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Drew Brees claims he was scammed out of MILLIONS by a jeweler who sold him an $8 MILLION diamond ring ... but the jeweler is saying Brees has no one to blame but himself.

The New Orleans Saints QB has filed a lawsuit against Vahid Moradi -- who runs the CJ Charles jewelry shop in San Diego, the city where Brees began his NFL career.

Brees claims he's been buying jewelry from Moradi for years -- and has dropped roughly $15 MILLION on some insane pieces ... including watches, earrings and rings.

Problem is ... Brees claims he recently had his jewelry independently appraised and was told his collection is worth $9 MILLION less than he paid.

In his suit filed Monday ... Brees says Moradi had insisted his jewelry was a solid investment that would definitely go up in value over the years -- and feels he was lied to the entire time.

Brees claims the biggest hit he took was on a 4.09 carat blue diamond ring he bought in 2015 for $8.18 million ... which recently appraised for only $3.75 million.

But Moradi's high-powered attorney, Eric M. George, says Brees shouldn't be pointing the finger at Moradi ... he can only blame himself.

"Drew Brees aggressively purchased multi-million dollar pieces of jewelry. Years later, claiming to suffer ‘cash flow problems,’ he tried to bully my client into undoing the transactions."

"Mr. Brees’s behavior and his belief that he was wronged because the jewelry did not appreciate in value as quickly as he hoped both demonstrate a lack of integrity and contradict basic principles of both economics and the law."

"He should restrict his game-playing to the football field, and refrain from bullying honest, hard-working businessmen like my client."

Cardi B has an answer to the guy who's suing her for lifting the tattoo on his back for her album cover -- she says the dude on her album is black, and the plaintiff is lily white.

The album cover shows a guy giving Cardi B oral sex ... his back prominently displayed on the cover.

Cardi B says the male model on the cover is a "young, dark-skinned male." The plaintiff is a middle-aged white dude from Newport Beach.

She also notes the model on the cover has no neck tattoo while the plaintiff has a prominent "Born to Lose" tat on the back of his neck.

Roseanne Barr thinks it's laughable that President Trump kinda tried taking credit for her massive ratings for the premiere of her revived TV show last week ... literally, she LOL'd.

We got the sitcom star Monday night at LAX, where our photog asked what she thought of Trump plugging himself and his supporters for giving "Roseanne" a big bump last Tuesday.

She doesn't hide her feelings about that -- hilariously ridiculous, at least that's how it sounds to us. Then she drops this on us ... there's only one person responsible for the success of the revived "Roseanne" -- and it ain't DT.

10:40 AM PT -- Gonzo S**tc**k tells us he's no longer affiliated with the Gonzo Podcast Network, even though it still bears his name. He also says he has nothing to do with the lawsuit, it's all on Henson ... who Gonzo says produces and finances the whole 'Network.'

Some of the 'Howard Stern Show's' hugely popular cast of characters are in a podcast war that's now turned into a lawsuit ... and Wack Packer High Pitch Erik's caught in the middle.

Jeff Henson produces content for the Gonzo Podcast Network -- home to Gonzo S**tc**k from the 'Stern Show.' Henson claims Jimmer Nam -- a Stern superfan -- and others are trying like hell to crush the Gonzo Network -- and says a prime example of the plotting is what happened to Gonzo's buddy, High Pitch.

In the suit, he says attorney Vincent Imbesi convinced Erik to allow his apartment to be wired with cameras and mics, so he could do daily broadcasts ... presumably on the Jimmer Nation Podcast network, and not the Gonzo Net.

Henson says they went even further by harassing and making fun of Erik. He claims they sent food deliveries to his home, and "swatted" him -- calling in false reports to cops and firefighters -- so often, it got Erik evicted from his apartment.

According to the docs, Nam also got personal on one of his podcasts by calling Henson a "lifelong criminal" who took advantage of an elderly couple. Henson denies that and says Nam's defamed him.

8:15 AM PT -- Meek's attorney Joe Tacopina tells TMZ, “We have never seen such vindictiveness and disregard for the law at this level. Judge Brinkley will not be able to hide her conduct from the scrutiny of appellate courts, the justice system overall and the common sense and decency of the people of Pennsylvania and the United States. We will see to it.

Meek Mill's controversial judge says he's got awful timing -- and that's just one of the many reasons she's not granting him a bail hearing.

