Money

Simon Leviev, the subject of the new Netflix documentary, "The Tinder Swindler," is banned for life from the app he used to con women, with the company stating the obvious ...  he violated the terms of service.

A rep for Tinder tells TMZ ... not only have they fully terminated his account, but if Simon decides to return to the platform using his name -- or one of his many aliases -- the new account will get an immediate ban as well. They say this has been in place since 2019 when his actions were first made public.

They go on to clarify that the terms he violated were "impersonation" and "asking for money." The rep added, "We have conducted internal investigations and can confirm Simon Leviev is no longer active on Tinder under any of his known aliases."

As the documentary reveals, Simon preyed on women through the app, flashing his "enormous wealth," promoting a lavish, globetrotting lifestyle. He would convince the women he matched with to take out money for him, and make off with millions of dollars.

Cops caught up to Simon in 2019, arresting and deporting him to Israel where he was supposed to serve a lengthy sentence for his crimes -- but 5 months later, he was released. According to the report, he met the criteria for a program aiming to reduce the prison population during the pandemic.

As far as senior influencers, AKA "Granfluencers" go ... Daymond John says it's a new day and age, because there's lots of money to be made on social media and they're taking advantage.

Normally, older folks jumping on a craze is usually a death knell, but the "Shark Tank" star says that's not the case for TikTok, and it totally makes sense seniors are suddenly taking the Internet by storm.

Daymond says users on social platforms tend to believe what more, let's say mature, content creators put out there ... because they have a lot of experience.

Of course, young folks on social media are still making a killing, but Daymond insists, when older people speak, folks will listen -- and if they're having a good time while they do it ... even better.

On top of that, he says don't forget ... older creators, and consumers they're targeting, have spending power on their side.

This makes sense why influencer squads like 'The Old Gays' -- aged 60 to 70 -- and 75-year-old 'Granddad Frank' have been able to rack up millions of followers on TikTok ... and tens of thousands in cash.

The Atlanta Braves won the World Series last season -- in big part thanks to a few massive home runs in Game 6 -- courtesy of Freddie Freeman, Jorge Soler and Dansby Swanson ... and now all three balls are on the auction block.

The Braves were up 3 games to 2 heading into a potential series-clinching Game 6 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX on November 2, 2021.

In the 3rd inning, with the score tied at zero, 29-year-old Soler -- the eventual World Series MVP -- stepped to the plate with a man on first and second, 2 outs. The count was full at 3-2 ... and that's when Jorge hit a 446-foot BOMB that literally went out of the stadium.

The ball landed on an awning outside Minute Maid ... near where the baseball fans Ramos brothers were having a World Series watch party at their home. They knew where the ball landed thanks to the TV broadcast ... so they decided to go retrieve it.

Now, that ball is on the auction block at SCP Auctions ... and already has 6 bids with a top price over $44k.

But, Jorge's home run wasn't the only long ball Atlanta launched. In the 5th, shortstop Dansby Swanson pulled a ball to right field, and padded the Braves lead, putting them ahead 5-0.

That ball ... up for auction.

Last but not least, Braves star 1st baseman Freddie Freeman delivered the final nail in the coffin ... hitting a king home run to almost dead center, putting Atlanta ahead 7-0.

You guessed it ... that ball's ALSO on the block.

The 'chip was the Braves first since 1995 ... when Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Chipper Jones led the team to a WS victory over the Cleveland Indians.

There's new alleged video proof that supports a man's claim he was injured during a Jet Ski stunt gone wrong involving "Jackass" stars Steve-O and Chris Pontius.

TMZ broke the story, Michael Vicens-Segura is suing the veteran stuntmen for an incident he says, left him badly injured, suffering a gash on the side of his head.

In the video, you can see Vicens-Segura in the water between the vessels just before they take off, once the Jet-skis moved, Vicens-Segura was allegedly struck by the cable connecting the two when it snapped.

The aftermath is intense, and Michael is clearly in a lot of pain.

Michael says the whole thing happened in Puerto Rico in 2018 when the two guys and movie producers planned to do some kind of "Jet Ski Tug of War" ... which basically meant two guys would operate the jet ski in opposite directions.

Michael's attorney, John Phillips, now says ... "We provide this video looking for witnesses and people who know about the creation and execution of this stunt. If you have information, please contact us."

