Money

White collar crime doesn't sit well with the Browns -- the team just released linebacker Mychal Kendricks in the wake of his insider trading charges.

Kendricks has admitted to breaking federal laws by trading perks for tips in a scheme to make an ill-gotten fortune. Officials say Kendricks turned $80k into roughly $1.2 million using private information that wasn't available to the public.

Kendricks issued a public apology for his role in the scheme -- accepting blame and saying he's ready to deal with the consequences.

Those consequences could be steep -- he's facing serious prison time if convicted. And, since he's already confessed, he'll almost certainly be convicted. Clearly, the Browns want no part of his legal drama and decided to simply cut bait Wednesday.

Kendricks was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles' Super Bowl winning team last season, and was expected to be a big part of the Browns' D in 2018.

Forget helping kids in poor countries ... Michael Blackson says Odell Beckham needs to spend that new NFL jack on something even more important -- "I'll be your personal comedian!"

Blackson -- whose nephew, Eli Apple, is a starter for the NY Giants -- says he's super happy that Odell managed to secure the bag, but now he needs to spread some of that bread around.

"All I want for you to do is spend that money on some good causes," Blackson said ... "Help the children in China, Argentina, Guatemala. You know what, f**k the kids. Help me out, man!"

"Get me a job, I'll be your personal comedian! I'll follow you around, I'll make you laugh without tickling you!"

Blackson says he'll cheer Odell up on bad days -- and since he plays for the Giants, he's gonna have a lot of bad days!

And, Michael says he's so serious about working for Odell, he'll even bleach his hair blonde to fit in.

Cleveland Browns star linebacker Mychal Kendricks has admitted he participated in an insider trading scheme -- and now he's been hit with federal criminal charges.

Kendricks -- who was on the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl team last season -- allegedly made around $1.2 MILLION by making trades based on non-public information he got from a friend, which is illegal.

In exchange for the tips, Kendricks allegedly hooked up his friend with perks including cash, NFL tickets and a visit to a Teyana Taylor music video shoot.

Officials say Kendricks would speak with his friend using code words -- almost an acknowledgment that what he was doing was wrong.

Kendricks is facing serious prison time if convicted.

Seems the 27-year-old's strategy is to comply with officials and cut a plea deal because he's already publicly admitted to the crime.

"I would like to apologize," Kendricks said in a statement Wednesday morning ... "Four years ago, I participated in insider trading, and I deeply regret it."

"I invested money with a former friend of mine who I thought I could trust and who I greatly admired. His background as a Harvard graduate and an employee of Goldman Sachs gave me a false sense of confidence."

"While I didn’t fully understand all of the details of the illegal trades, I knew it was wrong, and I wholeheartedly regret my actions."

Kendricks says he's been cooperating with authorities and will "accept full responsibility for my actions."

"Although I did not take any of the profits for myself, I am committed to repaying all of the funds gained illegally and accept the consequences of my actions."

The Browns have just announced Kendricks will not make the trip to Detroit for the final preseason game on Thursday.

Manu Ginobili might be retired ... but San Antonio Spurs star Pau Gasol's clearly still in his prime ... taking his insanely attractive GF out for a romantic trip to Ibiza ... and the pics are straight fire.

38-year-old Pau is dating Cat McDonnell -- a former USC cheerleader who has a background working for a big-time finance company. They've been IG official since 2016.

The couple looked to be having a great time on Pau's home soil ... going on boat rides, cozy dinners and other mushy stuff.

And also, she looks absolutely INSANE in a bikini.

Not like Pau can't afford to take amazing trips like this for the rest of his life -- he's currently in the middle of a 3-year, $48 MILLION contract with the Spurs.

And get this ... career earning for Pau? $199 MILLION!!!!!

That's just about $34 million less than LeBron James has made through NBA contracts (though James has made a TON more in off-the-court deals).

For comparison, Kobe Bryant reportedly made $323 MIL in NBA contract money. Manu Ginobili made $114 mil over 15 seasons.

12:20 PM PT -- A source close to Tyga wants to make it clear ... this is solely a business feud, nothing personal with Wayne. He's also amended his complaint and is asking for no less than $10 mil.

Tyga is squaring off with the likes of Birdman and Lil Wayne by suing both Cash Money and Young Money, claiming they screwed him out of lots of loot.

Here's the backstory. Tyga claims he made a deal back in 2009 in which he would produce 2 albums for Young Money. The albums -- 'Careless World' and "Hotel California" -- both charted big on Billboard. 'Careless World' charted #4 and 'Hotel Cali' charted 7.

Tyga claims Young Money -- run by Lil Wayne -- shorted him "significant sums."

He goes on in his lawsuit to claim in 2016 both Cash Money and Young Money agreed to pay Tyga all the royalties that he says were owed to him for years, but he didn't get squat.

