Money

Liana Liberato is not a household name in Hollywood yet but the 17-year-old actress is already getting the Jennifer Lawrence treatment ... pocketing a cut of her upcoming film's box office profits.

Liana's landed a starring role in the coming-of-age flick "Dear Eleanor," about two Eleanor Roosevelt fangirls set in 1962. It's being directed by Kevin Connolly, aka "E" from "Entourage," and also stars Jessica Alba and Isabelle Fuhrman.

Liana's getting $65k off the bat for the role ... pretty low by Hollywood standards, probably because it's an indie and she's a newbie.

But there's a silver lining ... if the film makes back its money, Liana will get 2% of gross profits. And she'll get a $35k bonus if the film hits $10 million and another $35k for each $5 mill after that.

Athletic clothing giant Puma -- home of Usain Bolt -- is trying to pull a fast one by capitalizing on New York City's hipster movement, but it's using a trademarked logo to do it ... according to a new lawsuit.

Puma recently started putting "LES NYC" -- shorthand for NYC's hipster mecca Lower East Side -- on some of its kicks, according to docs filed by Robert Lopez ... the honcho at LES Clothing Co.

In his suit, Lopez says his company's been using the initials on hats, shoes, hoodies, and more since 1999. Lopez says he has a trademark, and Puma's gear is confusing fans of his brand. Busta Rhymes and DJ Khaled are among the NY celebs who rock Lopez's line.

"Botched" star Dr. Terry Dubrow has put out an APB for a woman he says ripped him off ... and if you help him, he'll make you rich.

Dubrow claims he was suckered into loaning a lifestyle management company $1.75 million. He says Jennifer Bell, the owner of the company, promised a hefty return on the loan ... a quarter of a million bucks ... but he only got back $125k so he sued her.

Jennifer went MIA and Dubrow won the case. When she didn't pay the $2 million judgment, he got an order forcing her to come to court and disclose where she kept her money so he could seize it.

Of course, Jennifer never showed and a judge issued a warrant for her arrest. Dubrow decided to incentivize people to help find her so he's offering $25k for anyone with info leading to her capture.

The man Gilbert Arenas paid to watch over his NBA fortune, ended up helping the former NBA superstar's assistant rob him blind ... according to a massive lawsuit Gilbert just filed.

Gilbert is gunning for Lester Knispel and Boulevard Management ... the company he says he hired in 2006 to control his cash flow, of which he had plenty. You'll recall, Arenas signed a $111 million contract with the Washington Wizards in 2008.

She was late .... for a very important date -- so claims a Vegas nightclub which is suing for a refund on the $236,000 it paid Nicki Minaj after she allegedly botched a club appearance after the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight.

According to the lawsuit, Nicki was booked to appear at Chateau Nightclub in the Paris hotel at 12:00 AM sharp after the May 2nd fight ... stay for an hour ... and perform 2 songs.

Problem is ... people behind the event claim Minaj didn't show up until 1:19 AM and only stayed for 34 minutes. They're pissed -- because they allegedly pre-paid Nicki's people.

The party people say the clubgoers were equally pissed -- and it affected their ability to sell VIP tables at the club that night, which were expected to fetch in excess of $25,000 each.

Nicki isn't named a defendant in the lawsuit -- but her booking company is, Pink Personality, LLC.

Now we know how 50 Cent keeps his body so swoll -- he drops a fortune to keep a trainer by his side nearly 24/7.

In fact, according to docs filed in his bankruptcy case obtained by TMZ ... the rapper pays more than $3k a month in workout expenses. A big chunk of that -- $2,800 to be exact, goes to his trainer, Jay Cardiello.

Jay has talked about working with 50 before, saying he pretty much eats, sleeps and breathes with 50 ... since they train together 3 times everyday.

And get this, despite the fact 50 hasn't had a #1 hit on Billboard's Hot 100 since 2003 ... he still makes $36k per month in royalties.

Sure, he wants to take him for $100,000 ... but Oscar De La Hoya says Jay Z is GREAT for the sport of boxing ... unlike Floyd Mayweather.

The Golden Boy just ripped Floyd in a "farewell letter" in Playboy ... claiming the sport will be BETTER without him in it.

But when we saw Oscar at LAX moments ago, he had a completely different opinion about Jay Z -- who's been loading up his Roc Nation Sports roster with big name boxers.

"He's great," Oscar said of Jay Z ... "He's a breath of fresh air."

Oscar and Jay also have a $100k bet (for charity) on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Miguel Cotto fight -- since Oscar reps Canelo and Jay reps Cotto.

Bryant McKinnie says he's CHANGED HIS MIND -- and refuses to pay off a guy who claims the ex-NFL star beat him up in 2013 ... even though he already signed a settlement agreement.

It's a crazy story ... McKinnie admits he went to mediation with Alexis Bernier last year and initially agreed to fork over $15k after Alexis accused him of roughing him up at Club Play in 2013.

But Bryant says he did NOTHING WRONG -- and only signed the settlement agreement because his lawyers told him it would be the easiest way to make the whole thing go away.

So, instead of cutting a check, McKinnie has refused to pay Alexis jack squat -- and Alexis has now sued to collect, claiming Bryant has reneged on a legally binding deal.

How does Bryant feel about the lawsuit?

"I don't care."

He adds, "They've been threatening to go to the media with it for over a year. I can't let him just take advantage of me when I know I did nothing wrong."

It's a risky gamble for Bryant -- because if Alexis wins the lawsuit, a judge can make moves to seize Bryant's assets to satisfy the judgment ... including cars, houses, you name it.

Bryant says he's not scared.

