Fairly Legal

Britney Spears has been under a conservatorship with Jamie Spears at the helm for 11 years, but sources connected with the singer believe Kevin Federline could make a move to get Jamie removed ... in the wake of the incident between Jamie and Britney's 13-year-old son.

As we reported, Jamie is now under criminal investigation for allegedly breaking a door down and putting his hands on Sean. A temporary restraining order is now in place prohibiting Jamie from having contact with Jayden and Sean.

Certain members of Britney's team believe Kevin might go to the judge overseeing the conservatorship and ask to remove Jamie because he's ultimately responsible for the welfare of the children -- since he oversees their mom -- children with whom he's temporarily prohibited from having any contact.

Our Britney sources believe Jamie is secure in his role for one reason ... there's really no one else who can handle it. The judges associated with the conservatorship over the years have acknowledged Jamie righted the ship when Britney was at her worst -- in danger of losing custody, bleeding money and extremely unstable. Britney is now flush with cash, has joint custody and by all rights is considered a good parent.

As one Britney source put it ... "Jamie certainly has his flaws, but everyone knows he's done a good job and there's no one else who can do it."

The wild card -- will Britney's mom, Lynne Spears, make a move to wrestle the conservatorship away from Jamie? As we reported, Lynne expressed an interest to become involved in the conservatorship earlier this year, after a social media campaign went after Jamie. She spent time with Britney in L.A., reconnecting after years of estrangement, but she's been in the background ever since.

R. Kelly's so-called girlfriends will be visiting him frequently now that he's in his prison's general population, but their visits will be strictly cordial ... NOT conjugal.

The singer's attorney, Steven Greenberg tells TMZ ... Joycelyn Savage and Azriel Clary plan to go see him soon at the federal prison in Chicago where he's being held. While Kelly's gen pop move came with a bunch of new allowances ... sex with visitors is not one of 'em.

Still, Greenberg says Joycelyn and Azriel will make the trip to see Kelly on a "regular basis" ... just to keep him company. Besides the sex ban, the GFs also can't bring Kelly food or treats from the outside. We're told his only consolation is a hug hello and a hug goodbye will be permitted with each woman.

We broke the story ... Kelly's feeling safe and at ease in federal lockup because he doesn't think he'll have any issues with his hometown inmates, who he believes still consider him a music legend.

Just in case, though ... Greenberg says there are security measures in place to keep Kelly safe.

Nipsey Hussle's estate owes a singer her fair cut of the money the rapper made off his hit song, "Hussle & Motivate" ... according to a claim she just filed.

Tasleema Yasin says she wrote and performed a vocal phrase used throughout the track ... according to the docs filed Thursday in L.A. Superior Court. Tasleema also says her voice is prominently featured in a countermelody, which she sang in her higher register ... and she says can be heard throughout the song's chorus.

She claims she's a coauthor of "Hussle & Motivate" ... which means she's entitled to a big cut of any dough the song earns.

Tasleema doesn't list a specific amount she's due, and wants the estate to provide a proper accounting ... so she can figure out how much.

Aaron Carter is no longer getting court-ordered protection from his ex-girlfriend ... and her attorneys say he blew off a court hearing because he knew his allegations were false!!!

The singer failed to show up in court Tuesday for a hearing to make his temporary restraining order against Lina Valentina permanent and as a result, the TRO has been dismissed.

We broke the story ... Aaron got a TRO against his ex after claiming she threatened to stab him with a knife. He also alleged she physically abused him during their relationship and carried a blade.

Lina and her attorney, Michael Malak, were at Tuesday's hearing, but Aaron was not, and they say he's full of it. Malak says Lina does NOT carry a knife and never threatened Aaron.

Sources close to Aaron tell TMZ ... he didn't plan on following up with the restraining order because he's just over it and wants to move on with his life. We're told Aaron still stands by his allegations in the TRO.

Lina wants to move on too, and her attorney says she's hopeful Aaron will "get the help he needs."

We're guessing Aaron might have a bone to pick with that, because as he continues stockpiling firearms ... Aaron insists his mental stability is just fine.

Ric Flair believes the WWE is ripping him off -- using the phrase The Man without his permission ... and now he's threatening legal action.

Flair says he's been referring to himself as The Man since 1981 -- and even holds the trademark for his famous catchphrase, "To be the man, you gotta beat the man."

The problem ... one of WWE's biggest stars -- Becky Lynch -- has been referring to herself as The Man over the past year and the nickname has become a huge hit with fans.

