Money

6/8 -- An attorney for Suzanne Todd tells TMZ, "We've reviewed the complaint filed against Ms. Todd. The claim is ridiculous and will be defeated in court."

"Bad Moms" producer Suzanne Todd pulled a super bad move by straight-up stealing parts of the script from a popular series of books ... or so claim the coauthors of those books.

Amy Nobile and Trisha Ashworth say they pioneered the literary genre of comedic openness about motherhood. They're suing Suzanne claiming she worked with them for 3 years and then ran off with their plot ideas and character sketches to make "Bad Moms."

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, the authors were contacted by Todd in 2008 about working together and over the years they shared concepts in private meetings and emails ... always with the understanding they were working together to develop a film or TV show.

The authors say they were shocked to see "Bad Moms" premiere in 2016, chock-full of their ideas. The movie grossed more than $180 million worldwide, and spawned a sequel ... "A Bad Moms Christmas" and the spinoff, "Bad Dads."

Lil Pump is handing out bust down watches like the Cavaliers are handing over games to the Warriors ... and the latest guy to get one is Charlie Sheen.

Pump recruited Sheen for his latest music video shoot and while the pairing might seem random, it's actually not once you consider it's for a song called "Drug Addict."

Sheen's struggle with drugs has not exactly flown under the radar, but from the looks of the footage on the set, Sheen is looking great. Here's a scary thought though ... he's playing a doctor.

Pump courted Sheen for the video with a ton of cash a couple weeks ago. Unclear if Pump actually forked over the dough for the cameo along with the flashy timepiece.

Lisa Leslie wants to see more equality when it comes to the way women are paid in pro sports -- but she's adamant Trump is NOT the guy to help make that happen.

"I don't think 45 is the person I want to meet for equality," the WNBA legend told us in NYC ... "He's talking about grabbing women and those types of things."

"I don't think he's about equality at all."

The conversation started about the lack of female representation on the 2018 Forbes Highest Paid Athletes list ... something Leslie described as "so messed up."

She's right ... and says a big part of the issue is the lack of endorsement deals for top women athletes.

We also asked if she took offense over the WNBA champions Minnesota Lynx not getting a White House invite ... and she gives a fire answer on that too.

By the way, here are some Leslie highlights to remind you she was a BEAST on the court!!!!

E-40 says an author ripped off his hit '90s song and slapped it on a novel, but he's giving the writer one chance to save himself from a 'Save a Hoe' lawsuit.

The rapper fired off a cease and desist letter to novelist, CJ Allen over his book, "Captain Save A Hoe." In the letter, E-40 says he has a trademark on his 1993 track, which covers merch, services and, most importantly, publications ... like "novel books in the fields of urban fiction."

Forty Fonzarelli says Allen's book infringes on his song's copyrights and confuses fans. According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, a lawsuit will be filed if Allen doesn't scrap the novel and provide a full accounting of all money made off it.

We found out the author's currently in prison, but his wife doesn't think E-40 has a case. She tells us readers won't confuse the book's heroine -- a sexy woman in a cape with an "S" -- with the main character in 40's music vid, a guy in a shirt and cape with a "C."

She also claims the rapper's causing her husband financial harm and stress ... beyond the normal prison variety, we're guessing.

Stormy Daniels just sued her former attorney ... claiming he was in cahoots with President Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, to get her to falsely deny she had an affair with Trump.

Stormy -- real name Stephanie Clifford -- filed docs Wednesday claiming Keith Davidson colluded with Cohen and hatched a plan to get her on Sean Hannity's show back in January.

The suit attached a series of texts Stormy says back her claims. In docs, obtained by TMZ, Cohen texted Davidson, "I have her tentatively scheduled for Hannity tonight." But, a few hours later ... Cohen texted Davidson, "The wise men all believe the story is dying and don't think it's smart for her to do any interviews." Davidson, according to docs, replied, "100%" ... with Cohen replying, "Thanks pal."

Stormy claims "wise men" is in reference to Trump, essentially alleging he knew Davidson and Cohen were communicating all along. Stormy also claims Davidson broke attorney-client privilege when he tipped off Cohen that she was about to get a new lawyer, Michael Avenatti, and announce in court she had an affair with Trump but signed an agreement to keep quiet about it in exchange for $130,000.

