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R. Kelly's legal team is digging deep into the mystery of who dropped an unauthorized album using his name and recordings, and his attorney says they've already got their sights set on a few possible suspects.

R. Kelly's criminal defense attorney, Jennifer Bonjean, tells TMZ the disgraced singer's lawyers, entertainment attorneys and trusted friends are all trying to get to the bottom of who currently has access to his music catalog. She says they have a small group of people who they've ID'd as culprits ... but notes a potential problem could be his material changing hands.

Bonjean says she spoke with R. Kelly Friday afternoon -- he was surprised and upset about the music's release without his permission.

Bonjean tells us stuff like this has been a reoccurring issue for R. Kelly ... claiming a bunch of studio equipment, computers and masters were taken shortly after his 2019 arrest. She says there's also been an issue with his calls and emails being stolen from prison.

As we reported, an album called "I Admit It," featuring a bunch of R. Kelly's SoundCloud tracks, silently made its way to major streaming platforms Friday but was quickly removed. A source at Sony Music told us it appeared to be a bootleg version.

Johnny Knoxville is known for his elaborate pranks, but his latest may have gone too far ... resulting in a lawsuit from a guy who says it caused him emotional distress.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the 'Jackass' star is being sued by Khalil Khan over a home prank. Khan says he was hired to do a routine repair job through TaskRabbit but ended up getting way more than he bargained for.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Khan says was hired to a home to repair an electric dimmer switch. He claims the owner of the house was an actor in on the prank.

Khan claims within moments of starting the work, a lamp went out and a girl about the age of 10 -- who was also apparently an actor -- accused him of killing her pony because it was on life support and died when the electricity went out.

At one point, Khan says he was led into a room where there appeared to be an actual pony. He says things got worse when he saw his car getting towed. Khan claims when he started to call the cops, one of the men who'd taken his car said he'd get in trouble for having cocaine in it ... and he says the guy even pulled out a bag of white powder. Khan says he was horrified and denied knowing anything about it.

He says Johnny, who is known for pulling stunts, eventually let Khalil in on the prank ... expressing that it was all done in good fun, offering him money for his participation.

Jesse James' pregnant wife is persona non grata at the couple's former home ... at least according to Jesse, who wants a judge to block her from being allowed inside the residence.

Jesse filed his response to Bonnie Rotten's divorce petition, asking the judge permission to stay in his Austin, TX home and prevent Bonnie from entering ... at least while the divorce proceedings are ongoing.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Jesse is also seeking the exclusive use and possession of any cars and motor vehicles that he owns.

As we've reported, Bonnie filed for divorce from Jesse earlier this week, but called things off just a day later, telling her followers she jumped the gun by putting Jesse on blast for allegedly cheating on her.

Courtney Clenney, the OnlyFans model accused of murdering her boyfriend, has been denied bond ... mostly because the court doesn't buy her claim that she killed him in self-defense.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a Florida judge isn't allowing Clenney to be released on bond while she awaits trial -- saying her description of how her BF, Christian Obumseli, got his fatal stab wound "is not supported by the evidence."

Specifically, the judge didn't buy Clenney's claim that she threw a knife at Obumseli from more than 10 feet away ... noting the medical examiner's testimony indicated the wound was too deep and required more pressure than could have been applied from throwing the blade.

The judge also ruled that releasing Clenney was not warranted because there are worries Clenney could leave the country ... noting she's got a ton of cash to do so if she wanted.

Cops in Idaho want to speak with whoever was driving or a passenger in a white Hyundai Elantra that may have been in the neighborhood on the night 4 college students were killed.

Moscow PD says they've received tips about a vehicle that matches this description -- the model year being between 2011 and 2013 -- near the crime scene in the early morning hours of November 13. They have not released a license plate number.

Investigators are also unsure how many people may have been inside the car, but in any case, they say they're seeking them out -- as they feel they might have more info.

Cops are not saying whether they suspect the occupant(s) of the vehicle is directly involved in the murders -- but it feels like a solid lead after weeks of dead ends, with no one in custody.

As we reported ... frustrations have mounted in the community after many conflicting and retracted statements from law enforcement. At first, it was labeled a targeted attack against the victims, then saying it was maybe just the house was targeted ... later correcting that too and saying they just didn't know.

