Modern Family

Chrystal Workman is defending the verbal lashing she gave an attorney as a gut reaction to her daughter Ariel Winter being taken from her ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ broke the story ... during a guardianship hearing for the "Modern Family" star last month ... Chrystal yelled at Ariel's guardianship attorney and called her a "moron."

Sources close to the family tell us Chrystal was very upset because she felt like lies were being spewed in court about her parenting and she was fed up ... as she claims any mother would be.

As one source put it, "If someone were trying to take your child that you loved more than anything else away from you, wouldn't you react in a similar way?"

We're told Chrystal apologized in court shortly after the outburst.

As for why Chrystal waited 2 weeks to notify the Sheriff's Department -- about allegedly catching 14-year-old Ariel and the boyfriend in a sexual situation ... we're told she thought she could handle it privately like any other parent.

But we're told she thought she had no other choice after the guardianship hearing ... because she felt like Ariel -- and her older daughter Shanelle -- had ambushed her in court.

The fight that Ariel Winter's mother is waging with her two daughters has gotten so bitter, the older one is now being falsely accused of making a money grab on her younger sister.

The mother, Chrystal Workman, along with Chrystal's reps ... are saying that her older daughter Shanelle -- who now has a temporary guardianship of Ariel -- asked a judge for access to the "Modern Family" star's bank account but was shut down.

Court records, however, show the exact opposite.

The petition for the guardianship specifically requests that all of Ariel's accounts be blocked from everyone, including Shanelle.

Our court sources say Shanelle never asked for a penny during the hearing ... and the court docs reflect that.

Authorities have serious doubts about allegations made by the mother of 14-year-old "Modern Family" actress Ariel Winter ... TMZ has learned -- because they think the mother is making up stories of an illicit sexual relationship to save face after she was stripped of custody.

TMZ broke the story ... a judge determined allegations that Chrystal Workman was physically and emotionally abusing Ariel were so serious, he awarded temporary custody to Ariel's older sister -- and ordered Chrystal to stay 100 yards away from her young daughter.

Law enforcement sources tell us they're not buying Chrystal's claim Ariel was involved in a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old boy, largely because the mom never went to cops until AFTER she lost custody on October 3 -- even though she claims the affair's been going on since the beginning of summer.

Court sources tell us the first time Chrystal mentioned ANYTHING about an illicit relationship was during the guardianship hearing last month ... when she began ranting in court and called the guardianship lawyer a "moron."

We're told she testified about a specific incident on Sept. 24, saying ... "I caught my daughter with her boyfriend in bed -- she's 14. He's 18 and I threw him out and I broke them up."

Due, in no small part, to the timing of Chrystal's testimony ... one law enforcement source tells us they don't believe there was ever a sexual relationship between Ariel and the boy.

"Modern Family" star Ariel Winter's mother insists she did NOT abuse her daughter -- claiming 14-year-old Ariel is making up stories ... because her mother wouldn't let her engage in a sexual act with her 18-year-old boyfriend.

Ariel's mom Chrystal Workman released a statement today, saying ... “I love my daughter very much. I would never abuse her in anyway and I have always tried my best to always protect her and do what is right for her."

She explained, "My fourteen-year-old daughter has been dating an eighteen-and-a-half-year-old man, and when I caught them engaging in behavior that I feel my daughter is too young mentally and physically to understand and fully grasp I put a stop to it immediately."

Chrystal doesn't identify the boyfriend ... but says she filed a report with the LA County Sheriff's Department "because legally he is an adult and if he wants to engage in adult behavior with a minor than [sic] he should also be ready to suffer adult consequences for his actions."

According to the incident report, Chrystal walked in on Ariel and the boyfriend in bed, in the guest room of her home ... on Sept. 24 at around 10pm.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ the Sheriff's Special Victims' Bureau does have an open investigation into Chrystal's allegations.

However, TMZ has learned ... Chrystal's report wasn't filed until 2 weeks after the alleged incident -- and 5 days AFTER she lost custody of Ariel.

TMZ broke the story ... the 14-year-old actress, who plays Alex Dunphy on 'MF', was removed from her mother's care by a judge in the wake of serious allegations of physical and emotional abuse.

Ariel's older sister, Shanelle, now has temporary guardianship of the actress.

Ariel Winter refused to miss work this morning ... despite the family drama in her personal life ... and soldiered over to the "Modern Family" set without her mother.

