Money

Kylie Jenner still loves Beanie Babies ... because she just dropped a fat stack of cash to bring home a blinged-out bear!!!

Our sources tell us Kylie threw down a cool $12,000 for a custom Beanie Baby bear covered in crystals ... this after seeing the piece at Justin and Hailey Bieber's Paddle 8 auction.

The super rare Beanie Baby is designed by Los Angeles-based artist Dan Life, and it's 1 of only 5 ever created. Dan's known for his nostalgic works inspired by his 90s childhood -- he makes a lot of flashy Pokemon art as well -- and this bear is his twist on the classic Erin Beanie Baby from back in the day.

We're told Dan already dropped the bear off with Justin, and the Biebs is gonna hand-deliver it to Kylie!

Sure, it's a lot of money to spend on a toy Stormi will never get to play with ... but the money raised from Justin and Hailey's auction benefits needy families in L.A. ... so Kylie's supporting a good cause.

Tiffany Haddish has no time for people who are criticizing Blueface for making it rain on Skid Row in Downtown L.A. ... because she says what the rapper did is steeped in tradition.

We got Tiffany at the Laugh Factory on Xmas day ... where comedians and celebs dished out dinners to people down on their luck. Tiffany knows of where she speaks ... you see, she grew up in the South Central hood.

She says there's a long history of gangbangers giving out money by jumping up on a vehicle and hurling it in the air. If some people don't understand or accept it, then tough.

Tiffany says money raining from the sky is actually a blessing. She concedes it would have been degrading if Blueface threw out $1 bills, but he was tossing hundred dollar bills in the air, which will provide comfort for lots of people in need.

A North Carolina man got a bonus when he went shopping for Xmas dinner -- $250,000!!!

Michael Rosenbrock went to a grocery store in Mint Hill where he bought all the traditional stuff ... ham, stuffing, the works. Oh, and he picked up what he pretty much always gets when he shops ... a lottery ticket.

When Michael got home, he scratched off the 20X The Cash ticket and it look like he came up goose eggs. Michael said, "I didn't think I won anything at first ... It's a good thing I always enter my tickets into the second-chance drawings or I would have thrown it away."

Lucky he didn't ... the ticket scored him a quarter of a million bucks.

Michael's already claimed the ticket. After taxes, he walked away with $176,876.

As for what he plans to do with the loot, he wants to start a nonprofit, saying, "Clean water, food to eat, a roof over our head. Doing nonprofit work is something I've always wanted to do."

Cardi B and Offset just showed off the incredible ATL mansion they just bought, and it's entirely possible they'll never leave the crib ... because it's got pretty much everything they need.

It's a pretty amazing Xmas present for each other ... 22,500 square feet of house, which includes a gun range with steel walls. Didn't even know that was legal, but there it is.

That's just the beginning ... Cardi's seriously thinking of becoming a wine connoisseur now that she has a vino cellar that could service a restaurant.

And, then there's Offset's man cave, an amazing pool and on and on. The entire property sits on nearly 6 acres.

NBA star Trae Young is beastin' for the Atlanta Hawks right now ... and he's rewarding himself by buying a $1.5 million crib in his home state of Oklahoma!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Trae bought himself a new 8,100-square-foot pad in Norman Oklahoma where he grew up --- his first LEGIT house ... and it's loaded!!!

The pad comes with 5 bedrooms, 6 baths, a massive kitchen, a pool with a cool slide, a pool house ... and you can put up to 7 cars in his giant garage!

It doesn't stop there ... the baller is also adding 14 TVs and a dope audio system --- and because of that, he's spending TONS of money on security. Not bad for a 21-year-old huh?

And, Trae -- who's averaging 28 PPG and 8 assists right now --- is serious about uppin' his game that he's having his trainers and nutritionist live with him at his new home during the offseason.

Jussie Smollett is on a mission to give children in Flint something to believe in ... donating money to kids programs and helping organize a backpack and toy drive for Christmas.

Sources close to Jussie tell TMZ ... the actor recently paid a surprise visit to Flint, Michigan with youth and environmental activist, Mari Copeny AKA Little Miss Flint, and together they helped surprise a school with new backpacks and toys.

Jussie took his good deeds one step further ... we're told he donated $10,000 to the Flint KIDS program.

We've seen this kind of gesture from Jussie before ... last year, he donated $125,000 to various charities ahead of the holidays, including Flint KIDS and the Black AIDS Institute.

Parents at the toy drive tell us Jussie appeared to be in great spirits, and he made the kids feel like their Christmas is complete.

DJ Khaled is lavishing himself with Christmas gifts ... to the tune of a half-million-dollar custom Rolls-Royce truck!!!

