Money

Antonio Brown is being dragged to court yet again ... this time, a man in Florida claims the wideout sold him a bogus Richard Mille watch for $160K, fully knowing it was a phony worth far less.

Ryan Kane filed a lawsuit against Brown over it all in Broward County earlier this week ... alleging the NFL star ripped him off on the sale back on July 27.

In the suit, obtained by TMZ Sports, Kane says Brown assured him the watch -- allegedly an RM 011 model -- was real ... and said it had a value "in excess of $400,000."

Kane says he bought it based on Brown's claims -- wiring the $160,000 to Brown's company -- but he learned a few weeks later the thing was a fake.

Kane says in the suit that he took it to a watch appraiser to have it authenticated and appraised for insurance purposes -- but claims the guy delivered him some bad news while he was there ... it was worth only a couple hundred bucks.

Kane says after he asked around, he learned that Brown had bought the fake watch -- and three others like it -- from a dealer in Dubai earlier this year for less than $500 apiece.

Kane is suing Brown for fraud and more ... seeking to get his money back plus interest.

Of course, this couldn't be further from the first time that Brown has been hauled into court ... over the last few years, a personal trainer, a chef and others have filed lawsuits against him.

Kanye West's "White Lives Matter" shirt is generating tons of attention -- mostly negative -- but now it's spawning fakes ... meaning the controversial shirts will pop up in public, even if Ye doesn't decide to sell 'em.

We've discovered several eBay listings where the long-sleeve shirts are found under listings like "Lives Matter-Kanye West-Candace Owens" and "Kanye Style All Lives Matter."

Interestingly, the listing descriptions don't include the word "White" ... but the actual shirts certainly have it in bold letters.

Our Kanye sources say the final decision will be up to him as to whether or not he'll decide to sell the actual design he wore at the Paris Yeezy show ... but at this time, it doesn't appear they'll be sold in any official capacity.

Regardless, some will say the damage is done ... while others clearly see potential profits. The fake eBay listings are going from anywhere between about $20-$25 ... a bargain considering Ye's usual merch sells for well over $100.

One more big difference between what Kanye wore at the Yeezy show Monday and the eBay gear -- Kanye's shirt had a photo of Pope John Paul II on the front -- the eBay gear only includes the "White Lives Matter" slogan.

As we reported, Kanye attacked Kim Kardashian and the Kardashian family Wednesday on Instagram -- accusing them of "kidnapping" his daughter, Chicago on her birthday and not letting him know where her birthday party was being held.

A man is suing the New England Patriots Hall of Fame ... claiming it ruined his one-of-a-kind, Tom Brady signed American flag -- costing him potentially over $1 MILLION.

The guy's name is Daniel Vitale ... and he says in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, that back in early 2020, he acquired a flag that had been autographed by the G.O.A.T.

In his lawsuit, Vitale says the flag was ultra-rare. It had flown at Foxboro Stadium during a Patriots vs. Dolphins game in 2001 -- the same season that Brady first took over as the starter in New England -- and was signed by the quarterback a few years later. Vitale said he believed it to be the only American flag known to be signed by TB12 in existence.

Vitale says in the suit that in 2021, about a year after he got the piece, he reached out to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to see if it wanted to put it on display. He claims it did, but only after Brady and his former head coach, Bill Belichick, had retired.

The HOF, according to Vitale, suggested he reach out to the Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium to gauge its interest in the flag in the meantime. Vitale claims in his suit that the Pats HOF wanted it -- and officials there promised him it would be "curated to the highest standard."

Vitale says he handed it over under that premise ... and it was almost immediately displayed underneath the Brady Super Bowl XLIX jersey that had been infamously stolen and later recovered.

Vitale, though, said months later ... he was considering asking for it back. He said due to Brady's potential retirement and the subsequent skyrocketing value of Brady memorabilia, he was thinking about putting it up for auction.

But, that's when he says he found out that the QB's autograph had faded due to what he claims is the way the HOF improperly displayed the piece.

In the suit, Vitale said "neither the lighting at [the facility] nor the glass [it] used for case displaying the flag were designed to protect autographed sports memorabilia."

