Money

Ever made a play so dope on the football field you just HAD to have it immortalized in a $100,000 chain?!

No?? Well, Lamar Jackson has ... and he just got the bling done -- and it's possibly the sickest piece in the NFL.

Remember ... L.J. made one of the most memorable runs in college football history -- HURDLING a guy back in his sophomore season at Louisville and scoring a wild touchdown on the play.

It was insane ... and it ultimately helped him win the Heisman Trophy that season.

Soooo ... after Lamar got drafted in the first round by the Baltimore Ravens this spring -- he had enough cash to make sure he'd never forget it.

Jackson hit up Stacks Customs Jewelry in Miami ... and they got to work on the drip.

We're told the chain is 285 grams of gold with a one-of-a-kind squared Cuban link that’s only made by Stacks Customs.

We're also told the pendant is 257 grams of gold with 25 ctw/carats of VVS quality stones.

When all was said and done, it took about three weeks to make ... and, yeah, it cost $100k!!

Jameel Cook -- a FB on the '02 Super Bowl-winning Tampa Bay Bucs -- has been charged with allegedly stealing more than $100K meant for injured NFL players and is facing 10 years in prison.

According to the Harris County D.A.'s Office in Texas -- 39-year-old Cook filed 30 bogus claims between March 2016 and September 2017.

The account Cook allegedly stole from was the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Plan -- set up to benefit former players.

The D.A. says Cook submitted the claims and was reimbursed money he claimed to have paid out-of-pocket on medical bills.

Officials say the claims were B.S. ... and after an investigation, charged Cook with Securing the Execution of Documents by Deception -- a 3rd degree felony.

He's facing up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Brad Pitt's Make It Right Foundation is being sued by 2 New Orleans residents who claim the organization built and sold defective homes in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

The plaintiffs live in NOLA's Lower Ninth Ward, and according to the suit ... Make It Right was aware of several repairs that needed to be made on the homes, but never alerted the homeowners. They claim this deprived them of their rights to pursue legal action.

Pitt formed the charity in 2007 to help residents find new homes after Katrina.

NBC News says the residents are suing Make It Right and Brad, personally, for unfair trade practices, breach of contract and fraud.

Karl Malone and ex-NBA star Brian Grant were enemies on the court ... but when BG was diagnosed with Parkinson's, the HOFer came up big ... helpin' his old rival AND raising $100k for charity.

Grant -- a 6'9" PF who was a beast on defense and the boards -- played 12 seasons in the NBA for the Kings, Trail Blazers, Heat, Lakers, and Suns ... before retiring in 2006.

Approximately 2 years later -- when he was only 36 years old -- Grant was diagnosed with young-onset Parkinson's ... sending him into a depression.

Grant says once the diagnosis became public ... Malone reached out and offered his help.

Malone and Grant put together a dope Alaskan fishing trip and auctioned it off ... raising $107k to help combat Parkinson's.

Grant says not only did that cash help people ... but hangin' with Malone -- his idol -- was super therapeutic for him during a dark time in his life.

BG's still fighting the disease ... and working with the Parkinson's Foundation to help spread awareness and raise money.

Johnny Drama ... err, Kevin Dillon -- best known for his role on the hit HBO show "Entourage" -- says he's hauling in way less moolah these days, so he can't fork over any more to his wife ... according to new legal docs.

Kevin just disclosed his current income in connection with his estranged wife's request for him to pay her lawyer's fees in their ongoing divorce case.

Dillon claims he's making $4,000 a month ... clearly way less than he made while he filmed his hit TV show.

He says in his papers he's already paying her more than $10k a month in spousal and child support, so he's tapped out.

He and Jane Stuart are also bickering over who pays for 12-year-old daughter Ava's private school.

Geoffrey Owens is about to get a hell of a lot of screen time thanks to Tyler Perry -- he's accepted the mega producer's offer for an acting gig -- and it's a big one!

Owens, who starred on "The Cosby Show," was recently photographed working as a cashier at Trader Joe's. Geoffrey was shamed by many for the cashier job and Tyler reached out via Twitter, saying, "I'm about to start shooting OWN's number one drama next week! Come join us!!!"

Sources familiar with the deal tell us joining Tyler is exactly what Geoffrey will do. We're told he's going to appear on Perry's hit, "The Haves and the Have Nots." Even bigger ... it's not a one shot deal. We're told he'll have a recurring role and appear on 10 episodes.

The show -- on it's 6th season -- shoots in Atlanta, and we're told Owens will fly there next week to begin filming.

Unlike Dawn Wells' time on "Gilligan's Island," thousands of people have come to her rescue and raised enough cash to get the TV star into her dream home.

