Fairly Legal

The war between Antonio Brown and a celebrity chef is getting uglier ... new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports show the cook is now accusing the WR of slander.

AB and a celeb chef named Stefano Tedeschi have been fighting it out in court since July when Tedeschi filed a lawsuit alleging Brown stiffed him out of $38,521.20.

Tedeschi claims he and Brown struck an agreement where AB would pay him to cook for him, his family and his friends for 3 days at the Pro Bowl in Orlando in January 2018.

But, Tedeschi says AB never paid up ... and claims it's all because of a frozen fish head.

Brown eventually called BS on Tedeschi in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this month ... going scorched-earth on the chef, writing, "[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."

Now, Tedeschi is firing back ... in new court docs, Tedeschi is accusing Brown of defamation.

Tedeschi says Brown's words were "slanderous, defamatory and not the type of language one would expect to see in a professional legal document."

Tedeschi -- who wants the court to deny Brown's motion entirely -- added, "This language can only be viewed as an effort to smear [Tedeschi]."

We reached out to Brown's attorney, Darren Heitner, for comment on the new docs ... and he told us, "There was simply no defamatory statement made."

'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star Eva Marcille's got some baby daddy drama on her hands ... he claims she's blocking his QT with their daughter, so he wants a judge's help.

Kevin McCall Jr.'s attorney -- Adamma Mckinnon -- filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, claiming Eva's tried to alienate their daughter from him ever since she moved from Los Angeles to Georgia in October 2015.

According to docs, Kevin's requesting a change to their previous custody order, so they can share joint physical and legal custody of 5-year-old Marley Rae.

Kevin says it's in Marley's best interest for them to spend more time together and "foster a parental bond." Kevin also wants Marley to take his last name. Right now she's Marley Sterling -- the last name of Eva's current husband, Michael Sterling.

Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell's been dishing out threats to his fiancee, and he's also trying to stick her with a house bill because she won't let him move in ... according to new legal docs.

Esther Campbell is seeking a restraining order against the rock singer for what she describes as "threatening behavior." She claims, in the docs, that Harwell's management warned her not to file for a protective order because he has "means," and could make her life difficult.

Campbell also claims he ordered work on her house -- $7,000 for septic tank repair -- with the intent of moving in, and has threatened to leave her with the debt knowing she can't pay it. According to the docs, she says she won't let him move in due to his alleged threats.

Campbell wants Harwell to stay away from her home and work, and not contact her by phone, text or social media. She also wants the judge to order Steve to attend rehab or AA.

Lil Wayne's gotta pay up for allegedly creating fraudulent companies to book fake concerts ... 'cause he didn't even bother to fight the lawsuit against him.

According to new legal docs ... the rapper's been ordered to fork over $150,000 to Ramin Natan, who sued Weezy for breach of contract and fraud. It's a default judgment ... meaning the judge ruled for Natan because Wayne blew off the lawsuit.

Natan filed suit against Lil Wayne and Migos back in January, claiming they were "Ponzi scheme artists" who created shell companies to get money for shows they never planned to really perform.

In the suit, Natan claimed he loaned $500,000 to a guy named Eric Stenger to promote Weezy shows. Natan claimed Stenger lied about being a concert promoter, and was in cahoots with Wayne from the jump. Natan claimed Wayne received the $500,000 but never performed and never gave back the cash.

Rapper Freddie Gibbs claims his baby mama's making his life a living hell ... a nightmare he claims started after she went to town on his car with a knife.

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Freddie claims Raven Tatum has been harassing him and his new GF ever since he and Raven got into an argument, back in August, that led to her knifing his Mercedes-Benz.

In docs, Freddie says the issue was that while he was out of town, he agreed to let Raven stay at his home because hers was flooded. He admits getting upset though when he noticed -- on a baby monitor camera -- she had moved a bunch of boxes with her belongings into their son's room.

Freddie says he told his housesitter to tell Raven to move her stuff to the garage -- and he claims that's when she got PISSED and unleashed her rage on his Mercedes. He's accusing her of carving "f**k you" on the side of his whip and also slashing his tires.

There has been a very secret play by the U.S. Attorney to get more parents to plead guilty in the college admissions scandal, and what's especially interesting is that prosecutors are putting the squeeze on people who haven't even been charged with a crime.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, parents who hired ringleader Rick Singer received grand jury subpoenas recently for various documents that could lead to an indictment. Lawyers for the parents got in touch with the U.S. Attorney, who threatened to indict the parents in a similar fashion to Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin and dozens of others.

We're told the lawyers and prosecutors are either in the process of negotiating a guilty plea or have already negotiated it, even before any criminal charges are filed. We're told the U.S. Attorney will file criminal complaints and the parents will immediately plead guilty.