Vicens-Segura says he had to get a metal plate in his head and his life has been completely changed by the incident ... he is asking for more than $12 mil in damages.

Kanye West has not only bagged a girlfriend, he's bagged all of her friends. Let us explain.

Ye took GF Julia Fox and her friends out for a birthday bash at Lucien in New York City, and following tradition Julia -- who turned 32 -- opened her presents with considerable excitement as Kanye and Co. looked on.

He got her some jewelry which we're pretty sure is super expensive, but that wasn't the extent of his gift-giving. Everyone at the table -- Julia and her pals -- all got Baby Birkins. It's good to know Julia, especially now!

Seems there was a dress code for the soiree ... all black.

Julia followed tradition, blowing out the candles on her birthday cake. Lots of desserts came out ... one after the other.

Kanye and Julia also hit new hot spot, Sei Less, before the night was over. The two were joined by the likes of Dave Chapelle and Fivio Foreign ... where Kanye played songs from his upcoming Donda 2 album.

Of course, it was a madhouse when Ye left the building, with fans, cameras and autograph seekers all wanting a piece.

Facebook went face down Thursday ... losing more than 20% of its value, and it's not only a sign TikTok is steamrolling Mark Zuckerberg's baby, but he seems to be acknowledging it.

Check this out ... in the last 3 months of the year, FB lost about 500k daily logins. To put that in perspective, it now only has about 1.93 billion users checking in daily.

It's still a big number for sure ... but when you're talking about the Benjamins, it makes a huge difference.

Meta took a huge hit Wednesday -- sinking 22.6% in value on the stock exchange.  That translates to a $200 billion loss.

Zuckerberg chalked it all up to folks spending more time on other apps, like TikTok. And that's gotta hurt because Zuck alone took a $29 BILLION hit.

Facebook's been on the ropes lately, with Congress breathing down its corporate neck. It's also lost traction with the youngins.

Stephen Ross isn't the only NFL owner being accused of offering head coaches money to tank -- Hue Jackson is now strongly suggesting that his former boss, Jimmy Haslam, incentivized him to lose games with "a good number."

Jackson's claim comes on the heels of Brian Flores alleging that Ross -- the owner of the Dolphins -- offered him $100,000 per loss during his 2019 coaching campaign ... and would even get upset when the team won games.

Jackson -- who won 3 total games while coaching the Browns from 2016-18 -- weighed in on the topic Wednesday ... saying, "Well, Jimmy Haslam, was happy while we kept losing."

A Twitter user responded ... "Jimmy Haslam wasn’t offering 100k per loss or Hue would be on the Forbes list," which prompted Hue to clap back with his serious allegation.

"Trust me it was a good number!"

Unclear exactly how much Jackson is claiming Haslam offered him ... but his allegations spell more troubling news for the NFL, which is already dealing with Flores' bombshell lawsuit.

Hue spent 4 years in the NFL as a head coach -- 3 of those years were spent working for Haslam in Cleveland -- but struggled to find success as a play-caller with the Raiders and the Browns.

This past December, Grambling State University announced Jackson would be the Tigers' new head coach -- his first coaching opportunity since being fired by the Browns.

Maluma celebrated another trip around the sun in style ... because he got surprised with a birthday party at a massive mansion, and a five-figure dessert was the icing on the cake!!!

A rep for Maluma tells TMZ ... Hennessy V.S.O.P surprised Maluma Sunday with a birthday bash at a $25 million mansion outside Vegas.

Maluma's collabing with the alcohol brand on designing a new bottle ... and we're told his surprise party included a chocolate cake designed as an exact replica of his Hennessey bottle, and it cost $10,000.

We're told the cake's designer, Flora Aghababyan, has also made cakes for celebs like Beyonce, Jennifer Lopez, Will Smith and Celine Dion, just to name a few.

Maluma didn't spend the night at the mansion, but the place is incredible ... the 4-bedroom estate is decked out with 2 infinity saltwater pools and a spa!!!

The 28th birthday celebration also included a boozy brunch with Maluma's closest family and friends, with a DJ and mariachi band performing some of his favorite classic Spanish songs.

