Money

Ice Cube and his partner in the BIG3 basketball league have filed a $1 BILLION lawsuit against multiple Qatari investors who allegedly failed to pony up their money for the league.

TMZ Sports has obtained the complaint in which Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz are suing several individuals including Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Saud Al Thani ... the CEO of the Qatari Investment Authority.

Cube says the Qataris were supposed to invest $5 MILLION and be passive investors in the league -- but instead "quickly started to insinuate themselves into the affairs of BIG3 despite failing to live up to even their most basic obligation to fully fund their investment."

Cube says the Qataris would openly brag about their individual wealth -- with one guy, Ahmed Al-Rumaihi, even blowing $700k during a gambling session in Vegas following the BIG3 championship game.

"These members and associates of the royal family made excuse after excuse for not paying, all of which is documented in text messages and emails, where the blame for their failure to fund the millions they owed the BIG3 ran the gamut from their 'sinuses,' 'hiking,' it being a 'long day bro,' and to bad press regarding Qatar associations with alleged funding of terrorism."

"Also, like a simple debtor in hiding from a collection agency, these Defendants with their purported links to the Qatar royal family, would go into hiding and refused to return phone calls and ignore Plaintiffs."

Cube says in Dec. 2017, Kwatinetz attempted to set up a meeting with Al-Rumaihi who instead of substantively responding "sent a picture of his teeth being worked on, apparently to conjure sympathy."

, Cube claims Al-Rumaihi eventually got so pissed off over the repeated requests for the money that he loudly screamed at Kwatinetz and threatened his life saying, "You don't know who I know in L.A. and what they're capable of. You should think of your safety and the safety of you and your family."

Cube and Kwatinetz are now seeking $1.2 BILLION in damages in order to pay $20 million per player in the league.

Steve Wynn is legally blind and therefore never could've leered at women he allegedly told to strip to their panties ... so he's suing Lisa Bloom for defamation.

The hotel mogul filed legal docs to sue Lisa and her law firm claiming she lied through her teeth when she alleged Wynn sexually harassed one of her clients.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Wynn says during his 20s he was diagnosed with a rare degenerative eye disease and he's been legally blind for almost 2 decades ... meaning it's impossible he leered at dancers for the show, Showstoppers, at Encore Theater from 2014 through 2016.

Wynn calls BS on Lisa's client's claims -- that Wynn attended dancer's rehearsals and instructed those he found sexually appealing to him to strip down to their bras and panties. Bloom said her client claimed Wynn would then sit there and leer while they danced.

As we reported ... Wynn was forced to step down as CEO of the company he founded following mounting accusations of sexual misconduct.

Safaree Samuels' armed robbery hits closer to home than he might've thought, cause he knows one of his alleged assailants very well ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ has obtained a photo Safaree took with his then-girlfriend, Nicki Minaj, and one of the men arrested in connection to the crime ... Shawn Harewood.

Sources tell us the pic was taken in either 2011 or 2012 at a club in Queens for Safaree's birthday. We're told Safaree and Shawn are old friends -- Safaree's known him since he was 14 years old. However, we're told they haven't spoken since Safaree's breakup from Nicki.

As we reported ... Harewood and another man, Jonathan Ricketts, were caught and arrested shortly after the alleged armed robbery this week. They were captured on foot in upper Manhattan after police pursued them over the George Washington Bridge from NJ.

Safaree's attorney, James Leonard Jr., told us this was not a random attack, and that his client was lucky to escape unscathed. The rapper told cops about $183k in cash and jewelry were stolen.

Justin Bieber is somewhere high-fivin' like crazy right now -- or he should be -- because he's finally nailed the delicate art of backing up his Lamborghini!

That's only slightly tongue-in-cheek. Truth is, we've watched the Biebs struggle for weeks to exit Hillsong Church in his $400k Lambo Aventador, but this Wednesday night ... he went for it and scored.

In the past, we've seen Justin bottom out his ride, or make multi-point turns to avoid reversing out of the steep driveway -- but ya can't say the kid doesn't learn from his mistakes. He revved the engine and made a clean exit ... in reverse.

Still, it doesn't hurt to look back at JB's greatest Lambo misses. We should all have such problems.

Farrah Abraham is quite pleased with the way her "sex shaming" lawsuit against MTV's parent company ended ... but sounds uncertain about working with them in the future.

We got the former 'Teen Mom' star Wednesday at E. Baldi in Bev Hills, and she gushed about how happy she is with the settlement she reached with Viacom. You'll recall, she sued claiming a 'Teen Mom' exec fired her, and 86'd any potential long-term deals with MTV ... due to her porn career. She also said he got hostile in their meeting.

She eventually dropped the suit, and the fact she's "really happy" about the settlement could be a sign she got some money out of it -- but she refused to give up details.

Here it is ... the first photo of the 4.09 carat blue diamond Drew Brees bought for $8.1 MILLION.

It's pretty incredible ... but the QB says he overpaid by roughly $6 MILLION!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Brees purchased the stone as an investment from Vahid Moradi of CJ Charles jewelers in San Diego back in 2015 -- but says he was completely duped.