We broke the story ... the 14-year-old actress, who plays Alex Dunphy on the show, was removed from her mother's care by a judge in the wake of serious allegations of physical and emotional abuse.

Ariel is now in the care of her older sister Shanelle -- who has temporary guardianship over the actress. Her mother, Chrystal, has been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away.

This morning, Ariel hitched a ride to work with a female companion ... sporting a brave face in front of the media.

Ariel Winter, the 14-year-old actress who plays Alex Dunphy on "Modern Family," has been removed from her home by a judge in the wake of serious allegations of physical and emotional abuse by her mother ... court sources tell TMZ.

There's a report Ariel is seeking legal emancipation from her mom so she can be with her boyfriend, but that report is false.

Court sources tell us ... on October 3rd, after a guardianship hearing, a judge determined the allegations that Ariel was being physically and emotionally abused by her mother Chrystal Workman were serious enough that the judge placed Ariel in a temporary guardianship with her older sister Shanelle Gray. Our sources tell us ... mama Chrystal was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Ariel.

Ironically, we've learned Shanelle suffered the same alleged abuse as Ariel. Nearly two decades ago, the Department of Children and Family Services removed her from Chrystal's home based on similar abuse allegations. Law enforcement sources tell us ... D.C.F.S. placed Shanelle in foster care for more than 2 years. She never went back to her mother.

"Modern Family" star Eric Stonestreet picked the fight between himself and a Cardinals fan this weekend at the Dodgers game -- this according to the Cardinals fan, who tells TMZ, Stonestreet took a friendly rivalry WAAAY over the line.

The Cardinals fan in question -- a guy named Michael Gallagher -- says the drama began when he heckled Matt Kemp for grounding out at the bottom of the 8th.

Gallagher says he yelled, "Hey Kemp, 0 for 4, nice job!" ... and Kemp rolled his eyes, laughing it off.

According to Gallagher, Stonestreet was sitting next to him and yelled back, "Matt Kemp should've come over and punched you in the face."

Gallagher claims Stonestreet then approached a security guard and said something to the effect of ... "Someone needs to kick this guy's ass."

Gallagher tells us, Stonestreet continued to yell insults at him and his friend, such as "Nice v-neck" -- and finally his friend snapped, yelling back, "Well you're a fat ass!"

According to Gallagher, that's when things got out of hand -- and the actor came over to exchange words up close.

Security quickly intervened and escorted everyone up to the main concourse -- at which point Gallagher says Stonestreet whipped out the infamous line ... "Don't you know who I am?"

"Modern Family" star Eric Stonestreet was escorted out of his seat at last night's Los Angeles Dodgers game after he allegedly got into a verbal altercation with a St. Louis Cardinals fan.

According to a witness, Stonestreet said something to the Cardinals fan after the guy heckled a Dodgers player. The two exchanged words, but we're told it never escalated to the point where either threatened the other in any way.

In the video, you can see Stonestreet and the fan exchanging words before security eventually came over and asked Stonestreet to leave. The guy who Stonestreet appeared to be arguing with was asked to leave as well.

Stonestreet was later seen in the hallway, talking to security staff.

Calls to Stonestreet's rep were not returned. A rep for the Dodgers tells TMZ that Stonestreet was not ejected from the stadium and, after speaking to security, was allowed to return to his seat.

FYI -- The Dodgers won the game in dramatic fashion, scoring two runs in the bottom of the 9th (with 2 outs) to beat the Cards.

Go Blue.

After our story went up, Stonestreet tweeted his version of events, saying, "i did NOT get kicked out of the Dodgers game last night. did i get escorted to the top of the stairs by security? yes. yes i sure did." He also spoke to our cameras on Sunday night (see below).

Sofia Vergara ate a banana today.

FYI -- she's not really pregnant. The photo was shot this morning on the set of "Modern Family" in L.A. and Sofia's "pregnant" on the show.

Ariel Winter -- the girl who plays brainy Alex Dunphy on "Modern Family" -- is a tiny money-making MACHINE ... 'cause besides her steady sitcom paycheck, she made an extra $3k per week to star in a TV movie last year ... and she's only 14-YEARS-OLD!!!!

TMZ has obtained legal docs which show Ariel took a gig back in 2011 appearing in the Nickelodeon TV movie, "Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred" ... during her downtime from "Modern Fam."

According to the docs, Winter raked in $2,808 per week to play the role of "Talia" ... the new girl in school. It's unclear how many weeks she spent on the project.

