Money

T.I. shouted it from the rooftops -- get in on the ground floor of the cryptocurrency he and a biz partner launched and get rich ... according to the lawsuit filed by investors, who say all they got was flat broke.

The crypto was called FLiK Token and it was created in August 2017 by T.I. and ATL businessman Ryan Felton. The pissed off investors say the opening price was 6 cents per token, but Felton said it would be worth $14.99 within 15 months. Little quick math for ya -- that would be a nearly 25,000% increase!!!

But, according to docs, obtained by TMZ, the get-rich-quick scheme backfired. About 2 dozen plaintiffs say the tokens initially jumped from 6 cents to 21 cents, but cut to August 2018 ... and they're worth LESS than a penny, each.

The investors say Felton was all over social media talking about big-time investors, and claim he even insinuated Mark Cuban was coming on board. Additionally, Kevin Hart tweeted a pic of himself with Tip, congratulating him on the FLiK launch.

The group says the coins are virtually useless now, and the failed venture collectively cost them more than $2 million. The investors' attorney tells us he filed the suit Thursday ... going after Felton and T.I. for at least $5 million.

More trouble for ex-NBA player Sebastian Telfair -- this time, it's money problems ... 'cause the 2004 1st-round NBA Draft pick is now in the hole for more than $40k to American Express.

It's all in a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports ... which shows the 33-year-old former high school phenom never paid his $43,051.69 bill to the credit card company -- and now they're trying to collect.

Shocking considering Telfair -- a once promising player -- reportedly made more than $19 million during his 10-year career in the NBA.

It's just the latest in a string of problems for Telfair who was arrested in June 2017 after cops say he was illegally in possession of a bunch of guns, bullets and weed.

Telfair's case went in front of a judge this week -- and his attorney argued to have the charges dropped. But, the judge denied Telfair's request and the case will move forward.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Beto O'Rourke is trying to ride the blue wave in the Texas senate race, and if he pulls off a huge upset and unseats Sen. Ted Cruz, he's gonna be thanking the green wave coming from Tinseltown.

We dug through 2018 Federal Election Commission filings to see which celebs were bucking up for Beto, and found lots of big contributions.

Sarah Jessica Parker, Jimmy Kimmel and Rosie O'Donnell have each thrown down $2,700 ... while Chelsea Handler plunked down $2,500 and Chris Rock has tossed in $1,000.

Beto also got $5,400 each from Connie Britton, Tate Donovan and 'Star Wars' director Rian Johnson.

Ilana Glazer dropped $2k and Ike Barinholtz chipped in $1,500.

We also found a $5,000 donation from Margot Perot, which is super interesting considering she's the wife of Ross Perot, the Texas mogul who failed twice in his bid for president.

Beto also cashed some fat checks from two huge screenwriters ... $5,400 each from David Koepp ("Jurassic Park" and "Mission: Impossible") and Nicholas Kazan ("Matilda" and "Enough").

Beto is currently behind Cruz in the polls ... but 'Real Housewives of Dallas' star D'Andra Simmons still thinks the Congressman has a real shot to pull off an upset ... and the money flowing in from celebs is certainly playing a role in the most closely-watched election in the country.

Alex Trebek is sticking around on "Jeopardy!" for at least a few more years -- the host just agreed to a contract extension after making a lot of noise about retirement.

Alex's new deal with Sony Pictures TV will keep him dropping clues through the 2021-22 TV season, and you gotta figure they backed up the Brinks truck for him. Remember, he flat out told Harvey Levin earlier this year on "OBJECTified" ... there was a better chance than not he'd step down when his contract ended in 2020.

Alex even talked about possible replacements, certainly making it seem he was dead serious about quitting.

Seems like a brilliant negotiating move -- although we don't know for sure that was his goal -- because Sony locked him down for 2 additional years. AT's been hosting "Jeopardy!" since 1984.

Megyn Kelly has told NBC she will not spill whatever beans she has on the network and the people who work there ... but at a hefty price.

Sources familiar with the negotiations tell TMZ ... NBC offered Kelly $38 million, which the network says represents the balance owed on her contract. As we reported, Megyn was pulling in around $25 mil a year and she was one year and some change into the 3-year deal.

We're told NBC attached a pretty standard string ... a confidentiality agreement. Her lawyer said his client would sign on the dotted line ... for an additional $10 million. We're told NBC told the attorney to pound sand.

NBC definitely has cause for concern ... Kelly wrote a book, "Settle for More," in which she targeted Fox News Channel, and she has been critical of the network since her exit.

We're told settlement negotiations are ongoing.

The Daily Mail first reported the $10 million demand.

