EXCLUSIVE

The stars of VH1's "Black Ink Crew: Chicago" allegedly beat the hell out of a guest at a party for their show ... and now the dude's fighting back with a lawsuit. 

According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Ronnie Spates claims he was viciously attacked by 'Black Ink' stars Ryan Henry, Van Johnson, Don Brumfield and Junior Diaz during a December bash in Chicago ... and he says the reality show's production company wanted a fight to break out to make better TV. 

Spates claims he was an invited guest minding his own business at the party when Henry, Johnson, Brumfield and Diaz began kicking the crap out of him. He says the brutal beatdown left him licking serious wounds. 

Spates claims show producers fueled the party with loads of booze and actively sought to encourage situations that would lead to conflict, verbal spats and physical altercations ... just so they could create explosive content. 

TMZ broke the story ... cops were called to the party after it allegedly got violent. Our law enforcement sources say Junior Diaz was accused of sucker punching a guest, presumably Spates. Police say when they arrived at the scene, they found Spates bleeding from the mouth and disoriented, and he was taken to a hospital for stitches. 

Spates is suing the reality stars and Big Fish Entertainment over the incident ... and he's seeking a big payday. 

We reached out to Big Fish Entertainment for comment ... so far, radio silence.

EXCLUSIVE

Shia LaBeouf is licking his wounds with the best possible medicine -- a gorgeous gal ... and a bowl of greens. Au naturel, baby!

The actor was spotted grabbing a bite Friday at the chic DTLA restaurant Otium, where he and a mystery brunette were chowing down on what we're told appeared to be salads. No clear signs of PDA here, but an eyewitness tells us they were cozying up and seemed pretty comfortable in each other's company ... especially Shia. 

Looks like he might've even gone in for a bite of his lady friend's lunch. So yeah ... we'd say they're probably tight.

BTW, check out the little cut above Shia's eye here. Nothing too crazy, but it does seem like he might've recently injured himself. As far as recovery goes ... he's doing it right.

Now for an even more obvious note ... we're not seeing his most recent girlfriend, FKA Twigs, anywhere in these pics. They've reportedly been dating since fall 2018 and were most recently spotted cupcaking in public a couple of months ago. 

Unclear if their romance is kaput, but if it is ... this is one helluva way to bounce back.

Breaking News

Indianapolis Colts QB Chad Kelly has been suspended by the NFL for 2 games without pay stemming from his October home invasion arrest in Denver ... NFL officials say. 

As we previously reported, 25-year-old Kelly was arrested on Oct. 22 after leaving a Broncos Halloween party and wandering into a random person's house in the middle of the night ... while dressed like a cowboy. 

Kelly sat down next to a woman who was holding her baby -- and he was ultimately chased out of the home by a man who was smacking the QB with a vacuum cleaner tube. 

Kelly was initially arrested for felony criminal trespassing -- but later struck a deal with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of 2nd-degree criminal trespass -- a class 3 misdemeanor -- and in exchange, the felony trespass charge was dropped.

As part of the deal, Kelly was also sentenced to 1 year of supervised probation, 50 hours of community service, and fines and fees.

Despite the legal issues, Kelly was recently signed to a contract with the Colts -- though if he eventually makes it to the regular season roster, he won't be able to play in the first 2 games of the season.

Kelly has been working with his famous uncle, Jim Kelly, to prepare for the 2019 season -- and Jim previously told us he thinks Chad has what it takes to be successful in the league. 

EXCLUSIVE

Drake really oughta zip his lid and take a seat when he's hangin' courtside for the NBA Finals, 'cause his attempts to troll opposing teams aren't even top-notch ... so says Godfrey.

The comedian laid into Champagne Papi Friday outside the Gotham Comedy Club in NYC, where he told us point blank ... Drake needs to sit down and relax when he's rooting for the Raptors. His rationale -- he thinks Drizzy's trying too hard to be cool and seen.

ICYMI ... Drake and Warriors forward, Draymond Green, had what appeared to be a heated exchange at the end of game 1 Thursday as the Dubs made their way back to the locker room upon losing. It's unclear exactly what was said, but Drake seemed to call Dray "trash." 

As far as Godfrey's concerned, Drake should take some cues from another hip-hop heavyweight who tends to behave himself when he goes to the big games. Any guesses???

More importantly, Godfrey doesn't even consider Drake to be one of the all-time great celebrity sports trolls -- comparing him to greats like Spike Lee and Jack Nicholson ... as well as the king of trolls, regardless of context. Bottom line for Godfrey ... tone it down, brah.

Kate Beckinsale seems to have moved on from Pete Davidson ... and she made what looks like a public declaration that was sealed with a smooch.

Kate and a dude were in WeHo Friday leaving Craig's, and with the glare of camera lights trained on them, they locked lips.

Obviously, can't say for sure if this is the real deal, but they seemed tight.

As for Pete, he spent Friday night on a catwalk ... modeling for the first time at Alexander Wang's Collection1 2020 show at Rockefeller Center in New York City. People are going after him on social media for his walk, but then again people on social media go after everybody for anything.

As for Kate, we can't figure out who the guy is, but we do know Craig's seems to be her go-to date joint when she's in L.A. She went there on her first public date with Pete Davidson as well.

After leaving Craig's, Kate and her date went to a nearby pub.

EXCLUSIVE

YNW Melly thinks it's unfair he's stuck in a jail cell awaiting trial for double murder, because he voluntarily turned himself in ... and he insists he's not going to run from the law.

According to new legal docs ... the rapper wants to be able to post bond and walk free until his trial -- despite the fact he's facing 2 counts of first-degree murder in South Florida. Melly says if he was going to go on the lam, he would have done so when he first got word he was facing capital murder charges.

Instead, the rapper says he chose to surrender ... so there's no reason for the court to think he's a flight risk. On top of that, YNW points out he was born and raised in the area and his entire family lives there -- which he says is even more proof he isn't going anywhere.

As for his actual case -- in which the rapper's accused of killing his friends and staging a fake drive-by shooting -- Melly seems to like his chances in court. In the docs, he says there's no murder weapon, no witnesses tying him to the shooting, no DNA evidence implicating him and no motive.

We broke the story ... the State of Florida disagrees with Melly, and is seeking the death penalty.

The State says it has proof beyond a reasonable doubt that Melly and Cortlen Henry shot and killed Anthony Williams and Christopher Thomas Jr. ... shot up their own car to make it look like a drive-by, then left the victims at the ER -- even though cops believe they were already dead.

EXCLUSIVE

Anthony Joshua is in for a south of the border surprise come Saturday night ... because his opponent, Andy Ruiz, says he's gonna put DEM FREAKIN' HANDS ON AJ, all for the pride of Mexico.

Ruiz was a late add to the fight following Jarrell Miller's positive drug test, so most people aren't giving the new challenger too much of a shot against the undefeated heavyweight king Joshua.

We spoke to Ruiz and he told us he knows he's being taken lightly, and that's his biggest weapon.

"Anthony Joshua, I'm pretty sure he's underestimating me, man. I've been working really hard for this opportunity, now that I have it, I can't let it go."

There's another reason Andy says he won't and can't lose this fight ... because he's doing it for the people of Mexico! 

"There's never been a Mexican heavyweight champion. That's what we're gonna accomplish. I wanna be a legend, I wanna be in the world books of records. That's what we're gonna do, baby, bring the titles back to Mexico."

Before you scoff too hard, Ruiz is 32-1 with his only defeat coming in a title shot against Joseph Parker back in 2016, so he's no slouch.

Keep your hands up, AJ ... viva la raza, Andy.