Money

A soccer fan opened up his wallet in a big way to nab a trip to the Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi exhibition on Thursday ... dropping a staggering $2.6 MILLION to score a VIP ticket to the game!!

Saudi officials had put the once-in-a-lifetime pass to the event up for an auction earlier this month in order to promote the game ... promising that the winning bidder would get the red carpet treatment when Messi's Paris Saint-Germain team plays Ronaldo and Saudi All-Stars in a friendly in Riyadh.

The initial bid was $266,000 ... but, eventually, Saudi businessman Mushref al-Ghamdi closed things out with a $2.6 million offer -- and he was pumped for the purchase.

According to Saudi officials, the lucky football fan will now get to meet both Messi and Ronaldo at the game. He'll also get access to the teams' locker rooms -- and the trophy presentation afterward.

The money, meanwhile, will be going to a good cause ... it was announced this week it'll all be donated to charity.

The game will not only feature Messi and Ronaldo -- France star Kylian Mbappe and Brazil star Neymar are expected to compete as well.

The man accused of brutally murdering and dismembering his wife in Massachusetts may have had a motive ... inheriting lots of money.

Brian Walshe's wife left a real estate portfolio worth $2.8 million, and it's almost certain prosecutors will weave this into their case against him.

Prosecutors say Walshe performed Google searches on ways to obtain money from people who have disappeared, typing into the search bar, "how long for someone to be missing to inherit." Walshe did this on the heels of Ana Walshe's disappearance.

Ana was connected to eight properties in D.C., Maryland, and Massachusetts while she was a general manager for Tishman Speyer, a commercial real estate firm.

Since 2018, Ana had sold four properties, but still owned another four -- valued at nearly $3 million -- at the time she vanished on New Year's Day from her home in suburban Boston.

Walshe pled not guilty to charges of murder and improper handling and transport of human remains. He was arrested Jan. 8 after misleading investigators and has been held without bail ever since.

The Norfolk District Attorney says Walshe killed Ana around New Year's and chopped up her body before disposing of it. Police recovered a bloody knife from the basement of their home.

Cops also discovered a hacksaw, hatchet, rugs and a COVID vaccine card with Ana's name on it inside a dumpster taken from Walshe's mom's apartment complex.

What's worse ... Walshe allegedly scoured the Internet for information on how to dispose of a female body that weighs 115 pounds.

Navy veteran Richard Osthoff choked up while claiming Rep. George Santos scammed him out of money intended to keep his dying service pooch alive ... he says the dog saved his life.

Osthoff recalled his alleged history with the freshman legislator from NY -- who's already fessed up to lying about his work experience and education -- in an interview with CNN, getting emotional as he told his story ... with his late dog's ashes in a box next to him.

The Navy vet says his pooch, Sapphire, saved his life when he was in a dark place after first getting out of the service ... and he's convinced he wouldn't be alive today without the dog.

Osthoff says Santos offered to help get the dog a life-saving medical procedure several years ago ... when Santos was going by his alias, Anthony Devolder ... but says he never saw a dime of the $3,000 Santos raised online.

Instead, Osthoff claims he actually lost money in his dealings with Santos ... another blow to the homeless Navy vet who says he watched his dog die instead of being saved.

For his part, Santos is denying the allegations ... claiming he has dozens of folks who would go on the record saying Santos saved their dogs and cats.

But Osthoff says he won't believe Santos without proof.

Mario Lopez is unloading his L.A. area home, and a lucky buyer could get it for a relative steal -- he's put it back on the market with a nearly $1.5 million price cut.

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... Mario's home in the L.A. suburb of Glendale is now going for $5,150,000, which is a sizeable reduction from the original $6.5M price tag last August. We're told the home was taken off the market during the holiday season, but it was relisted at the top of the year.

The 8-bedroom, 8-bathroom pad comes with all the features you'd imagine. The entrance has a courtyard with Spanish tile and beautiful fountains.

There's also a gourmet kitchen, a ton of natural light and the master bath leads to a private gym/dance studio walled with mirrors.

The separate 2-bedroom guest home has its own kitchenette and living room too.

Outside there's a gorgeous pool, outdoor kitchen and a cabana area with a built-in entertainment center.

It also has a bocce ball court -- not to mention the amazing views of the city!

The famed TV host already owns a couple homes in Burbank, but he'll be laying his head down in an even bigger mansion in L.A.’s La Cañada-Flintridge suburb.

He reportedly scooped up the new home last month for $9.4 million.

