Money

A Michael Jordan fan just spent a staggering sum of money to own some of the NBA legend's most iconic memorabilia ... dropping over $1 MILLION to nab His Airness' "Flu-Game" sneakers!!

The shoes -- which Jordan wore during Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals against the Utah Jazz while he battled an illness -- were bought at auction Wednesday ... coming in with a final price tag of $1,380,000.

Somehow, it was not the highest price ever for Jordan sneakers -- a pair from the 1998 Finals and a pair from his rookie season previously netted more -- but, according to the man who facilitated the auction, Ken Goldin, they're an unreal purchase nonetheless.

In fact, the auction expert previously told TMZ Sports back in April that he believed they were simply "the most valuable sneakers of all time."

Jordan scored 38 points while wearing the Jordan 12s in the pivotal game in Salt Lake City. Despite battling an ailment that left him, at times, completely exhausted on the court, he still was the key reason the Bulls won the game. Chicago would later go on to lock up the NBA title on the heels of the victory.

Following the game, Jordan signed the kicks and then handed them over to Utah Jazz ball boy Preston Truman ... who had helped MJ with postgame snacks in years prior.

Truman then held onto them for over a decade, before he sold them at auction back in 2013. They hadn't been seen again ... until Goldin's auction this year.

No word on who Wednesday's buyer was ... but something tells us they're very rich -- and, now, very happy.

Dr. Paul Nassif just unloaded his elaborate Bel-Air mansion for a pretty penny after years of construction and incredible design work on the pad.

According to property records, the top doc from "Botched" sold his 3-story Bel-Air home Wednesday, closing at auction for $20.4M. After auction fees, we're told Paul was left with $18.4M.

The 3-story pad was originally listed for $32M back in 2021, but since has gone through a ton of price cuts and real estate agents. Paul never lived in the home ... it was strictly a real estate and design project.

As for the home, it's 7-bedroom, 14-bath, and spans over 1.3 acres.

The owner will be hit with incredible features from the second they step on the property. There's a private motor court, stone cladding and water features to set the scene.

In addition to elaborate bedrooms -- the home comes with dual gourmet kitchens, a spacious pantry, an indoor-outdoor gym with a steam room and sauna, lounge and bar, 12-seat theater and a temperature-controlled wine room.

There's also an infinity-edged pool with a Baja shelf and Jacuzzi that cascades to a separate pool on the level below. All three stories have outdoor entertaining space ... and there's garage space to fit up to 5 cars. Don't forget the spectacular city-to-ocean views.

Bill Cosby is being sued for a slew of alleged sexual assaults back in the day ... and his accusers include Janice Dickinson and Lili Bernard.

According to a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Janice and Lili are among the nine women accusing Cosby of a series of sexual assaults and batteries from 1979 to 1992 in Nevada.

The women claim some of the alleged incidents took place in Cosby's suite in the same Las Vegas hotel.

Lili, who acted in "The Cosby Show," claims Cosby arranged for her to travel from New York to Nevada in 1990 under the pretense of arranging a meeting with Hollywood producers.

When Lili got to Las Vegas, she claims Cosby told her the producers could not attend the meeting and instead invited her to his hotel suite for a mentoring session ... where she says he encouraged her to quickly drink a beverage that made her feel dizzy, disoriented and giddy.

Lili claims the effects of the drink caused her to fall in Cosby's suite and become unconscious ... and when she woke up she claims she was lying naked next to a nude Cosby, who raped her despite her telling him she didn't want to have sex and crying for help.

In the suit, Janice claims Cosby invited her to Lake Tahoe in 1982 under the pretense of discussing a potential role on his TV show. She says they went to dinner, where she complained of menstrual cramps and Cosby in turn gave her a pill he said would help her cramps.

The former model claims she felt woozy, disoriented and dizzy after ingesting the pill ... and she says Cosby took her to his suite and raped her. She says she told him to stop and tried to fight him off to no avail.

Both Lili and Janice say Cosby engaged in sexual acts with them without their consent and against their will, and they say they did not have the mental or physical capacity to consent to or resist any of the sexual acts.

