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Red-hot Detroit rapper Babyface Ray is in some red-hot trouble after a traffic stop exposed a gang of warrants -- but the stop might not have happened if his new whip didn't fail him.

According to the police report, a patrolling officer noticed a broken-down BMW blocking the roadway and went to investigate. After getting BR's ID, the cop says he ran his name in the system only to discover several outstanding misdemeanor warrants.

We've learned the warrants were for driving with a suspended license, missing a child custody court appearance and improper possession of a weapon -- so, cops booked him into Oakland County Jail.

As for his brand new bimmer -- which we're told he'd just driven off the lot -- Babyface authorized his GF to tend to it, which meant her getting it towed.

Babyface Ray just released his new album, "MOB" and made his late-night television debut on 'The Tonight Show' earlier this month, so maybe the car was a celebratory gift to himself.

But now, he'll have to deal with some legal trouble!!! 😣

Minnesota Timberwolves star Rudy Gobert beat Santa to the punch this week -- bringing cash gifts to 450-plus Target Center employees just ahead of Christmas!!

The NBA player delivered the staffers $50 each on Monday ... a huge gesture, when you consider the final bill totaled over $22,500!!

According to the team, Gobert's presents were given to ushers, security personnel, concession staff, and changeover crew at the arena ... as a big thank you for all the hard work they've done this year heading into the holiday season.

Rudy knows firsthand how many hours people at the NBA venue have put in ... he was just traded to Minnesota this offseason from Utah -- and has assuredly leaned on them to get familiar with his new digs.

The veteran big man wasn't able to play in front of the workers on Monday -- he was inactive due to an ankle injury -- but he's been productive this season nonetheless ... averaging a double-double.

Of course, this isn't the first time Rudy has helped arena staffers ... in 2020, Gobert, then a member of the Jazz, donated $500,000 to support an employee relief fund at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

Gobert's donation also assisted families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic living in Utah and Oklahoma City ... as well as those in his native country of France.

No, the San Francisco 49ers rookies were not stuck with a whopping $332,000 tab after a team dinner last week -- so says star defensive lineman Arik Armstead ... who insists the whole thing was just harmless fun.

The infamous "rookie dinner" has been a tradition in the NFL for years ... with players eating like kings for a night, and then either making it seem like the first-year pros will be left with the massive check ... or, in some cases, actually forcing them to cough up the dough.

A clip of the 49ers' most recent installment to the hazing went viral on Monday ... when 2022 second-round pick Drake Jackson posted the wild totals after the fancy meal, showing all the young athletes in disbelief over the damage.

Of course, a closer look at the receipt reveals clear signs of it being fake ... with ridiculous upcharges, gratuity and fees attached to the tab, and only about $7,500 in actual food.

As the clip continued to spread on social media, Armstead went to Twitter to make sure everyone knew the vets aren't the worst teammates on the planet.

"Y’all silly if you thought a dinner can cost 300k," Arik said. "It was a prank. The waitress went overboard. The dinner was 7500 me and 2 other vets gave 1k towards it. The rooks split 4500."

"We had a great time too," he added. "I had good vets as a young player I would never do a rookie like that."

Sounds like Jackson and the rooks got off easy ... 'cause Chargers legend LaDainian Tomlinson told us back in 2018 he had to shell out $18k to feed his teammates when he first got into the league.

Wrestling star Mandy Rose is no longer getting a WWE check, but she sure as hell is still raking in the dough ... 'cause TMZ Sports is told the former NXT champ has made $500k off her sexy content in just one week!!

Mandy was fired Wednesday after posting racy pics on the subscription-based platform FanTime (similar to OnlyFans) ... something that's a big no-no for the WWE brand.

While the firing was controversial in the eyes of many, it's also done wonders for Rose's business on the platform ... with her agent, Malki Kawa, telling us the 32-year-old has earned a whopping $500,000 from her FanTime page since she got the ax.

In fact, Kawa predicts Rose will be the newest self-made millionaire by Christmas ... 6 days away.

Before Rose was fired, she competed for WWE on NXT's roster, where she had been the women's NXT champion for over 400 days.

Mandy dropped the title to Roxanne Perez on Tues, Dec. 13 -- and she was released by the company the next day.