Cops have also ruled out an alleged stalker of one of the victims as a possible lead -- and don't seem to have moved much further beyond square one in terms of answers.

"Fixer Upper" stars Joanna and Chip Gaines are being taken to court by their former literary agent who claims the couple tried to back out of paying a set fee for their massive book deal after signing with someone else.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Joanna and Chip were repped by Vigliano Associates when they inked a massive $12.5 million deal back in 2017 to crank out 5 books for HarperCollins.

Vigliano says it was set to get a 7.5% cut of any payments to the couple and claims everything went fine for the first 2 books ... but Vigliano says the couple then "concocted a scheme" to back out payments for the last 3 books by trying to amend the deal.

The docs say the couple tried to eliminate one of the books and, as for the other two, Vigliano says they tried to swap out Joanna and make Chip the author for one of the remaining books.

Vigliano claims the original deal only applied to Joanna-authored books, so the move essentially took the book deal from 5 books down to 3 ... and, as a result, meant much less pay for Vigliano.

What's worse, the docs claim Joanna inked a deal with a different agent instead ... and now Vigliano says the money made from her new book, "The Stories We Tell: Every Piece of Your Story Matters," should be going to its company instead -- and now Vigliano is looking for at least $1 million in damages over it.

A man has been arrested in connection to the brutal baseball bat attack in NYC last week -- and cops say it appears to be totally random ... because the suspect and victim were total strangers.

36-year-old Karim Azizi was hauled in by the NYPD Wednesday morning on three different charges -- assault, attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon. Of course, Azizi is the man cops suspect was behind the brutal attack that was captured on camera.

Law enforcement sources tell us the perp and victim were total strangers, and that the beating seems to have come out of nowhere, despite some believing it may have been targeted at first. A warrant squad, we're told, picked Azizi up at his Hamilton Heights home.

Our sources also say ... the video of the incident assisted in capturing him.

As we reported ... the victim was walking on the sidewalk minding their own business, when suddenly -- the attacker pulls a bat out and hits the victim in the back of the head.

The CFO for an NYC hotspot -- frequented by celebs -- was caught serving up rage to an employee she's accusing of stealing and selling recipes to a competitor, and we have audio of her brutally racist rant.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Naomi Ram of Jue Lan Club called staffer Jose Luis Toxqui and another employee into a back office in August. From there, she not only accused them of giving out free drinks from the bar, but also accused Jose and his girlfriend -- who works at competitor restaurant Sei Less -- of stealing Jue Lan's recipes.

The verbal tirade is stunning, Ram announces, "Somebody is going to f***ing go to jail tonight ... I will f*** your ass up in f***ing immigration. I will f*** you the f*** up."

Toxqui, who is Mexican, remains mostly silent throughout Ram's attack, as she also accuses him of giving out free drinks at the bar, before asking, "You ever been sent to ICE motherf***er?"

We've split the entire audio into 2 clips ... but in the one above, Ram really ramps things up, yelling, "I will make sure you never step foot back in this country."

She then delivers her most vicious attack, saying, "You little f****ing Mexican illegal pieces of s*** like you, shouldn't f*** with people who f***ing have money and f***ing who know f***ing s***!"

After this exchange, Toxqui ended up filing a police report against Naomi for harassment, and he told NYPD he hadn't stolen anything from her or the restaurant.

According to Page Six, Toxqui sued Ram for assault, battery and unpaid wages in September. During at least one part of the audio, it does sound like Ram might have physically assaulted Toxqui.

The dispute is scheduled to go to mediation in January.

When Page Six wrote about the dispute -- without the audio -- an attorney for Ram said, "Neither our office nor our clients have been provided with the purported audio recording, nor have we had the opportunity to listen to or verify it, and so we cannot comment on it. However, we intend to vigorously defend the litigation in the appropriate forum and not through the press.”

Dozens of Taylor Swift fans, and one angry lawyer/Swiftee, want Ticketmaster to stand trial for allegedly screwing them outta tickets ... and right now at least, they're not interested in settling.

