Money

Lil Wayne will get every penny Birdman owes him, or else ... this according to powerful music honcho James Prince, who's jumping in to settle the longstanding beef.

Prince, the head of Rap-A-Lot Records, decided it was time to get involved when Wayne started talking about retiring due to the financial war with Cash Money. He tells TMZ, "Where [Wayne] is weak, I am strong. He has gained an ally, and together we will get back all money owed to him and my son off the Drake albums."

If you didn't know ... his son, Jas Prince, discovered Drake and set him up with Weezy and Young Money. James adds, "I witnessed the hard work that went into Drake's career and for Cash Money to try and take something that isn't theirs to take, does not sit well with me and family around the world."

Translation: We're putting the heat on Birdman to make things right with Wayne. Stat.

We're told the new alliance was hashed out last month backstage at Drake's D.C. show. You'll recall ... James also stepped in when Drake and Diddy were beefing -- delivering the now-infamous and menacing "courtesy call."

As we've reported ... Jas has his own beef with Cash Money -- so, it's clear the Prince family's decided there's strength in numbers when it comes to taking on Birdman.

Now we know why Wayne was bragging about his "family at Rap-A-Lot" always having his back ...

Actor Duane Martin bobbed and weaved his way out of paying to air the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto fight in his restaurant ... according to the company in charge of distributing the bout.

J&J Sports Productions says it had exclusive rights to license Floyd's last fight -- a year ago -- to bars, restaurants, hotels and casinos. But according to a lawsuit, Martin and his restaurant, XEN Lounge, straight-up jacked the feed.

In the docs, J&J says Martin illegally intercepted the feed and showed the fight at the restaurant ... which helped them make a bundle that night.

Depending on the capacity of XEN, it would've cost a few thousand to get the fight on the up and up. Now J&J is suing for damages in excess of $175k.

Mary J. Blige's estranged husband/ex-manager, Martin "Kendu" Isaacs, wants her to open up her deep pockets.

Kendu just filed his response to Mary's divorce petition, and it's clear one of the many things they don't see eye to eye on is spousal support. He's asking Mary to fork it over, but in her docs Mary said she wants the court to block him from getting it.

Kendu lists July 25th as the date of separation, even though she said it was "to be determined." It's interesting because all their assets could be shared up until that date, and Mary's clearly the breadwinner. It's still unclear if they have a prenup.

Prince's estate is out of control when it comes to canceling parties at Paisley Park -- and the guy planning a Make-A-Wish event says the move cost him tens of thousands of dollars.

Ricky Barron, the event planner, just filed docs saying he planned the Make-A-Wish Minnesota party that Bremer Trust -- which handles Prince's estate -- canceled, and now says he's owed a whopping $56k!

According to the docs, Barron says he lost out on his sizable consulting fees, and already laid out a ton on rental equipment and catering expenses.

Birdman is tired of being the fall guy for Lil Wayne, and insists there's no way Cash Money can drop "Tha Carter V" ... because Weezy's the one holding the master recordings.

Sources connected to Birdman tell TMZ ... Wayne's threat to retire isn't sitting well with the Cash Money honcho, who says the narrative he's holding the now-mythical album hostage ... is total BS.

We're told Weezy has the physical recording, and refuses to fork it over -- so Birdman feels like his hands are tied. For Wayne's part, we're told he'd be happy to give up 'Carter V' ... AFTER they work out the money.

Translation: Cash first, music second.

We're also told Weezy will never leak it on the Internet because he ain't giving it up for free.

In Wayne's original lawsuit, he said he was owed an $8 million advance for the record, plus another $2 mil upon its completion. We're told that amount, plus a few more million -- for past Young Money album sales -- would be the best shot for the record to see the light of day.

Soooo ... we're saying there's still a chance, but it's gonna take a lot of zeros.

Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses are raking in the dough these days, but Axl's way behind on paying the loyal engineer who stuck with the band in the lean years ... according to a lawsuit the guy just filed.

Axl cried poverty back in 2011 -- long before this year's hugely successful reunion tour -- and promised to pay Chris Pitman for services rendered ... down the road when he was more flush ... according to the docs.

