Money

Move over Ari Emanuel (he's a big agent), LeBron James is coming for your job ... 'cause now Hollywood star Octavia Spencer is crediting Bron with getting her equal pay on a new Netflix series.

Spencer -- an Academy Award-winning actress -- worked with LeBron on a biopic about Madam C.J. Walker (America's first black self-made millionaire) and spoke at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association panel at Sundance about how instrumental James was in helping her get fair pay.

"I have to say, when I was negotiating my deal for ‘Madam C.J.,’ LeBron James had to intervene."

Spencer has been incredibly vocal in the fight for equal pay for women in Hollywood, banding together with huge actresses like Jessica Chastain to demand their dollars, but Octavia told the press in Park City it has to be a group effort.

"We need all our male counterparts to be in the fight with us.”

Both Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov are effectively suspended for 6 months for their roles in the UFC 229 post-fight brawl.

Conor was hit with a $50,000 fine -- and will be eligible to fight again on April 6.

Khabib's suspension is a little different -- he was hit with a $500,000 fine and a 9-month suspension ... with the ability to get a 3-month reduction IF he makes an anti-bullying video.

Neither UFC star was present Tuesday when the case went in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. They each had lawyers appearing on their behalf.

The board agreed to a 9-month suspension for Khabib -- with the ability to reduce the suspension to 6 months if they're satisfied with Khabib's PSA video.

Khabib has about a month to complete his video if he wants to get the full 3-month reduction.

The suspension is retroactive to the Oct. 6 incident -- meaning if his PSA video is approved quickly, he'll be able to fight again in April.

Of course, Khabib went berserk after defeating Conor in the 4th round of his Oct. 6 fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas -- jumping out of the cage and fighting a bunch of people in Conor's corner.

Khabib's cousin, Abubakar Nurmagomedov -- an MMA fighter who was also involved in the brawl -- received a 1-year suspension and a $25,000 fine.

It's also worth noting ... the committee issued a stern warning to fighters regarding pre-fight trash talk -- saying possible suspensions could be levied if the heated rhetoric continues.

Remember, Conor fired off several offensive barbs toward Khabib leading up to the UFC 229 fight ... saying Nurmagomedov was a "little rat," a "fanboy bitch" and a "backwards c*nt."

Conor also went after Khabib's manager ... accusing him of being a terrorist who was pulled off a plane on Sept. 11, 2001 and detained by authorities.

Chance the Rapper is asking hungry fans in Chicago to grub at his favorite eats for a good cause -- and all it'll take is an order on Postmates.

The Chi-Town MC is partnering with the delivery service from Jan. 29 through Feb. 1, during which time anyone who orders food from a list of his fave Chicagoland restaurants will also be donating $1 to his non-profit, SocialWorks ... at no cost to the user.

Just listen to Chance ... he breaks it down pretty good.

And, don't worry ... Chance's palate probably ain't all that different from yours. Just a few "favorites" on his list ... Harold's Chicken Shack, Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken, Shake Shack, Chipotle, Chef Luciano Kitchen & Chicken, Cheesie's Pub & Grub, Popeyes, Royal Caribbean Jerk ... and even 7-Eleven.

In other words, if it's good food in the Chi-Town area ... chances are it's on Chance's list, and you could contribute to a good cause just by ordering.

What's better than having a fully tricked out, $125k Jeep in your garage??

2 JEEPS!!!!!!!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Miami Heat star Hassan Whiteside copped a baller white 2018 Jeep Wrangler this past offseason from Alex Vega of The Auto Firm.

Turns out, Vega did a bang-up job ... 'cause Whiteside had him make ANOTHER badass Jeep exactly like the first -- that means 22-in Avorza rims, massive 37-in. Nitto tires, incredible sound system, 6.4 Hemi engine ... and a really awesome car horn!!

Whiteside picked up the twin early on Monday ... and we're told he LOVES it ... and even started showing it off on social media.

It's worth noting ... the 2 whips match the Heat colors, so that's a nice touch.

We're told both Jeeps set Whiteside back over $125k each ... for all you math flunkies, that's more than a quarter-mil on the 2 whips.

Hey ... the dude's in the middle of a 4-year, $98.4 million deal ... can you blame him??

2 Chainz and Adam Scott are partnering up to put cash in your pocket -- or at least to teach you how to get some green, and there's a Super Bowl connection.

The finance management company Expensify recruited 2C and AS -- an odd, but hilarious pairing -- to star in a new music video for the song, "Expensify This." The video/commercial has a cool interactive feature -- if you download their app and take pics of the receipts that show up in the vid ... you'll earn the chance to stack a little dough or win other prizes.

The video itself is like a mock hip-hop video, but the tune's pretty catchy. BTW, the whole point of the app is to more easily manage your finances with just a snap of a photo. We're told the company also plans to run a Super Bowl spot during the second quarter, so they're dropping some coin on the campaign -- just north of $5 mil for a 30-second spot.

Kendall Jenner's company and modeling agencies for Bella Hadid and Emily Ratajkowski could soon be slapped with subpoenas in a bankruptcy connected to the doomed Fyre Festival.

