TMZ.com

The prosecutor in Jussie Smollett's case raised a lot of eyebrows during his closing argument, by using the phrase "monkeyed around" while referring to the famous defendant.

Prosecutor Dan Webb was trying to make a point that Jussie kept a noose around his neck for a long, long time until police showed up at his apartment. He told the jury Jussie "monkeyed around" with the rope.

The phrase led to groans from Jussie's family ... with several of them shaking their heads in disgust. The jury heard and saw all of this play out ... and it certainly didn't score points for the prosecution that tried to prove the alleged racial attack on Jussie was fake.

This isn't the first time the prosecutor got schooled for a racial misstep. Just 2 days ago Jussie called him out in court for reading some of his texts and using the full n-word. The prosecutor actually backed down and had Jussie read the texts.

Flavor Flav's domestic violence incident from October is all wrapped up and dealt with in the eyes of the law -- he copped a plea to a lesser charge, and is happy to close the book.

The rapper's misdemeanor domestic battery charge was dropped, and Flav pled no contest to one count of coercion. He was fined $640. He will not serve any jail time.

His attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, tell TMZ, "Today the domestic violence charge against Mr. William Drayton (Flavor Flav) was dismissed. Mr. Drayton acknowledged the nonviolent act of grabbing a phone during the incident in question, a misdemeanor, and the case was closed by the court."

They add, "Mr. Drayton and his family are grateful to bring an amicable close to this matter and appreciate everyone's support as he continues his one-year journey of sobriety."

As we reported ... Flav was arrested in October after out in Nevada, this after cops got a call about a domestic incident at his home.

Scott Peterson, the man who was convicted of killing his pregnant wife Laci Peterson and their unborn child in 2002, has just been resentenced to life in prison... TMZ has learned.

As we previously reported, Peterson's death sentence was thrown out last year, after the state Supreme Court determined that jurors who personally disagreed with the death penalty were dismissed. The case was sent down for resentencing.

He was originally convicted and spent more than 15 years on death row in California.

As you may know, Peterson killed 27-year-old wife and their unborn son Conner, when Laci was 8 months pregnant on Christmas Eve, 2002.

The crime spree unfolding in L.A. has got celebs acting skittish, so much so that there's a big boom in security hiring ... which might sound great for them, but isn't a good sign big picture.

TMZ spoke with two different high-profile security companies that offer services for famous folks and other VIP types -- and they both tell us the same thing ... their business is on the upswing, and it seems to be aligned with what's going on in the City of Angels.

Alfredo Moosa and AJ Moosa of 2 Deep Executive Protection -- which has worked for people like French Montana, Maria, A1 Bentley and more --  tell us they're getting booked left and right these days, especially in L.A. ... where they say they're most in demand.

Take the Tank Davis fight in town this past weekend -- the Moosa's say there alone they had 8 different clients with their guards on hand, who are being hired for way longer shifts than anything they've done in the past (17+ hours) ... emblematic of what they say is happening generally. In the past year ... they tell us they've hired 15-16 new guards.

The Moosa's also say they've seen a lot of their clients lately ditch jewelry and other bling they may normally wear -- which they think has to do with the fact people are getting jacked in brazen attacks of late. 2 Deep is also doing a lot more house calls at the moment -- we're told now, they're being asked to stick around and patrol Airbnbs their clients might stay in ... whether they're actually there or not, a shift from what they're usually asked to do.

There's also Kings Protection -- having been hired by the likes of Quavo, Lil Pump, LeBron James, etc. -- whose CEO, Jack, tells us they too are getting a spike in bookings, and everything else that comes with their offerings.

Jack says they've seen an increase in day-to-day security needs, including clients being out and about in a nightlife setting ... or even just home patrols, something they specialize in. Kings have had to hire 200 more guards this year due to the phone constantly ringing.

Armie Hammer's alleged rape investigation has wrapped up and law enforcement is sending its findings to the D.A. ... but we're told the actor isn't likely to face any charges.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the LAPD is forwarding the case to the L.A. County District Attorney's Office now that it's completed its probe, which launched way back in March.