Tyga says he's tried over and over to get paid, only to get stonewalled.

He wants no less than a cool mil.

Originally published -- 8/29/18 6:21 AM PT

7:39 AM PT -- Meek surprised hundreds of kids when he showed up at his alma mater, James G. Blaine Elementary School, Wednesday morning to donate some backpacks.

Philly better not boo this Santa ... Meek Mill's doing right by the city of Brotherly Love and spreading cheer early to a bunch of kids just in time for back to school.

Meek Mill's teaming up with Puma, sports apparel Fanatics, United Legwear and Philly's luxury store Milano Di Rogue to donate more than 6,000 backpacks to students in the city.

We're told there will be 3 types of backpacks -- for elementary school, middle school and high school students. The kiddos get pencil sharpeners, rulers, glue sticks and crayons -- while it's dry erase markers, notebooks and pens for high schoolers.

Meek tells TMZ he knows firsthand what it's like for families to struggle financially around back-to-school time. He says, "Those memories stay with me and that’s why I’m committed to giving back to families in my hometown, putting smiles on kids’ faces and helping them start the school year on the right note with the right supplies."

And, get this ... we're told Meek's gonna surprise some kids Wednesday to personally hand-deliver the loot. Little advice for him though -- do NOT wear a Santa hat! That's risky biz in Philly.

Shonda Rhimes' daughter knows the value of a dollar -- 'cause she earned every penny during a single appearance on mom's hit show, "Scandal," this year.

TMZ has obtained 16-year-old Harper Rhimes' contract for her cameo role in the series finale back in Spring, and she raked in $1,089 for the one day of work.

By the way, she had about 30 seconds of screen time in the episode ... that's a pretty sweet rate. By the way, Harper's contract has to be filed in court because she's under 18.

Harper's role as Girl #1 came in the closing moments of the big finale. She's one of the kids walking through a museum, and looking at an oil painting of Olivia Pope.

This scene -- which, according to the contract, was shot on March 16 -- appears to be an homage to the viral photo from 2 weeks earlier of a young girl looking at Michelle Obama's portrait in the National Portrait gallery.

Considering it was a non-speaking role ... Harper's cool grand is a pretty sweet allowance.

Safaree's putting his third leg to work ... and it's paying off BIG time.

The anaconda Nicki Minaj was allegedly obsessed with -- on and off for 12 years landed Safaree a 7-figure deal with one of the top sex toy makers, Doc Johnson ... which proudly boasts of its 40 years in the quality, hand-crafted sex toy game.

The deal calls for Doc Johnson to create a life-sized mold of Safaree's manhood. DJ will soon begin mass production, but don't whip out your credit card just yet ...ya gotta wait a tad longer. Pre-orders begin in December, and the toys will ship just in time for Valentine's Day.

We're told the deal was finalized with the help of KD McNair and Britmo Inc.

Who says romance is dead?

Arghhhhh ... the star of the VH1 reality show "Black Ink Crew" is also a PIRATE who allegedly stole the Floyd Mayweather, Conor McGregor fight -- this according to a new lawsuit.

Ceaser Emanuel -- who owns the Black Ink tattoo shop featured on the show -- is being sued for a FORTUNE after he allegedly rigged the TVs at the parlor to play the fight without paying the proper fees.

Remember, the fight cost most people $99 on Pay-Per-View -- but if you wanted to show the fight in a commercial business, you had to pay thousands of dollars extra in licensing fees.

Well, according to the suit ... Emanuel was so cheap, he tried to bob and weave his way out of the fees by illegally obtaining the fight and showing it at his Atlanta location ... hoping he wouldn't get caught.

Problem is ... the company in charge of the licensing, Joe Hand Promotions, said they busted him red-handed.

50 Cent will only be showing up on "Power" from here on out in flashbacks -- if at all -- but don't think that's got the guy down ... he's still reaping what the series sows.

We got Fiddy on the streets of NYC -- where his own character Kanan was gunned down by the NYPD in Sunday night's episode (whoops, spoiler alert here) -- and he says he's got no worries about the fate of his show without him ... 'cause true fans are ride or die.

50 makes a bold claim -- "Power" is doing very well now, and will continue to do so with or without him on screen. Time will tell, we suppose. Either way, he's got an EP credit attached ... so he'll still have a check coming in from the Starz hit show at the end of the day.

As for that shooting on the set of his newest music video with Tekashi69, which fortunately left no one inured ... get the strap, literally.

Rose McGowan is clearly disappointed in Asia Argento for allegedly sexually assaulting Jimmy Bennett but adds, Asia's case makes her realize even the accused deserved due process.

Rose issued a lengthy statement Monday about Asia, Jimmy and her paying him $380k. Rose appears to side with Bennett, saying, "There absolutely should be no leeway or tolerance for sexual assault. Hard stop. NONE," ... adding that victims shouldn't be told how to talk about their abusers.

