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Britney Spears is still seeing her sons, Jayden and Sean, without any pushback from Kevin Federline amid the new wave of concern raised by the #FreeBritney folks.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... if Kevin ever felt any concern about Britney's state of mind, he would try to take legal steps to end -- or at least reduce -- her visitation with their boys, but he doesn't think she poses a risk.

Our sources say Kevin is confident their boys are healthy and safe when they're at their mom's home -- which is about 30 percent of the time -- and he's not the least bit influenced by the persistent buzz from some fans who claim Britney should be freed from her conservatorship. There are always other people at the home when the boys visit ... making Kevin feel that much more comfortable.

As we've reported ... some Britney fans think she's being held against her will, but we've been told there's no truth to this. Our sources say Kevin is not going to weigh in on Britney's state of mind, because he's not an expert and sees no benefit in sharing his opinion.

Bottom line ... Britney's going to keep seeing the boys with no resistance or concern from their father.

Jussie Smollett's alleged "attackers" picked up some of their possessions seized by cops over a year ago -- including a large gun -- but the judge said they still gotta wait for a couple more infamous items.

Abel and Ola Osundairo were granted permission by the court to get back many of their belongings no longer considered to be pertinent to Jussie's case ... including a shotgun, a safe, household supplies and their clothes.

However, according to legal docs ... authorities are still holding several items connected to the 2019 alleged fake attack on Smollett -- most notably a black face mask and a red hat.

As you'll recall, the brothers were seen on security footage buying some of the items the day before the "attack" on Jussie.

The brothers' attorney, Gloria Rodriguez, says they both went to the Chicago PD evidence pickup spot earlier this month to get their stuff ... but left with less than they thought they'd get.

As you can see ... Abel's carrying 2 gun cases, but we're told one is empty. That's because, according to Rodriguez, another shotgun was misclassified in the paperwork, but they hope to get that back soon.

Also, Rodriguez says there's a third firearm -- a 9MM -- the cops kept because it was in the brothers' safe. According to the legal docs, prosecutors and Jussie's defense are allowed to review the contents of the safe before they go back to Abel and Ola. The brothers did already get back the actual safe.

We're told Smollett's camp has not been given a chance yet to review the remaining safe items for his upcoming criminal trial.

Kelsey Grammer's daughter, Spencer, got cut up by a man who started swinging a knife in NYC -- all because the restaurant she was at was about to close and wouldn't let him in.

Law enforcement sources confirmed the scary incident went down late Friday night at a place called The Black Ant in the East Village -- which was about to close up shop right before midnight as some guy -- whom witnesses described to cops as seemingly drunk -- walked up and demanded entry ... only to be turned away by the staff.

We're told that sent the guy into a rage, because he whipped out a blade and started hacking away in a full-on brawl with guests and employees. During the mayhem, we're told Spencer and a friend of hers were 2 of the victims who got slashed as the man raged.

Our sources say Spencer and her friend were actually among some of the people trying to pry the maniac off people, and as a result they suffered gashes ... Spencer to her arm and the friend to her back. They were taken to a hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

We're told the man fled by foot and cops are investigating. BTW, in case you're unfamiliar with Spencer -- you probably know her voice ... she plays Summer Smith on 'Rick & Morty.'

Just another crazy day in the time of 'rona -- and it goes to show ... even celebs and their kin can fall victim to the madness. The New York Post broke the story. Get well, Spence.

Carole Baskin's rescue org says Jeff Lowe is not being a cool cat or kitten when it comes to obeying a court order over Joe Exotic's old zoo ... and she wants a judge to step in.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ, Big Cat Rescue claims Jeff is not complying with the court order from June, when a judge granted the rescue org control of the exotic animal park.

In the docs, Carole's org says Jeff is blowing off payments due under the order... including missing a June deadline to hand over certain insurance paperwork, and isn't forking over payments that were supposed to begin in July. The org wants him found in contempt of court.

According to the docs, the org also claims Jeff's funneling money from the zoo into his own separate company, and the org rips him for filming reality shows on the property instead of complying with the court order.

The two sides had a contempt hearing set for this week, but Jeff said he couldn't show up due to health issues ... and a judge agreed to reschedule the hearing. We're told Jeff missed the hearing because he thought he contracted the coronavirus -- 2 tests eventually came back negative for COVID-19 -- and he remains ill and will continue to quarantine as a precaution.

Sources close to Jeff tell TMZ ... the order was handed over to Jeff's attorneys the day it was issued, and the demands were impossible to meet ... making it more likely Jeff could get charged with contempt. His camp thinks that was Carole's intention.