We're told the case isn't strong, and will probably not result in any charges being filed against Armie. It's unclear if the reason behind that is a lack of credibility of potential witnesses or a lack of particular evidence backing up the claims. In any case ... the D.A.'s office will have final say over the matter.

As we reported ... Armie was accused of raping a woman named Effie, who filed a police report.

Effie went public with her accusations via press conference, alongside attorney Gloria Allred. The alleged rape occurred in 2017 -- and Effie claims it lasted for over 4 hours in what she characterized as a violent incident.

Armie has denied the allegations, saying Effie was sending him dirty texts as recently as 2020 ... which he says undermines her story. Effie's claims surfaced amid a larger scandal Armie was embroiled in -- where some of his sexual exploits were even painted as cannibalistic.

Some women have claimed Armie took things too far, to the point they felt violated and/or assaulted. He's vehemently denied all of their accounts, saying all sexual encounters he's had were fully consensual.

Tristan Thompson is trying to keep a tightly-sealed lid on info from his latest paternity case -- asking a judge to silence the woman who claims she's carrying his child from leaking info about the case ... while he continues to blast her as being out for fortune and fame.

The NBA star filed an emergency petition Tuesday in Harris County, TX -- asking the judge to issue a gag order in the case ... barring the parties (himself and Maralee Nichols) from speaking out about the case as it plays out in court.

Tristan points to multiple instances in which he believes Maralee has violated what he claims is a confidentiality order the judge orally granted earlier in the case after she sued him over paternity.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Tristan claims Maralee has been doing interviews with the media, leaking personal info and even taking to IG and other social media to spread what he says are blatant lies about himself and his family. Specifically, he claims certain Snapchat messages -- which Maralee has claimed were sent to her by Tristan -- were fabricated.

The reason Tristan thinks she's doing all this is "to achieve some sort of notoriety and gain for herself in this lawsuit."

Bottom line ... Tristan wants to keep this entire proceeding under wraps, including any discovery or evidence submitted by either side. He also wants the court to sanction Maralee for the alleged leaks.

To hit that point home, he wants a judge to force her to fork over a $30k bond to ensure she has some money on the line if she breaks the confidentiality order.

Jussie Smollett interrupted his own courtroom grilling to make an interesting request -- that the prosecutor does not use the n-word in full ... because he found it offensive.

The "Empire" actor stopped prosecutor Dan Webb -- who's white -- during his line of questioning during cross-examination Tuesday, and flat-out asked the guy to stop repeating the slur while quoting messages Jussie had sent to the Osundairo brothers on the day of the alleged attack.

Jussie said in court, "Can you spell or say the n-word out of respect for every African American in this room? You've been saying that word a lot."

Webb made a compromise ... asking that Jussie read the messages himself, which he apparently did. One of the messages Jussie read himself was from Abimbola, which said ... "N**** finally made it just landed haha."

After cross, Jussie stepped down ... and the defense rested its case. Closing arguments are expected to begin tomorrow.

Jamie Spears says he wants nothing more than to tie up loose ends and end Britney's conservatorship, but the people put in place on her side are dragging it out, and destroying his reputation in the process.

Spears just filed new docs in L.A. where he says he just wants a simple order ending the conservatorship, but that's been made impossible by what he calls Britney's "temporary conservators" ... whom Jamie says are only trying to continue a media circus.

He says Britney and her team mostly make "statements with no other purpose than to attack Jamie" and are trying to paint him as a "disgraced, suspended conservator."

What's more ... Jamie says he's been more than cooperative in handing over requested documents from the 13 years Britney was in the conservatorship. In fact, he says he's already handed over 58 boxes of docs -- totaling around 478,000 pages.

Jacqueline Avant's family believes she was awake at home when an intruder shot and killed her, as Clarence was nearby in the couple's bedroom ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell us Clarence was asleep during the break-in last week at their Trousdale Estates home, but his wife was already up just after 2 AM -- as she typically is -- in another room.

We're told she and the suspect unexpectedly came face-to-face ... the family believes they startled each other and that's when he opened fire.

Our sources tell us security was patrolling the front of the house and the suspect appears to have entered from the side yard.

We're told a guard heard a gunshot from inside, raced over and then the suspect fired at him too ... before fleeing the scene.

