Money

Michael Jordan's Air Jordan 1's gave birth to sneaker culture in 1985 ... and now 1 of the first pairs MJ rocked during his rookie year with the Bulls are for sale!!

... And, if ya got around 600 grand, they could be yours.

The game-worn, autographed pair of red, white and black AJ 1's -- donned by Michael during the '84-'85 NBA season -- already has a $122k bid on Goldin Auctions website ... with over 18 days left in the auction.

The already incredibly high value of Jordan memorabilia has skyrocketed since ESPN's "The Last Dance" docuseries aired. In fact, a similar pair of AJ1's recently sold for $560k.

But, there's something special about GA's pair ... 'cause Jordan actually signed the sneakers on-camera during a television interview with a local L.A. sports reporter 7 years after he donned them in an NBA game.

The reporter -- Rick Lozano -- was previously gifted the Jordan's (left shoe size 13.5, right 13) by Michael's former teammate, Bulls player Gene Banks.

36 years ago, Jordan had a spectacular rookie year -- averaging 28 ppg, 6.5 rebounds, 6 assists while easily winning Rookie of the Year -- and now you can own the kicks that started a sneaker revolution.

The auction runs through August 22 ... and we're told the final number could be over $600k!!

President Trump has the black bear vote ... at least that's what someone wants you to think after a Trump 2020 sticker was slapped on a wild animal's tracking collar.

Help Asheville Bears, an animal rights group based in North Carolina, says it's offering $5,000 to find the folks responsible for putting a Trump 2020 sticker on this bear's collar.

HAB calls the person responsible for the political statement is "cruel and heartless" ... and the group says this is the second black bear they know of with the Trump reelection campaign sticker.

The black bear was photographed by Asheville resident Sheila Chapman, and she says the animal was hanging out on her front porch when she snapped the pic. The sticker itself doesn't seem to be harming the animal, but it might have a hard time getting into the Democratic Convention.

Sheila thinks the bear is being tagged and tracked by The North Carolina Urban/Suburban Bear Study -- she claims she's seen bears with collars before in her neighborhood -- and says the sticker angered her and made her sad.

HAB seems to believe the person who effectively made the bear a walking Trump billboard might be someone involved in the study. Let's face it, ya don't see a lot of civilians walking up to wild bears ... with or without political agendas.

HAB is calling for a full investigation, and the bear study program told CNN its researchers don't condone people approaching bears for any reason.

Seems face masks aren't the only things getting political nowadays.

The woman who was viciously attacked by a white supremacist in Florida is getting a boon of support with tons of cash ... something that will be needed to help with the pain of her injuries.

Kisha Biche's the one who got struck in the face by Nicholas Shock -- this after he went on a racist tirade, describing himself as a white supremacist. Her hubby, Tom Biche, tells TMZ, Kisha actually held off going to the hospital right after the attack, but eventually checked in later that night after the adrenaline wore off and the pain set in.

As it turns out, we're told she actually suffered a concussion -- and she's experiencing some serious symptoms as a result.

Among those symptoms -- headaches, nausea, whiplash and bruising as well, which we're told is popping up all over her body for some reason. He tells us plainly her head's not working quite right ... she's having a hard time remembering things.

Lucky for her, we're told her friends set up a GoFundMe to help her during this difficult time of recovery -- and tons of people are pitching in from all over, even strangers.

The initial goal was $10,000 -- but the money has well surpassed that, and its current benchmark is set at $25k. The description for the virtual fundraiser says the money's meant to help offset dough she's missing out on at her bartender job -- not to mention medical bills.

The friendly neighborhood home of the Boggs family in "Edward Scissorhands" is on the market, and though there's no sign Edward's been trimming the hedges ... there's still plenty to like about the place.

The outside of the Florida house -- featured in the 1990 Tim Burton cult classic, starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder -- is a different color now but still looks very much the same ... and it's listed for $224,000.

The 1,432-square-foot residence comes with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, all of which have been recently renovated ... including a completely remodeled master bath.

The house still boasts some original attributes too -- like the kitchen cabinets and countertops and, of course, all the charm showcased in the movie.

The Boggs' house -- used for exterior and interior shots -- was built in 1989, just months before filming began for 'Scissorhands' in the Tampa Bay area. It's actually in a subdivision in the suburban town of Lutz.

Hopefully, all the neighbors are nice as well ... nothing like those Esmeralda or Jim characters.

Mick Foley is praising the hell out of The Rock for buying the XFL with his ex-wife ... telling TMZ Sports his business relationship with Dany Garcia is just another example of why the former WWE star is an awesome person.

"The greatest part of this announcement is that one of his partners in this venture is his former wife, Dany Garcia," Foley says.

"The Rock not only sets an example on how to conduct yourself as a human being, an actor, a philanthropist but as a former husband."

