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Rich the Kid can rap all he wants about how "Money Talks" but one celeb jeweler's wondering why the Kid's gone radio silent when it comes to unpaid jewelry bills ... according to a new lawsuit.

Peter Marco from Extraordinary Jewels of Beverly Hills is suing the "Plug Walk" rapper claiming he owes a whopping $234,800 in unpaid jewelry that includes bracelets and incredibly fancy watches.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Marco says he's been doing business with Rich since at least October 2017. RTK ordered diamond necklaces, crosses and even a couple of Patek Philippe watches worth several hundred thousand dollars. And, for a while, Rich did make payments.

In docs, Marco says Rich wired over several payments but they eventually stopped. Even still, RTK continued ordering jewelry and Marco kept delivering ... but the bills kept piling on and Marco claims he wasn't getting paid. So, he's now suing for what he says he's still owed.

Rich the Kid's no stranger to flossing his bling. In the past, he's ordered pricey jewelry when he dropped new albums and even collaborations.

Georgia's top prosecutor says something's fishy about the Ahmaud Arbery case -- beyond the killing itself -- and he's asking the feds to step in to figure out who knew what ... and when.

Attorney General Chris Carr formally requested the U.S. Department of Justice -- led by the lead U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia -- to conduct its own investigation of how Ahmaud's case was handled internally by lower-level officials early on.

In an open letter, Carr spells out major inconsistencies in what his office was told about the case in February, March and April -- long after Ahmaud was shot to death in cold blood by Travis McMichael, while accompanied by his father, Gregory, in late February.

He writes, "The request to the U.S. Department of Justice includes, but is not limited to, investigation of the communications and discussions by and between the Office of the District Attorney of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit and the Office of the District Attorney of the Waycross Judicial Circuit related to this case." Those departments' leaders, respectively, are Jackie Johnson and George Barnhill. Carr's got questions about Barnhill, especially.

Carr says correspondence between his office and Barnhill's office back in early April -- about a month or so after Carr's office formally assigned Barnhill and his team to investigate/prosecute the case -- appears to show Barnhill was not being forthright in how he was handling things up to the point he asked to be taken off, due to a conflict of interest.

Long story short, Barnhill told the AG that his own son -- who's a prosecutor in a neighboring district -- had handled a previous prosecution of Ahmaud, and that one of the defendants -- the elder McMichaels, per reports -- served as an investigator in that old case. Carr says Barnhill told him he learned of this development 3-4 weeks before his dated letter to the AG on April 7. Carr says Barnhill offered no reason why he didn't notify them sooner.

That's not the biggest issue, per Carr. He also says in that April 7 letter, Barnhill did not reveal that he had already been calling shots in the case, including the crucial decision to NOT make any arrests after he reviewed the evidence himself and decided against it.

Jay-Z, Meek Mill and others over at Roc Nation are speaking out publicly to demand justice for the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery -- asking for a speedy trial and conviction of his killers.

Jigga, Meek and other Roc Nation artists -- including Alicia Keys and Yo Gotti -- have signed an open letter they're releasing this weekend, which is made out to Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, Georgia AG Christopher Darr and District Attorney Tom Durden.

It says in no uncertain terms ... try Gregory and Travis McMichael fairly, but swiftly, so that felony convictions can fall on them. Also, they want another man arrested and tried as an accomplice.

The team writes, "By now, we’ve all seen the crime’s disturbing video, so the facts here are not in doubt: He was unarmed and innocent and the victim of a hate crime. Which is why we call upon you today, as official leaders of the Great State of Georgia, and with the entire world watching, to ensure that a fair trial is conducted, as that can only lead to the appropriate felony convictions of both McMichaels. We also implore you to charge William Bryan as an armed accomplice to the crime." Bryan was the guy who filmed the video.

They go on to say that D.A. Durden must recuse himself from the case because of a conflict of interest -- namely, the elder McMichaels is a former cop and they know each other.

The Roc Nation squad also makes a point that the first necessary step for healing has taken place in the arrest of both McMichaels. They say, "We truly appreciate that you have arrested and charged these men with Ahmaud’s murder, and are hopeful that a trial and conviction will show that, in the state that gave us Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and has been the site of the best and worst of the Civil Rights movement, Dr. King’s words do ring true: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.'"

