Money

Kanye West's last-ditch effort to make the presidential ballot in his home state worked ... but it cost him a nice chunk of change.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kanye's campaign team hired a third-party vendor called Let The Voters Decide to collect the 2,500 signatures to make the ballot in Illinois.

Thing is ... Kanye did it with only a little more than a day to spare ... before the 5 PM Monday deadline.

We're told the group got to work right away, deploying 45 people who hit the streets in various parts of the state and racked up enough signatures ... all in 24 hours.

Our sources say they were paid handsomely for their efforts ... Kanye dished out $10-12 per signature, and they produced 3,178 signatures. Do the math -- well over $30k.

One of the signature collectors, Kenny Mister, tells us he got hit up Sunday to petition for Kanye. He says he was in Detroit, but dropped everything to get to Springfield, IL by Monday, worked for 3 hours ... and got 56 signatures at 10 bucks a pop.

Kenny says he went door to door, asking folks if they'd support Kanye getting on the ballot, but adding it didn't mean they had to vote for him.

BTW, if you're wondering if $10 per signature is a lot ... it is. Rickey Hendon -- a former Illinois State Senator who now works as a campaign consultant -- tells us the standard rate is closer to $1-3 per signature.

Rickey also says Kanye's team reached out to him a couple days before Let the Voters Decide ... but he declined.

It all might be a moot point ... Kanye missed the deadline to file in other states, and he seems like he's focused on other matters at the moment anyway ... many other matters.

Disney princesses are returning to work in the middle of the pandemic ... but they're not going back to Disneyland ... they're hitting the road to do social distancing gigs for kids.

Here's how the folks who dress up as children's favorite Disney characters are earning a living these days ... performing from 6-feet away, and traveling with a social distancing enforcer!!!

Check out this video of a mermaid-themed birthday party in Tustin, CA for 6-year-old Summer ... the family hired Ariel, and she's singing from behind a velvet rope and hitting the notes from under a mask.

The 'Little Mermaid' was booked through a party company that we're told is charging an additional $50 for a "distance friendly" staff member to tag along. Ariel, by the way, charges $135.

Ariel's coronavirus bodyguard makes sure everyone at the party socially distances from the mermaid, enforcing distancing during everything from song and dance to photo ops.

As we reported ... Disney princesses and characters were hit hard at the start of the outbreak, but now it looks like they've figured it out and adjusted to the new normal. Oh, and the "distance friendly" staffer is a textbook definition of job creation!!!

This tale has a happy ending ... we're told the kids loved Ariel even though it wasn't a typical party folks are used to.

Take that, Rush Limbaugh, young folks really can adapt to the coronavirus!!!

A dude from Michigan figured a prosthetic face mask making him look super old would allow him to steal a fortune at several casinos, with the help of some fake driver's licenses and other personal info from elderly victims.

John Colletti, who is 55, needed to look a lot older, and the prosthetic face mask did the trick, but for safe measure, he wore hats, glasses and even surgical masks. He went to the MGM Grand Casinos last year in Michigan and Kansas and withdrew a fortune at the self-service kiosks ... this according to the federal complaint.

The feds say at least 10 people were victimized and Colletti stole more than $100,000.

The FBI cracked the case with the help of a search warrant, and they found a lot, including 4 prosthetic face masks, flash drives, counterfeit money and books on how to commit a crime without getting caught.

Kanye West is not letting his bipolar episode and fierce family feud mess with his bottom line -- it's still business as usual as far as Ye is concerned.

Sources close to Kanye tell TMZ ... this drama-filled week has not had a negative impact on his massive deals with Adidas and GAP. We're told through all of his tribulations -- Twitter rants, family wars and the off-the-rails campaign rally -- Ye's still been able to balance several projects at once because the guy is passionate about his businesses.

Kanye's not doing it alone either ... we're told he has a big team helping to keep the trains running -- and GAP and Adidas trust they'll continue operations on schedule.

Our sources say Kanye's hired Mowalola Ogunlesi as his lead designer for his YZY GAP project and this week hasn't stunted anything she's been working on ... and GAP knows that.

Now, it's true Kanye did not drop his new album, "Donda," Friday, as initially planned -- however we still saw him directing a music video that day for the project. And, let's be honest, Ye's never been one to stick to release dates ... it's just not his thing.

George Foreman says Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr.'s return to the boxing ring is a "beautiful thing" ... but admits he is scared the legendary pugilists could be seriously hurt.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... 54-year-old Tyson and 51-year-old Jones Jr. are coming out of retirement to put on a massively anticipated 8-round exhibition fight -- and combat sports fans are PUMPED!