He added, "there was a significant gap in the glass directly in front of the flag through which unfiltered light and heat could pass."

All of it, he said, caused the T and other parts of Brady's signature to significantly fade.

In a video of Vitale recovering the flag, you can hear he was crushed to see the state it was in.

In the suit, he said due to the Patriots HOF's mishandling of the flag, the value of it decreased by potentially as much as over $1 million.

He's asking for damages.

Aaron Judge's 62nd homerun ball has gotten a ton of attention, and with a value of $2 million, justifiably so ... but it's not the only ridiculously valuable piece of memorabilia, the uniform, bat, cleats and batting gloves are also worth a fortune!

TMZ Sports talked to David Kohler from SCP Auctions -- one of the industry leaders in sports memorabilia -- about the value of basically everything but the record-setting baseball.

"Certainly the bat, the tool, the trade that he used yesterday to hit this historical milestone home run. That bat's worth a lot of money and the uniform he wore. Those are Aaron Judge's basically right, so I'm sure he's keeping those, but again if we had those at auction, in our firm, SCP Auctions, that's gonna probably bring, for a pair, probably a million dollars."

"Of course, his cleats that he wore, his batting helmet of course -- all those things are gonna bring big bucks for this very historical moment."

And, Kohler says if Aaron were to inscribe any of the items, they'd be worth even more!

As for the baseball, it's still the most valuable item from the historic game ... and worth upwards of $2 million.

"This baseball's worth a lot of bucks! Our estimate actually, with everything that's gone on in the last week or two leading up to the last game yesterday, our estimate is over $2 million for this baseball!"

FYI, Kohler's company has auctioned some of the most important balls in sports history ... including Barry Bonds' 500th, 755th, 756th and 762nd HR ball, as well as Alex Rodriguez and Mark McGwire's 500th HR baseball.

And, they'd like to add Judge's 62nd ball to the impressive list.

"We haven't talked to him personally yet, but we reached out to him," Kohler says, adding the situation is very much like a "lottery ticket landing in your lap."

Diddy's had enough of the narrative he's a greedy, self-centered label boss who steals from his artists ... and he says he's now fighting for his reputation!!!

The newly minted Love Records CEO hit "The Breakfast Club" Wednesday to tackle a bunch of topics ... including Kanye West's "White Lives Matter" controversy, and his former artist Ma$e's contract dispute with Fivio Foreign.

Diddy praised Kanye for being a "free thinker" and said he wouldn't condemn him as a person. For his part, Charlamagne said that excuses Ye's behavior ... but Diddy did call Ye's controversial T-shirt "unnecessary noise" and "tone deaf."

He also dubbed Ye's sidekick, Candace Owens ... "Karen Owens," because her real name is too Black.

Diddy says now is the time for Black lives to matter more than ever, and promised to poach high-profile executives from every business imaginable to get his people in good standing.

Elsewhere in the convo, Diddy was far less forgiving towards Ma$e ... alleging the former Bad Boy rapper owes him $3 million, and boldly declared all thieves should have their hands sliced off!

Nonetheless, Diddy says Ma$e abandoned the label -- only to become a "fake" pastor who ran to Atlanta to scam people following the success of his debut album.

Diddy says he's been scapegoated all these years for his ex-artists' failed careers, and people like Ma$e tend to push something he calls a "tap-out button" ... a convenient exit when the going gets tough.

The 'BC' crew also interrogated Diddy about his girlfriend Yung Miami's brand new series "Caresha Please" tying for Best Hip Hop Platform with "Drink Champs" at the 2022 BET Hip Hop Awards.

Charlamagne jokingly accused Diddy of paying off the judges ... which Diddy naturally denied but still basked in the fact both shows were owned by his REVOLT TV hub.

Mo money, mo problems still ring true in Diddy's world after all these years!!!

The fan who jumped over the stadium railing in an attempt to catch Aaron Judge's 62nd home run ball somehow avoided injury ... but he did get some bad news following the fall -- he was immediately booted from the stadium.

