Money

1:30 PM: Crap! We just got a call from Kris, who finally woke up. He left the cigarette butt at Ago. And he's now looking for work.

12:15 PM: We just spoke with Dominique from "Beverly Hills Pawn," and she tells us the butt is worth between $1,500 and $2,500. So there!

Johnny Depp celebrated with a cig on New Year's Eve ... we know that because he escaped our camera's glare on his way out of Ago in West Hollywood, but he left his butt behind.

Kris kept it as a souvenir, but it got us thinking. What if we put the butt on eBay or some other site and raise money for charity.

Katherine Jackson has pulled the plug on her campaign to solicit money from Michael Jackson fans to pay for an MJ documentary ...TMZ has learned. The question -- Where did the money go?

TMZ broke the story last week ... Katherine -- along with Paris, Blanket and Prince -- made an online plea to Michael's fans to contribute money so she could license songs and images from the MJ Estate for a documentary she wanted to make.

We made it clear in our story ... the whole thing reeked of a scam, because the Estate was never contacted about licensing anything for Katherine's documentary and based on what we know ... there's no chance in the world the Estate would sign off on the project for any amount of money.

And here's what's really suspicious ... The website Katherine used allows her to keep the funds if the project is never made ... money contributed by MJ fans.

So almost immediately after we posted our story ... Katherine and/or her people pulled the plug on the project.

A source close to Katherine tells TMZ ... he's been told every cent of the money raised was refunded and Katherine got nothing ... but we can't confirm it.

Katherine's lawyer, Perry Sanders, tells TMZ Katherine wants to do a documentary and she "fully anticipates the executors will see the artistic honesty of this project and help make [it] successful." She shouldn't hold her breath.

Here's the deal ... Katherine Jackson is fundamentally a good woman with good intentions, but it's apparent she is often manipulated by people with bad intentions and that's what happened here.

Jodie Sweetin's starting 2014 with a clean slate ... at least when it comes to taxes -- because TMZ has learned the "Full House" star has finally paid her $53,000 debt to Uncle Sam.

The 31-year-old was in deep crap with the IRS after they discovered she screwed them out of $53,626.29 in income tax back in 2009.

But now, we've learned ... the actress who once conquered a meth addiction also defeated her financial problems and coughed up enough cash to make things square with the government.

Victory, Stephanie Tanner.

Ludacris didn't use protection when he banged some chick, but he's taking precautions now ... because he wants to legally establish his paternity and then set a hard limit on his child support.

Ludacris has been in a long-term relationship with Eudoxie -- pronounced kinda like the book in the Bible (don't ask). But Luda took a break from Eudo long enough to get Tamika Fuller preggo.

Cai Bella Bridges was born December 9th. And here's where the plot thickens.

It seems Ludacris knows he's the daddy, but he's worried Tamika will go in for the kill. So he's filed legal docs -- obtained by TMZ -- claiming he's only pulling in $25,842.41 a month on average. Under Georgia law ... his monthly child support payment would be set at $1,754.66.

FYI ... Forbes says Luda is worth $12 mil ... but that seems real low.

Skating legend Oksana Baiul has gone Chernobyl on NBC ... claiming the network screwed her over by making her sign a contract with a bunch of gobbledygook when all she knew was goulash.

Oksana is suing NBC, claiming the deal she made to star in "Nutcracker on Ice" was grossly one-sided and, as a result, she hasn't seen a ruble in profits.

Oksana made the deal when she was 16 and says at the time she had a feeble command of the English language and had no idea what she was signing. As a result, she claims the NBC nogoodnicks haven't anted up for the last 17 years.

Those crazy Ukrainians.

Reinstated "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson thinks guys should marry 15 or 16-year-old girls because when they get any older they become gold diggers.

Another video of Phil's preachin' has surfaced ... and in this one he implores his followers to marry young girls because "They'll pick [clean] your ducks." He goes on with a cautionary message: "You wait till they get to be 20 years old ... the only pickin' that's gonna take place is your pocket."

So we gotta ask ...

Quvenzhane Wallis -- the 10-year-old who was nominated for Best Actress this year for "Beasts of the Southern Wild" -- is going to make a fortune for her next movie ... and that's just for starters.

Q is set to star in the movie remake of "Annie." The producers had to get approval from a judge because she's a minor, and we got the legal docs, showing what this little girl will deposit in her bank account.

-- $750,000 base salary
-- $750,000 bonus if the movie does super good
-- 5% of profits
-- 5% of all merchandising
-- 10% of sound track album royalties

Now get this ... Q's co-stars are Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. According to her contract, her name cannot be lower than second position. Realistically, that means Q will appear above Cameron.

Q gets unlimited Wi-Fi in her trailer.

She gets veto power on any bloopers before they're released.