Meanwhile, Ariel is reportedly making between $10k and $15k per episode on "Modern Family" ... and is expected to renegotiate for A LOT MORE.

And if that wasn't enough ... in 2011 -- when she was only 13 -- she also did some voice work on a couple of Disney cartoons AND a "Final Fantasy" video game.

"Modern Family" producers have secretly replaced one of the biggest stars on the show, TMZ has learned -- but the crazy part ... you probably wouldn't have noticed if we didn't tell you ... THE DOG!!!!

Sources connected with production tell TMZ, the French bulldog who plays Stella -- Jay Pritchett's pooch -- recently got the boot ... and has been replaced by a lookalike for next season.

According to sources, the dog who formerly played Stella -- real name Brigitte -- had been hired by an Hollywood animal agency called Good Dog Animals, which then subleased Brigitte to the "Modern Family" production shortly before Season 2.

We're told everything went great for 2 seasons, but GDA recently decided it no longer wanted to work with Brigitte -- so it unceremoniously dumped the dog in favor of its own lookalike Frenchie ... some bitch named Beatrice.

"Modern Family" then hired Beatrice instead.

Now, like scores of red-blooded Americans ... Brigitte is unemployed and hoping to find another job.

Producers for "Modern Family" settled their dispute with several key cast members the same way every American family does ... throwing a bunch of $$$ at them, and now thanks to some major pay raises, everyone's getting back to work.

The cast members -- Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara -- officially dropped their lawsuit against the ABC show, after coming to an agreement with the show's producers over their salaries.

If you recall -- the adult cast members (minus Ed O'Neil) were upset over their contract negotiations -- they were holding out for a reported $200k per episode, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The tryst with the show's producers resulted in the cast taking legal action to get out of their contracts altogether and halted production after a recent table read was cancelled.

All that's behind them now, THR reports that the show's producers and the hold-out cast members settled around $175k per episode ... with the cast taking a cut of the show's profits as well. Their salaries will shoot up to around $350k an episode by the show's 8th season.

In exchange for the cash increase, the cast members extended their terms with "Modern" to 8 seasons, rather than the original 7, THR reports.

The cast of "Modern Family" wants out of their current contracts for the show -- all in a bold move to score much fatter paychecks.

The cast members -- Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet and Sofia Vergara -- just filed a lawsuit against 20th Century Fox TV, demanding their contracts be declared null and void.

According to the lawsuit, the contracts violate a "7 year" law in California that bars personal service contracts with a duration longer than 7 years. As a result, the cast wants them tossed out ... presumably so they can renegotiate for more money.

The cast also wants the freedom to pursue other acting gigs outside "Modern Family" and Fox -- a freedom that's severely curtailed by their current contracts.

It's the latest in the bitter salary negotiations between the cast members and 20th Century Fox.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox recently made an offer to increase the cast's salary as follows: $150,000 per episode plus a $50,000 per episode bonus for season 4; $200,000 per episode for season 5, $225,000 for season 6, and up to $325,000 for an anticipated season 9.

But the cast reportedly rejected the offer and is now demanding much, much more.

"Modern Family" hot mama Sofia Vergara celebrated her big 40th birthday on Tuesday by rocking a sexy bikini in Mexico ... and flashing what is reportedly her new giant engagement ring.

Sofia's on-again-off-again businessman boyfriend Nick Loeb reportedly popped the question this week and gave her the huge bling during their vacation with pals on the Riviera Maya.

Sofia -- who dated Tom Cruise back in 2005, before the whole Katie Holmes thing -- has a son from a previous marriage.

3:30 PM: Multiple sources close to Sarah have contacted us to say she is absolutely NOT anti-gay ... and she had no idea about Chick-fil-A's non-culinary practices. Mystery solved.

On television "Modern Family" star Sarah Hyland, 20, has two gay uncles, but in real life she just attended the grand opening of a new Chick-fil-A restaurant in Hollywood ... an evangelical Christian owned corporation which has been accused of being anti-gay.

Although Chick-fil-A has responded to the homophobic allegations by saying they "serve and value all people," they also routinely contribute to anti-gay organizations like Focus on the Family.

Pro-equality groups aren't happy about the fast food chain's latest outpost and are planning a protest in front of the new Hollywood location on Saturday.

While Sarah may not be aware of the chain's practices, TMZ contacted her rep but have not heard back.