The guy left his seat and jumped several feet onto a concourse below in an effort to land the historic baseball in the first inning of NY's game against the Rangers in Texas ... but he came up empty -- as the Yankees slugger's historic blast ultimately landed into a man's mitt in the first row.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the guy apparently avoided broken bones in the jump -- although he didn't necessarily escape unscathed, 'cause cops tell us he was met by security guards who tossed him from the venue.

We're told the Rangers did have an opportunity to press charges against the guy and/or issue him a criminal trespass warning -- but they declined, so cops let him go without further incident.

As we reported, Cory Youmans -- a finance worker in Dallas -- was the one who caught the ball ... which, according to SCP Auctions' David Kohler, is worth $2 MILLION.

Youmans told reporters at the stadium he wasn't sure what he was going to do with it.

Skyler Gisondo says a lady was supposed to do his hair and makeup for a movie -- but ended up playing masseuse and screwing up his body ... so now, he's suing.

The actor is taking hairstylist Lori Guidroz to court for what he claims was general negligence on her part during the making of P.T. Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" -- in which Skyler plays a somewhat significant role, Alana Haim's temporary on-screen boyfriend early on in the flick.

According to court docs, obtained by TMZ, Skyler alleges while Lori was working on his makeup -- even though she has a hair credit for the movie -- she gave him a massage at one point, which he says ended up causing him severe neck injuries.

SG doesn't get more specific about how she might have rubbed him up -- or what precisely happened to his neck -- but at any rate, he claims Lori was unlicensed and shouldn't have done it ... 'cause he needed significant medical care in the aftermath.

Skyler also notes in his suit that he's suffered beyond just the pain here -- claiming he's lost wages and part of his ability to work because of what Lori allegedly did. SG also claims he's suffered the loss of use of property, plus property damage ... but doesn't offer any detail on what that means. He's seeking compensatory damages based on proof he says he can offer.

FWIW ... Lori is a pretty big deal in the hair world -- she's done 'dos for a number of A-list stars over the years, including Ben Stiller, Orlando Bloom, David Bowie and others.

Presumably, that could mean he's roping the studio and/or the director into this too.

Aaron Judge has made history … the New York Yankees superstar slugger just knocked his record-breaking 62nd home run of the year.

Judge, with just 3 games remaining in the regular season, led off the 2nd leg of a day-night doubleheader with a blast to left field at Globe Life Field in Arlington, TX.

With the home run, #99 passes late Yankees star Roger Maris … who hit 61 HR’s in 1961.

In fact, several members of Maris' family were on hand to witness the historic moment.

Now, the million-dollar question (literally) is who caught the ball ... and do they trade it back to AJ? A memorabilia expert previously told us the ball could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.

The record wasn’t just the Yankees' high mark -- it was also the best ever by an American League player ... that is until about 10 minutes ago when 30-year-old, 6'7" Judge stepped to the plate.

Longballs aside, Judge — who will be a free agent next year — has had one of the best offensive seasons ever. AJ has knocked in 131 runs, batting leadoff much of the time, all while batting .310. He also has 176 hits and scored 132 runs.

Of course, Sammy Sosa (66), Mark McGwire (70) and Barry Bonds (73) all hit over 62 dingers in the N.L. … but their careers (and the record) have been tainted by allegations of the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

Because of that, many baseball purists believe the true home run record is now held by none other than Aaron Judge.

The new 'Black Panther' trailer seems to confirm there will be a woman filling out the suit -- but that's news to one of the stars of the flick ... who's staying as tight-lipped as possible.

Actress and stuntwoman Janeshia Adams-Ginyard -- who plays one of the Dora Milaje female warriors in the 2 films -- gave us her reaction to the 'Wakanda Forever' trailer Tuesday at LAX, but acted oblivious to what was actually shown ... especially at the end of the trailer.

Of course, we're referring to the fact Letitia Wright appears to be revealed as the new Black Panther, with her whole suit and everything shown in full view in the newly revealed scenes.

It sounds like JAG is also aware of that spoiler, and even though it's out there for the world to see now ... she's not taking ANY chances, and played dumb on the topic.

