Money

Mathew Knowles has a knack for finding financial trouble ... he just got socked with a big judgment by a company he hired to get him out of the money hole he dug for himself.

Check this out ... Beyonce's dad hired Platinum Tax Defenders to deal with Uncle Sam, who was all over his ass.

But Platinum doesn't come cheap ... charging more than $62,000 for 100 hours of work. Mr. Knowles paid a skosh over $37,000 and that's all she wrote ... so claims the tax company.

So, Platinum sued and Knowles was a no-show in court, so he got socked with a judgment north of $20k.

Despite the judgement, an attorney for Knowles tells us he still vehemently denies the allegations in the complaint.

A person close to Chris tells us ... the deal includes 10 shows and could earn him even more money than $50K per performance.

Chris Brown is on the verge of creating his own Vegas residency dynasty ... he just signed on with a big time nightclub.

Sources close to Chris tell TMZ, the singer inked a trial run type deal with Drai's to perform at least 6 shows at $50k per pop. We're told the club has been so impressed with the large crowds and great shows Chris has put on in the past, they've decided to test out a long term deal.

But that's not all ... our sources say Trey Songz is part of the deal and will be rotating with Chris. We're told the total talent fee investment is around $500k.

It's still a far cry from the cash J-Lo, Britney Spears and Mariah rake in, but hey -- you gotta start somewhere.

Let's just hope this time at Drai's, Chris doesn't lose his footing.

Sisqo’s not done getting paid for his biggest hit “Thong Song” … he’s fired off another lawsuit, this time against the company he says jacked more than half a million dollars of his royalties.

Sisqo says he hired 27 Red Music to collect royalties from various music publishing companies. 27 Red was supposed to get funds for all his music released between 1996 and 2005 ... which, of course, includes the '99 mega hit.

Sisqo says the company collected alright ... but failed to hand over $600,000 to him!

He wants all that dough, plus $3 million in punitive damages.

Irwin Winkler -- who produced a slew of huge hits including "Rocky," "Raging Bull" and "The Right Stuff," is suing Warner Bros., claiming the movie company hid millions of "Goodfellas" dollars from him.

Winkler, who produced "Goodfellas" in 1990 for $30 mil, says in his lawsuit Warner Bros. has repeatedly told him there were no net profits from the flick, and it actually lost money ... despite the fact it grossed $275 million.

Winkler says the movie company concealed "a vast amount of the film's actual receipts."

The core of the dispute seems to deal with home video sales, which Winkler says totaled more than $140 million.

A Warner Bros. spokesperson tells us, "The allegations are baseless and we will vigorously defend."

50 Cent has filed a lawsuit against a guy who he claims falsely represented to E! he wanted to do a reality show featuring a "young white girl" working at G-Unit.

50 claims he paid Andrew Jameson $270,000 to make deals for him, including TV projects. 50 says Jameson went rogue after his deal expired and went to E! and made a deal for 50 called "The Unit." Jameson suggested to a G-Unit employee to get a "young white woman" on board to make the show more sellable.

50 says in legal docs he was appalled when he found out, calling texts about the suggestion "highly offensive."

When 50 finally talked to E! to explain he didn't want to do a reality show, he was told Jameson had already closed the deal. 50 says he refused to do the show and it "severely damaged" his relationship with NBCUniversal, E!'s parent company.

50 wants all sorts of damages, totaling more than $800k.

Kylie Jenner dropped major stacks to have her favorite fancy Bev Hills restaurant come to her, just because she caught a case of the lazy Sundays.

Kylie was craving Philippe Chow -- the uber popular Chinese restaurant -- but didn't feel like trekking 45 minutes from her Calabasas pad, especially not on Sunday Funday. So instead, she opted for take-out ... the ultra rich way.

We're told KJ dropped $5k to have Philippe Chow send a private chef to feed 5-10 friends.

Nothing too fancy on the menu -- fried rice and chicken and shrimp satay. Normies ordering at the restaurant only drop about $10.95 for fried rice, and $15.95 for the satay ... so $5,000 = leftovers!

Someone's really getting used to having money to burn ... or sautée.

Ron White's former assistant says he's no embezzler, because everything he spent on White's dime was with the comedian's approval.

Brendan Vaughn insists White gave him carte blanche to write checks totaling thousands of dollars. White begs to differ ... claiming Vaughn bought clothes, paid for hotel rooms and racked up credit card bills on his dime.

Vaughn insists White and his wife knew he was buying all the stuff and never complained, including White's business manager who keeps track of all the bills.

And Vaughn says, all of the charges were work-related, and the hotel and clothing charges were purchased for events he attended with the Whites.

Hillary Clinton opened the door ... pouncing on the Republican candidates for weak suggestions on which woman should grace the new $10 bill, but you gotta see how she answers when we put the question to her.

Clinton was doing the candidate thing -- signing autographs Sunday in Georgetown when our man Colin asked if Maya Angelou should be in the running. Her response: "I was sort of amazed that the Republicans couldn't think of one American woman."

