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Diddy says the feds have him all wrong and he's just an innocent man ... because he's pleading not guilty to a couple new charges against him.

The Bad Boy Records founder appeared in court Monday in Manhattan for his arraignment on two new charges ... one for sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, and another for transportation to engage in prostitution ... a couple things he says he definitely didn't do.

Feds tacked on the charges in a recent superseding indictment ... the third one we've seen so far in the Diddy case. Diddy showed up in court today with white hair and a short beard, and pled not guilty to the superseding indictment charges.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's alleged arsonist had his mugshot publicly released Monday -- and the guy certainly appears glum.

The Dauphin County District Attorney's Office released the booking photo of Cody Balmer, who allegedly set fire to Shapiro's house while the governor, his wife, his kids and another family were inside as they celebrated Passover -- the Jewish holiday -- this past weekend. Luckily, the Shapiros and their guests made it out of the blaze alive and unscathed.

Check out the mug shot ... Balmer looks like he just lost his dog, with his droopy face and sullen eyes. Prosecutors just hit Balmer with a truckload of charges, including attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, reckless endangerment, terrorism and other offenses.

The man accused of setting Governor Josh Shapiro's Pennsylvania home on fire confessed to the shocking crime after ordering his ex-girlfriend to drop a dime on him to the police, according to new court records.

Cody Balmer was arrested Sunday by the Pennsylvania State Police after his former girlfriend allegedly told police Balmer admitted to setting fire to the governor's house and asked her to tell the authorities.

The docs say shortly thereafter Balmer surrendered at Pennsylvania State Police headquarters and gave a blow-by-blow account of the incident, telling officers he was "harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro."

Erik and Lyle Menendez might take the stand next Thursday to convince the judge in their resentencing hearing they're worthy of redemption ... but according to their lawyer, it could be a high-risk move.

Mark Geragos jumped on the "2 Angry Men" podcast Friday from the Van Nuys Courthouse, fresh off a victory where the judge shut down the D.A.'s request to put the kibosh on any resentencing hearing.

Excuse the intro to the clip -- it's a pisser -- but a little ways in, Harvey asks Mark about his strategy to possibly call the bros to the stand. Harvey has spent some time talking to Erik and Lyle, and says plainly they presented themselves as compelling men who might impress the judge.

Erik and Lyle Menendez will get their day in court to seek a new sentence, and possibly win their freedom ... after an intense battle with L.A. County D.A. ended with the judge ruling in the brothers' favor.

The Menendez brothers appeared remotely in the L.A. County courtroom Friday where D.A. Nathan Hochman and his team of prosecutors presented their case to the judge for withdrawing the petition to resentence Erik and Lyle -- a petition that was filed by the previous D.A. George Gascon, and which the newly elected Hochman vehemently opposes.

The brothers -- wearing prison blues -- were seen on a video screen in court, and visibly reacted as prosecutors repeatedly stated that they had not changed since their conviction ... because they never admitted their claim they purchased guns in fear for their lives was a lie.

Luigi Mangione says Uncle Sam wants to kill him as a political stunt ... and his defense is calling on a judge to stop the feds from pursuing the death penalty if he's convicted.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Luigi's attorneys claim the federal case against him is political, arbitrary, capricious and breaks from established death penalty protocol.

Luigi's defense also rips a social media post from Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department ... claiming the post makes it look like Luigi's already been found guilty.

Beyoncé coming face-to-face with a drugged-up guy wearing a penis mask must've been a crazy-ass fever dream -- the Diddy accuser who claimed Bey and Jay-Z saw him at a "freak off" has changed his mind.

Manzaro Joseph, who sued Diddy earlier this month, just filed an amended lawsuit -- and while he's still going after Diddy in court, he's very noticeably dropped the Carters from his narrative.

In the new docs, Joseph makes ZERO mention of Jay or Beyoncé -- and as far as we can tell, that's the only change he's made to the lawsuit. TMZ broke the story ... Joseph originally claimed the couple saw him in one helluva state during a 2015 birthday party in Miami for Diddy's son, King Combs.

There seems to be a rash of female educators accused of having sex with their underage students across the U.S. -- and there doesn't seem to be any end in sight.

In the latest case, Dr. Keiva Lark -- the assistant principal of Lake Marion Creek Middle School in Polk County, Florida -- was charged Thursday with lewd/lascivious conduct and lewd offense against a student by an authority figure.

According to police ... the 13-year-old student was sent to Lark's office after tossing crumpled-up paper across a classroom during an exam.

Joe Tacopina is blasting the judge in Wendy Williams' conservatorship case for telling the TV star her career is over ... calling the statements "outrageous" -- and adding Wendy's going to have a massive comeback when the conservator battle is over.

