Money

NASA did the impossible 50 years ago -- putting a man on the moon -- and achieved a similar feat 50 years later ... putting on a spectacular Apollo 11 celebration for relatively pennies.

TMZ's got the receipts from the blowout celebration this week on the National Mall ... and according to federal procurement docs, NASA doled out only $1.4 mil for a series of special events ... that's like a small house in Burbank, maybe.

Now, get this -- at it's time, the Apollo 11 mission cost $25 billion -- a number experts say would land just south of $300 billion in today's dollars.

This week's events include hands-on exhibits, live performances, speeches from moon experts and a 363-foot projection of the Saturn V rocket on the Washington Monument. This showed how space exploration affects our daily lives and can inspire the next generation of explorers.

Federal procurement docs show NASA spent a little over $43,000 back in 2009 for the 40th anniversary of the moon landing ... a small celebration on Capitol Hill and a White House photo op with astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong alongside Barack Obama. That was like a backyard fireworks display compared to one at the Statue of Liberty for July 4th,  which is what's going down this weekend!!!

So, NASA saved it pennies ... presumably for a trip to Mars.

Manny Pacquiao says he wants to fight until he's 45 years old ... and when he retires, the boxing star tells TMZ Sports he will seriously consider buying an NBA franchise.

The 40-year-old superstar has made a FORTUNE during his boxing career -- and says he feels he's got AT LEAST another 5 years of fighting before hangin' 'em up for good.

"I feel like young, like late 20s," PacMan says ... explaining that he still loves the sport and all of the training that comes with it.

Pacquiao -- who's fighting undefeated star Keith Thurman on Saturday -- tells us he feels blessed by God ... and plans to use his gifts as long as his mind and body hold up.

Part of Manny's training regimen is playing basketball for 4 to 5 hours a day ... seriously.

In fact, Manny's so obsessed with the sport, he bought his own semi-pro basketball league back home in the Philippines called the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).

FYI, Forbes says Manny has made more than $500 MILLION during his boxing career -- including a $26 million haul over the past year.

So, we had to ask if he had NBA ambitions and the boxer gave us an emphatic "Yes!"

MacKenzie Ziegler is cashing in on some new songs, because we've learned the 15-year-old singer is raking in $175,000 for an advance on her music.

TMZ has obtained her minors contract that was filed in L.A. Superior Court. It says she inked a deal with Sony Music Entertainment. According to the deal, the advance is for a minimum of 12 new tracks.

According to the contract, Sony Music Entertainment agrees to pay MacKenzie the $175k advance, and she's guaranteed at least $9k for the first year, $12k for the second and $15k for the third contract year.

As for royalties, this is where MacKenzie can cash in even more, getting 20 percent in all music formats.

According to the deal, MacKenzie is also getting a $300,000 studio budget ... and another $20k toward an attorney.

It's another big payday for Maddie Ziegler's little sister ... MacKenzie pocketed $130k just last year after finishing as a runner-up on "Dancing with the Stars: Juniors."

New team, new pad -- L.A.'s newest superstar Anthony Davis has found a temporary home in his new territory ... renting an INSANE $14.1 million mansion in Bel-Air!!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... The Brow is resting his feet in a super private gated community in L.A. ... and the 12,000-square-foot house is a perfect for a big-time baller.

The 6-bedroom, 6-bathroom pad comes with a decked out gourmet kitchen, bar, personal gym, master bedroom with marble fireplace and walk-in closet, pool ... and of course, a basketball court!!!

We're told AD is renting the place for around $50k a month ... but the guy's in the middle of a 5-year, $127 million contract ... so it's a drop in the bucket for the All-Star.

FYI -- if Davis decides to crash at this spot during the season, it's only about a 35-minute drive to Staples Center!!! (But, you never know with L.A. traffic.)

AD's not gonna be far from his bestie, LeBron James, either ... he'll be about 15 min from his Brentwood neighborhood.

Zion Williamson has still NOT signed a shoe deal -- despite being the most sought after NBA draft pick since LeBron James -- and our sources say it's all because of Puma.

Nike was believed to be the front-runner to sign Zion for months ... with legendary former Nike exec Sonny Vaccaro telling us he thinks Zion's deal could hit the 9-figure mark.