Daniel Sanchez of Dilbeck Real Estate holds the listing for his Glendale property.

Beyoncé has everyone's ears open in Dubai ahead of her $24 million gig this weekend ... and that means some fans got a free show ... late at night.

A little past midnight over there, social media users within earshot of Atlantis The Royal resort started documenting Beyoncé's songs blaring out during her sound check. As you can see in the videos, you don't have to be all that close to the hotel to hear her.

So far, she's blitzed through renditions of her solo hits "Naughty Girl," "Halo," "Spirit" and "Freedom" ... in addition to "Crazy in Love" and "Drunk in Love," her platinum collabs with her hubs Jay-Z, so could be a good chance he'll pop out on stage alongside his queen.

Saturday's event will mark Beyoncé's 1st full-length concert in 5 years and is said to be the launching pad for her upcoming Renaissance Tour ... which has fans salivating and hunting down sold-out tickets.

Kim Kardashian has added another piece to her growing collection of iconic jewelry and memorabilia ... a famous diamond cross necklace once worn by Princess Diana.

Auction sources tell TMZ ... the SKIMS honcho just snatched up the rare diamond-encrusted necklace Wednesday at a Sotheby's auction. A Sotheby's rep tells us the piece went for $197,453.

The stunning necklace is known as the Attalah Cross ... which she famously wore in 1987 at a London charity gala paired with a purple-tinged outfit, with the necklace hanging low down her torso. The Garrard jewelry company let Diana borrow the piece for the event.

It was also an elaborate fashion choice, and considered bold at the time.

The necklace has since come into the possession of the auction house, and now, it's on its way to Kim ... thanks to her winning bid.

Believe it or not, Kim is on the auction circuit quite a bit, buying pieces to add to her collection. We're told she's also copped items once donned by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie O and others.

Of course, she also likes to wear historical pieces as well ... just like at the Met Gala when she wore one of Marilyn Monroe's most iconic dresses.

Platinum-selling hitmaker Flo Rida undoubtedly has a good feeling about his recent lawsuit victory against energy drink giant Celsius ... a jury awarded him $82 million in damages!!! That's a lotta fizz.

Flo had originally claimed he was owed around $30K for the contract breach but over the years, its name grew bigger -- and so did the profits!!!

He argued he helped Celsius become the giant it is today, starting all the way back in 2014 ... and the dispute centered around whether his deal with the company expired after it hit certain sales goals.

The "My House" rapper claimed the deal didn't expire and insisted his music helped launch the brand to big profits -- as evidenced by the now-viral moment where he was grooving to his own music in court!!!

Obviously, the jury agreed with Flo and decided he deserved to share in the company's success ... to the tune of $82 million.

Mel B's ex-husband is being dragged to court by an up-and-coming singer who claims he cost her a fortune after allegedly grifting her into a bogus management contract.

Malu Trevejo just filed suit against Stephen Belafonte -- whom she alleges swindled her into signing a binding deal to have him represent her exclusively as her manager ... this after she says he discovered her in 2020 and suggested they meet one-on-one to talk business.

In her court docs, obtained by TMZ, Trevejo claims Belafonte completely misrepresented himself as a licensed talent agent ... and not just that, but also says the agreement he had her sign was completely one-sided in his favor -- which she says she naively signed.

The contract, however, isn't her biggest gripe ... it's the alleged misappropriation of funds -- not to mention what she claims were predatory financial practices Belafonte undertook.

For example, Trevejo alleges Belafonte rented a luxury Beverly Hills home in 2021 with her cash ... but, according to her, lied and insisted the lease was only for a few months ... when, in fact, she says it was actually for a year -- unbeknownst to her. For the majority of the time, Trevejo claims Belafonte was using the pad for himself and having her pay for it.

Another instance of alleged fraud that Trevejo hurls is a $400k loan she claims Belafonte lent her through a friend ... only to charge her a massive amount of interest, upwards of $150k.

These are just a couple manifestations of what she claims was a lot of self-dealing on his part ... all at her expense, and under shady circumstances. For this, Trevejo says she's entitled to major damages from Belafonte ... because he's cost her a lot of dough in 2 years.

Members of the influencer group The Hype House are gonna end up in court -- a landlord claims they're not coughing up the dough they agreed to pay for some heavy damage to his property.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, TikTokers Thomas Petrou, Cole Hudson, Mia Hayward, Calvin Goldby, Patrick Huston, and Nicholas Austin are all defendants in the lawsuit landlord Daniel Fitzgerald filed for breach of contract.