Judge Genece Brinkley filed docs explaining why she rejected his motion to get a hearing, and be released from prison on bail. First, she's being a stickler on deadlines ... saying Meek's request needed to be filed a year after his original 2009 sentence became final. Of course, he didn't file until 2018, but we're confident Meek's team would say they didn't know about the police corruption scandal until this year.

As we reported, Meek hung much of his bail request on the credibility of Officer Graham -- the Philly cop at the center of the city's sweeping police corruption case.

Judge Brinkley says, in docs obtained by TMZ, the Philly article exposing the scandal is based on old police documents that were readily available to Meek's attorneys. She's basically saying ... the information was there, why didn't Meek's team expose the corrupt cops? In fact, Brinkley says the article isn't even admissible as evidence, and there's precedent for that in Pennsylvania.

She also says Meek has repeatedly admitted his guilt, in court, to the gun and drug charges he originally faced.

Judge Brinkley thinks there's nothing special about Meek's situation. She says post-sentencing bail should only be granted in "exceptional cases for compelling reasons." Bottom line for the judge ... even if Graham's a dirty cop, it doesn't make this an exceptional case.

Donte DiVincenzo wasn't the only thing on fire last night ... the students at Villanova blazed up several bonfires near campus Monday night after the Wildcats beat Michigan.

Thousands of Nova fans flooded the streets to celebrate. Others set off fireworks.

Some climbed light poles -- despite the fact the Radnor Township Police Dept. had said they would be greasing the poles as a deterrent.

Still, the police were out in force and so far it doesn't appear there were riots or any kind of student vs. police fighting. We're calling cops to confirm.

Most of the celebration consisted of dancing and yelling and drinking ... and one of the guys on the light pole appeared to be chuggin' a beer.

To the victor ...

Lance Bass and hubby Michael Turchin are in the super early baby planning stages ... so early, in fact, how they'll decide whose sperm to use to make the baby's a competition.

We got Lance and Michael at LAX Monday and our guy wanted to talk babies even though Lance was pretty hoarse. Didn't matter ... they still shared some deets on having a baby hopefully in 2018.

The couple's exploring the surrogacy route, but thing is ... it appears they haven't figured out whose sperm they'll use. Lance has the chops and Michael's easy on the eyes ... so how will they decide?!

Nas didn't have to take his son, Knight, to an island off the coast of Costa Rica to see dinosaurs over Spring Break ... he took him to Universal Studios where they hopped on the Jurassic Park ride.

Hard to tell who had more fun Monday on the ride ... Nas or his 8-year-old kid. Nas has plenty of reasons to smile though, and staying dry is the least of them.

He's been embroiled in a war over child support and custody with Knight's mom, Kelis. She wants Nas to cough up more than the $8k he's paying her now in child support. They recently settled their custody battle switching off birthdays -- he gets even years, she gets odds -- and holidays.

Looks like he got Easter.

Channing Tatum and his wife, Jenna Dewan, are over -- this according to the couple themselves -- after nearly nine years of marriage.

The couple released a joint statement late Monday saying, in part ... "We have lovingly chosen to separate as a couple. We fell deeply in love so many years ago and have had a magical journey together. Absolutely nothing has changed about how much we love one another, but love is a beautiful adventure that is taking us on different paths for now."

They go on to say that there is no secret or salacious event at the root of their breakup, adding they plan to continue being dedicated parents to their only daughter, Everly. They also knock "alternative facts" by saying they wanted to get the true message out there publicly.

What's interesting is that Channing and Jenna appeared to be closer than ever on social media -- Channing recently posted a photo of the two of them rockin' a custom makeup job courtesy of their kid.

They were last seen together at a public event this past November, but clearly still hang on the regular. The couple met on the set of the 2006 film "Step Up" and got hitched in July 2009.

David Hogg might not be good enough for the University of California -- despite his activism -- but he's now got something in his back pocket ... a possible full ride in New Mexico!

TMZ has obtained an acceptance letter from the Dean of the Honors College at New Mexico State University. Dr. Miriam S. Chaiken was pleased to inform Hogg he was welcome at the campus ... and so are all the other Parkland student leaders.

In the letter, Chaiken says she's been inspired by the work David and his fellow students were doing in the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High shootings ... taking to the streets and demanding new gun control laws.

