Joe Tacopina is taking a victory lap at the expense of federal prosecutors ... because he's always said the racketeering and sex trafficking charges against Diddy didn't add up -- and a jury agreed.

The famous defense attorney joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and ripped prosecutors for bringing what he says were trumped-up charges against Diddy.

Joe, who's been banging this drum for months now on our weekly series on Tubi, "TMZ Presents: United States V. Sean Combs: Inside the Diddy Trial," says the evidence and testimony never pointed towards racketeering or sex trafficking.

Nancy Grace says Sean "Diddy" Combs is getting off easy for one major reason -- the cross-examination of Cassie Ventura and "Jane" ... but she's absolutely disgusted and "shattered" by the jury's decision to acquit him of sex trafficking.

Make no mistake, Nancy firmly believes jurors in Diddy's federal trial got it wrong, and they should've convicted him on all 5 counts -- not just the 2 counts of prostitution -- but she acknowledges Diddy's lawyers did their jobs when they showed both of his exes frequently consented to freak-offs.

What's enraging to Nancy is that she sees the verdict as another case of "rich man's justice," ... saying Diddy only got off because he can afford high-powered attorneys, and because jurors frequently hesitate to convict famous people.

Not all Venetians are losing sleep over Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez tying the knot in their city -- in fact, TikToker and proud local Giulia Raffaello is welcoming the whole circus with open arms.

Giulia joined us Tuesday on "TMZ Live" to point out ... this isn’t the first celeb wedding Venice has hosted, and when done right, these events breathe life into the floating city. Think support for small businesses, jobs for locals and a rare spotlight on forgotten Venetian gems.

While critics and protestors are up in arms over Bezos' billions, Giulia says the focus should be on what’s really impacting Venice day to day -- not a couple dropping serious cash and lots of good intentions for local citizens.

And about all those heavily scheduled wedding events? Giulia’s betting the merchants of Venice ... boat drivers, flower vendors and other community pros are already in the mix.

Fireworks on "TMZ Live" during a segment on President Trump with special guest D.L. Hughley ... and things got racial, explicit, nasty and extremely personal.

D.L. was ripping Trump for tearing up Barack Obama's deal with Iran and scoffing at the idea of Trump getting the Nobel Peace Prize when our Michael Babcock joined the conversation and asked the comedian what Trump would have to do to get some props ... and things escalated very quickly.

The heated back-and-forth on Trump's presidency, in general, quickly shifted to a convo about race -- with D.L. asking Babcock why Trump's changing military base names to honor Confederates?

Aiden Kearney, the citizen journalist intensely focused on the Karen Read retrial, says he was ecstatic when he heard "not guilty" three times when the jury verdict was read yesterday ... and while the trial is finally over, he says his connection to Karen is not.

Aiden -- who lots of Read supporters know as "Turtleboy" -- joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, and we asked him how he reacted to the trial outcome ... seeing as how he was so involved in her story.

He says Karen getting acquitted of second-degree murder in the 2022 death of her boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, is most meaningful for her family ... and he told us what it was like at her celebratory dinner after the verdict was read.

Here's a new love triangle that may become more common ... a man who shares a daughter with a woman asked an A.I. chatbot to marry him ... and she's totally down with the arrangement.

Chris Smith and Sasha Cagle joined us on "TMZ Live" Wednesday and took us inside their relationship ... telling us why Chris' flirtation with the chatbot actually strengthened their bond IRL.

The way Chris tells it, he needed an outlet to listen to him ramble about politics ... Sasha was too busy and social media wasn't cutting it, so he found a chatbot ... and fell in love.

D.L. Hughley’s not here to tell people to pipe down and keep quiet in the midst of law-enforcement and military responses to immigration-enforcement protests -- he says breaking the law just may be exactly what’s needed right now ... just like Rosa Parks did.

The comedian went off on "TMZ Live" Tuesday, speaking about escalating protests in L.A. against ICE raids targeting undocumented immigrants, and city-imposed curfews as a result -- and he makes it crystal clear ... civil disobedience is sometimes the only reason we have certain freedoms that we do, and sometimes the only way to fix a broken system is to disrupt it.

D.L. also took aim at the heavy military presence in L.A. right now -- pointing out there are currently more personnel stationed in Home Depot parking lots than in Afghanistan ... so if they’re bringing that kind of force, they should expect a response just as strong.