The suit alleges, "Mr. Davidson abdicated his role as an advocate and fiduciary of his client Ms. Clifford and instead elected to be a puppet for Mr. Cohen and Mr. Trump in order to advance their interests at the expense of Ms. Clifford."

Kevin Garnett's younger sister is in serious trouble after cops say she tried to rob THREE check cashing stores in South Carolina ... while making bomb threats.

It all started on Monday ... cops say Ashley Danyelle Phelps tried to rob a Check Into Cash in Greenville -- and told employees she had a bomb. Someone pressed a panic button and Phelps fled without any loot.

The next day, cops say Phelps tried to hit another Check Into Cash store -- but failed so she went to an Advance America shop instead and once again told employees she had a bomb.

Police responded and 37-year-old Phelps was captured a short time later.

She was formally charged with 2 counts of armed robbery, 2 counts of making a bomb threat and 1 count of attempted armed robbery.

She's currently being held in Greenville County Detention Center after a judge denied her bond.

Ex-WWE superstar Brian Christopher Lawler -- who famously wrestled as Grandmaster Sexay in the tag team Too Cool with Scotty 2 Hotty -- was arrested in Memphis after allegedly running from a hotel bill.

46-year-old Lawler -- the son of Jerry "The King" Lawler -- was allegedly staying at a Hampton Inn in downtown Memphis ... when he tried to flee the place without paying.

Cops found Lawler a short time later and arrested him for theft of services under $1,000. Lawler reportedly told cops he used a credit card that simply didn't have the funds to cover the $802 hotel bill.

Lawler has a history with cops ... he was arrested at least 3 times in 2009 -- once for disorderly conduct and another time for allegedly threatening a police officer.

Tyrese just got slapped with a lawsuit for owing a ton of cash to American Express.

American Express sued the singer and, according to the docs obtained by TMZ, he owes an unpaid balance of $61,071.35.

TMZ broke the story ... Tyrese said he was having huge money problems back in November stemming from his ongoing feud with his ex-wife, Norma Gibson. Tyrese had filed docs claiming he pulls in $105,686 per month, but has monthly expenses of $107,576.

According to docs he filed at the time, Tyrese said he had nearly $900k in the bank and had real property worth close to $2 million.

Conor McGregor's gonna LOVE this -- Forbes just named him the 4th highest-paid athlete over the last 12 months ... over guys like LeBron James, Neymar and Roger Federer.

So, how much cash has Conor raked in? Forbes is estimating he's made $99 mil -- most of the cash was from his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Conor was ranked #24 the previous year with $34 mil in earnings.

Speaking of Floyd ... he's #1 -- with an estimated $285 MIL!!! (He was ranked #16 the previous year with only $44 mil).

He's followed by a pair of soccer superstars ... Lionel Messi ($111 mil) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($108 mil).

Remember, Conor once told Ronaldo to his face that he was coming for him on the Forbes list ... to which Ronaldo responded, "I don't think so."

He still might get him one day ... but it's not today.

Others on the list include ... Steph Curry ($76.9), Matt Ryan ($67.3), Matthew Stafford ($59.5) and Kevin Durant ($57.3).

Oprah Winfrey is now a Pacific Northwest land owner, but you'll have to take a ferry to find her new crib ... and she dropped major coin to keep it that way.

O just bought a sprawling 43-acre estate on Orcas Island tucked away in an inlet, north of Seattle. The property she purchased is known as Madroneagle, and she spent $8.275 million to have it all to herself.

The estate comes with a main house, a guest house, a gazebo with glass walls, a barn and workshop, a sauna and a craft shed. The main house is 3 stories with 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. The guest house is also a 4 bed, 3 bath, but significantly smaller in square footage.

Sources close to the deal tell us Oprah never set foot on the island to see the new pad in person. She clearly read enough to pull the trigger, though. We don't know if she's planning to actually live there part-time, but it looks like she should!

OK, so it's not exactly Patriots practice ... but Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are back at Gillette!

The two showed up at Patriots Fantasy Camp -- in which team members put paying fans through the paces of a regular day in the life of a Pats player. The money raised goes to charity.

Nobody really knew if Brady and Gronk would show up -- since they've been absent from New England's voluntary workouts the past couple weeks ... leading Bill Belichick to throw some not-so-subtle shade on his Hall of Fame QB.

But, when the event began Monday morning, the two most famous players were there.

Both players are expected to return for mandatory minicamp on Tuesday ... and their attendance at Monday's annual Patriots Fantasy Camp is a good sign that'll actually happen.

