Fairly Legal

Diddy is firing back at Rodney "Lil Rod" Jones ... saying his lawsuit is nothing more than a cash grab dressed up as a sex trafficking and RICO conspiracy.

The rap mogul and his attorney, Marc Agnifilo, filed a motion to dismiss Jones' second amended complaint in Manhattan Federal Court Monday, attacking all the claims against Diddy point by point.

But mainly, Diddy is accusing Jones of trying to score a quick settlement by throwing around salacious allegations just to hurt his reputation.

Karen Read is getting sued by her late BF John O'Keefe’s family ... and the family is also going after the two bars they say overserved her booze before she allegedly struck O'Keefe with her SUV in '22.

TMZ obtained the docs ... John’s brother Paul O'Keefe and other family members just filed a civil suit for wrongful death and emotional distress against Karen ... who’s still staring down a second murder trial after her first ended in a mistrial.

Paul and family claim Read was reckless and ignored the risks after drinking ... adding she allegedly left John -- a Boston police officer -- on the ground to die after hitting him with her SUV in a snowy yard.

Quentin Tarantino's making some controversial claims about the shooting on the set of "Rust" ... saying Alec Baldwin's not completely responsible for Halyna Hutchins' death -- but, it's partially his fault.

The director sat down with Bill Maher for an episode of his "Club Random" podcast published Sunday ... and, the two got into the "Rust" shooting -- with Bill calling it BS prosecutors charged Alec.

QT shares a slightly different view ... saying it's 90% on the armorer -- Hannah Gutierrez-Reed -- but, the rest of the blame lies with the actor.

9:40 AM PT -- Nicki’s attorney, Judd Burstein tells TMZ … “Mr. Peak has been harassing Nicki on social media for years on end to no avail."

"He has now graduated to seeking to shake her down financially with manifestly false allegations and legally frivolous claims. He will regret having gone down this disreputable road when he is forced to pay her legal fees as required by California law.”

Nicki Minaj has a pissed-off Barb on her hands -- one of her avid fans claims Nicki publicly humiliated him by calling him a mentally unstable stalker and ... so, now he's suing.

The New York rapper was named as a defendant in the suit filed by plaintiff Tameer Peak in L.A. Superior Court – and the allegations paint Nicki as a full-blown bully.

According to the documents, obtained by TMZ, Tameer refers to himself as one of Nicki's most ardent followers for the past 15 years, and claims he helped her career by promoting her 2023 album, "Pink Friday 2."

5:45 PM PT -- Kreshendo's singing a way different tune than Shaboozey when it comes to their deal, and it's now suing him ... accusing him of fraud.

In the docs, the record label admits it agreed to let the singer out of his deal in 2019 -- however, it says there were strings attached. Kreshendo claims his exit deal still allowed them to collect money on all his musical compositions, and they allege he knew damn well that was the arrangement.

They say Shaboozey is only acting like he didn't know, because "Bar Song" became such a massive hit, and he doesn't want to share the wealth with his old label. So, now Kreshendo is suing him for more than $2 million.

A new TikTok trend could soon become someone's potential cash cow ... and in a very demure, very mindful way.

For anyone who has been on the internet recently, particularly TikTok, it's been nearly impossible not to be bombarded with "Very Demure, Very Mindful" trending posts ... and now someone is making a move to lock up the rights to the catchphrase.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ, someone named Jefferson Bates in Washington State filed docs to trademark "Very Demure .. Very Mindful .."

DaniLeigh apparently thought being famous could get her out of trouble -- at least, that’s what it looks like in newly released bodycam footage from her DUI hit-and-run arrest back in May 2023.

The video is a shocker -- you can hear DaniLeigh try to tell Miami cops they can't arrest her 'cause she's an artist, in particular an R&B singer -- all this after authorities say she struck a teen on a moped with her car ... and left him with a kidney laceration and a spinal fracture.

She tells one officer she's with Quavo, who is seen off to the side early in the video, along with a couple of his security guys. The cop tells them to back up when they ask what's going on.

Judge Mathis is going to have a judge in his life now ... because his wife just banged the gavel on their marriage.

