Money

Doc Rivers says James Harden will sign a "huge deal" with the 76ers ... telling TMZ Sports he enjoys coaching the star guard and loves having him on the team.

We caught up with the Philadelphia head coach as he was leaving E Baldi in Bev Hills this week ... and he told us he's sure Harden, who the 76ers acquired this past season, has a massive new contract coming his way.

"Huge deal," Rivers said.

Doc added that he's "excited" about coaching JH, explaining, "I love him."

The Miami Heat bounced the Sixers from the NBA playoffs this year in the second round -- a series in which Harden didn't play his best -- which left many to question if the org. should give the 32-year-old a new, lucrative deal.

Seems Doc, though, is convinced that's going to happen.

Harden, meanwhile, has until June 29 to opt into the final year of his contract -- which will pay him $47.4 million next season.

Denise Richards is backing her 18-year-old daughter, Sami's, decision to join OnlyFans, despite grumblings from Sami's dad, Charlie Sheen.

In a lengthy post Friday, Richards said, "I wish I had the confidence my 18 yr old daughter has. And I also can't be judgmental of her choices. I did Wild Things & Playboy, quite frankly her father shouldn't be either. And to be able to ignore the negativity at her age? It took me many years & I still sometimes struggle."

The statement comes on the heels of a lot of hate directed at both Sami and Denise, with many saying she was too young to have created the account in the first place.

One of the people offering criticism, was Sami's dad ... Charlie Sheen told Page Six of the OF page this week, "I do not condone this, but since I’m unable to prevent it, I urged her to keep it classy, creative and not sacrifice her integrity.”

However, Denise's statement continues, "Is it so bad to control it & monetize it too? I'm sorry, but s*** if I can get paid and at my age? to see me in a bikini?!? God bless you. Perhaps I should open my own account.."

Ayesha Curry is turning Celtics fans' famous diss into a great cause ... creating a  line of "Ayesha Curry Can Cook" shirts that'll benefit charity.

If you missed it, a bar in Boston took a shot at Steph Curry's wife -- a chef and a cookbook author -- before Game 4 of the Warriors vs. Celtics NBA Finals series last week ... writing on a sign outside of their business, "Ayesha Curry Can't Cook".

Steph later clapped back at the diss by wearing an "Ayesha Curry CAN Cook" shirt to his postgame press conference following Golden State's win over the Cs in Game 5.

The back and forth between Curry and the bar went viral -- and, when Steph ended up winning the title, he made sure to let Boston know he didn't forget about it.

Seems Ayesha didn't either ... 'cause she's now launched a line of "Ayesha Curry Can Cook" shirts through her brand Sweet July.

In announcing the sale of the tees -- which are going for $28 apiece -- Ayesha said all proceeds will benefit @nokidhungry, an org dedicated to helping end childhood hunger.

Pharrell just gave some huge relief to a handful of NAACP student leaders -- wiping out all their student debt for good.

The artist surprised the group at an NAACP panel on the Black student debt crisis in D.C. Friday ... the good news got the 3 students and 2 recent graduates smiling from ear to ear.

One student, emotional with tears of joy in her eyes shouted, "I'm going to law school!"

Wisdom Cole, NAACP's National Director of Youth and College, told ABC News this is giving the crew an opportunity of a lifetime, and thanked Pharrell for forever changing the students' lives.

He also is hoping this will serve as an example to the President to do the same for struggling students across the country ... the NAACP's meeting was held right across from the White House, where President Biden has been trying to cancel a minimum of 50K in student debt.

Vince McMahon is voluntarily stepping away from his duties as CEO and Chairman of WWE amid an investigation into alleged misconduct by the billionaire ... and his daughter, Stephanie, has been appointed interim CEO and interim Chairwoman.

WWE and its Board of Directors, of which Vince is a member, announced on Friday the 76-year-old will take a step back from his responsibilities as the org.'s honcho until the conclusion of the investigation.

"WWE and its Board of Directors take all allegations of misconduct very seriously," the statement read. "The Independent Directors of the Board engaged independent legal counsel to assist them with an independent review."

"In addition, the Special Committee and WWE will work with an independent third-party to conduct a comprehensive review of the company's compliance program, HR function and overall culture."

