Money

Antonio Brown says he and Kanye West are dead serious about their efforts to buy the Denver Broncos ... telling TMZ Sports they're working hard to get a real deal done.

Brown and Ye have become best buds ever since the NFL star was booted from the Buccaneers in January -- and in their newfound bromance, Ye named Brown the president of one of his biggest ventures, Donda Sports.

And, as one of Brown's first actions in the exec role, he said back in February he wanted to purchase the Broncos.

When we got the free agent receiver out in Los Angeles just days ago, he told us the goal is still on their minds, and it's a legitimate one, explaining he and Ye are "extremely serious" about making it all happen.

"Tell Roger [Goodell] to call me," Brown said. "We're working on it ... We're working towards getting it done."

The Broncos just recently went up for sale, and many believe the price tag to ultimately land the team could be around $4 BILLION. If somehow the two are able to get that change together, a sale to Ye and Brown would also have to be approved by the rest of the owners in the league.

In the meantime, while they work on getting a deal in Denver done, Brown and Ye have more immediate goals of rockin' the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami in July.

Philanthropist Bethenny Frankel's effort to help displaced Ukrainians is raising huge amounts of money, and now she's focused on finding ways to distribute the aid, quickly and safely.

Bethenny was on TMZ Live Monday with a huge update -- her Bstrong initiative (in-partnership with Global Empowerment Mission) has received $25 million worth of aid donations and supplies, with another $10M given in cash ... and the total is still climbing!

She says the supplies are going to an undisclosed location in Ukraine -- kept under wraps for safety concerns -- and they're also operating out of massive warehouses in Poland and Hungary. The goal is to use these hubs for those in need and have them serve as a space for organizations to pick up supplies as needed.

She also tells us the $10M in cash will go towards refugee relocation ... saying it's not about keeping Ukrainians happy in their own country anymore. She says the goal is to get them out safely, which will be more accessible with the money raised.

Bethenny's 11-year-old daughter Bryn has been helping out too ... making artwork to raise some cash for the cause! She made an exclusive set of paintings depicting the Ukrainian flag, and NY Mets owner Steve Cohen bought 5 of 'em right off the bat!

The NFL has just banned Atlanta Falcons star receiver Calvin Ridley for the ENTIRE 2022 season ... after investigators say he bet on games.

The league just announced the suspension ... saying in a statement Ridley bet on NFL games in the 2021 season "during a five-day period in late November."

Ridley was away from the team on the non-football illness list at the time of the betting, the NFL said in a statement.

The league added that an investigation showed there were no signs "that any game was compromised in any way."

"There is nothing more fundamental to the NFL's success -- and to the reputation of everyone associated with our league -- than upholding the integrity of the game," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a letter to Ridley notifying him of the ban.

"This is the responsibility of every player, coach, owner, game official, and anyone else employed in the league. Your actions put the integrity of the game at risk, threatened to damage public confidence in professional football, and potentially undermined the reputations of your fellow players throughout the NFL."

Goodell continued, "For decades, gambling on NFL games has been considered among the most significant violations of league policy warranting the most substantial sanction. In your case, I acknowledge and commend you for your promptly reporting for an interview, and for admitting your actions."

The NFL noted Ridley can apply for reinstatement in February 2023.

Ridley is widely regarded as one of the best receivers in the NFL -- piling up 3,342 receiving yards in just 49 games. He missed most of last season while battling mental health issues.

A plan to sell counterfeit Patrick Mahomes Super Bowl rings has been thwarted ... feds just announced they seized a bunch of fake K.C. Chiefs title bling in a huge bust in Louisville.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Monday that officers intercepted a package that they say contained a small fortune-worth of fake Mahomes merch as well as other counterfeit sports memorabilia.

According to the CBP, the package -- which came from China and was heading toward Florida -- contained 30 fake Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl rings, 110 fake Atlanta Braves World Series rings, 10 fake Milwaukee Bucks NBA championship rings and 80 fake Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl rings.

In a photo of some of the seized "jewelry" ... you can see Mahomes' name was engraved on some of the merch, along with his number and the words "Chiefs Kingdom."