Ric tells TMZ Sports ... he was trying to work out an amicable, private agreement with WWE where they would pay him to allow Becky to continue to use the name, but WWE blew him off.

In fact, Ric says he escalated the situation to WWE executive, Triple H ... but they still couldn't reach an agreement. So, on August 26, he filed an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to own the term, The Man, specifically as it relates to pro wrestling.

Now, Ric says the WWE is pissed at him for making the move -- and it's caused a rift between himself and his daughter Charlotte Flair, a current WWE superstar herself.

Flair says he has NO beef with Becky Lynch -- and supports the WWE's women's division -- but business is business and he wants what he believes he's rightfully owed.

Ric says if the USPTO grants him the trademark, he'll happily let Becky use it ... as long as WWE pays him -- because "I want it to take care of my family."

And, if he doesn't get paid, Ric says he's willing to explore his legal options to force WWE's hand.

During our conversation, Ric emotionally explains why the most important thing to him is making sure the people he loves -- especially his wife, Wendy Barlow -- are financially secure after he dies ... and that's why he's willing to fight for The Man.

"When I almost died two years ago, one person stayed by me [Wendy]. The whole time -- 31 days in the ICU, 12 days while I was dying on a respirator -- and I'm gonna take care of her, and her family, and my family that has taken care of me no matter what."

Judge Mathis won't face criminal charges for allegedly spitting on a parking valet, and the alleged victim is clamming up ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell us ... the valet, who claimed the judge actually spit on him twice during a heated confrontation, will not press charges against Judge Mathis.

The Detroit Police Department tells TMZ ... just after last month's incident at Flood's Bar and Grille, police contacted the valet and asked if he wanted to press charges, and the valet told cops he needed to consult his attorney.

Since then, we're told police have made several attempts to follow up with the valet, but have not been able to make contact ... and, without cooperation from the valet, police can't make a case against Judge Mathis.

We obtained security cam footage of the incident, which shows Judge Mathis berating the valet as he sits in a Jeep. Mathis lunges his head forward into the car window -- the moment the valet claims the judge hocked a loogie right in his grill.

Judge Mathis denies spitting on the valet, who he claims kept him waiting outside the restaurant for 40 minutes. The guy accidentally left Mathis' keys in his pocket while he was parking another car.

The valet clamming up is an abrupt change of course ... as we reported, he initially wanted a DNA test to prove Mathis spit on him, filed a police report for assault and his legal team claimed there were at least 2 witnesses who can back up his story.

The Motown Historical Museum is giving Vegas show producers the blues ... slapping them with a lawsuit for allegedly stealing its iconic name.

The museum's suing the folks behind a Las Vegas show called "Hitzville the Show: Motown Revue" ... claiming the name is too similar to its Detroit museum, Hitsville U.S.A. -- the iconic home of the Motown sound.

According to docs, the museum -- the original site of Berry Gordy's Motown record studio -- claims producers originally created the one-night show as a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser.

But, the museum's pissed producers brought the show to Vegas ... where the museum alleges producers have been cashing in on its name and the Motown sound for 6 nights a week.

Motown Museum -- which has owned the trademark for decades and licenses the "Hitsville" name to films and stage musicals -- says producers blew them off when they sent them a cease and desist letter in January, and the show continued.

It's now suing Jennifer Reeves and William Shack -- as well as their production company, Jabara Records, and the theater at which they perform -- demanding they drop the act and turn over profits producers have made while using the "Hitsville" name.

Antonio Brown is firing back at the celebrity chef who claims the receiver stiffed him out of $38,000 ... calling the cook a fraud who's only suing AB to try to get famous.

Stefano Tedeschi alleged in a lawsuit earlier this summer that Brown agreed to pay him $38,521.20 at the 2018 Pro Bowl in Florida for three days worth of cooking.

But, Tedeschi says things went haywire after he put a fish head in Brown's fridge, intending to make soup with it the next day.

He claims Brown flipped out when he saw it in the freezer, kicking him out ... and never paying him a dime after that.

In court docs just filed by Brown ... the receiver went scorched-earth on the guy, calling him a liar -- and accusing the chef of using him to pump up his brand.

"[Tedeschi's] complaint is nothing more than a fledgling action to promote the career of a chef who will use any attempt or frivolous claim to seek fame and/or fortune," Brown said in the lawsuit.

"It is plainly obvious that [Tedeschi] ... is simply wishing to force himself into the public eye through the filing of baseless claims against a notable celebrity."

In the docs -- filed in Florida by Brown's attorney, Darren Heitner -- Brown is asking a judge to throw out the case completely.

