers outside the Stockholm courthouse Tuesday morning.

Once the trial began, the rapper's attorney told the judge A$AP is pleading not guilty to assault, and said his client was acting in self-defense.

The trial is continuing ... so check back here for updates. The trial could go for up to 2 more days, but it's unclear if prosecutors and A$AP's team will need that much time to present their cases.

As you know ... A$AP has been in custody since early July, getting detained after turning himself in to Swedish authorities following a street brawl in the nation's capital. He was officially charged with assault last week, and he faces a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison.

However, the prosecutor told TMZ he will NOT recommend the full 2 year sentence if A$AP is convicted. A panel of 4 judges will hear the case, and at least 3 of them must rule an assault was committed for a conviction. In the event of a tie, the prosecutor can ask for a new trial. If A$AP is convicted, a judge will decide his sentence a week later.

As we've reported ... the man who attacked Rocky's crew in Stockholm will NOT be prosecuted for any crime, even though video appears to show the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, actually inciting the violence by harassing A$AP and his crew.

In the first video from the incident ... you clearly see Jafari strike A$AP's bodyguard in the head with a pair of headphones. Meanwhile, A$AP played peacemaker, trying to defuse the situation and saying no one wants to go to jail.

One of the men testifying against A$AP Rocky in Sweden -- a witness to the street brawl -- has his own serious legal trouble, but, mysteriously, his case seems to now be on the back burner.

As we previously reported, A$AP's alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari -- the guy in the video who got tossed like a rag doll -- was convicted of assault in 2016 for striking a guy in the face on the streets of Stockholm.

Now, we've learned Jafari's buddy, Dawod Hosseini -- who's set to take the stand in support of Jafari -- was just arrested this month for theft. In fact, Hosseini was busted 2 weeks AFTER A$AP was hauled into custody.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Hosseini was arrested July 19 for shoplifting two high-priced jackets from a Swedish clothing store. The docs also say cops found a knife on him during the arrest.

Hosseini's remained in custody ever since then, but he's scheduled to testify in Rocky's 3-day trial, which begins Tuesday. Sources familiar tell us Hosseini's own trial has been delayed just so he can weigh-in on A$AP's case, as a witness for the prosecution.

Ya gotta think both men -- Hosseini and Jafari -- will be vulnerable, to say the least, if the judge permits A$AP's attorneys to raise their records during cross examination. Remember, there's already the video showing Jafari using headphones to strike one of A$AP's bodyguards before the all-out brawl started.

Courtney Love was able to get her daughter's ex-husband to sit for a psychiatric examination to determine the state of his mental health in the epic legal battle over a famous Kurt Cobain guitar.

Frances Bean's ex, Isaiah Silva, sued Courtney, Sam Lutfi and others last year for allegedly conspiring to kill him to get back Kurt's guitar -- which he'd been awarded in their divorce. Now the defendants have hammered out a deal to have a psychiatrist check out Silva.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the exam is happening Tuesday at 10 AM PT at a facility in SoCal. It'll run for about 7 hours and will consist of interviews, a mental status examination, as well as standardized psychological testing. In short, they wanna figure out if Silva's in his right mind.

The docs say that Isaiah will be asked a number of questions about the background of what he's alleging in the lawsuit and how it's still affecting him today.

Additionally, doctors could grill him about other topics that are presumably relevant in determining his mental health -- like his education, employment, marital history, legal history, substance use and family history.

The examiner's notes will be included in Isaiah's lawsuit, and the entire process will be recorded on audio.

You'll recall ... Isaiah sued Courtney, Sam and others, excluding Frances, for allegedly getting together and plotting to break into his crib, kidnap and then murder him -- all in an attempt to get Kurt's famed 'MTV Unplugged' guitar back.

Katy Perry just took an L in court ... a jury ruled her song "Dark Horse" stole heavily from a gospel song that came out 5 years earlier.

Monday's verdict is the latest step in a lengthy legal battle that started back in July 2014, when Katy was sued by the Christian rapper, Flame -- he claimed her 2013 hit song "Dark Horse" is a complete rip-off of his Grammy-nominated gospel song, "Joyful Noise."

