Posted Nov 28th 2009 12:36PM by TMZ Staff
In the world of celebrity, all worlds lead to Kevin Bacon. In the world of celebrity scandal ... it's Gloria Allred.
TMZ has learned Rachel Uchitel -- aka the person the National Enquirer calls the Other Woman in the Tiger Woods saga -- decided at 3:00 AM today she needed to lawyer up. She left a message for Gloria Allred at her office -- and quickly got a return call.
We've learned Rachel has hired Gloria and is considering, among other things, suing the National Enquirer for defamation. As we first told you, Rachel called the National Enquirer's report that she had an affair with Tiger Woods "bulls**t."
Could a news conference with Gloria and Rachel be far behind. We think not?
BTW -- we've also learned Rachel left a message for a second lawyer -- Mark Geragos. We just found out Geragos did indeed call Rachel back, but she didn't pick up the message until a few minutes ago. Who would Rachel have picked!?!
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Talk Sports, Exclusives, Tiger Woods
Posted Nov 28th 2009 2:01AM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has learned former actress and Whitesnake video vixen Tawny Kitaen has been charged with DUI after her September arrest in Newport Beach, California.
Sources tell us Tawny is believed to have been under the influence of prescription drugs when she was pulled over at 3:00 PM on Sept. 16.
If convicted, she faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Drunks, Exclusives
Tags: charged, dui, jail, newport beach, NewportBeach, tawny kitaen, TawnyKitaen, whitesnake
Posted Nov 28th 2009 1:03AM by TMZ Staff
Uncle Sam is about to go medieval on Ving Rhames' ass if the "Pulp Fiction" star doesn't fork over almost half a million bucks in unpaid taxes.
TMZ has obtained documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court showing Ving and his wife Deborah owe the IRS $491,588.06 for unpaid taxes in 2007.
Calls to Ving's people were not returned.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Exclusives
Tags: irs, pulp fiction, PulpFiction, tax lien, TaxLien, uncle sam, UncleSam, ving rhames, VingRhames
Posted Nov 27th 2009 5:30PM by TMZ Staff
The United States government might have a bigger budget to work with -- if one bodybuilding governor would pay the back taxes it appears he never got around to paying.
According to documents filed in L.A. County Superior Court, Arnold Schwarzenegger owes the IRS $39,047 from 2004 and $40,016 from 2005.
In total the Guv owes $79,064.00 ... and as we all know, he's definitely not saving the money for rainy day traffic violations.
An official at the L.A. County Recorder's Office tells TMZ their system shows the lien is still active.
Calls to Arnold's office have not been returned.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Politix, Exclusives, Arnold Schwarzenegger
Tags: arnold schwarzenegger, ArnoldSchwarzenegger, internal revenue service, InternalRevenueService, irs, taxes
Posted Nov 27th 2009 9:50AM by TMZ Staff
As if Michael Lohan could descend any lower on the crappy father scale, TMZ found out he's over $15,000 behind in child support.
According to legal documents obtained by TMZ, Michael has racked up $15,100 in unpaid child support to Dina for their three minor children: Aliana, Michael Jr. and Dakota Lohan.
Now how about this horrible scenario: If Michael profited off those audio tapes he released of Lindsay's lowest moments, he could actually pay off his child support with money he made from exploiting one of his children.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Lindsay Lohan, Exclusives
Tags: child support, ChildSupport, dina lohan, DinaLohan, lindsay lohan, LindsayLohan, michael lohan, MichaelLohan
Posted Nov 26th 2009 8:43AM by TMZ Staff
Tyler Perry used too much of the goodness of Jesus in his movie, "Madea Goes to Jail," at least according to a new federal lawsuit obtained by TMZ.
The suit, filed by the personal representative of deceased gospel singer/songwriter Bertha James, claims Perry lifted an entire verse from a song James wrote in 1950 -- "When I Think of the Goodness of Jesus."
The suit claims Perry pilfered the verse and used it in "Madea" -- specifically, "incorporating the entire Chorus in a monologue delivered by the main character in 'Madea" referencing her deliverance from a jail sentence and leniency for repetitive criminal conduct, in a staged court proceeding presided over by 'Judge Mabeline.'"
Bertha's estate, which is also suing Lionsgate Entertainment, wants unspecified damages for copyright infringement.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Movies, Exclusives
Tags: bertha james, BerthaJames, copyright infringement, CopyrightInfringement, jesus, lawsuit, lionsgate, lionsgate entertainment, LionsgateEntertainment, madea goes to jail, MadeaGoesToJail, praise jesus, PraiseJesus, tyler perry, TylerPerry, when i think of the goodness of jesus, WhenIThinkOfTheGoodnessOfJesus
Posted Nov 26th 2009 8:40AM by TMZ Staff
The geniuses who own the rights to Albert Einstein are suing a cosmetics company for featuring a model whispering in Albert's ear, "Psst, Professor, I'm brighter than you are."
