Fairly Legal

"Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta" star Joseline Hernandez is on the verge of getting arrested after she blatantly disregarded the child custody agreement she has with Stevie J by denying him the right to see their daughter.

Stevie had a right to take custody of their 2-year-old daughter, Bonnie Bella from July 28 to August 11. Joseline was in Miami shooting "Marriage Boot Camp," so he traveled there on the 28 to pick up his daughter. According to court documents, obtained by TMZ, instead of turning Bonnie Bella over, Joseline took the child and flew to L.A.

After Stevie's attorney, Adamma McKinnon ran to court, the judge in the custody case issued an arrest warrant Thursday, ordering Joseline to turn the baby over STAT or she would be taken into custody.

We've learned Stevie J flew to L.A. late Friday and the stage is now set for a showdown. The judge made it clear ... if Joseline doesn't turn the child over, the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. is ordered to immediately arrest her.

And, there's more ... because Joseline violated the custody agreement -- which gave her physical custody and Stevie J visitation -- the judge switched it around and now Stevie has sole physical custody of Bonnie Bella ... until August 15 when they're back in Fulton County court.

We'll let you know if Joseline complies, or if she's arrested.

Stormy Daniels is getting a taste of justice after the Ohio cops who busted her at a strip club last year are now facing some consequences ... but she ain't done with them yet.

The ex-adult film star was beaming Friday night as she strolled through LAX -- without any makeup at that -- as she reacted to the news that five of the officers who went undercover and arrested her at a strip joint in Columbus will be reprimanded by their department.

When a pap asks how she feels about the update a year later -- she actually corrects him with a more precise time frame (387 days, to be exact) ... so yeah, she's definitely been keeping tabs on the case.

She also doubles down on what's come to light about the arrest since it went down -- that it never should've happened, and it was completely bogus. Stormy was a guest at the venue she was performing at -- she was just booked for a special appearance -- and the no touching law the Columbus cops tried nabbing her on only applies to regular employees.

The charges were dropped, and since then ... Stormy also sued some of those officers, and she tells the photog here that the lawsuit's still on. In the filing, she claimed the cops targeted her for speaking out against Trump ... alleging the arrest was purely political.

She obviously wants damages, but funny enough ... there's one other thing they could give her that might smooth things over.

Seal is lecturing Katy Perry about the differences between borrowing and stealing ... he says being influenced by other artists is fine, but ya can't just jack someone else's beats!!!

Seal was at LAX Friday when he weighed in on Katy being ordered to cough up $550,000 for ripping off another musician's work. He says there's a fine line between being inspired by a tune and straight up stealing it.

As you know ... Katy lost a huge lawsuit this week, a jury decided she and her codefendants improperly copied Christian rapper Flame's song, "Joyful Noise," for her smash hit, "Dark Horse."

Seal rattles off a list of artists who influenced his music when he was breaking into the industry, but he says he never went so far as to steal from them ... and ya gotta hear the shade he throws at Dr. Luke and the 7 other songwriters who worked on Katy's disgraced track.

R. Kelly's racketeering and sex trafficking case is underway in NY ... he's set to appear and officially hear the charges and enter a plea.

Kelly's lawyer, Steve Greenberg, tells us the singer will plead not guilty at the arraignment. No major surprise ... Kelly has continued to battle the mounting charges and cases against him, denying all the allegations. Kelly flew to New York Thursday for the hearing.

Just like in his federal case in Illinois, Kelly's 2 girlfriends -- Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage -- are there for moral support. As we told you, they flew from Chicago to attend the arraignment ... and stuck to their phones as they walked in.

Azriel's phone itself is a symbol of her support. Take a close look -- the case is a collage of various photos of Kelly.

There's also a group of Kelly supporters that have gathered outside the courthouse ... one wearing a "Free R. Kelly" t-shirt.

As we reported ... the feds slapped Kelly with a 5-count federal indictment ... which includes racketeering and kidnapping. This is separate from the 13-count indictment in Illinois federal court. The indictment out of the Eastern District of NY also includes several violations of the Mann Act and allegations of forced labor.

Kelly denied the allegations ... blasting his alleged victims as "disgruntled groupies," this according to docs in which he asks the judge to release him pending trial. He's been behind bars since he was denied bond.