So much so, we had to ask her -- just how serious does Marvel take its movie secrets??? Watch her response ... the Kevin Feige memes are real!

On a more serious note, our photog also asks Janeshia what she thinks this sequel will mean for little girls of color ... and if it'll have the same impact the OG had for boys.

She made a pretty bold prediction ... that this flick will culturally, and financially, surpass part 1 by leaps and bounds. That's saying a lot, as "Black Panther" is one of the highest-grossing movies domestically ever, sitting comfortably in the Top 10.

Fat Joe says he's never been robbed at gunpoint, but people in business suits have been robbing him blind for years!!!

Joe Crack hopped on "The Breakfast Club" Tuesday ahead of the BET Hip Hop Awards ... and started venting about the alleged Ponzi scheme he claims his longtime accounting firm, BDO, cooked up.

TMZ Hip Hop broke the story ... Joey's suing BDO, alleging the firm ripped off millions from him, as well as several professional baseball players

Joe says he was embarrassed finding out about the caper -- the mortgage company called him to inform him he had missed several payments, alerting his suspicions to the scheme.

The lawsuit accuses Joe's CPA Andre N. Chammas and his assistant Vanessa Rodriguez of going to town on his dime ... allegedly pulling cash out of ATMs for personal use such as children's school tuition and swiping his AMEX without a care in the world.

Joe's advice to his fellow money-makers ... don't trust anyone with your wealth!!! The Terror Squad rapper thinks simply having someone overseeing your money isn't good enough ... that person needs an overseer as well.

Elon Musk has a great way to end his legal war with Twitter ... he's finally ready to close his OG $44B offer to purchase the company.

According to multiple reports, Elon's lawyers sent his proposal in a letter Sunday ... saying he "intends to proceed to closing of the transaction contemplated by the April 25, 2022 Merger Agreement" -- meaning he's looking to wrap up the deal at the original price of $54.20 per share.

Twitter responded to the news ... saying, "The intention of the Company is to close the transaction at $54.20 per share."

Sounds like a done deal, especially because shareholders had already put their stamp on the deal, and so did government regulators. As we reported, Elon proposed his big-ticket offer back in April ... only to reverse course a month later and attempt to torpedo the deal.

He claimed the company had not complied with its contractual obligation to hand over business info he'd requested, and complained that Twitter grossly understated the number of spam bots on its platform.

Twitter, of course, wanted to hold him to the deal, and filed a lawsuit hoping to force him to do so.

A woman says ex-NFL star and "pro-life" Senate candidate Herschel Walker paid for her abortion back in 2009, an allegation the football-player-turned-politician calls "a flat-out lie" ... but Walker's son, Christian, is now also putting him on blast.

According to The Daily Beast, the woman -- who did not want to be ID'ed publicly "out of privacy concerns" -- became pregnant with Walker's child in 2009. She claims a short time later, Walker asked her to get an abortion. She told the outlet she went through with it, and Walker funded the entire thing.

The Daily Beast says the woman provided it with an abortion clinic receipt for $575, a "get well" card that Walker allegedly penned to her -- as well as "a bank deposit receipt that included an image of a signed $700 personal check from Walker."

Herschel, though, said the claims are complete BS -- writing in a statement shortly after the outlet published the article, "I deny this in the strongest possible terms."

"It's disgusting, gutter politics," said Walker, a Republican who's gunning to unseat Sen. Raphael Warnock in next month's midterm elections in Georgia.

"I'm not taking this anymore," he added. "I planning to sue the Daily Beast for this defamatory lie."

Walker's son, Christian, a conservative, posted a video shortly after his dad's denial accusing the 60-year-old of, among other things, threatening to kill him and his family in the past.

"I know my mom and I would really appreciate if my father Herschel Walker stopped lying and making a mockery of us," Christian Walker said on his Twitter page. "You're not a 'family man' when you left us to bang a bunch of women, threatened to kill us, and had us move over 6 times in 6 months running from your violence."

He added, "I don't care about someone who has a bad past and takes accountability. But how DARE YOU LIE and act as though you’re some 'moral, Christian, upright man.' You've lived a life of DESTROYING other peoples lives. How dare you."

