Fights & Feuds

Meghan Markle's legal team went to court Wednesday, gunning to convince a judge to toss a defamation lawsuit filed by her sister Samantha, and the arguments left the judge scratching her head but leaning in Meghan's favor.

Samantha Markle claimed Meghan was peddling lies about her in both the Oprah interview and a 2020 bio, "Finding Freedom." Specifically, Samantha claims her half-sis lied when she allegedly said she was an only child, causing her humiliation and shame. Meghan's lawyers fired back ... their client never said she was an only child. She told Oprah she grew up as an only child.

Samantha claimed Meghan lied about her upbringing, and when she got caught in lies, she turned Samantha into a sacrificial lamb and attacked her to cover up her own alleged misdeeds.

As for the alleged lies ... Samantha points to what she says is Meghan's rags-to-riches narrative, growing up in poverty when she had a middle-class background. She says their dad, Thomas, paid for all sorts of things for Meghan, including elite private schools, tuition at Northwestern as well as dance and acting classes.

MM's lawyers asked the judge to boot the case, calling the claims "offensive" and "inappropriate." Her lawyers say Meghan merely stated her impressions about her life growing up.

Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell said she was "struggling" to see how Meghan's statements were defamatory. The judge took the case under advisement.

Ray J isn't proud of the content he's making with his new streaming company The Dosh Network, and says it's looking like he'll have to clash with B2K's Raz B about it!!!

TMZ Hip Hop got the enigmatic R&B star Friday in NYC as he capped off a week guest hosting The Breakfast Club. He's lamenting about "The Dosh Fight Club" ... a series he says is brining out the WORST in participating fighters!!!

Ray says Raz and the network are exposing the fighters' substance abuse and parenting issues and he doesn't want it associated with his own brand.

Raz is an exec at the network, but he and Ray have been butting heads over the level of filth in the content ... and warns there will be ramifications if the course isn't corrected!!!

Despite the brewing drama, Ray says he's truly excited about his RSVP supergroup project ... consisting of himself, Sammie, Bobby V and Pleasure P.

The quad first came together during Ray's ill-fated 2022 Verzuz performance ... which Ray openly admits he bombed -- but still went on to release their first single, "Money Everywhere," as a group Friday.

Ray says the project is self-funded and compares his group's perseverance to the Jamaican bobsled team from "Cool Runnings" ... raunchy XXX lyrics and all.

A local Arizona shop owner interrupted an ESPN shoot this week to mock Native American performers -- while yelling, "MAGA country" -- and the whole racist tirade is on video.

Cody Blackbird -- who's of Cherokee/Dakota descent, and was one of the Native American performers hired by ESPN for the Super Bowl promo -- tells TMZ a dude named Gilbert Ortega started taunting the dancers from the front of his jewelry shop Tuesday in downtown Scottsdale.

We're told Ortega was mimicking their movements and chants -- in a demeaning way -- and that prompted some in the group to come over and confront him while filming.

TMZ obtained some footage of the confrontation, and it shows Ortega was out there to provoke and posture ... calling the Native Americans "f**king Indians," invoking MAGA and telling them to go back to Gallup, NM, which is home to a well-known reservation.

Ortega even came out for a tense face-to-face with the group at one point ... on a dare to say what he was saying to their faces. So, yeah ... he was looking for trouble and trying to get under the performers' skin. Unfortunately, he succeeded.

Luckily, there was no violence ... Ortega was whisked away by a friend, and the whole thing fizzled out after he went back into his establishment -- a business, BTW, that ironically sells Native American items.

Some members of the Native American group were upset enough to contact cops to complain. The Scottsdale Police Dept. tells us they're investigating the incident as "possible disorderly conduct" ... and, as of now, they don't see anything that rises to the level of a hate crime. That's subject to change based on the investigation.

Offset and J Prince are turning up the heat on their simmering beef ... Prince says he's saved Offset's hide a bunch of times, but Offset's calling BS.