TMZ broke the story ... Dawn, who famously played Mary Ann on the iconic sitcom, was nearly $200k in debt and struggling to recover from a couple of surgeries. 79-year-old Dawn's debt was preventing her from moving into an assisted living home outside Los Angeles.

Dawn's friend, Dugg Kirkpatrick, tells us that's all changed thanks to the generosity of her fans.

More than $120k in donations poured into the GoFundMe page Dugg started. He tells us the money has allowed Dawn to erase enough debt so she can get the place she wanted. He says she'll be moving in this weekend.

Dawn thanked fans for their "kindness and affection." In a FB post, she also addressed how she fell on hard times -- "I thought I was taking all the proper steps to ensure my golden years. Now, here I am, no family, no husband, no kids and no money. I'm grateful that God has given me so many friends and fans who care."

10:20 AM PT -- Tesla's stock plummeted as much as 10 percent and was down 6.9 percent at the time of this update, on the heels of Elon's smoke sesh and news that 2 senior execs are leaving the company.

The signs were always there, but now we know for sure Elon Musk likes to smoke ganja.

Elon got high as the clouds with Joe Rogan, blazing it up on camera Thursday as they talked about Tesla's plans for an airplane.

Joe sparks up a blunt -- marijuana rolled in tobacco -- and Elon takes a monster rip.

Pass the Dutchie!!!

There were always hints Elon was a fan of Mary J, and now we have our proof!

Dude launches rockets into space, sent a car to Mars blasting David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and thought about taking Tesla private at $420.

Nothing wrong with a little herbal medication, right?!?!

Burt Reynolds was able to live out his final years at his longtime Florida estate thanks to a loving landlord who helped him out of a financial crisis.

Here's the backstory -- Burt sold his home in 2015 to his friend and neighbor Charles Modica after years of money woes and a decade-long struggle to unload it, but Charles allowed him to stay there for the rest of his life ... similar to Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion.

Modica tells TMZ ... he bought Burt's pad with the intention of letting the legendary actor continue living there, because moving would have been traumatic. Modica says he always respected Reynolds for all the good he did in Florida, so he charged him relatives pennies in rent. In fact, Modica says he doesn't even recall the exact amount -- his accountant handles it -- but it was a super small sum.

As for the waterfront property ... Charles has no plans to sell. Fact is, it's a good investment.

Burt bought the estate back in 1980 for $700k, and later lived there with his then-wife, Loni Anderson. He put it on the market in 2005, and it was priced all over the place -- as high as $15 million -- before he sold it in 2015 to Modica for $3.3 mil. Modica says it's now worth somewhere between $4 and $5 mil.

The 3.4-acre estate has a 12,000 sq. ft. main house and a 2-bed guesthouse, a movie theater, a pool decorated with the FSU logo, a dock on the water and a helicopter landing pad.

As we reported ... Reynolds died of a heart attack Thursday in Florida. He was 82.

Kevin Garnett claims his former accountant helped swindle him out of $77 MILLION and now he's suing in hopes of getting some of his cash back.

The NBA star -- who reportedly made more than $343 MILLION during his NBA career -- claims his former accountant Michael Wertheim was helping a crooked wealth manager skim a fortune from his bank accounts over several years and did nothing to stop it.

In fact, Garnett claims the accountant aided wealth manager Charles A. Banks IV in the theft and should be held responsible ... according to the suit, which has been moved to federal court in Minnesota.

Garnett claims part of the diabolical plot against him involved his wealth manager and accountant trying to get him to live on a budget so they would have a greater pool of cash to steal from.

One example ... in August 2013, Garnett claims he asked his wealth manager to wire him $40,000 of his own money -- but was scolded for exceeding their budget. Meanwhile, KG claims the wealth manager took more than $2 MILLION for himself over an 8-day span.

Ex-Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Mychal Kendricks pled guilty to insider trading Thursday and now faces up to 25 years in prison.

Kendricks -- who was cut by the Browns last week after he was indicted -- appeared in a federal courtroom in Philadelphia on Thursday where he owned up to his crime when questioned by the judge.

"Because I know I was wrong," Kendricks said ... "I know that I made the decision to accept information, secret information, and it wasn't the right thing to do."

Kendricks plied a Goldman Sachs analyst with kickbacks (including cash and NFL tickets) -- and in exchange got private info that allowed him to make roughly $1.2 million in profit.

By the way, Kendricks has more than $20 MILLION in NFL contract money during his career.

Not worth it.

Nike didn't just embrace Colin Kaepernick because of his views ... its market research was clear -- the race, age and political views of most Nike customers are in sync with the new ad campaign.