In the suit, he says the crew moved out of the Hollywood Hills pad 5 months before their lease ended, and left it way worse for wear.

They entered a 1-year agreement in May 2020, according to the docs, and when they bounced early, Fitzgerald claims they'd caused more than $300K in property damage.

Fitzgerald claims he got the Hype Housers to agree, in writing, to pay $10K a month over 40 months to settle up with him -- but they're not even doing that.

In docs, he says they've only been paying him $2,500 per month since January of last year ... and even though he sent a notice to pay the balance, they never did.

Fitzgerald's suing to get the remaining balance paid in full immediately, per the agreement.

We've reached out to The Hype House for comment ... so far, no word back.

Iggy Azalea might've lied about never joining OnlyFans, but she says she's keeping it all the way real when it comes to the numbers her surprise subscription is putting up.

The "Fancy" rapper debunked some widespread reports her new OF account earned $307,000 Tuesday, after its first 24 hours in existence.

Iggy says the staggering figures were pulled from "thin air" ... but she's still hyping the new account, which she calls the start of her "slut era," promising "hotter than hell" content ... leaving the door open for her music career.

Iggy previously stood tall on the notion she would never join OF ... writing in April 2021, "I think onlyfans can be really empowering for people, But I WILL NEVER, EVVVER join.
I don’t want to make that type of content & it only f***s up the bag for ppl on there who really bout that life. Shoutout to the baddies tho!!!!"

The change of heart towards OF appears to be a backup -- now that her would-be album executive producer Tory Lanez is behind bars!!!

We spoke to Tory shortly before his trial for shooting Megan Thee Stallion, which, as you know, he eventually lost, but he was genuinely excited about working with Iggy ... claiming to have been working on a "new classic" like her famed IG handle.

Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley have now officially started to serve their lengthy prison sentences ... turning themselves in for lockup.

Todd reported Tuesday to FPC Pensacola in Florida, meeting his deadline to report to the minimum security prison camp -- where he's been sentenced to serve 12 years.

Meanwhile, Julie reported to a different federal prison in Lexington, KY at Federal Medical Center Lexington.

Remember ... Todd and Julie are serving time for their convictions in their bank fraud and tax evasion case. In November, a judge sentenced Todd to a dozen years behind bars, with Julie getting a 7-year sentence.

As we first told you, Todd's prison duds include green pants, green shirts, white socks and black steel-toed boots ... and the joint's got a strict daily schedule, beginning when the lights come on at 4:45 AM daily.

Drake and 21 Savage clearly aren't on the same page promoting their "Her Loss" album to start the new year.

The OVO rapper released the video for one of his solo songs from the album, "Jumbotron S**t Poppin," just hours after 21 got into a ridiculously heated argument on Clubhouse ... one that would surprise no one if it spawned an investigation!!!

Per his usual video treatments, director Tristan C-M splices clips of Drake hanging out with his famous pals -- Lil Baby, Mike Tyson, French Montana, Lenny Kravitz and Central Cee -- and adds some luxury items, like a golden PSP and Rolexes, and Drake rapping in front of a bright red Lamborghini.

Drake's been wooing fans with access to Pharrell's custom jewelry in the form of a 22 karat gold, diamond-encrusted skateboard pendant, and upped the ante in 'Jumbotron' ... brandishing Pharrell's Jacob & Co. piece that features N*E*R*D members glowing in rare stones. The chain and pendant actually sold at an auction last November for $2.184 million.

21 Savage raised eyebrows for not being fully featured on "Her Loss" -- which might explain why he got so heated Monday during a now viral argument on Clubhouse ... just ahead of the 'Jumbotron' video release.

21 and a group of people were arguing over who had the bigger war chest between people in Atlanta and Chicago ... and the 'Slaughter Gang' rapper bragged about his crew's winning streak while yelling "you gon' die" repeatedly throughout the audio clip.

Tyler Perry isn't just concerned with including more Black people in TV/film, he's also worried about pollution in Black neighborhoods ... and he's willing to drop several million for a federal building to prove it.

The media mogul says he's considering buying the Forces Command building, a former U.S. military training complex adjacent to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The building's currently tagged to become an FDA laboratory, but TP's seen the proposed plan and has deep concerns about potential fumes ... according to ATL news blog, Saporta Report.

The building was reportedly approved to be sold to Easterly Government Properties in 2019 for $17M -- and the current plan is to lease to the FDA, which would have it up and running by 2025.

Tyler already offered to buy it for the same $17 mil, but the feds sold it to Easterly, instead.