Young Dolph found himself in a pair of cuffs after police thought they smelled weed when they pulled him over in Atlanta ... but there were no drugs in the car, and Dolph walked free.

Video of the incident -- obtained by TMZ -- shows the rapper standing outside his Mercedes-Benz G Wagon being detained by police officers, while his pals sit on the curb in handcuffs.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... Young Dolph's car was pulled over Tuesday afternoon because he was not wearing a seat belt while driving, and cops thought they smelled some chronic when they went to the window. So, they pulled everyone out of the whip and cuffed 'em.

Our sources say police searched the car, but couldn't find any ganja.

Terrence Howard says he's taking a stand for men when he battles his ex-wife, and even though he recently took an 'L' -- he still thinks he has a secret weapon on his side.

We ran into Terrence Tuesday at Crustacean in Bev Hills -- right after he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame -- and asked him about the ruling last month ... when the judge ordered him to pay Michelle Ghent $1.3 million in their years-long spousal support feud.

We asked if Terrence intended to challenge it, and although he says he'll pay ... he clearly isn't conceding Michelle is right. In fact, he accuses her of playing dirty with "deceit and lies." Watch the clip, but know that Michelle's team says Terrence is delusional.

As a rep for his ex put it, "Apparently the courts don’t agree with his version of events and he seems to have a hard time sticking to the facts and the reality of what the rulings have been in this case."

Still, Terrence told us he'll come out on top in the end ... thanks to karma. And, then we got into some strange philosophical territory with him.

When we tried asking about "Empire" coming to an end, Terrence pivoted into something he's way more passionate about -- his belief that one times one is TWO. We know ... come again???

Brian Austin Green sold a classic Porsche to a guy overseas, but the buyer claims the car's engine wasn't what Brian advertised it to be ... and now he wants his money back.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ ... Gonzalo da Silva Pinto says Brian was trying to sell a 1955 Porsche Speedster back in May 2017, and when Pinto saw the online ad, he did his due diligence to make sure the Porsche was the real deal.

After all, the asking price was $385k -- makes sense he'd wanna kick the tires.

Pinto claims he hired a couple Porsche experts to inspect the car and make sure the engine matched the certificate of authenticity -- by verifying a stamp on the motor. He says everything looked up to snuff, so he bought the car from Brian for $330,000 and shipped it to Germany.

Problem is ... Pinto says when the Porsche got to the motherland, he tried to get his own certificate of authenticity and found out the engine was NOT authentic. Pinto claims the engine stamp was forged.

Now, Pinto wants to cancel the sale and get back his $330k ... plus all the costs and fees he racked up during the purchase, authentication and delivery. Although he's clearly pissed about the alleged forgery ... Pinto is not accusing Brian of fraud in the lawsuit.

We reached out to Brian's camp ... so far, radio silence.

No word if Pinto checked the Carfax.

The wife of "Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary has been charged with driving their boat carelessly in the fatal boating accident last month, but the other driver was also charged with a crime.

TMZ has learned the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) charged Linda O'Leary with "careless operation of a vessel." TMZ broke the story ... O'Leary's boat was on Lake Joseph August 24 when it slammed into another boat, killing 2 passengers.

Our sources say the OPP obtained 5 videos from cameras trained on the lake and they concluded she was driving 17 MPH at around 11:30 PM ... which police say was not a safe speed.

But, the OPP also charged the driver of the other boat, Richard Ruh. The OPP says he was driving without navigation lights. As we reported, this seemed to be the core of the case -- and our sources say the driver had insisted the lights were on, but police say the video shows otherwise.

We're told Linda is going to "vigorously fight the charge." OPP spokeswoman Carolle Dionne tells us Linda's alleged crime carries a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail or a $1 million fine.

Kevin was not charged with any offense, but he told us through his agent, UTA honcho Jay Sures, "Now that the authorities have concluded their thorough investigation, I have no further comment other than to say that our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of those who lost loved ones in this awful tragedy. Our hearts go out to them."

Former 'Bachelor' contestant Amanda Stanton is blowing it as a social media influencer ... so claims the luxury boutique that's suing her for failing to do the simplest task.

According to new legal docs ... Moonstone Vintage LA says it gave Amanda a very pricey gift -- a Chanel purse worth $3,249 -- and in exchange, she would pimp the store out to her 1.2 million Instagram followers. Pretty standard social media quid pro quo.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Moonstone claims Amanda failed on the pimping part. As they say, it ain't easy. The boutique says not only did Amanda fail to tag them in her post from Coachella ... but she kept the purse.

