Travis Scott Sued You Caused Stampede at Rolling Loud ... Cops Spoke to Him Backstage
3:57 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Travis Scott tells TMZ .... "This is another blatant, cynical attempt to attack Travis, in this instance for a 3-year-old incident that is deliberately misrepresented. As even the complaint makes clear, this incident was related to a false report of a shooting mid-show, completely unrelated to Travis’s performance. The video shows police were informing Travis that the show was stopped for that reason - because of the false report - and he fully cooperated."
They continue, "This cheap opportunism is based on a blatant lie that’s easy to detect. And it is particularly telling that this plaintiff’s lawyer didn’t even assert a claim against Travis when he originally filed the complaint on behalf of his client more than two years ago or in four prior VERSIONS of that complaint."
Travis Scott is being sued over another incident at a concert ... he's being blamed for inciting a stampede during one of his performances at Rolling Loud.
According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, police told Travis to stop his 2019 gig at Rolling Loud in Miami because the crowd was getting out of control, but Travis ignored cops and instead riled up his fans even more.
A woman who says she was injured at the concert, Marchelle Love, is suing Travis and others ... claiming multiple stampedes broke out during Travis' set, resulting in folks in the crowd suffocating, losing consciousness, fighting, and being trampled.
Love claims Travis was aware and could even see people were being hurt in the stampede and did nothing to stop it. She says he ignored multiple warnings from security and police about toning down his performance, leading to a stampede where her leg was shattered in the scrum.
In the docs, she says Travis should have known better ... not only because there were other stampedes at Rolling Loud the night before, but also because his shows had a history of getting out of hand.
As you know ... Travis is also facing a ton of lawsuits for the deadly Astroworld festival, where 10 people died.
We reached out to Travis' camp ... so far no word back.
Originally Published -- 1:38 PM PT
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Gunna Denied Bond ... Hearing Set for 2023!!!
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Gunna could be looking at a long time behind bars before his trial, a judge just denied the rapper bond and set his trial date for January 2023.
Gunna was in Fulton County Court in Georgia Monday where a judge ruled he be held without bond ... meaning it's possible he could sit in a cell for the next 6 months.
Prosecutors argued Gunna is one of the shot callers for the "YSL Gang" — the 28-member group that stands accused of being responsible for "50 murders" — and can command the troops to commit violence on demand.
According to Billboard reporter Jewel Wicker, Gunna's trial won't happen until January 2023. It's possible his legal team can try again for bond, but things are looking tough. He plead not guilty to all alleged involvement in the RICO charges.
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Young Thug was supposed to see the judge Monday as well, but that was postponed.
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Dave Chappelle Man Attacked Him Over LGBT Jokes ... Says He Was 'Triggered'
The man accused of tackling Dave Chappelle -- and who seems to be copping to it -- says he did what he did because he was "triggered" by DC's LGBT jokes ... which is an apparent change of tune.
23-year-old Isaiah Lee did an interview with the New York Post, and explained his reasoning for hopping up on the stage and attacking the comedian -- and wouldn't you know it ... he says he was, in fact, offended by Dave's material, and wanted him to know about it.
Lee is quoted as saying, "I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering." He adds, "I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect."
Dave is reported to have addressed his transgender controversy that night before Lee allegedly rushed the stage -- talking about how he didn't have a problem with trans people, until now ... when he says they took his 'Closer' content out of context and warped it.
Here's another element that apparently sent Lee over the edge ... jokes that Dave apparently made about homelessness, which Lee says personally hurt him -- as he himself had experienced it at a young age.
Lee says, "I’m also a single dad and my son is five. It’s a struggle and I wanted Dave Chappelle to know it’s not a joke." Plus, jokes earlier in the night (made by an opener, it seems) talking pedophilia rocked Lee as well. He says he was sexually abused as a minor.
On his gruesome injuries, Lee said ... "They spat on me and twisted me as if on purpose." He also acknowledged having the fake-gun-turned knife on him that night, adding Chappelle asked why he did it. Lee says ... "I told him my mother and grandmother, who fought for his civil rights to be able to speak, would be upset at the things he said."
All of this is a new and different twist on Lee's motives. As we reported, Chappelle has said Lee told him backstage -- before he was arrested -- that he'd rushed onstage to draw attention to his grandmother's plight in a gentrified neighborhood in Brooklyn.
To that, Chappelle allegedly replied ... "Now your story will die with you, son." Lee was recently hit with more serious, unrelated charges that could see him behind bars for years.
