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Jacob Blake is going after the police officer who repeatedly shot him in the back as he got in his SUV ... he's suing the officer for the injuries that left him paralyzed.

Jacob's legal team, led by attorney Ben Crump, just filed a federal lawsuit against Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey for the August 2020 shooting.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Jacob claims he made no physical or verbal threats towards any officer and was trying to walk away from the situation when Sheskey shot him in the back 6 times.

In the docs, Jacob says he had a folding knife on him, but he never brandished it or threatened to use it, and when he dropped it on the floor of his SUV Sheskey still opened fire.

Jacob claims one of the bullets severed his spinal cord, leaving him paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. He says he still can't work and needs help with daily tasks ... despite surgeries and physical rehab.

In the suit, Jacob claims Sheskey fired 7 shots, including one that struck the side door of the SUV. He says the bullet could have ripped through the car and struck one of his kids had it not been stopped by the SUV's reinforced steel.

Jacob claims the shooting constituted excessive force under the circumstances and Sheskey must be held accountable ... remember, neither Sheskey nor the other cops involved were criminally charged.

Monaco's Prince Albert has Queen Elizabeth's back, or so it seems ... 'cause he's ripping Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for discussing Royal family matters on primetime TV.

Albert was asked for his 2 cents about Harry and Meghan's sit down with Oprah, and he told the BBC the CBS primetime special was the wrong time and place for them to be pouring out their feelings.

The Prince said he certainly understands the pressure Meghan and Harry must have been under ... but that being said, he says they should have kept their feelings private and held these conversations "within the intimate quarters of the family."

That's in line with the Queen's approach -- remember, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying the Sussex's issues would be dealt with privately as a family. Perhaps not surprisingly, the head of Monaco's Royal family thinks that's the way to go.

As we reported ... Meghan and Harry are upset the Palace told them baby Archie isn't entitled to security because he doesn't have the title of Prince.

They also accused the Royal Family of shocking racism ... alleging one or more members of the Royal family expressed concern Archie's skin might be too dark when he was born.

The NYC bakery employee who had to deal with shocking, racist behavior from a woman with the new moniker "Bagel Karen" has been feeling the love from lots of folks since the incident went viral ... and it goes beyond financial support.

Vic -- the Davidovich Bakery worker who got called the n-word by Stephanie Denaro -- tells TMZ he's received overwhelming support from people all over the world on social media, but also customers flocking to the store.

He says during his Wednesday shift, one guy handed him a $100 bill in an envelope while another gifted him a $100 Metro card to help with his commute. Vic tells us his tip jar's also been stuffed ... and people have been calling the bakery to ask for his Venmo as well.

But, another customer felt helping Vic get rid of Karen's negative energy or any she left behind in the bakery was more important ... so she gave him some sage.

As we reported ... Vic's also been offered representation by several attorneys in case he wants to take legal action against Denaro, but he tells us he's still weighing his options. However, he doesn't plan to press charges against her.

In fact, Vic tells us he mostly wants his experience to be a lesson for others in his position on how a person of color can react to a racist. He says you don't have to respond to their insults and slurs with violence ... it's better to show love, even if they're demonstrating hate.

The marathon continues, but the marathon feud Nipsey Hussle's estate had with the Crips is over ... thanks to a settlement of a lawsuit.

Nipsey's brother, Samiel Asghedom, just informed the court in writing that the estate's reached the settlement with Crips LLC. The notice was filed Thursday in L.A. County court.

As we first reported ... Nipsey's estate sued the gang's corporate arm back in October over the rights to Nip's "The Marathon Continues" slogan.

In the suit, Hussle's estate claimed the Crips org filed a trademark for the phrase less than 2 months after he was murdered outside his Marathon Clothing Store, despite Nipsey's family already owning several 'Marathon' trademarks themselves ... all related to his famous store.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the sides are still hammering out some of the terms -- but they expect to submit the formal terms of the agreement shortly.

Jessica Walter, known for her Emmy-nominated "Arrested Development" role and whose acting career spanned 6 decades, has died.

The actress died in her sleep at her NYC home Wednesday ... according to her daughter, who did not announce the cause of her death.

Jessica's best known, and beloved, for playing the devious alcoholic socialite Lucille Bluth on 'Arrested.' She appeared in all 84 episodes during the series, from 2003 to 2019, and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2005.

