Money

Joe Montana's iconic jersey, worn during Super Bowl XXIII (and SB XIX), when the legendary quarterback engineered "The Drive," the most iconic drive in football history, sold for an astounding $1.212 million, smashing the previous record of $480K, which a fan paid for a Tom Brady jersey last year.

Goldin brokered the historic sale.

"It's only right that the two greatest quarterbacks of all-time are still trading off records, even in retirement," said Ken Goldin. "Montana was already in rarefied air with four championship rings and three Super Bowl MVPs -- [and] with the record-breaking sale of his Super Bowl XXIII jersey, Montana has surpassed Tom Brady on top of that mountain."

Montana -- who went undefeated in Super Bowls during his career (4-0) -- first sported the record-breaking jersey in Super Bowl XIX (1985) when the 49ers defeated the Dolphins, 38-16. Joe was named SB MVP.

The 4x Super Bowl champ -- regarded by many as the G.O.A.T. -- also wore the same jersey in Super Bowl XXIII (imagine that happening now) against the Cincinnati Bengals at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami on January 22, 1989.

The 49ers were trailing the Bengals 16-13 late in the fourth quarter when Montana cemented his legendary status by marching his team down the field 92 yards, scoring a touchdown with less than 3 minutes to go in the game.

The game-winning 92-yard drive is historic among sports fans -- as it propelled the Niners to a 20-16 victory over the Bengals. It was Montana's third Super Bowl championship.

Fyre Festival creator Billy McFarland is getting back into the cheese sandwich game -- but don't worry, these won't come in styrofoam while you're getting screwed out of a concert in the Bahamas.

Sources close to Billy tell TMZ he recently had a reunion, for the first time in 5 years, with Andy King. Yes, that Andy King from the Netflix documentary about Fyre ... the guy who says Billy asked him to give oral sex to a customs officer to get shipments of Evian water released!!!

Seems all is well between them now, though, because they shot a video together promoting their newest venture ... selling grilled cheeses at 7th Street Burger in NYC, and the clip is pretty funny.

The video features Andy makin' the sandwiches -- a tongue-in-cheek take on the ridiculous cheese-on-bread meals served at the doomed Bahamas festival back in 2017.

He's also taking swigs from Evian bottles -- yeah, they go there!

We're told 100% of the sales from the April 7 event will go to the workers in the Bahamas who are still owed money from Fyre Fest. They also tease a Coachella trip in the video, but we're told that hasn't been set in stone yet.

As you know, Billy was released early from his 6-year sentence a year ago, and he's already working on PYRT -- another tropical festival, only based in virtual reality this time around.

"A lot of times people see someone in a wheelchair with a disability, they think they can't enjoy alcohol and other things, and I'm like that's totally not true, and I wanted to end that stigma."

That's 32-year-old former Rutgers football player Eric LeGrand, paralyzed during a college football game in 2010, turned motivational speaker/kick-ass businessman telling TMZ Sports why he decided to launch his very own Kentucky Bourbon, LeGrand Whiskey.

"I wanted to create a brand of something that represents me, which I feel like whiskey is the perfect thing that represents me," Eric said, adding ... "It takes patience, it is something that's tough, strong and something that you celebrate life to."

Celebrities have been slapping their names on alcohol for years, but that's not the case with Eric -- he was very involved in the process, all the way through.

LeGrand hooked up with business partner Brian Axelrod ("Brian worked very closely with Conor McGregor and his team on [Proper No. Twelve]"), found a distillery in Kentucky, and they made Bourbon!

"I'm thinking this is about to taste like rubbing alcohol, it's gonna be terrible. I took a sip and I'm like hold up, let me get a little bit more. I took another sample and I'm like whoa," Eric said, describing his first time tasting the product.

"I'm like, we got something special here. This is perfect."

And, if drinking good bourbon wasn't enough reason, Eric's also raising money for charity.

"We have a purpose behind this. We want to raise money for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation to help us find a cure for paralysis. Every case that we sell, $5.20 will go back to the foundation, because 52 was my number."

Eric LeGrand Whiskey officially launched this week ... and to commemorate his latest endeavor, EL's celebrating at Batch Bin & Barrel in New Brunswick, NJ on Thursday -- just miles from where he played football!

Cheers, Eric! 🥃

Travis Barker's finger injury has put his band's touring plans on pause -- something fans feared that's now become a reality.

Blink-182's lead singer, Tom DeLonge, officially broke the news Wednesday -- telling their fans in Mexico and several Central and South American countries they'll have to circle back to see them some other time. The tour was set to begin in Tijuana on March 11.

