Fairly Legal

Alec Baldwin is gearing up for a lawsuit, Joe Jonas is opening up on his new music and Mojo Muhtadi is paying it forward ... all this on today's TMZ TV Hot Takes.

First up on "TMZ Live" Harvey and Charles break down a legal threat from Alec ... aimed at the New Mexico sheriff and special prosecutor involved in his manslaughter case from the "Rust" shooting.

Tom Sandoval says he didn't mean to sue his ex, Ariana Madix, and is now withdrawing his lawsuit ... putting the blame on one of his lawyers.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star took to social media Thursday to clear up the legal action he took against AM -- where he countersued her in the case Rachel Leviss brought against him and Ariana regarding alleged revenge porn -- and made it clear ... this was a mistake.

Tom claims one of his attorneys told him about a cross-complaint -- and, allegedly, told him what he was about to file is customary ... with Tom saying he urged him to sign off on it, which Tom says he did ... albeit, unwittingly, or so he insists.

Irv Gotti is fighting back against the sexual assault allegations leveled against him in a new lawsuit ... and he's pondering one of his own.

A rep for the Murder Inc. Records head honcho reacted Thursday to the civil lawsuit filed in Miami-Dade County by a Jane Doe, and Gotti's camp is claiming the plaintiff pulled some shady business.

According to the rep, the suit "was filed after Mr. Gotti rejected the attempt by this individual to coerce a payment of money from him. The lawsuit contains a single page of 'facts' which are unsworn to, sparse by any measure, and which Mr. Gotti categorically denies."

3:02 PM PT -- Ryan Garcia's attorney, Michael A. Goldstein, tells TMZ Sports ... he and his client are hoping to reach a quick resolution in the case -- as the star boxer has already reimbursed the Waldorf Astoria for the damage he caused.

In addition, Goldstein says Garcia has expressed sincere remorse for his actions ... and has also apologized to employees at the luxury hotel as well.

"The past several months have been difficult for Ryan and he understands he has reached a crossroads in both his personal life and career," Goldstein said. "Going forward, he knows the focus must be on his well-being and mental health issues which have been strained."

Nicolas Cage's son Weston's divorce from 3rd wife Hila Cage Coppola is now official and in the books ... TMZ has learned.

According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, a judge signed off on Weston and Hila's split and per the terms of the judgment, Weston and Hila are keeping their existing custody and visitation agreement.

Here's the skinny ... Hila has sole legal and physical custody of their kids, Cyress and Venice -- with Weston getting no visitation rights pending a further court order.

Pete Davidson's putting his reckless driving case in his rearview ... 'cause a California judge just dismissed the case after Pete completed a pretrial program.

The comedian completed 50 hours of community service, a safe driving course and attended a Mother's Against Drunk Driving victim impact program. Those were the court-required terms of a diversion program put in place after he was charged in the March 2023 incident ... according to Rolling Stone.

PD apparently finished the program quickly too ... wrapping it all up approximately 6 months before the judge's deadline.

Alec Baldwin is not done with New Mexico's legal system -- it looks like he's planning to legally go after the Santa Fe County Sheriff and the prosecutor in his "Rust" shooting case.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the actor's lawyers put Santa Fe sheriff Adan Mendoza and special prosecutor Kari Morrissey on notice ... instructing them to save all relevant info related to his now-dismissed manslaughter trial.

In a pair of preservation notices fired off this week, Alec's legal team told the prosecutor and sheriff to hold onto any emails, text messages, hard drives, documents, records and materials related to the investigation and prosecutions connected with Halyna Hutchins' shooting death.

7/22 12:35 PM PT -- Legal Representatives for Brigitte Kruse and Kevin Fialko tell TMZ ... “The suit filed is a retaliatory lawsuit due to the one filed by Priscilla’s business partners last year. We are confident that the facts will speak for themselves and justice will prevail. It saddens all of us who dropped our lives to provide aid to a woman who needed help and she is now attempting to use her celebrity status to ruin the lives of kind, hardworking people. Thank you to all of our supporters who have stood by us during this difficult time. We will continue to focus on our business and look forward to our day in court. The truth will come out by way of evidence and not rumors. There will be no further comment at this time as we respect the judicial process.”

4:30 PM PT -- Brigitte Kruse and her legal team tell TMZ ... "We cannot respond because counsel has not been served with a copy of the lawsuit. We have alerted Ms. Presley’s attorneys that we do not have a copy of this filing but they have not responded."