For his part, Moradi and his attorney Eric M. George deny all wrongdoing and say Brees has no one to blame but himself.

Brees claims he trusted Moradi to get him the best prices on rare stones in the hopes of selling them for a profit at a later date.

Brees says in 2018 he had the stone appraised by an independent specialist who told him the diamond was only worth $2 million when he bought it ... and it has since increased in value to $3.75 mil.

There's more ... Brees is also furious over pink diamond earrings he bought in 2015 for $975k -- claiming Moradi used pink paint behind the diamond setting to make the stone appear more "pink" than its true color.

Brees says the pink stones are only worth $176k.

In total, Brees says he spent $15 mil with Moradi over the years -- but his stones are only worth roughly $6 mil ... a $9 million loss.

Kylie and Kendall Jenner are putting their legal battle with a Tupac photographer behind them -- the suit's been dismissed, and it appears they've reached a settlement.

According to docs, the photog, Michael Miller, agreed to drop his suit against the Jenner sisters. You'll recall ... he filed last year after Kylie and Kendall rolled out a line of tees featuring their faces superimposed over famous pics of Tupac.

Both sides have agreed to cover their own legal fees, but it's unclear if any money changed hands in a settlement. The t-shirt sales didn't last long. The sisters got hit with a similar suit for using Notorious B.I.G. pics on shirts.

They quickly pulled all the merchandise off their websites, and sources familiar tell us Kylie and Kendall's companies weren't printing the shirts ... they'd merely licensed their images to a third party company.

Scott Disick just scooped up a brand spankin' new crib in Hidden Hills, complete with a massive pool and waterfalls.

Disick plunked down $3.25 million on the nearly 5,000 square foot space ... it features 5 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms. The pad was built in 1973, so it's possible he'll feature it on his upcoming house-flipping show.

Scott started renting out his other Hidden Hills home last year for $60k/month.

The new purchase features plenty of privacy for Scott -- who was repped by agents Kozet Luciano & Andre Manoukian of JohnHart Real Estate in the sale -- with over an acre of land.

3:17 PM PT -- Jarosik's attorney, Perry C. Wander, tells us, "Ms. Jarosik is a loving mother and a good parent and her parenting abilities have no relevance in this matter."

Russell Simmons claims a woman accusing him of sexual assault sent him loving texts and even nudes after the alleged rape ... and her lawsuit is nothing more than a cash grab.

Simmons says in new legal docs, he and Jennifer Jarosik had a casual relationship for over a decade and occasionally had sex ... but it was always consensual. He claims Jarosik frequently sent him loving messages and unsolicited nude photos -- including just weeks after the alleged 2016 rape and long after another 2011 sexual assault he claims she's publicly accused him of.

Simmons' lawyer says in court papers he believes this is nothing more than a shakedown, and that "only after hearing that women were able to recover money for real abuse by sexual predators, did Ms. Jarosik decide to see if she could extract large amounts of money" from him.

He also claims Jarosik has been found by a court to have a "propensity to exaggerate" and to suffer from "untreated mental health issues." Simmons calls her claims complete fiction.

Blac Chyna pushed a stroller company too far, and now she's lost a deal that could have landed her a big payday ... TMZ has learned.

Sources involved in the deal with the stroller co., Momiie, tell us ... it's pulled the plug on its collab with Chyna in wake of her stroller-swinging skirmish Sunday at Six Flags.

We're told the incident was not the sole reason for Momiie's decision. Honchos had already grown uneasy with Chyna's behavioral issues -- not to mention a leaked sex tape -- and the impact it might have on their brand. The fight video was definitely the final nail in the coffin.

A rep for Momiie adds Chyna's latest actions made it impossible to move forward with their business relationship, telling us ... "[We] cannot excuse that sort of reaction and behavior particularly in a family resort around children.”

We broke the story ... BC signed up to be a brand ambassador for the new baby strollers, with the goal of launching her own line with Momiie if all went well. It didn't.

Instead, Chyna might be in store for a legal war with Rob Kardashian, who's livid she put 1-year-old Dream in harm's way ... though Chyna claims she was actually defending their daughter.

Justin Verlander won the World Series ... Kate Upton is winning at life -- if you use giant diamonds to keep score.

The Houston Astros pitcher let his supermodel wife rock his brand new World Series ring -- on the same hand as her massive engagement ring ... and it's a kind of photo that would make Drew Brees blush.

The World Series ring -- which Verlander got on Tuesday -- is 10.40 carats with 214 diamonds, 16 natural blue sapphires and 9 natural orange sapphires.

The ring has 11 custom diamonds that make up the "H" on the top of the piece -- one for every playoff victory ... and 101 diamonds overall on the top (one for every regular season win).

There are 56 diamonds which surround the "H" -- representing each season the Astros played until the first franchise title.

The engagement ring is reportedly 8 carats and worth $1.5 million.

Good Lord.

