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'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic and his new legal team had nothing to do with a helicopter flying over his old zoo ... according to sources close to the FAA investigation.

We broke the story ... Joe's former business partner, Jeff Lowe, filed a complaint over a chopper illegally flying near his Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park last week in Oklahoma.

Jeff suspected Exotic's legal team was involved because the aircraft's tail number matched the one they used in a promo video for Joe ... but TMZ's learned that's not the case.

Sources close to the investigation tell us a chopper did fly over the zoo on the afternoon of May 10, but the pilot told investigators he was simply taking his daughter and her friend on a ride to check it out ... and he thought the zoo was closed.

We're told the pilot claims he did a few orbits outside the zoo's boundaries and maintained a safe level of altitude ... and says his flight tracker logs will prove it.

Our sources say the pilot also made it clear to the FAA he was not hired by Joe's legal team to spy on Lowe's zoo or upset the animals ... the trip was just something to do during quarantine boredom.

However, the pilot was hired by Exotic's Team Tiger for its video to push for Joe's Presidential pardon. A source close to the pilot says he owns it and has been flying for 30 years ... but absolutely was not hired by the team to fly to the zoo.

Lawyers for Ahmaud Arbery's family aren't closing the book on that mysterious note left at the shooting scene -- they've gone to cops with new information that could tie its author to the case.

Attorney Lee Merritt, tells TMZ ... he and his team of investigators received what they believe is a credible tip claiming the note's author is someone who shares ties to Travis and Gregory McMichael and/or William "Roddie" Bryan.

You'll recall, the note says, "Ahmaud, I am so sorry. I should have stopped them. I am so sorry."

Merritt tells us the tip was anonymous, but it allegedly came from someone in Brunswick, GA -- and the person referenced the note's handwriting, saying it caught their attention.

There was no signature on the cryptic note -- or any other context -- but it certainly seemed to insinuate there's another witness out there.

Merritt says his team has shared the tip with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the D.A.'s Office.

The GBI said on Thursday it had already identified the author and determined he or she was not connected to the murder investigation -- but Merritt's tip could change that.

As you know ... the McMichaels are still in jail after their arrests for murdering Ahmaud. The horrifying confrontation was captured on video by Bryan ... who denies any involvement with the McMichaels or tracking down Ahmaud.

A woman claims an unprovoked attack by YouTube star Vitaly Zdorovetskiy left her with seriously painful facial and head injuries -- including a bloody, swollen eye -- and the photos are sickening.

We broke the story ... Vitaly was arrested April 12 for allegedly assaulting a woman in Miami Beach while she was jogging by herself. She told cops he jumped out and tackled her, then proceeded to punch her in the head and chest. As far as we can tell, they didn't know each other.

Photos of the alleged victim, Lily Jensen -- obtained by TMZ from her attorney, Dan Dolan -- show the extent of her injuries after the alleged attack. She required stitches above her right eye, her eyeball was bloodied, and the area around her eye socket was badly bruised and swollen.

Vitaly's facing a criminal charge of felony aggravated battery for the incident, and now, he's also facing a lawsuit from Jensen. She's suing him for battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress claiming she was ambushed without provocation.

According to the suit ... Vitaly "jumped out from behind bushes and punched her from behind, tackled her to the ground and while straddling her, savagely punched and beat her mercilessly with a closed fist about the head, face and body until her screams for help were heard by neighbors."

Jensen's seeking damages for medical bills, pain and suffering, disability, disfigurement, loss of earnings and mental anguish.

Dolan adds ... "Ms. Jensen was the subject of an unprovoked and savage attack on Easter Sunday by somebody who seems proud of behaving in this fashion. This can't happen in Miami or anywhere and we hope that he faces the justice he deserves."

Mary-Kate Olsen wants to get divorced, but she's hit a major roadblock -- coronavirus, so now she wants an emergency court order to speed things along.

Mary-Kate says her attorneys got an email from her husband, Pierre Olivier Sarkozy's attorneys this week giving her a May 18 deadline to get her stuff out of their NYC apartment. She claims Pierre is trying to force her out, because he terminated their lease without her knowledge.