According to the federal indictment ... Kelly and others engaged in a scheme to coerce minors to participate in sexually explicit acts on camera. The feds say the purpose of the scheme was to "promote R. Kelly's music and the R. Kelly brand and to recruit women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity with Kelly."

The feds also allege "Kelly and his crew traveled throughout the United States and abroad to recruit these women and girls." Further allegations include Kelly made "threats of force and physically restrained the women" to obtain their labor and services.

BTW ... the Mann Act prohibits the transportation of anyone across state lines for illicit sexual purposes. Four of the 5 counts against Kelly are violations of the Mann Act.

Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" is going to cost her a lot of green, but her record label is paying twice as much for ripping off the tune.

The federal jury in L.A. just dished out the damages, and the pop singer will have to pay $550k to Christian rapper Flame. He sued Katy, Dr. Luke and 7 other songwriters on "Dark Horse" for jacking his tune, "Joyful Noise." Capitol Records was also a defendant, and the jury ordered it to pay the lion's share ... $1.2 million.

In all, Flame will get a total of $2.7 million from all the defendants. The jury said his song was responsible for 22.5 percent of the "Dark Horse" profits.

His Grammy-nominated gospel track came out in 2008 ... 6 years before KP dropped "Dark Horse."

The jury's decision on hefty damages came after hearing 2 full days of testimony about how much Perry's megahit and the album it was on, "Prism," have earned since release. Katy's cut, to date, has been $3.2 mil ... while Capitol Records earned $31 million.

Of course, the same jury returned a unanimous verdict that Perry and her co-defendants improperly copied the Christian rap track -- specifically by jacking its continually repeated musical rhythm.

“Our clients filed this lawsuit five years ago seeking justice and fair compensation for the unauthorized copying of their music. It has been a long and arduous path, but they are quite pleased to have received the justice they sought,” Flame's lawyer, Lauren R. Cohen, said.

As we reported ... Flame's music label uploaded a "Joyful Noise" vid on YouTube in 2008, and it's racked up millions of views over the years.

In his lawsuit, first filed way back in 2014, Flame claimed Perry stole the underlying beat and riff in the middle of "Joyful Noise" for "Dark Horse." He also said it destroyed his reputation in Christian music because he became associated with the anti-Christian imagery present in her music vid.

Perry called BS on the 2 tracks having any meaningful similarities, and during her jury testimony earlier this month she claimed she'd never even heard Flame's song before he filed the lawsuit.

Katy told the jury she first heard the beats from Dr. Luke while they were hanging out in Santa Barbara and claimed she wrote "Dark Horse" in only 4 hours.

However, Flame's legal team was able to convince the jury that his song was popular and prevalent enough to have been heard and ripped off ... and that's exactly what Perry and her team did.

By the way ... the "Dark Horse" music video currently has 2.6 BILLION YouTube views. Gotta wonder if it was worth it.

A$AP Bari just took another big L stemming from his sexual assault case ... because the judge tossed his countersuit against his victim.

According to new legal docs ... the rapper's defamation suit against the woman, listed as Jane Doe, and all claims he made against her have been dismissed.

The reason it was tossed is because the woman filed a police report and a lawsuit, and the judge ruled both are protected speech ... so Bari can't sue her over what she told cops or claimed in a suit.

As we reported ... Bari pled guilty to sexually assaulting the woman in a London hotel in 2017. As part of his plea deal, he was ordered to pay a $5k fine and pay the victim $3,150 ... but he avoided jail time.

In leaked video of the incident, Bari's seen chasing the woman around the room and ordering her to give him oral sex.

While his plea deal concluded the criminal case, the civil case is still ongoing. Doe sued the hip-hop designer for sexual assault in late 2017, and he countersued in August 2018 claiming she was a liar and trying to extort him for a big payday.

Jon Gruden said this week he expects "more drama" involving Antonio Brown ... and guess what -- he got it.

The Oakland Raiders superstar has been sued by his famous personal trainer who claims the WR stiffed him out of thousands of dollars stemming from a week-long off-season workout program.

The man behind the suit is Sean Pena -- who's trained pro athletes like NFL star Darius Leonard.

Pena somehow connected with Antonio Brown in 2019 -- and the two started working out together.

Pena claims AB had him fly up to NorCal for one week of hardcore training in April -- and he even posted footage of the two grinding it out in the gym at the University of California Berkeley.