A judge gave the green light Monday for the companies repping the models to be subpoenaed ... potentially forcing them to fork over documents related to payments made by Fyre. As you know, festival organizer Billy McFarland hired a gang of models to hype up the event.

Emily, Bella, Hailey Bieber and other models appeared in the promo video, touting the festival as the place to be in spring 2017.

The subpoenas are part of an investigation as authorities try to unravel where approximately $26 million in investor money was spent before the festival came to a crashing halt, and Fyre Festival LLC went bankrupt. Specifically, the trustee wants answers on $5.2 million in payments made to agencies and artists.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, McFarland cut Kendall's Co. a check for $275k back in January 2017. Kendall then posted on Instagram, saying some of Kanye's artists would headline Fyre.

IMG Models -- which reps Bella Hadid, Bieber and Elsa Hosk -- received $1,214,976 from McFarland. DNA Modeling, which reps Emily, got $299k.

UTA -- another huge talent agency that received $90k --and Soulja Boy ($115k) could also be subpoenaed.

Of course, the Fyre Festival was a colossal disaster. Concertgoers plunked down thousands after they were promised a luxury oasis but instead were forced to sleep in tents. The food sucked too.

Didn't take long for authorities to pounce and make McFarland pay ... he got 6 years in prison. There's also a $100 million class-action lawsuit against McFarland and JaRule, his partner.

Ray J is already making a bunch of cash after selling off his Scoot-E-Bike brand ... stocks for his new venture soared 300% in just two days.

TMZ broke the story, Ray signed a 7-figure deal Wednesday to turn Scoot-E-Bike over to Canadian company LOOPShare. Our sources say as part of the contract, Ray got close to 19 million LOOPShare shares, and will remain as a consultant to help the biz grow.

It didn't take long for Ray's touch to start making a difference -- LOOPShare stock opened at $.05 Wednesday and closed at $.16 Friday -- a 300% growth ... and some serious dough in Ray's pocket.

As we reported, LOOPShare and Scoot-E-Bike will aim to take down ride share giants like Bird Scooters with a plan to supply users with 3 types of scooters to get around town.

We're told Ray has turned down a ton of TV gigs over the last year to focus on his future as a businessman.

Well, this is random.

Turns out, when former "To Catch a Predator" host Chris Hansen came up with the money needed to get charges against him dropped for writing bad checks, he got a huge assist from a guy he never met ... with a troubling background.

Bob Romanik -- radio DJ for the St. Louis area station 1190 KQQZ-AM, best known for calling Waka Flocka the n-word -- tells TMZ ... he reached out to Hansen when he heard about his financial troubles and offered to help him out.

Romanik says he thinks Chris is a good guy who's done good work, so he gave him nearly $13,000 to square up with a mom-and-pop shop in Stamford, CT. We broke the story ... the cash got Hansen out of a jam with prosecutors, who decided to drop his larceny case.

Romanik isn't looking for Hansen to return him any favors either, but he does tell us if Chris starts another project busting predators and helping children ... he'd like to invest in the noble cause.

What's not noble ... is Romanik's history of dropping racial slurs on the air. As we told you, he went on a racist rant back in 2017 after Waka Flocka wiped his ass with a Trump jersey. Bob called the rapper a "greasy black n***** son of a bitch" -- and he hasn't stopped using the n-word since.

In fact, Romanik has responded to criticism for his racist comments by saying it's his First Amendment right ... and he'll stop saying the n-word when rappers stop saying it.

Missouri State Senator Jamilah Nasheed called for the FCC to remove Romanik's license last year for his hate speech, but as far as we know ... he's still on the air.

Robert Herjavec's personal customer satisfaction rating is higher for Jeff Bezos' company than Elon Musk's, so for that reason ... he gives Jeff the edge on making it to Mars first.

We got the "Shark Tank" star outside the Staples Center and asked who he'd be more willing to invest in for the next great space race. Robert tells us he used to have a Tesla, and he's had many Amazon deliveries, and based on his experience ... point Bezos.

Speaking of Amazon, Herjavec has thoughts on how its founder's pending divorce will affect the shareholders. He doesn't think much will change for now, but says the situation will impact how boards of huge companies do business in the future.

A few lucky DMX fans working at a Maryland gas station were among the first people to see the rapper after he got out of prison, and when they asked for a photo he replied ... "X Gon Give it to Ya!"

Folks at the Royal Farms store in Frederick tell TMZ ... DMX and his crew of about 20 pulled in Friday night around 7 PM to gas up and grab some goodies. We're told everyone immediately recognized him and he was super friendly to the staff ... agreeing to snap several pics before they took off.

We broke the story ... DMX became a free man again Friday after he was released from federal prison in West Virginia. He completed a one-year sentence for tax evasion. He was first seen out in public post-prison with his son and fiancee, grabbing breakfast at a local spot.

7:50 PM PT -- Jay-Z sold his share in Roc-A-Fella back in 2004 and no longer has any involvement in the company. A source close to Kanye makes it clear, there's absolutely NO beef with Jay in filing the new docs.