Katy Perry's family and friends just scored HUGE, thanks to her scooping up a quaint little guest house. Kidding ... she bought 'em a freakin' mansion!

Take a look at Katy's SECOND home in Bev Hills -- it's 4 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms spread over 4,400 square feet. It's got French doors opening out to a kick-ass outdoor area for entertaining, and a pool area for 90210 lounging.

The crib is in a gated community which has also been home to Ellen Degeneres, Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, Jennifer Lawrence, Adele ... and also Katy. Yeah, she bought a $19 million, 5 bedroom spread last year in this hood.

Don't worry ... Katy's not downsizing. She's keeping the OG place, deciding to add the second as a place for family and friends to stay when they're in town.

Asking price on the new home is $7.5 million, and we're told she's paying close to that. All the contingencies have cleared, and we're told the deal will close next month.

One high-end real estate developer is going green ... building weed-friendly mansions for athletes, CEOs and celebs looking to harvest their own herb at home and take advantage of the plant's healing powers without ever having to get off the couch!

Ramtin Ray Nosrati of Huntington Estate Properties is building 5 marijuana mansions in Bel-Air and Westside, and each residence contains a cannabis conservatory ... it's basically a stoner's spin on a cigar room, specifically designed for blazing up and growing ganja.

The individual homes -- call them the houses that hemp built -- are being advertised to active and retired athletes who are interested in at-home, anti-inflammatory medicine for daily life ... because THC and CBD can do wonders for all the physical and mental stress that comes with being one of the world's elite ballers.

Check out the gallery ... the special cannabis room inside each home comes with its own dedicated harvester, who will work magic for 2 years cultivating, watering, fertilizing and harvesting crops and/or vegetables using organic hydroponics. In Los Angeles, you can grow up to 6 plants in your home. Sounds dank!

Khabib Nurmagomedov is a bigger star than Conor McGregor -- so says his manager -- and therefore deserves MORE MONEY than Conor ... which he why he wants at least $50 mil for his next fight.

We spoke with Ali Abdelaziz who argues Khabib has become a "global superstar" -- who's met with some of the most powerful leaders in the world.

Ali says Khabib's reach is bigger than ever -- and he wants UFC to come to the table with a paycheck that reflects how big of a star he's become.

"Come on, man! You have a guy meeting with Putin, [President of Turkey] Erdogan. And, the other guy selling liquor on the corner store. It's not even in the f**king same planet."

Ali says Khabib would consider a rematch with McGregor if the price is right -- but, this time, Conor will get an even worse beating.

"I really want to see [Conor] drink his own blood," Ali says ... "He talked a lot of sh*t. He didn't back it up. Embarrassed himself in front of his whole beautiful country of Ireland, his father, his mother, his wife."

Demi Lovato wants to unload the home where she almost died, but turns out there are problems selling it and they have nothing to do with her overdose.

Real estate sources tell TMZ, the house has some issues. Demi turned the garage into a combo of a space for security, a glam room and a wardrobe room. There is no covered place to park a car.

On top of that, someone installed a security gate that seems to encroach on public property ... so much so that there's a city streetlight on her side of the gate.

Both issues are obviously correctable, but at a cost.

There was also a major landslide next door and, although it's stabilized, it's still dicey until the City of L.A. corrects the problem.

Demi listed the house 56 days ago for $9,495,000 and then reduced it to $8,995,000.

She paid $8.3 million back in 2016 and we're told sunk she around $800,000 into the home for improvements.

The good news ... she'll unload it for the right price and move on.

We're told Demi is successfully continuing her rehab ... more than 90 days after her OD.

The Pittsburgh Penguins will honor the victims and families of those affected by this weekend's Synagogue shooting by wearing a special "Stronger Than Hate" patch on their jerseys Tuesday night.

The team says it will also donate $50,000 to help victims -- and will give all proceeds from the evening's 50/50 raffle to the cause.

There's more ... each player -- from Sidney Crosby to Evgeni Malkin -- will sign their jerseys after the game against the New York Islanders and donate them to be auctioned off with proceeds helping the victims.

As we previously reported ... 11 people were murdered after an anti-Semitic shooter opened fire inside the Tree of Life synagogue on Saturday.

The Pearson household has been broken yet again -- only this time it happened in real life at Chrissy Metz's place after she was burglarized while out of town ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us someone broke into the "This Is Us" star's L.A.-area home Monday night around 8 PM. We're told her assistant came to the house because an alarm had gone off, and realized a person had just been inside.

BTW ... Chrissy was in NYC Monday for an appearance on the 'Tonight Show' with Jimmy Fallon. So, she wasn't home at the time of the break-in.