Attorney Jennifer Kinder filed the lawsuit last week against Ticketmaster, and she joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live," and explained why she's not buying the company's claim that the presale event problems were simply a supply and demand issue.

Jennifer says it really comes down to simple math, and it should have been clear to Ticketmaster things were gonna go south when it gave out way more presale codes than there were seats available for Taylor's 'Eras' tour dates.

TMZ broke the story ... the fans are alleging Ticketmaster essentially got into bed with scalpers by allowing bots to block real fans from getting tickets -- and the reason comes down to money. They claim Ticketmaster benefits financially when scalpers resell tickets.

Jennifer tells us the lawsuit's gotten the attention of disappointed Swiftees all around the country ... and she'll be adding more plaintiffs beyond the original 26 who sued.

You'll recall, chaos broke out during the November 15 presale event. Tons of fans were left in limbo, as they tried to snag tickets and most of them never lucked up. Taylor has called out Ticketmaster over the issue ... and even the Tennessee Attorney General and the Justice Department opened an investigation.

Jesse James' wife Bonnie Rotten has changed her mind yet again, this time deciding she wants to file for divorce, only hours after announcing she was going to try to make things work with Jesse.

Bonnie filed for divorce Tuesday in Texas ... just one day after calling off her first filing -- and after she'd moved back in with Jesse.

You'll recall, the mommy-to-be took to Instagram Monday after it was reported she filed to divorce the mechanic. She backtracked on the move ... telling her followers, she jumped the gun by putting Jesse on blast for believing he was cheating on her.

She wrote, "The past week has been a pretty terrible week on all accounts ... I mistakenly posted my private business between my husband and I on social media."

She continued, "I love Jesse so much and was very hurt by what I saw when I went through his phone" ... saying she's working out the marriage "I believe in."

Well, now it seems she's no longer a believer.

Kevin McKidd's wife wants to officially close the book on their relationship as husband and wife ... because she just filed for divorce.

Arielle McKidd filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, seeking to end the couple's 5-year marriage ... citing irreconcilable differences. She's asking for joint physical and legal custody of their two young children, Aiden and Nava, and wants to hash out splitting up assets and the like in mediation.

One other thing ... Arielle is also asking the court to restore her original surname, Goldrath.

She says they got hitched in 2017, but the date of separation is listed as "TBD." Kevin announced they were splitting up earlier this summer, around early July.

At the time, he wrote ... "I don’t often share my personal life on social media, but today there is something I do want to share with you. A few months ago, Arielle and I decided to end the marriage portion of our relationship. We reached this conclusion after much soul searching and discussion. We know it’s what is right for both of us."

KMD had some kind words for his estranged spouse, adding ... "Arielle is an incredible mother to Aiden and Nava. She’s one of the wisest, most intelligent and loving people I’ve ever known. We continue to have the highest love and respect for each other."

A woman apparently wasn't taking any crap from a police department in Texas, she was allegedly dropping it off ... in buckets.

46-year-old Mindy Stephens, the wife of an assistant fire chief, is allegedly the stinky delivery woman in question ... according to KAXN, she pulled up in front of the Electra Police Department last month and made the drop-off.

Cops say an officer went out front to investigate, and found 3 5-gallon buckets -- weighing a total of 50 pounds -- filled with what appeared to be feces. He also observed Stephens in a hazmat suit walking towards an SUV with a trailer attached.

The officer reportedly asked her what she was doing ... and she allegedly told the cop she was dropping off the buckets of "human s***," and then drove off. A Lieutenant reportedly reviewed security footage and recognized Stephens' voice as the suspect.

Police say they contacted city officials about the issue, and said they'd call Stephens about picking the buckets up, but she allegedly refused -- telling officials it wasn't her problem.

Stephens was then charged with illegal dumping -- a Class B misdemeanor ... as well as a violation of the Texas health safety code. She was booked last week and was released the following day, after posting her $2K bond.

Believe it or not, this isn't Stephens' first run-in with the law, she reportedly got charged with aggravated assault back in 2020 after allegedly puncturing a man's hand and arm with a set of keys.

Bill Cosby is facing a new lawsuit from 5 women -- most of whom were involved with "The Cosby Show" -- who claim he sexually assaulted them.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ ... the women claim the disgraced actor/comedian masqueraded as their mentor as they tried to break into show biz in the '80s and '90s, but instead he turned into a predator.