Obviously, with Travis' recent updates about his busted digits ... that probably wasn't going to happen, and now Tom and co. are confirming it with a formal postponement.

No word on when they'll be able to get back on the road, but Tom says TB's gotta get well again before they can perform as a troupe. He also apologized to ticket buyers and promises to update them in the near future.

As we reported ... Travis has been documenting his journey, posting photos and videos of his hand getting worked on in recent days. It was pretty clear he'd be out for a while.

Britney Spears' quick decision to buy, and then turn around and sell, her new home is creating a significant financial loss for the singer.

Property records indicate Brit recently found a buyer for her Calabasas mansion, which she and husband Sam Asghari bought just last year for $11.8 million. However, soon after buying it, they listed it for $12 mil ... and we've learned the final offer she accepted was around $10.1M.

The final tally is about a $1.7M loss, but it seems this is what the market was able to bring in amid soaring interest rates and dipping property values. Fact is ... the longer she would have waited to sell, the less she'd get. The new homeowner is reportedly a Texas-based personal injury lawyer.

Remember, Britney and Sam bought the place right around the time of their wedding ... the home is in the same neighborhood where her ex-husband, Kevin Federline, lives with their 2 sons.

Things haven't really worked out on that front, though -- her boys are keeping their distance lately -- and we'd heard Brit felt the Calabasas home was too exposed for her liking anyway. She moved out just as quickly as she moved in, and currently resides back at her old place in Thousand Oaks.

As for the newly-offloaded crib itself -- well, it's a beaut. The guy who snapped it up has a lot of house on his hands. It's got 7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms, and all the bells and whistles of luxury you'd expect with a Calabasas mansion. It also sits on a 1.6-acre parcel.

Vic Mensa spent a night out in the cold to help raise awareness and combat the growing homeless crisis in his home city.

The rapper took to the streets Tuesday night in Chicago, in temps as low as 37 degrees, showing solidarity by doing exactly what the homeless are forced to do every night.

Vic spent his night on the curb with his good friend, Englewood Barbie -- someone who's been feeding and sleeping under the viaduct with the homeless for weeks as a way to bring awareness.

Vic and E.B. are working toward the goal of $1 mil to open up a shelter to house the local homeless. The fundraiser has already raised over $126K, but it's still got a long way to go.

Vanessa Bryant just received a heck of a lot more money from L.A. County after her initial $15 million win last year ... another $13 mil or so, in fact, which now accounts for her kids.

Kobe Bryant's widow has settled with L.A. County, amounting to a total of $28.8 million -- this according to her lawyer, who says this resolves both Vanessa's original complaint and subsequent award ... as well as any potential future claims from her surviving daughters.

Unclear when, but it seems Vanessa amended her initial lawsuit to add 20-year-old Natalia, 6-year-old Bianka and 3-year-old Capri. The settlement resolves all claims.

Vanessa's lawyer, Luis Li, says, "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct." He adds, "She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice."

You'll recall ... Vanessa actually went to trial over this, taking the stand with emotional testimony about how the thought of those photos of Kobe and Gigi's remains possibly being leaked out publicly tortured her -- something a jury agreed with in the end.

They awarded her $16M ... but a mil got knocked down afterward due to a clerical error. Vanessa and her team had previously said she'd be donating the money from this to her Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation -- and in light of this, there's more to go around.

Bob Saget's former L.A. home has finally found a buyer ... just one year after the comedian's unexpected death.

The late comedian's 6-bed, 7-bath house sold off-market last week for $5.4 mil -- as we reported, the place was originally listed for $7.7M last June but dropped down to $6.9M 3 months later.

He bought the beautiful home back in 2003 for $2.8 mil, and it comes with a ton of space -- and has sweet amenities like a spa, BBQ area, walk-in closet, and a big motor court out front. It's even got its own guest house, too.

Of course, the house hit the market months after Bob's death, which just reached the one-year anniversary last month on January 9 ... when he died in Orlando, after accidentally hitting his head and suffering a brain bleed.

Bob's wife Kelly saw the property as "too much of a burden," deciding to unload it despite all the fond memories they shared there.

She posted a photo last month at a get-together to honor Bob with other "Full House" cast members.

Tommy Fury is back on his home turf -- the boxing star just touched down in London following his huge win over Jake Paul ... and he's putting his new belt on full display.

Tommy, Tyson and John made their way through the airport on Monday ... and the Furys were happy as could be, posing for pics and meeting with fans.