FYI -- The Rock married Garcia way back in 1997, but they divorced in 2007 while promising at the time to continue to stay in each other's lives as "best friends."

Mick says the way Dwayne has kept up that commitment with Garcia despite the separation is powerful ... and Foley claims it tells a lot about the 48-year-old movie star's character.

"Of all the stories I tell about The Rock, I think my favorite one is he was actually at his ex-wife's wedding," says Foley, who wrestled with Dwayne for years in the WWE.

"I think that's a great lesson for everyone to learn for the fact that they can stay amazing friends, be amazing parents to Simone, and then take on these business ventures."

As we previously reported, Rock teamed up with Garcia and partners at RedBird Capital (led by Gerry Cardinale) to scoop up the XFL for $15 million on Monday.

The Rock's promising to build a good product on the field for fans ... and Foley says there's no doubt in his mind his former coworker is going to crush it.

"It's got a really good shot to succeed because of the intensity and the effort that he and Dany and their partners put into it," Foley says.

By the way, Mick is already lobbying his old pal for a role in the league ... but he tells us he doesn't want a suit-and-tie front office job -- he wants to strap on a helmet!!

"That's what I'd like to do," Foley says.

Jonathan Cheban -- AKA the "Foodgod" -- claims he had a gun pointed at him this weekend ... and now, says he's out hundreds of thousands after a crook made off with his bling.

Law enforcement sources tell us, Kim Kardashian's BFF said he was robbed at gunpoint Sunday night in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, where he was hanging with his mom and friend. We're told Jon and his ma were at a mall earlier in the day, and afterward ... rolled up to his pal's place.

We're told all three of them were out front in the driveway, when a young man walked up and asked for the time. Our sources say Jonathan felt something was off and told everyone to head inside, but by then ... we're told the dude pulled out a gun and was on them.

Cheban told cops the perp moved the group between two cars, to trap them ... and then pointed the gun right at Jonathan's mother's head. We're told Jonathan told the guy to take anything he wanted and the guy ended up taking Jon's Richard Mille watch, worth about $250k.

BTW, we're also told a second gunman was on the scene -- a larger man who was standing watch. Eventually, neighbors heard the commotion and came out to see what was going on -- which scared off the guys, whom we're told made off together on foot.

We're told cops were called and Jonathan is supposed to go in and help with a sketch of the suspects -- we should note, our sources say neither of these fellas had masks on.

It's interesting ... Jon's best friend, Kim Kardashian, rarely wears expensive jewelry anymore after she was robbed at gunpoint in Paris.

President Trump's set a deadline for Microsoft -- or any other tech giant for that matter -- to buy TikTok's U.S. operations or he'll shut the app down for good.

The Prez spoke to reporters Monday at the White House and was asked about Microsoft's ongoing negotiations to buy the popular Chinese-owned app. Trump said TikTok will undoubtedly "be out of business" in the U.S. on Sept. 15 "unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal."

As we reported ... Microsoft confirmed it is currently in talks to buy TikTok from its parent company, ByteDance. Microsoft had already said it's planning to complete its discussions with TikTok team no later than September 15 ... but Trump's set that date as the deadline to get it done.

Trump says the issue is privacy ... the data of U.S. TikTok users falling into the Chinese government's hands. He told reporters TikTok's U.S. enterprise can't be controlled by China, but he'd rather have an American company with strong cybersecurity run operations here.

FINALLY, THE ROCK HAS COME BACK TO ... PRO FOOTBALL!?

The WWE legend just teamed up with an investment group to snatch up Vince McMahon's XFL league for $15 million, the league confirms in a statement.

The league had filed for bankruptcy after being resurrected for the 2020 season -- and was supposed to be auctioned off to highest bidder on Monday.

But, Dwayne Johnson and his partners -- Dany Garcia (Rock's business partner and ex-wife) and partners at RedBird Capital (led by Gerry Cardinale) -- swooped in and bought it up this weekend before it hit the auction block.

The deal must now be approved in bankruptcy court on Friday -- and if everything goes smoothly, it could close by August 21.

The Rock (along with Dany) and RedBird are reportedly 50/50 partners in the deal.

Remember, the XFL got off to a pretty decent start in 2020 -- but COVID essentially served as a death sentence to the league, forcing it to shut down in March.

The league filed for chapter 11 in April -- listing $10 to $50 million in debts.

The Rock issued a statement saying, "The acquisition of the XFL with my talented partners, Dany Garcia and Gerry Cardinale, is an investment for me that’s rooted deeply in two things - my passion for the game and my desire to always take care of the fans."

"With pride and gratitude for all that I’ve built with my own two hands, I plan to apply these callouses to the XFL, and look forward to creating something special for the players, fans, and everyone involved for the love of football."

The plan is to relaunch the league -- but so far, no timetable has been set.

