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Rascal Flatts has allegedly violated the law on the most hallowed ground in Hollywood ... the site of the Oscars!!!

An owner of retail space at the Hollywood and Highland complex -- which includes the Dolby Theatre where the movie shindig has been thrown -- is suing the band's restaurant company for double-crossing him.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, R.F. signed the lease for 7,960 square feet of empty space and the owner of the space agreed to give R.F. $1 million to build it out. The owner says he gave R.F. a $102k advance, but believes none of the money was spent on improvements.

It looks like the whole deal went to hell ... the owner also says R.F. is behind around $300k in rent.

Alex Trebek is taking a break from game show duties to recover from surgery he needed after taking a nasty fall a couple months ago.

The "Jeopardy!" host revealed Thursday he's out on medical leave to recover from a subdural hematoma suffered during the fall. Sounds very serious, but Alex downplayed it, calling it "a slight medical problem."

Trebek says docs discovered blood clots on his brain, but he's already undergone surgery and "the prognosis is excellent." He assures fans he'll be back soon.

Serena Williams has withdrawn from the Australian Open ... saying she's not quite ready to compete on a tournament level after recently giving birth.

Serena posted the message to her Snapchat Thursday, saying ... "After performing in my first match after giving birth I realized that although I am super close I'm not where I personally want to be."

She adds ... "My coach and team always said 'Only go to tournaments when you are prepared to go all the way.'" Serena defeated her sister, Venus, in the Australian Open last year.

The new mom competed in a tennis match just last month -- her first since giving birth to a baby girl in September. It was an exhibition match against Latvian player Jelena Ostapenko at the Mubadala World Tennis Championship in Abu Dhabi.

As for the Australian Open ... she says she looks forward to coming back and competing another time.

Designer Michael Costello ripped off a makeup artist's face mask and tried slithering away with his own version on the runway ... this according to a new lawsuit.

The "Project Runway" darling from season 8 has been sued by special effects makeup artist Lauren Mountain, who says Costello hijacked her "Under the Skin Human Mask and Snake" face mask concept and used it in a fashion show without her permission.

According to the suit, obtained by TMZ, Lauren says Michael's relative, Stephanie, reached out to her to license Lauren's human skin mask design for a 2015 show she and Mike had planned for NYC Fashion Week.

But instead of paying her for the work, Lauren claims the Costellos recreated her mask on their own and strutted a model across the catwalk. She says they did credit her as the inspiration, but Lauren still isn't satisfied.

She's asking a judge for damages of at least $150,000. Michael's team tells TMZ "LOL," adding the validity of the lawsuit is ridiculous, and that the masks were, in fact, inspired by the '80s TV show "V."

Michael B. Jordan is positive climate change is the real deal, escaping NYC juuuust before the so-called "bomb cyclone" shut down the city, along with most of the eastern seaboard.

The "Black Panther" star says he spent 3 long hours on the tarmac at JFK before his plane eventually took off for LAX, where we got him Thursday.

Donald Trump is poison to an actor who's trying to make it in Hollywood -- an actor whose last name is also Trump -- and the guy is pleading with a judge for a name change.

Daniel Thomas Trump is a 32-year-old L.A. actor/filmmaker, and has no relation to Trump. In fact, he says in legal docs, obtained by TMZ, "The name 'Trump' is a shameful embarrassment."

Daniel says he got the surname from his biological father who has never been in his life but, judging from the docs, the real reason for the name change petition is the President. Daniel says, "It's the name of a president who is the living representation of everything I stand against."

Speaking of stands, this might be one big grandstand, because Daniel's been going by the name Daniel Van Thomas for 8 years, so it doesn't sound like he's been burdened with the Trump moniker.

Nonetheless ... he wants to make it official.

The investigation into how Stan Lee's bank account got swindled out of $300k has gotten even more bizarre -- it appears someone also used the comic book legend's money to buy a freakin' condo.

Sources close to the Marvel Comics legend tell TMZ ... someone recently plunked down $850k of Stan's dough to buy a condo in WeHo. Neither Stan nor his financial team approved it. We're told the revelation came to light after his team rolled out a full audit following a recent check forgery for $300k.

As we reported ... Stan filed a report with Beverly Hills PD claiming someone forged the check as a loan from Stan's bank account to the merchandising company, Hands of Respect.

DJ Khaled has a warning ... don't get comfortable with your faves on 'The Four,' because if ya blink they could get booted -- and that's what makes the show great.

Khaled is so fired up about Thursday night's debut on FOX, he literally couldn't stay in his seat when he talked to us about his new judging gig alongside Diddy, Meghan Trainor, and Charlie Walk.

Aside from the stiff singing competition -- which he believes WILL find a new superstar -- Khaled says there's one more major key for viewers ... his wardrobe!

With President Trump attending the National Championship game, we asked rap superstar Quavo if he had advice for Georgia players who might consider taking a knee ... a la Colin Kaepenick.

"My message to the players is to focus on winning this national championship game," the Migos rapper said on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1).

"Don't worry about nothing else. Just focus on winning."

