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Damon Dash's pockets could be a tad lighter soon ... 'cause he's been ordered to cough up a cool $300k in a lawsuit over a mafia movie.

The movie and music producer was just ordered to pay noted author Edwyna Brooks after he took an L in court. She sued him about a year ago claiming they struck a deal in 2015 for Damon to direct the mafia boss film, "Mafietta," based on her series of books.

But, according to docs, obtained by TMZ, Brooks claimed things quickly went south after he agreed to direct the film. She claimed Dash wasted production time and money on his side projects ... like filming a music video.

She said she fired him from the project but claims that didn't stop Dash from claiming co-authorship over the movie and trying to sell it on iTunes and his Dame Dash Studios website .... all without Brooks' permission.

Brooks sued for damages ... and the judge agreed with her claims and awarded her $300k in damages plus interest. This, of course, will only add to Dash's legal woes.

Dame tells us, "The copyright claim was incorrectly decided in our opinion as you were the dominant author. In any event the damages awarded were based on pure speculation so both findings are being appealed."

Playboi Carti went all Johnny Badass on a cop who pulled him over -- according to the cop, anyway, Carti dragged the deputy's daughter into it!!!

TMZ got a hold of the police report detailing Carti's arrest about a week ago in Clayton County, Georgia -- and cops say the rapper was mouthing off big time when a Sheriff's deputy pulled him over and smelled weed.

The deputy says he asked Carti to get out, and the bad attitude started right away. Carti allegedly told the officer to take him to jail and said he didn't even care anymore.

Upon conducting a search, the deputy says he found drugs and guns inside Carti's Lambo -- specifically, marijuana, Xanax, codeine and oxycodone and 2 handguns. Carti had a pal with him and cops arrested both of them ... but the trash-talking wasn't done yet.

According to the officer, Carti told him he'd "f*** my daughter" and that he had a hot wife. He also allegedly said he didn't give a damn about his exotic sports car, cause he'd just buy another one anyway.

In the end, Carti was booked for expired tags, possession of less than an ounce of marijuana and failure to move over. His buddy ended up getting busted for the harder drug and gun possession charges.

Carti was released on bond shortly afterward.

Ex-"Deadliest Catch" star Jerod Sechrist has a trifecta -- 3 arrests in 6 months ... this time for theft, and cops say he admits he's doing it to fuel his addiction.

Sechrist was arrested this week at a Tampa residence for 2 outstanding felony warrants for grand theft. The first alleged heist was a bunch of silver, collectible coins and a Rolex. According to cops, he allegedly swiped them from an ex-roommate and then sold them at a pawn shop.

The second warrant was for allegedly walking out of a Home Depot last month with a bucket filled with more than $800 in tools. Cops say he didn't pay, and when a security guard stopped him outside ... Sechrist dropped the bucket and bolted.

The former deckhand only appeared on 3 episodes in 2016 ... but he made a lasting impression with fans because he continually pissed off his crew members.

When cops hauled him in this week, they say he told them he was hooked on heroin and was only stealing to get money for drugs. He asked if he could get treatment for his addiction.

As we reported, Sechrist was arrested last October for heroin possession, and then again in November for stealing from an Ikea.

Future is putting his alleged baby mama on blast -- claiming she's a nobody trying to be a somebody by profiting off his name, and their baby mama drama.

The rapper claims Eliza Seraphin continues to trash talk him with misleading info, while at the same time, using Future's name "to garner the attention of his fans for herself" ... this according to new docs, obtained by TMZ.

Future claims Eliza's plan all along "was to gain attention and direct traffic" to her online boutique store ... by publicly claiming he's the alleged father to her daughter. He also claims Eliza's profiting off his name, because she's now getting nightclub hosting gigs ... as if she were a celebrity.

In the docs, Future alleges she’s also “led a campaign of disparagement against" him to directly promote herself.

As we've reported, Eliza's filed a paternity case against the rapper, and he's sued her for defamation and invasion of privacy -- so there's no love lost between these two.

Eliza's trying to get Future's lawsuit tossed ... but Future's trying to keep it alive by insisting she's lying about him and invading his privacy just to gain clout.

Harvey Weinstein beat the coronavirus, but he's got more problems ahead in Los Angeles ... including a new sexual battery charge.

The L.A. County District's Office has hit Weinstein with a new count stemming from an incident that allegedly occurred at a Beverly Hills hotel back in May of 2010.

Law enforcement sources say the alleged victim was interviewed by detectives about the incident in October 2019, but provided detectives with information in March 2020 confirming the incident didn't fall outside the 10-year-statute of limitation.

Weinstein was charged back in January with one felony count each of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation, sexual penetration by use of force and sexual battery by restraint. The new sexual assault charge will be added to those charges ... and Weinstein faces up to 29 years overall in prison if convicted.

Prosecutors have started the process of temporarily transferring Weinstein -- who is currently serving a 23-year sentence in New York -- to Los Angeles to answer to the charges.

Prosecutors in L.A. also announced today that two cases involving Weinstein were dropped because the victims did not want to testify against the defendant in this case.

