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It's the kind of 'Star Wars' secret normally kept under lock and key, but the new "Shadow Trooper" just got exposed by Lucasfilm's need to make big money merchandising the character.

Lucasfilm filed docs to lock up the trademark to manufacture and sell all things "Shadow Trooper" -- such as clothing, footwear, toys, gymnastic and sporting articles, electronic games, Christmas stockings, Christmas tree ornaments, snow globes ... pretty much everything under Tatooine's 2 suns.

Shadow has already been introduced to the 'Star Wars' universe via video games, but hasn't been in any of the movies. This move is a strong sign that's about to change. 'Star Wars' geeks have speculated a debut in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" ... which comes out in December.

Lucasfilm filed similar docs for Kylo Ren, BB-8 and Poe Dameron long before 'The Force Awakens' was released.

Ron Isley -- part of the famed group The Isley Brothers -- wants you to know the Facebook announcement of his passing is grossly premature.

Yasiel Puig was underwater at his Miami mansion when his refrigerator went on the fritz, but he says his insurance company's giving him the high hard one -- refusing to pay up, according to a lawsuit.

Hard to imagine Michael Jackson's Estate getting even richer, but it just happened -- Sony is forking over $750 MILLION to buy out MJ's share of Sony/ATVMusic Publishing.

Sony Corp. announced the deal to take over Jackson's 50% stake in the joint venture that was launched in 1995 -- and owns copyrights for some of the biggest recordings in history. For instance, Sony/ATV controls "New York, New York," "Jailhouse Rock," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," "All You Need Is Love" and "The Mission Impossible Theme."

The estate will keep all songs written by Michael ... and a bunch of others by other artists which he purchased during his lifetime. The sale is expected to be finalized by the end of this month.

It's a remarkable deal struck by Estate executors John Branca and John McClain -- especially when you consider MJ bought the ATV catalog for $41.5 million in 1985. Not to mention, the fact MJ was far from financially flush when he died.

Three-quarters of a BILLION in one fell swoop. Don't it make you wanna scream?

Carl's Jr. Tex Mex model Kara Del Toro and Elite model Meredith Hennessy aren't convinced "hot felon" Jeremy Meeks has the mental acuity and commitment to mug for the camera.

The girls totally trashed Jeremy outside Violet Grey on Melrose. They insist you can't make it on looks alone.

Caitlyn Jenner -- a longtime staunch Republican -- is softening her political views, or at least she's "willing to listen" ... as she puts it.

Caitlyn posted a pic of herself and her girlfriends hobnobbing with Hillary Clinton ahead of Tuesday's primaries. Interesting, since during a recent episode of "I Am Cait" ... she said Clinton only cares about herself and is not really interested in women's issues.

The pic included the hashtag, "#learningfrommygirls."

Politics aside, is a mini-skirt appropriate for meeting a presidential candidate? It was for Caitlyn!

The agent who claims to have discovered Judge Judy has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the company that produces the show, claiming the honchos are screwing them out of profits ... but Judy is scoffing at the suit saying the guy behind it is just an ingrate.

Rebel Entertainment, which is run by Richard Lawrence, claims the show has raked in $1.7 BILLION since it debuted in 1996, yet the honchos at production company Big Ticket and CBS say the show is operating at a loss.

According to the suit, which includes CBS as a defendant, Lawrence met Judy 20 years ago and put the show together, with a deal that he and his company would get 5% of net profits. The suit claims they haven't seen a penny since 2010.

Rebel claims Judy had her salary doubled in 2009 to a whopping $45 million, virtually wiping out any profits. There are reports Judy makes $47 mil a year.

Judy has issued a blistering statement, saying, "The fact that Richard Lawrence is complaining about my salary is actually hilarious. I met Mr. Lawrence for 2 hours some 21 years ago. Neither I nor anyone involved in the day-to-day production of my program has heard from him in 20 years. Not a card, not a gift, not a flower, not a congratulations, yet he has somehow received over $17,000,000 from my program."