They did everything from foot speed drills to weight training, balance work and water-resistance work in a pool. The sessions actually looked pretty intense.

But, when it came time to pay up, according to the lawsuit ... Brown never ponied up the dough.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, Pena is demanding $7,194.81 for "unpaid therapy and training services; agreed-upon reimbursement for hotels, airfare, rental car, and [miscellaneous fees], in addition to late penalties disclosed on accepted invoice."

The case has already been assigned a trial date for October -- which will go down unless the two sides can reach a settlement before that.

When reached for comment, Brown's attorney, Darren Heitner, tells TMZ Sports ... "Mr. Brown has already paid the Plaintiff everything that he was due. The Plaintiff has no foundation for coming after Mr. Brown, and we will ensure that this case disposed of quickly."

FYI, Brown signed a 3-year, $50 MILLION contract with the Raiders during the off-season.

Kurt Rappaport, who is one of the richest and most successful realtors in the United States, claims his Guess-model wife of 16 months has been extorting him with threats to ruin his life and that of his celebrity friends if he doesn't tear up their prenup and cough up millions.

Rappaport filed for divorce from Sarah Mutch back in February. In a new civil lawsuit just filed, Rappaport says almost immediately after their lavish, $3 million wedding, Mutch began bitterly complaining about the terms of the prenup and demanded -- "violently at times" -- that he change the terms or "the marriage is over."

His lawsuit goes on to say ... when he refused to tear up the prenup, she went wild with his credit card, charging hundreds of thousands of dollars for various things. The suit claims Mutch threatened that if he didn't pay her bills, she would "release false information about [Rappaport] and his friends to the press and social media outlets."

He says after he filed for divorce, she went on a rampage, demanding millions of dollars or she would "go to the press and f*** s*** up" by disseminating false information about him and his celebrity friends.

Rappaport filed a police report in April, detailing some of the alleged threats. According to the report, obtained by TMZ, Rappaport says Mutch "threatened to fabricate a 'Me Too' sexual harassment report at the hands of his wealthy friends." He says she threatened to go to the media with the allegations if he didn't give her "millions and millions of dollars." He told cops she said, "If I don't get what I want, I'm going to drop a bomb and end your career in a week!"

He says one of her demands was that he give her partial ownership of a $60 million property he owns.

Rappaport says when he refused to put the property in her name or tear up the prenup during the marriage, she began berating him, calling him "selfish, cheap, greedy and disgusting."

The $3 million wedding in September 2017, was crazy ... Christina Aguilera performed. The guest list included Diddy, Ryan Seacrest, DJ Khaled and Larry King.

Chuck D is suing his record label ... claiming they stole over a million dollars in commissions, as well as a substantial portion of his music publishing catalog.

In the lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- the Public Enemy MC says after he signed with Reach Global Music and Terrordome Music Publishing in 2001, they took advantage of his lack of business acumen and screwed him out of tons of cash and the rights to his songs.

In the docs, Chuck D claims the record label's created a complex master plan to hide money from him ... including what he says were hidden transactions, false and fraudulent copyright registrations and accounting tricks.

According to the suit, Chuck D says he only became aware of the scheme against him in February, when he finally got his hands on some of the documents that he claims were used to defraud him. Chuck D claims he's lost a 42% stake in his music catalog, as it existed in 2012, forever.

A$AP Rocky is finally getting his day in court ... entering a not guilty plea in a Swedish court, and his family's also there showing support.

A$AP's mother, Renee Black, was escorted through the crowd of reporters, photographers and onlookers outside the Stockholm courthouse Tuesday morning.

Once the trial began, the rapper's attorney told the judge A$AP is pleading not guilty to assault, and said his client was acting in self-defense.

The trial is continuing ... so check back here for updates. The trial could go for up to 2 more days, but it's unclear if prosecutors and A$AP's team will need that much time to present their cases.

As you know ... A$AP has been in custody since early July, getting detained after turning himself in to Swedish authorities following a street brawl in the nation's capital. He was officially charged with assault last week, and he faces a maximum sentence of 2 years in prison.

However, the prosecutor told TMZ he will NOT recommend the full 2 year sentence if A$AP is convicted. A panel of 4 judges will hear the case, and at least 3 of them must rule an assault was committed for a conviction. In the event of a tie, the prosecutor can ask for a new trial. If A$AP is convicted, a judge will decide his sentence a week later.