They added ... "The Company and the Board do not expect to have further comment until the investigation is concluded."

The investigation into Vince stems from a claim that he allegedly agreed to pay a former employee $3 million over 5 years after the two had an affair.

The woman alleges that Vince paid her $1 million in advance ... and was expected to dish out the remaining $2 million in "hush money" over 5 years.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a preliminary investigation into Vince revealed Vince made a payment to the ex-employee using "personal funds."

Vince said in the statement Friday that he will cooperate and support the investigation by the Special Committee ... and he will accept the findings and outcome of the probe once it's over.

“I love this company and am committed to working with the Independent Directors to strengthen our culture and our Company; it is extremely important to me that we have a safe and collaborative workplace," said Vince, who is expected to appear on 'SmackDown' on Friday night.

"I have committed to doing everything in my power to help the Special Committee complete its work, including marshaling the cooperation of the entire company to assist in the completion of the investigation and to implement its findings."

As a result, Stephanie, who recently stepped away from her role as the chief brand officer of WWE to be with her family, is back with the company as interim CEO and interim Chairwoman.

"Vanderpump Rules" star Katie Maloney and Tom Schwartz have officially gone their separate ways, and now, they're doing the same with the home they shared while married.

The two have listed the pad at $2.7 million ... considering they bought it back in 2019 for just under $2 million, there's a chance they'll turn a profit. It's got plenty of ways to entertain guests, including a pool, patio and backyard spa.

Obviously, the listing was expected, Katie recently opened up about moving out of the home and getting an apartment of her own.

In an emotional IG post about leaving the home, she wrote  ... "I hate goodbyes. And this one hurts a lot. The emotions and words are hard to pin down. Closing this chapter on my life feels like attending my own funeral."

She continued, "Thank you house for being the coziest brightest home, for the memories, for being my sanctuary, for letting me dress you up like a hallmark movie set at Christmas and for being OURS."

Of course, this all comes about 3 months after Katie filed for divorce from Tom, in L.A. County Superior Court. They both reportedly decided not to keep the house, following the split ... cause it was too much for just one person.

Las Vegas Raiders owner Mark Davis is making an astonishing donation to help the Uvalde community following the tragic shooting that left 21 dead ... pledging $1 million to increase security in the school district.

The Uvalde Leader-News reported the gesture on Thursday ... saying Davis decided to step in and help out after conversations with former Raiders star Vann McElroy, who grew up and currently lives in Uvalde, Texas.

Davis presented the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District with the check via a Zoom call this week ... saying, "We are proud to be part of something to make the children in these schools safer."

"Two weeks ago, I had a conversation with Vann. He told me about the hurt his hometown was going through."

"He said that Uvalde was in pain and needed help," Davis added. "I asked him what we would do to help ease that pain."

The donation will go toward installing impenetrable doors, security cameras inside and outside, as well as building an unscalable fence outside.

The gesture comes amid criticism of local law enforcement's response to the tragedy ... as well as the shooter's access to the school.

WWE's board is investigating an alleged multi-million "hush pact" payment made by Vince McMahon to a former employee after the pair allegedly had an affair, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal.

WSJ claims World Wrestling Entertainment's 12-member board -- where Vince sits as the chair -- is investigating the circumstances surrounding the alleged affair and subsequent payment.

FYI, WWE is a publicly-traded company on the NYSE. The company's stock closed up nearly 5% on Wednesday, despite the paper's story going public earlier today. Even though they're a public company, Vince holds immense power within the top wrestling promotion.

In January 2022, McMahon, the CEO and Chairman of WWE, allegedly agreed to pay a former employee with whom he had an affair $3 million total ... over the course of 5 years.

The woman -- who was allegedly hired as a paralegal in 2019 -- says McMahon paid $1 mil up front ... and the remaining $2 million was to be spread out over a 5 year period.

Vince has been married to his wife Linda since 1966.

What's interesting is the WWE board is partially made up of Vince and his family.

His daughter Stephanie McMahon -- who recently stepped away from the company to spend time with her fam -- and her husband Triple H (Paul Levesque), as well as WWE President Nick Khan, are all on the board.

