TMZ Sports - Page 50

Another legal issue has just cropped up for Conor McGregor ... TMZ Sports has confirmed the UFC superstar has been sued over allegations he sexually assaulted a woman during an NBA game back in 2023.

The suit was filed in a federal court in Florida on Tuesday ... by a woman ID'ed only as "Jane Doe."

She alleges in her court docs that at some point during the Miami Heat vs. Denver Nuggets playoff game on June 9, 2023 at the Kesaya Center in Miami, McGregor led her into a men's restroom near the arena's nightclub, and sexually assaulted her inside of a stall.

LeBron James is waving the white flag in the battle for Christmas Day ... admitting the NFL whooped the NBA's ass in the ratings department -- but claiming Beyoncé played a huge role in the L.

The King chopped it up with Jason and Travis Kelce on the newest episode of their "New Heights" podcast this week ... and at one point in the convo, they asked LeBron about his famous deceleration following the Lakers' 115-113 victory against the Warriors -- in which he stated Dec. 25 belonged to Adam Silver's organization.

Unfortunately for James, the viewership numbers didn't back his claim -- as the NFL drew in 65 million U.S. viewers for its two games ... which was much more than the NBA got for its five games throughout the holiday.

1:00 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Universal Music Group tells TMZ … “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist -- let alone Drake -- is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.

"Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.

"We have not and do not engage in defamation -- against any individual. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more that write a song.”

Drake is not backing down in the war against his own label, in fact he's now upped the ante by suing Universal Music Group for spreading the "false and malicious narrative" he's a pedophile ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Drake filed the defamation case Wednesday morning in federal court in NYC ... ripping UMG for releasing and promoting Kendrick Lamar's vicious diss track, "Not Like Us." In the docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Drake says UMG knew full well Kendrick's lyrics, and images in the music video, referring to Drake as a pedophile were false and dangerous.

In the suit he calls Kendrick's hit -- filled with "inflammatory and shocking allegations"-- was a "gold mine" for UMG ... and he says they had an ulterior financial motive in promoting it.

1/15 9:20 AM PT -- Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Sofia and Lewis are not dating -- they weren’t on a romantic date, just casually lunching with a big group of friends.

NEW COUPLE ALERT?!? ... Sofia Vergara and Lewis Hamilton just got done with a lunch date and it looks like the sparks are flying!!!

The actress and the Formula One driver were super flirty Tuesday after breaking bread together in New York City ... and the smiles on their faces tell the story here.

Shedeur Sanders added a bit more fuel to all of the Deion-to-the-Dallas-Cowboys speculation on Tuesday night ... as he made a somewhat peculiar appearance at the Mavericks game in Big D.

The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback scooped up courtside seats for Dallas' tilt with the Nuggets at American Airlines Center ... and even though he's a native of Texas, the timing of his decision to hit the town sure got Cowboys fans buzzing.

Jerry Jones' team, of course, is looking for a new head coach after parting ways with Mike McCarthy on Monday -- and a whole lot of internet detectives wondered out loud if Shedeur's emergence in Dallas this week means his dad could very well be Jerry's next man up.

The Miami Heat are in Los Angeles this week to face the Clippers and Lakers ... and Bam Adebayo made the most of the business trip, spending time with his rumored girlfriend, WNBA superstar A'ja Wilson, who went out on a date!

The All-Star center and Wilson were seen around Beverly Hills on Tuesday, including at Novikov, where they stepped out of the Mediterranean and Italian restaurant together.

Even though they weren't captured together on camera, we're told they left in the same car.

Date night went down the day after the Clippers and Heat played ... although Adebayo didn't see the court because of a lower back injury.

Caleb Williams is giving credit where it's due after being on the receiving end of an epic prank ... saying it was so top tier, he had to change his phone number as a result.

The rookie quarterback fell for a text message from a rando pretending to be Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson last week ... who claimed he was taking the Chicago Bears' head coaching vacancy.

A FaceTime follow-up revealed it was not actually BJ on the other end ... but instead of being salty for getting duped so hard, the former No. 1 overall pick is taking it like a champ.