We got Khaled on Fifth Avenue, where he was proudly showing off his new wheels ... and ya gotta see his tricked out ride.

The custom whip is a 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan ... and Khaled's trusted car customizer Will Castro of Unique Rides tells us the $500k car comes with another $25k in special features.

As you can see ... the Rolls is sitting on custom 24-inch Forgiato rims with Nitto Tires, with red "RR" accents matching the red interior.

Khaled says he's gonna be driving around Miami in his new truck, and Will tells us it's got specially tinted windows for privacy and to keep Khaled cool from the South Florida heat.

Blueface did something which on the surface is awesome -- giving money to the poor -- but on another level, some say what he did is degrading.

The rapper went to Skid Row Monday in downtown L.A. where he jumped atop his SUV and launched an untold number of bills into a crowd that he whipped into a frenzy.

No doubt his generosity was appreciated by those present, but he's getting some blowback on social media, with some calling it demeaning and dehumanizing -- people down on their luck diving for dollar bills.

Blueface posted the video on his Instagram account, simply captioning it, "The season of giving $." That's not the way everyone saw it.

Mariah Carey works her hired help to the bone, and then kicks 'em to the curb when she's had enough ... so claims her ex-nanny in new legal docs.

MiMi's being sued by a woman named Maria Burgues, who claims she worked for Mariah between late 2017 and early 2018 ... watching over her two kids and, allegedly, flying all over the world with them without getting paid her fair share for the job she was doing.

Burgues alleges in her lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- that Mariah and co. wouldn't let her take required breaks she's supposed to get under California law, including rests and meals. Burgues says those just weren't a thing while she was employed.

Burgues doesn't get specific about what exactly her schedule or allotted hours for each week were, but she makes it sound like she was working round the clock for Mariah, often on non-nannying duties and tasks that allegedly didn't involve the kids at all.

Adding insult to injury, Burgues claims Mariah had a bodyguard she reported to who was a scumbag and allegedly treated her like dirt out in the open on more than one occasion. She even alleges the guy almost got them into a major traffic accident for being on his phone.

Ryan Phillippe and a bevy of other high-profile stars are catching tons of flak for promoting a Saudi Arabia event -- but Ryan is digging his heels in and going to bat for the nation.

Here's the deal ... Ryan and a bunch of other stars like Sofia Richie, Armie Hammer, Irina Shayk, Scott Disick and other models and influences all went to this music festival called MDL BEAST in SA over the weekend, and they all seemed down to plug the hell out of it.

Ryan was in a festive spirit, as he rocked traditional Saudi headgear and face paint. While he called it a "cultural exchange," others found it offensive ... for more reasons than one.

The "Cruel Intentions" star's Instagram comments got flooded with people shaming him for promoting a country that's known for their human rights violations -- especially against women and the LGBTQ community, not to mention journalists they don't like.

Ryan didn't seem to care much about all that though -- he fired back early and often.

He responded to several of the comments -- and his message was basically this ... the country's changing, bro! He doubled down in his support of Saudi Arabia, saying he'd feel good about bringing any woman who was important to him for a visit.

On the other side of things, Sofia also caught tons of backlash for what many deemed tone-deaf posts, including one of her and two other ladies, which she captioned as "Saudi girls." The caption has since been deleted, but Sofia was all over the place touting SA and MDL BEAST.

Ditto for Armie, who likened the event to "Woodstock in the 1960's" and going on to say that he felt things were progressing and moving forward there. Similar messages from most everyone else too, BTW ... who all probably got paid a pretty penny to do this.

Emily Ratajkowski sounded off on the issue, saying she actually turned down payment because she felt the country's practices don't line up with her principles.

Cardi B is playing Santa Claus this year -- only she's doing it without the big red hat, reindeer or sleigh -- and will bring smiles to a ton of kid's faces.

Cardi was spotted in Miami Friday spending a bunch of money on gifts for kids at a local Target store. The rapper also had a U-HAUL rented to load the presents and ship em off for those in need.

We're told in total, Cardi spent about $5,000 on everything from games, dolls, car sets and more. She had staffers help her load everything up in the truck.

It's unclear exactly where the gifts will go -- Cardi talked about helping kids out in New York -- but nonetheless, it's an awesome gesture.

Cardi's daughter, Kulture, will be celebrating her second Christmas this year, and if mom's spending for other kids on Friday is any indication ... it's about to be a big year.

Merry Christmas from Cardi Claus!!!

R. Kelly and Michael Cohen are spending their first Christmas behind bars, and they're about to find out what Suge Knight and Billy McFarland already know -- time to pig out unless you're Bill Cosby.