Sources say the org is demanding Jeff take out a $5 million insurance policy on the zoo for the next two months, but we're told Jeff feels Carole knows that's impossible to obtain.

Bobby Shmurda's plan for life after prison includes dropping new music and talking to at-risk youths about leading a better life .... but these plans all hinge on how well his parole hearing goes.

The rapper's mother, Leslie Pollard, tells TMZ ... Bobby plans to tell the parole board next month if they release him, he's going to put his nose to the grindstone in the studio and also stay out of trouble.

Leslie tells us Bobby's been doing a lot of writing since he's been behind bars, and he plans to record his work for Epic Records, the label that signed him.

And, get this ... Leslie says Bobby also wants to produce a documentary about his life, which he hopes will also be used as an educational tool for troubled youth. Bobby's plan with at-risk kids includes visiting them and spending time with them and telling his story so they can avoid going down the path he traveled that led him to spend years behind bars.

As we've reported ... the rapper copped a plea deal back in September 2016 ... to conspiracy to possess weapons and possession of a weapon. The other charges -- including conspiracy to commit murder -- were dismissed. He was sentenced to 7 years behind bars and 5 years probation.

Fast forward to now ... Bobby's weeks away from his parole hearing and he's crossing his fingers. Leslie's support never wavered. She'd visit him every 2 weeks but those visits came to a screeching halt when the pandemic hit.

"American Crime" actor Johnny Ortiz is facing a real-life attempted murder charge for his alleged role in an L.A. drive-by shooting ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... Ortiz and another man, Armando Miguel Navarro, allegedly tried to kill a man named Brian Duke in a gang violence-related incident. Though Navarro's the one accused of pulling the trigger, prosecutors also hit Ortiz with an attempted murder charge ... now we know why.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... witnesses on the scene gave a description of the car, which was pulled over about an hour later in L.A. with 4 people inside, and Ortiz driving.

We're told all 4 were taken into custody, but the D.A. only charged Ortiz and Navarro ... the other 2 were released.

Our sources say prosecutors have some video evidence linked to the shooting.

Ortiz has also costarred in "McFarland, USA" with Kevin Costner, and with Aaron Paul in "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie." He was arrested in late May and is still locked up, being held on $1,120,000 bail.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are pissed about a paparazzi shot of their son, Archie, which they say was snapped in their own backyard, so now they're suing ... TMZ has learned.

Harry and Meghan say they took extensive measures to ensure their privacy at their new home in the L.A. area -- including putting a large mesh fence around the property to guard against telephoto lenses. Still, according to the lawsuit ... an unnamed photog recently "crossed a red line for any parent" by shopping pics of Archie.

In docs, obtained by TMZ and filed by celeb lawyer Michael Kump, the former Royals say the photos are being shopped as if they were shot during a public outing in Malibu -- but they say Archie has not been anywhere in public, let alone Malibu, since they moved to Los Angeles. They say the photog is purposely lying about the location because the person knows "unsolicited photographs of a young child in the privacy of his own home are very much unlawful."

Sources connected to Meghan and Harry say the intrusion went down at Tyler Perry's Beverly Hills estate, where the former royals are staying. What makes that especially weird ... Tyler's house is in a gated community and he lives at the very farthest point from the front gate, making it especially hard for an intruder to go undetected.

But, Harry and Meghan say they do get intrusions by air. In the lawsuit, they say "some media outlets have flown drones a mere 20 feet above the house as often as three times a day." They also say helicopters do fly-overs, and some photogs have cut holes in their security fences.

Archie's Mom and Dad point out in the suit, it's their choice when and how they share photos of their boy -- and say they have posted pics of him on social media in order to reduce the "bounty" for paparazzi photos.

They're suing for invasion of privacy, and also want an order for the photog to turn over the photos. They don't know if anyone's purchased the shots yet, but they say they're putting all media on notice ... the photos were illegally taken, and not in Malibu.

A status hearing on Britney Spears' conservatorship never went down this week ... because a group of people who had nothing to do with the case refused to get off the Zoom call so the judge could conduct a confidential hearing.

The plan was routine -- every 3 months or so, the judge calls the parties into court to catch up on developments in the conservatorship. There are reports out there that Britney and/or others were trying to end it. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... no one has EVER filed a motion nor has there ever been a court proceeding to end the permanent conservatorship in the 12 years it's been in effect.

As for the would-be status hearing this week ... we're told the judge was handling a bunch of non-confidential matters on Zoom, but then the judge "closed" the virtual courtroom by ordering everyone off who was not involved in Britney's case. We're told a group of people from the public got off the call, but then rejoined. The judge was ordering them off, but they refused to leave, so after more than 2 hours the judge pulled the plug and rescheduled the hearing.