But, Foreman -- who had 81 professional bouts against immortal fighters like Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier -- says he's very concerned about "Iron Mike" and RJJ's well-being.

"There's a time when you gotta worry about your health, but it's a beautiful thing that they would even come out," George says.

"Maybe they can even name a charity or something for the recipient of the funds. I think it's good to come out but its gotta be a fun thing, but I hope one does not hit the other."

FYI, Tyson -- who last fought in 2005 -- told us he's donating a portion of his fight paycheck to charity.

Foreman is admittedly anxious Mike and Roy could be permanently hurt, so we asked him if he'd advise the men to rethink their decision to step back into the squared circle.

"I would just tell them it's really dangerous but when you make up your mind to do something like that, you can't tell them 'don't do it.' They're not gonna hear that. Even me. Big fool like me, back in the day, I only saw what I wanted to see."

George says he totally understands why Mike and Roy want to fight ... and even revealed he attempted to make a third comeback in his mid-50's.

(Of course, George became heavyweight champ for a 2nd time at 45 years old.)

"I was 55 years old. I was in shape and everything," Foreman says, continuing ... "[My wife] says 'you're not going to do anything like that,' I said, 'I'm telling you, you can't tell me what to do. I can still  -- I said don't you believe in me? Look at me, I can still do it!'"

Philadelphia Eagles defensive lineman Malik Jackson says West Coast Customs overcharged him BIG TIME after he brought them some cars to trick out ... and now, he's suing.

In a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports, Jackson claims back in July 2019 ... he reached a deal with the famous California custom car shop to flip two of his Chevys into sick hot rods.

The problem? Jackson says more than a year later ... the shop still has his cars -- and wants WAY MORE cash than they initially quoted him on for the job.

Jackson says for one of the builds -- a Chevy Gasser -- he agreed to pay $200,000 to have the thing rebuilt and customized.

But, in the docs, Jackson claims when West Coast Customs brought him the bill ... it was more than $37,000 above the agreed-upon price.

In the docs, Jackson says with the other car he brought in -- a Chevy Cruiser -- WCC charged him more than $150,000 above the agreed-upon price as well.

Jackson is now suing the shop for breach of contract ... asking for more than $187,000 in damages.

We reached out to WCC -- which gained HUGE fame in the early 2000s for its work on MTV's "Pimp My Ride" ... but they had no comment.

Jackson is one of the NFL's highest-paid defensive players ... he signed a 3-year, $30 MILLION contract with the Eagles in 2019.

Tekashi 6ix9ine just lined up a serious payday to perform his upcoming album online ... the rapper tells us he just inked a massive deal for a single live stream concert.

The rapper, who's about to regain his freedom, tells TMZ ... he just put pen to paper on a $5 million live-streaming deal with GlobalStreamNow for a virtual performance of his soon-to-be-released record.

Tekashi tells us he'll hit the stage Saturday, Sept. 5 at 8 PM ET for the live-streamed show, which he says will run for about an hour and feature 12 songs from his album. He'll also interact online with fans.

6ix9ine is almost done with home confinement, but is keeping the physical location of his live stream under wraps. Remember, there's still concern about revenge for snitching, so Tekashi says security will be on hand to make sure everything goes off without a hitch.

He already has some big ideas for the performance ... and based on what he's telling us, prepare for lots of eye candy, dancers, a live band and colorful displays.

6ix9ine's keeping details about the record under wraps -- he won't divulge song titles or the album name yet -- but he tells us the record is dropping in the near future.

No need to risk your health attending a live concert ... according to Tekashi, who says the only thing his fans need to do to watch his performance is download the GlobalStreamNow app.

We reached out to GlobalStreamNow, but haven't heard back.

Birdman's unloaded his massive Miami estate, known for its super-exclusive location on Palm Island, where another famous resident once lived ... Al Capone!!!

The rapper and record exec sold the nearly 20,000-sq.-ft crib -- which has 7 bedrooms, 9 full bathrooms and 4 half baths -- for $10.85 million. Just to give you an idea of how big it is ... the master bedroom alone is more than 3,000 square feet!

The palace sits on a 30,000-sq.-ft lot in the Miami Beach gated community ... which has some true gangster history. Capone spent some of his final, fragile days on Palm Island ... and it's where he died in 1947.

Birdman originally put it on the market in November 2018 at $15.5 mil. It went through 2 realtors before it was finally scooped up for almost $5 million less.