And, with Zion rocking Nikes in college, in pre-draft workouts and in some NBA Summer league games ... it seemed like it was just a matter of time before Zion signed with the Swoosh.

But, we're told Puma -- which has made a serious push in the basketball shoe space in recent years -- has come out of nowhere to become a major contender to sign the NBA's #1 overall pick.

Puma already has rising stars Marvin Bagley III and DeAndre Ayton on its roster -- the first 2 picks from the 2018 NBA Draft.

And, get this ... Zion rocked a pair of Puma RS-0 "Video Game" kicks during a Summer league game earlier this month, and our sources tell us that's no coincidence.

We're told Nike is aware of the competition and is making a hard push to get a deal done with Williamson first. As one source puts it, "He's the #1 priority."

Remember, Zion did have one bad experience with Nike in college ... when his Nike PG 2.5s blew out during the opening seconds of the Duke vs. North Carolina game.

Fun Fact: The shoes were never seen in public again after that incident ... and Ken Goldin from Goldin Auction told us he thinks the kicks could be the most valuable collegiate sneakers of all time ... worth more than $250,000 if they ever hit the auction block!!!

Eddie Murphy is itching to get back onstage to perform stand-up comedy -- and our sources say Netflix wants to give him the perfect landing pad -- with a massive payday.

Sources connected to Murphy tell TMZ ... the comedian has been locked in talks with the streaming giant for an undisclosed number of comedy specials. We're told negotiations are hovering right around $70 MILLION for the deal ... though we've been unable to firmly confirm the exact figure.

$70 mil sounds astronomical -- Neil Armstrong astronomical -- but it's actually in line with the top dogs in comedy. Dave Chappelle scored $60 mil for 3 stand-up specials on Netflix back in 2017, and Chris Rock got $40 million for 2 specials the year before.

Murphy hung up the comedy mic years ago, and people have been clamoring for a comeback. So, given his track record -- which is incredible -- $70 mil seems in the ballpark.

Wendy Williams gave glitz and glamour a whole new meaning on her 55th birthday ... with a tiara and some shiny, custom, SUPER EXPENSIVE Louis Vuitton sneakers!!!

The talk show host hit up Serendipity 3 in NYC Thursday night after a looong night of celebrating her bday. Seems there was LOTS of toasting in her honor, but clearly, Wendy knows how to party right ... 'cause she was ready for more at the famous dining joint.

On her way inside ... our guy asks Wendy what's the best gift she got and she literally stops in her tracks to show off her Louis Vuitton sneakers customized with Swarovski crystals. Pricey -- and shiny -- for sure. Those sneakers can go for around $1,000, although Wendy seems to think they cost 4x that much.

She wouldn't spill the tea on who gifted her the fancy footwear. She said it was a benefactor. But, who the heck cares ... she rocked the hell outta them in her black gown.

Prince's estate just scored a big legal victory that will help preserve the legacy and integrity of his music ... and it got a ton of cash too.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ ... the judge sided with the late musician's estate in its suit against Eye Records, which Prince's estate described as a "bootleg label dedicated to Prince."

The estate gets $7 million in the default judgment and the record label's been ordered to take down all of its bootlegged Prince property.

We broke the story ... Prince's estate sued Eye Records in August 2018 for allegedly releasing 18 Prince compilations since his death, including live performances and unreleased tracks, without rights.

According to the suit ... the record label was using the online store newlovesigne.com to sell the bootlegged music, and Prince's estate wanted $2 million for every alleged Prince trademark violation, for which there were a lot.

Yung Joc is doing penance for the way he treated women in the past, because he now wants to have his wedding televised without making a dime, so he can show others people can change.

The "It's Goin' Down" rapper just got engaged to Atlanta criminal defense lawyer Kendra Robinson. The date for the wedding has not been set, but YJ is a man with a plan.

Anyone who's familiar with "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" knows ... Yung Joc has been a dirty dog when it comes to women. The show has chronicled lying, cheating ... the works.

He now says he's found his soulmate and is changing his ways. He thinks it's important to pay it forward by not getting paid for a televised wedding, so he can show other men they too can come back to the straight and narrow.