As a result, it's suing Amanda for $4,996 ... the cost of the purse, plus shipping and handling expenses.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... Amanda requested the rare, vintage, black leather quilted mini backpack as a last-minute accessory for her Coachella trip earlier this year.

Our sources say the store personally delivered it from Santa Monica to the desert. And, while Amanda did post with the purse ... she tagged several other companies, but NOT Moonstone.

Adding insult to injury ... Amanda posted a second pic with the mini backpack and again didn't tag the company. Two days after her initial post, Amanda did finally tag Moonstone ... but the boutique's now saying too little, too late.

Former 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' star Peter Thomas is pulling the plug on his North Carolina sports bar ... and it's all because the place is dealing with some tax issues.

According to federal records, Peter's Sports One Bar and Lounge in Charlotte was hit with a tax lien for nearly $237,000 ... and now the establishment is closing its doors after racking up a huge debt.

Sources close to Peter tell TMZ ... the bar didn't have enough money to stay afloat after committing funds to other projects, and the place fell behind on its taxes. We're told Sports One Bar and Lounge will be shuttered for 3 to 6 months while Peter and the bar's legal team clear everything up and pay down the debt.

It's been a rough year for Peter ... as we first reported, he was arrested in Miami back in March on an out of state warrant for allegedly writing a $4,000 check that bounced.

The elderly man who was seriously injured after getting hit by Laila Ali's SUV in 2018 has lawyered up and filed a lawsuit ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As we previously reported ... Ali accidentally hit a man with her Land Rover while backing out of a Calabasas shopping center in December '18 ... causing him to fall and hit his head on the ground. The man claims he went unconscious for a brief amount of time.

Paramedics and L.A. County Sheriff's deputies quickly responded to the scene ... and Ali cooperated with law enforcement. She was not arrested.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the man -- Robert Ise -- says he suffered a left orbital blowout fracture, a concussion and lacerations and contusions across his body.

Ise claims he still suffers from pain and emotional distress due to Ali's negligence ... and now he wants her to pay for all past and future medical expenses.

Ali released a statement after the accident ... saying she was praying for the man's recovery.

The real-life stripper who inspired Jennifer Lopez's character in "Hustlers" wants the studio to ante up some serious cash ... or else.

Samantha Barbash's legal team just fired off a letter to STX Entertainment -- the studio behind the hit film -- demanding it pay up for its use of Barbash's likeness, personality, biography and identity in connection with the promotion of the film.

According to the letter, obtained by TMZ, Samantha's lawyer Bruno Gioffre reminds the studio Barbash "unequivocally rejected all offers to be included in the film." Barbash wants STX to resolve "the flagrant violation of her rights."

Damon Dash says he's not the cash register he used to be -- not by a long shot -- so he's asking a judge to pull the plug on his child support obligations.

Dash filed legal docs saying enough's enough, and he no longer wants to pay support to 19-year-old Ava. Apparently, he struck a deal with ex-wife Rachel Roy that he would pay $6,000 a month total for both kids, and the obligation didn't stop at 18.

As for why, Dash says things are lean in the financial department, claiming his adjusted gross income in 2018 was a skosh over $56,000. Damon says Rachel makes way more than him ... approximately $500k a year. He also says she lives a lavish lifestyle with trips to Europe, Greece and India.

Damon says he's stepped up plenty ... he pays $3,666 a month for 11-year-old Tallulah's private school.

Kevin Hart and the 2 people in his car that crashed Sept. 1 have all lawyered up, TMZ has learned, and everyone's expecting a big lawsuit.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us, the driver, who sustained serious back and chest injuries has an attorney, as does the passenger in the backseat, who sustained only minor injuries. Kevin has a lawyer as well.

We're told Kevin is in the crosshairs of the other 2 people in the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda because the car did not have safety harnesses or airbags. The argument is ... Kevin should have worried less about keeping the car authentic and more about safety -- and not doing so constitutes negligence.

The driver could also be on the hook for Kevin and the backseat passenger, but it's a little premature since the CHP is still investigating the cause of the crash.

The big issue ... we're told the company that customized the car could be looking at a lawsuit. The argument goes like this ... the company is the expert and even if Kevin wanted a custom job without safety harnesses, the company should have refused the job because it wasn't safe ... especially with a powerful, 720 horsepower engine.

We contacted 10 custom car companies around the country and asked if Kevin's crash has opened their eyes and changed their minds about customizing classic cars without installing safety harnesses. 8 out of the 10 said they would if that's what the customer wanted. Only 2 said they would not.

It's interesting because it opens these companies up to a lawsuit, especially if there are passengers in the car who get injured.