Derek Chauvin -- the ex-Minneapolis cop charged with murdering George Floyd -- now has more legal trouble on his hands over his taxes ... and so does his estranged wife.

Chauvin and his estranged spouse, Kellie, were each hit Wednesday with 9 felony counts related to their alleged failure to pay state taxes in Minnesota -- including counts for aiding and abetting the filing of false or fraudulent returns and additional counts for failing to file returns at all.

According to court docs, officials in Washington County, Minnesota claim the couple's tax issues date back to 2014 and they're accused of not filing at all for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. They each face the same 9 counts.

Specifically, investigators claim the couple was significantly under-reporting their combined income. For instance, prosecutors say Derek was raking in tens of thousands of dollars on top of his police officer salary at MPD between side security gigs -- one of which prosecutors estimate totaled upwards of $95k between 2014-2019 -- as well as other odd jobs.

Prosecutors also claim Kellie was raking in tens of thousands herself from realtor work and her photography business. None of the money was reported, according to the charging docs. There's also alleged malfeasance over different homes they've purchased in Minnesota and Florida -- not to mention a new BMW that they allegedly registered in Florida, but had serviced more than 10 times in Minnesota.

And, get this ... prosecutors also allege that Derek and Kellie talked about these tax problems on the phone while he was in custody back in June. They claim Derek told Kellie people were looking into their records, and allege Kellie responded she was meeting with someone about "(2016) to now."

They go on to claim Chauvin told Kellie to use the same person "we have used to handle for many years." That person appears to have been Derek's own father, as prosecutors say Kellie responded, "Yeah well we don't want to get your dad involved because he will just be mad at me I mean us for not doing them for years..."

Long story short, we're talking a lot of money and alleged wrongdoing here -- and if convicted on each of the felony counts ... they could face up to five years in prison.

Of course, these legal woes are on top of the second-degree murder and manslaughter charges Chauvin faces in connection to George's killing earlier in May. He remains behind bars with his bail set at $1.25 million. He hasn't entered a plea yet in the case.

Clint Eastwood wants CBD retailers to keep his name out their mouth ... and now he's suing.

Dirty Harry filed a pair of lawsuits Wednesday against CBD retailers, who he says are using his good name to hawk their cannabis products online and trick customers.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Clint says these CBD retailers are propping up their products by using fake interviews with him where he gushes over their marijuana merchandise. Clint says he's never sat down with any of these companies and doesn't endorse their products.

In one suit, Clint also claims CBD retailers are using his name to lure in consumers through Google searches. Yes, this 90-year-old is hip to metadata.

In the docs, Clint says he's being defamed by the lies out there about him using CBD products and says the companies have no right to use his likeness to hawk their products.

Heather McDonald and former 'RHOC' star Jim Bellino are on the same page, legally speaking -- they've settled his lawsuit against her ... TMZ has learned.

According to a joint statement released by Jim and Heather ... they've "reached a settlement of the dispute on mutually satisfactory terms." The joint statement also says Heather "never intended to cause any of the damage" to Jim's reputation or that of his business.

Jim, the ex-husband of 'RHOC' star Alexis Bellino, sued the comedian in June 2019, claiming she "shamelessly dished and peddled unsubstantiated gossip" about his divorce with Alexis on an episode of Heather's podcast, "The Juicy Scoop."

Heather, who used to appear on "Chelsea Lately" before starting her podcast, previously secured a victory in the defamation suit back in March, when a judge granted her motion to dismiss the lawsuit ... but Jim appealed.

Teresa Giudice is heartbroken for the New Jersey judge who sent her and her hubby to prison ... after what appears to be a targeted murder at the judge's home.

The 'RHONJ' star's attorney, James Leonard, tells TMZ ... Teresa was "devastated" by the news this weekend -- namely, that a gunman disguised as a FedEx employee made his way into Judge Esther Salas' home and shot and killed her son. Judge Salas' husband was also shot but survived.

Leonard says, "Knowing Teresa the way I do, I think if she were to have an opportunity to see Judge Salas, I think she would hug her and pray with her." He doesn't believe his client will attend the funeral but says Judge Salas and her family are in Teresa's thoughts.

He adds, "This is such a horrific tragedy, I know that the entire legal community is shocked and devastated and praying for Judge Salas and her family."

Judge Salas, who was not injured in the gunman's attack, presided over Teresa and Joe Giudice's criminal cases back in the day -- sentencing her to 15 months in prison, and Joe to 41 months behind bars.

