Money

The last Yankees jersey that Mickey Mantle ever wore during his playing career is up for auction again -- and this time around, TMZ Sports has learned it could sell for a whopping 7 figures!!!

Mantle donned the threads in 1968 -- the final year of his historic career -- and experts at Heritage Auctions, which is brokering the sale, tell us they're expecting it to fetch over $1 million.

The jersey has "Mantle" inscribed on the inside of the collar, and a Wilson tag on the left front tail with the size label "42" and "1968 Set 2" imprinted on it.

The ultra-rare piece also comes with an inscription from Mantle in blue ink that reads "To Tom, A Great Friend Always, 'The Mick'."

FYI, "Tom" is Tom Catal, the president of the "Mickey Mantle Museum".

Besides it being his last-ever game-worn gear, it's also the jersey he wore when he hit his 534th home run against the Minnesota Twins and his 535th against the Detroit Tigers.

Mickey also wore this same jersey during the 1968 All-Star Game, which was his last before retiring after the '68 season.

As for its sale history, Heritage Auctions says the jersey first sold for $486,000 in Feb. 2017, and then for $850,000 in Aug. 2020

Of course, the price tag is steep -- but it makes sense, considering the dude is a three-time MVP and seven-time World Series champion.

Benny The Butcher is a suspect in a grand theft case, after the alleged victim claims he made off with some of her super-expensive jewelry ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources confirm to TMZ ... a few weeks ago, the rapper was sharing a room with a lady at the SLS Hotel in Bev Hills. When the woman woke up, Benny and her earrings were gone ... earrings she says are valued around $10k.

We're told Benny and the woman were the only ones in the room. When she called him, she says he admitted to taking the earrings ... and promised he would return them.

Well, a few weeks went by and the woman was still earring-less ... in fact, she says he changed his story, claiming the earrings were lost.

The woman has now filed a police report, naming Benny as the thief.

Four stranded Rams players who badly needed a ride to LAX following the Super Bowl parade on Wednesday caught a lift from a generous fan ... and they rewarded the guy for the gesture with nearly $1,000!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... just after the Rams' parade settled down at the Coliseum in Los Angeles, Joe Noteboom, Taylor Rapp, Nick Scott and Jake Gervase somehow found themselves without a ride.

That was quite the problem -- 'cause they had to be at the airport ASAP to catch a plane that was set to take them to Las Vegas to continue their championship celly.

Blest with the ClockedIn Worldwide Team tells us he saw the players trying to flag down fans to give them a lift ... so he pulled up in his BMW -- and the dudes jumped in!!

Blest says the guys were super cool throughout the ride ... even when he had to make a pitstop for gas on the way. Check out the video, they all seemed to be in a great mood!

In all, the ride ended up being about half an hour -- and Blest got them to their terminal with enough time for the guys to catch their flight.

We're told each player handed Blest about $200 apiece for his time ... and thanked him as they took off for Sin City.

Did you know -- Barack Obama had some of the greatest NBA players EVER over at the White House for an insane game of basketball for his 49th birthday??

It's true -- Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Carmelo Anthony hit up 1600 Penn for a pickup game with POTUS in 2010 ... and now, a signed ball from the iconic day is hitting the auction block!!

Of course, Barry O is an avid hoops fan ... and was known to host some huge names for basketball during his time as Commander in Chief.

One of the game balls from Obama's birthday game with Magic, Kobe, LBJ and Melo is now up for grabs with Heritage Auctions ... featuring signatures from all all the guys.

Every hooper left their Hancocks on the ball ... but as an added bonus, the prez also jotted down his signature, which got a grade of 9/10.

We're told that this ball -- featuring all these history-making men -- is expected to sell for around $12,000!!!

Netflix is turning the page from Dave Chappelle's 'Closer' controversy by staying in business ... with Dave Chappelle, and rolling out new comedy specials with his fingerprint all over 'em.

Dave and the streaming platform announced a new standup comedy series Friday called, "Chappelle's Home Team" ... which will focus on comics handpicked by DC himself. The first of 4 episodes are set to drop February 28, featuring Earthquake.

Remember, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos refused to remove "The Closer" last year when LGBTQ groups, and others, accused Chappelle of transphobia and staged several protests at Netflix HQ.