The estranged Migos rapper fired back at the Rap-A-Lot Records mogul Wednesday after Prince went to great lengths to remind Offset of all Prince says he's done for him and Cardi B.

J Prince says he's rescued Offset from tons of beefs over the years in different parts of the country, but Offset begs to differ ... saying he never needed Prince's help and claiming Prince is "all mouth with no proof just fairy tales."

Offset's rebuttal comes after Prince posted an audio message on Instagram ripping the Atlanta rapper for choosing emotions over principles.

J Prince's rant is a direct response to Offset claiming to not know Prince "from a can of paint" amid Offset's own issues with Quavo, which exploded backstage at Sunday's Grammy Awards.

Prince tried to jog Offset's memory while shredding his street cred ... claiming Offset was a fake gangster who repeatedly lied to Cardi B about what he was doing in the streets.

Prince claimed to have aided Offset on multiple occasions ... allegedly coming to Offset's rescue after he was jumped by Lil Baby's 4PF crew in Atlanta, squashing a beef involving Sauce Walka in Houston and helping Cardi out the time she angered Crips in Los Angeles by changing the word "blue" to "flue."

Cardi wasted zero time offering up some straightening of her own ... claiming it was Wack 100 and Big U — not J Prince — who stepped in to clear her name.

Jake Paul is fed up with Tommy Fury -- calling out his opponent for missing another pre-fight event this week ... saying TNT is being straight-up disrespectful to the fight game at this point.

Fury was not slated to attend Wednesday's press conference in Saudi Arabia ... claiming the event could wait until he made it to town on Feb. 16.

Paul was asked about Tommy's absence minutes ago ... and he unleashed on the guy.

"I'm used to his behavior at this point," the Problem Child said. "He's unprofessional, he's a flake, he's not a serious businessman, and he's not a serious fighter."

"He's gonna have to pay for all the times he pulled out," he continued. "All the business people he screwed over. It's disrespectful. There are some of the biggest names in boxing, some of the biggest promoters in the world, some of the most influential people in the world, one of the greatest countries in the world, and he doesn't want to show up 'cause a 'private matter' -- cool. We all have private matters."

Paul also goes on to call Fury's excuses BS -- because he initially said he didn't have to prepare for the fight, but then walked back the claim and said he needed more time to train.

"It's typical Fury stuff," Paul said.

Jake also claims Tyron Woodley hit him up recently ... and admitted this is an easier fight for Paul than himself and Anderson Silva.

Diddy isn't above a petty reaction to Burna Boy's defeat in the Best Global Music Album category at the Grammy Awards ... especially because they won the award together their last time collaborating!!!

Following the ceremony, Diddy took to IG amid his messages of love to snipe BB ... taking credit for the Afrobeats star's first and only Grammy win, while scoffing at the notion he thought his latest project, "Love, Damini" would be just as successful.

Diddy served as co-executive producer for Burna's 2020 album "Twice as Tall" ... adding hip hop flavor to help him warm up to the North American audiences.

Together, they not only won the Best Global Music Album the following year but also topped the Billboard US World Albums chart.

Judging from the picture Diddy paints, he worked on the project outta sheer boredom during the COVID-19 pandemic ... and they didn't even meet in person until after the album was released!!!

BB also lost out on his Best Global Music Performance yesterday ... further proving Diddy's point and get this ... even BB's Nigerian fans appear to be riding with Puff and are demanding BB make things right -- or fall off forever!!!

"My message to Jake Paul is good luck and I hope you've trained and I hope you got an ambulance on speed dial because you're gonna need it."

That's Tommy Fury with a very ominous warning for The Problem Child ... just 3 weeks before their highly anticipated February 26th boxing match in Saudi Arabia.

Of course, the men have been scheduled to fight two other times (more on that later) ... and the bad blood is so real, 23-year-old Fury says he's never wanted anything as badly as he wants a win over 26-year-old Paul.