Pitman says Axl wrote him a promissory note for the $125,000 he was owed for more than a year's worth of work. In the suit, he says that amount was supposed to be paid by Oct. 2012 -- but Axl never bucked up, and he's been radio silent ever since.

It's interesting, GNR has reportedly grossed more than $100 million already off its reunion -- so, you gotta figure Pitman ain't gonna buy the poor Axl routine now.

He says Axl now owes him more than $163k, due to interest.

The art that became the iconic poster for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" is hittin' the auction block, and it ain't gonna be cheap ... as in you'll have to trade in a car -- or 2 or 3 -- just to make a bid.

Heritage Auctions is selling the original art piece, which was painted by famed artist John Alvin -- who's also done art for "Star Wars," "The Goonies," "Blazing Saddles" and a bunch of other hit movies. We're told it should rake in $150,000 ... at the bare minimum.

At first, the piece belonged to Hollywood producer Bob Bendetson, who got it directly from Universal Studios years ago. It was hanging in his office for years, but now that his wife's turning that into a guest room -- he's ditching 'E.T.'

The artwork goes on the block October 12th. If you're on a budget, there's always the knockoff poster.

Add Brandi Glanville's name to the growing list of 'Housewives' with tax problems because Uncle Sam says she's on the hook for $112k.

The ousted 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star has been hit with a federal tax lien. The feds say she owes $29,396.35 from 2013, and $82,448.38 from 2014.

The timing is no coincidence. Brandi was promoted to a main cast member during season 3, the majority of which aired in 2013.

On the bright side ... it doesn't look like Brandi's as far in the hole as NeNe Leakes, who reportedly owes the IRS $824k, or Teresa and Joe Giudice, who are paying off a $261k tab to the state of NJ.

Neither Abby Wambach nor her wife will get the house in their divorce -- because Abby is selling it ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Abby bought the 4,000 square foot pad in Portland, Oregon back in 2012 ... one year before she tied the knot with Sarah Huffman. Sarah moved in when they got married in 2013.

But the couple split up after having trouble back in April -- and Abby put the place up for sale in August.

The place is AWESOME -- 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, breathtaking views and all the privacy you could want.

Wambach bought the place for $705k ... and she's listed it for $1.349 million. Not a bad profit if she can get it.

1:01 PM PST -- TMZ has confirmed Bill Clinton will appear at both events on Hillary's behalf.

Hillary Clinton's campaign charged up to a hundred thousand dollars for fundraisers in L.A. she may well not attend.

It's a big deal ... the rich and famous were expecting to rub elbows with Hillary at Seth MacFarlane's home. There was also an "intimate dinner with Hillary" at billionaire Barry Diller's estate.

For lunch at the "Family Guy" creator's pad -- donations start at $5k ... $10k gets you "co-host" status with preferred seating ... and for a whopping $33,400 you get a photo with HRC.

Dinner at the home of Barry and Diane von Furstenberg's a tad steeper -- $100k per couple.

The campaign said Monday Hillary will be back on the campaign trail by the middle or end of the week ... and it's likely she'll miss the 2 fundraisers due to pneumonia.

We're told the donors have already shelled out the money and received Secret Service clearance.

Prince's estate is a total party pooper after canceling a sold-out fundraiser at Paisley Park ... now party organizers say they're out hundreds of thousands of dollars and want their due ... this according to a new claim against the late singer's estate.

Bremer Trust -- which handles Prince's estate -- canceled the Mixed Blood Theatre's 40th Anniversary Gala that was to be held at the compound almost a month after Prince's sudden death. The theatre claims it's out $348,258 as a result.

According to the docs ... the theatre's losses are partly based on tickets and sponsorship that had to be refunded. About 1,000 people were reportedly expected to attend the event.

We've reached out to Bremer Trust, so far no word back.

7:52 AM PT -- More bad news for the server ...

TMZ Sports spoke with Jimmy Marcos -- co-owner of Ledo Restaurant in Maryland -- who tells us DeAngelo's server will be TERMINATED over her handling of the tip situation.

