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Lil Wayne fired his personal chef at the drop of a hat, this after she ditched him in Vegas to deal with a pressing family emergency ... so claims the woman in a new lawsuit.

Morghan Medlock just filed suit against Weezy for what she claims is wrongful termination, retaliation and a number of unlawful practices that she says she was subjected to when he canned her earlier this year ... just because she went to go help her injured son.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Medlock describes a trip to Vegas she tagged along for during Memorial Day weekend -- for which she says she was doing her job (AKA, cooking all LW's meals, etc). At this point, Medlock says she'd had the gig almost 2 years.

Things were going swimmingly, that is ... until Medlock says she was notified of a head injury her 10-year-old had sustained that left him hospitalized. Obviously, Medlock wanted to get back to L.A. ASAP -- but claims Wayne and co. were screwing up the flight back over shenanigans ... namely, that Weezy allegedly delayed things by toking up on the aircraft.

Instead of standing around and waiting for them to get their act together, Medlock says she hightailed it out of there on a separate flight -- notifying Wayne's assistant of the situation and assuming they'd understand. Instead, she claims she was terminated.

Medlock says after she left, Wayne's team kept asking her if she was quitting -- to which she says she clearly responded, "No." After her son was dealt with, Medlock says she tried getting back into the swing of things as head chef -- but claims she got the cold shoulder.

Eventually, Medlock claims somebody on Wayne's team texted her an ungraceful goodbye message, and she was later formally told she was being let go ... with a message from Wayne saying, "tell Chef Morghan this isn't going to work" -- or so she claims in the suit.

San Jose police have made an arrest months after a teenage boy took his life -- this after being extorted for money when he sent a nude photo to someone he thought was a teen girl.

SJPD announced Monday 25-year-old Jonathan Kassi was taken into custody in Los Angeles to face charges of extortion and attempted disorderly conduct ... related to posting a photograph or recording without consent.

The cops are saying Kassi is connected to the death of 17-year-old Ryan Last -- who died by suicide in May when someone he'd been chatting with online demanded he send them $5,000 upon receiving an intimate picture they'd solicited from him or else the pics would go public.

Ryan apparently believed he was communicating with a girl his age -- and when a photo was sent to him that person asked for a similar naked photo in return, which he sent.

Once the fraudster got the photo of Ryan ... he demanded money on the threat of releasing the picture publicly among his friends and family members. Ryan didn't have anywhere near $5,000 but he did pay $150. It was at this point Ryan panicked and died by suicide.

Amid their investigation -- which ended up including the FBI -- law enforcement said they believed this was happening on a larger scale ... where crooks from overseas were tricking young people into sending compromising material, and then extorting them for quick cash.

The San Jose Crimes Against Children Task Force said they were looking into possible ties to a West African financial extortion scheme ... which could also connect to Southeast Asia.

The cops, thus far, have stopped short of explicitly connecting Kassi to any greater criminal enterprise -- but we're sure more info is due to be released as the process plays out. They're saying they suspect Kassi might've victimized other minors as well through multiple profiles.

The same day Kassi was arrested, the FBI and Dept. of Homeland Security issued a PSA about this phenomenon -- saying it was happening all across the country (mostly to boys) and that it had resulted in more than a dozen suicides. Scary stuff, to say the least.

An apparently unhoused man is in police custody after an hours-long standoff sparked by the guy boldly taking over a woman's home while armed with a sword.

The scary intrusion went down Monday in Venice, CA, where resident Marcia Davalos told KCAL9 she arrived home to find the man already chilling inside, and claiming it was really his. Aside from trashing her place, he slammed the door in her face and locked her out.

What's more, the man reportedly had a knife and a massive sword ... which resulted in a huge LAPD response, swarming the block with the SWAT team and even sending in a robot to check out the situation.

After a 4-hour-long standoff, police used tear gas to force the man out of the home ... and, bizarrely, he emerged wrapped in a bath towel!

The guy had made himself so at home, he was taking a shower when cops decided his time was up.