He's not giving up that easily, because Tyler says he's willing to pay a premium for the property now, if that's what it takes to block the lab. He told Saporta, "To allow someone to put a laboratory in the heart of this development with smokestacks is not okay with me. They would not do it in Buckhead, so why would they do it here? It feels like environmental racism.”

An FDA official says Tyler's description of the lab's "smokestacks" is not accurate, and the facility's actually designed to clean all emissions. The building sits right next to land where Tyler's expanding his studio.

Three 6 Mafia’s DJ Paul is clarifying some things following his now-viral response to missing Gangsta Boo's funeral, but tells TMZ Hip Hop he was still on the frontlines when it mattered the most.

In a statement, the Oscar-award-winning rapper confirmed his absence, but did admit to helping foot the bill.

He says, "The fact that I had to even address negative things being said behind the scenes is really bothersome, I spearheaded the planning and paid for the majority of Boo’s funeral. Others reached out to assist as their way of showing Boo love. It was only right to include them, as we all loved Boo."

We're told others such as Juicy J, 8Ball & MJG, and other kin all chipped in for the services and Paul wants the entire ordeal to be water under the bridge.

He concludes, "I have previously stated why I did not attend the funeral and this is exactly why, as I think bringing the attention is not appropriate. Boo and my relationship was ours alone, she knew (and knows) where my heart was in it. I don't have to explain that to anybody."

Paul let out his fiery Instagram response to fans around 4 AM Sunday morning, Paul explained how his presence at funerals unjustly attracts groupies and freeloaders.

Paul also dug further into the trolls with a history lesson … revealing he discovered Gangsta Boo as a teenager and oversaw all her top records.

The funeral still had a huge turnout — hundreds of mourners including fellow artists Drumma Boy, La Chat and GloRilla, Hittkidd, Memphitz and Glitter Gloss were among the filled the Brown Missionary Baptist Church in Southaven, MS to pay their respects.

Gangsta Boo's close friends Juicy J, Yelawolf and DJ EFN also sent in videos to make up for their absences, clearly wearing their emotions on their sleeves in the clips.

Rinat Akhmetov -- the billionaire owner of the Ukrainian soccer club Shakhtar Donetsk -- is taking a third of Mykhailo Mudryk's $75.8 million transfer fee from Chelsea and giving it back to his country ... donating $25 million to help soldiers fighting against Russia.

The 22-year-old winger's move to Chelsea was announced on Sunday ... in a record deal for any Ukrainian team.

Akhmetov -- who's reportedly worth around $4.3 billion -- addressed the transaction on Monday ... saying it's a bittersweet moment for him.

"On the one hand, I am happy for Mykhaylo and proud of him," Akhmetov said in a statement. "This guy is leading by example, showing that talent and hard work can make the impossible possible. I am absolutely confident that the entire Europe will acclaim Mykhaylo's brilliant and fine play."

"On the other hand, I have never made it a secret that my dream is to win European trophies. This means that players like Mudryk should be invited to our club, to our Ukrainian championship, and we should win European trophies with such players, rather than root for them, even when they play in the world's top clubs."

"Unfortunately, it is impossible now, as Ukraine is fighting the horrendous and unjust war waged against us by the Russian Federation. But, I am confident that we will win."

To do his part, Akhmetov says he is launching the Heart of Azovstal to help soldiers in Mariupol and their families as they continue to protect their country.

"Their acts of bravery are unparalleled in the modern history," Akhmetov said. "It is them, their sacrifice and courage that helped contain the enemy in the first months of the war and let all of us feel the inevitability of the Victory of Ukraine now."

Akhmetov says the massive $25 million donation will provide financial assistance for medical and prosthetic treatment, psychological support and more.

Juice WRLD's ex-girlfriend Ally Lotti and her boyfriend Carter Jamison were busted for shoplifting at an Arkansas Walmart over the weekend ... and cops say they found narcotics on Lotti during their search.

Ally was arrested by Crittenden County Sheriff's Office and booked on possession of methamphetamine or cocaine with the purpose to deliver at least 2 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia and theft of property.

Her lawyer, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ Hip Hop Ally and Carter tried to scan their items in the self-checkout aisle on Saturday ... and believed they'd rung up everything -- until a security guard detained them at the door.

We're told that's when the drugs were discovered.

Carter was booked for theft of property and released without bond later that day.

Ally has now also been released and is currently celebrating Carter's new purchase that was waiting at home for her -- a brand new 2023 Mercedes-Benz to drive her troubles away.