Sources with direct knowledge of Nike's demographics have given TMZ an inside look into the company, and it paints a clear picture of consumers who generally support Kaepernick's protest.

African American, Hispanics and Asians are more strongly represented in Nike's consumer base than they are in the U.S. population.

For example, the company's market research shows 13% of Americans identify as African American, yet 18% of Nike buyers are black. Hispanics account for 16% of the population, but represent 19% of Nike buyers. And, Asians account for 3% of the population, but 5% of Nike customers.

Caucasians are under-represented in the Nike world. The white population in the U.S. is 75% -- but they comprise only 67% of Nike's customers. And, of those, Nike believes a very large percentage, especially young whites, support Colin.

BTW ... the percentages don't add up to 100, because some people in the company's marketing research identify as more than one race.

As for age ... according to Nike's stats, 18 to 34-year-olds comprise 30% of the U.S. population, but they represent a whopping 43% of Nike buyers. On the other hand, people 65 and older account for 19% of the population, but represent only 6% of Nike customers.

Now politics ... Nike consumers are 7% less likely to be Republicans than the general population, and 3% more likely to be Democrats.

Short story ... Nike made a big statement by its new Kaepernick ad campaign, but the people most likely to protest are outside the company's sweet spot.

That said, there was a bonus for Nike ... numbers aside, we're told they wanted a campaign promoting social change that current and future athletes would embrace.

Donald Trump's incessant golf outings are costing taxpayers a FORTUNE.

Taxpayers footed bills totaling $300,675 for golf cart rentals alone, so the Secret Service could follow Trump on the links ... this according to federal documents obtained by TMZ.

Many of the expenses emanate from Trump's Mar-a-Lago excursions. And, get this ... since taking office Trump has reportedly spent 153 days at golf properties, which explains why the golf cart rental is sky high.

Since Trump took office, the total expense of his golf outings cost taxpayers an estimated $77 MILLION.

Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world, is throwing around some serious cash ... and it's politically motivated.

The founder and CEO of Amazon, is donating $10,000,000 to help veterans get elected to Congress ... and that's not a typo, it's really that many zeroes.

Jeff and his wife, MacKenzie, are giving the huge sum to the With Honor Fund, a super PAC supporting military vets running for Congress who promise to take a down-the-middle approach to politics.

With midterm elections 2 months away, the group has endorsed 33 candidates for office, including 14 Republicans and 19 Democrats.

Jeff is catching heat from both sides of the political spectrum, most notably President Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Bernie introduced legislation Wednesday aimed at Amazon, calling for higher taxes on the company and large corporations like it -- Sanders even named it the BEZOS Act!!!

Trump frequently attacks Bezos on Twitter, accusing Amazon of not paying enough taxes, underpaying the Postal Service for deliveries, and bashing Jeff's ownership of The Washington Post.

Maybe Bezos figures $10 million for vets is enough to get opponents off his back.

"Martin" star Tisha Campbell-Martin is adamant her estranged hubby has the money to pay her spousal support ... and she says the proof is in his closet.

Tisha filed new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, and puts Duane Martin on blast for his wardrobe. In particular, she say he has more than 500 shirts that cost $1,500 a piece ... totaling a whopping $750k! Tisha says she knows this because Duane made a video bragging about it.

In docs, Tisha says she has $1.5 million in assets but right now doesn't have a steady source of income, and that's why she's asking for spousal support. She says her monthly expenses total at least $33k per month, and estimates Duane makes around $62k per month.

Roy Moore followed through on his threat -- he's suing Sacha Baron Cohen for portraying him as a pedophile on national TV ... and he's gunning for tens of millions of dollars.

Moore and his wife, Kayla, filed suit against Sacha, Showtime and CBS for duping him into appearing on Cohen's "Who Is America?" In the episode Sacha, disguised as an ex-Israeli intelligence officer, waved a wand that could supposedly detect enzymes secreted by pedophiles.

Of course, the device went off like crazy when he used it on Moore. Viewers might have laughed, but Roy isn't.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the entire interview was set up under false pretenses. The Moores say they never would've agreed to meet with Sacha or sign his release form had they known it was all a sham.

More importantly, they say Sacha's gag -- which aired last month -- made Roy look like a sex offender, and seriously tarnished his reputation, caused emotional distress and financial damage. They insist Roy is not a sex offender, and Sacha's prank amounts to defamation. They're suing for at least $95 million.

The former U.S. Senate hopeful faced multiple allegations that he'd preyed on minors decades ago ... accusations that surfaced while he was running for Senate in Alabama last year. He vehemently denied the claims, and has never been charged with a crime.