TMZ Hip Hop - Page 4

Diddy's got a small reason to smile despite being behind bars in federal custody ... a judge just set aside the $100 million default judgment in his Michigan sexual assault lawsuit.

The embattled rapper scored the legal win during a motion hearing Wednesday ... where one of his attorneys, David Fink, convinced the judge to set aside the massive judgment because inmate Derrick Lee Cardello-Smith -- who claims Diddy drugged and sexually assaulted him at a 1997 Detroit party -- failed to prove he effectively served the lawsuit in accordance with Michigan law.

Judge Anna Marie Anzalone also scrapped the temporary restraining order stopping Diddy from selling off any assets to cover damages ... noting Diddy has a likelihood of winning the case on statute of limitations grounds because Cardello-Smith's claims date back to an alleged incident in 1997.

Prior to his arrest Monday night, Diddy hit the NYC streets and interacted with fans ... days before ending up in federal custody.

Check it out ... Diddy smokes alongside a fan, named Chris Dayes (Christian Daigle), while listening to a song off a cellphone. Diddy, dressed in sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a Prince sweatshirt, looks totally at peace ... even though a grand jury indictment loomed over his head at the time.

The tipster tells TMZ ... the fan encounter occurred on the evening of September 9, when Chris approached the music mogul to pitch himself as a potential new artist.

Kid Cudi and J. Cole's careers both rose through hip hop's Blog Era but their interactions have been relatively light -- and it's all Cole's fault, according to Cudi!!!

On Wednesday, Cudi was giving his fans quality time with a Q&A session on X to celebrate his newly released track "Don't Worry," when someone requested that he and Cole collaborate on a song.

Cudi immediately revealed he's tried to work with Cole in the past and came off rather annoyed.

12:16 PM PT -- Federal prosecutors have fired back, responding in court documents that claim Diddy is just too dangerous to be out walking the streets -- no matter what the rap mogul's lawyers say or do.

As the prosecutors point out ... Diddy repeatedly obstructed justice during the investigation -- not to mention, is still an alleged flight risk. They claim Diddy is capable of coercing witnesses to comply with his demands.

They also voiced concerns that Diddy could consume drugs or throw his so-called "freak parties" if out on bail ... despite the rapper's promise he wouldn't have any female visitors.

Diddy is taking another swing at getting out on bail, and he's upping his offer to the court -- declaring he will forgo contact with almost all women while he's out.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Diddy's legal team says if he's released on bail, the security company that keeps a log of all visitors to his Miami Beach home, will hand over those logs to the government nightly in order to be fully transparent about who Diddy is contacting. They also say Diddy will limit all visitors to family, property caretakers and friends who are not co-conspirators in the federal indictment.

Specifically, they say Diddy will restrict female visitors ... with the only exceptions being family members or mothers of his children.

Boosie Badazz has come to Diddy's defense after the Bad Boy mogul was denied bail ... an expected outburst for him at this point -- but his reasoning may still surprise you!!!

Diddy was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and kidnapping, and pled not guilty -- but the way Boosie sees it, those "Freak Offs" have been twisted to demonize common celebrity behavior.

For what it's worth he also appears to frown upon the surveillance footage of Cassie's assault ... suggesting Diddy needs professional help.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are no longer together, but they're both making an active effort to spend quality time with their kids ... proving family is the most important priority.

The SKIMS mogul put on her mom hat Tuesday, sharing on social media a back-to-school photo of herself with all 4 of her kids -- North, 11; Saint, 8; Chicago, 6; and Psalm, 5.

Kim offered up a sweet smooch while she snapped a selfie with her kiddos ... some of whom looked more excited for school than others. Little Psalm sported his famous dad's signature scowl posing alongside his older siblings.

Diddy's feeling a severe reversal of fortune right now -- locked up in a federal jail that's held plenty of famous people, but is also about as far from the lap of luxury as the embattled mogul's been in at least 30 years.

On the heels of the judge ordering Diddy to be held without bail, the feds shipped him outta the Lower Manhattan federal courthouse and off to Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn ... a facility notorious for its brutal, sometimes fatal, conditions.