WNBA star Liz Cambage is fed up -- the Australian pro hooper just ripped the league over its pay, griping about how new Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon is making exorbitantly more cash than the players.

"ahhh yes the @WNBA," Cambage said in a tweet Tuesday afternoon, "where a head coach can get paid 4X the highest paid players super max contract."

"lmao and y’all think imma spend another season upgrading my seat on a flight to get to games out of my own pocket."

Hammon -- who served as an assistant under Gregg Popovich with the Spurs -- recently signed a historic deal with the Aces that was reportedly worth around $1 million.

Some considered it a great and progressive move for the league, but Cambage clearly thinks otherwise ... considering the highest-paid player in the WNBA right now is Diana Taurasi, who's reportedly making around $228K to play for the Phoenix Mercury.

Liz -- who earned a salary of $221,450 last year -- seemingly feels players' pay should have been bumped up before Hammon received her huge salary.

Ellen DeGeneres is following in Dian Fossey’s footsteps ... especially now that her section of a gorilla sanctuary is open to the masses.

The talk show host has her own campus in Fossey’s Gorilla Fund in Rwanda -- a massive area dedicated to the protection of gorillas there — and on Tuesday, Ellen’s wing of the sprawling grounds got an official grand opening that’s been years in the making.

Portia de Rossi gifted Ellen with a gorilla fund in her name -- which was incorporated into Fossey’s larger org -- 4 years ago to celebrate her wife’s 60th birthday, and after a lot of work and construction ... the place is finally available to guests.

The whole purpose of the fund is to help gorillas survive poachers and other deforestation activities that might otherwise wipe out their species entirely, and lo and behold ... it’s been doing its job by keeping these apes going strong for decades now, with hundreds of gorillas thriving thanks, in large part, to Fossey’s conservationist efforts.

Ellen’s too, for that matter -- her campus is said to be a game-changer with cutting-edge tech and resources.

Covering several acres, the campus has state-of-the-art lab facilities and hundreds of thousands of native plants. There’s also custom-designed furniture the gorillas can use as they spread out and make use of the new environment. Gorillas like lounging too, bro!

Ellen seems stoked about her campus seeing the light of day, saying ... “To see my name alongside hers on the walls of this beautiful campus, and to know I'm doing my part to protect endangered gorillas and continue Dian's legacy, is simply amazing.”

If you're looking for a blast from the past – and have $500,000 lying around – this sweet ride would've been perfect.

Burt Reynolds' 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am went up at Barrett-Jackson's Scottsdale 2022 auction, and the lucky buyer paid one pretty penny for it.

With the final bid at $495,000, this 8-cylinder beast is going home to a hardcore car enthusiast – and hopefully a film buff! Reynolds drove the same type of car in his hit film, "Smokey and the Bandit."

While it isn’t the car that appeared on screen, it was a congratulatory gift for his work on the flick … fitting as it was the second-highest-grossing film of that year. To make it even more special, this is the only '77 Trans Am that Reynolds ever owned and he signed the glovebox!

Burt’s car wasn’t the only whip up for auction … Pitbull had his custom 2022 Karma GS-6 EV up for sale, nicknamed "305 EDITION." It went for $700k with all the proceeds going to benefit the Selfless Love Foundation and Pitbull's SLAM foundation.

David Spade’s 1968 Chevy Chevelle Custom Coupe went on the auction block as well and fetched $374k.

Forget house hunting! Christine Chiu is taking luxury to a whole new level, cause the "Bling Empire" star is looking for a new castle in France.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Christine and her husband are in the market for some Old World charm. Christine was already in France for Paris Fashion Week last week, and spent the past weekend shopping for castles all around France -- mainly in the countryside.

Fellow cast member Kevin Kreider was with Christine for Fashion Week, so lucky him ... he got to tag along for some castle shopping.

Looks like Christine is going to be spending a pretty penny for the new purchase ... we're told her budget is around $11 million dollars.

Although it's a big investment, this won't be her main residence  ... instead, it will just be a vacation home.

We're told she originally planned to tour 4 different castles, but apparently, one was recently sold and the other had some issues with the roof, so she and Kevin ended up touring 2 over the weekend.

Our sources say the massive properties both include more than 200 acres of land ... and each 32,000 sq.-ft. castle has 12 bedrooms and 12 bathrooms. Fair to say, entertaining won't be an issue!