Rose's content drew the ire of WWE, most likely because, in 2020, Vince McMahon, then-CEO and Chairman of the wrestling conglomerate, issued a letter to all wrestlers stating they must terminate using any third-party platforms where they use their name and likeness in ways that are detrimental to the company.

Sylvester Stallone and Jennifer Flavin are putting their Hidden Hills estate on the market ... TMZ has learned, just 9 months after they bought it.

Real estate sources say Sly and JF listed the place Monday for $22.5 million ... they bought the house back in March for $18.2 million.

The home is 10,460 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms ... it comes with all the bells and whistles, including a pool, horse barn and stables, plus a riding arena.

The estate sits on 2.26 acres with beautiful mountain views ... and it also boasts a home theater, gym and chef's kitchen, plus a guest house and a pool house.

The master bedroom has a sitting area, private balcony and dual walk-in closets.

Oh and there's also a koi pond, vegetable garden and over 100 citrus and avocado trees on the expansive property.

TMZ broke the story, Sly sold his massive Beverly Hills estate to Adele for $58 million at the beginning of 2022 and then he and Jennifer bought the Hidden Hills home in March.

The family's primary residence is now in Palm Beach, FL, where they own a $35 million mansion ... we're told they're spending the majority of their time in Florida now, so that's why they've listed the home in L.A.

Romeo Miller is proverbially snapping the olive branch his dad Master P offered in half … with yet another round of receipts that paint his dad like a money-loving overlord!!!

In a scathing clap back, Romeo accused Master P of never paying any earnings from the family “Rap Snacks” brand … claiming to have blindly supported the company for 15+ years for a payoff that didn’t come.

Romeo also went DEEP into his time capsule to respond to P on Monday … digging up his preteen 106 & Park interview promoting the Rap Snacks with original hosts Free & AJ (ahem: Jermaine Dupri).

As Romeo sees it, P’s recent apologetic video is nothing but a gaslight attempt to gain public favor and thanked Rap Snacks execs for doing square business with him.

He's also under the impression his father is suffering from mental illness but we think they'll need a doc to be sure. 🤷🏽‍♂️

Earlier today, Master P told TMZ Hip Hop he was dropping the mic on feuding with Romeo and focusing on underprivileged kids … because helping the ungrateful is a waste of his time.

Bettor Marco Piemonte correctly picked the first 4 games in a 5 pick parlay -- with only a Raiders win standing between him and $2.88 MILLION

The game was surely going to overtime ... that's until Chandler Jones cashed that huge ticket with one of the greatest game-ending plays in NFL history!

Piemonte laid down $31K Saturday afternoon ... picking 5 games. Some outright winners, some with the spread. His picks went like this. Browns to win (beat Ravens). Dolphins +7 (lost by 3 to Bills). Jaguars +4 (beat Cowboys). Viking to win (beat Colts in greatest comeback ever). And, lastly ... the Las Vegas Raiders to win.

So, Piemonte -- known as "Million Dollar Marco" for 7-figure bets he's won in the past -- was a Raiders win from winning $2,880,263.52.

Of course, the game was tied at 24 all with 3 seconds remaining ... the Pats ran a draw, handing the ball to Rhamondre Stevenson, clearly content to take things to OT.

But, Stevenson, with no time left, pitched the ball to Jakobi Meyers, who inexplicably threw the ball across the field, where it was intercepted by Chandler Jones ... who ran over Mac Jones and scored the game-winning touchdown.

The only person happier than the Raiders players and coaches ... Marco Piemonte.

Meek Mill has closed the book on his life on Twitter ... he's just the latest celeb to jump ship since Elon Musk took over in October.

The Philly rapper made the abrupt decision Sunday evening to close his account, and cited too many bots and weirdos as his reason for flying the coop on the bird app.

He says he’ll now interact with fans via YouTube as he prepares for his next career stage as an independent artist.

Meek was one of the most notorious rappers to ever tweet ... amassing more than 11 million followers before he killed his account.

His most infamous moment came in 2015 when he called out Drake for ghostwriting ... birthing his "Twitter fingers" nickname.

Meek's not alone in hating Twitter these days — Toni Braxton, Shonda Rimes and Whoopi Goldberg are just a handful of celebs who don't like the new direction ... but the current climate could very well change any minute.

Amber Heard is closing the book on the defamation case brought by her ex-husband, Johnny Depp -- a decision that's going to cost her 7 figures.