Aaron Carter is denying allegations he's abusing his dog, Nala ... and says he won't give the pug to a rescue org offering big bucks for the pup.

Here's the deal ... folks are accusing Aaron of abusing Nala by allegedly keeping her in a crate outdoors in 100-degree heat and locked in bathrooms for multiple hours a day. People are also alarmed over Aaron's new German Shepherds, worrying the big dogs could harm little Nala.

Some people even called Lancaster Animal Control on Aaron ... and Nala's got a trending hashtag, #SaveNala, which caught the attention of a pug rescue organization, The Pug Queen.

The org's founder, Izabella St. James, tells us she reached out to Aaron offering him $10,000 to rescue the pug and rehome Nala, but claims the singer threatened her with a lawsuit for defamation.

Aaron tells TMZ ... the abuse allegations are absolutely not true. He says he only had Nala in a crate for 15 minutes to separate her from his new guard dogs.

AC acknowledges animal control came to his house, but claims officers concluded he did nothing wrong ... and left after he explained he was simply separating his new pets.

Jeffrey Epstein's infamous compound where he sexually assaulted many of his young victims is now on the market ... if anyone actually wants it, at any price.

The late, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender's Palm Beach crib is up for sale at a whopping $21,995,000. The mansion, of course, is heavily featured in the Netflix docuseries, "Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich" ... but not in a good way.

The 6-bedroom, 7.5-bathroom house sits on just a tad over 8,000 square feet. The compound -- which is about a mile away from President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club -- has waterfront views in the prestigious Estate Section on El Brillo Way. The Tarpon and Everglade islands are part of the westerly views.

All that sounds great, if this were a normal real estate listing, but this one comes with a massive dark cloud.

Remember, this is the house where Epstein recruited girls for the sole purpose of sexually assaulting them. He initially pled guilty in 2007 to state prostitution charges, and though he was sentenced to 13 months in jail, critics say he got off easy considering the trove of evidence found at the Palm Beach compound.

That being said ... Corcoran Group's Kerry Warwick, who has the listing, says she doesn't think Epstein's crimes will affect the price. She told The Real Deal, "I believe the past ownership of the property will bear no relationship to its future. The location and what can be done with it is really what matters."

Translation: It's a $22 mil teardown?

As we reported ... the house was recently vandalized when someone painted "Gone but not forgiven" in bold red letters on the front gate. Epstein faced federal charges for sex trafficking when he committed suicide inside his Manhattan jail cell.

On the same day the Palm Beach crib hit the market, Epstein's massive Manhattan townhouse also hit the market for $88 million. Other properties -- including Epstein's ranch in New Mexico, apartment in Paris and even his private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands -- are also reportedly expected to hit the market soon.

Tim Brown and Darrell Green can SAAAAAAAAAAAANGGGG!!!

The two NFL legends showed off their sweet voices in a new vid this week ... and it was all to help raise money and awareness for those battling cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic.

FYI ... the Hall of Famers are part of the NFL's Player's Choir, which is a group of about 20 current and former footballers who have some serious pipes.

And, at some point this month, they joined up for a virtual, socially-distanced rendition of "This Little Light Of Mine" to help out the American Cancer Society ... and it's amazing.

Check out the vid ... the NFLers smashed the tune for about three minutes -- and the fact that it was all for a great cause made it even sweeter.

The ACS says the cancer community has had to deal with some serious and unique needs during the global pandemic ... and it says vids like this one can help raise donations through their "Share The Light" campaign.

They still don't have a team name, but Washington now officially has Chase Young!

The NFL franchise has finally signed the former Ohio State superstar -- the #2 overall pick in the draft -- to a fat new contract ... and yeah, he looks super happy!

4 years, $34.56 million, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport ... with a $22.7 million signing bonus (he gets the signing bonus money all up front).

So yeah, you'd probably be smiling too!

The 21-year-old is expected to have an immediate impact with the team after dominating in college.

He recorded 16.5 sacks in 2019 -- breaking the OSU single-season record -- despite the fact he was suspended for 2 games!

Of course, the suspension was a big deal in itself -- officials say Young took an unauthorized loan from a family friend to help his girlfriend travel to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl game. He eventually repaid the loan in full.

Now, he doesn't have to worry about money anymore -- YOU'RE RICH!

Derek Chauvin -- the ex-Minneapolis cop charged with murdering George Floyd -- now has more legal trouble on his hands over his taxes ... and so does his estranged wife.