Trey Songz has voluntarily turned himself in to NYC cops after allegedly punching 2 people a couple of months back ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... TS was busted at the end of November for the alleged incident. We're told he's accused of striking 2 people in the face while they were all at a bowling alley back in October, and one of the alleged victims was hospitalized.

Trey turned himself in at an NYPD station a few weeks later, and we're told he was booked, given a desk appearance ticket for assault and released.

As we'd previously reported, Trey allegedly punched a woman in the face while inside a bowling alley bathroom. The new info is there's a second alleged victim, a guy who claims Trey punched him in the eye. We're told he refused medical treatment.

Still no word on a motive for the alleged beatdown.

After several weeks, a verdict has been reached in Harvey Weinstein's 2nd sexual assault case -- the disgraced movie mogul was found guilty on 3 of 7 charges.

The verdict was just read in Los Angeles, a jury found Weinstein guilty of all charges related to Jane Doe 1 -- forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration by a foreign object. The jury was hung on the counts related to Jane Doe 2 and 4, which were sexual battery by restraint, forcible oral copulation and forcible rape.

He was found not guilty of a sexual battery by restraint charge from Jane Doe 3.

Weinstein's rep, Juda Engelmayer, tells TMZ, "Harvey is obviously disappointed in the verdict ... however, the accounts of Jane Doe 1 have a high likelihood of an appeal with positive results -- her logistics of the time and location of the incident do not make sense. Harvey is grateful for the jury's work on the other counts and he's going to continue his legal fight."

As you know, the disgraced film producer was originally facing 11 charges, including rape and sexual assault in California involving 5 women ... but 4 of the charges connected to one of the unknown accusers were dropped as the trial was underway.

He entered a not-guilty plea in 2021 while appearing in court -- something he was expected to do based on how he'd pled in the past.

This verdict comes after weeks of testimony from several witnesses over the years ... including CA Governor Gavin Newson's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. As we reported, she shockingly was asked in court to recreate how she faked an orgasm with Weinstein.

She fired back when asked, saying "This is not 'When Harry Met Sally.' I'm not doing that." She then broke into tears, saying, "I was making noises to get him to finish. He had already raped me. This is so gross."

Megan Thee Stallion's bodyguard remains off the grid -- after skipping his scheduled testimony -- but the L.A. County D.A.'s Office now has cops out on the hunt for him ... TMZ has learned.

As we reported, Justin Edison was supposed to testify Friday in the Tory Lanez trial for allegedly shooting MTS, but he never showed up. His "disappearance" raised a lot of eyebrows, and law enforcement sources tell us ... investigators paid a visit to an L.A. home Monday morning, hoping to find Justin.

We're told the investigators' goal was to find out what Justin's availability would be for testifying, as he was supposed to last week. Unfortunately, they did not locate him, and still have no clue on his whereabouts.

Our sources also say Justin still is not considered a "missing" person ... nor has anyone even reported him as missing.

Megan's attorney Alex Spiro told us Monday on "TMZ Live" ... Meg's team was last in touch with Justin on Thursday night, when they fully expected he would be in court Friday for testimony they felt would be devastating to Tory's case.

Spiro believes there's witness intimidation going on in Tory's trial, and he claims prosecutors have launched an investigation into that.

Donald Trump broke the law during the attack on the U.S. Capitol -- so says the Jan. 6 congressional committee ... which is now asking the Department of Justice to prosecute.

The House select committee made criminal referrals to federal prosecutors Monday, suggesting they've found evidence of criminality throughout their months-long hearings ... and are now pointing out specific crimes they feel the DOJ could pursue, if they're inclined.

The charges they feel are warranted here ... obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to make a false statement, conspiracy to defraud the United States and straight-up insurrection. If the DOJ were to prosecute (and if Trump was convicted of all this) ... he could face up to 35 years in prison.

Of course, Congress's recommendation to the Justice Dept. is simply that ... a proposal, which is largely symbolic in this case -- and may not really amount to much big picture.

