Money

Steve Nash knows ... legalized sports betting won't go off without a hitch -- noting that in the past, "sh*t's happened."

There are concerns that the new Supreme Court ruling legalizing sports betting across the U.S. could lead to point shaving scandals ... like we've seen in the past at Arizona State and Boston College.

The suggestion is ... with sports betting being a hundred billion dollar industry and growing, there will be more incentive to pay off players to shave points or throw games.

But Nash doesn't seem too worried ... telling TMZ Sports, "I wouldn't [be concerned]. They're responsible young gentlemen of society."

He acknowledges some players will screw up -- but they're probably in the minority.

"Sh*t's happened over time. I'm sure something will happen. But people are responsible for themselves."

Michigan State has agreed to pay $500 MILLION to the 332 female athletes who were sexually assaulted by former MSU doctor Larry Nassar.

Nassar is the disgraced piece of human garbage who pled guilty to sexually assaulting hundreds of women and girls under the guise of performing routine medical treatments.

Nassar treated hundreds of women at MSU -- including athletes from the softball, gymnastics, track and field, volleyball and rowing teams. Several of the women sued the university.

Now, Michigan State and lawyers for the victims announced they reached the $500 million settlement.

One of the best 'Survivor' contestants/lying scoundrels thinks producers should go easy on the 2 dimwits who broke their NDAs before airtime ... but says they still gotta pay.

We spoke to Jonny Fairplay of season 7 fame and podcast host Survivor NSFW -- known for lying about his grandmother dying and getting 3rd place -- and he tells us Alec Merlino and Kara Kay shouldn't be taken to court for violating their $5 million confidentiality agreements. He's got an alternative.

Jonny says the duo should lose their prize money from the show -- which he predicts is more significant than just a 1st or 2nd round payout, based on an apparent alliance/romance they seem to have formed ... which must've taken at least a few rounds.

BTW ... Jonny tells us just how much money is on the line for these two if showrunners go with his suggestion. It ain't $5 mil ... but it would definitely hurt a bit.

Stan Lee's ex-business partners took advantage of a grieving old man battling to save his sight and essentially stole his good name ... according to a massive new lawsuit.

The comic book legend is going after POW! Entertainment -- including current CEO Shane Duffy, and Gill Champion, with whom he co-founded the production company -- for a whopping BILLION BUCKS ... claiming they either tricked him into signing over the exclusive rights to his name, image and likeness -- or flat-out forged his signature.

Here's the backstory -- POW! was sold to a Chinese company called Camsing in 2017, but during negotiations, Lee claims he was in poor health and dealing with vision loss due to macular degeneration. He was also grieving over the death of his wife, Joan.

According to the docs ... Lee had no idea a sale was in the offing. Apparently POW! had to get a sign-off from Stan to use his name, and he claims he would NEVER have put his John Hancock to paper. The lawsuit calls Stan's name "the most important and prized possession Lee and his family owned his entire life."

Lee also points to the fact he even refused to give Disney the right to use his name when he struck a multi-billion dollar deal with the movie company.

Lee's suing for $1 bil ... along with an order to get his name back.

2:25 PM PT -- According to the judgment docs, obtained by TMZ ... there's one major condition to Silva getting Kurt's guitar -- Silva's baby mama has to quickly vacate the couple's L.A. house, which is now strictly Cobain's under the property settlement.

Frances Bean Cobain has settled her divorce with Isaiah Silva, and the major bone of contention -- Kurt Cobain's famous acoustic guitar -- goes to him.

TMZ has learned the former couple finally reached a property settlement agreement, 6 months after their divorce became final.

Our sources say, Frances decided she wanted Isaiah out of her life for good, and didn't want the mess of a trial to bog her down. What's more, she was only 1 year old when her dad committed suicide, so it's not like she had lots of memories about the 1959 Martin D-18E.

We're told she knows her decision may piss off lots of Nirvana fans, but it's her life and she wants to move on.

Frances actually did great in the divorce. We've learned she will not have to pay Isaiah a penny in spousal support -- he wanted $25k a month. He has to foot his own legal bills and she gets the house they bought.

The 25-year-old daughter of Kurt and Courtney Love is sober, has a boyfriend and is looking forward.