Our sources say someone smashed through Chrissy's back bedroom window and took a couple of purses -- unclear what the total loss is in dollars. We're told Chrissy's heading back to L.A. Tuesday to complete a report.

It's unknown if Chrissy was specifically targeted or if this was random. As we reported ... police recently nabbed several alleged burglars who hit celeb homes, and even had a list of future celeb homes they planned to take down.

Alex Rodriguez's ex-wife, Cynthia, says he has NO business calling her out for not working because he's the one who demanded she leave the workforce in the first place.

Cynthia is firing back after A-Rod griped about her refusal to put her master's degree in psychology to work. It's just one of the reasons he wants to drastically reduce the $115k/month in child and spousal support he's been paying since their divorce in 2008.

Cynthia thinks the former MLB superstar is way off base with his claims, telling TMZ, "To ensure that our daughters had a stable upbringing, and given his extensive traveling, Alex requested that I discontinue working and make parenting my primary focus."

Our sources say Alex is pissed because he claims Cynthia now has millions in the bank, 3 homes and multiple cars. With his income reduced by 90 percent, due to retirement, A-Rod doesn't think he should have to bankroll Cynthia any longer.

In the statement, provided by her attorney, Maurice Kutner, Cynthia throws some shade at A-Rod too, telling us ... "I find it terribly disheartening, shocking and disappointing that Alex has resorted to reporting falsehoods. Why he seeks sympathy from the press and public baffles me."

Tekashi69 bailed from a homecoming concert at the last minute, angering thousands of fans and costing event promoters a fortune ... TMZ has learned.

Tekashi was a no-show for a huge concert Sunday during Howard University Homecoming weekend ... and promoters say they lost about $300k after issuing refunds to over 3,000 people.

We're told 6ix9ine canceled 35 minutes before doors opened at Echostage in D.C., forcing organizers to turn away about 400 people who were waiting in line.

Meanwhile, Tekashi was a couple hundred miles away performing at Powerhouse in New Jersey.

Sources say Tekashi was paid $60k in advance for the Homecoming show ... and it's the second concert he's canceled with the promoter.

We're told attorneys for the promoter are considering taking legal action against 6ix9ine.

A rep for Howard University says this concert was not affiliated with the University. It was an unofficial event organized by promoters.

Stacey Abrams already has Hollywood in her corner in her bid to be Georgia's new governor -- and now she's got one of its leading men canvassing for her ... Mr. Will Ferrell.

Will was on the ground this weekend, going door-to-door for Abrams' Democratic campaign and encouraging people to vote early. He was definitely in good spirits about it too -- flashing a thumbs up with a clipboard in hand and a "Stacey Abrams for Governor" T on.

Ferrell even gave his official pitch for Abrams in a video posted to the official Georgia Democrat Twitter account, telling young voters to turn out for issues that affected them.

This definitely isn't the first sign of Tinseltown backing the GA governor hopeful. We broke the story ... Abrams has received tons of financial donations to her campaign from folks like John Legend, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Jada Pinkett Smith and more.

A terrifying gun threat made against Lil Xan earlier this month -- that triggered a concert cancellation -- is now the subject of a criminal investigation ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us cops are investigating a series of threats made against Xan earlier this month. We're told it centers around videos and photos posted by St. Louis rapper VladHQ that show him with multiple firearms and calling out Xan.

One disturbing video shows Vlad spraying bullets into a lake, calling Xan a "bitch" and asking for "smoke" at his scheduled Oct. 10 concert at The Pageant.

He also posted a photo of himself with what appear to be three AK-47s, with a caption that read ... "hi Lil Xan see ya later at your show."

Like we told you ... Xan went on to cancel his St. Louis show after the images surfaced, which police are clearly taking seriously.

Our sources say no arrests have been made, nor have any warrants been issued.

Antonio Sabato Jr. is limping to the finish line as the midterm elections approach ... because we've learned the former soap star's congressional campaign is dealing with tons of financial issues.

We dug through Federal Election Commission filings and discovered, since the start of last year, Antonio's campaign in California raised only $312,906.34 ... and Antonio has burned through most of the cash with less than two weeks until Election Day, because he's only got about $40k in his coffers.

Making matters worse for Antonio, we've discovered his campaign has over $44k in debts and loans ... meaning, the Republican candidate is taking this red thing way too seriously.

The bad news for Antonio keeps coming ... he and his election committee are being sued by a political consulting firm, which claims Antonio owes them over $34k. We're told Antonio personally signed the contract with the firm.

Antonio's funding is lagging far behind Democratic opponent Julia Brownley ... during the same period, she's raised more than $2.4 million and spent around $1.3 million.

We'll spare you the math headaches ... Antonio's opponent raised over $2 million more and outspent him by over $1 million.