Fact is ... the DOJ is already running its own investigation into Trump on multiple fronts, including for his involvement on Jan. 6 -- for which they've already appointed a special counsel. Their probe(s) have been running parallel to the congressional hearings for a while, and they've been keeping tabs on the proceedings. It's unclear if they've become aware of any major new bombshells against Trump that they weren't already aware of.

With that said ... the fact Congress is officially looking to have a former Prez prosecuted -- even if it is out of their hands -- is a major statement ... as it's never been done before.

Whether Trump ends up being personally charged/prosecuted for any alleged wrongdoing -- and there's a lot he's been accused of lately -- remains to be seen, especially since he's running for office again and is about to be in the thick of his 2024 campaign very soon.

Trump's alleged malfeasance on or around Jan. 6 has been well-documented throughout the hearings -- there's been claims that he fought with his own Secret Service in an attempt to arrive and meet the coup crowd at the Capitol ... not to mention the allegation that he asked to have metal detectors removed in hopes of people being able to sneak in weapons.

Of course, there's also the fact that he explicitly called his VP, Mike Pence, a traitor ... and essentially left him for the wolves, along with the other lawmakers that day. Trump was also very soft on condemning the attack, and is reported to have prolonged his response.

Amber Heard is closing the book on the defamation case brought by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp -- a decision that's going to cost her 7 figures.

The actress just issued a lengthy statement announcing that she's settled with Johnny -- this as opposed to going through with her appeal -- which she just recently filed. Amber says, in part ... "This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Amber is going to shell out just $1 million to Johnny -- but we're told it'll be money from her insurance company, not her own pocket.

As for what she has to say about it further ... Amber explains she never chose this, and that all she ever did was defend and speak her truth -- which she notes has destroyed her life ... via vilification through social media and beyond, which she calls a humiliation she can't relive again. AH says she did this to move forward and emancipate herself from this saga.

Amber also makes sure to mention the fact that she has lost faith in the American legal system -- having been found liable for defaming Johnny, whereas in the UK ... the verdict came in her favor. She says she has exhausted almost all of her resources in fighting this thing here -- and in the end, it seems she's decided it was going to be a losing battle.

One other thing ... Amber says she's going to now focus on things that matter to her life, including working for causes she believes in, not to mention time with her daughter.

She adds, "I will not be threatened, disheartened or dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth. No one can and no one will take that from me. My voice forever remains the most valuable asset I have." Amber ends by thanking those who've backed her all along.

Johnny, for his part, hasn't addressed the settlement.

Robert De Niro almost became a victim of the real-life Grinch -- a home intruder who was legit trying to steal the dude's Christmas presents ... just days before the holiday.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the actor's NYC home was broken into early Monday, at around 3:30 AM, by what cops say was a 30-year-old woman who pried his door and slunk inside. Not quite Dr. Seuss-esque (down the chimney) -- but still scary nonetheless.

We're told the woman was caught red-handed in the act ... cops say she was attempting to clean out the bottom of RDN's tree of gifts -- but Bobby D himself, who we're told was home with family, came down to confront her when he heard all the commotion.

As you can imagine, the police were called ... and NYPD says they recognized this perp immediately. Apparently, she's been arrested pretty recently for similar crimes -- we're told her long-running M.O. is to case houses and break-in, much like she did at De Niro's.

In this case ... they caught her, arrested her and took to her to jail. Sounds like they didn't wanna wait for her heart to grow three sizes and realize the error of her ways.

Amar'e Stoudemire was arrested this weekend for domestic violence -- this after he allegedly beat his teenage daughter.

The ex-NBA star was booked early Sunday morning in Miami on one count of misdemeanor battery and one count of domestic violence. He posed for this mug shot on the way in -- but as of late Sunday morning, he appears to have been released from custody.

According to the arrest report, obtained by TMZ, Stoudemire is alleged to have struck one of his teen daughters -- one is 17 and another is 14 -- across the face at least twice ... once with a closed fist, which was described by the girl as a punch, and another being a slap.

The report states that his daughter was left bloodied from the hits, and goes on to say the alleged victim described him as continuing to strike her body after the blows to her face.