As for the guitar, it's super iconic because Kurt played it during Nirvana's famous "MTV Unplugged" set.

Legalized sports betting isn't just a win for degenerate gamblers ... it could also have a real impact in reducing violent crimes and sex trafficking ... so says Senator Cory Booker.

The NJ politician is clearly fired up about the new Supreme Court ruling that essentially allows states to legalize sports betting ... a cause Booker has been championing for years.

Booker tells TMZ Sports ... people have been betting on sports illegally for decades -- and illegal sports gambling is often tied to violent crime and sex trafficking.

So, legalizing it will allow the states to regulate sports betting ... which, in turn, could have a real impact in reducing crime connected to illegal gambling rings.

Booker also says he's pumped about all the tax revenue legal sports betting will generate -- since experts estimate people have been illegally betting hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars a year.

Was Diddy successful in his bid to buy the Carolina Panthers? Uh uh, uh uh.

Despite teaming up with Philadelphia 76ers owner Michael Rubin, Diddy's ownership group was NOT selected to purchase the NFL team ... instead, the new owner will be hedge fund manager David Tepper.

Remember, Diddy publicly said he wanted to be the first black owner in the NFL -- and hoped the move would inspire and empower black America.

He even got support from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft who said, "I'm a big fan of his."

But it was all for naught ... with Tepper reportedly sealing the purchase for more than $2 BILLION from Jerry Richardson, who paid $206 million for the rights to start the team in 1993.

As for Tepper, he's not exactly an outsider ... he was already a minority owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

'Survivor' contestants can apparently get through weeks of competition and mind games, but not a basic NDA agreement ... as two numbskulls just proved, and it could cost them dearly.

Sources connected to the reality show tell us a pair of contestants, who we're told are starring in the upcoming season, flagrantly broke their confidentiality agreements this week by posting a photo together ... when they were specifically asked not to just last week.

Filming for season 37 wrapped last Wednesday, and upon arriving back home ... sources say contestants were emailed a reminder not to spoil anything with social media activity -- like following each other and, obviously, posing together.

Turns out, a guy named Alec Merlino and girl named Kara Kay did just that Sunday, captioning their pic with a not-so-subtle "F*** it" -- which fueled rumors they're on the show. Welp, those rumors were true ... Alec and Kara are on the show, and hit it off in Fiji.

We're told producers are now pissed at them for breaking protocol, and are now looking at possible legal action, withholding prize money ... or both.

Production sources say the NDAs have a $5 million penalty, but good luck collecting. Still, the contestants could possibly be on the hook for enough to make it hurt.

'Star Trek' icon Nichelle Nichols will have a new team handling her financial affairs in response to her son's claims she's battling dementia ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, an L.A. County judge signed off on Kyle Johnson's request to have 4 fiduciaries be his mom's conservators until mid-August, when there will be a court hearing. The hope is Nichelle will be able to attend that hearing.

As we first reported ... Kyle says his mother, who famously played Lt. Uhura, suffers from severe short-term memory loss, and needs court-ordered protection to block people from taking advantage of her.

Kim and Khole Kardashian, along with Scott Disick and others have been sued by a jet company for allegedly failing to pay an enormous bill.

Silver Air, LLC filed the lawsuit, claiming the famous passengers chartered a jet but left an unpaid balance of $225,353.80. Other passengers sued include music producer Poo Bear, and some other media moguls.

4:48 PM PT -- A rep for Ajayi tells TMZ Sports the lawsuit is bogus ... adamantly denying Jay ever physically pushed the owner of the home.

They also deny Jay damaged the property in any way ... or hosted any parties.

Instead they claim the owner tried to get Jay and his friend to pay him cash directly -- bypassing the Airbnb website -- so they say they left the house several days early ... but still paid the full rate.

Ajayi's people also say the group filed a complaint against the home owner with Airbnb.

NFL star Jay Ajayi shoved the owner of a fancy L.A. mansion who charged the Eagles running back $25k in damages for trashing the place ... this according to a new lawsuit obtained by TMZ Sports.

The 24-year-old is being sued by the owner of a swanky 6,000 square foot pad located above the famous Sunset Strip ... where the RB and a friend stayed back in February for 5 days after Ajayi won the Super Bowl.