Judy goes on, "My rudimentary math translates that into $8,500,000 an hour for Mr. Lawrence. Not a bad payday. Now complaining about not getting enough money, that's real chutzpah!"

Tyga's cruise ship performance ended with a bang, a full-on fight between his hype man, DJ S.B. and one of the guys from EDM trio Cash Cash -- what's up for debate is ... who started it.

Things went south early Saturday morning aboard the Inception at Sea cruise festival. Tyga started his set more than an hour late ... which eventually postponed Cash Cash, which was going on after him.

Sources close to Tyga tell TMZ ... when he wrapped up, the Cash Cash guys began unplugging S.B.'s gear. That sparked a verbal dispute, and then Jean Paul Makhlouf allegedly threw the first punch.

Now, the Cash Cash guys admit there was a verbal altercation, but claim Tyga's crew struck first. Makhlouf suffered a concussion, injured kidney and several bruises, according to his rep. Cash Cash was unable to perform.

No one's talking lawsuit ... yet, anyway.

We're told Tyga had nothing to do with the fight, he was already offstage.

Dina Lohan approves of daughter Lindsay's new boyfriend, but no word yet if HIS family approves of Dina.

We got DiLo outside FOX Studios in NYC, and she copped to being totally smitten with Egor Tarabasov, who perhaps will someday plant a Russian sprout-nik inside her daughter.

Dina told us what will likely be the NEXT step for Lindsay and Egor -- a face-to-face meeting between their parents. Check out why mama's confidence is so high about that meeting.

Donnell Rawlings says race was definitely a factor when fists started flying outside a Philadelphia restaurant early Sunday morning.

The "Chappelle's Show" star touched down at LAX on Monday, and told us the whole incident felt like a "Trump rally" because the entire restaurant turned on a "black guy that might have raised his voice a little bit."

As we first reported, police were called when Donnell was accused of a dine and dash. He says he'd just gone outside for a smoke, and a fight broke out when he tried to get back into the restaurant. In the end, no one was arrested.

On the other hand, Donnell accepts it might have been a case of mistaken identity. Katt Williams has been in a lot of trouble lately.

A horse went down like the Titanic near the "Fast 8" set in Iceland after gale force winds sent a fake iceberg flying into a paddock where the animal was grazing.

Local police tell us the horse, named Jupiter, had to be euthanized. Strong winds sent a portion of a plastic iceberg -- a set piece for the movie -- flying and it struck the horse, breaking its leg. Another horse was also injured but is expected to recover.

Neither was involved in the production -- just a case of wrong time and place.

We're told production called the horse owner and broke the news but said insurance would cover the cost of the horse and fence repair.

Forever 21 has pulled a controversial t-shirt after getting a huge backlash from consumers who called the gear "shameful" and "rapey."

The graphic tee featured a slogan that seemingly referred to sexual consent: "Don't Say Maybe If You Want To Say No." The Internet response was overwhelmingly negative, with Twitter users accusing Forever 21 of cracking jokes at the expense of rape victims.

Richard Simmons says his maid is not holding him hostage, but judging by this pic she's definitely holding down the fort.

Simmons called BS on reports his longtime housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, was keeping him isolated from friends and business associates. Teresa was all business Monday as she kept guard at Richard's Hollywood Hills house.

Cesar Millan was "dumb and irresponsible" when he put that unleashed dog and pig in the same kennel, and the woman who blew the whistle is adamant ... Cesar should be charged.

TMZ spoke with the woman, a veteran dog trainer with 20 years experience, and she believes Cesar used the pig as bait, instead of slowly integrating the animals together. She claims the proper protocol would have been first putting the pig and dog in pens next to one another, and THEN together on leash.

As we previously reported, Cesar says the pig and dog are fine and now get along -- but the anonymous dog trainer thinks he's downplaying the severity of the pig's injury.

She says Cesar and Nat Geo should be held accountable for what she calls a ratings ploy. She wants him charged for animal cruelty, and wants the pig off his property, and his practices monitored moving forward.