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The son of ex-"Real Housewives of Orange County" star Lauri Peterson says he was almost killed in jail ... and now he's suing.

Josh Waring just filed a lawsuit Monday against Orange County and two OC Sheriff's deputies assigned to the Orange County men's central jail ... Josh claims the sheriff's deputies tried to have him killed out of retaliation.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Josh claims guards inside the jail told him a razor blade attack against him was retaliation for prior complaints Josh made about sheriff's deputies.

As we first reported ... Josh was ambushed back in October 2019 at the Orange County jail in Santa Ana and brutally assaulted by another inmate wielding razor blades wrapped in towels. The attack was caught on camera, and Josh claims guards let it happen because he complained about his case.

Remember ... Josh was locked up for nearly 4 years while waiting for his trial following a July 2016 arrest when he was accused of shooting a man outside a sober living home. Waring initially pled not guilty.

In the suit, Josh details his harrowing time behind bars ... claiming one of the sheriff's deputies, Ever Zelaya, threatened to choke him out and warned him to watch out. He says Zelaya told him "You better watch the f*** out, I just killed the last guy who pissed me off and I got a paid vacation."

According to the docs, Josh claims Zelaya and another sheriff's deputy, Ryan Hansen, also tried to kill him when they entered his cell and unleashed several rounds of pepper spray balls.

Amazon's hit series, "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel," is ripped straight from the pages of a 6-year-old book with an eerily similar and struggling character ... at least according to the author.

Jodi Parmley just sued Amazon Studios for allegedly jacking several different creative elements from her 2014 book, "F.I.F.I. Financial Infidelity F**k It: The Mistress of the New Millennium" ... and applying them, nearly beat for beat, to their show.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jodi says she wrote this book, and then adapted a screenplay from it. She says she shopped it around to lots of different studios and execs who were supposedly interested.

Jodi doesn't specifically say she met with Amazon's bigwigs, but it seems like she's implying word eventually got around to them. Once she saw 'Marvelous' debut, Jodie claims she was a carbon copy of her own work.

She claims Amazon ripped off the plight, stand-up routine, general plot points and character traits the Amazon's Miriam Maisel lives out -- like seeking financial independence, leaving her crappy hubby, etc.

As a result, she's suing ... and, naturally, wants the profits Amazon made off the show -- which has garnered critical praise and gone on to win several awards.

United Airlines customers are pissed the airline is only giving them travel vouchers for flights that were canceled due to coronavirus ... so they're suing.

Jacob Rudolph filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against United Airlines, claiming the air carrier is only offering travel vouchers instead of cash refunds, which he says does nothing to help people who need the dough back for basic necessities during the pandemic. It's especially galling because the airlines will receive a boatload of cash from the feds.

According to new docs, Rudolph claims he shelled out over $1,500 for 3 United Airlines flights scheduled for April and when UA canceled the flights because of the virus, he requested a refund and was denied.

In the suit, Rudolph says United told him he did not qualify for a refund and instead only offered to rebook his flights or give him a travel credit good for one year from the date he initially purchased the tickets.

According to the docs, Rudolph says United is being unfair, unjust and downright deceptive by refusing to issue refunds to passengers for coronavirus related cancellations ... and he says what's most galling is UA isn't forking over refunds even though the airlines are getting bailed out by the taxpayers to the tune of $58 billion.

Rudolph's suing for passengers to get their money back plus damages. We reached out to United, no word back so far.

YNW Melly is begging a judge to let him out of prison ... because he says he's on the verge of dying from COVID-19.

The rapper's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, claiming the rapper -- in prison awaiting his murder trial -- is suffering from severe chills, heavy labored breathing, headaches and body aches since he tested positive for the coronavirus.

Cohen says Melly weighs 114 pounds and has NOT been monitored by medical personnel every hour like they're supposed to. And, there's this ... Cohen claims Melly's been holed up in a cell with another inmate who also has COVID-19 ... and there's fear "if the virus can be mutated or passed reoccurring between individuals."

Cohen claims the there's a lack of preparedness by the jail for this type of epidemic ... as "they have not given them masks, or cleaning supplies that would be beneficial regarding his recovery. This is against all recommendations of the Surgeon General and CDC."

Tekashi 6ix9ine is vowing to be on his best social media behavior now that he's outta prison ... his lawyers say the rapper won't start beefs or troll other artists, because the feds are watching!!!

Tekashi's attorney, Lance Lazzaro, tells TMZ ... 6ix9ine has no restrictions regarding his use of social media, despite being on federally supervised probation for the next 5 years.

While 69's probation officer will be monitoring everything Tekashi posts on social media, we're told 6ix9ine will not post anything inflammatory and will use his discretion and common sense when he uses social media.

As we first reported ... Tekashi was sprung from prison early after a judge signed off on a request to get out to avoid infection from the coronavirus. 6ix9ine is now on supervised release in-home incarceration, which isn't that much different from the way we're all living.

Tekashi was notorious for being an online troll before he got locked up, but his other attorney, Dawn Florio, tells TMZ ... 69 will not be trolling or starting beefs online, and he won't be promoting gang affiliation on social media either.

