Money

Jesse Williams just got hit hard ... a judge just signed off on a huge hike in spousal support he'll have to pay his estranged wife -- going from $33k to $50k per month.

Aryn Drake-Lee had gone to court to ask for the increase based on his ability to pay. She and Jesse hammered out the agreement, and the judge approved it earlier this month.

The divorce has been incredibly acrimonious ... particularly after he was linked to Minka Kelly.

The exact amount of the new spousal support obligation is $50,695 per month.

Under the new order, Aryn is responsible for paying all mortgage obligations and various other expenses related to the family home.

She's also getting half of Jesse's residuals from Sept., 2012, to April, 2017 for "Grey's Anatomy" and other projects.

Stormy Daniels may have taken hush money from Donald Trump, and that's now paying handsome dividends.

Stormy's headlining Saturday night at the Trophy Club in Greenville, South Carolina and the owner's using the Trump scandal to lure in the curious.

She reportedly hooked up with Trump back in 2006 -- something she first reportedly claimed and now denies. The Wall Street Journal reports Trump's lawyer funneled over $130k to her during the 2016 campaign to keep her quiet.

So, in the greatest American tradition, Stormy is now on her own campaign trail ... Make America Horny Again!

Great news for rich UFC fans -- the iconic "superfight" belt from UFC 5 is about to hit the auction block ... and you can add it to your mantel if you're willing to drop a small fortune!

Backstory -- UFC legends Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock threw down to crown the company's first ever superfight champ back in '95 ... but their 36-MINUTE bout was declared a draw, so neither of 'em took home the gold.

Now, Goldin Auctions -- consigning the strap for a collector who got it from UFC co-founder Art Davie -- is bringing it to a bid ... and expects it to go for $25k-$100k (if not more).

G.A.'s founder Ken Goldin tells TMZ Sports -- "It's the most significant UFC item ever to be auctioned" ... so expect a lot of action before bidding ends on Feb. 17.

Kris Jenner really is the super (rich) grandma we all wish we had ... 'cause she dropped close to $10k to make sure her 3 new grandkids will be strollin' in the dough.

Kris recently picked up 5 new pricey-as-hell baby strollers for Kim, Khloe and Kylie's kids -- all of which are valued at nearly $11,000 total ... even though she only spent around $8k.

Sources tell us Kris recently purchased 3 Silver Cross Balmoral Prams -- 2 black, 1 white -- at the Couture Kids baby store on Robertson Blvd. in WeHo, which cost $2,699 each. That's $8,097, if you're counting.

We're also told she was gifted 2 Silver Cross wave strollers, which normally cost $1,299 each. Sources say they were shipped out to Kris Thursday ... she put in her orders and requests at least 3 weeks ago.

As we reported ... Kris didn't skimp on baby gear for Kim's newest little girl. Looks like the other babies-to-come are getting the same treatment.

That was quick ... Hard Candy is dropping its push to trademark #MeToo for cosmetics after getting some serious backlash over the move.

TMZ broke the story Wednesday ... if the application was approved, Hard Candy would put the #MeToo on some of its products, but also intended to donate revenue to the movement. But CEO Jerome Falic now tells us ... the project didn't go over well with some customers.

Angry reactions on social media included claims the company was trying to glamorize, commercialize and capitalize on rape culture.

Falic says they abandoned the application based on the response from the public. Still, he says they were going to donate 100% of profits from the #MeToo sales, and "our objective was to bring greater awareness to this important and long overdue movement."

He adds, Hard Candy will continue to support "the work of this watershed movement and other causes that respect the dignity of women and all people."

James R. -- a newcomer on this season of "Love & Hip Hop" -- jacked a song that doesn't belong to him and is trying to pass it off as his own -- including on the show ... according to a new suit.

Music producer Luis Vargas is going after James R. and Viacom -- which owns VH1 -- claiming 'L&HH' used his song "Bad Girl" on 2 episodes of season 8 so far ... but the show has no right to do that.