As for The Rock, he famously played college football at the University of Miami back in the day before becoming a global pro wrestling superstar with Vince McMahon's WWE.

One lucky, and very rich, Elvis Presley fan has the memorabilia world all shook up -- after snapping up one of The King's rare guitars for a record-setting 7-FIGURE price!!!

That's right ... Elvis' 1942 Martin D-18 guitar -- which he owned from 1954 to 1956 -- sold at auction for a whopping $1,320,000. It's a WORLD RECORD for the most expensive Elvis Presley memorabilia ever sold ... via the folks over at Gotta Have Rock and Roll.

As we first reported ... the guitar's got tons of history. Elvis bought it at O.K. Houck's Piano Store in Memphis, trading in his Martin 000-18 model. He then went on to decorate the body of the guitar with adhesive metal letters spelling out "ELVIS." Today, the guitar's missing the "S."

While he owned the guitar, Elvis recorded a slew of his early classics, including "That's Alright (Mama)," "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and "Good Rockin' Tonight." The new owner is remaining anonymous ... for now.

Some other cool items that sold at the auction include Michael Jordan's game-worn modified Jordan 1 sneakers from the 1985-86 season. The pair sold for $474,696, also a record.

Eddie Van Halen's 2000 custom racing Ferrari sold for $156,250 and The Beatles' 1966 Toronto Maple Leaf Gardens concert poster sold for $68,750. That's also a world record ... for non-U.S. concert posters.

A love story more than 8 decades in the making reached a high point last week ... when Ivan O'Neil and Gerry Souhrada got married in Montana.

The couple, both 91, said their "I dos" in front of immediate family July 25 in Lakeside ... after more than a decade of dating. The nuptials were also live streamed on Facebook so loved ones all over could watch.

Ivan and Gerry met in first grade and grew to be friends during high school. They both went on to get married to other people, but continued to bump into each other over the years at various local events, and committee meetings to plan their class reunions.

As fate would have it ... they were both mourning the loss of their spouses -- Marian and Bob -- 13 years ago when they ran into each other at a breakfast diner.

We're told Ivan was there with his hiking group -- the "Over the Hill" gang -- and went over to say hello to Gerry. Later in the day, Gerry mentioned to her son ... if someone as nice as Ivan were to ask her out, she'd say yes.

Sure enough, that ol' son-of-a-gun Ivan did exactly that later that evening ... when he asked her to be his date to a banquet because it "wouldn't be any fun to go alone."

They've been together ever since, love to travel and have been all around the world. We're told Ivan actually asked Gerry to marry him early on in their dating years, but she wasn't ready after losing Bob. However, when he recently popped the question again ... she said yes.

All of that's interesting enough, but then there's this -- Ivan and Gerry signed a prenup! We're told Ivan wanted it to be short and simple, but it ended up being 30 pages ... much to his dismay.

The couple won't be going on a honeymoon right now due to the pandemic, but say when they do ... it'll include attending a University of Montana football game.

WHAT!?!??!

Everyone knows Odell Beckham Jr. is obsessed with fashion ... but did you know his closet is the size of a DEPARTMENT STORE?!

The Cleveland Browns star gave a rare glimpse into his wardrobe area on Friday ... showing rows of expensive sneakers, aisles of shirts, sweatshirts and pants and some pretty cool memorabilia on the walls.

The shoe racks alone are enough to fill an entire Foot Locker -- 9-shelves high surround the permitter of the massive wardrobe room ... cleats, boots, casual sneakers, everything.

He's also got top-quality entertainment ... a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game and Pop-a-shot hoop -- right next to framed jerseys of Colin Kaepernick and Todd Gurley.

Beckham says he's currently doing a little spring cleaning -- but plans to donate a bunch of the items to charity.

How does he have so many clothes? Well, he's an influencer so some of it probably came for free -- but also, he's in the middle of a $95 MILLION contract with $65 mil guaranteed.

Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse are giving away money ... or so it seems after nearly 200 people in Rhode Island mistakenly received tax refund checks signed by the Disney duo.

The hilarious technical error was discovered when some people received checks with a Mickey signature under the general treasurer line, and Walt's name signed under state controller.

Hold on to your mouse ears hat -- Rhode Island officials say this was a technical glitch. The Disney signatures are used by the Rhode Island Division of Taxation on test files. They were never meant to be stamped on the 176 live checks mailed out ... mostly to business owners.

For the record, officials mailed out new checks with the correct signatures. And, in case you're wondering -- Seth Magaziner and Peter Keenan are the state's real treasurer and controller, respectively. Chill out, guys ... you haven't been replaced.

And, here's a fun fact raised by The AP in its report on the tax flub: "Mickey Mouse is the cartoon character that was animator and producer Walt Disney’s first big hit."