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Sophia Bush Alleged Stalker Arrested
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Sophia Bush definitely had a scary situation brewing at home ... because a woman who kept allegedly showing up at her place just got busted for stalking.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a 36-year-old woman named Jhoseplyn Coreaarguello was arrested last week at the former 'One Tree Hill' star's Los Angeles area home, where cops say the woman kept coming by uninvited. She was leaving gifts and flowers addressed to Sophia.
She also followed Bush to other locations. We're told Coreaarguello was showing up at various restaurants where Sophia was dining.
What pushed things over the legal line ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Coreaarguello was sending "aggressive Instagram messages."
We're told the Los Angeles City Attorney charged the woman with one count of misdemeanor stalking ... and she's facing up to one year in county jail if convicted.
The woman is still in custody on $50,000 bail ... and it's unclear when she will be released.
We reached out to Sophia's team ... so far no word back.
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Flavor Flav I'm Stepping Up and Paying Child Support ... But Still Owes Tens of Thousands
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Flavor Flav is making monthly child support payments for his 3-year-old son, but he's still got a pretty big balance owed to his baby mama.
According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Flav found out in 2019, shortly after little Jordan was born, that he was the dad, with the help of a DNA test.
Fast forward to 2021 ... Flav and the baby's mother, Kate Gammell -- his former manager -- were hashing out a child support agreement and agreed he would pay $3,000 a month going forward. No problem here .... Flav's been making the monthly payments.
Thing is ... by the time he started paying, Jordan was already 2 years old, and Kate had incurred various expenses, including medical, that she wanted Flav to pay. As part of the child support agreement, Flav said he would pay the baby's expenses for the first 2 years, totaling $78,704.
He was supposed to make his first payment of the $78k last month, but according to Kate's family, the deadline came and went and she didn't get the loot.
Flav tells TMZ ... he fully intends to pay the $78k, and is working with an accountant to straighten out his finances. Flav makes it clear ... he's making the $3,000 monthly child support payments. He's also paying down her $100,000 in attorney's fees -- he's paid $40k already.
FF adds ... he's doing his very best to provide for and be there for the son he loves.
We're told Flav has been with the boy at least 6 times and plans to continue to have a relationship with Jordan.
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Amber Heard's Attorney Elaine Bredehoft Gets Sympathy ... Tough Case, Alleged Tumult
Amber Heard might not be getting much of a shoulder to cry on from the public amid her trial with Johnny Depp -- but her legal team certainly is ... specifically, Elaine Bredehoft.
It's been a strained week for Team Heard ... at least that seems to be the general consensus online, with many noticing what appears to be obvious -- namely, that Ms. Bredehoft had a tough go during redirect after Camille Vasquez's laser-focused cross-examination of AH.
If you watched that on Tuesday (Amber's last day on the stand), you certainly saw the frustration as Vasquez constantly objected to questions Bredehoft asked ... and the judge sustaining a fair amount of them, almost to the point EB could barely get a word out.
In fact, Bredehoft seemed to acknowledge the difficulty in the moment ... apparently looking up into her thoughts/figuring out a way to ask something without objection. She literally said, "I'm trying, I'm trying" ... and in the end, didn't have too successful of a redirect.
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After Bredehoft wrapped redirect, Amber left the courtroom in a hurry ... this after the judge told her she could step down and rejoin her attorneys. Frankly, Amber seemed pissed.
There've also been rumors -- unconfirmed ones, mind you -- that AH and her team have gotten into squabbles and shouting matches in court when the camera wasn't rolling. No way of telling if that's true, but it would seem to lend to most people's belief that AH and co. are getting out lawyered throughout this trial ... and that it may be taking hold internally.
That leads us to the sympathy Elaine seems to have garnered by some ... folks on TikTok and elsewhere say she and the other Heard attorneys look down and out a lot of the times -- and a handful of apparent Depp supporters even say they feel for EB, suggesting she's got an uphill battle as well as a not-so-easy-to-defend client -- at least that's their read.
Of course, we're certain Elaine herself would fiercely disagree with that characterization -- and, more importantly ... it's up to the jury on who's got a leg up right now and who'll win.
While a good amount of folks might think Amber's testimony was so-so in firming up her defense -- others say the witnesses her team put on thereafter were way more effective in backing up her claim that Johnny was allegedly abusive/controlling amid their relationship.