Fact is ... there's potentially a fortune he'd be leaving on the table. Gucci Mane scored a $1 million deal for his nuptials.

BTW ... his engagement to Kendra is not without issues. She made it clear she heard rumors he was stepping on her around the time leading up to their engagement, but she still said yes.

Joc tells us he wouldn't necessarily turn money away if offered, but if that were his motivation he's kind of screwing himself by putting it out there he'd say "I do" without scoring some Benjamins.

Nike says the Kawhi Leonard logo they created to put on merchandise in 2014 is distinctly different from the logo Kawhi sketched himself back in 2011 ... and they claim the proof is in the pictures.

Remember, Kawhi -- who was under contract with Nike from 2011 to 2018 -- claims he got a cease and desist in late '18 from Swoosh execs who claim they own the copyright to the "Claw Design" and forbid the NBA star from using it elsewhere.

In his lawsuit, filed in June 2019, Kawhi claimed he came up with the design while sketching around in college back in 2011. His version consists of his initials K.L. and jersey number #2 in a hand design. Leonard claims since he created the logo, he should have the rights to it.

But, Nike says that's simply not the case ... explaining they collaborated with Kawhi in 2014 to come up with an original design. Nike claims they submitted several concepts to him with a "number of proposed designs."

In new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Nike admits Kawhi had sent them a copy of his K.L. hand-design sketch as part of the collaborative process.

But, Nike says they eventually settled on an "original" version that is different from Kawhi's sketch.

Nike claims Kawhi signed off on the company using the final "Claw Design" in 2014 -- so they filed a trademark application to effectively own the rights to the image.

Nike says the company found out in 2017 Kawhi also filed an application to trademark the image -- and they were pissed ... saying he has no rights to it and had "fraudulently claimed to be the author and sole owner of the Claw Design."

In their suit, Nike says Kawhi even acknowledged publicly that Nike should be given "all the credit" for the design for turning a "rough draft" into a professional logo.

Nike is countersuing for copyright infringement, fraud and breach of contract -- and they're looking for a judge to stop Kawhi from using the design. They also want unspecified monetary damages.

Ted Cruz is earmarking the billions upon billions of dollars El Chapo's been ordered to fork over to the U.S. to secure the southern border, and he says President Trump's backing his plan.

Like the Prez, the Texas Senator's all about building the wall, and he tells TMZ the next step now that the Mexican drug lord has been sentenced to life in prison ... should be to use his $12.6 BILLION fortune to make it happen.

Cruz acknowledges El Chapo's drug money might be difficult to track down, but says there should be no debate over where the cash goes once it's seized.

Ted's been serious about this for a couple years now -- he introduced legislation known as the EL CHAPO Act in April 2017, but it died ... so he reintroduced it in January.

He believes it's still a perfectly fitting conclusion to the Mexican kingpin's case. Check out his reasoning ... to Cruz it's basically poetic justice.

Here it is!!! The first look at Anthony Davis head-to-toe in his new threads ... and it's probably bringing a tear to LeBron James' eye.

The NBA superstar threw on his #3 Lakers jersey and shorts for the first time on Wednesday for some promo for NBA 2K20 (he's the cover athlete) ... and he's sporting a HUGE grin on his face.

Of course, AD *was* gonna wear #23 after the King gifted his digits to his new teammate ... but the Brow will be stuck with tres for the upcoming season due to manufacturing issues with Nike.

According to an ESPN report ... the Swoosh woulda lost "well into the tens of millions of dollars" if LBJ switched to #6 like initially planned ... thanks to a bunch of James jerseys that were already made.

Floyd Mayweather only had to wait one week to get revenge on Bone Collector's super embarrassing ankle breaking incident -- and this time, Floyd got out alive!!

The Champ took the first L of his career last week ... falling flat on his ass after trying to defend the streetball legend at the $50k Charity Challenge Celeb hoops game at UCLA.

But, Floyd didn't back down on Tuesday when he got back on the court in L.A. for the Quavo x Legends Celebrity Charity Game at the Mamba Sports Academy.