MDC Brooklyn's been the temporary home to several celeb inmates in recent years, including R. Kelly, Fetty Wap, Michael Cohen, Allison Mack and Ghislaine Maxwell. Now, Diddy will be settling into his new surroundings -- a horrifically stark difference from his Miami and L.A. mansion lifestyle.

Pharrell Williams has a message for celebs who publicly voice their political views -- shut the hell up!

The singer gave a wide-ranging interview to The Hollywood Reporter and, at one point, the convo turned to politics, which led to his criticism of his fellow artists.

Pharrell said he gets annoyed when certain celebs whose opinions he does not respect try to make people vote for a specific candidate.

Kid Cudi is back on his feet and in those New York streets with a new single featuring his longtime Cleveland bro Chip Tha Rapper ... a song that notably dropped on the cusp of Diddy's indictment.

On Tuesday, Cudi dropped his new "Don't Worry" and reflected on how he moved to New York to get his rap career off the ground ... and it worked!!!

Cudi directed the video and captures himself bouncin' and boppin' around without flinching -- a positive sign after the nasty tumble he took at Coachella back in April that caused him to shutter his tour.

2:51 PM PT -- Diddy's lawyer is determined to see the rap mogul out from behind bars. We caught up with Marc Agnifilo outside the courthouse in NYC Tuesday, where he vowed to "keep fighting" until Combs is a free man.

Though Diddy was denied bail in court Tuesday, his attorney is feeling confident heading into the bail appeal ... noting it will be a different judge for that hearing.

Watch the video ... Agnifilo reacted to Diddy's case being compared to other high profile sex crime cases, including R. Kelly's and Jeffrey Epstein's.

1:28 PM PT -- The judge just denied bail for Diddy, who will remain in custody.

Diddy's lawyer Marc Agnifilo spoke outside the courthouse after Diddy was denied bail. Agnifilo said they will continue to fight to get Diddy out of jail.  

Judge Robyn F. Tarnofsky told the court ... "I thank your family members for coming, but I cannot release him." Diddy's sons Christian and Justin were inside the courtroom at the time.

12:47 PM PT -- Diddy's attorney is taking on the narrative that the rap mogul isn't a brute and a bully ... seemingly hinting there's more to the story regarding the 2016 hotel hallway incident involving Combs and his then-girlfriend, Cassie.

Diddy's camp argued "victim one" was looking through his phone and discovered he had more than one girlfriend ... hitting the rapper in the head with a cell phone and taking off with his clothing -- which explains why he was in the hallway in a towel in the footage that surfaced back in May.

His lawyer claims Diddy and the unnamed victim, assumed to be Cassie, were very much in love ... until the woman in question cheated "for years" with the trainer the A-lister provided for her. We've reached out to Cassie's reps for comment.

Cassie notably married physical trainer Alex Fine in 2019. They share 2 children together.

Diddy's lawyer claims his client is "not a perfect person" ... though found himself in "toxic relationships," but claims they were mutual.

However, earlier in court, it was suggested that Diddy wrote a large check to an ex for 10 years ... it's unclear who received the payment and for what reason.

3:14 PM PT -- Cardi B is speaking out against the lawsuit, saying she's going to fight it in court.

Cardi just broke her silence on social media, saying in part ... "IRON YOUR BEST SUIT BITCH I'll see you in court!!!!"

Cardi B is denying she and Offset didn't pay to use the mansion, and she says she has receipts. She says she paid the homeowner $10,000 for 24-hour use of the home, and paid a realtor more when they went over time.

Cardi adds ... "And this is not the realtors fault…they been trying for months to settle this. Its them greedy owners wit their ugly ass house."

Cardi B and Offset might need to cough up some "Money" ... we've learned the estranged spouses have been sued for nonpayment for the mansion used in one of their music video projects.

In new court documents obtained by TMZ ... the owner of the property featured heavily in Cardi's "Like What" music video -- which Offset directed -- is alleging the twosome lied about their filming plans ... leading the homeowner to give them free use of the manse.

As the plaintiff put it in the docs ... Cardi, Offset and their team knew they'd have to shell out a chunk of change to film at the prestigious Beverly Hills residence for a music video ... so, instead, reps for the couple told the owner an unnamed client hoped to film a TikTok video at the home.