JD's ex, Ellen Barkin, testified he once threw a wine bottle toward her and was jealous. Plus, other AH witnesses testified to seeing alleged injuries and/or actual beatdowns of Amber by Johnny first-hand ... and if the jury believes he struck her on even one occasion, he loses.
In other words, it's anyone's ball game at the moment ... despite Tuesday's outcome.
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'American Idol' Caleb Kennedy Out on Bond After Fatal DUI
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"American Idol" finalist Caleb Kennedy is getting sprung from jail, but he won't be free, as he awaits his fate in his deadly DUI case.
The singer has been locked up in South Carolina since February after he was arrested for felony DUI resulting in death. Cops say Kennedy drove his 2011 Ford pickup truck up someone's driveway, plowing through their garage and killing a man inside.
17-year-old Kennedy had previously been denied bond, but his attorney, Ryan Beasley, tells us he was granted bond at $50k Friday -- and will be held in home detention until his trial.
Beasley tells us Caleb is in good spirits, and hoping to have his day in court where he can prove the DUI was just a tragic accident caused by medication. He's expected to be released sometime today.
Caleb was one of 5 finalists on 'Idol' in 2020, but left the show after a video surfaced showing him seated next to someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan-like hood.
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Kim Kardashian I Got Bomb and Death Threats .... Runs to Court for Protective Order
Kim Kardashian says her life and the lives of her children are in danger, after receiving scores of letters that threaten their lives and one where the letter writer threatened to blow up her office with a bomb.
Kim's lawyer, Shawn Holley, beelined for court Monday to get a restraining order against David Resendiz, someone Kim says she's never even met. Kim says somehow Resendiz got her home and business addresses and began sending a slew of letters -- more than 80 -- threatening her and her 4 kids in various ways.
In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kim says Resendiz made numerous false and delusional claims about her intimate relationships. She says he's made "disturbing sexual references about me in his letters."
Kim says he's threatened in multiple letters to kill her. And, she says, on April 25, she received a written bomb threat in a letter delivered to one of her business offices. She says the letter is a dead ringer for the ones Resendiz previously sent.
Kim says she's scared for her safety and the safety of her family. She believes unchecked ... Resendiz could harm or even kill her.
Kim's asking a judge to keep Resendiz 100 yards away from her and her family and to have no other contact.
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Drug War Woman Caught Smuggling Fentanyl Pills in Vagina
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers in Texas are showing just how desperate some people are to hide drugs, catching a woman who allegedly smuggled fentanyl pills in her vagina.
According to CBP officers working at the Bridge of the Americas border crossing in El Paso, the woman, a 40-year-old American citizen, was intercepted earlier this month trying to smuggle fentanyl pills into the U.S. stuffed inside a condom, which she then hid inside her vaginal cavity.
The agents say a CBP canine alerted officers, who then conducted a pat-down search at the pedestrian crossing ... and officers say the woman then voluntarily removed a condom filled with fentanyl pills from her vaginal cavity.
It appears the actual pills were inside a custom container shaped to fit inside a vagina ... and that container was then wrapped in a condom.
You might be wondering, just how much fentanyl could one woman shove up there ... well, in this case at least, CBP says they recovered 0.006 pounds of the powerful drug.
The bust was one of 25 arrests over the past week at ports of entry in El Paso, which borders Ciudad Juarez in Mexico.
The woman gets an A+ for creativity but an F for execution.
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Red Power Ranger Actor Austin St. John Arrested for COVID Fraud ... Massive FBI Raid, Guns Drawn
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12:00 PM PT -- A statement was posted on Austin St. John's Instagram, saying he's a "father, husband, role model and friend to many. The indictment detailed today is populated by a multitude of individuals - the majority of which Austin has no knowledge of, and has never met or interacted with."
"It is our understanding that Austin put his faith, reputation and finances in the hands of third parties whose goals were self-centered and ultimately manipulated and betrayed his trust."
"We expect Austin's legal team to successfully defend against these charges and lead to his ultimate exoneration. We ask that you respect the privacy of Austin's family in light of this serious situation, and thank you for your support."
Austin St. John, the actor who played the Red Power Ranger in the 90s TV series, has had his house raided by the feds and he's now under arrest in a massive federal criminal case.
One of St. John's neighbors tells TMZ ... approximately 15 FBI agents in tactical gear rolled up to St. John's home Thursday at 7 AM in Tahoe Suburbans in an upscale neighborhood in McKinney, Texas ... brandishing what looked like AR-15s as they approached his porch.
They entered the home and when they came out they had a plus 1 -- St. John in handcuffs.
