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Rex Heuermann -- the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer -- has just been hit with a new murder charge ... an expected development, officially rounding out the 4 known victims.

Prosecutors lodged a new murder complaint against Heuermann Tuesday -- accusing him of killing Maureen Brainard-Barnes ... a woman who's long been tied to the Gilgo Beach case, but is now being connected to RH via law enforcement.

Maureen disappeared in 2007, and her remains were found in 2010. She was technically the first of the Gilgo Four that was discovered within days of each other -- with the other three women being Megan Waterman, Amber Costello and Melissa Barthelemy.

Heuermann had already been charged in connection to their murders ... and now, he's being rung up for Brainard-Barnes too -- mind you, there are outstanding women's disappearances that are currently being investigated that may well end up being linked to this.

The added murder charge for Brainard-Barnes was something that seemed to be coming -- investigators were waiting for DNA test results from hair recovered from her remains.

Now, it appears as though they feel they have enough evidence to point the finger. Heuermann has pled not guilty to the charges against him ... he'll have to answer for this one at some point down the line.

Diddy and alcohol giant Diageo were ensnarled in a nasty legal battle last year -- but that's old news now ... 'cause TMZ can confirm both parties have buried the hatchet.

Both Diddy and Diageo tell TMZ simultaneously ... "Sean Combs and Diageo have now agreed to resolve all disputes between them. Mr. Combs has withdrawn all of his allegations about Diageo and will voluntarily dismiss his lawsuits against Diageo with prejudice."

The statement continues ... Diageo and Mr. Combs have no ongoing business relationship, either with respect to Cîroc vodka or DeLeón tequila, which Diageo now solely owns."

The Bad Boy music mogul sued the company last year -- accusing them of racism for allegedly neglecting his tequila line, DeLeón Tequila. Diddy claimed Diageo put this booze on the backburner, and alleged there were racist intentions behind it.

Diageo, of course, denied that ... and said they'd tried dealing with this behind closed doors -- but once Diddy opened the legal floodgates, they were ready to defend themselves.

This case has been playing out quietly behind the scenes, but now ... it's suddenly over. Diddy's withdrawing his lawsuit against Diageo -- and while there's no mention of it explicitly ... this certainly smells like a settlement of some sort.

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is getting bombarded with criticism from Nick Godejohn supporters -- it's been going on since she got out of prison, but Gypsy feels the haters aren't giving her a fair shake.

Sources close to Gypsy Rose tell TMZ ... she's been inundated with folks expressing negative feelings toward her, because she's now free -- whereas Nick's serving a life sentence for murdering her mother Dee Dee.

We're told that fact of Gypsy's situation is one over which she feels a lot of guilt to this day.

Still, our sources say Gypsy feels it's not right she's being branded a murderer by some of these overzealous Nick fans ... and the reason for that is because she didn't actually carry out the act of taking her mother's life. Remember, Nick was the one who stabbed Dee Dee, and Gypsy was convicted of second-degree murder -- basically, for masterminding the slaying.

With that in mind, Gypsy also thinks it's strange Nick is getting sympathy from folks who want to see him freed. We're told she believes he enjoyed stabbing her mother 17 times, so the fact he's got a group of backers is sorta ass-backwards.

Remember ... Nick got life in prison without possibility of parole after his conviction for first-degree murder. Gypsy got a 10-year sentence, but was released on parole last month, after more than 8 years of incarceration.

Our sources tell us Gypsy feels like she tried to help Nick in his 2018 trial by testifying she came up with the plan to kill Dee Dee, because it was the only way she could escape her mother's abuse. She feels her testimony was the right thing to do to clear her conscience, and we're told doing so helped her forgive herself.

Now, we're told Gypsy has NO feelings towards Nick ... she doesn't want to communicate with him and she's trying to leave their past behind and move forward with her new life.

Our sources say Gypsy doesn't hate Nick, but she doesn't love him or feel sad for him either -- she just doesn't feel anything for him ... good or bad.

Some of the same folks attacking Gypsy online say Nick should be freed too ... but we're told she feels his punishment fits the crime. Our sources say Nick told Gypsy in text messages, before Dee Dee's murder, he was going to enjoy killing her mom ... and Gypsy feels her ex is a danger to society who needs extreme mental health care while behind bars.

R. Kelly is firing back against a huge judgment leveled against him in a lawsuit involving women who claimed they were victimized by him ... he says he didn't know about the suit and shouldn't be held accountable.