As we've reported ... the man who attacked Rocky's crew in Stockholm will NOT be prosecuted for any crime, even though video appears to show the alleged victim, Mustafa Jafari, actually inciting the violence by harassing A$AP and his crew.

In the first video from the incident ... you clearly see Jafari strike A$AP's bodyguard in the head with a pair of headphones. Meanwhile, A$AP played peacemaker, trying to defuse the situation and saying no one wants to go to jail.

Nicki Minaj and her fiance took a big step toward the altar, because we've learned the couple just got a marriage license in Los Angeles, although it's all on the down low.

Sources with knowledge tell TMZ ... Nicki and Kenneth Petty took a trip together to the Bev Hills Courthouse Monday. Witnesses say they saw Nicki and her boo at the marriage license bureau window, and they got the paperwork they need to tie the knot.

Nicki and Kenneth were trying to keep a low profile inside the courthouse as they waited in line at window that read, "marriage licenses and ceremony appts. ONLY" ... and Kenneth paid for the license before they left. Nicki was wearing a ball cap, but it's hard to hide that knee-length bright red 'do.

It's interesting ... back in June, Nicki said on her "Queen Radio" show that she and Kenneth had already gotten their marriage license.

No word on when Nicki and Kenneth will make it official ... but typically the license is pulled shortly before the nuptials. A marriage license is good for a maximum of 90 days.

Nicki and Kenneth began dating last year after rekindling their flame from their teen years.

This will be Nicki's first marriage.

Courtney Love was able to get her daughter's ex-husband to sit for a psychiatric examination to determine the state of his mental health in the epic legal battle over a famous Kurt Cobain guitar.

Frances Bean's ex, Isaiah Silva, sued Courtney, Sam Lutfi and others last year for allegedly conspiring to kill him to get back Kurt's guitar -- which he'd been awarded in their divorce. Now the defendants have hammered out a deal to have a psychiatrist check out Silva.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, the exam is happening Tuesday at 10 AM PT at a facility in SoCal. It'll run for about 7 hours and will consist of interviews, a mental status examination, as well as standardized psychological testing. In short, they wanna figure out if Silva's in his right mind.

The docs say that Isaiah will be asked a number of questions about the background of what he's alleging in the lawsuit and how it's still affecting him today.

Additionally, doctors could grill him about other topics that are presumably relevant in determining his mental health -- like his education, employment, marital history, legal history, substance use and family history.

The examiner's notes will be included in Isaiah's lawsuit, and the entire process will be recorded on audio.

You'll recall ... Isaiah sued Courtney, Sam and others, excluding Frances, for allegedly getting together and plotting to break into his crib, kidnap and then murder him -- all in an attempt to get Kurt's famed 'MTV Unplugged' guitar back.

Katy Perry just took an L in court ... a jury ruled her song "Dark Horse" stole heavily from a gospel song that came out 5 years earlier.

Monday's verdict is the latest step in a lengthy legal battle that started back in July 2014, when Katy was sued by the Christian rapper, Flame -- he claimed her 2013 hit song "Dark Horse" is a complete rip-off of his Grammy-nominated gospel song, "Joyful Noise."

Flame's music label uploaded the music video to YouTube way back in 2008, and it's since racked up millions of views. He says Katy jacked the underlying beat ... but she called BS, claiming there are NO meaningful similarities.

According to the suit ... Flame claims Perry also destroyed his reputation in Christian music circles because he's now associated with the anti-Christian witchcraft and imagery that's present in her "Dark Horse" music vid.

The case will now proceed to the damages phase -- AKA, when Katy finds out how much the loss will cost her.

As we reported ... Katy showed up to court last week wearing a mint-colored suit and took the stand, claiming she never heard the song "Joyful Noise" before the filing of the lawsuit.

The President of the U.S. Soccer Federation is responding to the pay gap lawsuit filed by the U.S. Women's National Team ... saying he has proof the women actually make MORE than the men despite bringing in WAYYY less money.

Remember, the USWNT sued the Federation back in March for gender discrimination -- claiming,  "The female players have been consistently paid less money than their male counterparts."