Flame's music label uploaded the music video to YouTube way back in 2008, and it's since racked up millions of views. He says Katy jacked the underlying beat ... but she called BS, claiming there are NO meaningful similarities.

According to the suit ... Flame claims Perry also destroyed his reputation in Christian music circles because he's now associated with the anti-Christian witchcraft and imagery that's present in her "Dark Horse" music vid.

The case will now proceed to the damages phase -- AKA, when Katy finds out how much the loss will cost her.

As we reported ... Katy showed up to court last week wearing a mint-colored suit and took the stand, claiming she never heard the song "Joyful Noise" before the filing of the lawsuit.

Casanova masterminded the beatdown of a woman he accused of shooting video of him in a NYC diner ... according to the lawsuit she's just filed against the Brooklyn rapper.

The incident went down last August when Casanova and a group of friends sat down at the Good Stuff Diner. The alleged victim, Niya Rucker, says his group included 2 women who were not Casanova's wife ... and she thinks that's why he went off on her.

According to the suit, Niya was shooting an Instagram Live video of her meal ... but Casanova "mistakenly believed" she was recording him and the 2 women. She says the MC instructed one guy in his group to "take whatever action" was necessary to get Niya's phone ... "including physical force."

Niya says the henchman put her in a strangulation grip, grabbed her phone and deleted the video she'd already posted. She also posted a video of the aftermath, showing her mouth and chin bleeding profusely. In the lawsuit, she says she suffered a fractured jaw, damaged teeth, loss of consciousness, a split lip and several other cuts.

Casanova turned himself in to cops the week after the incident and was booked for felony second-degree robbery. He's yet to stand trial.

A$AP Rocky has fans here in the States going to bat for him -- but one chick might've taken it too far after she was arrested for storming the Swedish Embassy in D.C. ... and allegedly threatened to blow it up.

A woman named Rebecca Kanter was arrested on Tuesday after she allegedly caused a ruckus in the Swedish embassy here at home -- this a day after she allegedly threw a bunch of liquid on the front doors and said, "I'm going to blow this motherf***er up!"

The Secret Service issued a lookout warning for the lady on Monday after the alleged incident, and when she came back Tuesday ... she drew even more attention to herself by berating staff and a student group, trumpeting human rights rhetoric and seemingly arguing for Rocky's release. Authorities say she also kicked over a display and some furniture.

She was arrested on the spot and later booked for destruction of property and unlawful entry.

A video of what appears to be the woman surfaced online shortly after her outburst. You can hear her asking the student group where they're from, and saying she thinks it's important that they know about international human rights. The kids seem confused.

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner aren't going to find justice for the hit and run death of their dog in a criminal case -- they'll have to take it up in civil court if they want retribution.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the driver who struck and killed the couple's Alaskan Klee Kai, Waldo, did not stop or leave any information when they hit the pup earlier last week in NYC. We're told they left the scene, but it's not a crime to do so.

Our sources say that the driver cannot be criminally charged with Waldo's death because the dog is considered property, and the incident is viewed as an accident.

As for why the driver didn't stop -- it's unclear for now, but we're told it is not uncommon for NYC drivers to be unaware that they've hit something, let alone an animal, and keep going. The hustle and bustle of a big city oftentimes allows for such situations.

Keep this in mind too ... the dog got away from its handler and darted into the street, where it was hit. Our sources say there was no intent from the driver to kill the dog.

When it comes to the report that Joe and Sophie filed with the police a couple days later -- our sources tell us it was NOT a criminal report, simply an accident report ... which falls under the purview of the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

That, of course, means that if they wanted to pursue a claim against the driver -- whom we're told has not been identified yet as the investigation continues -- Joe and Sophie would have to sue the person and take them to civil court ... possibly for the cost of the dog, emotional distress or anything else they could legally justify in that setting.

As we reported ... Sophie and Joe have been very distraught since the death of their pooch, which has left the "Game of Thrones" actress literally clutching to its brother, Porky.