Here's the deal ... six women were awarded $10.5 million in August after suing him and his former manager, Donnell Russell, claiming they were responsible for an effort to shut down a December 2018 NYC screening of the 'Surviving R. Kelly' docuseries with a mass shooting threat.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly claims he would have defended himself against the lawsuit if he knew about the darn thing.

The disgraced singer claims his head is already spinning over his various criminal cases and prosecutions ... and he's been sued so many times lately he can hardly keep up with it all from his prison cell in North Carolina.

Kelly also claims he's also shuffled legal teams since being locked up ... and he says this lawsuit must have slipped through the cracks, or not have been delivered to him behind bars at all.

Even if the lawsuit had been received, Kelly says he wouldn't be able to understand it or distinguish it from any other legal documents ... saying he relies on his lawyers to explain things to him because "I cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler."

What's more, Kelly claims Donnell was never his manager as the lawsuit claimed ... and he says he had no idea Russell was trying to stop the 'Surviving' screening.

Kelly says he didn't ask Donnell to do so and says if Russell did make a mass shooting threat to stop the screening, "he did that for his own reasons."

Lena Waithe is the latest celeb to fall victim to smash-and-grab burglars ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a group of burglars smashed a window to the actress/comedian's Los Angeles-area home last week while she was out of town.

Our sources say the thieves made off with $200k worth of jewelry. One of Lena's staff discovered the break-in after coming to the home the following day and finding the front door unlocked.

Lena, best known as Denise from "Master of None" and creator of "The Chi," isn't alone ... several other stars have fallen victim to similar crimes in the past couple months.

Burglars in ski masks smashed one of Keanu Reeves' windows and entered his home in early December, and "Entourage" star Kevin Connolly's house was given similar treatment on Christmas Eve.

Model Abigail Ratchford might've endured the most terrifying situation of all ... actually being in the upstairs bedroom when someone broke in.

Tory Lanez was paid a visit from a very special person while behind bars -- his son Kai.

Ceasar McDowell, a member of Tory's legal team and CEO of Unite the People tells TMZ ... the 6-year-old got to visit his dad 2 weekends in a row at California Correctional Institution Tehachapi ... where the rapper is less than 4 months into his 10-yr sentence for shooting Meg Thee Stallion in the foot.

We're told a family member brought the youngster to the prison ... and they didn't have to talk through glass. In fact, they got to sit at a table and spend 4-5 hours together on both Sat & Sun.

The father/son duo played board games, did some drawing, and ate food out of the vending machine.

Tory was happy to hug his son ... and it was especially good to see him as he'd been unable to spend time with him for the holidays -- though they communicate frequently.

You'll recall ... Tory brought Kai to court several times during his shooting trial in 2022.

Tory was sentenced in August 2023 ... found guilty of all 3 charges against him -- negligent discharge of a firearm, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, and carrying a loaded and unregistered firearm.

Sam Haskell Jr. is officially denying culpability in his triple murder case this week -- and the guy continues to go shirtless before a judge ... this as officials have fears of self-harm.

The murder suspect had an appearance in court Friday in Los Angeles, where he and his lawyers officially entered not guilty pleas to the 3 counts of murder Haskell is facing. Also of note ... the fact he was trotted out in front of everybody with his bare chest exposed again.

Remember, he was rocking the same sorta look when he first appeared in court last month ... something correctional officers relegated him to because of what they said were suicidal thoughts he was expressing.

Now, more than a month later of his being in custody ... he's still shirtless, something his lawyers griped about Friday -- claiming their client has not indicated he intends self-harm upon himself. Despite this, hizzoner denied Sam a shirt ... offering a self-harm vest instead.

Doesn't sound like Sam took the judge up on that ... and now, he's due back in court next month. It's unclear what exactly he's wearing behind bars, but when he's appeared in court ... he's been shirtless both times.

Remember, prosecutors allege Sam killed his wife, Mei, as well as her parents Yanxiang and Gaoshan. TMZ obtained surveillance video that appeared to show Haskell dumping something off at a dumpster shortly before he was arrested.

He remains in custody without bail.

Jenelle Evans' husband, David Eason, is now facing a more serious charge in his criminal child abuse case as it pertains to her teenage son ... and the charge itself is troubling.

An official at the Columbus County Courthouse in North Carolina confirms to TMZ that Eason's charges have, in fact, been recently updated ... and it's bad news for him because now he's got a felony that he's facing.