The actress just issued a lengthy statement announcing that she's settled with Johnny -- this as opposed to going through with her appeal -- which she just recently filed. Amber says, in part ... "This is not an act of concession. There are no restrictions or gags with respect to my voice moving forward."

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Amber is going to shell out just $1 million to Johnny -- but we're told it'll be money from her insurance company, not her own pocket.

As for what she has to say about it further ... Amber explains she never chose this, and that all she ever did was defend and speak her truth -- which she notes has destroyed her life ... via vilification through social media and beyond, which she calls a humiliation she can't relive again. AH says she did this to move forward and emancipate herself from this saga.

Amber also makes sure to mention the fact that she has lost faith in the American legal system -- having been found liable for defaming Johnny, whereas in the UK ... the verdict came in her favor. She says she has exhausted almost all of her resources in fighting this thing here -- and in the end, it seems she's decided it was going to be a losing battle.

One other thing ... Amber says she's going to now focus on things that matter to her life, including working for causes she believes in, not to mention time with her daughter.

She adds, "I will not be threatened, disheartened or dissuaded by what happened from speaking the truth. No one can and no one will take that from me. My voice forever remains the most valuable asset I have." Amber ends by thanking those who've backed her all along.

Johnny, for his part, hasn't addressed the settlement.

The fan who caught Aaron Judge's historic 62nd home run ball has no regrets about rejecting a $3 million offer, despite it only raking in half that number at auction.

Cory Youmans, the Texas Rangers fan who caught the ball in Arlington, saw the ball sell for $1.5 million over the weekend at auction ... but Cory says he's at peace with how things played out.

"Congratulations to Joe! Given the historical significance of #62, it was important to me that the selling process was fair, accessible, and transparent," Youmans said Sunday in a statement.

"As this chapter comes to an end and I reflect on catching home run ball #62, I'll always remember the kindness of the fans around me on that exciting night in Arlington," Youmans said. "It was the epitome of how sports brings humans together, and I'll cherish that memory forever.”

Remember ... Youmans caught the ball on Oct. 4, and the Yankees initially tried to bargain with him to give it up, but Cory refused.

As expected, CY began receiving offers for the ball, culminating in a $3 million offer from a private buyer, which Youmans turned down, thinking he could make more if the ball went to auction.

Unfortunately for Youmans, that wasn't the case. As for the new owner, the auction says it was sold to a "prominent Midwestern businessman and collector," though the person wasn't identified.

There's now a very lucky (and wealthy) 'E.T.' fan with one of the coolest pieces of memorabilia from the film in their collection.

The one-of-a-kind original mechatronic model -- used to bring the alien to life -- sold for $2.5 million at Julien's Auctions. The piece was used as the #1 filming model "actor" for the movie's main character in the 1982 classic flick "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

In all, the model has 85 points of movement and was created by "The Father of E.T." Carlo Rambaldi ... basically, it's a real engineering masterpiece.

That's not all... other unique memorabilia from the film sold, including the original E.T. maquette model made for director Steven Spielberg, to approve the E.T. design. It went for $125K.

James Cameron met fire with fire after storming through a crowd of autograph-seekers that he had no intention of satisfying ... fleeing the scene with a message from a little birdy.

The famed director was leaving the WGA building in Beverly Hills Saturday, this after they held a special screening of his new film ... 'Avatar: The Way of Water,' which hit theaters this weekend. On the way out, there was a crowd for JC -- but he was in no mood to please.

Rather than stop and sign stuff that these folks were desperately hoping he would ... Jim just powered his way through without giving anyone the time of day, or the power of ink.

When it became clear he wasn't autographing squat ... the fans turned on him, jeering him as he got into his waiting SUV -- and even condemning his movie ... shouting, "F*** Avatar!" James had something for them almost immediately -- flipping them off out of his window.

Unclear what had him so sour ... but it's a pretty hilarious interaction nonetheless.

Sylvester Stallone has some heartbroken fans after an event with the "Rocky" star allegedly sold more photo-op packages than could be accommodated ... and now they'll get refunds.

Sly was booked for a gig last weekend in L.A. called "Experience With Sylvester Stallone LIVE" -- sponsored by a company of the same name, Experience With -- where folks shelled out to have a nice dinner, hear Sly talk onstage and bid on signed memorabilia.