It's GREAT to be Dak Prescott ... dude just showed off his shredded bod by the pool Friday -- and just hours earlier, he made things Instagram official with his smokin' hot model GF!!

Oh, and he just signed a 1-year, $31 MILLION deal with the Dallas Cowboys this month!!!

Yeah ... jealous yet?!

Dak was with the Dude Perfect guys for some trick shot work by the pool this week ... and while we're sure the throws were fun -- DO YOU SEE HIS BOD!?

The 6'2", 238-pound QB has clearly avoided the quarantine 15 ... the NFL star (who hasn't always been the most cut-up guy in the league) looks absolutely jacked.

There's abs. There's pecs. And, there's biceps.

Yup, keep droolin', Cowboys fans!!

Of course, Prescott's got some reason to look good shirtless these days ... he just made things social media offish with his longtime rumored GF Natalie Buffett -- and she's STUNNING!!

The model -- who was once a "Barstool Smokeshow" -- posted a happy birthday message for the QB on Wednesday ... and he wrote back, "My girl!!! Thank you" with a heart emoji.

Conor McGregor's used fight shorts could be yours -- if you're into that sorta thing -- his gear just hit the auction block and bids are already through the roof!

The gloves, hand wraps, fight shorts and Irish flag Conor used during his UFC 246 showdown with Donald Cerrone back in January is up for grabs on the Fanatics Authentic auction site.

Remember, Conor dominated Cowboy in his first fight back in the Octagon since taking an L to Khabib Nurmagomedov in 2018 -- defeating Cerrone in just 40 seconds.

Starting bid on Conor's used (and signed) gloves was $2,500 -- but it attracted a WAVE of interested buyers who quickly bid the price up to $31,000 ... and there's still 19 days left to go!!!

The used shorts are also signed by Conor -- starting bid was $2,500 ... and now it's up to $11,000.

The Irish flag Conor raised after the fight is also on the block -- it's signed too! That's at $2,500.

"I signed a paper today."

Understatement of the century from Joe Burrow -- who just officially signed his huge $36 MILLION rookie contract with the Bengals!

You excited yet, Cincy?!

Burrow was the #1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft back in April -- but it took a while for the 2 sides to hammer out the contract details.

The good news ... the Bengals say the deal is done -- which means the 23-year-old LSU hero is less than 15 days away from getting that $23.9 million signing bonus!

Moments after the signing, the team released a video showing Burrow walking through the team facility -- noting the QB is already "ready to work!"

(Side note -- someone get that dude a mask already!!!)

Burrow is expected to take over the starting QB role for Cincy, which just parted ways with longtime QB Andy Dalton.

Brett Favre said Burrow's 2019 college football campaign was one of the best seasons he's ever seen -- with Burrow completing 76.3% of his passes for 5,671 yards and scoring 65 total (rushing and passing) TDs.

Cincy fans are praying his skills translate to the NFL immediately -- but ey, no pressure, right?!

Tamar Braxton is opening up about her attempt to end her own life, claiming her years in the reality TV business and the "toxic, systemic bondage" that dwells there almost killed her ... but now she's healing and speaking up.

Tamar says the July 16 incident was "my attempt to end my pain and my life," and only by God's grace and mercy did she make it out alive.

As you know ... Tamar was rushed to a hospital July 16 after her boyfriend, David Adefeso, called 911 from their hotel room in downtown L.A. EMTs found her unconscious inside her room when they arrived.

Tamar says her pain has been building for 11 years, and had eaten away her spirit and caused her to suffer mental illness. She says over the past 5 years, in particular, she has been overworked, underpaid, taken advantage of and betrayed by reality TV producers. She flat out accuses them ... claiming they "filmed the damage made, for monetary gain."

She says over 2 months ago, she wrote a letter to WE tv -- the network producing her new series, "Get Ya Life!" -- asking to be freed from her contract and explained the "demise" she was experiencing. She claims her cry for help was ignored.

Instead, she says the network pushed forward with the new series, which she says tainted her spirit and her soul. She adds ... "It was witnessing the death of the woman I knew, that discouraged my will to fight. I felt like I was no longer living, I was existing for the purpose of corporations gain, and that killed me."

Sources close to the situation tell TMZ ... the final straw for Tamar was when she viewed the first episode of "Get Ya Life!" and felt the network and producers did everything they promised they wouldn't ... including portraying her as the "angry black woman" who was choosing a man over her family.

We're also told she was very upset about how her BF, David, was used by the network and came off in the show.

Now, as we first reported, sources connected to the Braxton family told us the family believes it was David who got angry about his portrayal in that first episode, and that's what fueled Tamar's emotions.

First episode aside, Tamar clearly has a bigger issue with reality TV and its treatment of minorities. As she put it, "They promise us opportunity but produce exploitation."