Herschel said in a tweet of his own following Christian's, "I LOVE my son no matter what."

Hours before John Lennon's murder he put pen to paper, for perhaps the final time in his life, and now that document is up for grabs ... to any collector with deep pockets.

The typed letter was personally signed by JL on December 8, 1980 -- the day he was shot and killed outside his NYC home -- and it's believed to be the last legal doc with his autograph.

John sent it to his accountant, Barry Nichols, and it lists 3 people to whom John gave his proxy to vote at an annual meeting for the Beatles corporations ... which was happening 9 days later in London.

This particular memorabilia is expected to fetch between $30k and $50k ... and if it does, that would be a sweet deal considering his last autograph sold for $100k!

As you know ... the Beatles legend was infamously murdered by Mark David Chapman as he was walking into The Dakota -- John and Yoko Ono's apartment building on Central Park.

Ironically, Lennon put his signature on something else that day ... a copy of his "Double Fantasy" album, which Chapman had asked him to sign hours before the shooting. That was auctioned back in 2020, and sold for $900k.

Donald Trump is going after CNN in court -- alleging the network defamed him out of fear that he'll run for president again ... and he's asking for a boatload of cash over it.

The ex-prez just filed a federal lawsuit against the network, claiming it's been pushing a lot of slanderous rhetoric about him these past couple years -- and he says it's all an effort to paint him in the worst possible light in anticipation of a 2024 run.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Trump is pissed about certain labels he says CNN has used to describe him -- including "racist," "Russian lackey," "insurrectionist" and even comparisons to "Hitler." Those words simply go too far in Trump's mind, and he believes they constitute defamation.

We should note ... Trump's attorneys make a point about the alleged Hitler jabs, arguing CNN's repeated use of the phrase "The Big Lie" when referencing Trump contesting the 2020 election results is actually a direct reference to a term used by Hitler to incite hated of Jews and justify the genocide of the Holocaust.

So, in their minds, they see this as CNN associating Trump with Hitler by using the same term.

There's also this quote that spells out his beef ... "Beyond simply highlighting any negative information about the plaintiff and ignoring all positive information about him, CNN has sought to use its massive influence -- purportedly as a 'trusted' news source -- to defame the plaintiff in the minds of its viewers and readers for the purpose of defeating him politically."

Trump's team says CNN has blurred the line between opinion and news ... alleging it's now reporting these things about him as outright fact, which he says is a legal no-no. DT is seeking damages north of $475,000,000.

Kim Kardashian failed to tell her followers she was paid to promote a crypto asset -- a mistake that's now cost her $1.26 million and charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC made the announcement Monday ... Kardashian was allegedly paid $250,000 to post about EMAX tokens on Instagram, a crypto asset offered by EthereumMax. Kim's post also included a link to the EthereumMax website where her followers could buy the tokens.

Kim has already paid $1.26 million in penalties, disgorgement and interest to the SEC ... and has cooperated in the SEC's ongoing investigation.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler says, "Ms. Kardashian's case also serves as a reminder to celebrities and others that the law requires them to disclose to the public when and how much they are paid to promote investing in securities."

Jeffrey Dahmer had a foreboding look, partly because of his eyewear ... and now the shades he wore in prison are up for sale, and they'll go for more than anything at LensCrafters.

Taylor James, who runs Cult Collectibles out of Vancouver, Canada, tells TMZ ... he's willing to part with the serial killer's prison glasses for $150,000.

Dahmer was convicted of 16 murders and sentenced to life in prison back in 1992, but he only lasted a few years behind bars before being beaten to death at the hands of a fellow inmate.

Taylor says he got his hands on the shades a couple years ago, along with a bunch of other Dahmer memorabilia, after being contacted by a former housekeeper for Jeffrey's father, Lionel. Taylor agreed to manage and sell the collection through his website for a portion of the profit.

Cult Collectibles sells a ton of items from its Jeffrey Dahmer collection online, including his cutlery, his bible, original family photos and a bunch of paperwork -- these items are up for sale. The prison glasses are not on the website, but interested parties are able to reach out to Taylor directly.