We spoke with Tacopina -- who is serving as Wendy's personal attorney -- on "TMZ Live" Friday ... and, he says these statements by the judge shouldn't have been made in court or in front of Wendy ... especially since the judge who said it isn't in the entertainment industry.

Tacopina doesn't know why the judge would make such statements about Wendy's career in an unrelated court hearing ... and, he adds that from his numerous conversations with Wendy, he knows she's as coherent and lucid as she ever has been.

Harvey Weinstein's health is failing ... with the disgraced movie producer rapidly gaining weight and suffering from severe tongue inflammation in New York City's notorious Rikers Island prison.

Juda Engelmayer -- a rep for Weinstein -- tells TMZ ... Harvey's health is "rapidly deteriorating in custody," exacerbated by the terrible conditions at Rikers.

We're told Weinstein has gained more than 25 pounds since being transferred back from Bellevue Hospital several months ago ... 19 of those pounds in the last month alone.

Things are getting weird and intense in the Wendy Williams guardianship war ... multiple sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, during a hearing this week, the judge told Wendy, she has no hope of restarting her career.

It's pretty outrageous ... Wendy showed up in court Thursday and appeared before Judge Lisa Sokoloff. Our sources tell TMZ, the judge railed on Wendy's niece, Alex Finnie, accusing her of leaking information to the media and threatening her with sanctions for future conduct.

The judge wasn't finished. We're told she attacked Wendy's family, essentially saying they were no good.

Cooper Koch, who played Erik Menendez in a Netflix series about the infamous Menendez murders, is showing support for the Menendez Brothers ... because he's in the house for a court hearing for their resentencing petition.

The "Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story" star was spotted Friday on his way into a courthouse in Van Nuys, in L.A. ... walking in arm-in-arm with his boyfriend.

At one point, Cooper -- wearing shades and a gray sweater -- stopped to talk to Erik's wife, Tammi Menendez, and Erik's adopted daughter, Talia Menendez.

Wendy Williams is being forced to choose her friends very carefully ... at least if she wants to be allowed to leave her assisted living facility.

Wendy was all smiles Thursday night in NYC, as she was granted permission to go out to dinner with her niece Alex Finnie, Don Lemon, and his husband Tim Malone. The foursome hit up Italian eatery Il Cantinori in Greenwich village, and it's no wonder Wendy looked so happy -- because just 24 hours earlier, the guardianship refused to let her leave the facility.

TMZ broke the story ... Wendy was less than an hour from a Wednesday night dinner reservation when her guardian blocked her from leaving. While Wendy wasn't told why she couldn't go, it's looking clearer now.

On Wednesday, she was going out to eat with her niece ... and also powerhouse attorney Joe Tacopina -- he's now Wendy's personal lawyer, and intends to push hard to end the guardianship.

Soulja Boy will have to break open a few of his penny banks ... a jury just found him liable in the sexual assault lawsuit filed by his ex-personal assistant!!!

A judge read the verdict on Thursday in a Los Angeles courtroom, and spelled out that the "Crank Dat" rapper would be responsible for coughing up the dough for millions of dollars in damages ... and the jury is still considering punitive damages.

The rap star was found liable for assault, sexual battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The tables have turned -- years after "Black-ish" creator Kenya Barris filed a restraining order against his own sister ... she has filed her own against him.

Colette Barris filed new legal docs through her attorney, Ariel Mitchell, in Los Angeles on Tuesday ... asking a judge to block Kenya from directly or indirectly contacting their 83-year-old mother, Ernestine Barris, about the ongoing legal issue between the siblings.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Colette claims Kenya is attempting to influence Ernestine to testify falsely against her in court, and is "manipulating and intimidating" her over her "refusal to provide false testimony" and desire to remain neutral in the dispute between her son and daughter.

8:19 AM PT -- Andrew Tate's attorney Joseph McBride tells TMZ ... "NEVER HAPPENED. These allegations are great content for a scene in Gangs of London, but are otherwise pure fiction when applied to real life."

The legalities keep stacking up against Andrew Tate -- four women in the UK are suing him now, and one claims he pointed a gun right at her face.

The women claim in legal docs Tate assaulted, raped, and controlled them between 2013 and 2015 in the British towns of Luton and Hitchin -- according to multiple reports from the BBC, The Independent, and The Telegraph.

Two of the women allege they dated Tate in 2013 and 2014, and the other two say they worked for his webcam biz -- with 3 of them reportedly going to cops years ago before officials apparently dropped the case in 2019, per The Independent.