Naturally, there were different ticket packages available -- including some top-tier ones that included a meet and greet and promised a pic with the legend himself ... with pricing options from $750-$1,250.

What ended up happening, though ... Sly wasn't able to get through all the photo ops. We've seen an alleged email organizers sent to disappointed fans that read, "The reason the photos did not go as planned is that Mr. Stallone had to leave the event earlier the expected and was not feeling 100%. Our events can be very demanding, we have to respect the celebrities wishes at all times."

Of course, fans were pissed ... but a source close to Sly tells us the email wasn't accurate. We're told Sly's contract committed him to a certain time with the photo-ops and he actually stayed longer than he had to ... they blame organizers for selling too many of the photo packages for the time allotted.

Ticket buyers flooded Experience With's social pages, and openly wondered whether they'd be getting reimbursed for the Sly incident ... it appears there were quite a few people who were left empty-handed, without any guidance from EW about what was going to happen.

Welp, Experience With is setting the record straight -- telling TMZ everyone who paid for an upgraded photo op ticket with SS and didn't receive one will be reimbursed accordingly.

Experience With also clarified they got through about 60% of the photos so the number of people left hanging amounted to around 100 ... and not 300 like some had claimed online. They also say this sorta thing happens from time to time with their celebs, as these can turn into long nights.

Dog the Bounty Hunter and his new wife are officially saying goodbye to Colorado ... we've learned they're selling their sprawling home on the front range.

Sources familiar with the sale tell TMZ ... Dog and Francie listed their Castle Rock mansion for $1.5 million -- the same one featured on Dog's TV shows, which we're guessing adds some appeal for a potential buyer.

The 6-bed 5-bath pad comes with lots of cool features -- such as an entertainment room, a home theater and a covered patio with hot tub.

Outdoor entertaining's a must with the breathtaking views of Colorado's mountains that come with this place!

This is the same home where Dog lived with his previous wife, Beth, before she died in 2019 from cancer.

Dog and Francie have been living full-time in Florida, and we're told they plan to stay there. Guess they're suckers for warm weather and lack of state income tax.

Lil Wayne and Mack Maine are putting a big smile on a bunch of teen faces for a Weezy Christmas ... rewarding their hard work with a fun-filled day at Dave & Busters!

The diamond-certified Weezy and his pal Mack teamed up with Wilson Sporting Goods to throw the ultimate day at D&B for kids between the ages of 12 and 16 in their hometown of New Orleans.

The Dave & Busters bash was an attaboy/attagirl, commending the kids for excelling in academics AND with local community sports programs ... basketball, football, baseball, soccer and tennis. Each kid got new sports equipment as a bonus. They had Young Money artists Jay Jones and Allan Cubas on hand to pass out gifts in their hometown.

Wayne and Maine are partnering with a bunch of orgs. to give back to kids in their hometown. One of those efforts includes an athletic program in a renovated Harrell Park, where Weezy grew up.

They're also working with two mentorship programs called "Son of a Saint" ... which helps NOLA kids dream big and become leaders in their community through mentorship and support.

The new 'Avatar' movie has already raked in an impressive amount in ticket sales for day 1 of its opening weekend -- but big picture ... it looks like this one's gonna disappoint.

James Cameron's 'The Way of Water' -- the long-awaited sequel to 2009's smash hit "Avatar" -- was able to pull in about $53 million Friday (which includes around $17 mil from Thursday previews) ... and, as of now, is on track to make between $130M-$150M through Sunday.

That might sound impressive ... but it's actually a bit of a bummer considering the early projections for this were around $150M-$175M -- which is a bit of a steep drop-off. Of course, whether the flick has the legs the OG did over a decade ago is the big question.

As we all know, "Avatar" went on to become the highest-grossing movie of all time -- with a box office of well over $2 billion. But in 2022, when theatergoers are scant and big-ticket blockbusters -- like 'Wakanda Forever' -- have hard dips in the second week and onward, it's hard to say if 'Way of Water' will come anywhere close to where its predecessor did.

Tack on the fact that this movie has a reported budget in the range of $250M-$350M -- depending on who you listen to -- it could end up being a bust for Disney in the long run.

Funny enough, JC says he's got at least three more sequels ready to go if he gets the green light -- and there's been rumors of at least two more getting release dates. Of course, as we know, these plans are always tentative and ever-changing ... just ask Warner Bros.