Here's the backstory -- Vargas says he signed James R. to his label, Bully Sound Records, last year, and together they made "Bad Girl" ... but Vargas' company owns the rights to the track.

Vargas claims James R. tried to part ways with Bully and take "Bad Girl" with him, but when they couldn't work out a deal ... Vargas says James R. just jacked the song and changed the name to "Bah Gurl."

According to the docs ... James R. appears on 2 eps. of this season VH1's show making an unauthorized music vid for "Bah Gurl" and having a release party for it. To make it worse -- he claims James R.'s promoting the jacked version of "Bad Girl" online, as well.

Vargas is suing for damages ... which he believes are more than $1 million.

Blac Chyna's house manager is in a coma and it's got Chyna's exes, Tyga and Rob Kardashian, opening their wallets to help pay for medical expenses.

Patty, who also helped run Chyna's clothing line, suffered a stroke in July but continued to work -- despite doctor's orders -- to support her 3 kids. She went into a coma in December due to bleeding on the brain.

What's worse ... Patty was pregnant and doctors had to terminate the baby.

Patty's family set up a GoFundMe page and Tyga was one of the first to donate -- $5k under his real name, Michael Stevenson. Rob also donated $10k and, as of Thursday morning, $18k of the $50k goal had been raised in just a few hours.

Diddy says he's 100% serious about buying the Carolina Panthers, and the reason he's doing it couldn't be more important ... 'cause he says it's all to inspire and empower black America.

Puff sat down with the crew on "The Breakfast Club" when he was asked if there were any updates on his efforts to purchase the squad.

Diddy made it clear it's totally real -- he's putting an investment group together -- and told everyone why he thought it was important for the black community to have NFL ownership.

"It was never about me buying the Panthers, it was always about we. It was always about we need a team. I jumped out there to make sure that they understood that they have to consider some black ownership right now with 80%, 70% of the league being African-American. It's just time."

Diddy goes on to say he gets why some people think he won't be able to do it ... there's a lot of yellow tape -- but it's clear he doesn't think anyone can stop him.

Kris Jenner doesn't scrimp on her grandkids, especially not for the newest Kardashian girl -- for whom she just dropped over $10,000 ... TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us Kris hit up baby boutique Petit Tresor in WeHo late last month and spent at least $10k on some pricey baby merch for Kim and Kanye's latest bundle of joy.

We're told Kris knew the baby would be due in January, so she wanted to get her order in early since a lot of this stuff is custom-made and would take a while to get delivered.

As for the order itself ... sources say Grandma Jenner bought a roughly $3,000 silver cross pram for kids -- which, we're told, was intended for North to push her new little sister around in. She also picked up a handcrafted Anaiza wooden crib for at least $6,000.

Last, but not least ... sources say Kris snapped up a bunch of custom baby outfits with rose applique for ALL of her grandkids at a couple hundred bucks each.

LaVar Ball was dead serious about starting his own semi-pro basketball league -- and now he's got the ball rolling when it comes to locking down the trademarks.

TMZ Sports has obtained documents showing LaVar (doing business as the Big Baller Brand) has filed applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to get the rights for the "JBA" aka the "Junior Basketball Association."

BBB is looking to use the league name and a logo (a silhouette of Lonzo Ball dunking) for athletic apparel, uniforms, hats, footwear, etc.

LaVar has previously said he wants to create the league for high school basketball players who don't want to play for free in college ... but can't get to the NBA yet.

He's stated he wants to pay players between $3,000 and $10,000 per month. He's looking to recruit 80 players to fill 10 teams.

LaVar is gunning to launch the JBA in the Summer of 2018.

Hold off on the "uff das," good people of North Dakota -- 'cause Josh Duhamel is sticking around as your promotional mouthpiece for another couple years ... and for a decent hunk o' change.

North Dakota's tourism agency announced Wednesday it was extending Josh's contract as the Peace Garden State's ambassador, and will rake in $365,000.