Cardi B isn't listening to critics as she faces backlash for hitting the gym a mere week after giving birth to her third child ... though, doctors tell us she might want to heed the warnings.

Here's the skinny ... the rapper took to Instagram Sunday, documenting herself on the StairMaster a little over a week after welcoming her third baby with Offset. This sparked a big reaction online ... with fans expressing concern for her well-being, while others slammed her for succumbing to "snap back" pressure.

Cardi made it clear she was tuning out the peanut gallery ... returning to the gym again Monday, pointing out she's only doing 30-minute sessions, and taking it slow. As Cardi put it, she's using cardio to help prevent postpartum depression, noting it's her third time going through this experience.

Sean "Diddy" Combs wants out of federal lockup really badly ... he's proposed a $50 million package to secure his release on bail until his trial begins.

Diddy's team filed the offer with the federal court, and it's an impressive offer in terms of the assets he's willing to lay on the line. According to the docs, Diddy says his mansion on Miami's Star Island would be offered up as collateral ... that's worth $48 million, and his mother's Miami home would cover the remaining $2 mil.

He's also willing to have his travel limited to Florida, NY and New Jersey. Presumably, he would live in Miami and travel to the NY area to face trial. Diddy says he's willing to wear a GPS monitor, so the feds can track his whereabouts.

8:50 AM PT -- The feds do not want Diddy to be allowed out on bail. U.S Attorney Damian Williams says his office believes he is a flight risk, and is also a danger to society ... as he's allegedly resorted to violence against multiple victims.

Prosecutors point to the fact Diddy, if convicted, is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years, and a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison ... as motive enough for him to potentially flee.

Williams broke down the indictment during Tuesday's news conference ... sharing photos of the AR-15s the feds say were seized during the raids at Diddy's homes in Beverly Hills and Miami. He says the guns were found in Diddy's bedroom closet in Miami.

Diddy's the only defendant charged in the indictment, but Williams says the investigation is ongoing and they are looking into all the people in Diddy's orbit for possible criminal charges.

Williams says Diddy did not act alone and needed a lot of help to set up the "Freak Off" parties. The feds say Diddy recorded the Freak Offs and they seized the footage in the raids.

The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York will hold a news conference at 11:30 AM ET to provide more details on the massive indictment of Sean "Diddy" Combs ... and TMZ will live stream the presser.

Damian Williams will speak about the indictment, which includes allegations of racketeering, sex trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution, narcotics offenses, kidnapping, arson, bribery and obstruction of justice.

Williams is also expected to address the "Freak Off" parties that are mentioned prominently in the indictment.

Chicago drill rapper Lil Reese is being accused of punching and strangling a woman said to be a former girlfriend inside a Texas nightclub last week -- and authorities are on the hunt for his whereabouts!!!

According to docs from the Houston Police Department, Lil Reese and the woman interacted inside The Pinkhouse fka Barbie Nightclub ... she was on her way out around 6:30 AM as he was on his way into the building.

The woman claims she and Reese ended their relationship a month ago ... after dating over a period of 2 months, and says she rejected him several times as he attempted to kiss her flirtatiously.

Rubi Rose's posts about Druski have been trending for hours but apparently it's hard to hear the noise when you're on vacay with a baddie!!!

Druski reposted Miami realtor Daniela Meneses' birthday shoutout to him and we're told he's been in Turks & Caicos these past few days and as you can see, they've been having plenty of fun-in-the-sun.

Cry him a river, build a bridge and get over it!!!

Druski is learning the hard way that his "ex" Rubi Rose didn't have the same POV about their "relationship" as he did -- and she's spilling the beans that everything you saw was a business transaction!!!

Rubi recently told her legion of followers that she's been sober and celibate for 2 months -- leaving that same legion to question her time with Druski, which she revealed to be a publicity stunt fully sponsored by the comedian.

Rubi rejected all lies on Tuesday with dry ice coldness ... "And for the record i never slept with that man, n**** paid for PR. Not the p**** ✌🏾"