Long story short ... we're told the restaurant policy is "the customer is always right" and tipping is a reflection of the service -- not mandatory.

"We were in the wrong," Marcos says.

He also has a message for Williams -- "I want to offer anything I can do. I'll be sure to apologize in person next time he visits and pick up his next meal."

Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams is blasting restaurant workers who called him out on social media for not tipping ... saying point-blank -- THEY SUCKED AT THEIR JOBS.

It all started when the bartender at the restaurant went to Facebook and wrote:

"Just now at work I had Deangelo Williams come in and I waited on while tending bar. His check was $128.25. He left me $129 with no tip but .75 cents. So there you go Stealers fans, your running back is cheap as s**t!!! Smh."

Williams found out about the social media shaming and lashed back -- claiming the service was so terrible, a 75 cent tip was TOO GENEROUS.

"I tried to leave exact change but couldn't," Williams said ... "I waited on my food for over 1.5 hours."

(For the record, the waitress claims he was only there for 45 mins).

So, what was allegedly so bad?

For starters, "She never asked for refills," Williams says.

But what really pissed him off -- "I ordered chicken and shrimp in my pasta they put it on my salad."

When he pointed out the mistake, "They took it back and removed it from salad and put It in my pasta leaving a shrimp tail in the salad."

Williams says "terrible service" means terrible tip.

"I use to wait tables and use to be a bag boy so I know what I'm doing here."

One half of LMFAO is sounding off at the other claiming despite family ties he's been left in the dust.

Sky Blu posted a scathing letter on Facebook about Redfoo, who's also his uncle, calling him out for ditching him after he suffered a debilitating back injury.

Sky, who now goes by 8ky, is trying to drop his new solo LP but says Redfoo's lawyers fired off a letter saying he gets zero LMFAO royalties ... money he needs to underwrite his album. He says he's also been unsuccessful getting his share of money held up by Rick Ross' lawsuit against the group.

8ky claims Redfoo pushed him out of LMFAO and "just kept shuffling everyday without me," going as far as using their trademark party rock theme on his own solo LP.

8ky also sounded off on their label, Interscope, saying it needs to "stop treating artist like cows and chickens and using them for all they can produce and then just discard them without a care."

It's kinda history repeating itself. They're both blood related to Berry Gordy, founder of Motown ... a label that had its fair share of royalty fights.

Tupac's estate is pissed yet another person is trying to take advantage of his art, and plans to block the sale of his handwritten lyrics to "Catchin' Feelings."

Pac's estate claims managers and employees had a fire sale after the rapper's death -- selling off tons of his personal property -- but says it is the rightful owner of all his lyrics and written creations, because he never sold any of them.

As we reported, memorabilia company Moments in Time plans to sell the original lyric sheet on Sept. 13th ... the 20th anniversary of Pac's death.

The estate says it has rewarded people who unknowingly get Tupac's stuff if they return it -- but adds it is "aggressively pursuing" those who purposely try to exploit his memory.

Translation: There's a lawsuit brewing.

Moments in Time owner Gary Zimet thinks the estate has no claim, and says it's full steam ahead for the sale.

Miley Cyrus' baby sister, Noah, is joining the family biz ... and it's already paying off with six figure deals before she's recorded a hit.

16-year-old Noah signed 2 contracts -- one that will pay her $250k for recording her first album and another, for writing that album, will get her $100k ... this according to docs obtained by TMZ.

And there are a million more reasons for her to follow in Billy Ray, Miley and Trace's footsteps. If the first album's a hit she can get up to a $1.5 million advance for the second!

Minimum wage ... it's not for every teenager.

Nelly might wanna tighten his belt, he's staring down one of the biggest celeb tax liens we've ever seen ... topping the $2 mil mark!

Uncle Sam nailed Nelly with a $2,412,283 federal tax lien in August. The tab is so big, the IRS could start seizing his assets and property.

He's also got state tax trouble -- earlier this year, the Missouri Department of Revenue said the St. Louis rapper owed $149,511 in unpaid state taxes from 2013. He originally owed a mere $113,533 ... but interest is a bitch.

Sources close to Nelly tell us he's already working with the tax authorities to resolve the issues.