We're told Christine loves architecture and feel castles are currently not wildly expensive, but restoration could cost a ton ... so, picking the right one will be crucial to her ultimate goal -- locking down a castle future Chiu generations can enjoy.

The NFL, the Cincinnati Bengals and the L.A. Rams are all suing potential Super Bowl ticket and merchandise counterfeiters ahead of the big game ... hoping to stop any such activity in its tracks.

The league and its two teams filed the lawsuit on Monday, TMZ Sports has learned, suing to get a court order authorizing them to seize any counterfeit merch it finds in the leadup to the matchup on Feb. 13.

In the docs, the plaintiffs say counterfeiting is a huge problem at the Super Bowl ... calling it a "multi-billion dollar" business that hurts both the NFL and its consumers.

The league, Rams and Bengals said in the suit they're anticipating "widespread" counterfeiting in Los Angeles the next two weeks ... and want the court order to help protect their brands and their fans from ending up with bootleg tickets and merch.

The league made it clear in the docs, though, that it does not know the names of the counterfeiters at this time ... but they'll amend their complaint to add the names as soon they find any culprits.

NeNe Leakes has sold her Georgia mansion for $2.6 million, and whoever snagged the home paid almost half NeNe's initial asking price ... TMZ has learned.

The 5-bedroom, 7-bath pad sold last Tuesday, and the next resident will enjoy some pretty cool features, including a resort-style pool ... with a waterfall, y'all. Waterfalls!!!

The 10,000-sq.-ft. Mediterranean-style home is tucked away in a gated country club community. So, it's got privacy ... but it's also surrounded by some really nice views.

We broke the story back in October ... when NeNe listed the home for $4 million, which was nearly double the $2.1mil she paid for it back in 2015.

We're told the home's had lots of updates since then, as the former 'Real Housewives' star put a lot of money into making improvements.

As you might know, NeNe originally put her house on the market weeks after her late husband, Gregg, died of colon cancer.

A glove that Antonio Brown threw into the stands during his shirtless tirade at the Bucs vs. Jets game earlier this month can now be all yours ... 'cause it's just hit the auction block.

The item is up for sale on Lelands ... and so far, there's already been 12 bids, with the highest currently at $375.

It's unclear how much it's ultimately expected to fetch ... but whatever it gets could end up being a bargain, considering how iconic Brown's meltdown was.

You'll recall, AB was so furious after he claimed Bruce Arians tried to get him to play on a busted-up ankle that he ripped off his pads and his shirt and then jaunted across the field.

At one point during the temper tantrum, AB tossed his gloves into the stands ... and a fan who caught one is now clearly trying to make a buck off it.

The glove is pretty cool, it was used during the game ... and you can see on the wrist, there's actually a Raiders logo that was blacked out. Clearly, Brown had kept the glove in his possession ever since his short stint in Oakland.

Car sales go down every day, but how often can you say you bought a tank from Kanye West???

Kanye struck a deal with the Diesel Brothers to sell them his Ripsaw EV2, and this thing's insane!

Dave 'Heavy D' Sparks tells TMZ ... the partnership between Ye and the two friends (not real brothers, BTW) started a few years back. West's team reached out to them to get some work done on his trucks, but unfortunately, the timing never lined up.

Fast forward to last October, when someone from Kanye’s team reached out once again, looking to see if they’d want to buy the Ripsaw he was trying to unload. It was a no-brainer because the waiting list to get one is around 3 years, so they rushed down to his ranch in Wyoming to pick it up.

It was reported that Kanye bought it for $500,000. 'Heavy D' wouldn’t say how much change they handed over to seal the deal … but he did say Ye gave them a sweet deal. Kanye posed with the vehicle for a GQ photoshoot back in 2020, and featured it in his “Closed on Sunday” music video.

One odd thing -- the DVD player's built into the dash. Heavy D says for whatever reason, it only plays a K-Pop music video on a loop. We don’t know if Ye is a BTS fan, but they can’t figure out how to turn it off without ripping the player out entirely.

The Diesel Brothers made it big when their YouTube videos caught the attention of Jay Leno, who brought them on his show. Since then, they’ve started their own TV show on Discovery and even kicked it with the Paul brothers recently.