Zach Bryan's gotta be punching the air right now ... 'cause his ex, Brianna Chickenfry, just posed in front of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cameras -- and she looks phenomenal.

The influencer and Barstool Sports employee was just named the cover model for the publication's January 2025 digital issue ... and she says the gig was all about "reclaiming myself."

BC raved about having the freedom to do whatever she wants ... which certainly sounds like a shot at the country superstar, who she accused of being emotionally abusive during their year and some change of dating.

1:01 PM PT -- Police say, at this time, there is no indication that the break-in at Evgeni Malkin's home is related to other burglaries involving sports stars ... though they added they are still investigating the matter.

Another sports superstar's home has been broken into ... this time, a residence belonging to NHLer Evgeni Malkin was hit -- and his Stanley Cup rings were stolen in the heist, TMZ has confirmed.

The burglary happened on Jan. 11 in the Sewickley Heights-area of Pennsylvania -- right around the time Malkin's Penguins were playing the Ottawa Senators at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

The Philadelphia Eagles fan who berated a Packers supporter during Sunday's playoff game is out of the job -- his employer just announced he has been fired as a result of the viral moment.

BCT Partners -- a consulting firm that specializes in DEI services and solutions -- announced the move Tuesday night ... saying project manager Ryan Caldwell's words during the altercation with the female Cheesehead were "highly offensive and misogynistic," which goes against the company's values.

The firm decided to cut ties after an internal personnel investigation ... and slammed Caldwell on his way out.

Donald Trump's celebrity supporters are going to be in attendance for his second inauguration ... and he's got athletes, influencers, podcasters and reality TV stars in his corner.

Sources with direct knowledge of the inauguration guest list tell TMZ ... confirmed attendees include Logan and Jake Paul, Theo Von, Dana White, Amber Rose, Caitlyn Jenner, The Nelk Boys, Bryce Hall and Megyn Kelly.

We've confirmed previous reports Elon Musk will be there.

Mike McCarthy out ... Deion Sanders in??

If Drew Pearson were running things down in Dallas, he says that's exactly the way it'd go ... telling TMZ Sports Prime should be the Cowboys' "No. 1 choice" for their vacant head coaching gig after McCarthy's Monday departure.

"I think he's capable," the Hall of Famer said of the Buffaloes' current head man. "There's no question he has the qualifications to do it. He paid his dues. He came through the ranks and he's proven it each step of the way that he knows what he's doing."

Michael Lewis -- the man accused of stalking Caitlin Clark -- appeared in court on Tuesday and immediately made waves ... exclaiming he was "guilty as charged" before the proceedings even got started.

The bizarre scene all unfolded inside of an Indiana courtroom ... just two days after Lewis was arrested in Indianapolis on allegations he sent harassing and disturbing messages to Clark throughout December and January.

The 55-year-old Texas native -- wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs -- was escorted into the courtroom by authorities ... and as he sat down -- he said out loud he was "guilty as charged."

MrBeast, one of social media's biggest stars, has the chance to become a part-owner in one of the world's most popular social media platforms.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Jimmy Donaldson, AKA MrBeast, and his team are in convos with multiple parties who've expressed interest in buying TikTok.

We're told the way wealthy investor groups see it ... if they end up acquiring the U.S. operations of TikTok, they'll need someone to help maintain and expand the business. With MrBeast's unique success on social media, he could be a great partner.

Patrick Mahomes says his wife, Brittany, was an absolute rock star during her third childbirth ... praising her for crushing it -- and letting him watch football leading up to the big moment, too!!

The three-time Super Bowl champ met with the media just two days after the happy couple welcomed their second daughter -- Golden Raye Mahomes -- to the world ... and he talked all about what it's like to have the newest addition around.

"It's been cool to welcome another baby girl into our family and see how our other kids react to her and having baby sissy and stuff like that," Mahomes said.

Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann's final days in their home were far from peaceful ... and we have the police body cam to prove it.

As you know, cops were called to intervene back in December when Kroy chose to block Kim's moving truck with his car ... to prevent her from taking off with any of their shared property, which he felt he was entitled to.

Yet, as new police body cam footage obtained by TMZ shows ... Kim hurled her own accusations of theft at Kroy during the moving day debacle.