Chauvin and his estranged spouse, Kellie, were each hit Wednesday with 9 felony counts related to their alleged failure to pay state taxes in Minnesota -- including counts for aiding and abetting the filing of false or fraudulent returns and additional counts for failing to file returns at all.

According to court docs, officials in Washington County, Minnesota claim the couple's tax issues date back to 2014 and they're accused of not filing at all for the years 2016, 2017 and 2018. They each face the same 9 counts.

Specifically, investigators claim the couple was significantly under-reporting their combined income. For instance, prosecutors say Derek was raking in tens of thousands of dollars on top of his police officer salary at MPD between side security gigs -- one of which prosecutors estimate totaled upwards of $95k between 2014-2019 -- as well as other odd jobs.

Prosecutors also claim Kellie was raking in tens of thousands herself from realtor work and her photography business. None of the money was reported, according to the charging docs. There's also alleged malfeasance over different homes they've purchased in Minnesota and Florida -- not to mention a new BMW that they allegedly registered in Florida, but had serviced more than 10 times in Minnesota.

And, get this ... prosecutors also allege that Derek and Kellie talked about these tax problems on the phone while he was in custody back in June. They claim Derek told Kellie people were looking into their records, and allege Kellie responded she was meeting with someone about "(2016) to now."

They go on to claim Chauvin told Kellie to use the same person "we have used to handle for many years." That person appears to have been Derek's own father, as prosecutors say Kellie responded, "Yeah well we don't want to get your dad involved because he will just be mad at me I mean us for not doing them for years..."

Long story short, we're talking a lot of money and alleged wrongdoing here -- and if convicted on each of the felony counts ... they could face up to five years in prison.

Of course, these legal woes are on top of the second-degree murder and manslaughter charges Chauvin faces in connection to George's killing earlier in May. He remains behind bars with his bail set at $1.25 million. He hasn't entered a plea yet in the case.

Clint Eastwood wants CBD retailers to keep his name out their mouth ... and now he's suing.

Dirty Harry filed a pair of lawsuits Wednesday against CBD retailers, who he says are using his good name to hawk their cannabis products online and trick customers.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Clint says these CBD retailers are propping up their products by using fake interviews with him where he gushes over their marijuana merchandise. Clint says he's never sat down with any of these companies and doesn't endorse their products.

In one suit, Clint also claims CBD retailers are using his name to lure in consumers through Google searches. Yes, this 90-year-old is hip to metadata.

In the docs, Clint says he's being defamed by the lies out there about him using CBD products and says the companies have no right to use his likeness to hawk their products.

Dodgers fans, rejoice!!! ... Mookie Betts appears set to be a Los Angeleno for life -- reportedly closing in on signing a massive 10-YEAR extension with the team!!!

Official numbers on the imminent deal aren't out yet ... but WEEI's Lou Merloni reports the figures could be anywhere from $350 to $400 MILLION for the life of the contract.

Of course, it's HUGE news for the Dodgers ... there was some worry in the City of Angels that the impending free agent, Betts, would bolt for another team after this season.

But, the outfielder -- who won an MVP and a World Series ring in Boston before being traded to the Dodgers this offseason -- now appears poised to finish out his career in California.

The 27-year-old is one of the game's brightest stars ... he's got a .301 career batting average and has already come up with a few monster hits in the Dodgers' exhibition games this month.

Crushing blow for Red Sox fans, meanwhile ... some thought Mookie would return to Beantown and sign a long-term deal there after this season.

Tough break.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are hitting the market ... and none other than NBA legend Kevin Garnett is part of an investment group gunning to buy the team.

Billionaire owner Glen Taylor -- who has owned the team since 1995 -- confirmed Tuesday he's listening to offers to sell the team ... saying he is "seriously considering" all his options, according to The Athletic's Jon Krawczynski and Shams Charania.

KG -- the best T-Wolves player of all time -- is part of a group of investors who are "seriously interested" in placing a bid for the team, the report says.

Remember, Garnett absolutely HATES Taylor ... and it stems from a promise he made with the late Flip Saunders about taking a front office or ownership role with the team.

KG says the businessman broke his promise after Saunders died by bringing in Tom Thibodeau instead ... and brought up his issues with the owner back in April.

"I don’t do business with snakes," KG told Shams at the time. "I don’t do business with snake motherf***ers. I try not to do business with openly snakes or people who are snake-like."

Of course, Taylor had intended on putting KG's #21 up in the rafters at the Target Center ... which the hooper rejected until Taylor was no longer owner of the team.

Depending on who gets the team ... it may be time for that ceremony after all.