Queens of the Stone Age front man Josh Homme is flipping the script on his estranged wife, whom he claims has been trying to get him busted for allegedly violating a restraining order.

Now the rock singer's filed for a restraining order against her. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Josh claims Brody Dalle-Homme intentionally shows up to his events, trying to trigger a restraining order violation against him.

In one case, he says he took their teenage daughter to a horse riding lesson in February, but an hour before it ended ... he claims Brody parked next to his car and started recording video on her phone. Josh says he then got a threatening message from her attorney saying they were gonna call cops if he didn't leave immediately.

Josh says he's afraid those kinds of phony allegations are going to get him arrested. In the docs, he also alleges during their marriage she punched him in the face at least 7 times and threw an iron, and even bragged to friends and relatives about it.

Josh says he has not lived with Brody for nearly 6 months but claims she continues to monitor his phone and credit card usage to keep track of his movements.

The judge gave Josh the restraining order ... so now Brody has to stay at least 100 yards away from him -- at least until they have a court hearing later this month.

As we first reported ... Brody filed for legal separation back in November and a month later, divorce. She got the restraining order against him in December claiming he showed up to her house drunk and head-butted her.

Lori Loughlin just suffered a big blow in her college admissions case ... the judge rejected her claim that prosecutors dealt her dirty by allegedly browbeating the star witness until he screwed her over.

The judge rejected Lori's motion to dismiss her case entirely because of gross misconduct on the part of the team that is prosecuting her. TMZ broke the story ... a government investigator screamed at college admission's scandal ringleader Rick Singer because he kept saying the money Lori and other parents paid was a donation and not a bribe.

The judge didn't buy it, ruling the government did NOT lie.  The judge said the screaming was not to get Singer to lie ... it was simply to get Singer to corroborate what they already knew.

Lori did score a few points when the judge said the government dragged its feet in producing notes revealing the Singer screaming match. The judge said the delay was "irresponsible and misguided," but not willful.

Joe Exotic does everything big, and clearly so does his new, massive legal team, that has produced a Texas-style video asking President Trump for a pardon, saying Joe is not only NOT GUILTY of putting a hit out on Carole Baskin, but he was actually FRAMED.

The video was shot and produced in Ft. Worth, and it features the bus TMZ showed you a few days ago that is wrapped in a plea to spring Joe from the prison, where we're told 1/3 of the inmates now have coronavirus.

The team is led by a super colorful figure -- Eric Love, a P.I. who is now the Lead Investigator and Executive Manager for all things Exotic.

The video makes it clear ... the legal team will attack on all fronts. They are appealing Joe's conviction and asking Trump for a pardon. They're also pursuing a malicious prosecution lawsuit against a bunch of folks involved in the criminal trial.

As we previously reported, there's evidence the alleged hitman had an ax to grind ... he told us his testimony against Joe was "payback" and he wishes he could have done more to hurt Joe. Those are markers of a biased witness.

There's also this ... the prosecutor in the case chose to throw in allegations Joe killed tigers. A lot of people think the prosecution's murder-for-hire case was weak, and the prosecutor threw in tiger-killing allegations just to dirty Joe up so the jury would hate him. Joe's legal team thinks that's a reversible error, as well as unethical.

Chris Cornell's widow, Vicky, is threatening members of her late husband's band, accusing them of making a fortune off Chris' back and then viciously attacking her and her kids and screwing them out of what's rightly theirs.

Vicky's lawyer, legal pit bull Marty Singer, fired off a blistering letter to the remaining members of the group, expressing outrage at their latest legal move -- accusing Vicky of stealing money from the Chris Cornell Tribute Concert. Singer says the claim is BS, noting almost 2 million bucks went to charity and overhead was only $43k.

Singer also claims the tribute to Chris lined the pockets of the band members, who demanded reimbursement for expenses. Singer clearly doesn't buy the "expenses" argument.

The demand letter, obtained by TMZ, calls the allegations against Vicky "mean spirited drivel." Singer says band members have tried to "brow-beat her into giving up the rights to her late husband's copyrighted works" by initiating a hate campaign, enlisting "cyber-stalkers and trolls" to harass not only Vicky but her kids.

The letter notes band members have liked defamatory, social media allegations ... like suggesting Vicky operates a brothel from her home and that she "pimped out" her daughter.