The reason he allegedly snapped ... per cops, Amar'e described disciplining her after she responded with "attitude" to her grandma (Amar'e's mother) when she called for her at his house, which caused Amar'e to confront his kid ... and allegedly dole out a "whooping."

The daughter is reported to have contacted her mother, Alexis, with photos of her alleged injuries -- which spurred the 911 call and subsequent arrest. Sounds like Alexis came to pick up the rest of their 3 kids and left with them all as well when police took Amar'e away.

Jack Johnson has gotten legal protection against a female fan he says poses a serious and alarming risk to his safety.

The "Better Together" singer testified at a hearing in Los Angeles Thursday about a woman he says keeps popping up at his shows and hotels, trying to get close to him.

Jack called into the hearing and the judge was convinced the woman is dangerous enough to warrant a 5-year order of protection.

TMZ broke the story ... Jack got a temporary order of protection two months ago, claiming the woman has been hounding him for years, with things escalating to the point where she recently confronted him at a hotel he was staying at on tour. He says she got in his face and it was so frightening cops came and detained her.

A tantalizing new clue has surfaced in the murders of 4 Idaho college students ... two of the victims were seemingly caught on video discussing a person named "Adam" just hours before they were slaughtered.

Fox News Digital obtained the eerie surveillance video from a Facebook group of amateur sleuths and released a screen grab and audio from it Saturday. It apparently shows Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen walking with a mysterious guy in downtown Moscow, ID.

The women are decked out in the same clothes they were seen wearing in a previous video at a food truck hours before the murders on Nov. 13. The man seems to be dressed in the same attire as someone observed in the food truck video and later cleared by police as a suspect in the slayings.

In the new clip, a voice believed to be that of Goncalves asks, "Maddie, what did you say to Adam?" The second woman responds, "Like, I told Adam everything."

It's not clear who Adam is or if police have questioned him and considered him a suspect or not. But, the Facebook group, which is devoted to solving the baffling homicide case, says they submitted the evidence to investigators.

Meanwhile, new police body cam footage has emerged showing cops stopping 3 people suspected of underage drinking near the crime scene around the time of the murders. In the video, you can hear what some believe to be a scream in the background ... others say it's just tires screeching.

There's also audio of a scream at 3:12 AM the morning of the murders, according to Daily Mail ... a scream picked up on a police mic -- the cop was responding to a nearby, unrelated incident.

As we reported ... Goncalves, Mogen and two fellow University of Idaho students -- Xana Kernodle and boyfriend Ethan Chapin -- were fatally stabbed in an off-campus house. The assailant/assailants are still at large. Cops have yet to find the murder weapon -- but they believe it's a combat knife. A motive has not been disclosed.

Megan Thee Stallion's bodyguard -- a key figure in the Tory Lanez trial -- has allegedly vanished into thin air ... and cops are said to be on the case.

MTS's attorney, Alex Spiro, tells TMZ ... "We recently learned that Justin Edison went missing right before he was scheduled to appear in court. The LAPD is currently looking into his disappearance, and welcome any information about his whereabouts."

The Shade Room -- which first broke the news -- reports that a separate source familiar with the situation insists Justin's own attorney hasn't heard from him since Thursday ... and that he apparently has critical information about the case. That much we already knew.

Remember, this is the guy that Kelsey Harris -- Meg's ex-BFF who was in the car that night -- texted almost immediately after the shooting, writing ... "Help," "Tory shot Meg" and "911." Presumably, he could've provided more context to that ... including any follow-up convos he had with either Kelsey or Megan. Now, though, it appears he's nowhere to be found.

With uncertainty over whether Tory's driver -- who was also in the car that night -- is going to testify (as of now, it doesn't seem like he is) and a very hazy narrative laid out by Kelsey herself ... Justin could've possibly been crucial to help swing this thing one way or the other.

Spiro's concerns also seem to suggest foul play may be afoot, but so far ... there's no evidence of that. We've reached out to the LAPD to confirm whether Justin is, in fact, listed as a missing person at this point -- and whether they're actively searching for him.