Turns out there was a massive federal indictment involving 18 people who have now been charged with fraud. The indictment alleges St. John was part of a scheme to defraud the Small Business Administration's Paycheck Protection Program ... that's the program designed to help small businesses affected by COVID.
St. John allegedly got 16 loans, totaling $3.5 million, which he used for personal purchases and not for the intended purpose. Even if it was used for the intended purpose, the feds claim it was obtained fraudulently.
St. John played Jason Lee Scott in the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," which launched his career in 1993. He left the show in its second season but came back from time to time.
BTW ... there are other Power Rangers who got in a legal mess ... Ricardo Medina Jr., who starred in "Power Rangers Wild Force," was convicted of manslaughter in 2017 and sentenced to 6 years for stabbing his roommate with a sword.
As for St. John, if convicted he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Originally Published -- 6:22 AM PT
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Len Wiseman Man Posing As Food Delivery Guy Used My Jacuzzi!!!
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Famed filmmaker Len Wiseman is getting court-ordered protection from a man he claims keeps showing up to his home, even once posing as a delivery man and using his outdoor spa.
Kate Beckinsale's ex-husband beelined it to court this week and got a temporary restraining order against a 29-year-old man named Jose Lamas, whom Len claims is getting way too comfortable popping up on his property without an invitation.
According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Len claims Lamas recently showed up unannounced at his Laurel Canyon estate, buzzing the front gate and posing as a Postmates delivery man.
Len says when he told the guy over the intercom to scram, Lamas walked around the property and opened a side gate to the backyard, tried to get inside the home and then stripped down to his boxers and got in the jacuzzi.
Len says the guy stayed in the hot tub for 45 minutes ... leaving only when cops showed up and arrested him.
It sounds crazy ... Len says there's surveillance showing Lamas at his house the day before the spa incident ... adding Lamas has been sending him threats on social media.
Among the alleged messages Lamas sent Len on Instagram ... "you are a stupid a** piece of f****** s***" and "come and get some, I will beat you to a pulp."
Len says the guy even reached out to him a couple days after the jacuzzi incident, sending him this message ... "I am sorry to bother you. I am a stone cold loser and I swear I will never bother you again."
But, Len says Lamas did bother him again ... claiming the guy showed up at his home a third time, rattling the front gate and again trying to gain entry.
Len says when cops arrested Lamas for the jacuzzi romp, the guy told officers he was Len's father and he played basketball for the Lakers.
Len says he now fears for his safety ... and a judge signed off on a temporary restraining order, requiring Lamas to stay at least 100 yards away from him and to refrain from contacting Len in any way. There's a hearing set for next month.
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Dave Chappelle Attacker Allegedly Stabbed Roommate ... Hit with Attempted Murder Charge
Attacking Dave Chappelle at the Hollywood Bowl is opening an even bigger can of worms for Isaiah Lee, who's now facing attempted murder charges ... for a separate incident.
The L.A. County D.A.'s Office says Lee stabbed his roommate back in December ... which flew under the radar until Lee made international headlines when he tried to tackle Chappelle earlier this month.
District Attorney George Gascón says, "The publicity generated by the attack on Mr. Chappelle helped police solve this crime."
According to the D.A., Lee stabbed his roommate at a transitional housing apartment -- but the victim wasn't able to identify Lee as his attacker until he saw him in the media reports about the Chappelle incident. The victim had previously reported the attack to cops.
As we reported, the D.A. got a lot of criticism for refusing to charge Lee with a felony for what went down at the Bowl -- the L.A. City Attorney ultimately charged him with 4 misdemeanors.
Well, Lee's now facing a felony after all, and on Thursday he pleaded not guilty to the attempted murder charge.
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Bronx Zoo Elephant in Legal Battle ... Treat This Animal as a Human and Free Her!!!
There's an incredible case before the highest court in New York ... a case in which an animal rights org has filed legal docs asking the judges to give an elephant at the Bronx Zoo the same rights as a person ... to sue over illegal confinement in order to gain freedom.
The elephant in the room -- or in this case the Zoo -- is Happy, who was captured in Asia back in the '70s when she was 1-year old.
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A group called the Nonhuman Rights Project has filed a writ of habeas corpus -- a legal move to get the animal out of confinement -- claiming Happy has effectively been imprisoned by the Zoo in a 1-acre facility. The group wants Happy removed from the facility and taken to a more spacious sanctuary.