When Q promotes the flick ... they have to give her 3 dresses from which to choose and she gets to keep the one she wears. But one caveat -- she can't sell or lend the garment to anyone.

And the best one ... Her image can be used to promote the film but NOT the sale of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, feminine hygiene products and pharmaceuticals. It also prohibits producers using Q's image for gambling, EXCEPT her punim CAN appear on Pachinko machines (everybody's favorite Japanese arcade game).

Not bad for an orphan.

Chloe Moretz -- who starred in "Hugo" -- stands to make more than a million bucks in her next movie -- not bad for a 16-year-old.

Chloe is the star in an upcoming movie -- "If I Stay." Since Moretz is a minor ... producers had to file legal docs with the court asking for permission to hire her. We obtained the docs, and they reveal Chloe will make $500,000 as a base salary.

But wait. There's more. Chloe will get 15% of profits from the movie ... and even if the movie doesn't show profits she could get an additional $1 million.

And there's still more ... If she gets nominated for a Best Actress Oscar she gets $25,000 and another $25K if she takes home the statue.

And even more ... She gets a cut of any merchandising.

So stay in acting class kids.

The car goes for around 42k ... it's been available in Europe since November.

Take that Volt drivers!

Writing off medical marijuana is totally legit ... so claims The Game -- problem is he's wrong ... and the IRS says its AGAINST THE LAW!

Game was at the Nokia Theater Saturday night in L.A. when he schooled our photog about writing off medical sticky icky.

Here's the rub ... according to the IRS, "You cannot include in medical expenses amounts you pay for controlled substances (such as marijuana, laetrile, etc.). Such substances may be legalized by state law. However, they are in violation of federal law and cannot be included in medical expenses."

DMX just settled a HUGE $1 million child support case ... and TMZ has learned he's now in Europe trying to recoup some of that cash.

TMZ broke the story ... DMX was accused of owing more than 10 years of back child support to Patricia Trejo. Because he owed so much ... X wasn't allowed to have a passport ... which meant he was prohibited from traveling to any overseas gigs.

DMX's rep tells TMZ the child support case has now been settled -- he wouldn't say for how much but we're told X paid off a huge chunk.

Britney Spears' dad learned a lesson in swag ... you gush over a product and the company that makes it will probably send you free stuff ... which brings us to duct tape.

During the "I Am Britney Jean" special Jamie Spears couldn't stop talking about his obsession with duct tape.

Now enter a company that manufactures "Duck" tape ... someone heard Jamie and the company sent him 1500 yards of the sticky stuff ... enough to span 15 football fields. Yeah, we know our sports.

The company sent various colors, including classic grey.

After the special, Britney tweeted bout her dad's infatuation saying she's gonna buy him a ton for Xmas.

Beck is in the middle of a war with a very rich, very powerful German ... a German who claims Beck DESTROYED his Malibu rental property ... and now, they're suing the crap out of each other, TMZ has learned.

The German is Til Schweiger -- who besides playing Sgt. Hugo Stiglitz in "Inglourious Basterds," is one of the top filmmakers in Germany (we'd put a clip in the post, but they're all too violent).

Here's what we know ... Til owns a huge mansion in Malibu and was renting it out to Beck for $11,000-per month from 2010 until Feb. 2013.

Both sides agree the mansion was a HELLHOLE when Beck left, but each man is holding the other responsible for the damage.

Beck says ... when he moved in, the home already had HUGE problems -- including mold, plumbing and electrical issues which caused further damage to everything from the fridge to the washing machine ... and even laptops.

Til says ... Beck had all sorts of unauthorized work done to the home while he lived there, causing "substantial physical damage" that required $40,571.00 in repairs.

Now, Beck's suing Til claiming the German won't return his $11,000 security deposit ... and Til's counter-suing Beck for the damage PLUS unpaid back rent, totaling $56,704.24.

Laugh all you want ... but Paris Hilton claims she's one of the TOP 5 highest paid DJ's in the world.

The heiress dropped the bombshell at LAX, after returning from a trip to Moscow ... when we asked if her foray into the world of electronic music has been paying off financially.

Her response -- "I'm one of the top 5 in the world, so..."

Here's the thing, it's definitely possible ... as we previously reported, Hilton inked a HUGE contract with one of the biggest clubs in Ibiza back in the summer after packing the house for several months in a row.

She didn't make the Forbes top 13 Electronic Cash Kings for 2013 ... but don't be surprised if she pops up on the list next year.

Still, Hilton has her work cut out for her ... the highest paid DJ in 2013 was Calvin Harris, who reportedly raked in $46 ... followed by Tiesto ($32 mil). Even Pauly D made $12 mil.

2:03 PM PT -- We did some digging ... and sources close to Paris tell us she makes between $100k and $350k per hour when she DJs.

Not bad ... not bad at all.