"This is all that's been in my mind for the past two and a half, three years because I'm a professional, legitimate fighter, and my name has been lingering with Jake Paul for quite some time now and Jake Paul is not on my level," Tommy told Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1).

"Jake Paul is not even considered a legitimate fighter and to have my name dragged through the mud with his, I want to prove a point."

Fury continued ... "In three weeks, I get my chance. I don't wanna take it both hands, I wanna school this man. I'm gonna take him to the trenches and he will be drowned. There's no way he can last eight rounds in the ring with me."

Tommy says he's going to put Jake down, and he's going to do it early.

"I see me putting him away early, the way I'm punching in the gym, what I'm doing to people in the gym," Fury said, adding, "There's no way. When the shots land, he will be going down. He will not get up."

Babcock asked Tommy what he'd say to all the people who believe he will find a way out of the fight with Jake.

"I say to those people they need to wake up. Don't worry. I'll be in Saudi Arabia ready for February 26th. I'm ready to go now. I can't wait to get on this plane and get over there."

"I'm gonna hurt this man seriously come February 26th and if he banking on me for not showing, well if that's where he getting his confidence from, then he needs to think again 'cause I'll be there and I'll be right in his face come fight night."

We also talked to former UFC star turned BKFC boxer, "Platinum" Mike Perry ... who Paul has tapped as the replacement fighter, should Tommy fail to make it to fight night.

J Prince and Offset's beef over Takeoff's death is boiling over, and fans are blaming Gillie Da Kid and Wallo for heating the pot ... because J Prince used their platform to spark things up.

The Rap-A-Lot Records don closed off his recent "Million Dollarz Worth of Game" interview with some pretty tough talk aimed at Offset, claiming the rapper was "throwing rocks" without properly raising any issues he has with J. Prince himself.

Offset, in turn, defended his honor with sharp words ... dismissing J Prince's "Mob Ties" reputation while accusing him of exploiting Takeoff's death by repeatedly doing interviews about the situation.

Fans are labeling Gillie and Wallo the instigators for allowing the tensions to get so high, especially after some of their past interviews -- most notably ones with Lil Durk and Young Thug -- showcase the Philly podcasters assuming a "big brother" role to steer rappers away from the street life.

And, here's the crazy part: Gillie kicked off the interview claiming they initially refused the sit down with J Prince, but his conversation with Quality Control Records boss Pierre "Pee" Thomas was good enough for them to proceed ... and they still managed to ruffle feathers!!!

Offset's been dealing with a lot these past few days ... with things coming to a head between Quavo and him backstage at the Grammys.

TMZ broke the story, the 2 estranged Migos members got into an altercation after Quavo blocked Offset from partaking in his Takeoff tribute, and now there's this lingering beef with J Prince.

LeBron James breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record won't silence his critics, so says his former teammate Michael Beasley ... telling TMZ Sports, "they gon' keep hating."

Remember, James is only a few points away from becoming the NBA's all-time scoring leader -- a record that Kareem has held for almost four decades.

You would think with such an accomplishment, the ones who doubt King James would come around ... but Beasley says that won't happen, even when he's crowned.

"They gon' keep hating," the former NBA power forward tells us at LAX this week.

"It's a good percentage of the world that just wanna go against the grain. That's literally what we get. We get the ones who wanna go against the grain."

Beasley -- who played with LBJ in Miami and Los Angeles -- says James deserves respect from the doubters ... and they have no choice but to give him his flowers after this feat.

"He earned it," MB says, "You can't really say too much after that, you know. He the best."

BTW ... Beasley says he wouldn't mind playing alongside LeBron again, telling us he'd be down to sign back with the Lakers.

All hell broke loose when Dillon Brooks hit Donovan Mitchell below the belt during the Cavs vs. Grizzlies game on Thursday ... with both players getting ejected after a physical altercation.

The heated moment went down in the third quarter of Cleveland's 128-113 win over Memphis at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse ... with Brooks missing a shot and throwing his arm back -- making contact with Mitchell's groin -- as he fell to the court.

