Vanessa Bryant is suing the L.A. County Sheriff and his department, claiming they caused her severe emotional distress … when deputies allegedly took personal cellphone photos of the bodies of Kobe and Gigi Bryant at the scene of the helicopter crash that took their lives.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, “no fewer than 8 sheriff’s deputies at the crash site, pulled out their personal cell phones and snapped photos of the dead children, parents and coaches. The deputies took these photos for their own personal gratification.”

The lawsuit goes onto allege the photos were the subject of conversation within the sheriff’s dept … with deputies showing their colleagues the pictures that had no investigative purpose.

The lawsuit notes how the photos were exposed … when a deputy was at a bar and showed the photos to a woman he was trying to impress. The bartender heard the conversation, blew the whistle and called the sheriff’s department.

Vanessa says in the suit … that’s when Sheriff Villanueva tried to cover it all up by going to the Sheriff’s substation that responded to the crash and telling deputies if they deleted the photos they would not face discipline. The suit claims the purpose of his talk was destruction of evidence.  The lawsuit claims Villanueva did not tell the families about the photos and they only learned of it in the media when the story broke that deputies took the photos.

The lawsuit claims the Sheriff never gave the family straight answers and now Vanessa is in constant fear the photos will leak … “Ms. Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.”

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, including punitive damages.

We reached out to the Sheriff’s Dept. … so far, no word back.

The United States Supreme Court is temporarily the backdrop for a stunning memorial to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Flowers, American flags and messages of condolence filled the area around the Courthouse steps as a steady stream of people came to pay their respects. Some folks wept as other sat silently or prayed.

Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke Saturday night on High Court steps, leading the crowd in a chant honoring RBG … “I will fight!”

That fight is quickly becoming the centerpiece of the 2020 election. Trump says he will nominate someone — he says probably a woman — sometime this coming week. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already vowed to ramrod it through the Senate, much to the outrage of Democrats and some Republicans. As you know, McConnell and co. blocked President Obama‘s nomination 11 months before his term ended, saying it was appropriate to wait for the next President. One thing’s clear … politics reigns over consistency.

If Trump gets his nominee confirmed, the Court would tilt right by a 6-3 margin, affecting everything from abortion to immigration, from health care to all issues of equality.

“The Real Housewives of New York City” is fulfilling its pledge to become more diverse by welcoming motivational speaker Bershan Shaw into the fold … TMZ has learned.

Sources close to production tell TMZ … ‘RHONY’ started shooting the upcoming 13th season this week and Bershan has been recording around Manhattan with some of the housewives … who, as you know, are all white.

Our sources say it’s unclear at this point if Bershan will be a full-time housewife, or just a “friend of the show” to start — but, nonetheless, she’s been filming.

TMZ broke the story … ‘RHONY’ producers set out to diversify a cast that was nothing but rich, white women in season 12, and producers were actively searching, and in talks with potential new faces for season 13.

Now, it appears producers have landed on Bershan, who will bring a lot more to the table than just being the first Black cast member.

Bershan is a business coach, actress, motivational speaker and, most impressively, a 2-time breast cancer survivor.

Cardi B wants a divorce from Offset, but she wants it to be friendly, and had no idea her lawyer filed documents that made it sound highly contentious.

As we reported, Cardi’s lawyer filed legal docs asking for legal custody and primary physical custody of 2-year-old Kulture. That’s a screaming sign Cardi has issues with Offset’s parenting, but we’re told that is NOT the case.

Sources connected to Cardi and with direct knowledge tell TMZ … Cardi did not know the lawyer was positioning her case this way. We’re told she wants Offset to have joint custody of Kulture and is determined to have an amicable, co-parenting situation. Our sources say Cardi is in touch with her lawyer and the document will be amended to reflect her wishes.

Her divorce petition also says she wants child support. Our sources say she does not want any support from Offset … in the financial department, she’s the Bank of Cardi.

Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly have hit a bump in the road — not with their relationship, but with their new movie … which has been forced to shut down for a bit due to COVID-19.

If ya haven’t heard, Megan and MGK met on the set of “Midnight in the Switchgrass” earlier this year in Puerto Rico. As you’ve definitely heard, they REALLY hit it off … especially after filming stopped in March due to the pandemic.

After several months off, the cast and crew got back at it in July on the Caribbean island after the movie honchos worked to establish COVID protocols to ensure everyone’s safety … according to a rep for The Pimienta Film Co.

Despite all that, the rep tells TMZ 2 people still tested positive for COVID. We’re told they were asymptomatic and immediately quarantined, but production decided to halt filming anyway.

Now, we’re told director Randall Emmett is planning to resume filming in Santa Barbara in the next few weeks with more stringent precautions in place.

As for Megan and MGK … it seems they’ll still be together whenever filming resumes. As we’ve reported, the new couple’s been practically inseparable this summer, publicly doting on each other and even pairing up in a steamy music video.

A woman battling Leukemia says her 2 French bulldogs — one of which was her emotional support animal — are dead after they were placed in an Emirates flight’s cargo hold.

The passenger’s name is Hannah and we’re told she was flying from Dubai to Washington, DC for a cancer treatment — but upon landing at Dulles International Airport she got the devastating news her comfort dog Panda, and Panda’s companion Beluga, had died.

The incident went down on August 21 aboard Flight EK 231. We’re told Hannah paid $2,600 to ship her pooches when she was told she couldn’t bring them into the cabin because they weighed more than 8 pounds.

That means the dogs should be transported below the cabin in a hold designed for live animals … separate from the luggage. Apparently, Panda and Beluga ended up in the luggage hold, and a necropsy shows they died from oxygen deprivation. Panda was also bloody, for some reason.

Hannah’s attorney, Evan Oshan, tells TMZ … the family wants justice for the dogs. He says, “Dogs are not luggage they are living breathing family members and in this case, provided tremendous emotional support for a cancer patient.”

We’re told Hannah had a doctor’s letter from June 2018 classifying Panda as an emotional support animal — and therefore, Panda should have been allowed in the cabin with Hannah … Oshan believes.

He adds, “Emirates charged for the dogs’ passage even though medical documentation was provided by this cancer patient. This is wrong!”

Oshan says other animals aboard the flight, presumably placed in the proper cargo hold, all survived the journey unscathed.

We’ve reached out to Emirates, so far no word back.