Sarandos said the company fully supported all comedians' right to express themselves ... and stood by Dave. The new specials are proof positive of that continued partnership, which has been extremely profitable for both parties.

He's released 10 standup specials on Netflix since 2016 and, by some reports, has made north of $200 mil.

Kanye West is not down with Kim Kardashian getting an order divorcing him and restoring her single status ... and he's now made his objections known to the judge.

Kanye's new legal docs are in response to Kim's petition to get the judge to declare her single before all the custody and property issues are resolved. That's scheduled to happen early next month, but now Kanye's lawyer is objecting.

As for why ... Kanye's lawyer seems to be worried Kim might remarry and move some of their assets to her separate accounts. Kanye seems agreeable to Kim becoming single stat, but only if safeguards are in place so the assets remain as marital property.

Kanye's lawyer says he wants 3 conditions, all of which his lawyer claims Kim has rejected.

1. If either of them dies, he wants to make sure any money that might be owing to either gets reimbursed.

2. Kanye wants to block Kim from transferring assets out of any trust they created.

3. He wants Kim to waive their marital privilege pending a final custody decision. This is interesting ... he wants to ensure any communications between the 2 of them can be part of the court record. He also wants to make sure, if Kim remarries, she would waive any spousal privilege between her and her new husband ... in other words, he wants to make sure any conversations between her and a new husband, as it relates to custody, would be fair game in court.

As we reported, there's a prenup that keeps all of their property separate, so it's unclear why there would be alarm on Kanye's part.

Floyd Mayweather conquered boxing ... and now the legendary pugilist is taking his talents to a totally different sport -- auto racing -- by launching his own NASCAR team, TMT Racing.

The 50-0 boxer is debuting The Money Team Racing ... with 23-year-old up-and-coming driver, Kaz Grala behind the wheel of the #50 car.

And, yes, the #50 was no accident ... it represents Floyd's flawless record.

TMZ Sports recently had a chance to talk to Grala, just days before their debut race, about working with TBE.

"It's really cool. Really, really cool," Kaz says.

"[Floyd's] been talking about getting into NASCAR for a couple years here, and everyone wondered 'who's their driver gonna be?' It's pretty surreal to be the guy that they picked to pilot the 50 car for their maiden voyage."

But, TMT wasn't just given a spot in Sunday's Daytona 500 -- the Super Bowl of stock racing -- because of Floyd's fame ... they had to earn it on the track. And, that's exactly what Grala did Friday night at Daytona International Speedway.

"Making this race is an accomplishment in itself. It's one of the premier sporting events in the country each year. So, it's a huge victory just to be in the race and make it there," Grala told us.

But, as cool as it is, Kaz says Mayweather and the team aren't content with simply being in the race -- which goes down Sunday afternoon on FOX.

Now they've made the field, and they wanna win!

Ex-Atlanta Hawks superstar Josh Smith says covering his body in ink was not cheap -- admitting this week that it all cost him around $65,000 ... and maybe even more than that.

The former NBA player was chatting about his tattoos with Inked NBA when he made the stunning revelation ... explaining he "probably spent that much for real."

Smith says the tattoos were that expensive -- though he did add that he was including airfare and other fees for his artists that were associated with getting the ink.

Smith, though, clearly thinks it's all worth it -- because in the long talk with the outlet, he gushed about his tats and what they all mean to him.

Smith said he has nods to Atlanta on him, his parents, his kids -- and even said he has Chuck Taylors on his shoulder as well.

The 36-year-old said he doesn't really have plans on stopping anytime soon either, but he did say he would likely never put the needle on his face.

DaBaby's lawyer wants to make a couple things VERY clear -- DaniLeigh's brother has no basis to sue the rapper over that bowling alley brawl -- and the whole thing smells like a shameless cash grab.

Drew Findling, who reps DaBaby, says it was Brandon Bills who first initiated threats against DaBaby when he told our photog last year he wanted to fight, saying, "It is offensive that this alleged victim threatened and instigated violence and has now used this incident to make a quick money grab."

Findling believes cops should stop wasting their time with the criminal investigation, because BB's decision to immediately file a civil lawsuit is a clear sign ... he's all about the Benjamins. Beyond that, Findling says a criminal case would be laughable.

TMZ broke the story, DaBaby and his team outnumbered Brandon Bills in a beatdown at a CA bowling alley last week ... a beatdown that had everyone slipping and sliding down the lane.