The TV judge's wife, Linda, beelined it to court Thursday and filed to divorce Judge Mathis after 39 years of marriage.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Linda lists the date of separation as July 17 ... and she's going with the boilerplate irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.

Diddy was one of the investors who helped Elon Musk snag X -- back when it was still called Twitter -- for $44B in 2022 ... according to a newly unsealed list of the platform's shareholders.

The doc went public Wednesday ... listing nearly 100 entities as part-owners, with Diddy named under 'Sean Combs Capital, LLC' alongside other big names like Bill Ackman, Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud and Twitter founder Jack Dorsey.

Exactly how much the now-disgraced music mogul invested in X isn’t clear ... and as of August 2024, it’s not publicly known who still holds shares in the company.

Joey Lawrence carried on an extramarital affair with an actress he starred alongside in an upcoming movie ... at least according to her estranged husband ... and it may provide a clue for why Joey's wife just filed for divorce.

Actress Melina Alves' estranged husband, Edward Rider, makes the adultery accusation in new documents from their divorce in New Jersey ... and the timeline here is revealing.

TMZ broke the story ... Joey's wife of 2 years, Samantha Lawrence, just filed to divorce him, and she lists June as their date of separation.

Dawn Olivieri's fighting back against claims she abuses horses ... suing numerous people who she claims made false statements that have negatively impacted her livelihood.

Olivieri -- a star on the hit show "Yellowstone" -- filed the lawsuit last month claiming a bunch of people have made false statements about her in order to damage her partnerships with third-party organizations and businesses.

Dawn says she had a campaign all set up with clothing giant Dickies -- posting promotional pics to social media -- when, she claims, users engaged in a coordinated effort to kill her brand deals.

"Hangover" actress Nathalie Fay is now required to keep her distance from her on-again, off-again boyfriend William Brady ... as she's been hit with a restraining order.

TMZ broke the story ... when the actress -- whose real name is Nathalie Tordion -- was arrested in South Miami, Florida for allegedly punching Brady in the face.

William now wants Nathalie to steer clear of him ... new court documents show she's been ordered to stay at least 500 feet away from her beau, and she's not to contact him through writing, social media, calls -- or any other form of communication.

Nikola Jokic's brother has been ordered to stay away from the man he allegedly socked during a heated dispute at a Nuggets playoff game earlier this year.

A judge made the ruling in Denver County Court on Wednesday -- just a couple weeks after Strahinja Jokic was formally hit with a misdemeanor assault charge for his apparent role in a fight at Ball Arena back on April 22.

Strahinja, according to the Denver Post, appeared before the judge as the order was handed down. The outlet reports Strahinja was also ordered to return to court in October.

Travis Scott's looking to put his June arrest behind him ... asking a judge to throw out his trespassing case because he says the marina lacked "No Trespassing" signs.

The rapper's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, filed a motion to dismiss Tuesday claiming Scott can't be found guilty of trespassing after a rowdy night with yacht staff in Miami a couple months ago.

Basically, Scott's legal team says signs warning against trespassing weren't visible at the marina itself. He says there were signs on the surrounding private property, but he says those don't count for his presence at the marina.

Nathalie Fay, an actress with a memorable part in the first 'Hangover' film, has been arrested for allegedly punching her boyfriend in the face ... TMZ has learned.

The actress -- whose real name is Nathalie Tordion -- was arrested in South Miami, Florida on Saturday after police responded to a call about an incident with her on-again, off-again BF, identified in the police report as Brady.

Cops say Brady told them he'd gone to pick up Nathalie for the Miami Dolphins NFL preseason game against the Washington Commanders.

Joey Lawrence's wife has filed for divorce ... citing irreconcilable differences -- and she's asking for sole physical custody of their daughter, with some pretty major restrictions on Joey.

Samantha Lawrence -- Joey's wife of 2 years -- filed the divorce docs about 2 months after she says they separated back in June. She checked the box to block the court's ability to award either of them spousal support ... but she's certainly demanding the lion's share of access to their daughter.

In the docs, she specifically asks the court to award her 100% physical custody ... with Joey allowed to visit only at her discretion.