As we reported ... cops took a man named Aariel Maynor into custody about an hour after the crime, and say he's the guy responsible for killing Jacqueline. They allege he was attempting yet another burglary in the Hollywood Hills, where he apparently shot himself in the foot.

The police say he's the sole perpetrator in the Avant killing, and they also say he used an AR-15 style weapon.

Maynor has since been charged with murder, attempted murder, felony with a firearm as well as 2 counts of residential burglary with a person present ... all in connection to the Avant shooting. We're told he's scheduled to have surgery on his foot Wednesday, so he won't be arraigned until after that.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the lead armorer on the set of "Rust" has one weapons specialist and Hollywood veteran on her side -- it's her dad, who is backing his daughter's training and claiming she was sabotaged.

Thell Reed, whose career in movies spans several decades says Hannah was raised around guns, and learned gun safety from an early age. Reed says his daughter complained she had to carry both armorer and prop duties on the movie, and it was because she was doing prop duties that she was unable to be inside the church set when Halyna Hutchins was killed.

Thell told "Good Morning America" Tuesday he believes if Hannah was inside the church during the fatal scene, she would've checked the gun's chamber one more time and discovered the live round, potentially saving Hutchins' life.

What's more, Thell echoes the same message Hannah's attorneys have previously claimed ... believing Hannah was somehow sabotaged on set with the live ammo. Though, he doesn't really get into how or why that might've happened.

Of course, it was just last week when Alec Baldwin claimed he never pulled the trigger on the revolver that killed Hutchins. Alec claims he cocked the hammer back and when he released it, the gun went off.

Ethan Crumbley -- the accused Oxford killer -- was involved in a bizarre accident a year before he shot and killed 4 of his fellow students ... and it seems something was clearly wrong with him.

This video shows then 14-year-old Crumbley in a diner where he worked back in September 2020. Crumbley is walking in a work area and you see him disoriented and wobbly before he collapses, hitting his head on a cabinet. In the video, first obtained by the Daily Mail, he struggles to get up before someone comes over and helps.

The diner's owner says someone on the staff called his parents and sent him home. His mom blamed it on Ethan not eating that day. But the owner has her doubts, saying she thinks it might've been related to his medications.

There's also this ... the diner owner claims Ethan's older brother, Eli, was caught smoking weed on the job -- he also worked at the diner -- and when someone on the staff threatened to call his parents, Eli allegedly responded, "Where do you think I got it from?"

Crumbley was taken into custody and charged in connection with the shooting. He's facing 24 counts total, including 4 counts of first-degree murder and terrorism causing death.

The man cops say is responsible for the shooting death of Jacqueline Avant, the wife of Clarence Avant, has been charged with murder ... TMZ has learned.

The L.A. County District Attorney's office announced the charges of murder, attempted murder and felon with a firearm as well as two counts of residential burglary with person present against Aariel Maynor Monday, less than a week after Avant was killed.

George Gascón, the D.A. says, “Mrs. Avant was a treasured member of our community. Her generosity and good will touched so many lives.”

TMZ broke the story, Maynor allegedly broke into the family home around 2:30 the morning of December 1. He then shot and killed Jackie and opened fire on a security guard. Both Clarence and the guard were uninjured.

As we reported, Maynor was arrested the night of the murder when he was found in a backyard 6 miles from the Avant home in the process of committing another crime. Somehow, Maynor shot himself in the foot with the same weapon it's believed he used to kill Avant.

Maynor's motive is currently unknown, but it's possible the Avants fell victim to a random attack at their Trousdale Estates home.

Clarence, known as the "Godfather of Black Music" is a music legend, with a career and influence spanning decades. He and Jacqueline were regulars at public outings, and after her death, tributes poured in across the entertainment and political world.

Jussie Smollett just took the stand in his own defense, talking about his career and his sexual encounters with one of the men he says is responsible for attacking him.

Smollett was called as a witness for the defense Monday, and opened up about his family, the loss of his dad and finding success on "Empire." Jussie claimed to have made $25K-$35K per episode on the first season of the FOX show.