She won an Emmy in 1975 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series as the title character of the NBC miniseries, "Amy Prentiss." Jessica also got Emmy noms for roles on "Trapper John, M.D." and "The Streets of San Francisco."

True film aficionados will remember her role in Clint Eastwood's directorial debut in "Play Misty for Me." New school fans will recognize her voice as Malory Archer on the hit FX animated series "Archer."

Jessica is survived by her daughter, Brooke Bowman ... the Senior VP for programming at FOX Entertainment who said, "It is with a heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my beloved mom Jessica. A working actor for over six decades, her greatest pleasure was bringing joy to others through her storytelling both on screen and off."

Bowman added, "While her legacy will live on through her body of work, she will also be remembered by many for her wit, class and overall joie de vivre."

The family's asking that, in lieu of flowers, donations are made to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

RIP

Bring on the picks and leave the masks ... the NFL says if teams' draft war rooms next month feature fully vaccinated individuals, it will lax COVID policies and not require face coverings.

The league made the announcement to its clubs in a one-page memo Thursday ... explaining teams can have quasi-normal draft day procedures if all participating members can prove they've taken the COVID vaccine.

NFL officials say draft-night changes for vaccinated teams' war rooms include no mask requirement and flexible physical and social distancing rules.

The league also says it will allow both eating and drinking as well.

But, there will be some precautions for the draft weekend -- which is set to kick off April 29 -- even for those vaccinated teams.

The league says fully vaccinated rooms are to be capped off at 10 staffers.

If not vaccinated, teams will have to adhere to strict COVID policies ... with masks, social distancing and a cap of 20 per room.

Killer Mike says Americans better hope Amazon workers form unions in their warehouses, because when workers get treated like crap ... crap ends up on customers' doorsteps.

The Atlanta rapper and activist joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday and told us why he's going to an Amazon center in Alabama to supports the unionization efforts there and across the country. It'll be put to a vote in 'Bama next week.

Killer Mike says the crappy working conditions Amazon workers claim they're facing -- like being forced to pee in bottles, allegedly -- makes for crappy Amazon deliveries that will only get worse. He says the path to better treatment for workers is unionization.

But, it's not only great for the employees ... watch the clip, Mike explains why it's potentially a big win for the general public. A move he believes is not only a win for 'em, but will pay off for the public. Everyone wants joy and happiness, right?

Mike will be in Bessemer, AL Friday with Sen. Bernie Sanders and Danny Glover to visit a new Amazon fulfillment center, where workers are trying to organize. Amazon's against the union, and there have been tons of protests outside that warehouse and others across the country.

President Joe Biden plans on keeping his job for 8 years ... because it's his "expectation" to run for reelection in 2024.

It's the first time Biden's publicly stated that he plans to run again, though some of his close allies like Sen. Chris Coons have previously said that Joe's up for the challenge.

But, the Prez is now on record, telling reporters Thursday at his news conference that he expects to be a 2-term POTUS ... unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump.

Biden also gave props to Vice President Kamala Harris for doing a great job and called her a great partner, and says he expects her to be on his ticket again. He did hedge a little though ... saying it's hard to plan anything for certain 4 years out.

Chrissy Teigen says she's leaving Twitter for good, because the negatives outweigh the positives on the social media platform ... for her, at least.

CT just broke her silence on her Twitter exodus, and she's pretty much chalking up her exit to all the negative energy she was getting from the tweets, replies and mentions she says were filling her timeline.

Chrissy says she's not leaving because of Internet trolls, bullies or Qanon followers that love to come after her ... she says she just can't deal anymore with letting folks down or upsetting them, which she feels she did over and over again.

She says it's been exhausting scrolling through Twitter day in and day out ... and she's just over it at this point.

Remember ... Chrissy amassed over 13.7 million followers since joining Twitter in May 2009 and really seemed to take Twitter to heart, so much so she requested an unfollow from President Biden so she wouldn't feel so bad about tweeting profanities and being herself.

Chrissy's not leaving social media entirely, though ... she's still got her Instagram.

Jonny Fairplay -- one of the most notorious "Survivor" contestants of all time -- is off the hook in his criminal case in Virginia ... and he's pretty stoked about it.

A Pittsylvania County court clerk tells TMZ ... Fairplay's larceny case has been dismissed as well as his mother's case.

