Money

These new pics of Simon Leviev make ya think -- somewhere a woman is crying about losing a big stack o' money, 'cause the guy's perusing super pricey sports cars in his native Israel!!!

The so-called 'Tinder Swindler' -- the title of the Netflix documentary about Simon -- was spotted on the prowl over the weekend in Tel Aviv at a luxury dealership, and naturally ... he was checking out Ferraris.

As you can see, SL rolled up in an SUV with what appear to be bodyguards trailing behind -- protection from his "enemies," no doubt -- and wearing a Gucci jacket worth thousands.

But that's nothing compared to the whips he's eyeballing! Some of the Ferrari models in his sights, including a 296 GTB, which go for as high as $250,000 MSRP. And not only did Simon take a good hard look at the exteriors, but he actually got inside at least one of 'em to get a feel from the inside.

From the outside looking in, Simon would definitely seem to be rolling in the dough to be able to shop for a prancing horse.

We should note -- for the sake of any impressionable women seeing this -- that Simon did NOT cruise away in any of the cars.

Considering his history of alleged fraud -- the documentary claims he bilked women out of more than $10 mil -- you gotta wonder if this is all just for show, or if he's legit rich.

Hornets star LaMelo Ball received a custom 17-carat diamond pendant from Puma -- celebrating his first All-Star appearance -- and we're told the pendant is worth $80k!!

TMZ Sports has learned Puma hit up renowned jeweler Jason of Beverly Hills in L.A. ... and asked him to create the super-flashy piece of bling for Ball to rock at ASW.

Of course, Ball is signed to Puma ... so when news broke 20-year-old Ball was selected to play in the game in Cleveland they wanted to make sure LaMelo showed up and showed out all weekend.

Check out the video, the chain features 17 carats of flawless white diamonds set into yellow and white gold.

If you look closely ... you can see the iconic Puma logo as well as the words "All-Star" in honor of LaMelo's first appearance in the NBA's showcase of elites.

FYI, at age 20, LaMelo became the fourth-youngest player to ever participate in the game -- behind LeBron James (20 years, 52 days old), Magic Johnson (20 years, 173 days old), and the late Kobe Bryant who did it at just 19 years old.

We're told Ball was gifted the serious drip in Cleveland ... just in time for him to showcase the ice to his fellow peers and fans.

Britney Spears has landed a book deal that's worth millions -- and she's expected to pour the tea for the massive payout.

The pop star has signed a contract with publishing giant Simon & Schuster ... to recount her life story ... for at least $15 million, according to Page Six.

The outlet reports S&S won a bidding war among other publishers who wanted BS's book for themselves ... and, apparently, it's one of the biggest checks cut for a memoir, behind the Obamas -- who signed on to hawk books through Penguin Random House for over $60M.

No word on when Brit might release this tell-all -- other details, including a potential title, have yet to surface -- but one thing is clear ... Britney wants to speak her truth.

She's been teasing that she wants to dish about everything she's gone through -- be it in interviews, or otherwise -- with tons of Instagram posts lately ... including one in January where she threw up a photo of a typewriter, with a caption that read, "Shall I start from THE BEGINNING???"

Britney has said she's still recovering from the trauma she says she endured in the conservatorship ... but it sounds like she's now ready.

Simon Leviev, aka "The Tinder Swindler," is saying goodbye to scamming women and has just scored an actual paying job ... this time, he's making money being his real self on Cameo.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... the 'Tinder Swindler' joined the site Tuesday and got a wave of requests from fans to make messages. We're told he made $30K within his first 3 days, charging $200 a pop for personal video and $2k per video for businesses.

Folks have requested everything from birthday shoutouts to pep talks, happy anniversary videos, and more. He says in his profile he's excited to be on Cameo to wish folks whatever they need. In a few videos, he jokes his enemies are after him.

If you haven't seen it, Simon's the focus of a new Netflix doc, "The Tinder Swindler" ... accused of scamming women in shocking fashion out of a fortune. It was like a Ponzi scheme, where he'd take money from one woman and use it to impress the next before he took money from her.  In all, he pilfered around $10 million.

"Come with me if you want to live" make $32.5K!!! At least that's what one lucky seller was able to do after hawking a nearly-perfect condition VHS copy of "The Terminator."

Vincent Zurzolo -- COO of ComicConnect.com -- tells TMZ the copy of Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Terminator" is from 1984, the year of its original release, fetched big bucks online, after being on the market for just 3 days.