Now, U.S. Soccer Federation president Carlos Cordeiro is responding in an open letter ... essentially saying he hears what the women are saying -- but the numbers don't back up their claim.

"U.S. Soccer has, over the past decade, paid our Women’s National Team more than our Men’s National Team in salaries and game bonuses, and we continue to make unprecedented investments in our women’s program," Cordeiro wrote.

Cordeiro included a "fact sheet" that spells out his case and explains ...

"From 2010 through 2018, U.S. Soccer paid our women $34.1 million in salaries and game bonuses and we paid our men $26.4 million -- not counting the significant additional value of various benefits that our women’s players receive but which our men do not."

Cordeiro says the Men and Women have different pay structures based on how they negotiated their Collective Bargaining Agreements ... including more guaranteed pay salary for the women and different ("more robust") benefits packages.

The men CAN earn larger bonuses ... but they're guaranteed nothing, according to Cordeiro.

Corderio also says when you break down the revenue generated by each team, the men come out on top ... by far.

"From 2009 through 2019 -- a timeframe that includes two Women’s World Cup championships -- the Women’s National Team has earned gross revenue of $101.3 million over 238 games, for an average of $425,446 per game, and the Men’s National Team has earned gross revenue of $185.7 million over 191 games, for an average of $972,147 per game."

"More specifically, WNT games have generated a net profit (ticket revenues minus event expenses) in only two years (2016 and 2017). Across the entire 11-year period, WNT games generated a net loss of $27.5 million."

Still, Cordeiro says, "U.S. Soccer does not view these as losses, but rather as an important investment in our Women’s National Team and in the long-term growth of women’s soccer."

Molly Levinson -- a spokesperson for the U.S. Women's National Team -- is responding to the letter ... essentially saying it's a crock of BS.

"The numbers USSF uses are utterly false which, among other things, inappropriately include the NWSL salaries of the players to inflate the women’s players compensation."

She adds, "Any apples to apples comparison shows that the men earn far more than the women. The fact is the women’s team requested the same compensation structure as the men have, so they would be paid equally for equal performance."

"The USSF fact sheet is not a 'clarification.' It is a ruse."

"Here is what they cannot deny. For every game a man plays on the MNT he makes a higher base salary payment than a woman on the WNT. For every comparable win or tie, his bonus is higher. That is the very definition of gender discrimination. For the USSF to believe otherwise, is disheartening but it only increases our determination to obtain true equal pay."

WWE legend Jerry Lawler thinks officials in Tennessee and a local sheriff are responsible for his son's 2018 death ... and now he's "seeking justice" in a new $3 MILLION lawsuit, TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Brian Christopher Lawler -- AKA Grandmaster Sexay -- died by hanging himself in his jail cell in July 29, 2018 following an arrest for DUI and evading police. He was only 46.

But, Jerry claims his death could have easily been prevented -- if officials would have followed proper protocol when dealing with a person they KNEW had a history of suicide attempts.

Lawler's attorney, Jeffrey Rosenblum, tells TMZ Sports ... Brian -- who suffered from depression -- told officers during his 2018 arrest that he had attempted suicide in 2013 and 2015.

But, when Christopher was put in a jail cell for the 2018 arrest, officials at the Hardeman County Sheriff's Dept. made no effort to protect him from himself, Rosenblum says.

Rosenblum says Christopher was attacked by another inmate during his confinement -- and suffered a head injury, left eye gash and a possible concussion. But, Rosenblum says officials refused to get him medical help.

Instead, Lawler was allegedly placed in solitary confinement with his shoes and shoe laces -- and the cell had two large bolts sticking out of a high point on one of the cell walls.

Lawler ultimately used his laces and the bolts to hang himself, Rosenblum says.

Before his death, Rosenblum alleges that Lawler repeatedly cried out for help and screamed that he needed to go to the hospital ... but never received the medical attention he requested.

Rosenblum says the family has filed a lawsuit in the hopes of holding officials accountable -- and any money they are awarded will go toward supporting Brian's son.

He also wants an apology from the Sheriff's Dept. and a court order "requiring Hardeman County to correct their unconstitutional deficiencies so that no other family has to go through what this family has had to endure over the past year."

As for the $3 mil, Rosenblum says that number is for compensatory damages "with an additional award of punitive damages to be determined by the jury for the benefit of Brian’s minor son."