Taylor Swift isn't completely out of the woods in her "Shake It Off" lawsuit ... the guy who sued her plans to re-file with another judge who ISN'T so into T-Swift's music.

Jessie Braham tells TMZ it was unfair that his copyright infringement case against Taylor went to a judge who fangirled over the singer ... and ultimately tossed the suit. He thought the judge's dismissal -- filled with Swift's lyrics -- was kinda funny, but legally speaking ... he thinks it was BS.

Braham says he appreciates the judge leaving the door open for him to re-file, and he plans to do just that -- this time with more evidence Taylor jacked his song, "Haters Gone Hate."

Marshawn Lynch's generosity is spreading ... because the kid who got $500 from Beast Mode just got free $2,000 shoes from a company that also wants to help him become successful.

The kid at the center of the action is 17-year-old Terrance Downs -- who was mopping up at a Dallas McDonald's when Lynch walked in and they struck up a conversation about Lynch's Buscemi shoes.

Downs told Lynch about his plans to start a fashion store -- so Lynch gave him $500 so he could buy a pair of his own Buscemis to help get him on his way.

Now, we've learned Rob Heppler -- the co-founder of Buscemi -- found out about the story and was so moved, he reached out to the kid to help him on his journey.

In fact, he's hookin' the kid up with a pair of the multi-color 100mm kicks -- which retail at $1,950 (they're hand painted with gold plated hardware and real snakeskin leather).

"Marshawn's goal was to help Terrance grow," Heppler said ... "We felt that having him put his money toward starting his business would help that."

"Now, he'll look really sharp when he opens his boutique."

The Weeknd and Ed Sheeran don't just spare change for homeless vets in the street ... they drop bills, as one lucky guy found out.

The singers happened to leave Leo DiCaprio's birthday party Wednesday night in NYC right after each other, and both were approached by a guy who said he's an ex-soldier just looking for a warm meal.

The fact it was Veteran's Day probably helped his cause ... plus, it's been a really good year for Ed and Weeknd. But ultimately, we think it was the guy's hustle that scored him some cash.

2 Chainz is gunning for the woman he called a "thot" in that viral video ... according to her, and she says he's even put a hit out on her.

Christine Chisolm just filed new docs -- obtained by TMZ -- in her $5 million lawsuit, and says the rapper has visited the town where she lives to get info about her.

She says she was out for a run and a black Mercedes followed her, caught up to her and hit her ... injuring her arm.

And that's not all ... Christine says the 2 Chainz song "Watch Out" is about her. It includes lyrics like, "Shawty said she want 5 million, cause I told her to leave and call her a thot ... We waving that thing at your body, we waving that thing at your eye."

TMZ broke the story ... Chisolm sued 2 Chainz in July after a video surfaced of the rapper calling her a "thot." She says she lost her barbershop job as a result.

We reached out to a rep for 2 Chainz who had no comment.

Marshawn Lynch might be the BEST MCDONALD'S CUSTOMER EVER ... 'cause he gave $500 to a Mickey D's staffer last week ... because he wanted to help the kid out.

It all went down at McDonald's in Dallas last Sunday after the Seahawks beat the Cowboys -- when Beast Mode walked into the joint and struck up a conversation with 17-year-old Terrance Downs, who was mopping at the time.

"I told him I liked his shoes -- navy blue Buscemis -- and how I wanted to buy a pair and we all started talking," Downs tells TMZ Sports.

Lynch asked him about school and what he wanted to do in life, and Downs told him he's into fashion and wants to own a boutique one day.

That's when Lynch whipped out $500 and handed it over ... telling Downs, "If you're serious about getting those shoes, here's some money to help you get 'em. My job is to continue to see you grow."

A rep for the owner of the McDonald's confirmed the story -- adding, "Marshawn left a huge positive impact on Terrance."

The guy who claims Britney Spears' hit song "Piece of Me" jacked sexy moans from his sound library ... is backing down because the lawsuit was taking a huge piece of his wallet.

Kirk Rothum voluntarily dismissed the suit against Sony Music. You'll recall, Rothum went after Brit's label back in May, claiming the seductive "uhh" and "oh yeah" moans were ripped, without permission, from his sound library. Rothum says he never got a dime.

A source close to the case tells us Rothum decided to wave the white flag because he was tired of wasting money without the suit going anywhere.

We're told there's still a slight chance he could refile, but until Rothum's got money to burn -- looks like Sony's off the hook.

Turns out there's a mastermind behind the explosive success of Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas ... his name is Jay Z.

Sources tell us earlier this year, Jay's company, Roc Nation, quietly merged with Philymack, the management company that handles Demi and Nick.

We're told Jay took a keen interest in both singers and started engineering some pivotal career moves in late 2014 ... Nick appearing on the cover of Flaunt magazine in his underwear and playing in the Made in America Festival. He also put Demi in Vanity Fair magazine and got her on 'SNL.'

We're told Phil McIntyre, who owned Philymack, was supposed to make an announcement of the Roc Nation/Philymack merger months ago, but after Tidal flopped he and Jay decided to put it off.

Short story ... Jay's done a great job rebranding the youngins.

We reached out to Philymack and Roc Nation ... so far no word back.

Amy Schumer is the new George Jefferson ... now that she's richer than just about everyone, she's almost certainly moving to a deluxe apartment in the sky.

Schumer just listed her 1 bedroom, 1.5 bath NYC co-op for $2.075 million. It's a nice place for sure, with 2 wood-burning fireplaces and cool views of the city and a rooftop deck to boot.

But face it ... Amy's loaded now and her prospects only get better. She bought the place in October 2014, before her movie "Trainwreck" scored $138 million worldwide.