The CBP said in total, the package was worth $345,000.

L.A. Rams safety Terrell Burgess brought his mom to tears after surprising her with a brand new SUV -- and the emotional moment was all caught on video!

The 23-year-old pulled up on his mother, Ingrid, over the weekend with the new whip ... capturing the big surprise.

His mom was in complete shock -- saying, "Is this why you're so late today?!" when she noticed the new silver Chevy SUV parked in the street.

That's when the tears started rollin' ... with Burgess' mom asking, "Are you serious?! Oh my goodness!"

"It had 19 miles on it," the former Utah Utes star says, "but we drove all the way over here so kinda bumped up a little bit."

"That's yours. Appreciate you, thank you, love you! That's yours!"

It's unclear exactly how much the SUV cost, but Burgess joked the gift covers future holidays for the next couple of years.

"Happy Birthday! Merry Christmas! Happy Mothers Day for the next 8 years!"

Burgess -- a third-round pick in the 2020 draft -- logged in 18 tackles and 1 pass deflection before suffering a season-ending injury in Week 7 of the 2021 season.

"Storage Wars" star Rene Nezhoda scored big on his latest find ... unearthing tons of memorabilia that belonged to Olympic legend Florence Griffith Joyner -- Flo-Jo!

Rene tells TMZ ... his friend George bought Flo-Jo's storage locker 8 years ago in the San Diego area. Rene says he dropped several thousand dollars to take the Olympic content off his hands ... and the haul is impressive!

Rene walked away with Florence's Olympic jacket and even her signed track shoes -- the ones that she wore while breaking world records! As you'll recall, Joyner broke records in the 1988 Seoul Olympics ... for both the 100m and 200m dash! She took home 3 gold medals that year.

Also bought by Rene are rare photos, magazines featuring her, and autographed Flo-Jo Barbie dolls ... talk about a blast from the past!

Rene says he'll likely sell the pieces of history on eBay or through collectible auction house Heritage Auctions ... but if a member of Flo-Jo's family reaches out, he might work out a deal with them to return her personal items.

Flo-Jo died in 1998 after suffering a fatal epileptic seizure in her sleep. Apparently, her family paid the bills for the storage rental for years, but for some reason stopped, and that's why the locker went up for action.

Chris Brown's former ride is hitting the market ... and it's a super-fast sportscar Breezy customized himself!!!

The singer is the former owner of this 2012 Lamborghini Aventador and he's the one who picked out the Miami Blue paint, which is sure to turn a bunch of heads.

The current owner bought the car off Chris and is now selling it for just under $300,000 ... and we're told there's already been a ton of interest.

As you see from the gallery, the whip is freakin' awesome ... Chris picked out the black accents, which match the black rims and sleek black interior. The Lambo features a 6.5-liter engine, an upgraded suspension and only has about 16,000 miles.

The next owner is gonna wanna keep the Miami Blue paint job pristine ... and that should be easier to do thanks to the paint protection film already on the exterior panels.

Drake lost a fortune on UFC's main event Saturday night, and the winner was quick to trash him by talking about his "s**tty" music.

Drake plunked down $275,000 on Jorge Masvidal, who squared off against Colby Covington. Unfortunately for Drake -- and Masvidal -- Covington won a unanimous decision, and it wasn't even close.

Covington was quick to trash talk ... "Let's talk about all the money that Drake lost tonight. He needs to go back to selling those s**tty albums to get back the money."

He wasn't done, adding, "Drake, you suck at sports betting. Go back to your s**tty little albums and rapping."

There was definitely an upside to the bet since Masvidal was the underdog. If Masvidal won, Drake would have pocketed a cool $1 mil.

Bethenny Frankel has done something pretty incredible ... she's raising $25 MILLION for Ukrainian relief, and she's not done.

As we reported, Bethenny's foundation -- BStrong -- has been raising cash for badly-needed aid. She says $10 mil has been earmarked to help in the relocation of Ukrainian refugees, and the remaining $15 mil will provide food, medical aid and other necessities inside the war-torn country.

