Money

CMT has BIG MONEY trouble ... as in the cast of their highest rated show "Party Down South" wants more of it -- and won't film another second of footage until they get it.

TMZ has learned the 'PDS' gang is in talks with a high profile management team to negotiate a new deal before filming resumes next month. The show premiered in January, and is already a runaway hit for CMT.

Sources close to the deal say the 8 cast members are making a paltry $500 per episode -- but in order to tape the show they have to take time off from their real jobs ... so they're struggling.

One source says the cast isn't looking for "Jersey Shore" money, they just want to live a little more comfortably.

Translation: New beer bongs, please.

Bad news for fans of Tim Lincecum and "50 Shades of Grey" -- you've just missed your chance to buy the right-hander's Seattle condo ... which is located in the SAME building Christian Grey lives in the book.

The 29-year-old ace dropped $1.575 mil on his hometown apartment weeks after he won the World Series back in 2010 ... and just unloaded the place for a cool $2.25 mil -- about $225K shy of what he was originally asking.

The 2,442 sq ft pad sits on the 28th floor of the Escala building ... which treats its residents to a private spa, gym with a yoga studio, a catering kitchen and dining hall, a massive private theater, and a dog run.

Inside the apartment you'll find ... a giant master suite with walk-in closets and spa-like bathroom ... an open kitchen with custom cabinetry ... granite counters ... and cherry hardwood floors.

There's also a sweet wrap around deck that rounds out the condo -- which features incredible views of downtown Seattle, the Puget Sound, and the Olympic mountains.

The gravy train appears to have come to a screeching halt for the mother of Diddy's firstborn son -- TMZ has learned, the bank is now foreclosing on her home.

According to new legal docs, Diddy purchased a swank 3-bedroom 3,215 sq. ft. house in Westchester, NY, back in 2003 for ex Misa Hylton-Brim -- the mother of his first child Justin -- but for some reason, the bank stopped getting payments in 2010.

According to legal docs, Diddy took out a $712,000 mortgage. As of 2010, he owed $622,518 ... a sum that's been accruing interest ever since.

Beyonce's dad is so far behind on child support payments for his illegitimate kid ... his baby mama is destitute and has to use food stamps to survive.

We're told Alexsandra Wright hasn't seen any money from Mathew Knowles since we posted our story back in December -- when he allegedly owed $24K. We're told he now owes $32,135.90.

Wright -- whose son is Beyonce's half-brother -- is now on public assistance ... and gets $300 a month on a state-issued EBT card to pay for food and other expenses.

Sources tell us Wright went to court for help ... but the judge is noodling over exactly what to do.

Michelle Obama and the extremely rich collided in the air Friday ... when the Aspen Airport apparently shut down for an hour to facilitate a fun-filled ski weekend for Michelle and her kids.

The First Lady flew in late yesterday to the ridiculously in-your-face show of wealth on the tarmac. According to the New York Post, the airport was shut down for security reasons and some private jet setters were just PISSED.

It's one of the most congested weekends of the year at the Aspen Airport ... several hundred jets descend on the ski city for the long President's Day weekend.

And speaking of presidents ... the current one was not there. He went to Cali to deal with the drought.

Congrats to retired NFL star Jamal Lewis for passing the most important test of his life -- an online financial management course -- in an effort to convince a U.S. Bankruptcy court he's a changed man.

We broke the story ... the former Baltimore Ravens running back -- who once racked up more than 2,000 yards in a single season -- filed for bankruptcy back in 2012 after racking up more than $10 MILLION in debts!!

But now, TMZ Sports has learned ... Lewis enrolled in the illustrious "Dave Ramsey Education Course" and completed an online class on February 12th ... bringing hm one step closer to financial recovery.

Birdman's on a mission to throw one of the most insane 45th birthday parties known to mankind -- a "Half a Milly" bash -- filled with endless champagne, naked models, the entire Young Money crew ... and his $7 MILLION car collection.