According to the suit, Ajayi and his buddy threw at least 3 parties at the house despite the fact they were specifically told -- NO PARTIES!

In fact, the owner claims he charged a $5,000 fee for each party at the home ... which Ajayi never paid.

Additionally, the owner claims Ajayi broke a table, scratched some floors and violated the no smoking rule.

In total, Ajayi racked up $25,000 in penalty fees -- but when the owner confronted Jay on Feb. 18, he claims Ajayi "pushed [him] on [his] chest in a menacing and threatening manner."

The owner describes the incident as battery -- and said he had to call local security to remove the NFL star from the property.

Meghan Markle's father will not be walking her down the aisle Saturday ... he isn't going to the wedding at all because of the fallout over selling photos of himself ... TMZ has learned.

Thomas Markle tells TMZ, he meant no harm to Meghan or the Royal Family when he made a deal to allow a photo agency to take pics of him getting ready for the wedding. He says he had a reason and it was not principally about money.

Markle tells us over the last year he's been ambushed by paparazzi who have photographed him in the most unflattering circumstances ... buying beer, looking disheveled and reclusive. He's especially upset that they made him look like a lush. Thomas says he doesn't even drink beer ... he was buying it for the guards at the place where he lives.

He says since his daughter started dating Prince Harry he's been offered anywhere between $50,000 and $100k for interviews and he's turned all of them down.

Thomas says the paparazzi agency approached him, offered him money -- though nowhere near the reported $100k -- and he figured there was no harm in it and it would help recast his image.

He admits the pics look "stupid and hammy." He says he was just going along with the paparazzi agency, which he now deeply regrets.

And, Thomas says, he suffered a heart attack 6 days ago but checked himself out of the hospital so he could attend the wedding. He's now decided not to go because he doesn't want to embarrass the Royal Family or his daughter.

File under: "When the rich get richer ..."

Floyd Mayweather decided to try his luck at a high stakes video poker machine Sunday night ... and hit a $100,000 jackpot.

For real.

Floyd started off with $20,000 in a "Ten Play Draw Poker" machine -- playing $25 per hand.

Then, as fate would have it ... he hit a Royal Flush on one of his 10 hands ... which paid off a cool $100,000.

He also hit some winners on the other hands he was playing at the time, which paid out an additional $1,250 ... for a grand total of $101,250.

Nas is spilling the tea -- financial tea, anyway -- to let Kelis know how he spends his riches.

The rapper filed legal docs, obtained by TMZ, which show he makes about $175k per month from various sources (music, investments, etc.) and he has more than $8.3 million in cash in the bank. Nas lists his monthly expenses at $76,834.04 and that includes $20,245.70 that goes to helping various family members, including his father.

The rapper also reveals he pays $15k per month in rent.

Nas disclosed his financial info because he and Kelis are at war over child support. She says $8k per month ain't cutting it anymore.

Adidas could be facing stiff penalties after an employee's grisly injury at Kanye West's Calabasas office -- where his Yeezys are designed -- is being investigated by OSHA ... TMZ has learned.

We broke the story ... an Adidas employee was working on Yeezy shoes 2 months ago when a massive 3D printer fell over onto his foot. He was so badly injured he had to be airlifted to the hospital. Sources at the Calabasas complex say people have been "hush hush" about his condition, but word is the foot may have been amputated.

We're told the Occupational Safety and Health Association is now trying to determine if there were any workplace violations that caused the accident. If they find any willful or repeated safety violations, Adidas could face fines up to $129k per violation.

We're also told the victim has not returned to work, and he's lawyered up.

Wiz Khalifa says he completely AGREES with Jay Glazer ... that he's good enough to take a pro MMA fight if he wanted to.

There's just one catch ... HE NEEDS A CRAPLOAD OF MONEY!

Earlier this week, Glazer raved about Wiz ... saying the rapper is an absolute beast in the gym -- and has legit power.

So, when we saw Wiz at LAX we asked if there was a chance ... and he didn't say no!

"You got to pay me a whole bunch of money to get me to fight, man."

Wiz says he still likes rapping better than fighting -- but he really enjoys training with some of the best MMA stars in the world.

"It's just fun, man."