The 8 other members have hired a New York City law firm to investigate the situation with VM and the ex-employee.

According to the Journal, the preliminary investigation shows McMahon made a payment using "personal funds."

'SNL' star Kenan Thompson is taking the next step in his separation from his wife of 11 years ... filing divorce docs and hammering out custody of their kids.

According to online records, Kenan filed last month in New York to make his announced split from Christina Evangeline all legal. TMZ broke the story back in April that the couple had separated and were successfully co-parenting their daughters Georgia and Gianna. We're told the couple had been secretly separated for a few years.

Sources connected with the former couple tell us Kenan and Christina agreed to share 50/50 custody -- and they are still living close to one another in NYC to make the custody arrangement easier for everyone involved, especially the kids.

Kenan and Christina tied the knot way back in 2011, saying their "I dos" at an aquarium in Atlanta.

As for why they split, our sources have said they simply grew apart as the years progressed.

Professionally, they lead much different lives. While Kenan's always been in the spotlight ... first as a child star on Nickelodeon, and now the longest-running 'SNL' cast member ... Christina works as an interior designer.

Joe Gorga doesn't deny it, he knows he totally lost it on one of his tenants, but he stands by his actions ... telling us he doesn't do well with folks who don't work hard.

The 'RHONJ' star says he has no regrets about how that confrontation with the tenant went down, because he was genuinely upset, and wanted the guy to feel exactly the way he did. Mission accomplished, we think.

You'll recall, JG recently got into a screaming match with the tenant ... who Joe and his attorney claim hasn't paid rent out of his own pocket in 4 years and owes nearly $50K.

He doubled down, saying what pissed him off most was he gave the guy an opportunity to better himself by giving him a place to live ... and feels like he took advantage of the situation.

Joe insists the tenant is trying to "beat the system" instead of finding a job to pay rent.

For his part, the tenant says the state of NJ paid a large portion of the rent through a COVID relief program -- which he qualified for after losing his restaurant manager job during the pandemic.

Jeff Hardy has been suspended by the AEW without pay following his DUI arrest on Monday, the org. announced Tuesday.

"We were able to resume contact with Jeff Hardy this afternoon," AEW President & CEO Tony Khan said in a statement. "AEW does not condone Jeff’s alleged behavior."

Khan said Hardy's ban will last until he successfully completes a treatment program and maintains his sobriety.

Khan added the AEW will "assist him in getting treatment for substance abuse issues, which he has indicated that he's open to receiving."

The 44-year-old wrestler signed with the org. this year after a lengthy run in the WWE -- and is considered one of the company's biggest stars. He was slated to wrestle in an AEW match on Wednesday.

As we reported, Hardy was arrested at around 10 AM on Monday morning in Florida, after cops say he drunkenly drove his car through Volusia County highways. He's since been hit with three charges, including felony DUI.

It's the third time since 2018 that Hardy has been accused of driving while impaired -- he was arrested for the alleged offense in North Carolina in '18 and then again in 2019.

"It was disheartening to hear the news about my brother yesterday," his brother, Matt Hardy -- who also wrestles in the AEW -- said in a statement Tuesday morning.

Deshaun Watson faced the Cleveland media for the first time since his intro presser with the Browns ... saying it's been "tough" to fight the sexual misconduct allegations made against him, but doubling down and adamantly denying he did anything wrong.

The Browns' $230-million man spoke with reporters after practice on Tuesday ... and gave detail on how he's doing as a mountain of lawsuits from two dozen massage therapists stands before him.

"Honestly, it's been tough," Watson said. "Just trying to make sure that I stay balanced with my mental and just my social life. But, I have a great family. I have a great legal team. and I have a great support cast here in this organization."

Watson says his focus has been on making the Cleveland Browns a better team ... and the support from his teammates and fans has made it easier on him as he tries to defend his name.

26-year-old Watson also spoke about his time with NFL investigators ... saying, "I spent hours with the people that they brought down and that's all I can do, is be honest and tell them exactly what happened."

"I know they have a job and I have to respect that and that's what we want to do, is cooperate, and they have to make a decision best for the league."