Bethenny said, "We are partnering with different apparel companies, food companies, lodging companies to be announced later, to place these people in lodging."

This isn't the first humanitarian effort in which she's been involved ... her foundation has helped with various disasters around the world since 2017.

Bethenny told us on "TMZ Live" how the foundation works and what they're doing to help innocent civilians whose lives have been turned upside down or destroyed by Putin's war.

KISS' Gene Simmons has stern words for bands still on the fence when it comes to their Russian concerts -- what are you waiting for? Cancel it!

We got Gene at Kings Road Cafe Thursday in Los Angeles ... he says bands should stick together in solidarity and take Russia off their tour schedules -- something KISS is doing.

He tells us there are more important things happening in the world that should take priority over a simple rock concert -- obviously referring to the war in Ukraine.

Gene thinks an American band that travels and puts on a show for the Russian people would be giving a thumbs up to President Vladimir Putin and his current attack.

Ever since the war began, artists have been pulling out of their Russian performances -- Imagine Dragons, Eric Clapton, Gorillaz, and Louis Tomlinson are just a few.

Matthew McConaughey has a head full of hair ... and in return, he's become a walking billboard for the company that helped him achieve his full mane ... a Co. that says he helped their biz during a dire time.

ICYMI ... Matt recently shut down rumors that a hair transplant was the culprit of his incredible hair transformation. Instead, he said that Regenix's daily hair ointment saved him. Well, we talked to the folks at the company, and they say it is actually Matt who saved their business.

Bill Edwards, CEO of Regenix tells TMZ ... McConaughey has been a customer of the hair ointment brand since 1999. It wasn't until he gave the company a shoutout on the 'Late Show' in 2001 that it began to see a huge uptick of customers from all over the world.

The 'McConaughey effect' increased demand to where the company had to initiate a new mail-order program for potential International clients. Under this new program, folks send hair samples in, and Regenix designs a tailored plan to regrow hair.

So, when the pandemic hit in 2020, Regnix's brick and mortar clinic in L.A. was forced to shut down ... and the company decided to go all-in on expanding their existing mail-order program. In return, Bill says they didn't lose a single customer.

Bill says, Matt helped the hair treatment company on multiple fronts -- getting more customers and giving them a new way to withstand the Covid-19 business doom.

"Real Housewives of Orange County" alum Elizabeth Lyn Vargas is giving up desert life ... for now, anyway -- TMZ's learned she's selling her home in the Palm Springs area for just under $10 million.

We're told Elizabeth listed the 6 bed, 7.5 bath home on Wednesday, and she's hoping to get at least $9.95 million, to be exact, for the 9,2000-sq ft. pad in the gated La Quinta neighborhood.

The house is much different from when she snagged it in February 2021 for just $3.3 million. We're told Elizabeth renovated the entire place over the last year, giving it modern finishes ... decking it out with new flooring, new fixtures and new paint.

The spread comes with some pretty neat features outside -- like an extended patio, a BBQ center and a private lake. The next owner can also enjoy a spa and a custom pool with waterfalls -- oh, and we can't forget the lighted tennis court!

The former 'RHOC' star still has another home in Newport Beach. You'll recall, that was the home where her ex-boyfriend barricaded himself inside, after she called the cops on him.

Despite having ongoing issues with her ex, it seems like she's staying focused on all the right things.

We’re told she's looking to scoop up another property in the desert -- this time in the Madison Club, where she might see some pretty familiar faces. Kris Jenner, Kourtney Kardashian, Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli all have homes in that community.

Kobe Bryant's shooting shirt from his iconic 81-point game just sold for a massive $277,000 at auction -- and the lucky buyer also got a one-of-one NFT that came with it.

The shirt is a one-of-a-kind piece ... not only was it worn by the Mamba before he scored the 2nd-most points ever in an NBA game (back in 2006), experts at Sotheby's tell TMZ Sports it's the ONLY worn piece from that game on the market.

We're told it was worn six other times by Kobe, too -- including in the 2006 playoffs.