Prisons across the country are feeling the Christmas spirit, and they're stocking commissaries with special holiday treats, and allowing inmates to spend a little extra on sweets. Rejoice!!!

We did some digging and found out what some of America's most famous convicts will be fattening up on before their New Year's resolutions ... here's a breakdown of their options:

Kelly at MCC Chicago:

-- The spending limit for commissary increases by $50 in December to a cool $410, and Kelly can snack on holiday cookies, pound cake, jalapeno cheese and chocolate bars.

Cohen at New York's FCI Otisville:

-- President Trump's former personal attorney can also spend $410 at commissary this month after a $50 bump, and he can nosh on holiday cakes, chocolate and caramel clusters, assorted chocolates and an olive salad.

It's the season of giving ... which means boxing superstar Errol Spence got himself an AMAZING Cartier watch for the holidays ... and it's got a $100k price tag!!

TMZ Sports has learned, the champ wanted to treat himself at the end of the year ... so he hit up his go-to guy, Iceman Nick, to make him a one-of-a-kind diamond Cartier watch!!

We're told it's a one-of-one 2-tone Santos de Cartier Skeleton watch ... which is decked out with 30 carats of VVS diamonds, 18k rose gold screws and bezel, 7-sided crown set with a faceted sapphire, blue-steel sword-shaped hands and a sapphire crystal case back.

Yeah, fancy stuff.

And, after surviving a near-fatal Ferrari crash in October -- we totally get why the boxer would want to spend a little money on himself!

Of course, Iceman Nick is also the guy behind Errol's sick, $400k "Man Down" chain ... so you know the dude loves what he sees.

Drake has completed his fly-boy look with something folks thought he would've had done years ago ... getting his ears pierced. And, the reason he finally did it is hilarious.

Otniel Pichardo, who's the owner of Atlanta Ink -- a tattoo and piercing studio in the ATL -- tells TMZ ... Drizzy's team called up their shop Friday night out of the blue and requested Otniel and the crew come to Drake's hotel in Buckhead, Atlanta for a personal session.

Apparently, the rapper's camp did a quick Google search of the best piercers in the area, and Atlanta Ink came up close to the top in the results. Talk about having a good rep!!!

Anyway, Otniel rolled out with his biz partner, CJ, and their best piercer, Christian, and they hit up Drake's hotel room ... where none other than Champagne Papi himself was waiting. We're told Drake wanted his ears pierced ... and naturally, was kinda nervous about it.

Wyclef Jean says there's something way more important than just producing or performing on a track, and that's publishing ... a moneymaking well he wants to help new artists tap.

The Fugees rapper talked to us Friday in NYC about his new industry venture -- a publishing and distribution company he started and just got major financial backing for called Carnival World Music Group -- which is meant to give a big leg up to up-and-coming creatives.

The idea behind it is that Wyclef and co. will offer royalty advances to artists, producers and songwriters who want to get their music out there, but without taking copyright ownership.

Check it out ... Wyclef says the focus of the company is for Africans, but that doesn't mean he's excluding anyone who wants to partner up. Come one, come all, pretty much.

As for why he's doing this ... the guy says he's learned a valuable lesson from his many years in the game, and it's basically this -- producing/rapping/singing only makes you so much cash. The real green comes from publishing rights, which are often awarded to the songwriters, composers and the publishing companies those people are affiliated with.

Take, for example, "Killing Me Softly." He says while he produced the iconic cover, he and the Fugees didn't make the millions they should have because they didn't write or compose the new version. Most of that money presumably went to Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel.

50 Cent just spoiled his son rotten for Christmas ... getting an entire Toys 'R' Us on lock and letting the kid have whatever his heart desired. Jealous much?

The rapper pulled the ultimate parenting move this weekend for his 7-year-old, Sire, by renting out an entire store in New Jersey -- only one of two locations open at the moment -- and closing it off to the public while his boy went around and picked out anything that caught his eye and letting him take it all home as his gift(s) for the holiday.

Basically, a personal shopping spree for a kid ... which became even more of a custom experience with Sire's name and mug incorporated into the presentation. A decal on the ground read 'Sire's Toys R Us' ... not even Charlie Bucket could've dreamt of this.

As for how much all of this cost ... we're told Fitty dropped a pretty penny to give his son the best Christmas ever -- about $100k to have this place to himself and Sire.

Hell, it looks the cash went so far as to pull Geoffrey the Giraffe out of retirement -- who posed with 50 and Sire in a sweet photo-op. You'll recall, Toys 'R' Us temporarily closed up shop last year -- but it's being brought back, slowly but surely, under new ownership.