She says she's been asking Pierre to give her until May 30, but claims he hasn't responded.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, she says she can't meet the deadline -- this coming Monday -- because of quarantine guidelines in the city. Mary-Kate says the only way she can protect her property is if she's to file a divorce petition. That would trigger an automatic court order preventing him from disposing of her property.

Mary-Kate says she signed a petition for divorce back on April 17, but was informed NY courts were not accepting divorce filings -- other than emergencies -- due to the COVID-19 pandemic that was raging in the city.

She's requesting an emergency order to allow her to file the divorce. She's included her divorce petition in the filing, and in those docs, she requests their prenuptial agreement be enforced.

Olivier, a French banker, and Mary-Kate tied the knot in November 2015 in an intimate Manhattan ceremony. They started dating in 2012.

They don't have any kids together -- Olivier has 2 from his first marriage. This was Mary-Kate's first marriage ... and now her first divorce.

A guy was caught on camera choking his ex-girlfriend's dog -- and now ... he's facing criminal charges for the sickeningly evil deed.

30-year-old Shane Mitchell allegedly took his ex's pup -- a Doberman named Rubyjean -- without permission, and when he showed up at the owner's front door with Rubyjean, the owner threatened him with a call to the cops. That set Mitchell off, and what happened next is disturbing.

While his ex remained behind her front door during the argument, her Ring doorbell cam recorded Mitchell angrily reaching down and yanking up the dog by its leash, suffocating it, and letting it dangle in front of the camera. The owner shrieks from inside, pleading for him to stop -- then, the video ends.

Cops in Slidell, Louisiana say Mitchell was eventually arrested and booked on animal cruelty charges after the clip made the rounds online, and even better news ... Rubyjean is okay.

She's back in her home and doesn't seem to have suffered any permanent damage as a result of the choking. The city's police chief issued a strong statement of the heinous act, saying ... "I was sick to my stomach watching that video." He added, "How someone can hurt a defenseless animal is beyond me."

The father and son accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery are sitting ducks in the jail as they await prosecution -- and because of that ... the men are being isolated behind bars.

Glynn County Undersheriff Ron Corbett tells TMZ ... Travis and Gregory McMichael are being housed in a separate wing of the Glynn County Detention Center away from the general population ... for their own safety. In other words, they're in protective custody.

Because of the high-profile nature of the case -- and tensions enormously high in the community -- Corbett says both of the McMichaels are siloed off in separate cells -- telling us the cells are not close enough for them to communicate with each other.

What they can do, we're told, is eat alone, periodically leave their units under a secure setting -- but only among themselves -- and that's about it, really. We're told there are no TVs in the section of the jail where they're being housed, so they can't follow the case in the news.

For security reasons, Corbett refused to say whether the men were on suicide watch or whether threats have been made on their lives.

TMZ broke the story ... Ahmaud's mother tells us she wants prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

'Tiger King' star Joe Exotic allegedly managed to have a helicopter fly over his old zoo and freak out all the animals -- at least that's what Joe's ex-business partner and owner of the zoo, Jeff Lowe, thinks ... but Joe's team is calling BS.

According to the FAA ... it received an official complaint about a chopper illegally flying over Lowe's Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park Sunday afternoon in Oklahoma. We're told an investigation is underway.

Sources close to Jeff tell TMZ ... the helicopter violated restricted air space and at one point was hovering right over the zoo's gift shop. We're told this caused the animals to go nuts and stressed out the endangered ones, which violates the Endangered Species Act.

As for the connection to Exotic ... our sources say Lowe's people got the chopper's tail number as it buzzed nearby, and discovered it matches with the one featured in a video produced by Joe's legal team.

We broke the story ... the legal team made the video to ask President Trump to free Joe, claiming he was framed for putting a hit out on his foe, Carole Baskin.

We're told Jeff's wife, Lauren, called and reported the incident Monday to the FAA.