Johnny Ortiz -- who starred alongside Kevin Costner in "McFarland, USA" -- is currently sitting behind bars after being charged with premeditated attempted murder charges ... TMZ has learned.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Ortiz and another man, Armando Miguel Navarro, allegedly tried to kill a man named Brian Duke "for the benefit of, at the direction of, and in association with a criminal street gang with the specific intent to promote, further and assist in criminal conduct by gang members."

Navarro is the one accused of pulling the trigger, and while it's unclear exactly what role Ortiz played in the crime ... prosecutors felt it warranted the attempted murder charge.

Ortiz -- who starred as one of the cross country runners in the based-on-a-true-story Disney flick, "McFarland, USA" -- was arrested in late May, and remains behind bars. The judge set his bail at a whopping $1,120,000.

His family insists he's not guilty, and is trying to raise his bail through crowdfunding. They wrote on the site, "Johnny is everything to our family. Johnny does everything to help the community and the Hispanic community especially ... he is in jail fighting for his case that he is innocent on."

The actor's also appeared in "Ali," "American Crime" and "El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie."

Donald Trump is not only losing to Joe Biden ... he's losing to Linkin Park.

Twitter has removed a video Trump retweeted, with the group's song, "In The End." The original tweet was from the account of Dan Scavino, the White House Media Director.

The video vanished Saturday, replaced with this message -- "This media has been disabled in response to a report by the copyright owner."

Trump has drawn the ire of Linkin Park before, and they underscored their contempt for the President Saturday, saying, "Linkin Park did not and does not endorse Trump, nor authorize his organization to use any of our music. A cease and desist has been issued."

Apparently, Twitter heard them.

Chester Bennington, who fronted Linkin Park until his death in 2017, vehemently opposed Trump, declaring, “Trump is a greater threat to the USA than terrorism!! We have to take back our voices and stand for what we believe in.”

The choice of the song, "In The End," is curious, with lyrics that include this ... “I tried so hard / And got so far / But in the end / It doesn’t even matter.”

Pop Smoke's alleged murderers were tracked down by LAPD detectives the old-fashioned way ... there were no shortcuts or easy breaks.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the big break in the case leading to the arrests of 4 men allegedly connected to the rapper's death didn't come from a tipster, but instead from LAPD detectives pounding the pavement and knocking on doors.

We broke the story ... Pop Smoke was gunned down back in February by at least 4 masked gunmen after what appeared to be a home invasion robbery at his rental property in the Hollywood Hills.

Detectives went back to the basics because, as we reported, they hit a roadblock back in February when potential witnesses wouldn't cooperate, and combing social media turned out to be a bust.

Our sources say detectives used video from citizens and businesses in the area to help track and ID the suspects, who were slapped with murder charges last week and could face the death penalty.

Sources also tell us cops believe Los Angeles street gang members were involved in Pop's murder, but they say the case doesn't appear to be a gang hit or an East Coast-West Coast beef -- Pop was from NYC.

Instead, police believe the tragedy was a robbery gone wrong after the alleged killers saw Pop's posts on social media in the hours before the fatal shooting. Pop shared his address, and flexed with huge wads of cash.

We're told, even though the arrests have been made, the case remains under active investigation as detectives search for more evidence.

'Love & Hip Hop' star Mariahlynn claims her ex and his new GF beat the crap out of her and a pal with a bat and blade, leaving them bloodied and battered ... this according to cops.

Law enforcement sources tell us the reality star filed a police report this past week alleging she and a good friend of hers were ambushed by Mariahlynn's former boyfriend, whom she says had invited her over to his place in the Bronx to hash things and make peace.

We're told Mariahlynn described an incredibly horrific sequence of events to police ... she said as soon as she and the woman she was with arrived at the ex-boyfriend's apartment, they were immediately jumped by both him and his new girlfriend, who allegedly pulled out a blade and even used a bat to beat the two women before they escaped.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Mariahlynn was punched in the face, kicked in the back of her leg, dragged by the hair and held down so the other woman could pile on. We're told Mariahlynn's friend was beaten with the bat and brutally attacked too.

We’re told Mariahlynn has multiple contusions, a fractured leg, a cut face and a black eye. TMZ obtained photos of injuries Mariahlynn claims resulted from the alleged beatdown -- as you can see, they're gnarly.

Our law enforcement sources noted visible injuries to Mariahlynn and her friend -- listing the alleged crimes as felonious assaults. We're told neither the ex-boyfriend nor his alleged accomplice has been arrested -- NYPD cops are currently investigating.