Rose also says Asia sent text messages to a mutual friend of theirs in which Asia admits to having sex with Jimmy ... even though she'd flat-out denied any sexual relationships with him.

Rose admits she needs to evolve when it comes to her reaction to cases like Asia's -- and perhaps even Weinstein -- saying, "However as allies to the victim and voyeurs of an event we should find a better way to balance support of the victim with due process for the accused."

She also calls on Asia to be better, honest, fair and "the person you wish Harvey could have been."

Like we told you ... the L.A. County Sheriff's Department wants to talk to Bennett to see if a criminal investigation is warranted.

Kylie Jenner wants to turn a big pile of dirt she bought into more cash -- 'cause she's listing her $5 million lot for a bit more than she purchased it for ... just 10 months later.

Kylie recently put her nearly 1.5-acre plot of land that she swooped up last October on the market for $5.55 million. It's being marketed as an empty space in Hidden Hills ... perfect for developers.

We broke the story ... Kylie dropped a cool $5 mil for the corner lot -- which is adjacent to her Hidden Hills home -- with a plan to build a garden and possible barn with horses. She had 3 acres to play with at the time -- now she's back to just about an acre and change.

Kylie clearly had a change of heart on the farm thing. A lot has changed for Kylie since last Fall -- she's had her kid, and she also made Forbes' list for youngest self-made billionaire. Some thing's gotta give in business.

Kylie's go-to realtor, Tomer Fridman of Compass, along with Marc Shevin, have the listing.

Trey Songz is not in the clear yet for an alleged attack on a woman back in February ... she's now suing the singer.

As we reported, Andrea Buera insists the incident went down at a Hollywood party during NBA All-Star Weekend. Songz was arrested for the alleged attack, and although the L.A. City Attorney and the D.A. declined misdemeanor and felony charges for lack of evidence. ... Buera is pressing forward with a civil lawsuit.

According to docs, Trey ran after her -- because she was talking to another guy -- and choked her and punched her several times in the face. Andrea claims the beating only stopped because one of the singer's bodyguards intervened.

Andrea says Songz further humiliated her when he demanded she take off her shorts because they belonged to his friend.

She says her left eye was swollen shut, and she suffered bruises around her jaw and shoulders. Her legs were also bruised and scratched.

Trippie Redd's mouth is drippin' in diamonds ... 'cause he just dropped $50k for a smile on the rocks.

The rapper put his money where his mouth is -- LITERALLY -- with this one-of-a-kind grill from celebrity jeweler Johnny Dang.

Check out the VVS blue diamonds, 10 carat diamonds made in white gold and the flawless white diamonds making Trippie's favorite no. 14 shine like the sun.

Now THAT's trippy.

Yeah, he already has an iced-out chain ... but what's that without a grill???

Trippie definitely went to the right guy ... 'cause Johnny previously delivered some SERIOUS BLING earlier this month for Lil Pump.

Yes, it's still summer outside, but Trippie's mouth will keep him ice cold.

Hey Trippie, smile for the camera (no flash needed)!!!

Odell Beckham, you're about to sign the largest contract extension for a WR in the history of the NFL -- what are you gonna do next??

Forget Disneyland, Odell just had a locker room dance party with Sterling Shepard while bumping "For The Love Of Money" by The O'Jays.

... and it's awesome!!!

Odell is reportedly about to finalize his new deal with the New York Giants -- a 5-year deal worth up to $95 MILLION with $65 guaranteed, according to ESPN and NFL Network.

For perspective ... the largest WR contracts are currently held by guys like Antonio Brown (4-years, $68 mil) and Mike Evans (5-years worth up to $82.5 million).

Think Odell's happy about it? Judging by the video, he's over the moon -- dude is dancing like he just won the lottery ... and he kinda just did!

Colin Kaepernick's message will be coming to a store near you very soon ... because TMZ Sports has learned the QB has filed an application to trademark his signature "I'm With Kap" slogan for clothing.

Kap's been using the mantra since the beginning of his schism with the NFL ... with the hashtag taking off on social media, and celebrities like G-Eazy, Kenny Stills and Harry Belafonte rocking shirts bearing the slogan.

Now we've learned Kap has filed paperwork in California to own he slogan for use on shirts, hoodies, caps and other apparel.

It's an interesting move ... there's some talk that major clothing brands, like Adidas and Puma, could make a move to sign Kap in the future, so owning the trademark could mean big business for him.

It's not like he's desperate for the cash -- Kaepernick reportedly made more than $40 mil in contract money during his NFL career. Plus, he had a bunch of sponsorship deals.

But, he's been huge with philanthropy -- donating $1 mil of his own money to various charities and non-profit organizations, including his "Know Your Rights" campaign.