Vicky's lawyer succinctly said, "Shame on you and shame on your clients [who] have made millions of dollars off of Chris Cornell's hard work and talent."

The letter ends with a threat of a malicious prosecution lawsuit against not only the band members but their lawyer as well ... that is, unless the band immediately drops its fraud claim against Vicky.

Originally Published -- 6:15 AM PT

Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell's former-fiancee claims he's been so abusive -- verbally and mentally -- that she needs court-ordered protection, and she got it ... TMZ has learned.

Esther Campbell filed new docs asking a judge to keep Harwell the hell away from her, after a series of alleged incidents she's blaming on his battle with substance abuse.

Esther claims Steve did a stint in rehab and seemed to be improving until early this year. In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she claims he fell off the wagon and had to detox in February, but when he got out of treatment ... Steve allegedly stole her phone and destroyed it. Esther also claims he stole her car keys to leave her car windows open in the rain.

She describes him as "vindictive, angry, vile and mean" ... according to the docs, and claims he's not taking his medication for bipolar disorder. We have not confirmed Harwell is bipolar, and he's never discussed it publicly.

As we first reported ... Campbell previously claimed Harwell was making her life a living hell with harassing texts, calls, emails and driving by her house.

The judge granted Esther a temporary restraining order which requires the singer to stop contacting her and stay 200-yards away.

Chris Cornell's former bandmates are digging in their heels in an escalating legal war against his widow -- and are now wondering where the money she raised from a charity concert really ended up.

Soundgarden is once again responding to Vicky Cornell's lawsuit, filed last year, in which she claims to be the rightful owner of 7 tracks she says she found on Chris' computer after his death.

The band is firing back now, claiming Vicky has been unwilling to provide sufficient information on the proceeds from a tribute concert after Cornell's death.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, the surviving band members say they performed for free based on her promise the proceeds would go to charity, but they claim Vicky never explained where all the money went. They say she's only mentioned $643K going to a medical research charity. The band wants a full accounting of where any other revenue was donated.

Vicky posted a statement, saying, "When you attack the foundation, you attack my husband's legacy. The foundation has nothing to do with who owns Chris' vocal recordings. Their knowingly false allegations are a deliberate attempt to harm not just my credibility, but the foundation my husband and I created and everything WE stand for."

Soundgarden wants damages and for the judge to declare once and for all that they are the rightful owners of the unreleased tracks.

The Georgia man who shot and killed Ahmaud Arbery, a 25-year-old unarmed black man, is still walking free -- but the Arbery family attorney is trying to change that immediately.

The video of Ahmaud's killing -- released Tuesday -- is sparking national outrage and local protests near Brunswick, GA ... where he was gunned down in February. His family has hired Lee Merritt to get justice for Ahmaud by cutting through what he calls corruption in the Glynn County D.A.'s office.

Merritt joined us Wednesday on "TMZ Live" to discuss the gut-wrenching video. Lee says the first version of the story cops told Ahmaud's family was that he was shot by a homeowner while committing a burglary.

That's obvious BS, as Ahmaud was jogging down a road when Greg and Travis McMichael, both armed, cut him off with their pickup truck ... leading to the physical altercation and the fatal shots.

As for why they were tracking Ahmaud -- Merritt tells us the men are hiding behind a pretty wild GA statute about citizen's arrests.

While Ahmaud's family says he was just out for a jog, the McMichaels claim he was casing an unoccupied home and matched the description of a potential suspect in neighborhood break-ins.

Merritt says it's time for the McMichaels to be taken into custody -- but the D.A. wants to get a grand jury to decide if they should be arrested and charged.

Ashley Ross -- AKA Ms. Minnie from "Little Women: Atlanta" -- was all over the road before she struck another driver in the opposite lane, and ultimately suffered fatal injuries ... TMZ has learned.

We got a hold of the crash report, and it shows -- based on eyewitness testimony and the responding officer's observation ... Minnie lost control of her car while traveling southbound on one side of a highway, causing her to jerk the steering wheel right. Cops say she went off-road briefly before violently swinging back to the left and colliding with another vehicle in the opposite lane. Neither she nor the other driver were ejected.

The other driver was taken to a hospital with complaints of pain -- but the cops note, Minnie was unresponsive on the scene. She would later be pronounced dead.

