Money

"Yes. Yes ma'am." These are the words a movie extra believes are worth a fortune ... words he brilliantly delivered in "Titanic" ... words over which he is now suing.

The extra -- a guy named Vi Jay -- has filed the lawsuit against 20th Century Fox, claiming he was cast as a non-speaking background actor in the embarking scene at the beginning of the movie. Vi says the day of the shoot, James Cameron spontaneously gave him a career-changing line.

"Yes. Yes ma'am." Vi delivers the line to Kathy Bates' character as she hands him her luggage.

Vi says he was paid a measly $60 a day -- per his agreement as an extra -- but now says the line he delivered entitles him to SAG (Screen Actors' Guild) benefits, specifically RESIDUALS.

And Vi might have a point -- we spoke to a rep from SAG, who says actors with speaking roles (no matter how small) are typically entitled to residual money.

An ex-business partner of the real "Wolf of Wall Street" is suing Martin Scorsese and Paramount for $25 MILLION because he claims they made him look like a hooker banging, toupee-wearing party animal ... which he partly denies.

TMZ has learned Andrew Greene -- a former exec at Stratton Oakmont -- filed a federal lawsuit which claims the Oscar nominated flick defamed the hell out of him by portraying him as a criminal and a drug user ... but perhaps worst of all ... it mocked his premature hair loss.

In the suit, filed by Greene's lawyer Stephanie Ovadia ... he says his real life co-workers -- including Jordan Belfort (Leo DiCaprio's character) -- gave him the nickname "Wigman" due to the rug he wore.

In the movie, Greene is portrayed through the character Nicky "Rugrat" Koskoff -- played by P.J. Byrne -- and just as Greene claims in his suit ... co-workers mock the guy's hair piece pretty mercilessly.

According to the suit, Greene's also pissed about the movie's portrayal of him doing illegal and unethical activities ... such as screwing hookers in front of co-workers.

Greene claims the characterization has damaged his professional rep as an investment banker -- and the filmmakers never got his permission to use his name, likeness or identity.

Not only does he want $25 mil in damages from Paramount and Scorsese's production company -- he also wants them to hand over all copies of the film ... and yank it out of theaters.

Brian McKnight claims his accountant was so fraudulent, so deceptive ... the money man stooped to secretly getting a United States congressman to help cover up his misdeeds.

McKnight has filed a lawsuit against Vernon Brown and Company, claiming Brown ruined his life by not paying ANY of Brian's taxes for close to a decade ... resulting not only in more than a million bucks in back taxes, but more than $500K in penalties and interest.

Here's how bad McKnight says it got ... In the lawsuit he claims Brown knew he screwed up and secretly contacted Congressman Henry Waxman and gave him a phony sob story that got Waxman to contact the IRS and get McKnight back on an installment plan.

McKnight says Brown was so bad he screwed up the installment plan and the taxes were never paid.

McKnight says his credit is now crap, his house has a lien, his music royalties have been frozen and his life is in shambles. Not only that, McKnight says his driver's license has been suspended for failing to pay back taxes, and because his son shares the same name HIS license was suspended as well.

And here's an honor no one wants ... McKnight says he landed on California's Top 500 Delinquent Taxpayers.

Something he can put on his mantle ... next to his Soul Train Music Award.

Famed choreographer Wade Robson is full of BS when he says he waited years to file a molestation claim against the Michael Jackson Estate on grounds of repressed memory ... so says the Estate's lawyer who wants the case thrown out.

Robson has filed a claim with the Estate asking for $$$ based on his sexual abuse claim, but Estate lawyer Howard Weitzman has fired back in legal docs ... the fat lady sung on Wade 4 years ago.

Weitzman says in order to pursue a claim Wade should have filed his case within 60 days of learning MJ's Estate was in probate court ... and pretty much everyone knew that because it made news around the world.

Weitzman actually got Robson to admit in a deposition he KNEW about the guardianship dispute involving Michael's kids back in 2009 ... so his claim of ignorance just doesn't hold water.

Robson claims he delayed in filing his claim because of repressed memory.

A judge has yet to rule on Robson's right to press a claim.

As we reported, Robson first went on the offensive last year, claiming MJ "performed sexual acts on me and forced me to perform sexual acts on him" from the age of 7 ... until Robson was 14.

Wade had previously denied MJ molested him during the singer's 2005 molestation trial, but says the old testimony was a lie ... and that Michael had engaged in a campaign of manipulation to keep him silent.

Robson is demanding money from the Jackson estate as compensation for the alleged abuse.