He made his return to Instagram Sunday, commenting on a story about snitching by saying, "Coming to the rescue." A clear jab at himself, but it likely wasn't received too well by those locked up because of Telashi's snitching.

Instead, we're told Tekashi will be using his social media platforms to promote his new music.

Sounds like social is not a top priority for Tekashi, at least for now ... we're told he just wants to spend quality time with his fam after a lengthy prison stint.

Playboi Carti's been arrested in Georgia on drug and gun-related charges ... TMZ has learned.

According to law enforcement ... the "wokeuplikethis*" rapper got pulled over in his Lambo Thursday for having an expired tag, and Clayton County officers claim they discovered the drugs and weapons in his vehicle during the traffic stop.

Our sources say Carti's ride was loaded with 12 bags of marijuana, xanax, oxycodone and codeine ... along with 3 firearms.

The rapper was arrested with another man and they were taken to the county jail.

Photos of the items seized during the stop were posted by the Clayton County Sheriff's Office.

Carti posted bond and was released Friday morning.

Ellen Barkin may have been in the mood to flip off a photographer but she had ZERO right to tweet the image ... so claims the photographer now suing her.

Steven Hirsch is suing the actress claiming she posted his copyrighted photograph of her flipping the bird on her Twitter account. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Hirsch says he's a professional photog who is in the business of licensing his photographs to online and print media for a fee.

The photo in question is from January when Ellen attended the second day of Harvey Weinstein's criminal trial in NYC. She was there to support her friend and Weinstein accuser, actress Annabella Sciorra.

Hirsch says he licensed the pic to a NY outlet but never gave Ellen permission to use the photo. Ellen then tweeted the photo on January 23 -- it hasn't been taken down -- with the caption "mood" ... and it racked up more than 1,000 retweets and 15,000 likes.

The photographer is now suing her for damages. We've reached out to Ellen for comment, so far no word back.

"Tanked" star Heather King fears her life is in danger if her ex is allowed anywhere near her ... so she wants a judge to order him to stay away.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Heather beelined it to court and requested a protective order against her estranged husband, Wayde. She claims he's been physically abusive to her for YEARS ... from allegedly slamming her against the wall to damn near knocking her unconscious.

In docs, Heather points to an incident earlier this month when she says Wayde came home and "told me to get the f*** out" before allegedly pushing and hitting her. Heather claims things got so bad their daughter had to yell at Wayde to get him to stop assaulting her.

Heather claims this is just one example of a pattern of abuse ... and she claims to have photos of her alleged injuries to back. Some of the photos show bruises and scratches allegedly suffered at the hands of Wayde, who she is in the middle of divorcing.

She alleges Wayde physically assaulted her on several occasions last year ... like when he allegedly strangled her in November and broke her finger in July. She claims Wayde "threw me against a wall so hard that he almost knocked me out." She says she was scared he was going to kill her.

The bus driver in Lil Wayne's 2015 bus shooting thinks Birdman and Young Thug struck secret deals with prosecutors ... and now he's demanding to know why they've never been indicted.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Alvin Lewis says he finds it unusual Cobb County, Georgia prosecutors would describe Birdman and YT as co-conspirators in the alleged shooter's indictment, but not bring any charges against them.

Lewis claims there's overwhelming evidence of complicity between Jimmy Winfrey, the alleged shooter, and Birdman and Young Thug -- from phone call records and recorded confessions, to promises of payment.

The driver claims he suffered spinal cord, rotator cuff and psychological injuries in April 2015 when Weezy's bus was shot up in Atlanta. According to the docs, Lewis says prosecutors have kept him informed about Winfrey's case, but he's rebuffed whenever he asked about Birdman and Young Thug.

Winfrey is currently being retried, because the Georgia Supreme Court overturned his 2015 conviction.

Lewis is asking the judge to force the Cobb County D.A.'s Office to turn over any information related to deals that might have been struck between prosecutors and Birdman or Young Thug.

Yung Berg allegedly pistol-whipped a woman after having sex with her, and now she's been granted court-ordered protection from him ... TMZ has learned.

According to new legal docs ... Talia Tilley claims Yung Berg pistol-whipped her face, pointed the gun at her mouth and threatened to kill her ... after they had sex earlier this month at his place.

Tilley filed for a temporary restraining order against Berg and on Friday morning, a judge signed off on it.

Talia also submitted gruesome images she says show her injuries suffered in the alleged beatdown. She says she broke her nose, suffered 2 black eyes and cuts to her face.

In the docs, Talia says Yung Berg invited her to his crib around 3 AM March 14 and they had sex before things turned violent. She says they went to sleep after intercourse, but then he woke her up a few hours later because her phone kept ringing. She says YB accused her of trying to rob him and then got physical, slapping her and then breaking her nose with the bottom of what appeared to be a pistol.

She alleges Yung Berg beat her with the butt of the gun until she gave up her phone and passcode. She claims she was held hostage in the home for hours, and says when YB and his security guard finally let her leave ... they kept her ID and social security card.