She writes, "Please tell David, Emma (Gonzalez), and any other of your student leaders, that they are welcome at the William Conroy Honors College and at New Mexico State University." Chaiken goes on ... "I can assure them that they will be admitted to our university, and I will personally make it my commitment to raise as much funding as I can to support them with scholarships."

Sounds like a full ride for Hogg and co. Then again, the specifics are a little vague.

New York Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton has no problem hitting them out of the ballpark, and same goes for his choice of homes.

The former Miami Marlins right fielder was renting this $8 million crib in the Hollywood Hills during the offseason. He's from L.A. and was training in town.

The 3-bedroom, 4-bath contemporary home boasts panoramic views of L.A. There's a wine cellar, massage room, sauna, and pool with a sitting area and fireplace built in the middle of it, but the coolest thing about the pad is the interior lighting and suede-lined closet. It was also once Sammy Davis Jr.'s home.

While Viola Davis was teaching us how to get away with murder on TV, would-be burglars were attempting a break-in at her real-life home ... TMZ has learned.

We're told that Viola and her husband, Julius Tennon, were fast asleep in their bedroom on the second floor, when they were awakened by the sound of glass breaking ... glass from a door in their bedroom!

Turns out the burglars climbed a ladder to the second floor and jumped on the balcony that was off the master.

The couple flipped on the lights and that sent the prowlers running. When police arrived, the bad guys were long gone. But cops have a lead ... surveillance video shows three men wearing hoodies and gloves.

Same old story ... cops still say celebs aren't being specifically targeted, even though Viola joins a long list of stars who have been hit in 2018 alone.

Dennis Rodman is GOING IN on LiAngelo Ball ... telling TMZ Sports the dude sucks at hoops and has a snowball's chance in hell of making the NBA.

"He's not good at all," Rodman says ... "He's awful."

We pointed out LiAngelo dropped 72 points during a game in Lithuania on the day he announced he'd be entering the 2018 NBA Draft ... but that didn't seem to impress Rodman one bit.

"Teams over there [in Lithuania] just pretty much suck."

Still, Rodman says he gives LiAngelo a 10% chance at getting drafted "just because of social media."

On a positive note, Rodman says he's still sober and feeling great.

He's also excited for his son, Dennis Rodman Jr., who's a baller in his own right ... and getting offers from some of the biggest college programs in the country!

7:04 PM PT -- Jamie's rep tells TMZ ... "All of these allegations are completely unfounded and we believe part of a targeted extortion scheme." The rep claims "Anthony Oliver has a history of filing lawsuits, and has filed 27 federal lawsuits in the past 8 years."

"Melrose Place" star Jamie Luner has been sued for allegedly seducing a 16-year-old boy into a sexual act, and according to the lawsuit he was not her only victim. And ... he's suing for $250 million.

Anthony Oliver claims back in 1998, he attended a house party thrown by Luner to celebrate the success of the show. He ended up at the party because Luner's makeup artist knew Anthony's brother and the makeup artist developed a crush on Anthony.

Anthony says Luner saw him and called him "adorable." He says Luner asked if he wanted a drink, and he said he was only 16 but she had the makeup artist pour Anthony a Jack and coke. They drank and talked for 3 hours, went to her room, and he says she removed a small plastic bag of crystal meth from her purse.

He says she told him, "It's going to make you real horny." He protested using the drug but instead asked for 2 Tylenols, which he says was laced with the crystal meth. His head began spinning and he says he became sexually aroused.

The makeup guy told Luner, who was 26, to go to her room and put on her kitty cat outfit and went to a couch, and he says she began licking his neck, chest and arms and removed his belt, underwear and socks.

He says she performed oral sex on him and took his penis out of her mouth and put it in the mouth of the makeup artist. He claims he ended up having sex with Luner multiple times, and claims she said, "come bend me over the couch and ram me."

And there's this ... the plaintiff's brother had left the party, and when he returned he recorded Anthony and Luner having sex.

Anthony says the experience messed up his life. The lawsuit says, "Plaintiff is left not knowing if he is attracted to men, women or both." He blames the experience for turning him into an alcoholic.

According to the lawsuit, various young men came forward to the LAPD, claiming they were also sexually assaulted by Luner. He says 2 other men accused her of drug-induced sex.

He's suing for sexual battery and emotional distress.

Anthony has already filed a police report.

We've reached out to Luner's rep ... so far, no word back.