We're also told the shoes from that historic game were sent to the Basketball Hall of Fame and the uniform is owned by Bryant's family -- so this might be the only Bryant-donned item from the game that ever becomes available.

The auction for the shooting shirt closed last week -- and after a bunch of bidding, the rare piece sold for a total of $277,200.

The lucky buyer is David Kohler, President of SCP Auctions and owner of one of the largest private Lakers memorabilia collections in the world, and he said after the sale he's pumped to now own the item.

"After collecting Kobe Bryant memorabilia throughout many years, I am thrilled and honored to add this very special artifact from one of the most significant games in NBA history to my collection," Kohler said.

George Takei thinks Americans need to be willing to tighten their belt and shoulder bloated checkout tallies in solidarity with Ukraine -- but he's kinda catching heat for the suggestion.

The 'Star Trek' actor took to Twitter Friday with his sentiment, writing ... "Americans: We can endure higher prices for food and gas if it means putting the screws to Putin. Consider it a patriotic donation in the fight for freedom over tyranny."

Sounds innocent enough -- fact is, there is bound to be more inflation as a result of this conflict and the sanctions President Biden has imposed ... whether we like it or not.

If anything, it sounds like GT is telling folks to have a better attitude about it rather than actually proposing they act on it ... 'cause, frankly, there isn't much to do at the moment. Now, as you can imagine ... his idea is being embraced by some, but rejected by others.

The pushback ... namely, that George is a rich celebrity, and he comes off a bit tone-deaf here telling ordinary people to chip in for a good cause -- at least in his critics' eyes. Essentially, it's sounding like an elitist POV (to them) ... and talking down to "little people."

Big picture ... this convo is turning into rich vs. poor, which is a raging debate in this country -- as it seems there's a growing hatred of the 1%, whom many feel could be/should be contributing more to help society. In this case, George is on the receiving end of that.

Of course, the flip side of this is ... who the hell knows what George may already be doing and/or donating to help the cause in Ukraine? He could be pouring tons of cash and other resources toward the effort without anyone's knowledge -- and if he is, would he still be considered an opulent snob up in the ivory tower??? If we're being honest ... probably not.

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne are done with L.A. ... in fact, they're bailing from the U.S.

Ozzy and Sharon are moving to the U.K. ... Ozzy told The Mirror it's because the tax rate is too high.  He wasn't specific if it was the CA tax rate (which is insanely high), the U.S. tax rate or both.

It's a big move ... they've lived in Bev Hills for a quarter-century.

Ozzy told The Mirror, "I am taking my recording studio with me. I am going to build a barn there and make my own studio at Welders. I will still be making music and my band will come over."

The Osbournes and Bev Hills have become synonymous ... as you know, their hit show "The Osbourne's" rooted in the mansion ran from 2002 to 2005.

As for Sharon, well she has lots of opportunities in England for sure.

Looks like they'll be doing some consulting from a distance ... there's a new flick in the works chronicling Ozzy and Sharon's relationship. Black Sabbath and some of Ozzy's solos will provide the soundtrack for the movie.

The 2 met in 1970 and things turned romantic 9 years later.

Neyo White went viral after a trip to a Georgia spa turned into a trip from hell ... and now he says he's taking legal action.

In the video, Neyo details what went down Feb 17 ... and how he ended up with burns all over his face after going to a Buckhead spa for a chemical peel. He also makes two things clear -- this isn't a stunt for clout, and he absolutely plans to sue.

Neyo says he had gone to the spa before, to get other facial procedures, to help with discoloration and evenness ... but he wanted to try something a little stronger, so he went in for a chemical peel.

Neyo says he felt burning during the process, but the woman doing the peel assured him that everything was fine. Well, things were not fine ... and 4 days later he ended up with burns and a completely discolored face.

It looks pretty painful, to say the least ... but luckily, we're told he is slowly recovering.

As far as the folks at the spa, Neyo says they haven't responded to him and have denied his Cash App request for a refund on the chemical peel ... so, now he plans to take matters into his own hands.

Neyo plans to sue for his legal bills, medical fees, and Uber payments for his hospital trips. He also wants to be refunded for the $150 chemical peel.