The party's set to go down in New Orleans Saturday night -- in the middle of NBA All-Star Weekend. Birdman rented out a private venue ... which he's renamed "Birdman's New Era Voodoo Lounge."

In addition to 30 body-painted naked models, 700 clothed models will be on hand -- lubricated by 150 cases of GT vodka, $100,000 of Belaire Rosé, and 20 cases of some anti-hangover cocktail.

Birdman's shipping in his $7 million car collection from Miami ... including his red Bugatti, white Bugatti, 2 Maybachs, and 3 tour buses.

The guest list is sick -- party host JJ Jones tells us, James Harden, Paul George, Blake Griffin, Shaq, and Kenny Smith are coming ... as well as Young Money rappers Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, and more.

If that's not cool enough -- the original Cash Money crew's expected to get together for the first time in nearly a decade ... including Mystikal, Turk, Juvenile, and Mannie Fresh.

Big Time Rush singer Kendall Schmidt is a generous man -- paying off a $243 ticket some random female fan got while speeding to his concert -- but there's no such thing as a free lunch ... and Kendall wants some big things in return.

Sources close to Kendall tell TMZ, a girl emailed the singer this week, claiming she got the speeding ticket in Rochester, NY, while hauling ass to a show for Kendall's side band Heffron Drive.

The girl said she's a broke college student and couldn't afford to pay it ... so she begged Kendall for some financial help.

According to sources, Kendall agreed to pay the ticket on the condition she graduate with a 3.0 GPA minimum. He's also asking her to volunteer 20 hours of her time to benefit her community.

He's not joking either -- we're told Kendall plans to follow up with the girl regularly to keep her honest.

Miami Heat center Chris "Birdman" Andersen is cutting ties with his Colorado nest -- the same house the FBI raided in a crazy kiddie porn investigation two years ago, TMZ Sports has learned.

The 7-footer bought the 5,691 sq ft crib in Larkspur, CO back in '09 for $500K -- but back in 2012, feds raided the place in an investigation allegedly involving an underage girl.

But the whole thing was BS and Anderson was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Birdman put the place on the market last year -- asking $925K -- but he ended up settling for $750k back in November ... chalking up a cool $250k profit.

Joe Francis is on the attack ... claiming Las Vegas mogul Steve Wynn is poaching Joe's GIGANTIC porn company, Girls Gone Wild, just so he can dismantle it ... and it's all out of revenge.

TMZ broke the story ... GGW is in bankruptcy and the trustee engineered the sale to satisfy Joe's debts.

Someone came along and anonymously tried swooping GGW up, and Joe says it's his archenemy, Steve Wynn.

Joe believes Wynn continues to harbor a grudge -- Wynn sued Joe and got a $20 mil verdict, and a jury concluded Joe defamed Wynn by telling people the mogul hired hit men to kill him.

Joe believes Wynn is behind the purchase of GGW and his intent is to buy it, fire all the employees and then dismantle it.

Lucas is on the receiving end of endless demands by his estranged wife, who has filed for divorce ... and most of them involve cold hard cash.

Josh's wife, Jessica Ciencin Henriquez, just filed legal docs asking for spousal support, child support, medical and dental coverage, lawyer's fees and life insurance.

For some reason Jessica -- a freelance writer -- wants to enforce their prenup ... so maybe she gets a good deal under the agreement.

Jessica is a little more generous when it comes to their 20-month-old son Noah -- she's asking for joint custody.

Just like women and their purses ... men are becoming addicted to expensive designer backpacks -- just ask Colin Kaepernick, who rocked a $200 bag through LAX yesterday.

Colin's bag was designed by Pink Dolphin ... but he's not the only top male athlete with a couture back bag.

Just the other day we saw DeMarcus Cousins flashing his MCM Six Stud Stark Backpack, which runs anywhere from $600 to $1,000.

There's more ... NBA superstar Anthony Davis has a $1,500 Gucci ... Floyd Mayweather has an MCM where he keeps his cash ... and there's many, many more.