AB claims the alleged oral agreement is totally unenforceable ... and he doesn't owe the guy a single penny.

Britney Spears and Kevin Federline are making changes to their child custody arrangement official in court docs.

TMZ has learned that they have formally agreed Kevin will gets custody of their 2 boys 70% of the time. We're told this has actually been the arrangement since August of last year but wanted to see how it worked before formalizing it -- and they made it official last week in docs filed on Aug. 28.

This is a shift from the previous agreement where they each had 50-50 custody. It's been that way ever since Britney stabilized following her mental health struggles that began in 2007.

Sources with knowledge tell us under the new arrangement Britney's 30% custodial rights with 12-year-old Jayden and 13-year-old Sean are not supervised.

TMZ has been reporting ... Britney has struggled over the past year with her mental health, in no small part because the medicines she was taking for her mental health condition stopped working. She entered a facility earlier this year to stabilize herself ... however, our sources say doctors were having trouble finding the right mix of medications.

Britney's been out and about in public, but privately ... we're told she still struggles to get back on an even keel. Her career remains on ice while she tries to get better.

Ariana Grande said thank u, but no thank u to Forever 21 when they pitched her an endorsement deal, but the clothing store went and launched a ripoff Ariana ad campaign anyway ... according to a new suit.

The singer alleges Forever 21 and her team were in talks for a deal in December 2018 into January, but the company wouldn't pony up enough dough to use her name and likeness.

Instead, Forever 21 allegedly stole it from Grande for a campaign across their website and social media ... and also hired a look-alike model to make it seem even more like the real deal.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, F21 published at least 30 unauthorized images and videos misappropriating Ariana's name and likeness, and did so by piggybacking off of the huge success of her "Thank U, Next" album.

Grande claims the company stole imagery from her album to create a false perception Ariana was backing the Forever 21 brand. The suit alleges F21's look-alike model also reenacted scenes and shots from the album's singles and music videos ... specifically "7 Rings."

The store Riley Rose, which was launched by the daughters of Forever 21's founders, was also allegedly involved in the ripoff campaign.

Michael Holston, the internet sensation famously known as The Real Tarzann, is being sued over a prickly little critter ... a woman claims he's got her pet porcupine locked in a cage and won't fork it over!!!

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Corinne Oltz, the operator of Wild Animal World in Florida, claims a prehensile-tailed porcupine named Pickles went missing from her operation last year and ended up in Holston's care ... and she says he's refusing to return her exotic pet.

Oltz claims the animal disappeared back in December, and this May she was notified of Pickles' whereabouts ... a cage on property in Miami, where Tarzann is the primary caretaker.

In the docs, Oltz claims she's made several attempts to bring home Pickles ... but says Tarzann, who fancies himself an animal educator to his 500k YouTube subscribers, is giving her the cold shoulder.

Oltz claims Tarzann is NOT Pickles' owner -- she claims she is -- so she's suing Holston and the owner of the property for $5,000 ... what she says Pickles is worth.

We reached out to The Real Tarzann ... and we're on pins and needles awaiting a response.

Andy Richter and his actress wife are a done deal ... officially ... he just filed for divorce.

Andy filed for divorce from Sarah Thyre Thursday ... according to legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Best known as Conan O'Brien's sidekick on all three of his late night shows, Andy got hitched to Sarah way back in the day in 1996 ... and the former couple had two kids together, an 18-year-old son, William, and a 13-year-old daughter, Mercy.

Andy and Sarah called it quits earlier this year in April after over two decades of marriage ... with Andy saying their "marriage has reached its completion."

The split was pretty amicable ... Andy and Sarah said they would "always maintain a loving friendship and parenting partnership."

Andy and Sarah first met in 1991, during the production of "The Real Live Brady Bunch" ... and over the years they both appeared alongside one another on Comedy Central's "Upright Citizens Brigade" as well as "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

Story developing ... 

Nipsey Hussle's daughter, Emani, will find out who gets permanent custody of her in less than 2 months -- but for now she's reaping the benefits of grief counseling sessions with her mother.

10-year-old Emani's mom, Tanisha Foster, was in an L.A courtroom Thursday -- along with reps for Lauren London and Nipsey's brother, Sam Asghedom. Much of the hearing was closed to the public, but according to docs filed by Tanisha's attorney ... Emani's monitored visits with her mother have been going well.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Tanisha's attorney says mother and daughter have been meeting with a grief counselor, and are "making excellent progress and are both benefiting" from the sessions.