Jussie also got into how he met Abel, saying the two met at a gay club one night and went to a Chicago bathhouse where they did drugs, including cocaine and marijuana. During another visit to the bathhouse, Jussie says they made out and masturbated together.

We had Fox News correspondent Matt Finn on TMZ Live who was inside the courtroom when Jussie took the stand, and gave us a better idea of the actor's mood.

This is the second week of the trial, last week saw testimony from the Osundairo brothers, who Jussie says attacked him. Of course, the Osundairo brothers have maintained Jussie was in on the whole thing, and staged the attack with them for publicity.

Last week, Ola Osundairo fought back against previous claims Jussie had made calling him homophobic. He presented the court with a photo of himself dressed as a Trojan warrior and handing out condoms at a gay pride parade to show he was friendly with the gay community.

In describing the planning of the attack, the brothers testified Smollett originally wanted them to punch him, put a noose around his neck and pour gasoline on him. However, the gasoline was changed to bleach because the brothers felt gasoline could be too dangerous.

Travis Scott doesn't believe he should be tied to litigation when it comes to the tragedy that happened at Astroworld ... which is why he's asking a judge to nix one of the lawsuits against him.

The rapper just filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, denying the claims against him by a guy named Jessie Garcia, who's alleging he was in the crowd at the festival. Trav's asking that his suit be dismissed with prejudice ... specifically, as it pertains to TS himself, his company (Jack Enterprises) and his foundation/label (Cactus Jack).

Travis is issuing a "general denial," which is a legal term in civil suits that allows one to submit one blanket response to all the allegations against them.

In other words, Travis is making clear that the deaths and injuries are not his responsibility, and he's asking the judge to toss the suit against him and his entities.

BTW, sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Travis is planning to issue a similar response for every civil suit against him -- and trust us, there are many. He might be able to do it in one fell swoop though -- last week, there was a motion filed to combine all 275 cases that have been filed thus far into one "multi-district litigation," which would consolidate many of the suits.

The reason for the ask is because a lot of the claims are eerily similar ... so just for efficiency, they're asking one judge be assigned to the case. The court has yet to rule.

DaBaby is putting his Sin City battery case behind him -- we've learned the charges against him have been dismissed.

According to online court records, the misdemeanor battery charge was dismissed with prejudice ... meaning the case is over and done, and can't be refiled.

The Clark County District Attorney's Office tells TMZ ... the charges were dismissed because DaBaby satisfied everything prosecutors asked him to do in order to resolve the case, including paying the alleged victim $7,500 and staying out of trouble.

TMZ broke the story ... a driver in Las Vegas came forward with allegations against DaBaby back in February, claiming the rapper attacked him during a ride in November 2020. DaBaby's camp described the allegations at the time as a "money grab."

DaBaby's attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, tell TMZ ... the rapper denied the allegations and was prepared to fight the case in court.

It is now clear what forced CNN's hand in firing Chris Cuomo -- the guy was accused of sexual misconduct this week ... this is as he was already on thin ice.

Attorney Debra S. Katz came forward Sunday to reveal she'd been retained by a woman who wanted to go public with an allegation against the ex-anchor ... something she was apparently inspired to do after hearing about his involvement in his brother's own scandal.

She says while Gov. Cuomo's mess played out in public, Chris came on the air for his own show and said, "I have always cared very deeply about these issues and profoundly so. I just wanted to tell you that." Katz adds, "Hearing the hypocrisy of Chris Cuomo’s on-air words and disgusted by his efforts to try to discredit these women, my client retained counsel to report his serious sexual misconduct against her to CNN."

According to NYT, the woman -- who is remaining anonymous for now -- is a former junior colleague of Chris' from another network, and her claims are unrelated to Gov. Cuomo.

Katz goes on to describe how she contacted CNN on Wednesday -- a day after he'd been suspended -- to report her client's allegations against Chris ... and by Friday, she says she was already in discussions with the network to provide evidence and making the woman available for an interview with CNN's outside counsel.

She finishes by saying, "My client came forward at this time because she felt in sharing her story and related documentation, she could help protect other women. She will continue to cooperate with CNN’s investigation into her allegations. Given the nature of her allegations, she wishes to remain anonymous, and we ask that you respect this decision."