Not entirely accurate -- there were a couple nods for Rosa Parks and Susan B. Anthony, but yeah ... they also said Margaret Thatcher and Mother Teresa.

But then Clinton added, "I could give them a really long list if they're interested."

Alright, door's wide open, sooo ... watch what happens when Colin asks for that list.

Corey Feldman landed the role of a lifetime ... villain in a real-life disaster movie. It's a life or death scenario and his co-star is the California drought.

SCENE: A gated home in suburban Encino, CA, with plenty of trees and grass.

Dept. of Water and Power operator: "Mr. Feldman, it seems you haven't paid your water bill for 2011. We don't mean to bother you but you owe $6,170.18

Corey: Yeah, yeah, you'll get your money. My business manager's on it.

Operator: Mr. Feldman, we are in the middle of a drought, and I can't help but notice you do a lot of watering.

Corey: Trees gotta eat. Grass has gotta grow.

Operator: Mr. Feldman, if we don't get our money pronto, we have no choice. We'll have to take you to court.

Corey: Do what you gotta do.

SCENE: 4 Weeks later ... Los Angeles Superior Court:

Judge: Calling the case of DWP vs. Corey Feldman. Is counsel present?

DWP Lawyer: I'm Abe Silverstein for the DWP, your honor.

(silence)

Judge: It seems Mr. Feldman's lawyer is not present. Default for DWP

(Judge slams gavel)

Stephen Baldwin just can't catch a break ... it looks like he's fallen behind on his taxes again ... this time to the tune of more than $90k.

According to legal docs he owes $30k to the state of New York and another $60k to Uncle Sam himself.

It's not the first time Baldwin's had collectors at his doorstep ... back in 2012 he was arrested for dodging his tax returns. He was ordered to pay the state of NY $300k.

Tyga is getting hit from every angle on the money front.

Kylie's BF just got slapped with a tax lien from the State of California to the tune of $19,124.98. He allegedly shorted the Golden State on his 2009, 2010 and 2011 tax bills.

$20k would ordinarily be chump change for a rapper at his level, but he already owes his landlord $70k in back rent, and has lawsuits piling up.

It's also not the first time Uncle Sam has come after Tyga ... the feds hit Tyga last year with a $100k delinquent bill.

Former NBA superstar Larry Johnson was nearly a million bucks in the hole with one of his baby mamas -- but he found a way to make her happy ... hand over the keys to a house!!

NFL safety Sanders Commings is taking swag to a new level -- the ex-Kansas City Chief is slangin' socks with friggin' 24k gold stitched right into 'em.

Sanders is a free agent right now, on the mend from a knee injury, but his pimped out plan B is his company Young Hearted Socks -- and the brand's most unique design has to be the Honeycomb.

Commings tells TMZ Sports each sock has a 1/2 gram of gold, and a pair will set you back $150.

The best part? Commings and his partner, Kyle Green, say they're donating 10% of Honeycomb profits to the Atlanta Children's Shelter.

Swag for a cause ... darn genius.

Move over Ashley Madison ... the infamous, mysterious Heidi Fleiss black book is about to go on sale on eBay ... TMZ has learned.

The book was the talk of the town back in '93 when the Hollywood Madam was at the top of her game.

Fleiss' threat to make her "black book" public sent shock waves through Hollywood. At the time, the only name she publicly identified was Charlie Sheen, who acknowledged he was a customer.

Fleiss was the daughter of a well-respected, L.A. pediatrician, and she used her family connections to amass an A-list clientele. She told Larry King, "These are the richest people on earth that I'm dealing with ... They'll pay $3 million on a hand of blackjack and have five hands going."

As for the book, it's 28 pages, encased in a red Gucci planner. The people selling the book on eBay say the names include actors, musicians, sports figures, agency execs and politicians.

The man who played meth mastermind Walter White has moved to greener and bigger pastures, so he just unloaded his modest digs for a return that would humiliate the diabolical chemistry teacher.

Bryan Cranston just sold his North Hollywood condo he bought in 2008 ... pre-"Breaking Bad" but post- "Malcolm in the Middle." The digs are relatively small -- 1,270 sq. ft. with 2 bedrooms and 3 baths.

He bought the place for $451,500 and just sold it for $497,000. Walter made 1,000 times that in one transaction.

But don't cry for Bryan. He has other properties in L.A. and is doing just fine.

Walking in a Kanye West fashion show will get you paid AND a pair of impossible-to-find Yeezys.

West debuted his Yeezy Season 2 collection Wednesday at New York Fashion Week and we're told his models left with a $1,000 payday and a pair of Yeezys.

Here's the thing ... the shoes are completely sold-out and going for ridiculous prices on eBay -- one kid even offered his pair for a kidney -- so they can mean an even bigger return on investment.

Our model sources say West was super hands-on backstage calling the shots, even sewing models into the clothes when necessary. We're told anyone who had to jet to another show right after would have the shoes sent directly to their front door.

Kanye West ... worthy of one of those "world's greatest boss" mugs.