Terrence Howard is gonna have to fork over close to $1 million in back spousal support ... that's if his ex-wife gets her way in court.

Terrence's ex-wife, Michelle Ghent, filed legal docs asking the court to make the "Empire" star cut her a check for at least $909,418 in back spousal support ... claiming Terrence has been dragging his feet since he lost an appeal about the issue back in October.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Michelle says she's spent at least $820k in legal fees to get Terrence to pay up, so she wants him to also pony up that dough for her lawyers. What's more ... Michelle wants a judge to get Terrence to stop dodging the tab ... claiming he's essentially hiding his "Empire" money. She claims he's made almost $9.7 million for "Empire" over the last 5 years, so it's only fair he pay up.

The judge will decide how much Terrence has to pay in a September hearing.

Katt Williams is under investigation by the feds, and they're going after his ex-girlfriend in an attempt to get dirt on him ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to Katt's ex, former "Love & Hip Hop Hollywood" star Hazel-E, tell us ... IRS agents in street clothes showed up at her door a few days ago unannounced to question her about Katt and his financial dealings.

We're told at first Hazel wouldn't open the door, but they refused to leave and threatened to come back with a search warrant if she didn't cooperate ... so she let them come in for a talk.

Our sources say the agents bombarded Hazel with questions about Katt allegedly hiding money -- she said she had no knowledge of that. They asked if she ever opened any accounts for him -- she said no. Hazel did reveal info about gifts he'd bought her in the past. They cited comments Hazel made to Raquel on "Raq Rants" about the gifts, including a boob and butt job back in 2016.

We're told the IRS agents also asked about Katt's mental state ... to which she replied "he's geniusly insane."

Survivor founder Frank Sullivan is pissed one of his ex-bandmates is using the band's name and logo to promote his solo career ... even though he left the group THIRTY. FOUR. YEARS. AGO.

Sullivan -- who started the band in '77 and exploded to fame with "Eye of the Tiger" -- is suing Dave Bickler, claiming the OG member agreed to leave the band in '84 and signed a contract giving up his right to use the band logo.

In docs, obtained by TMZ, Sullivan says Bickler to this day continues to promote his solo career by using the band's logo, which Sullivan says is plastered all over Bickler's website "implying current affiliation" with the band.

Sullivan also claims Bickler slaps the logo on promotional flyers. Even his Instagram handle makes a reference to Survivor. Sullivan's suing to get Bickler to drop the act and for damages.

We reached out to Bickler ... his attorney tells us this suit "is frivolous and simply a mean-spirited attempt to harass Dave for the success he is enjoying on his own." We're told Bickler has no need to imply he's still with Survivor, but sometimes the band shows photos of him in their promos ... "which would seem to undermine the premise of their lawsuit."

Rick Fox says he's got the $100 MILLION Fortnite prize money in his sites -- and he's got his people scouting the world looking to put together the best squad he can find.

Fox is one of the big dogs in eSports -- his team, "Echo Fox," is a perennial contender in games like "League of Legends" and 'CS:GO.'

So, with Fortnite taking over the world and announcing a $100 MILLION prize pool next season -- we had to ask if he was making a run at that money.

"Our ears have been to the ground there, and our front office has been completely on top of finding the talent that would represent Echo Fox in a Fortnite setting."

Shouldn't be hard for Fox to put together a killer group -- his "Echo Fox" team dominated the H1Z1 competitions and won a ton of money there.

Sophie Brussaux has just learned the answer to the Shakespearean question ... "What's in a name?"

Pusha T's Drake diss track includes Sophie's name ... and it got the attention of a company that wants to do business with her.

CamSoda fired off a letter to Sophie in which the adult webcam co. offers her up to $100,000 to do a 1-hour Q&A session on its platform ... broadcast live to its "millions of fans around the world."

According to the offer, Sophie would be able to explain her side of things related to the Drake drama, field fans' questions ... and "should you so choose, showcase your famous derriere (to really show Drake what he's missing out on)."

CamSoda points out the money would go a long way toward providing for her son ... whom she allegedly had with Drake.

We're told CamSoda sent Sophie the letter Wednesday night, but has yet to hear back.

We broke the story ... Drake's been financially supporting Sophie and her son, Adonis, since she gave birth.

Still ... $100k for an hour of work is nothing to sneeze at.