We're told that, as of right now, he's in their system with one count of misdemeanor child abuse and one count of felony assault by strangulation.

Before this, we'd been told that David was facing just a single charge -- misdemeanor child abuse -- but now ... that's changed, and it appears as if a new one has been added ... which perhaps isn't surprising based on what allegedly happened.

TMZ broke the story ... law enforcement in NC accused David of roughing up Jenelle's 14-year-old, Jace, in late September and the injuries he allegedly sustained included marks on his arm and neck.

It appears that as the investigation continued, officials determined a separate strangulation charge was warranted -- which just ups the ante on the case. Of course, we'd been told there was a possibility Jenelle herself might possibly be charged in connection to this too ... but that apparently hasn't happened yet.

Speaking of Jenelle ... she was airing some grievances of her own on social media Friday -- teasing the possibility of doing a doc about her own life ... and inviting production people to hit her up for the opportunity to collaborate.

Actress Mia Goth -- known for the films "X" and "Pearl" -- is being sued by a background extra of her upcoming film in the series ... after allegedly kicking him in the head on purpose during a take.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Mia, director Ti West, and A24 are all being sued by an extra for the upcoming flick, claiming things got physical last year while they were shooting late at night.

The background actor says the scene called for him to wear a robe and be covered in fake blood from head to toe ... and he says he had to lay down in the dirt and play dead for several hours, "enduring ants and mosquitoes."

Mia, who plays Maxine, was supposed to run past the actor, step over him and look at him, then keep running ... but after a few takes, the actor claims Mia "nearly stepped" on him.

He says Mia was warned to be careful but instead, he claims she "intentionally kicked" him in the head with her boot on the following take, causing serious pain and neck stiffness. He says doctors later told him he suffered a concussion.

He claims no medical assistance was provided on set. Instead, he says Mia approached him in the bathroom and "taunted, mocked, and belittled" him ... daring them to do anything about what went down.

What's more, he says the fake blood had stuck to his body, so peeling off the blood-stained robe caused more pain -- and he claims he experienced headaches on the drive home and "nearly passed out twice" during the trip.

Miley Cyrus was apparently plush with trouble this morning after cops say some weirdo showed up on her doorstep with a token of love that was full of cotton ... and it landed the guy in jail.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ 52-year-old Alexander Kardalian was arrested early Friday near Miley's L.A.-area home -- this after they got a call around 1 AM on a report of a suspicious person Miley and co. suspected might've been somebody she's dealt with before.

As it turns out, they were right ... 'cause Miley previously got a restraining order against Kardalian for something similar last year ... and he was ordered to stay away from her.

Now, we're told he showed up at her front gate and was trying to give something to MC -- specifically, a stuffed animal of some sort, according to our sources. Doesn't sound like the guy got far though ... we're told Miley security detained him and waited for LAPD to arrive.

When cops showed up, we're told they hauled him away and ended up booking him for violating a court order. Remember -- Miley claims she's been dealing with this Kardalian since at least 2018 ... and notes he did some time in San Quentin before allegedly pulling up at her crib in 2022 upon release.

A prominent Hollywood editor is getting the cold shoulder, professionally, due to his recent arrest for child endangerment -- and despite speculation he'll continue working on a big-time Amazon Prime show ... TMZ can confirm he's out.

Thirty-nine-year-old Christopher Charkowski was arrested in L.A. County last week on a felony charge of willful cruelty to a child causing possible possible injury or death -- and a video is circulating online allegedly showing him brutalizing a kid inside of a house.

Law enforcement sources tell us this clip -- home surveillance footage that's been making the rounds on social media -- has been submitted to authorities as part of their investigation of the case. Court records list the date of the alleged offense as June 2022.

The case was filed back in November, but Charkowski wasn't hauled in and booked by law enforcement until Jan. 4. What's depicted in this video is disturbing, to say the least, and could be a key piece of evidence as this case proceeds.

In the clip, you see a man losing his mind and going after what appears to be a little boy. You can see him putting his hands on the kid, throttling him and possibly even throwing some punches.

It's unclear what the relation might be between the adult and child here, but on its face, it appears law enforcement had enough reason to believe it's Charkowski in the video.

BTW, he's been released on bail -- and future court dates are scheduled.

Now, as far as who Charkowski is in showbiz ... he's worked in post-production for a lot of big TV shows. Most recently, he edited video for "Jury Duty," which was the talk of the town last year, and was even nominated at last weekend's Golden Globes.