Somewhere, Carrie Bradshaw is smiling.

Justin Bieber is a fickle kind of guy ... we've learned he's now looking at homes in the Atlanta area because it puts him smack in the middle of a hip hop mecca.

Bieber's been in Atlanta since last week -- where he's been partying shirtless with Diddy -- and sources close to the singer tell us, he's fallen in love with the city all over again.

Bieber lived in Atlanta briefly when he first moved to the United States years ago -- after Scooter Braun signed him -- and his most recent trip has stirred up very fond memories.

In addition to Diddy, Bieber's been hanging with southern staples T.I. and Rick Ross -- and we're told he's already asked them about where to buy the nicest real estate in the city.

Added bonus -- Atlanta isn't the paparazzi hive that L.A. is ... and Bieber has been enjoying the extra privacy ... for now. (Of course, paps tend to go where the money is -- and Bieber's a walking bank.)

It also makes sense because we're told Bieber is transitioning into hip hop -- he's Bizzle now.

This does NOT mean Bieber is abandoning L.A. As we first reported, he's been looking at 20 acre estates in Hidden Valley ... around 20 miles from his current home in Calabasas.

A writer who claims he concocted the premise for "Ray Donovan" is suing Showtime, alleging he came up with the notion of a middle-aged man who fixes things and kills for cash.

Brian Larsen is suing Showtime, claiming in 2010 he pitched a script to a Showtime exec, who seemed enthusiastic and said she would "pitch like hell" to get it on the air. But Larsen says he ultimately got blown off.

Cut to 2013, when "Ray Donovan" debuted, and Larsen was pissed. Here are some of the similarities he's alleging:

-- His script featured a middle-aged fixer who orchestrates killings with a staff of black-market pros
-- He has a storyline of a pro-basketball player in a sex scandal -- the real show did have something similar
-- He has a brother who is always messing up
-- He has a troubled relationship with a Catholic priest
-- He has a moral conflict over killing people and doing the right thing
-- There's an intersection of the fixer's personal life and professional life
-- There's always a moral cliffhanger

Farrah Abraham is a porn hypocrite ...she CLAIMS she's not a porn star and is fighting the release of a sequel to her first flick but she's privately hounding porn producers to ante up a fortune in XXX royalties.

Farrah's first film -- "Backdoor Teen Mom" -- was released a year ago, yet it's still a top seller. TMZ has learned Farrah repeatedly called Vivid Entertainment last month for her quarterly royalty check. We found out Vivid wired her $93,927.72 for the last quarter of 2013.

We're told Farrah has received more than that amount from Vivid for previous quarters.

What's more ... Farrah got in the high 6 figures to shoot the flick.

As you may know ... she's been on a soapbox recently, proclaiming she's a mother and an author but not a porn star.

As for the sequel ... she can forget about it. We know she signed away all of her rights to videos Vivid might want to make from the original footage with James Deen. As a matter of fact, a Vivid source says "Expect a third one."

Word of advice to NBA players ... wrap it up TIGHT for All-Star weekend -- 'cause the gold-diggers are heading to New Orleans IN DROVES ... so says Mannie Fresh, one of the most powerful guys in rap.

Mannie -- who'll be judging a rap contest in the Big Easy this weekend -- tells TMZ Sports, "It's going down. There's gonna be a lot of chicks lookin' to get theirs ... ogling salaries."

He's right ... and one of the spots the wallet-chasers are sure to hit up is The Maison -- where Manny and Portland Trailblazers stud Damian Lillard are judging the "4-Bar Friday" freestyle rap contest.

FYI -- Lillard created the "4-Bar Friday" challenge on social media ... where people post videos of themselves trying to spit 4 lines of a rap.

Tons of NBA stars have posted their best "4-Bar Friday" attempts online in the past ... including LeBron James, Paul George, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and even Damian himself.

No word if all those superstars are hittin' up the party -- but Manny says one thing's for sure ... "There will be a lot of people with a lot of money."