So far, no word back.

The man charged with the fatal mass shooting at a Colorado gay bar last month was locked behind bars for a 2021 kidnapping ... but a judge later tossed out the case and released him, possibly leading to the massacre, according to new court documents.

First some background ... in June 2021, Anderson Aldrich allegedly held his grandparents at gunpoint inside their Colorado Springs home after he became irate upon learning they were moving to Florida because he was making a bomb in the basement. But, his grandparents managed to flee and call 911.

A SWAT team arrested Aldrich after a brief standoff. Investigators recovered Aldrich's homemade bombs and firearms for a planned terrorist attack. He was charged with menacing, kidnapping and crime of violence.

Two months later, Judge Robin Chittum expressed concerns over Aldrich stockpiling weapons and explosives during a court proceeding, according to legal docs obtained Friday by the AP. At the hearing, Chittum also referenced Aldrich's struggles with mental illness, saying he needed treatment or “it’s going to be so bad."

Fast forward to July 2022 ... during another hearing, there was no mention of Aldrich’s violent tendencies or his mental health status. Then Chittum granted a defense counsel’s motion to dismiss the case and drop all charges against Aldrich just before trial. The reason? Aldrich's grandparents stopped cooperating, although other relatives warned the judge in a letter that Aldrich would kill someone if released.

The Fleetwood Mac "Dreams" Skateboarder was arrested at his Idaho home ... because, guess what -- weed's still illegal there.

Police say a state trooper pulled over a red Chevy Silverado Nathan Apodaca was driving because of an expired registration tag. When he walked up to the truck, the officer says he smelled marijuana.

The trooper says he noticed edibles in the glove box while Nathan was hunting for his registration, and that's when the trooper asked Nathan to get out of the car.

ISP says Nathan admitted there was weed in the truck. The trooper says he searched the car and found three packages of THC gummies, plus a marijuana dab scraping tool with a sticky residue.

Idaho State Police say Nathan, known on social media as Doggface, was arrested and booked on two misdemeanors -- pot possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He was booked and released the same day on $600 bond.

Nathan's not shy about his smoking habits ... he dropped a music video with Snoop Dogg on 4/20 in his rap debut and spent a lot of time in California since going viral back in 2020.

However Nathan has a different version of what happened during his arrest. Nathan tells TMZ ... During the arrest, the officers failed to read me my Miranda rights. Initially, when officers found weed they said they were only going to write a ticket. They then found a gun and told me I was under arrest because I had a felony on my record and I wasn't allowed to possess a firearm. However, I do not have a felony on my record, which I told the officers. Despite me telling them this, I was taken into custody. I was held in jail for several hours without bond before they told me they make a huge mistake. Then was told I was only being held on the weed charge and could bond out.

Tristan Thompson has hammered out a paternity settlement for his second-youngest child -- where he'll shell out monthly ... TMZ has learned.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Tristan Thompson and Maralee Nichols have agreed to terms for Theo, their 1-year-old son. We're told Tristan will pay $9,500 a month in child support and also covered some of Nichols' lawyer fees.

The $9,500 may seem low considering his NBA contracts have totaled $100M over the span of his career -- but he isn't currently on a team and therefore not earning income, and income is the operative factor in determining child support.

Our sources say Maralee will have sole custody, and while they haven't figured out an official visitation plan yet, those talks will come in the near future.

What's more -- we're told Tristan will be listed as the father on Theo's birth certificate.

Our sources say the paternity settlement agreement will be filed today in L.A. County Superior Court.

Maralee gave birth to Theo in December of last year -- and things got ugly -- Maralee sued Tristan for child support, even claiming he offered to pay her $75,000 to keep quiet about the baby.

It was in January when he came clean after a paternity test, revealing he was Theo's dad, and apologized to Khloe, saying, "You don't deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don't deserve the way I have treated you over the years. My actions have certainly not lined up with the way I view you."

While we didn't know it at the time, Khloe and Tristan were expecting a son via surrogate at the time of Tristan's apology -- that baby was born in July.