A former Boeing quality manager blew the whistle on the safety of the company's 787 passenger jet plane a year before one went down Thursday in a fiery crash in India, killing more than 200 people.

Check out this chilling clip ... John Barnett appeared on "TMZ Live" in January 2024 to talk about safety concerns at the time about Boeing's 737 -- but also mentioned the company's 787 Dreamliner, because he claimed the company's operations "put a strong effort into removing quality from the process" of constructing the aircrafts.

His bombshell allegations were that Boeing had been cutting inspection crews and expert staff for over a decade ... and suggested more due diligence was needed.

Conservative commentator Michael Knowles tore into Gov. Gavin Newsom on "TMZ Live" -- ripping his response to the L.A. ICE protests and claiming it was such a mess, Trump had no choice but to step in.

Knowles pointed to torched cop cars, assaulted officers, and even an 'illegal alien' allegedly tossing a Molotov cocktail as proof L.A. was in serious trouble -- blaming the chaos on Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass' failure to act accordingly, which forced Trump to bring in the National Guard and send in the Marines.

When our hosts pushed back -- noting the chaos was limited to one small area -- Knowles doubled down, saying Trump’s actually showing restraint in the matter... and this kind of tough crackdown is exactly what voters are begging for.

Blake Lively's lawyer says his client isn't backing down in her legal battle now that Justin Baldoni's lawsuit has been dismissed ... 'cause she's taking this one all the way to trial.

We spoke with Michael Gottlieb on "TMZ Live" Wednesday ... and, we asked him about Bryan Freedman -- Baldoni's top attorney -- claiming Blake's team is celebrating too soon.

Remember, Bryan came on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and said he and his team absolutely plan to refile the four claims against Lively that weren't dismissed with prejudice ... and repeatedly said he looked forward to deposing Lively sometime this month, provided she doesn't drop her lawsuit.

Justin Baldoni's lawyer is taking shots at his client's legal nemesis Blake Lively ... blasting Blake for what he says is a premature celebration.

Bryan Freedman joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and we asked him how he and Justin reacted to Blake's big legal win Monday, when a judge tossed out Baldoni's defamation claims in a $400 million lawsuit against Blake and her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

While it seemed like the end of the legal beef, Bryan tells us this still has a long way to go ... which is why he thinks it's rich Blake is on what he calls a "false victory tour."

The chaos erupting in L.A. is less about politics and more about a serious leadership problem, according to a Texas congressman.

Rep. Wesley Hunt didn't hold back on "TMZ Live" Tuesday -- telling us the federal government had to deploy 700 Marines and thousands of National Guard troops to restore order in the City of Angels ... because it's all about protecting American streets from looking like a war zone.

Wesley makes it clear to us this isn't about red vs. blue states -- it’s about who's actually leading with backbone, and in his eyes, Texas is setting the bar.

Donald Trump and Elon Musk are beefing hard as their bromance goes up in flames -- but one tech journo says don’t count out a reboot ... 'cause these two could buddy up again.

Faiz Siddiqui -- a technology journalist and the author of "Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk" -- told "TMZ Live" Friday that Elon and Trump could totally kiss and make up, because, let’s face it, they’re both the type to have short memories ... when it suits them.

You have to watch the video -- Faiz even compares the Trump-Elon drama to the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef … and yeah, it’s as hilarious as it sounds!

Dogs on Skid Row are being fed fentanyl, bred for money, and otherwise abused and neglected, and politicians are doing nothing about ... so says an animal rights activist.

Joey Tuccio -- an advocate for and rescuer of animals, who works with the nonprofit Starts With One Today -- stopped by "TMZ Live" to shine a light on dogs living on Los Angeles' notorious Skid Row ... a collection of streets in downtown where many homeless people live.

Tuccio says there are about 100 dogs living in the area ... and, while he doesn't want to see people's pets taken away, he's concerned about the dogs he's seen, which he says some people are using as guinea pigs to test fentanyl.

Luigi Mangione’s alleged unhinged manifesto might actually work in his favor -- at least according to one top defense attorney sounding off on the case.

Defense attorney Katie Cherkasky told us on "TMZ Live" Thursday ... there's no question -- Luigi gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in NYC back in December. But the real fight’s over the terrorism charge, and she says Luigi’s own words might be what gets it tossed.

Katie says Luigi’s own words lay it out -- in his chilling blueprint, he wasn’t out to spark mass panic or hurt anyone else ... he had one target, and one target only.