Cops are indeed investigating it as a possible assault with a deadly weapon. In the meantime, DaBaby and his crew have been banned from the alley.

Findling added ... "Garbage like this has no place adding to the backlog and wasting law enforcement time and energy."

IKYMI, things between the rapper and Brandon heated up, seemingly after DaBaby and his child's mom, DaniLeigh, got into a fight ... she was arrested on 2 counts of assault.

Prince Harry is putting his children's security first, saying he doesn't feel safe bringing them to the U.K. because they won't get the kind of protection he had before leaving his royal duties.

The Duke of Sussex's attorney, Shaheed Fatima, repped him Friday morning in the High Court in London during a hearing to reinstate Harry's family's protection. She expressed Harry's concern that the security arrangement put in place when he and Meghan Markle left the royal family in 2020 is inadequate for Archie and Lilibet.

When they removed themselves, the family lost their public-funded protection in the U.K ... and have paid out of pocket for their security while in America.

However, they were also told they couldn't buy British police protection with their own money.

Harry now fears his children won't be safe in the place he calls home. His lawyer added, "It should go without saying that he wants to come back: to see family and friends and to continue to support the charities that are so close to his heart."

Harry and Meghan have recently been raking in the cash ... an estimated $100 million deal with Netflix, and a deal with Spotify for somewhere north of $25 million. So, with all that revenue, why not use it to buy a private security force?

One downside of that option would be the lack of government intelligence ... which the U.K. police could offer.

After a sketchy incident went down with Harry last July -- getting chased by photographers while driving through the streets of London -- he began the process of trying to get a legal review of his security arrangements.

Looks like the ship hit the fan, turning supply shortages from bad to worse.

A burning ship holding about 4,000 cars -- with 1,100 Porsches -- has been floating in the mid-Atlantic after crew members were evacuated ... according to the Portuguese Navy.

The ship departed from Germany on Feb. 10 and was scheduled to arrive in Rhode Island Wednesday before the fire broke out. The 22 crew was safely evacuated from the burning ship via a helicopter.

An automotive enthusiast website, The Drive, reported the ship was also carrying 189 Bentleys. There were a total of 3,965 vehicles from the Volkswagen Auto Group (which owns Porsche, VW, Audi, Bentley and brands) on board ... so all in all, it's a disaster.

Demand for vehicles like these has been insanely high, but supply has been limited because of the pandemic ... with ships stuck out near harbors all over the globe, waiting to dock.

Brad Pitt says Angelina Jolie double-crossed him by secretly selling her interest in a winery they jointly owned ... sold it to a Russian oligarch, and he's now suing her to undo the deal.

Brad's legal docs, obtained by TMZ, are part of their never-ending divorce war. The 2 bought Chateau Miraval in Correns, France back in 2008.  Brad says he invested a ton of money and time in the winery over the years, although he acknowledges Angelina plunked down 40% of the $28.4 million purchase price.

Brad says he alone made the winery successful because by 2013 she wasn't doing much in that department. He claims they always had an understanding ... neither of them could sell off their interest without the other's consent.

Fast forward to 2016 ... Angelina filed for divorce and it became super contentious.

Last July Angelina went to court and told the judge she had reached an agreement to sell her interest to an unnamed person. Pitt says in September he agreed to allow Angelina to pursue the sale but made it clear ... he was not consenting to the sale, but rather would give thumbs up or down to the proposed buyer.

Brad says in October he was shocked to learn a company called Tenute del Mondo -- a subsidiary of Stoli Group (the vodka co.) -- controlled by Russian oligarch, Yuri Shefler, bought her interest in the winey.

He says Angelina never sought his consent and intentionally kept the terms of the deal from him.

Brad says Shefler has wreaked havoc on his ability to run the winery.

A source close to BP tells us, "Unfortunately, this is another example of the same person disregarding her legal and ethical obligations. In doing so, she has violated the rights of the only person who poured money and sweat equity into the success of the business by purporting to sell both the business and family home to a third-party competitor."

They continue, "She is seeking a return on an investment she did not make and profits she did not earn.”

Brad now wants the judge to undo the deal. He also wants damages.

Justin Bieber is shelling out some sweet VIP upgrades for fans attending his highly-anticipated world tour ... and all they gotta do to win is help make the world a better place!