Plaintiffs Lili Bernard, Eden Tirl, Jewel Gittens, Jennifer Thompson and Cindra Ladd say Cosby was able to take advantage of them because they were young and vulnerable.

Lili guest starred as Mrs. Minifield in a 1992 'Cosby Show' episode ... and in the lawsuit, she says Cosby drugged and assaulted her several times -- including one time when she woke up during the rape to find him trying to smother her with a pillow.

According to the suit, she threatened to go to the police, and Cosby threw her down a flight of stairs and kicked her out, warning he would destroy her. She says she didn't report the alleged crimes out of fear for her life.

Eden Tirl -- who had a bit role as a cop on 'Cosby' -- alleges she was "escorted" by one of the employees on set to Cosby's dressing room, where he locked the door, grabbed her breasts, kissed her neck and pressed his penis into her back while whispering, "This is making love."

In the suit, Gittens says Cosby drugged and assaulted her at his home while they discussed a possible role for her on the show -- Thompson claims he forced her to masturbate him ... and Ladd alleges he raped her after giving her a pill for a headache that made her pass out.

As we reported, Cosby has been accused of rape by dozens of women over the years -- allegations that he denies. In 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in a Pennsylvania prison for indecent assault -- but, he was released last year because prosecutors had violated an immunity deal Cosby had been given by a previous district attorney.

Earlier this year, he was found liable by a California jury in a civil case of sexually abusing a teenage girl in 1975.

Kim Kardashian just got some much-needed protection against a scary individual who not only showed up at her home multiple times ... but also claimed to be armed.

Kim's legal team was in court Monday when she was awarded a restraining order against Andre Persaud ... the ruling means Persaud is prohibited from contacting Kim and must stay at least 100 yards away from her. It'll last for the next 5 years.

According to legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- Persaud showed up at her home at least 3 times back in August, she says she's never met the guy, and was worried he might escalate things to physical violence ... especially given the fact Persaud allegedly claimed to be armed.

If showing up at her home wasn't scary enough -- Persaud also allegedly posted about Kim on social media, and in one particular instance Kim says he, "claimed that I had been communicating with him telepathically."

Jesse James' wife Bonnie Rotten is apparently willing to give her marriage another shot ... because she's pulling the plug on their divorce just a day after filing.

Bonnie took to social media Monday, putting up a lengthy post about her decision ... saying, "The past week has been a pretty terrible week on all accounts" -- saying she made the mistake of posting her "private business" about Jesse online.

For those unaware, Bonnie's referring to her putting Jesse on blast for believing he was cheating on her -- and soon after, it was reported she filed to divorce the mechanic.

She confirms she did file, but says "the next day I filed a non suit to stop the divorce."

Bonnie continues, "I love Jesse so much and was very hurt by what I saw when I went through his phone" ... saying she's working out the marriage "I believe in."

The mother of Todd and Julie Chrisley's granddaughter is vowing to get her daughter back ... and the path could be clear now that Todd and Julie are headed for prison.

Angela Johnson, the mother of 10-year-old Chloe, tells TMZ ... she's in the process of getting the gears turning to regain full custody of her daughter. Todd currently has full custody of Chloe.

She says she's been working with a legal team for years to get Chloe back, but concedes it's been super tough to gain traction. Chloe and the Chrisleys lived in Atlanta before the Chrisleys moved to Tennessee. Angela, who currently lives in South Carolina, tells us all the moves have created a jurisdictional nightmare in her custody battle.

Angela had Chloe with Kyle, Todd & Julie's son, back in 2012. Kyle lost custody in 2016 because of his drug addiction, leaving Angela to share custody with Todd.

Angela was arrested that same year for allegedly filing a false application for Medicaid assistance ... leaving Todd with sole custody.

Angela has copped a plea to put the case behind her ... and now she wants her daughter back. Something's gotta give, since Todd was just sentenced to 12 years in prison for bank fraud and tax evasion.

As we reported, Savannah Chrisley vowed last month she'd be getting custody of Chloe once her parents are locked up, but clearly Angela is not down with that.

Stay tuned ...