FYI, Quavo is a HUUUUUGE Georgia Bulldogs fan -- and was even on the field with the team when they beat Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl. He'll be in the stands on Monday, too.

"[The Georgia players] been practicing. They've been working hard this whole season. They've been working hard from game 1 all the way now."

"You shouldn't get to the national championship and worry about [demonstrating]. You should be going straight in and worrying about football."

Charles Barkley is getting some love from the man he helped get elected, Alabama senator Doug Jones.

DJ was out in D.C. on Thursday when he shouted out Barkley with a great big, "Thank You."

Of course, Barkley was one of Jones' biggest and most influential supporters in his race against Roy Moore. Many people credit Barkley with helping get black voters to the polls, giving Jones the boost he needed.

We asked if Barkley has a future in politics -- and it sounds like Sir Chuck already has a supporter!

One more thing ... with Alabama playing the national championship game against Georgia on Monday, we asked if Jones would go to the game ... and what would happen if he saw Donald Trump there.

Logan Paul hijacked the name of a wholesome, reputable clothing company, and now his repulsive antics are costing the original brand millions ... at least according to the company.

Maverick Apparel fired off a scathing letter to the YouTube star Thursday, demanding he immediately stop selling 'Maverick by Logan Paul' gear ... even if he did name it after his pet parrot, as Paul claims.

In the letter, the company dismisses Paul as "a vlogger catering to his evident lowest common denominator narcissism and who champions his scrotal injuries as a badge of pride." Maverick added his "abhorrent and mutton-headed conduct" is harming Maverick Apparel's reputation, goodwill and sales.

Maverick Apparel cites Logan's recent posting of a video of a dead body as just the latest example of Paul tarnishing the brand's good name. All in all the company claims he's already cost them $4 million.

It says Paul's name is "synonymous with racist, anti-Asian, and homophobic sentiments, and most recently, a belligerent insensitivity to suicide" ... and clearly -- it wants nothing to do with him.

Nicki Minaj and Nas are donzo and she's definitely NOT pregnant ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... the rappers broke up a few weeks ago after the relationship ran out of steam. They've been dating since June 2017, but we're told living in different cities was just too much.

There were recent reports Nicki was pregnant, but we're told there's no truth to that.

Both superstars will be getting back to strictly biz, we're told -- Nas focusing on his record label and his chicken and waffles joint, Sweet Chick. Nicki's also juggling multiple business ventures outside of music.

We're told they respect each other, and there won't be any trash talking -- but, on the other hand, we're also told they won't be hanging out as friends either.

While all evidence points to Nicki and Nas trying REALLY hard to make it work -- sometimes ya just gotta cut bait.

11:20 AM PT -- The judge denied Suge's request to throw out the court orders.

Suge Knight's blasting prosecutors and the L.A. County Sheriff's Department for playing dirty ... and now says he wants a judge to right the wrong.

Suge filed a motion, alleging prosecutors and the Sheriff's Dept. "have secretly listened to every word" he's had with his lawyers since August 22, 2016. He claims they're eavesdropping on his attorney-client privileged conversations while he's in County Jail, awaiting trial for murder.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Suge asks the judge to throw out all court orders -- allowing the eavesdropping and limiting his jail visits -- because they were made by a judge who later recused himself from the case.

The ex-rap mogul's murder trail is slated to begin next week.

The L.A. County District Attorney will be getting a slew of Harvey Weinstein cases in the not-too-distant future ... and they'll be getting them all at once, law enforcement sources tell TMZ.

We're told the Sexual Assault Section will not be feeding the D.A. cases piecemeal ... they will be bundled together and sent over at the same time.

TMZ broke the story ... the LAPD will not exercise discretion and close out any of the cases. Even if the statute of limitations has run or the case is outside the D.A.'s jurisdiction ... the files will all be sent over for review. The reason -- the LAPD and the D.A. want to look at even non-prosecutable cases to see if there's a pattern of misconduct that would allow prosecutors to prove an M.O.

Logan Paul's suicide video doesn't seem to have affected his side hustle as the lead in an upcoming horror movie ... at least not yet.

Logan's the centerpiece of writer Jeffrey Reddick's new fright flick, "Superstition: The Rule of 3's." Production sources tell us he hasn't been axed in the wake of controversy ... you'll recall Logan broke into momentary laughter in the video after he spotted a man hanging from a tree.

Doug Falconer -- CEO of Falconer Productions, which is producing 'Superstition' -- confirms with TMZ ... there have been no talks to recast Logan.

But here's the rub. Falconer hadn't even heard about the uproar and said he wanted to talk to the other producers. We're guessing word must have gotten around to at least some of the producers by now, which makes it all the more curious no one gave Falconer a heads-up.

Short story ... it's not case closed, yet.

Britney Spears is taking a load off in Hawaii after ending her residency in Las Vegas -- and we are so thankful for the break ... and the view.

Brit was spotted rockin' a yellow bikini on a Hawaiian beach Wednesday -- just a few days after she performed her last residency show in Vegas for New Year's Eve.

She went out with a bang then, and it looks like she's still banging now. Britney's toned figure was on full display ... and, Lordy, does she look good.