Rapper Cam'ron kicked some dude's testicles into the back of his throat Monday night in Vegas ... and it only cost him a reasonable $20.

Here's how it all went down. Cam'ron ran into a ballsy street peddler who was playing let's make a deal -- his sign read, "Kick me in the nuts ... $20."

Cam'ron accepted the gentleman's offer and delivered David Beckham style. The street peddler collapsed in pain, Cam'ron paid his debt and went on his merry way.

Shaquille O'Neal hit up a famous college bar at LSU last night ... and watched some of the college kids kick each other in the balls ... GOOD TIMES!!!

Shaq rolled into Reggie's in Baton Rouge -- one of the storied bars in Tigerland (the nickname for the bar scene right off campus).

At some point in the evening, Shaq observed some bar patrons making a bet with each other -- one side lost -- and the penalty was a foot to the groin.

So, being the responsible journalist that he is, Shaq recorded the moment of truth ... and posted it to his Instagram page.

Lamar Odom has just signed a deal to play pro basketball in Spain ... but there are serious signs the whole thing is just a cheap Spanish publicity stunt.

Fact: Lamar just signed a deal with a team called Laboral Kutxa Vitoria.

Fact: Laboral Kutxa Vitoria is ranked 9th out of 18th in its league ... and LAST in its Euroleague group.

Fact: Lamar only signed a 2-month deal, which will take him through the end of the season.

Smells fishy ...

Here's the deal ... the team wants Lamar because they hope he sells tickets since they suck and a playoff run is super unlikely.

But Lamar thinks this could be his road back to the NBA -- despite the fact he's essentially been shut out of the league due to his history of substance abuse and bad decision-making.

Example #1 -- It was just a few months ago a wasted Lamar made a rap video with a friend in which he bragged about cheating on his wife Khloe Kardashian.

Example #2 -- Even after he was arrested for DUI and struggling with sobriety, Lamar was hitting up bars and nightclubs in L.A.

Example #3 -- A delusional Odom insisted there was "great interest" from multiple NBA teams when in fact, no one wanted to touch the guy.

Kevin Durant says his personal chef is for pleasure ... not for business ... and now KD is suing his accountant claiming the guy tried to screw over the IRS by making it seem the cook was an essential part of his NBA career.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Durant is going after Joel Elliott -- claiming Elliott got him in some deep trouble with Uncle Sam over the years by trying to write off several business expenses that clearly weren't business related.

Case in point -- Durant's personal chef.

In his lawsuit, Durant says, "Fees paid to a personal chef would not be regarded by a reasonably prudent accountant as qualifying for a business expense deduction."

Durant says the personal chef deduction was just one of MANY irresponsible accounting moves by Elliott that landed KD in hot water with the IRS.

In fact, Durant says his tax returns from 2007 to 2011 are so messed up, he had to hire another firm to fix what Elliott screwed up.

KD says the whole ordeal has cost him more than $200k -- and he wants Elliott to pay.

Ray Allen is worth between $200 and $300 MILLION DOLLARS ... and even though it's "not smart" for the guy to play high-stakes blackjack, Ray can afford it ... so says Kenny "The Jet" Smith.

The "NBA on TNT" analyst was leaving LAX yesterday when we asked him about Allen's $10k-per-hand blackjack run in Vegas over the weekend ... a run that didn't turn out well for Ray.

"It's not smart, but it's like $100 to him," Kenny said ... "He's got enough money to probably fund the hotel."

Then, after estimating Ray's ENORMOUS net worth, Kenny dropped some serious wisdom:

"A guy who can play $10k-a-hand in blackjack, I'm not worried about him ... it's the guy who's got ten dollars and loses ... that's the guy I'm worried about."

#true.

Josh Peck loves former co-star Drake Bell like a brother ... but Josh won't help his buddy crawl out of debt by making a "Drake & Josh" flick.

Peck was catching some rays on a bench in Manhattan Beach when our photog raised the issue of helping Drake score some quick cash.

As we previously reported ... Bell's in the hole to the tune of $581k -- and claiming he pulls in an anemic $2,820 a month compared to his monthly outlay of $18,771.

Since their Nickelodeon show went off the air in 2007 ... Peck's been pretty successful -- voicing both Eddie in the "Ice Age" films ... and Casey Jones on the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" show.

Atlanta residents beware -- Justin Bieber has been scoping out houses in Atlanta ... and one of the mansions he's eyeing is on BLACKLAND ROAD.

The 7-bedroom 16,000 sq. ft. house is located in the exclusive Buckhead district -- where Usher currently lives. Young Jeezy also calls Buckhead home.

It's listed for $10.95 million.