The copy was analyzed by a third-party grading company -- getting high 9s and even 10s for preservation -- meaning it's in nearly perfect condition!

Zurzolo says he's seen a big increase in VHS purchases over the past few years -- chalking it up to nostalgia. He says Arnold played a big role in the lives of '80s kids, and that reflects in the investments they're making ... just like this big purchase.

The first Victoria's Secret model with Down's syndrome is on a roll, because we've learned she's just signed another huge deal with a major beauty company, and she's especially happy she's becoming an inspiration for others who face similar challenges.

Sofia Jirau just shared the news with us -- she's entered into a partnership with L'Oréal Caribe in Puerto Rico!!!

Sofia tells us she'll model and promote 4 products for the brand -- makeup, hair, fragrances and skincare. She'll work with both her team and the team over at L'Oreal to work on brand strategy and the best way for her to push the products.

The partnership makes a lot of sense, Sofia says she loves hair, makeup, taking photos ... and the rollout will also happen on her social media pages.

Sofia says, "I feel happy and proud for me and for all the girls around the world that now can dream without limits."

Sofia has certainly had a big week ... Victoria's Secret announced Wednesday that she was their first model with Down's syndrome as part of the more inclusive "The VS Collective."

Bill Maher delivered a devastating blow to celebrities, companies and woke American culture for turning a blind eye to the horrendous abuses in China ... mostly to make a buck.

Maher lasered in on freestyle skier Eileen Gu, an American who chose to join Team China for the Beijing games. As he puts it, "She chose to represent a totalitarian police state over America." He also notes she's made $23 million from a ton of endorsements in China.

Bill ticked off some of the horrendous human rights abuses in China, including genocide. He then wondered out loud why Americans -- in particular celebs -- who show outrage for abuses at home are either silent about the abuses in China or say something critical and then apologize.

He recalls NBA GM Daryl Morey who tweeted a few years ago he stands with Hong Kong -- a country whose freedom is being crushed by China. LeBron James fired back that Morey had to be "educated." And, what does Maher think is behind LeBron's jab -- $$$. Maher notes the NBA has a $1.5 billion deal for TV rights in China, then saying of LeBron ... "I got some shoes to sell."

And, then Maher led in hard on John Cena, who once called Taiwan a separate country from China. Point of fact, it is, although it's pretty clear China wants to change that. So, Maher noted 34% of global box office is generated from China, and Cena's a big movie star ... so then Maher played Cena's video, apologizing to the Chinese for saying what he said. BTW, Cena apologized in Chinese. Wait till you hear Bill's joke about small balls.

He goes on and on ... the remake of "Top Gun" has scrubbed the Taiwanese flag from the bomber jackets.

Passengers who witnessed a woman jump overboard to her death on a cruise ship have been left traumatized, and they want the cruise line to do some kind of a make-good.

Rhonda Turner, a 28-year-old from Booneville, MS, was enjoying her time on the Carnival Valor with her husband and two children ... before chaos erupted after a woman jumped off the balcony into the ocean.

Rhonda and her family rushed to where a large group of passengers was gathered. Rhonda says the scene was horrifying. She saw the head of the woman who jumped bobbing in the water. The woman was not decapitated, but all Rhonda could see was her head.

The woman jumped Wednesday afternoon after she was subdued by security. She had gotten into an altercation with a man in the hot tub.

Rhonda says the chaos left her and her family reeling, as helicopters hovered over the ship, trying to locate the woman. Her small children were bewildered and upset ... unable to understand the scope of what had happened.

Rhonda says it's time for Carnival to pony up ... at the very least she wants credit for another cruise. She's so traumatized she's considering counseling.

Warriors forward Draymond Green's L.A. house was ransacked during Super Bowl weekend ... and over $1,000,000 worth of stuff -- watches, jewelry, and other property -- was stolen, TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us 31-year-old Green -- who attended Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles -- came home later that night and discovered someone had busted their way into his home.

Our sources tell us the alleged perps entered Green's residence through his window ... and made off with watches, jewelry, and other personal property.

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time something like this has happened to an athlete in Los Angeles. During Game 7 of the World Series in 2017, Dodgers star Yasiel Puig's home was burglarized.

In 2019, the NFL warned the Rams of the potential for burglaries ... and advised the players to beef up security.

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!