Watson -- who's accused of meeting with over 60 different masseuses over a 17-month span -- says the recent New York Times report doesn't sound right to him ... and he'll continue to fight to defend his name.

Deshaun previously spoke with the media about the allegations in March ... saying he "never assaulted any woman."

Two more lawsuits were filed after that statement.

Mark Curry is fed up with folks complaining about high gas prices ... insisting that drivers should just fill up their tanks and get over it.

We caught up with the "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" actor at LAX on Monday, and he gave us a piece of his mind about soaring gas prices and how they should be handled.

Mark tells us, Americans shouldn't look at the price of gas because it makes no difference. He says we've been dealing with high gas prices for years, so there's no point in worrying about it now.

As far as the folks who simply can't afford it, MC insists he feels their pain, but we have to pay anyway. Clearly, he doesn't have much sympathy, instead, he says folks should go to less places, drive slower, ride a bike or (jokingly) even steal a car if it's "that bad" 🤔.

Of course, his hot take comes a little over a year after he shared his candid thoughts on high gas prices when he was interviewed for a local news station. It was actually pretty funny ... at first, the reporter didn't seem to recognize him.

Blac Chyna suing the Kardashians is proving to be a very costly affair for her -- the family says the trial cost them nearly $400K, and now they're demanding Chyna cover that amount.

One of the things the judge ordered last month, after a jury ruled in favor of the Kardashians, was for BC to pay their litigation costs because she put them through the legal wringer.

Welp, the Kardashians' lawyers filed new paperwork laying out their financial burden for the trial, and it's just over $390k. BTW, that does NOT include their attorneys' fees.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, the Kardashians' legal team insists the family spent more than $391,094 in total throughout the years-long proceedings.

Some of their highest outlays -- service of process ($9,325.99); hosting electronic documents ($7,248.35), court reporter fees ($19,895), and deposition costs ($63,078.20).

The biggest ticket item though -- their team claims $184,871.71 was spent on "models, enlargements, and photocopies of exhibits." There's even more money that goes uncategorized, nearly $97k worth.

Like we said, the judge said they're owed their costs, but the court will still need to sign off on the final amount.

Call it hard lesson #327 for Chyna: If the victor gets the spoils, the loser gets the bill.

Trick Daddy is super pissed at Ron DeSantis for Florida's myriad financial problems, calling the Governor a "white bigot" ... but he's also blaming voters, or lack thereof.

The "I'm a Thug" rapper is the latest guest on "It's Tricky with Raquel Harper," and he rips into Gov. DeSantis when asked what life is like these days in his home state.

Trick Daddy says he feels for all those seeing their rents raised by hundreds of dollars ... but he's not blaming President Biden, a la Jake Paul, and is instead focusing his rage on DeSantis.

Raised rents aren't the only bone Trick Daddy has to pick with DeSantis ... he's also going after the Governor for Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill and super strict abortion laws.

The way Trick Daddy sees it ... DeSantis, a prospective Republican candidate for president, is singling out all types of people and their ways of life with "racist and biased" legislation.

As for his rant about DeSantis being "from another country" -- we think TD's referring to the fact his ancestors were Italian immigrants in the early 20th century.

Britney Spears and Sam Asghari are officially Mr. and Mrs. -- but it didn't happen before some very serious legal legwork -- to make sure Britney's millions are protected down the road.

Sources close to the newly married couple tell TMZ they have an ironclad prenup in place where Sam doesn't get a dollar from the fortune Brit's made up to this point. The move isn't all that surprising, as we told you ... lawyers were called shortly after the couple got engaged to start figuring things out.

Britney's worth a reported $60 million, and obviously there's a potential for serious earning moving forward ... but she'll retain her entire fortune if things go south for her and Sam.

You'll remember, Asghari joked that HE was the one who wanted the prenup -- to protect his jeep and shoe collection -- but our sources tell us it was obviously Brit's team who got the ball rolling on the legal discussions.

Britney also had a prenup in place before she got married to Kevin Federline.

As we reported, Sam and Britney got married Thursday in Los Angeles at the singer's home. Madonna, Paris Hilton and Selena Gomez were among those in attendance. No one from Britney's family made it to the celebration.