Drew Brees is speaking out on his lawsuit against a San Diego jeweler -- saying he trusted the man with $15 million in diamonds ... but "in the end it was all a scam."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Brees sued Vahid Moradi of CJ Charles jewelers claiming Moradi misrepresented the quality and value of several high-priced diamonds over the years.

In fact, Brees claimed he severely overpaid for an $8.1 MILLION blue diamond in 2015 -- which is really only worth about $3.75 mil.

Now, Brees has issued a statement through his attorney Andrew Kim saying, "From 2010 to 2016, Moradi advised [my wife and I] to allocate funds into an alternative asset class of investment grade diamonds and told us that he would use his connections and expertise to acquire them on our behalf at or below market value."

"In an effort to diversify our investment portfolio, we trusted Moradi and invested. Moradi assured us he was being compensated by the sellers for any investment grade diamonds he acquired on our behalf."

"In the end it was all a scam. After thinking long and hard, Brittany and I decided to take this lawsuit on in part because we fear we are not the only ones Moradi has misled and defrauded."

Moradi has denied any wrongdoing -- with his attorney -- saying the fault lies with Brees.

"Mr. Brees's behavior and his belief that he was wronged because the jewelry did not appreciate in value as quickly as he hoped both demonstrate a lack of integrity and contradict basic principles of both economics and the law."

Former RNC Chairman Michael Steele says he sees right through President Trump's beef with Jeff Bezos ... and says it ain't about Amazon, it's just politics and the newspaper Bezos owns.

We got the conservative pundit Tuesday in D.C., and he said Trump's tweet storm claiming Amazon is screwing the U.S. Postal Service is a BS smokescreen for his hatred of the Washington Post ... which Bezos bought back in 2013.

POTUS drags WaPo almost daily as "fake news," and now his tweets targeting Amazon is hitting Bezos hard in the wallet. His personal net worth has dropped about $16 billion, and Amazon stock also dropped.

Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan may have called it quits on their marriage, but their business relationship is as strong as ever ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the former couple tell us ... nothing will change between Channing and Jenna when it comes to their joint entertainment ventures, which currently includes executive producing the new YouTube Red series "Step Up: High Water." The show stars Lauryn McClain and Petrice Jones and features Faizon Love, Naya Rivera and Ne-Yo.

We're told the 2 could be partnering up on future 'Step Up' projects as well, and have no issues moving forward and working together despite announcing their separation Monday after nearly 9 years of marriage.

As we reported ... the couple met on the set of the 2006 film "Step Up" and tied the knot in July 2009, and have still been seen hanging out in recent weeks on social media.

Drew Brees claims he was scammed out of MILLIONS by a jeweler who sold him an $8 MILLION diamond ring ... but the jeweler is saying Brees has no one to blame but himself.

The New Orleans Saints QB has filed a lawsuit against Vahid Moradi -- who runs the CJ Charles jewelry shop in San Diego, the city where Brees began his NFL career.

Brees claims he's been buying jewelry from Moradi for years -- and has dropped roughly $15 MILLION on some insane pieces ... including watches, earrings and rings.

Problem is ... Brees claims he recently had his jewelry independently appraised and was told his collection is worth $9 MILLION less than he paid.

In his suit filed Monday ... Brees says Moradi had insisted his jewelry was a solid investment that would definitely go up in value over the years -- and feels he was lied to the entire time.

Brees claims the biggest hit he took was on a 4.09 carat blue diamond ring he bought in 2015 for $8.18 million ... which recently appraised for only $3.75 million.

But Moradi's high-powered attorney, Eric M. George, says Brees shouldn't be pointing the finger at Moradi ... he can only blame himself.

"Drew Brees aggressively purchased multi-million dollar pieces of jewelry. Years later, claiming to suffer ‘cash flow problems,’ he tried to bully my client into undoing the transactions."

"Mr. Brees’s behavior and his belief that he was wronged because the jewelry did not appreciate in value as quickly as he hoped both demonstrate a lack of integrity and contradict basic principles of both economics and the law."

"He should restrict his game-playing to the football field, and refrain from bullying honest, hard-working businessmen like my client."

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Robby Anderson -- the guy who allegedly told a cop he was going to find his wife and bang her out of spite -- is essentially off the hook in his speeding case ... and all he had to do was pay a fine!!!

Remember, the NY Jets stud WR was arrested in Florida back in January after cops say he was doing 105 mph in a 45 mph -- and during the stop, he went completely nuclear on the arresting officer.

"He was going to find my wife, f*ck her and nut in her eye," the officer wrote in his arrest report.

Anderson was initially hit with 9 charges including 3 felonies (harming a public servant, fleeing and eluding and reckless speeding) and faced up to 15 YEARS in prison!!!!

But now, the Florida State Attorney's office tells TMZ Sports ... prosecutors have declined to move forward with ANY of the felony charges and the reckless speeding charge was downgraded to a misdemeanor.

And get this ... court records show Anderson was only ordered to pay a fine in the misdemeanor case (which he did) ... and it appears the case is essentially closed.

It's good news for Anderson -- but he could still be punished by the NFL if league officials find he violated the personal conduct policy.