As we first reported ... he was arrested for larceny back in December in his hometown of Danville, Virginia, where cops say he was accused of stealing furniture and a necklace from his grandmother, Jean Cook.

The criminal complaint was filed by Jonny's aunt, who accused him of removing a leather chair, end table, bar stools and a silver necklace valued at $5,000 from his grandma's home without proper consent.

Jonny tells TMZ ... he was charged with grand larceny based off allegations from a disgruntled family member. He says the case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.

BTW ... the aunt is the daughter of Jonny's grandma, the one he infamously pretended had died during that all-time notorious "Survivor" moment.

Bottom line for Jonny ... he tells us he's "disappointed that this ever was allowed to happen and relieved that it is over."

Live from Atlanta ... it's Pete Davidson!!!

... who's officially signed on to join Snoop Dogg's commentary team for the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren fight!!

TMZ Sports has confirmed the "Saturday Night Live" star will be a part of the broadcast team for the very first Triller Fight Club 2021 event on April 17 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

We're told he'll be working the event alongside Snoop, Mario Lopez, supermodel Taylor Hill, and social media stars Dixie and Charli D’Amelio.

The play-by-play announcers are seasoned veterans when it comes to boxing -- Ray Flores, Al Bernstein and Mike Coppinger.

Snoop was the breakout star during the first Triller boxing event featuring Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr. -- he was in the broadcast booth calling the action and was HILARIOUS!

Remember, he was busting out church hymns as Jake put a hurtin' on Nate Robinson on the undercard.

So, add Pete Davidson to the mix!?! That's gonna be awesome.

As we previously reported, the Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren already has a stacked musical lineup featuring superstars like Justin Bieber, The Black Keys, Doja Cat, Saweetie, Diplo, Major Lazer and the debut of Snoop's new rap supergroup Mt. Westmore (which features Snoop, Ice Cube, Too $hort and E-40).

The main event will be an 8-round sanctioned professional boxing match featuring undefeated 24-year-old Jake Paul (2-0) going up against decorated MMA star Ben Askren, who's 36.

Askren has guaranteed victory over Jake -- saying he's never stepped in the ring against a REAL accomplished fighter.

Jake vows to wipe the floor with Askren -- saying the guy's striking ability is straight trash.

Johnny Depp's suffered another blow in his libel lawsuit in the UK -- he lost his bid to appeal the trial judge's ruling in favor of The Sun, which means he can't shake that "wife beater" label the UK tabloid gave him.

As we told you, Depp was looking to overturn the judge's November 2020 decision stating that allegations he abused his ex-wife Amber Heard were "substantially true."

Heard was The Sun's key witness in the case after Depp sued the tab for running the headline, "Gone Potty: How can JK Rowling be 'genuinely happy' casting wife beater Johnny Depp in the new Fantastic Beasts film?" in 2018.

Depp's lawyers recently tried to argue that Amber had an unfair advantage and boosted credibility because she vowed to donate her entire $7 million divorce settlement ... something she still hasn't done.

Johnny's legal team hoped that would be enough to turn things around in his favor, but the UK Court of Appeal shut it down and upheld the November ruling. The court specifically highlighted parts of the original trial judge's opinion focused on Depp's text messages about being out of control from drugs and alcohol, and adding ... "the appeal has no real prospect of success and there is no other compelling reason for it to be heard."

The High Court's decision underscores what many close to Depp believed when he filed the defamation lawsuit -- there was very little upside for him to do it.

It seems now more than ever it was a huge mistake, because the A-list actor was still getting work following his divorce from Heard ... but then he brought the wife-beating allegations back to the forefront again by suing The Sun.

Now he's branded a wife-beater and there's yet another court ruling against him ... which could be a severe blow to his career.

Boulder PD Officer Eric Talley's father says his son was a staunch 2nd Amendment guy, and even owned a weapon similar to the one used to kill him -- and he believes Eric would hate to see his death used to promote gun control.

Homer Talley tells TMZ Eric, an 11-year vet for Boulder PD, was a strong advocate for gun rights, and had an AR-15 he often used for target practice. Homer's seen the debate erupt over reforming gun laws, and although this tragedy cost him his son, he doesn't blame gun access ... and doesn't think Eric would either.