The infamous pics Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli took of their daughters on rowing machines -- allegedly to get them into USC through a side door -- have finally been revealed.

Federal prosecutors dropped the photos Thursday in their response to Lori and Mossimo's motion to dismiss the case. Olivia Jade and her sister, Bella, are seen doing their best rowing on ERG machines. Prosecutors blurred their faces in the pics -- which we've heard about since the college admissions scandal broke more than a year ago -- but the documents make it clear it's them.

According to prosecutors, on Sept. 7, 2016 ... Mossimo sent Rick Singer -- the college admissions scandal mastermind -- an email with Olivia's rowing pic attached. The feds say that email and pic were in response to Singer requesting the pic in an August email, saying ... "It would probably help to get a picture with her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real athlete too."

Bella's rowing photo was attached to an email Mossimo sent to Singer on July 28, 2017, and Lori is cc'd on that email.

Prosecutors have pointed out neither of the Giannulli sisters were really on crew teams ... and the rowing pics were just part of the scheme to get them into USC -- along with checks of $50k to USC's athletic program and $200k to Singer's foundation.

Mossimo and Lori have said the checks were merely donations, and not bribes to get their daughters into the school.

In their response, prosecutors acknowledge they should've turned over Singer's notes earlier, but say it was "simply a mistake," and not a bad faith attempt to sandbag Lori and Mossimo. The feds also say the notes don't exonerate the couple because their alleged criminal intent started long before Singer turned into an informant for the government.

Tekashi 6ix9ine must be a fan of comedy ... and Shaggy, because he's basically singing "It Wasn't Me" in response to everyone calling him a snitch. C'mon, man.

The rapper changed his IG profile pic to a claymation version of himself in an orange prison jumpsuit, lounging on a rat trap while devouring a piece of cheese ... interpret that as you may.

Seems like he's just leaning into it, right? But, 6ix9ine also changed his bio line to a question with an obvious answer. He asks, "Why everybody callin me a snitch? I'm missin something...?"

C'mon, man.

We broke the story ... a judge released Tekashi from prison early after he made a plea to get out to avoid contracting the coronavirus. 6ix9ine's now under supervised release in-home incarceration, but is able to return to social media without restrictions.

The rapper's vowed to avoid starting beefs or trolling people with his regained online access, and so far ... he only seems to be trolling himself.

Joking about snitching might not get the best reception, though ... remember, several of 69's former fellow gang members are locked up because he ratted them out.

Tekashi's on federally supervised probation for the next 5 years ... and he's already giving the feds something to talk about.

One of Post Malone's biggest hits, "Circles," was cowritten by a songwriter who gets zero credit, and even worse ... zero money ... according to the lawsuit he just filed.

Tyler Armes says he and Post hooked up to write a song in August 2018 -- at the encouragement of Post's manager. What they eventually created was a track that became the monster hit, "Circles" ... which went all the way to #1 last year.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Tyler claims he cowrote the chords and the bass line for the song ... and had input on other portions, such as the guitar melody. Clearly, his point is ... he did more than enough to earn a writing credit.

Instead, Tyler says "Circles" was released on August 30, 2019 ... without his name on it. According to the suit, he'd been negotiating with Post's camp earlier in the month -- he claims they offered him 5 percent of publishing royalties with no credit. Tyler says he pushed back for a bigger cut and a co-writing credit, but they told him to kick rocks.

In docs, he claims Post's manager had a written exchange with him about it, and that the manager even told him Post acknowledged Tyler's contribution.

That's nice and all, but as we think Tyler would say ... verbal acknowledgment doesn't pay bills. So, he's suing Post to get the co-writer credit and a fair cut of past and future royalties on "Circles."

He's also suing producer Frank Dukes, who does have a writing credit and, according to Tyler, was present for the 2018 jam session that birthed the track.

We've reached out to Post's camp ... no word back yet.

he says those comments were just about the crimes joe committed, so there's no reason to step away based on them

Joe Exotic wants a new judge to preside over his civil lawsuit, 'cause he says the robe has already shown he's a homophobe who has it out for your boy.

The 'Tiger King' star -- who's currently locked up -- filed a new motion this week asking Judge Scott Palk to recuse himself from a lawsuit Joe filed a few weeks ago against the feds.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Joe argues Judge Palk has already presided over other civil cases Joe's been involved in over the years -- and not just the ones depicted on Netflix between himself and nemesis Carole Baskin.

Joe claims Palk has a tainted view, and also hurls accusations at him ... saying Palk has proven he's a gung-ho animal rights activist and homophobic. JE pegged the judge's tone with him during proceedings as "hostile" and "agitated."

Specifically, Joe claims the judge told him ... "I will make sure you are never around another animal the rest of your life." Joe also alleges the judge said, "You were trying to broker a pair of lions to support your husband from jail."

Joe denies that, BTW, and adds even if it were true ... it'd be completely legal in Texas.

In any case, Joe seems to think Judge Palk -- who's currently set to weigh in on his newest lawsuit -- has a grudge against him, and he wants a fresh start with someone else.