JB's Justice World Tour is just around the corner, and the singer is offering up some serious incentives for fans who get involved with causes to help criminal justice reform, voting and climate action.

As for what the prizes include ... fans can score VIP seat upgrades, and even a meet-and-greet with the man himself in Paris.

The tour -- which is hitting more than 20 countries -- is teaming up with activist group Propeller to give away these sweet prizes to Beliebers. Every night on tour, Justin and co. will be raising awareness of multiple causes -- some local, some global -- and by signing petitions or donating, fans will be entered to win a ticket upgrade... moving to some of the best spots in the house!

Justin isn't shy when it comes to helping out ... you'll recall, Bieber partnered with Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons, boosting their drop in sales back through the roof!

Drake's got some new custom bling on his finger ... and it even comes with a shoutout to his kid.

Celebrity jeweler Alex Moss tells TMZ ... he just finished up a lucky No. 11 ring for Drake, made of gold and diamonds.

The No. 11 is significant ... it's the day Drake's son, Adonis, was born ... and the jeweler says Drake wanted to incorporate the date in the design.

As you see, there's also owl imagery ... with the bird's wings wrapping around to form the ring. It's par for the course for Drake, who uses the owl because his brand "OVO" resembles an owl face.

We're told the bling cost $77,000 ... it weighs in at 83 grams, with 14 karat gold and 15.7 carats of VVS D-F natural diamonds.

The jeweler toiled over the piece for about 2 months ... and we're told it was a gift to Drake from Kai Bent-Lee, the restaurateur and son of famous Canadian celeb chef Susur Lee.

Justin Bieber deserves an attaboy for saving a coffee chain ... with a hole lot of ingenious promotion.

The Biebs partnered with a Canadian coffee chain called Tim Hortons, and boy did they need help. Sales fell 11% in 2020, largely because of the pandemic. It needed some life support ... enter Justin Bieber.

JB and Hortons created a line of doughnut holes with a name mashup -- Timbiebs Timbits. Justin himself was heavily involved in selecting the flavors, and they did not disappoint -- white fudge, sour cream chocolate chip and birthday cake waffle.

Well, talk about a turnaround. A year later the company has seen a rise in sales to the tune of 10.3%, and Company Prez Jose Cil credits his partner for the major uptick, saying "I'm a Belieber!"

BTW ... Tim Hortons' parent company owns Burger King and Popeyes, so if there's a trickle-down effect you can also thank Bieber for your Whopper or Chicken Sandwich.

BTW ... in addition to rising sales, Justin helped bring in younger donut fans. No surprise, with 220 million followers. When Justin says go try my holes, people listen!

There have been a bunch of celeb endorsements of restaurants recently ... Mickey D's recently had deals with BTS, Saweetie, Mariah Carey and J Balvin.

Bieber was genuinely a fan of Tim Hortons ... especially the donut holes, so maybe his endorsement sounded more authentic than most.

The two greatest shooting guards in NBA history are featured on a super-rare, SIGNED jersey card ... and now's your chance to own it.

TMZ Sports has learned ... a basketball card featuring Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant has hit the auction block with PWCC Marketplace ... and could come with a massive price tag.

This piece of NBA memorabilia features both superstars' John Hancocks ... as well as a piece of both Jordan and Bryant's game-worn jerseys.

PWCC describes the card as "the single most desirable" card from Upper Deck's Series 2 release in 2000 ... and the first to feature both Black Mamba and His Airness.

The card's in great shape -- it's been stamped 9/10 on the grading scale ... and has been preserved in a Beckett 8 holder to ensure it remains in mint condition.

PWCC Exec Jesse Craig tells us it's very rare that an item like this comes up to auction ... and that only 10 copies of this card were made.

"One of the things that is just so impressive about this card is that it exists at all," Craig said. "Jordan was an obvious legend by this time, but Kobe’s greatness was just getting started."

"We look back at the totality of the careers now and the connection is obvious, but at the time it still required some imagination to craft an asset such as this."

MJ and Kobe became tight over the years ... and the Chicago Bulls legend even spoke at Bryant's funeral in February 2020.

The PWCC auction is currently live ... and ends on February 19. No official word on what the card will go for, but we're told this same card recently sold for $516k!!!