He's already made $525k since taking the gig in 2013. Based on these fun shots from last summer, we'd say Josh will continue to be a big draw.

Check out some of his ND promos before we letcha go.

Cardi B might break her next record at the box office because she just inked her first movie deal ... TMZ has learned.

We're told the "Bartier Cardi" singer begins filming in March, so seeing her on the silver screen might happen sooner than you think.

No word what the film's called or how much she's getting for it, but it must be a ton. One source told us ... because of filming, Cardi's had to turn down other gigs in March that would've made her between $100k-$200k. Translation ... although we don't know how much she'll make on the movie, it's not gonna be pocket change.

Cardi B recently became the first woman with five top 10 hits on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in a single week ever, ousting Beyonce's previous record of 4.

Mariah Carey tried to pass the buck on South American promoters, laying the blame on them for her canceled 'Sweet Sweet Fantasy' gigs ... according to a countersuit they've just filed.

The promoter, Fenix, says it arranged for Mariah to play 2 shows on her tour -- one in Argentina and one in Chile ... but she pulled out. The "why" is what sparked this legal war. Mariah's company initially sued Fenix, claiming it didn't pay her for the shows and damaged her brand.

But according to the new docs, obtained by TMZ, Fenix says it had paid Mariah nearly 75% of what she was due for the concerts -- $703,100. The promoter says that was standard ops based on previous deals with Mariah's camp.

In the suit, Fenix says it believes the real reason Mariah bailed is because she had low ticket sales at 3 shows in Brazil. Further, Fenix says Mariah defamed them when she tweeted to her nearly 17 million followers at the time ... her fans "deserve better than how some of these promoters treated them."

The mother of Brian Urlacher's 12-year-old son claims the ex-NFL star has conspired with attorneys and a news reporter to paint her as a murderer ... and now she's suing for $125 MILLION.

The woman behind the suit is Tyna Karageorge -- who had a child with Urlacher in 2005. She later married Ryan Karageorge, who died from a gunshot wound to the head in Dec. 2016.

Tyna had told police she and Ryan had been arguing on the night of the fatal shooting -- and at one point, he reached for a pistol in her purse and shot himself.

In her suit, Tyna claims Urlacher -- along with his lawyers and a reporter for the Chicago Tribune -- concocted a diabolical plot to convince officials and the public that the shooting was NOT a suicide, but rather Tyna murdered Ryan.

Tyna claims Urlacher called the shots in the plot hoping to ultimately get custody of their son.

According to court documents filed in Illinois, Tyna wants $25 mil in compensatory damages and another $100 mil in punitive damages.

Bruce Willis is scaling back ... and no better way to do that than to unload a crib that practically features Central Park as the front yard.

Bruce has just listed his NYC duplex for a cool $17.75 million. He bought it for $16.995 million back in 2015 but Bruce and his wife, Emma Heming, are reportedly not spending as much time in the crib to justify keeping it ... so time to unload.

The lucky buyer gets an apartment that's around 6,000 square feet and once used to be 2 separate apartments. The 6 bedroom, 5 bathroom pad features 150 feet of Central Park frontage and a master suite with a luxurious bathroom with Central Park views.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West have been offered multi-million dollar deals to provide first photos of their new baby ... and they have REJECTED all of them.

Sources familiar with the offers tell TMZ, various websites and magazines started making offers months ago. All of the offers were north of a million dollars and several outlets offered between $2 and $5 million.

The offers were never entertained ... they were immediately rejected. We're told Kim and Kanye would never consider taking money for the first photos of the baby ... doing so would violate their morals.

But there's more ... Kim and Kanye place the security and safety of their family above all else. They realize the media will eventually get pictures of the baby but they want to do it on their own timetable ... when they're comfortable the safety of the baby is secured.

As for what they've done in the past ... Kim and Kanye posted the first pic of North 2 months after she was born. As for Saint, they also waited a little more than 2 months.

So check Kim's Instagram in March.