He told us, "My son would have been deeply offended to know his death would be used to promote gun control. Before he was an officer, he enjoyed shooting."

Of course, that's the big discussion now in Washington, D.C., as it usually is after a mass shooting. President Biden called for an outright ban on assault weapons Monday ... shortly after the Boulder massacre that killed Eric and 9 others.

While Biden, many lawmakers and a large majority of Americans feel banning AR-15's and similar weapons would deter these tragedies -- Eric's father isn't so sure. He calls Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa's alleged attack "a senseless act and that is just it. The situation [Eric] found himself in wasn't one that the government could protect him from."

He adds, "Just because some wacko goes around shooting people doesn't mean guns need to be taken away. You can't take away enough guns to protect this country."

Now, Homer also says he's all for common-sense gun laws, "but to take away that freedom completely is something I am against and my son was against." Of course, therein lies the debate ... what is "common sense" when it comes to guns?

Officer Talley's comrades paid their respects during a procession Wednesday, and interestingly ... Homer says he's already letting go of his anger over Eric's murder, telling us, "My family and my son are people of faith, we understand forgiveness and that is necessary for not just the shooter, but for ourselves."

Brandi Glanville says Denise Richards has completely cut her out of her life ever since Brandi revealed their hookup to the other 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.'

The reality TV star claims she has not seen or talked to Denise since she notoriously exposed their alleged tryst at Kyle Richards' house on Season 10 of 'RHOBH' ... and says Denise is ignoring her emails too.

If you don't recall ... Brandi shocked the Housewives, and viewers, when she told them she had an intimate affair with Denise. She also claimed Denise and her husband, Aaron Phypers, had an open relationship.

Denise denied the affair and the open marriage allegation, and then left the show after 2 seasons.

Ja Rule is unloading some bad juju from the infamous disaster known as the Fyre Festival ... which is why he sold this painting for way less than his asking price.

The rapper who was tied to the dumpster fire of a festival sold the oil-paint portrait of the Fyre Festival logo for a cool $122k as a non-fungible token (NFT) -- meaning the buyer just gets a one-of-a-kind digital code linked to the image.

Ja originally wanted at least $600k for the physical painting, but a note Ja wrote -- and included in the sale -- shows his true feelings about the piece ... "F*** this painting."

Yeah, he wanted it gone, stat.

The image is 48" x 60" and was commissioned by Ja himself and created by Tripp Derrick Barnes. It once hung in the company's HQs in NYC before it was later moved to Ja's man cave at his NJ home.

But, when the Fyre Festival went to hell -- culminating with organizer Billy McFarland being sentenced to 6 years in prison -- Ja told Forbes last week he decided it was finally time to sell the painting because, "I just wanted that energy out."

Btw ... Ja sold the painting via his NFT exchange venture, FlipKick ... which will focus on selling NFTs that feature digital and physical objects.

The buyer is remaining anonymous, for now, but can also get Ja Rule's signature with the purchase. Pitiful cheese sandwich NOT included!

A high school football coach in Massachusetts has just been fired ... after investigators say they confirmed he used anti-Semitic play calls during a game this month.

Officials involved in the case at Duxbury HS say head man Dave Maimaron used terms such as "Auschwitz," "rabbi" and "dreidel" to describe plays for his players in a tilt with Plymouth North on March 12.

And, after days of parents, fans and civil rights leaders calling for action ... the school finally made the move to can the coach Wednesday, blasting him for the naming of the calls.

"The fact that members of our school community used such offensive language, including anti-Semitic language, is horrifying and disappointing," Duxbury HS officials said in a statement.

Officials added they did not believe the terms were directed at players or used to insult opponents ... but said, "The outrage is real, warranted, and we hear it."

The school announced it's cancelling its game against Hingham on Friday after cutting ties with the coach. It has yet to make a decision on its future schedule past that.

For his part, Maimaron released an apology in a statement earlier this week ... saying the anti-Semitic words were "careless, unnecessary and most importantly hurtful on its face -- inexcusable."

"On behalf of the staff and players of the Duxbury High School football team," the coach added, "I want to extend my apology for the insensitive, crass and inappropriate language used in the game on March 12th."

Duxbury -- which had been playing its football season this spring after the pandemic postponed its usual fall season -- is known as one of the better football programs in MA. The school has won five state titles in the last 16 years.