Charkowski is listed as part of the editorial department for that series -- and after this video got out, people have been clamoring for Amazon to drop him ASAP. Welp, a source with direct knowledge tells TMZ that Charkowski is no longer affiliated with the studio.

We're told his role on "Jury Duty" -- which spanned 8 episodes -- came and went once they wrapped production nearly a year ago, and our sources say he was an outside contractor on the show, not a permanent employee of Amazon/Freevee.

Since then, our sources say he hasn't been employed at Amazon whatsoever -- and safe to say ... he won't be back.

Another show he's worked on for a long time is Bravo's "Below Deck Mediterranean," but a production source points out to TMZ .... he hasn't been with them for about 2 years now.

11:00 AM PT -- TMZ has obtained legal docs spelling out what allegedly happened and when as it pertains to the 'SuperChef's arrest ... and what we've discovered are very disturbing accusations.

Per the arrest warrant, Darnell Ferguson's estranged wife called 911 to report he'd broken into her Louisville home on Jan. 2, and proceeded to allegedly attack her. The alleged victim claims once Ferguson was inside, he started punching walls and eventually lunged at her and grabbed her by the neck ... allegedly choking her out and threatening to kill her.

She told police she eventually lost consciousness, and when she came to ... she claims Ferguson then ripped off her shorts and demanded to see her privates. His estranged wife alleges he then said she was his and nobody else's ... making her fear he'd sexually assault her.

In the end, it doesn't sound like that occurred ... because the woman told cops he left, but not before allegedly snatching her credit/debit cards and ID. Law enforcement says they observed visible injuries on her, which they say was enough to warrant the charges.

Ferguson has already been arraigned, and he's pleaded not guilty -- with his bond set at $10,000.

Darnell "SuperChef" Ferguson cooked up his own arrest in Kentucky ... getting hit with a slew of serious offenses.

Ferguson was booked into the Louisville Metro jail on Tuesday afternoon on two felonies – burglary and strangulation, a rep for the correctional facility told TMZ.

He also faces five misdemeanors – assault, menacing, criminal mischief, terroristic threatening and theft receipt of stolen credit and debit card.

We don't know yet the circumstances surrounding his legal troubles, but we've reached out to the Louisville Metro PD for answers.

According to his profile on the Food Network website, Ferguson is a "celebrity chef, restauranteur and entrepreneur" who currently hosts "Superchef Grudge Match" and shares recipes and videos on their social media.

He has appeared on three seasons of Guy Fieri's "Tournament of Champions," which pits the world's culinary masters against one another in cooking competitions.

Ferguson has also popped up on two other cooking shows on the OWN network -- "The Big Holiday Food Fight" and "Food Fantasies."

11:33 AM PT -- Silt PD is now saying they found no credible evidence of DV against Rep. Lauren Boebert in their investigation of Saturday's altercation at Miner's Claim in Colorado.

The department released the results of their findings Wednesday, and are basically pointing the finger at Jayson here -- saying Lauren was cooperative and helpful that night, whereas they claim Jayson was "highly intoxicated, yelling at officers, and was uncooperative with the investigation."

They say due to the lack of evidence of domestic violence against Lauren, they're closing the matter ... and letting the D.A.'s office deal with Jayson on everything else he's accused of.

TMZ has obtained the arrest warrants issued for Lauren Boebert's ex-husband -- describing two different alleged incidents over the course of a few days that paint Jayson as pretty out of control ... at least according to law enforcement.

First, in the docs pertaining to Saturday evening's altercation between the Congresswoman and her ex -- obtained by TMZ -- cops say they got a call for potential DV, only to then get another call from Boebert herself ... which dispatch says featured LB saying "I just touched your nose" and Jayson yelling, "She punched me in the face."

Eventually when officers arrived, they say they ran into Lauren and Jayson on the outside the Miner's Claim restaurant in Silt, Co -- where they determined Lauren and Jayson had come there to hash things out and discuss the future of their relationship. Boebert is quoted in the docs as saying they were trying to get on good terms, but things got ugly.

For whatever reason, cops say things appear to have gotten physical -- Jayson was claiming Lauren punched him in the face, Lauren said it was nothing but a touch with her finger. As they were trying to go back and forth and collect info from them and witnesses, cops say Jayson started acting boisterously and refused to stay put and follow commands -- allegedly demanding more booze and refusing to leave the joint when he was asked by management.