The NRP claims Happy should be treated as a person in the legal system, arguing the animal is cognitively complex and autonomous ... worthy of protections afforded humans.
The org claims Happy is the first elephant to pass a self-awareness test ... she consistently touched a white "X" on her forehead as she looked in a mirror.
The New York Court of Appeals heard oral arguments yesterday, and the lawyer for the Zoo argued Happy is indeed happy, swimming, foraging and doing stuff elephants like to do.
At least one of the judges was skeptical, asking the lawyer for NRG, "So, does that mean that I couldn't keep a dog? I mean dogs can memorize words." The NRG lawyer shot back, elephants are way more cognitively complex than pooches.
If NRG is successful, it could literally open the gates of zoos in New York and possibly other states ... at least for the smartest animals in such facilities.
Fascinating.
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CA Shooting Kids Run in Fear During Playground Shooting ... Davante Adams' Cousin Killed
A horrifying and heartbreaking video has surfaced of a kid's game of tag interrupted by gunfire which killed a man near a California playground.
The clip starts with two young kids going back and forth and then gunshots ring out, sending the kids running for their lives. In the video, you can hear parents screaming and a little girl yelling for help as she fights back tears.
Cops say more than 33 shots were fired in the exchange between the two groups in a Palo Alto neighborhood on Tuesday. 3 people were injured and 1 killed. It does not appear any kids were hurt.
In a press conference Tuesday, Police Chief Jeff Liu, said, "Shooting and violence, especially at our parks with kids playing is completely unacceptable. We need to come together as a community and send a message that this type of activity will not be tolerated."
TMZ Sports has confirmed the man killed in the shooting was Ralph Fields Jr., the cousin of Las Vegas Raider star Davante Adams ... and that no arrests have been made.
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Martin Shkreli Released from Prison Early ... To Community Confinement
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Martin Shkreli is a free man (sorta) -- the guy's been released from prison ... and relatively early considering the length of his original sentence.
The one-time pharmaceutical exec and hedge fund manager -- who was convicted on securities fraud charges back in 2017 -- was sprung from FCI Allenwood Low in Pennsylvania Wednesday ... and will now be transferred to community confinement through the Bureau of Prisons' NY Residential Reentry Management Office.
He was initially sentenced to 7 years in prison after being found guilty on 3 of 8 federal charges pertaining to his reign at the pharmaceutical company Retrophin.
Shkreli was quick to celebrate -- posting a photo of himself on Facebook with the caption, "Getting out of real prison is easier than getting out of Twitter prison."
He seems to be rocking prison wear -- all-gray sweatsuit -- and may have even gotten a ride by some rando. A dude named Edmund Sullivan posted pics with MS, writing ... "Picked up this guy hitchhiking. Says he's famous." Might be a joke, who knows?
Picked up this guy hitchhiking. Says he’s famous. pic.twitter.com/7XrQaII7lq
— Edmund Sullivan (@edmundsullivan) May 18, 2022 @edmundsullivan
Shkreli's lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, says his client will now be living in a halfway house. Brafman adds his client has completed various programs while behind bars to facilitate his early release from prison. He says Shkreli will make no further comment at this time.
You'll recall, MS actually asked to be released early during the pandemic -- but got shot down at the time. Who knew ... all he had to do was wait a couple years, and wish granted.
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Johnny Depp's Attorney Camille Mum on Dating Speculation
Camille Vasquez is staying tight-lipped about speculation that she and her client, Johnny Depp, might be a thing -- but the answer is already out there.
The actor's hotshot attorney was leaving court in Virginia Tuesday with the rest of the team, head up and looking proud of the intense cross-examination of Amber Heard they'd just put on for most of the day ... particularly Camille, who was leading the charge.
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A pap was outside and asked what a lot of people have suspected the past several weeks -- namely, the notion she and JD could, perhaps, be dating.
Watch ... she doesn't offer much of an audible response, but her body language is kinda telling -- a nod/smile, it seems. What it's communicating, though, is up for interpretation we suppose ... but, frankly, we already know what's behind curtain #1 on this non-issue.
As we first told you ... Camille and Johnny are not dating, despite all the innuendo and shipping going on among fans ... of which there is a lot, especially online.
For what it's worth ... Amber's shown her attorney some affection as well, but there's no online buzz about anything going on over there.
As for Johnny and Camille, fans have circulated material on TikTok and other social media platforms believing something was up -- but we've been assured ... it's much ado about nothing. Camille's actually taken, so no ... there's no fire in this smokescreen.