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem -- which owns the Einstein trademark -- claims Benefit Cosmetics had no right to use the image of the relatively brilliant man.
By the way, Forbes lists Einstein as the fourth highest-earning dead celeb ... pulling in $18 mil every year.
By the way, the book,"Einstein" by Walter Isaacson, is awesome.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice
Tags: albert einstein, AlbertEinstein, Benefit Cosmetics, BenefitCosmetics, company, cosmetics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, HebrewUniversityOfJerusalem, lawsuit
Posted Nov 26th 2009 6:18AM by TMZ Staff
Rihanna doesn't like being yelled at by her neighbors, according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ.
The owner of the L.A. house Rihanna was renting believes she would have bought his house outright but his neighbor was such a jerk ... she bailed on the deal.
The neighbor had actually sued Rihanna and her landlord, Stephan Yacobian, back in June, claiming the singer and her friends had a bad habit of parking their cars on his property. Rihanna eventually got so fed up with his complaints ... she moved.
Now, Yacobian is going after the neighbor -- claiming he had no right to yell at Rihanna and her friend over parking, because the two property owners had a specific agreement that RiRi could park in the neighbor's driveway.
Yacobian claims the neighbor's "harassing behavior" caused the deal to go south.
Yacobian wants the neighbor to fork over the profits he would have made from the sale.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Rihanna, Exclusives
Posted Nov 26th 2009 4:15AM by TMZ Staff
Tila Tequila is willing to forgive the XXX website that posted her allegedly stolen tape -- as long as the price is right.
Tequila's lawyer just fired off a cease and desist letter to 4tube.com -- the porn site that's posting footage of Tila getting up close and personal with a naked man. In the letter, obtained by TMZ, Tila's lawyer claims Tequila is willing to settle her case as long as the site removes the video ... and coughs up $280,000.
Tila claims the video clip was snatched off a laptop she reported stolen about two years ago -- and was never intended for public viewing.
According to the letter, the porn site has 2 weeks to respond -- or Tila proceeds full speed ahead.
... tick tock.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Exclusives, Tila Tequila
Tags: cease and desist, CeaseAndDesist, porn, sex tape, SexTape, tila tequila, TilaTequila, xxx
Posted Nov 25th 2009 4:00PM by TMZ Staff
Attention gold diggers! There's another successful rich dude who's officially on the market -- Interscope Records kingpin Jimmy Iovine.
TMZ has learned Iovine's marriage is officially over today. The terms are confidential, but the deal was sealed in L.A. County Superior Court -- where disso-queen Laura Wasser showed up with her two kids and an eight month belly full of unborn kid ... and looking good we might add.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Dirty Divorces, Exclusives
Tags: interscope records, InterscopeRecords, jimmy iovine, JimmyIovine, laura wasser, LauraWasser
Posted Nov 25th 2009 5:28AM by TMZ Staff
Convicted statutory rapist Roman Polanski can finally put a price on his freedom -- $4.5 million.
A Swiss court has approved Roman's offer to pay bail of $4.5 million -- and in exchange he would be released from prison and kept under house arrest at his Swiss chalet ... but there's a catch.
Roman won't officially be released until the Swiss Justice Ministry decides whether it will go to the Supreme Court to appeal the bail decision because they consider him a flight risk ... probably because he's been on the run since 1978.
Even if Roman is released, he could still face extradition to the United States for having sex with a 13-year-old girl back in 1977.
UPDATE: The Swiss justice minister sees "no reason" to appeal Roman's bail.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice
Posted Nov 25th 2009 4:00AM by TMZ Staff
The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be having trouble on the road. Two of the team's stars were nailed on one of L.A.'s most famous freeways recently for breaking some driving laws.
TMZ has learned Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum were each pulled over on the 405 freeway in the last few days.
Odom was popped for speeding -- law enforcement sources tell us he was going more than 80 miles per hour.
Bynum was busted for shadier circumstances -- cops say he had illegally tinted windows on his Mercedes Benz.
Fun Fact: In the State of California, it's illegal to have ANY aftermarket tinting applied to the front driver's side and passenger windows in your car ... who knew?!
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Talk Sports, Exclusives
Tags: andrew bynum, AndrewBynum, lamar odom, LamarOdom, los angeles lakers, LosAngelesLakers
Posted Nov 24th 2009 2:20PM by TMZ Staff
Oprah's mom is officially off the hook for a $155,547 bill she owed to a Milwaukee clothing boutique -- and TMZ has learned she has her famous daughter to thank.
Our spies at the Valentina Inc. boutique tell us Oprah personally covered the balance her mother, Vernita Lee, owed for bills she racked up.
Oprah's big gift officially settles the suit the store filed against her mom.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, Oprah, Exclusives
Tags: bail out, BailOut, debt, lawsuit, milwaukee, oprah, valentina inc., ValentinaInc., vernita lee, VernitaLee