Joe's rep, Eric Love, tells us ... Team Tiger has no knowledge of the incident. Love says no one on the team was involved, and says the helicopter used for the video was one they chartered ... it's not theirs.

Of course, the whole thing raises eyebrows. As you may recall from 'Tiger King' ... Joe once flew a helicopter over Baskin's Big Cat Rescue park in Florida to check it out, which she also claimed caused the animals distress.

Rick Singer is the key witness against Lori Loughlin and other parents of accused of bribing universities -- but instead of shaking in his boots ... he's paddling in his Speedo.

The college admission scandal mastermind -- who copped a sweet deal early on -- was spotted over the weekend in Newport Beach -- where he was, once again, paddling his heart in nothing but a skimpy bathing suit ... something he does pretty often out there.

It's funny, 'cause you'd think the feds might want to keep their cash cow, so to speak, under close observation or away from the public eye ... ya know, in case someone starts to feel squirrely and tries something nuts ahead of what appears to be a forthcoming jury trial.

This ain't ''The Godfather'' though -- RIP Frank Pentangeli, BTW. It's just good old-fashioned white-collar crime (allegedly), and it doesn't seem federal prosecutors, or Rick for that matter, have a care in the world about him making it to the witness stand safe and sound.

Meanwhile, Lori Loughlin just had her bid to have the charges against her and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, dismissed shut down by a judge. She and her team claimed the feds tried coercing Singer into lying and telling them what they wanted to hear about his clients, but the court wasn't buying it and said it was mostly much ado about nothing.

Ahmaud Arbery died from 2 shotgun wounds, and suffered a third, during the struggle with Travis McMichael.

The Glynn County Coroner conducted the autopsy back on Feb. 24 -- the day after Ahmaud's death -- and found 25-year-old Ahmaud died from 2 close-range shotgun blasts in his chest, and x-rays showed 2 separate groups of buckshot pellets.

It also said he had a graze wound on his right wrist. In the video leaked last week ... you can clearly hear 3 shots fired during the confrontation. The autopsy confirms Ahmaud was hit by all 3.

The coroner, Edmund Donoghue, noted cause of death was "multiple shotgun wounds" ... and described the manner of death as "homicide."

Tests also showed Ahmaud had no alcohol or drugs in his system.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigations' report, dated April 1, includes a description of what Ahmaud had on during the fatal shooting. He was wearing a white t-shirt, tan cargo shorts, gray athletic shoes and 2 tan bandanas ... all of which were bloodstained.

Billie Eilish is scared for herself and her family because an obsessed fan keeps showing up at her home this week, and he never practiced social distancing and most of the time, never wore a mask.

Billie filed legal docs, with the help of the law firm McPherson LLP, claiming Prenell Rousseau began showing up over and over again at her home.

Billie says the 24-year-old trespasser started showing up last Monday, ringing the doorbell, and through the Ring camera, her father asked Rousseau if he could help him. Rousseau responded, "I think I might have the wrong house, but does Billie Eilish live here?"

Billie's dad told the guy he had the wrong house, but that didn't stop him.

Billie says he returned at 9 PM and exhibited "erratic behavior." She says, "While we waited for security, Mr. Rousseau remained on our porch, sat down and began to read a book, while also continuing to engage in a periodic monologue. My father repeatedly asked him to leave, but he refused ..."

Security shooed him away, but he returned a little while later and laid down behind a wall, ready to spend the night.

Rousseau reappeared on Tuesday and began trying the door handle to gain entrance.

He returned again and again and was not deterred by anyone. Billie says Rousseau showed up a total of 7 times, 5 of which he was not wearing a face mask ... and the 2 times he did wear a mask, he pulled it down while talking to security. He was also not wearing gloves as touched the doorbell and doorknob multiple times.

Rousseau was actually taken into custody twice this week, but cops told Billie there was really nothing they could do because trespassing is a non-violent offense and they're trying to keep non-violent offenders out of jail due to the spread of COVID-19.

Billie says Rousseau was put on a bus to go back to NY, where he lives, but she fears he will return.

She's asking for a restraining order for herself and her parents.

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.'"