It's been a wild 24 hours for the Fury fam -- Tommy went 8 rounds with Jake and earned the split decision win in Saudi Arabia ... and they've been celebrating ever since.

Aside from a bandage over his right eye, Tommy looks pretty clean ... and he appears to be in good health.

Tyson was turning heads going through the airport, too ... but his hot pink luggage might be responsible for that.

After the fight, Tommy said he was eager to spend time with Molly-Mae Hague and their newborn daughter, Bambi ... and now that he's back home, we're sure some much-needed R&R is on the horizon.

As for Jake, he's bummed about the loss ... but he can wipe his tears with the $30 million he claimed to make off the fight.

Rick Singer, the mastermind behind the infamous college admissions scandal, just checked himself into prison ... where he was sentenced to spend the next 3 and a half years behind bars.

A rep for the Federal Bureau of Prisons tells TMZ ... Singer arrived at the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in FL Monday to begin serving his 42-month sentence.

As we reported, Singer was the man behind countless parents spending big bucks to grease the wheels for their kids to get into high-end colleges ... including big names like Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

He was given his 3.5-year sentence at the beginning of the year, although prosecutors had been gunning for 6 years in prison -- saying he profited off the scheme more than anyone else involved and should get hit with a heavier sentence.

Regardless, his sentence was nothing like what it could've been ... because he initially was looking at a max sentence of 65 years, although it's clear his cooperation with the feds helped shave some time off.

Paul Rudd's still king of the (ant) hill in movies -- beating out a coked-out CGI bear ... but the weekend win isn't quite what it seems, considering a huge drop-off his flick endured.

We're talking about "Ant-Man: Quantumania" -- which came out last week with windfall box office numbers ($106 million) and which once again secured the top spot these past 3 days with another $32.2 million in domestic ticket sales against newcomer, "Cocaine Bear."

The goofy horror-comedy, directed by Elizabeth Banks, came in 2nd behind PR and co. ... raking in $23.1 mil domestically and $28.4 mil globally -- which is pretty good considering it only cost about $35M to make it. So, it's sure to make its money back and then some.

Not exactly the hit that "M3GAN" was for Universal -- but the studio's killing it lately with original ideas and relatively low investment. 'Ant-Man,' however, took a historical plunge.

Going from $106M to $32M in just one weekend is actually the biggest dip a Marvel movie has fallen into ... like, ever. As Variety noted, that's about 69%, more or less ... beating out the previous lowest record-holder in "Black Widow," which came in at a 67% drop-off in '21.

Drake's picking sides in the Jake Paul - Tommy Fury feud, placing a bet on The Problem Child to knockout TNT ... and judging by the massive size of the wager, Drizzy's feelin' confident the 26-year-old YouTuber-turned-boxer will turn out Fury's lights.

Drake posted the Stake betting slip on social media Saturday night ... and he's risking $400,000. In order for the superstar rapper to cash out, Jake can't just win the fight, he must KO Tommy (in any round). If that scenario actually unfolds, Drake would receive $1.4 million ... which included his initial bet ($400k).

The payout's so large because statistically, it's a longshot ... the odds say there's a less than 30% chance the fight ends by Paul KO.

FYI, Jake's 6-0 ... and 4 of those fights have ended by KO. Tommy's also undefeated ... and obviously has never been stopped.

Drake's no stranger to making huge wagers. In fact, he bet $965k total on the Super Bowl ... and while he didn't hit on all his bets, he did pretty well. He's also bets heaps of money on UFC fights.

While the rappers riding with Jake, Tyson Fury is (obviously) siding with his brother. The heavyweight champion revealed earlier this week he put down over $100K on Tommy to win by stoppage.

"I've got 100 racks on it for an inside-the-distance stoppage, so if [Tommy] loses, then I'll lose 100 bags as well," Fury told iFL TV.

Jake and Tommy also made a bet during fight week (though, we'll see if it comes to fruition). If Jake wins the fight, he gets Tommy's money. If Fury wins, Jake double his money.

Bets aside, Paul and Fury flat-out hate each other ... and Sunday's fight is the culmination of years of trash talk. The men were supposed to scrap on two previous occasions, but Tommy pulled out -- once for injury, and the other over a travel issue.

Diplo is the latest major artist to sell their music publishing rights to corporate overlords, and he says there are 2 very good reasons for this trend ... or in his case, 110 million reasons!

We got the famous DJ at LAX and asked why he sold his music publishing rights for his record label, Mad Decent, to Iconoclast -- and he says the brand management company seized the opportunity to nab his musical gold.