This time, Floyd again matched up with BC -- but didn't get juked out of his jockstrap. In fact, Floyd's team actually won! 

Bone Collector was still able to do his thing, though ... putting 'Wild 'n Out' star Dan Rue in a blender and crossing him up.

But, the best part of the game ... the NFL STARS PUT ON A DUNK SHOW!!!!

Terrell Owens and Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku went HAM on the court -- really impressive stuff. 

Team Quavo ended up taking the title away from Team 2 Chainz ... but the game raised a BUNCH of money for charity, so everyone wins!!

Nipsey Hussle was not going to be prosecuted for any type of gang activity at the time of his death ... the LAPD was trying to curb gang activity in and around his store, but he was never the target, according to law enforcement sources.

As TMZ and the New York Times reported, the LAPD and L.A. City Attorney were investigating Nipsey and his business partners for alleged gang activity at his Marathon Clothing store and the surrounding strip mall.

Sources connected to the 2 agencies now tell us, they weren't specifically targeting Nipsey -- they say the investigation centered around abating gang activity in the area, which has been a long-standing problem.

No one from either agency would be specific as to their end game. And, no one from either agency could explain why Nipsey's name was specifically mentioned in connection with the investigation, especially since they now say he wasn't a target.

One high-ranking law enforcement source tells TMZ, the investigation is now a hot potato in the wake of Nipsy's murder, because the City has hailed him as a hero and someone who was trying to prevent gang violence. 

Nipsey shunned gang activity at Marathon and although he allowed gang members to enter his shop he forbade any violence. As a matter of fact, he employed past felons and ex-gang members to keep them on the straight and narrow. 

By the way ... Nipsey's family closed the Marathon store after his death, but the online shop is still up and running.

R. Kelly isn't the only man who can put a roof over the head of his alleged victims ... Azriel Clary's father is also dangling free rent, if she opens up communication with her family.

Angelo Clary tells TMZ ... he's ready and willing to put his daughter up in her own place in Chicago, as long as she moves out of Kelly's Trump Tower condo and makes contact with her relatives.

Azriel's dad says the deal even extends to Kelly's other live-in "girlfriend," Joycelyn Savage ... if that's what it takes to get the women away from the embattled singer's clutches.

With Kelly in jail for the foreseeable future after the judge denied bond during Tuesday's hearing ... Angelo is making an impassioned plea for his daughter and Joycelyn to finally cut ties with Kelly, and he's trying to sweeten the pot anyway he can.

We broke the story ... Azriel and Joycelyn claim they've recently been cut off from Kelly's funding, but also say they're still living in his high-rise condo, and plan to stay there. We're told Kelly paid rent through the end of the year.

A bunch of big celebs like a bunch of Presidential candidates ... so they're funding a bunch of candidates with the hope one of them makes a move on January 20, 2021 ... to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

We've done some digging and found the top several Democratic presidential candidates all have their share of celebrity backers, but a handful are sharing the love ... or hedging their political bets.

For instance, according to filings by the 2019 Federal Election Commission ... Barbra Streisand donated $1,000 each last quarter to the campaigns of Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg.

The Katzenbergs -- both Jeffrey and Marilyn -- dropped $2,800 each (the max one-time donation) on those same 6 candidates ... except substitute Kirsten Gillibrand for Klobuchar.

Anna Wintour's donated to at least 4 candidates, so far -- $2,800 to Mayor Pete, Harris and Beto and a grand to Gillibrand.

Shonda Rhimes donated $2,800 to Booker and Warren last quarter, and the same amount to Harris and Gillibrand the quarter before that.

Finally, Ryan Murphy is Team Harris to the tune of $5,500 and Team Buttigieg for $2,800.

Bernie Sanders is noticeably absent from this list, but he's received donations from stars like Shailene Woodley, Josh Hutcherson and Milla Jovovich ... it's just that none of them double-dipped with anyone else as far as we can tell. And, of course, he has the public support of Cardi B.

As for Joe Biden ... his donation numbers from last quarter aren't in yet.

As we told you ... Mayor Pete's got a wide variety of celebs supporting him, as does Elizabeth Warren, and there's still a lot of time for more of that sweet Hollywood money to pour in.