After a lot of back and forth, the docs say Jayson had to eventually be "physically escorted off the premise" and even tried to stop officers "by grabbing the door frame." He was not arrested that evening over whatever happened, and neither was Lauren. Fast-forward to Tuesday, and a separate arrest warrant was issued over another alleged incident.

The Garfield County Sheriff's Office says they got a call from Lauren and Jayson's 18-year-old son, Tyler, to report some kind of physical altercation Tyler claims occurred with his dad.

Long story short, Tyler alleged that Jayson was at their family home and got pissed because Tyler had his baby sleeping in a laundry basket with clothes in it, which allegedly erupted into a brawl between father and son, with Tyler saying Jayson stuck his thumb in his mouth.

Tyler also claims Jayson grabbed a rifle at one point, and Tyler eventually called his mom, Lauren, who told him to call 911 ... and when Tyler told them what happened, officers were able to get an arrest warrant for Jayson for prohibited use of a weapon, harassment, and assault in the third degree.

We've reached out to Boebert's office for comment ... so far, no word back.

Kanye West is gettin' sued for assault and battery ... this after allegedly striking an autograph seeker back in 2022.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Ye is being taken to court by an autograph dealer who says it all went down in DTLA almost 2 years ago -- as you'll recall, video from just after the alleged attack showed the man on the ground.

He claims Ye went ballistic on him, allegedly shouting ... "I'm going to make a f***ing example of you," while referencing his divorce from Kim Kardashian -- before hitting him.

He says he asked Ye for an apology, only for the rapper to reply, "Apology for what?" ... before allegedly striking him again multiple times and "severely injuring him."

He claims one of the people with Kanye told him to stop the attack, but Ye started shouting at them, and demanded they "go to the f***ing house and get my f***ing kids."

The man is suing for damages, claiming he's a victim of assault and battery and has suffered emotional distress.

His wife is also suing for a loss of consortium -- essentially saying she lost the companionship of her husband as a result of the incident with Ye.

As we reported, a separate vid from that night showed Kanye enraged leaving a recording studio in Hollywood, shouting about 2 women who may have been with him during the downtown incident.

Coretta Scott King's daughter appears to be taking a swipe at Jonathan Majors after the actor name-dropped Dr. Martin Luther King's widow in his first interview since being found guilty of assault and harassment.

Dr. Bernice King, Coretta and MLK's youngest daughter, seemingly slammed Jonathan in a social media post Tuesday, saying ... "My mother wasn't a prop."

Remember ... Jonathan's assault trial included audio of him telling his ex-girlfriend Grace Jabbari -- the one he was convicted of assaulting and harassing -- to be more like Coretta and Michelle Obama while declaring, "I'm a great man."

Majors again invoked Coretta's name in an interview with ABC -- which aired Monday -- in praise of girlfriend Meagan Good's unwavering support during the trial.

Jonathan said of Meagan ... "She's an angel ... she's held me down like a Coretta. I'm so blessed to have her."

There's been a ton of backlash online about Jonathan using Coretta's name again ... and while Bernice is not calling him out by name, it seems pretty clear he's who she's targeting here.

Bernice says her mother "was a peace advocate before she met my father and was instrumental in him speaking out against the Vietnam War" ... and adds, "Please understand…my mama was a force."

Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre claims she was sex trafficked to billionaire Les Wexner on multiple occasions ... according to newly unsealed court documents.

The explosive claim is from Giuffre's deposition from a 2015 lawsuit that involved allegations against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell ... in the deposition transcript, obtained by TMZ, Giuffre claims she had sex with Wexner several times and estimates it possibly happened more than 5 times.

Wexner is the former CEO of Victoria's Secret and in 1987 he hired Epstein to work as his financial manager, with Wexner granting JE power of attorney over his massive fortune.

Also in the deposition, Giuffre says she wore different types of lingerie for Wexner, adding it was Maxwell who set it up and it wasn't Wexner's request.

Asked specifically if it was Victoria's Secret, Giuffre said she didn't recall the exact brand.

Giuffre also claims she met Bill Clinton twice and Al Gore once via Epstein ... but doesn't say she had sex with them.

Wexner has not been charged with any crimes relating to Epstein and Maxwell. After Epstein's 2019 arrest, Wexner claimed he severed ties with JE in 2007 and denied knowledge of Epstein's crimes.