That being said, Tanisha did have one gripe -- informing the court that Emani was dropped off more than 2 hours late for a scheduled visit last week. Tanisha says the only explanation she got was bad traffic.

Nipsey's family and Tanisha have been locked in a bitter custody war over Emani ever since Nipsey's murder on March 31. His family has said Tanisha is unfit, but Tanisha continues to fight back.

A legless Juggalo -- one of the devoted fans of the hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse -- took a wasted joyride on a golf cart and plowed into a guy ... according to a new suit.

A man claiming he attended the 20th Annual Gathering of the Juggalos at a park in Indiana this summer is suing Ninjas in Action -- the company that ran the event -- for negligence leading to his injuries. For the record, the plaintiff is NOT a Juggalo, he was there shooting a documentary.

According to the legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- the Juggalos' gathering was supposed to have a rule prohibiting golf carts, four wheelers or motorized vehicles, but it was not being enforced.

The man claims around 1 AM on August 3, he was riding a motorized bike around the park when he saw a golf cart with its lights off barreling down a hill toward him. He claims he pulled over and hopped off his bike, but the cart's driver -- Alexander "Less Legs" Perkins -- lost control and smashed into him.

The plaintiff's attorney, Brandon Smith of Morgan & Morgan, alleges Perkins -- a well-known Juggalo -- was operating the golf cart pedals with a baseball bat ... due to the fact that Less Legs is missing both his legs. The man also claims Perkins was under the influence of drugs and/or booze.

Perkins claims it's all BS. He tells TMZ ... he had permission to use the cart because of his disability, and the alleged victim -- who he says was riding a motorized bike without permission -- actually ran into him. He admits he was using a bat to operate the pedals, but adds ... he was stone-cold sober.

Less Legs also claims the guy was going the wrong way on a one-way road and slammed into the front of his cart. He claims he was ejected from the cart and sustained injuries, as well.

The alleged victim says he suffered serious and permanent bodily injury, and wants money to cover past and future medical bills. He's suing the Indiana park along with Ninjas in Action, but not Perkins.

Judge Mathis' altercation with a valet just got a spittle more interesting -- the man claiming he was spat upon by the judge believes DNA will crack the case.

Mathis strongly denies spitting on the valet, who kept the TV judge waiting -- he says for 40 minutes as the valet ran errands with the Judge's Rolls Royce keys in his pocket -- but the valet's lawyer, Karri Mitchell, tells us the loogies are going to the lab.

Mitchell claims Mathis didn't just spit in his client's face -- he also launched some saliva on the valet's shirt with separate spit. Even worse, the lawyer alleges Mathis walked over to some people nearby and bragged about what he had just done.

The lawyer says there are at least 2 witnesses who can back up the valet's story. The valet filed a police report for assault and Detroit detectives are investigating.

The L.A. school funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation just got sued for the second time in less than a month over bullying ... this time by the family of a 14-year-old girl who allegedly said she planned to kill herself because of the constant torment.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the girl was subjected to vicious bullying, verbal harassment and physical assault during her 6th through 8th grade years at Animo Westside Charter Middle School ... leading to a "psychotic breakdown."

In new legal docs, the girl's mother -- suing on her daughter's behalf -- claims the school turned a blind eye and callously disregarded their cries for help, like earlier this year when the student's mother alleges her daughter was waiting to be picked up after school when a bully assaulted her on a sidewalk.

She claims videos of the assault later surfaced ... showing students laughing at and taunting her daughter. According to docs -- filed by Ben Meiselas of Geragos & Geragos -- another alleged attack took place on campus in a hallway and was caught on video. The alleged victim's mother claims the principal reviewed the footage but insisted the student "was not assaulted but simply 'tapped around.'"

She alleges bullies made fun of her daughter's weight and made up hurtful and inappropriate songs ... such as "The Hippo Song" to mock her. The mother claims other bullies also got ahold of a pic of her daughter in a swimsuit. After the picture circulated at school, the mother alleges her daughter was then referred as the girl who sends "noodes to dudes."

The mother claims the school knew at least one of the bullies posed a risk because she had been removed and/or expelled from a previous school for assaulting another student. She says the constant bullying led the girl to threaten suicide, which eventually landed her on a 5-day psychiatric hold.

The mother is suing Green Dot, the org that oversees the school. She alleges bullying is rampant at the school. As we reported ... another student's family sued Green Dot claiming a violent bullying incident at the school led to permanent brain damage. Since we broke that story ... sources said several other parents have also contacted attorneys with similar complaints.

Bill, Melinda and their foundation are NOT named as defendants in either lawsuits.