The report also indicates that no drug or alcohol tests were administered to either driver. It does say, however, that Minnie was determined to be at fault in the crash.

As for cause of death ... the Fulton County Medical Examiner tells us there was no autopsy performed on Minnie, and no report is forthcoming either. We're told she'll likely be listed as having died from blunt force trauma from the accident.

Minnie's family is holding a memorial for her this weekend -- which only 10 of her closest loved ones will be able to attend in person due to quarantine guidelines. Everyone else can pay respect through a live stream, and the family is accepting flowers, cards and donations via different platforms.

We're also told her 'Little Women' costars plan to properly honor her on the show once they're up and shooting again.

Minnie was 34.

RIP

Ariana Grande will have a court-ordered force field around her for the next 5 years -- which will hopefully deter an obsessed fan who was arrested on her property 2 months ago.

A judge just signed off on a permanent restraining order for AG's mother, Joan -- which also extends to Ariana -- which will run through May 5, 2025. Under the order, Fidel Henriquez -- the man in question -- can't come within 100 yards of Joan's home, her vehicles ... and of course, her and Ariana. Basically, he's gotta stay the hell away.

The guy's also been instructed not to harass, threaten, intimidate or contact them in any other fashion -- which covers everything from written correspondence to phone calls as well as any form of electronic messages, including texts and social media DMs.

We broke the story ... Henriquez was hit with a TRO after he got busted for trespassing on their property back in March. They said they were scared for their lives and needed a judge to step in.

You'll recall ... Henriquez is alleged to have slipped onto the property by following a delivery truck through the gates, and once inside ... cops say he was rummaging through the garbage before knocking on Joan's front door, with a love note to Ari in hand.

DaBaby can't keep his hands to himself ... IF you believe a driver who claims the rapper attacked him when an argument quickly turned physical.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the driver got a call to pick up DaBaby in Vegas back in November, and the rapper and some friends hopped into his Mercedes Sprinter van. We're told after a few stops, DB and his friends sparked a joint and the driver told them that's a no-no.

Cops say the rapper and his friends started cursing out the driver and threatened him. When they got to the Hard Rock Hotel, the driver told his passengers it was time to pay up. The driver claims DB punched him in the back of the head and said, "You ain't the boss."

Our law enforcement sources say one of the suspects said, "You're lucky you're not in my city because I would have killed you cracker motherf***er." We're told DB and co. got their bags, but not before someone allegedly said they "would have left him (the driver) dead on the road."

We're told there's now an active arrest warrant to bring in DaBaby for misdemeanor battery.

As we've reported ... DaBaby's had his share of trouble recently. Back in December, he was caught on video assaulting a hotel worker in Beverly Hills. DB defended his actions saying the worker was harassing him while he was in the company of his young daughter.

There was also a woman he allegedly slapped during a concert in Tampa. He apologized ... but for her, it rang hollow.

We've reached out to DaBaby for comment, so far ... no word back.

May the 4th be with you quickly turned into may the Lethbridge, Alberta police force have mercy on you ... when cops took down a Stormtrooper for including a toy blaster in her cosplay.

The crazy scene went down Monday in the Canadian province where a bar employee -- at the Coco Vanilla Galactic Cantina, no less -- was roughed up by cops. Someone reported seeing her with a firearm, and things quickly went south when officers surrounded her.

The video starts out calmly enough, with a man recording the bar employee -- who was out in costume for a company parking lot shindig in honor of 'Star Wars' day -- and joking around with her and asking her to do some Stormtrooper moves. She's half into it ... whatevs.

The crazy part happened moments later, when Lethbridge PD swarmed the scene with guns drawn ... shouting at the Stormtrooper and demanding she drop her weapon. She did, almost immediately.

What happened next is up for debate. Cops say the woman didn't follow their orders by getting down to the ground right away, but she and her boss argue she couldn't because of the damn suit (hard to bend in that thing) -- which she apparently tried relaying to the police on the spot. Eventually, she was able to get down.

The woman claims cops roughed her up as they put cuffs on her, allegedly shoving her face into the ground and making her nose bleed. Once all the commotion settled down, the cops eventually realized there was no threat -- and cut the gal loose without charging her.

She and her co-workers are pissed -- but cops say they were just responding to reports of someone with a firearm and were only doing their jobs.