As we reported, Bieber wants to move to Atlanta to be closer to a thriving hip hop community -- and this house is extra special because it meets Bieber's list of Atlanta real estate criteria. After his Calabasas fiasco, sources tell us, Bieber's demands include an estate that:

-- Can't be visible from the street (preferably secluded on 5+ acres)
-- A minimum of 10,000+ sq. ft.
-- Lists for between $4 and $10 mil.

So far, we're told Bieber has breezed through multiple estates, and he's looking to buy ASAP.

As we previously reported ... Bieber is selling his Calabasas mansion and he's looking at large, private estates 20 miles from where he currently lives. Yes, he can afford 2 houses.

The NYC soup kitchen made famous by "Seinfeld's" Soup Nazi has an enormous problem with its stock ... a problem that has triggered a million dollar lawsuit.

It seems Soupman needed some quick cash, and a woman named Penny Hart came to the rescue. She claims in a new lawsuit she loaned Soupman a ton of cash ... in all she says she's owed more than $1.5 mil.

Hart says Soupman had 2 options -- either pay her back the money or give her 500,000 shares of stock in the company.

Short story -- Hart says Soupman screwed her and she's been stewing ever since. Now Hart wants payback.

A rep for Soupman says Penny will get the stock as soon as she holds up her end of the bargain. The rep didn't explain what she's supposed to do.

Loaning money to a soup kitchen is bisquey business.

Sean Combs didn't screw over his baby mama by allowing her home to go into foreclosure -- turns out she's the one who allegedly screwed HIM over by flaking on the payments.

TMZ broke the story ... Diddy and Misa Brim took out a $712K mortgage on a house she and their son would live in, but the bank claims monthly payments abruptly stopped in 2010, and now the house is destined for the auction block.

On the surface it sounds like big, bad Diddy turned his back on Misa, but we've obtained a legal doc that discloses there was a side agreement in which Misa clearly says SHE's responsible for paying the mortgage. Diddy's only involvement was putting his ass on the line so she could get the loan.

According to the agreement, Diddy claims if he had to pay to keep up the mortgage payments, she'd be responsible for paying him back. And he says he paid more than $28K to cover her, and he's actually sued her to get the money back.

A burglary at the home of legendary LSU baseball coach Skip Bertman was thwarted Saturday morning when someone in the house FOUGHT OFF the intruder ... cops say.

According to the Baton Rouge PD, cops were called to Bertman's pad around 4:40 AM ... after someone broke into the 75-year-old's home through a window.

Here's where things get crazy ... officials say the intruder was confronted by an unidentified male in the house ... who FOUGHT OFF THE BAD GUY!!!

Cops say the intruder eventually fled the home with a couple of small items and some cash ... but still, the guy had to leave with the shame of getting his ass kicked.

Police told TheAdvocate.com they believe the victim was targeted. Cops have not said if Bertman is the guy who brawled with the intruder ... or if he was even at the house at the time of the incident.

Ray Allen was LIGHTING UP a blackjack table in Vegas over the weekend ... dropping $10k per hand at the Bellagio ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

The Miami Heat superstar decided to try his luck with the cards on Saturday night ... and posted up at a $1,000 minimum table in the exclusive Club Prive high-rollers lounge.

You can check out his stack (don't worry, it's OK to look) ... it appears Ray was gambling with somewhere between 30 and 40 yellow chips ($1,000-a-pop).

Our casino sources who were there during the gambling run tell us Ray -- who once signed an $80 MILLION contract -- didn't have a great showing at the table ... and walked away empty handed.

Hopefully, he stayed long enough to get his free drink.

We reached out to Ray's camp for comment -- so far, no word back ... but you know somewhere, Charles Barkley is smilin'.

Chris Brown is the victim of EXTORTION ... and his lawyer is about to blow the whistle on the alleged evildoer ... so claims Brown's famous lawyer.

Malcolm Ausbon filed a lawsuit against Chris, claiming the rapper and 3 of his goons beat the crap out of him during a pick-up basketball game at 24-Hour Fitness.

TMZ has obtained a letter Ausbon's lawyer sent to Chris' legal eagle, Mark Geragos, demanding $250,000 from Chris ... OR ELSE. As for the "or else" ... the lawyer says if Brown doesn't pay, "Mr. Ausbon is placed in a position by the LAPD where he needs to decide whether he will press charges."

The lawyer continues, "He would rather be compensated."

THAT, Mark Geragos tells TMZ, is EXTORTION ... cleverly worded extortion, but extortion nonetheless.

Geragos says he's going after Ausbon by filing a police report.