Diplo says music catalogs like his, which include popular tracks like Major Lazer's "Lean On," are constantly streamed, and are slow, but reliable and steady, moneymakers ... which adds up to a great long-term investment for corporations and hedge funds.

But, talk about a win-win -- he says it's also a sweet deal for artists, as it allows them to cash out now instead of waiting a couple decades for their music streams to generate a ton of money.

The way Diplo sees it ... he'd rather take the money now, so he can spend and invest -- speaking of which, he told us some of the big plans he has for his financial windfall.

It could be life-changing money -- although Diplo was already a pretty rich dude, he estimates his catalog went for $110 million ... before the IRS takes its cut. Death and taxes, right?

Remember, Justin Bieber recently sold his catalog for $200 million, Dr. Dre sold a portion of his for more than $200 mil ... and Bruce Springsteen kicked off this trend when he sold his for $500 mil back in 2021.

In a truly stunning lawsuit, the woman charged in connection with the theft of Lady Gaga's French Bulldogs, says the singer never delivered on her promised $500,000 reward ... and now she wants a court to force the singer to cough it up.

Jennifer McBride says Gaga made it very clear, she'd pay the $500k "no questions asked" when she announced the reward back in February 2021 after her dogs Koji and Gustav were stolen from her dog walker at gunpoint.

McBride says she returned the dogs to Gaga at the LAPD Olympic Community station on February 26 ... 2 days after they were taken.

Here's the thing ... McBride was charged in connection to the theft with receiving stolen property and being an accessory to the crime after the fact.

As for her relation to the criminals, she was allegedly dating the father of one of the men responsible for assaulting Gaga's dog walker.

She later pled no contest to one count of receiving stolen property and got 2 years probation.

TMZ broke the story ... Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was walking 3 of Gaga's pups in Los Angeles on February 24, 2021 when several men pulled up in a car, jumped out and stole the two dogs ... also shooting Fischer in the process.

Fischer was left on the sidewalk pleading for help when neighbors came to his aid, he survived his injuries.

James Howard Jackson, who cops say was the trigger man, pled no contest to a count of attempted murder and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Not only does McBride want the $500,000 ... she wants the court to triple the damages to $1.5 million for allegedly posting the misleading reward.

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!

The Gervonta 'Tank' Davis vs. Ryan Garcia super fight -- which boxing fans have been begging for -- is finally happening on April 22 ... and it's set to go in Las Vegas!

Tank (28-0, 26 KOs) confirmed the news on Friday by tweeting, "April 22, 2023 Las Vegas It’s on!  #DavisGarcia GOOOOO."

The venue for the highly-anticipated fight is not yet public, but that's irrelevant ... bottom line, Tank and Garcia (23-0, 19 KOs) agreed to fight at a catch weight of 136 pounds for a 12-round non-title fight.

It will be a Showtime Pay-Per-View event, in partnership with Al Haymon's PBC, Golden Boy Promotions, and DAZN ... who all worked together to make it happen, according to TalkSport's Michael Benson.

The fight's been years in the making ... and the heat's been ratcheted up, especially lately. Both fighters have gone back and forth, talking crap to one another.

Many fans assumed the fight would never happen (and some still don't believe it will), but Oscar De La Hoya told us in April he was very optimistic about the fight not only happening, but RG easily winning, saying ... "Ryan Garcia wants to knock him out so bad. He's calling it in two rounds."

"Both guys are in their prime. Both guys are undefeated. It's gonna be a great fight," ODLH told us at the time.

But, not everyone expects Ryan to win. In fact, pound-for-pound king Canelo Alvarez recently told us he expects Tank to win ... citing his experience.

Adam Levine is taking a car dealer to court who sold him an extremely rare car, or so he thought -- because Adam claims he's been swindled.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the singer's going after classic car dealer Rick Cole, claiming they did a vehicle swap back in 2021 ... giving Cole a 1968 and 1972 Ferrari he says were valued at $950K combined and getting a $100K and a 1971 Maserati Ghibli 4.9 Liter Spyder in return.

The real deal could fetch around $1 mil, since only 25 were made ... the docs call it an "extremely desirable and valuable car in the current classic car market."

According to the lawsuit, when the whip was taken to Autosport Designs to market it, it turned out the Maserati wasn't legit ...  claiming Cole took several steps to pass it off as the real McCoy after a failed auction of the same vehicle back in 2015.

Adam says Cole -- who's made deals in the past with Steve McQueen, Robin Williams, Frank Sinatra, and Johnny Carson -- kept all those earlier issues under wraps on purpose to make a serious profit.

The Maroon 5 frontman's trust is now seeking more than $850K in damages.