Mitchell -- who's been dealing with a groin injury this season -- immediately retaliated by throwing the ball at Brooks and shoving him.

Players and coaches for both teams intervened before things could escalate even worse ... but both players were booted from the contest.

Mitchell went after Brooks in his postgame presser ... saying the guy has a reputation for being a dirty player.

"That's just who he is,'' Mitchell told reporters. "We've seen it a bunch in this league with him. Him and I have had our personal battles for years."

"Quite frankly, I've been busting his ass for years."

"This has happened to other players throughout this league, and it's bulls*** if I'm being honest with you," he added. "It's complete bulls***. It's one thing, you know, you got Ja [Morant], you got [Desmond] Bane, you got Jaren Jackson. Those guys, they talk s*** and that's fine, that's all a part of basketball. We all grew up playing that way."

"But when you start doing little cheap s***, that ain't it."

Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff also addressed the scuffle ... saying, "A guy should have the right to stand up for himself. I thought Donovan did that. I'm proud of our guys."

"We don't have those guys that start s***, but we have guys who don't run from s*** and you have to in this league."

Mitchell says he will appeal the ejection -- as he says he was defending himself.

The Cavs backed Mitchell in the locker room after the game ... honoring him with the Junkyard Dog Chain, which goes to the grittiest player of the game.

Seth Rollins just went in on Logan Paul -- saying he REALLY doesn't like the guy ... while adding that the former YouTuber should leave the WWE and go back to "buying counterfeit Pokemon cards."

The WWE superstar unleashed on Jake Paul's older brother during an Instagram Live sesh on Friday ... just days after the 27-year-old shockingly eliminated him from the Royal Rumble.

Rollins insisted he ain't alone in his dislike of the WWE newbie ... saying other wrestlers can't stand him either. He then questioned Paul's real reasons for joining the org.

"At the end of the day," Rollins said in his two-plus-minute rant, "he's just not a wrestler. You know? He doesn't want to be a wrestler. He just wants to be famous."

"He doesn't care about the industry," Rollins added. "He's not a wrestler."

Rollins did throw at least one compliment Paul's way -- giving him credit for his athleticism -- before he trashed the guy again for the way he booted him from the Royal Rumble and celebrated about it afterward.

"I took my eyes off the ball," Rollins said. "That one's on me. But, don't go bragging about it like you did something otherworldly."

Seth then advised Paul to stay in his lane.

You can't mess with Alek Manoah's fastball on the field, and you apparently can't mess with it off of it either ... 'cause the Blue Jays ace absolutely eviscerated an MLB Network analyst this week after the guy body-shamed him on live TV.

Anthony Recker, a former MLB catcher who's been breaking down players and games for the league's network for the past year, made the comments on "MLB Tonight" on Wednesday ... seemingly taking a shot at Manoah's 6-foot-6, 285-pound frame.

"Show me you're willing to put a little more time in the gym," Recker said.

Manoah caught wind of the remarks a few hours later -- and he was clearly pissed over them.

"Hey @Anthony_Recker my job isn’t to please you," the 26-year-old said on his Twitter page. "You are an outsider you don’t know me or my work ethic. What I do in the gym has clearly worked check the numbers, sucks you can’t say the same for yourself."

Recker immediately tried to backpedal on the comments, telling Manoah his remarks were taken out of context.

Manoah, though, wasn't buying it ... adding, "Youre just like everyone else. Love to talk and then wanna say sorry when you get called out. If you wanna see how an All Star, 1st team All-MLB, and CY young finalist trains. Come meet me [at the gym]."

The right-handed flamethrower then shared a bunch of videos of him getting after it in the weight room.

Former Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman later entered into the conversation -- slamming Recker for his comments as well.

Jake Paul sharpened his trash-talking tools this week ... but it wasn't with his next boxing opponent, Tommy Fury -- the Problem Child traded verbal jabs with sports personality Bomani Jones in a heated interview.