Priscilla Presley's suing several former business associates ... claiming she's been the victim of financial elder abuse.

TMZ has obtained legal documents, filed by Priscilla Presley's lawyer Marty Singer Thursday, claiming a woman named Brigitte Kruse and several others took advantage of her and bilked her out of more than $1 million.

Presley claims Kruse is a "con artist and pathological liar" who took over control of PP's finances, forcing her into "a form of indentured servitude."

Ariana Madix can't catch a break ... she's been sued for the 2nd time this week, TMZ has learned.

In new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the "Vanderpump Rules" star and her costar Katie Maloney are accused of reneging on a business agreement surrounding their popular sandwich shop, Something About Her.

According to Penny Davidi Borsuk -- who filed the documents against the Bravo personalities -- Ariana and Katie failed to uphold their end of the agreement when she took on the role of COO/Director of Culinary at the West Hollywood restaurant.

Shannen Doherty was determined to finalize her divorce before she died, but she didn't quite make it ... nevertheless, a family law judge gave her a unique, posthumous assist.

As you know, Shannen died Saturday after a multi-year struggle with cancer. Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ, those closest to her knew she would not make it past the weekend.

Shannen, we're told, wanted an official divorce from Kurt Iswarienko before she passed. They were married in 2011 and the split was bitter.

Soulja Boy has filed a lawsuit against social media personalities Tasha K and William The Baddest  ... TMZ Hip Hop can confirm.

The "Crank That" rap star is suing over comments he claims were made on Tasha K's "Unwine With Tasha K" podcast about William and the rapper being in a romantic relationship ... which Soulja claims are nothing but big, fat lies.

According to the lawsuit, William told Tasha on the podcast in May that he and Soulja Boy were lovers in graphic detail ... and the clip went viral online.

Sandra "Pepa" Denton, 1/2 of Salt-N-Pepa, is still shaken and confused by her encounter with Southwest Airlines this week, when she says she got treated like a criminal without displaying any criminal behavior!!!

It's a perplexing tale, for sure -- but the "Push It" rapper joined "TMZ Live" Wednesday to give us her blow-by-blow account of SW pushing her off a flight Monday headed to Nashville from Las Vegas.

Pepa says she purchased 2 seats to give herself extra space for an injured knee, but wasn't wearing her protective brace when a flight attendant accosted her over the extra seat.

The man convicted of killing rapper Slim 400 was just sentenced to several decades behind bars.

On Wednesday, L.A. native Michael Terry was sentenced to 32 years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter for Slim's December 2021 shooting death.

Terry previously admitted to pulling up to a residence in Inglewood where Terry gunned down Slim in his own front yard.

Bam Margera and Nikki Boyd were never husband and wife in the eyes of the law, despite going through a wedding ceremony -- that's the word from the judge in their ongoing custody battle.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the judge issued a tentative ruling Tuesday saying Bam and Nikki were never legally married.

Remember, Nikki claims her 2013 wedding to Bam was legal, but he maintains it wasn't legit because the ceremony went down in Iceland, and they never got a license in the U.S. to make it official.

UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones isn't tapping out in his ongoing legal battle ... entering a not-guilty plea for the two misdemeanor charges he's facing in relation to a drug test gone wrong earlier this year.

Jones -- who appeared in New Mexico court virtually -- was charged with assault and interference with communications earlier this week ... after a testing agent claimed he made threats and took their cell phone when they popped up at his Albuquerque home unannounced back in March.

As we previously reported, two drug testing agents for the UFC's anti-doping partners -- Drug Free Sport International -- went to Jones' pad to collect a pee sample ... but in a police report, one of the agents told authorities Jon grew agitated with her after he was unable to provide a urine sample.

Tom Sandoval is pointing the finger at Ariana Madix regarding Rachel Leviss' revenge porn allegations ... as he's sued his former girlfriend-turned-nemesis as a result.

In new court documents obtained by TMZ ... Sandoval accuses Madix of illegally accessing his phone and invading his privacy in March 2023 -- which resulted in her uncovering explicit videos of Leviss.

Sandoval alleges Madix made copies of the explicit footage and sent it to Leviss and other unnamed parties without his permission. By doing so, Sandoval claims Madix has opened herself up to financial liability ... and violated California's criminal code.