Kanye West is suing Roc-A-Fella Records -- the company once owned by Jay-Z -- and EMI, the company that helped him launch his career ... because he says he's owed a lot of loot.

Ye filed 2 lawsuits Friday ... one against Roc-A-Fella, claiming he signed an exclusive recording agreement with the company. The suit is heavily redacted, but he's asking for a declaration of his rights over a dispute he's having and he wants money.

Kanye also filed a lawsuit against EMI April Music, claiming they owe him over a music dispute.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, in 2003, the year before he came out with his breakout album, "College Dropout," he signed a contract with EMI. The suit claims by the end of 2011, Kanye had written solely or with other writers more than 200 songs and gave the rights to those songs to EMI.

Those songs include some of the most influential and successful songs in his catalog, although the suit isn't specific.

The suit is heavily redacted, although it says there is a dispute and he wants a judge to declare his rights under the contract -- presumably for money.

9:38 AM PT -- We just got the first pic of DMX post-prison out with his son and fiancee. We're told X and family hit up a local spot for breakfast as soon as he was released.

And, the dog is out ... DMX is a free man again after being released from federal prison!

DMX was released Friday morning from Gilmer Federal Correctional Institution in West Virginia after serving a one-year sentence for tax evasion. We're told X's family was expected to pick him up.

As we reported ... DMX is planning on dropping a new album and tackling some new movie projects, including a possible biopic!

With his prison sentence complete, X must now start forking over $2.3 million in restitution to Uncle Sam ... and he also has to start outpatient programs for substance abuse and mental health.

DMX's original release date was supposed to be on Sunday, but it's federal policy to release inmates early if their release date falls on a weekend.

Originally Published -- 7:54 AM PST

Tyga's being sued for allegedly ripping off another rapper for his song, "Swap Meet."

Pretty Maw, a rapper/songwriter, claims in a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ ... Tyga stole portions of her song, "17th," and used them without paying up.

P.M. claims she and Tyga had a deal in which he would pay her "a fixed monetary amount" for his use of her song, along with royalties from "Swap Meet," which was released in Sept. 2018. His song has more than 7 million views on YouTube.

She says not only that, Tyga induced her into allowing him to use her image and likeness for his song. She actually appears at the end of the music vid, as well.

Pretty Maw does not list the similarities between her song and his, but says "Swap Meet heavily samples" her work.

She's asking for money and an order stopping Tyga from ripping her off. We've reached out to Tyga ... so far no word back.

Getting sued is nothing new for the rapper -- he had a few lawsuits to deal with last year ... including one for allegedly bailing on a gig in Dubai, and another for allegedly not paying rent.

He also filed a $10 mil suit of his own.

Just wait 'til Soulja Boy hears about this one.

Call him Grow Montana ... because the NFL Hall of Famer is investing HEAVILY in the weed business.

62-year-old Joe Montana is one of the major investors of a company called Caliva -- a major legal marijuana operation out of San Jose, CA.

The company not only grows weed -- it also sells everything from joints to vape pens and even marijuana beverages.

Montana started a venture fund back in 2015 -- and when Caliva was seeking investors for a $75 million round of funding, Montana's company joined in.

Caliva CEO Dennis O'Malley issued a statement saying the company plans on opening retail stores in major cities in 2019.

He added, "What we’re trying to do is be the #1 brand in California ... We believe this is where global brands are made."

Troubled 'Teen Mom' star Ryan Edwards was arrested over a whiskey bill.

According to police documents, obtained by TMZ, Edwards was at Bud's bar in Hamilton County, Tennessee where he ordered 6 Jack Daniel's whiskey, raking up a bill of $36 and then walking out without forking over the money.

The bartender called the cops and recognized his face from photos in the Criminal Justice Portal. His mug was there because he's been arrested multiple times before, for drug possession and other offenses.

Police located Edwards and arrested him for Theft of Services Under $1,000.

According to cops, Edwards was in the bar from noon till 4 PM, when he left.

The incident went down last month, but he was arrested Wednesday.

He is still in custody and is being held without bail, because of another pending criminal case in a neighboring county.

Crystal Harris just unloaded the home Hugh Hefner left her for $5 million.

Hefner bought the 4 bedroom pad in the Hollywood Hills back in 2013. The backstory is interesting. Hef married Crystal in 2012, and the next year he wanted to make sure she had a roof over her head when he died. You'd think the Playboy Mansion would have been enough, but the fact is Hef didn't own it ... it was owned by Playboy Enterprises, and he was worried it might be sold and his wife would be displaced.

So, in 2013, he bought the house which was held in trust for the 2 of them. When he died in September 2017, she became the sole owner.

As for how much the house appreciated in value ... it didn't. Crystal listed it for $7.2 mil, but it didn't sell. She just sealed the deal on the 5,900 square foot home for $5 mil -- the price for which it was purchased.

L.A. realtors Jason Oppenheim and Christine Quinn represented the buyer.