The YouTuber-turned-pro boxer joined Jones' "Game Theory" this week ... and things went from 0 to 100 real quick.

In a clip from the HBO show, Bomani asked how the undefeated boxer would react if he ever loses a fight ... and Jake made it clear he has zero intention of ever having to cross that bridge.

"I don't plan on losing," Paul said. "I don't train to lose. I feel like that's probably your mindset. A lot of people like to project their mindsets onto me."

Jones interjects and says that's not the case -- he was just genuinely curious to hear whether Paul would still be as interested in boxing if he takes his first L.

That's when Jake gave the host a piece of his mind.

"I'mma be honest, bro, I don't know who the f*** you are. My PR team set up this interview."

Alyssa Milano has extended an olive branch to Britney Spears after being publicly called out by the singer ... TMZ has learned.

A rep for the actress tells us Alyssa reached out to Britney privately Wednesday to apologize after BS took to Instagram to slam a tweet of Alyssa's that she considered "bullying." As for how AM got the message across ... Brit sources tell us she sent a private message Britney's way this morning.

It's unclear if Britney reacted to Alyssa's apology, or what exactly Alyssa said in her message. We do know, however, that Alyssa expressed support for Britney in her correspondence.

ICYMI, Britney posted to her IG Story Tuesday, honing in on a tweet Alyssa fired off in December, which read ... "Someone please go check on Britney Spears." This is when she was off the radar and fans were concerned -- speculating she'd been re-conserved.

In response, Britney wrote ... "It saddens me to see things about me from people who don't know me!!! This definitely feels like a form of bullying!!!" She added, "Ladies, we are supposed to be rooting for one another not pulling one another down!!!"

Britney's been out in public since December, of course, but that outing didn't seem to go all that well ... at least from the outside looking in. Remember, we'd been told she appeared to be having a manic episode at a restaurant -- but both she and her husband denied it.

Olivia Wilde and Jason Sudeikis may have been hugging recently, but not because they've resolved their conflicts -- TMZ's learned there's a dogfight over how child support will be handled.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Jason's New York lawyer, Bill Beslow, has gone to a New York judge to resolve all child support issues. The reason it's sticky is that last July both a New York judge and a California judge ruled all CUSTODY issues should be handled in L.A.

We've learned Beslow went to a New York court January 4 and asked the judge to handle all child SUPPORT issues, and the judge set a hearing date for February 15.

Sources connected to Jason say he does not want any child support from Olivia. We're told he's willing to pay her "a reasonable amount" in child support either decided by the 2 of them or a New York judge.

Our sources say Olivia is baffled because both a New York judge and a California judge have already said this is an L.A. and not a New York case. She wants both custody and child support decided in L.A.

Beslow is appealing the decision to have custody decided in L.A. As for Olivia, we know her lawyer, Laura Wasser, and Olivia's New York lawyer have filed legal docs asking the judge on February 15 to dismiss Beslow's move to handle child support in New York, so a judge in L.A. can decide all issues involving the children.

Short story ... this dispute is far from resolved.

As for Olivia and Jason hugging a few days ago ... we are told very clearly -- they are NOT getting back together.

Latto nearly had the last laugh on "panty police" haters who accused her of repeatedly wearing one pair of animal print undies, but eBay is deflating her auction dreams!!!

A spokesperson for eBay tells TMZ Hip Hop ... used and worn underwear is a direct violation of their "used clothing policy," and that's why it's yanked Latto's link to auction off her underwear.

The company says it uses multiple layers of AI technology in addition to its professionally trained eBay investigators to sniff out errant sales like Latto's, and ensure they're upholding its health and hygiene standards ... which of pair of panties containing "big energy" ... do not!!!

The Grammy-nominated rapper saw her worn cheetah prints nearly earn her $100K before the eBay takedown. She only started the auction in order to school fans on the fact she does indeed have more than one leopard print thong th-thong thong thong!

Ahead of the auction, Latto actually took time to explain to the trolls that she keeps healthy stashes of undergarments during tour time.