The women say they've suffered emotional distress, embarrassment, mental anguish and humiliation ... and they are going after Cosby for damages.

Cosby's rep, Andrew Wyatt, gave us this statement ... "It's interesting that these 'Look Back Windows' are formulating only in those states (New Jersey, New York, Los Angeles and Nevada) where many of Mr. Cosby’s alleged accusers reside. It makes ALL Americans ask the question, 'Who’s funding these alleged accusers and who’s funding these lawmakers?' Mr. Cosby is a Citizen of these United States but these judges and lawmakers are consistently allowing these civil suits to flood their dockets—knowing that these women are not fighting for victims—but for their addiction to massive amounts of media attention and greed."

Ryan Seacrest is a candidate to take the reins from the outgoing Pat Sajak as the next host of "Wheel of Fortune" ... and we've learned discussions are in the very early stages.

Sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ ... Ryan is an option to replace Pat and he's been talking to Sony about potentially taking over for the retiring host. We're told Ryan has some time in his schedule now to possibly make this work, as he's no longer on "LIVE with Kelly and Ryan."

Sony owns "Wheel of Fortune" and there are reports about a field of unnamed candidates ... though it's unclear who is on the list aside from Ryan. Bloomberg was the first to report Seacrest was a possibility.

What's also interesting ... Ryan was a longtime pal of the late Merv Griffin, who created 'Wheel' -- so you gotta wonder if that factor is helping to propel Ryan's interest.

As we reported ... Pat announced this week he was going to step down as host in 2024 after 41 seasons running point on "Wheel of Fortune." Pat was hired as the host way back in 1981 by Merv.

Ryan, of course, has tons of experience hosting TV shows ... he was the original host of "American Idol" in its heyday and also hosted 'Live' with Kelly Ripa ... so he would make a lot of sense here.

Drake was so floored by the instrumental for his future Toronto Raptors championship anthem "Money In The Grave," he shelled out $20k for the track on the spot, claims producer Lil CC.

The big bag payday rang especially monumental for CC, as the 2019 track was actually her first-ever placement as an artist!!!

Rick Ross wound up hopping on the track and the rest became history -- yet another Top 10 Billboard hit for Drake and a summer anthem to celebrate the Raptors' first chip as a franchise.

CC recalled hearing "Money In The Grave" for the first time during an appearance on "Shirley's Temple." She says she was out in London for a modeling gig and removed from English-speaking friends who would share her excitement.

The guy who accused Megan Fox of child abuse for letting her kids wear whatever they want is now getting an earful from the paparazzi agency that owns the pic he used to call the actress out ... and they're not happy.

Backgrid -- the agency that owns the rights to the photo in question, showing Megan with her three sons -- fired off a legal letter Tuesday to ex-GOP congressional candidate Robby Starbuck who used the pic this past weekend to claim MF was forcing girl clothes onto her boys.

The correspondence, obtained by TMZ, accuses Starbuck of infringing on their copyright to the picture -- which they say Starbuck did not purchase or license before he published it.

Backgrid shuts down any potential claim to "fair use" ... a legal doctrine that allows third parties to use copyrighted works without permission in certain limited circumstances.

They say Starbuck can't argue the pic was for political purposes, which was clearly his intent here, and does not meet the legal standard to qualify as fair use ... on multiple fronts, in fact. Bottom line -- they say his fair use claim ain't flying.

Backgrid is now demanding Robby comply with their demands -- saying the photo he posted has been viewed by millions of people, without them seeing a dime -- or else.

Things just went from bad to worse for Kroy Biermann … not only is he embroiled in an acrimonious divorce with Kim Zolciak, but he’s now being sued for allegedly missing lease payments on a Rolls-Royce.

According to new court docs, obtained by TMZ, the ex-NFL linebacker hasn’t paid a dime in months to BMW Financial Services to lease the company's 2020 Rolls-Royce Cullinan.

The docs say BMW execs demanded Kroy return their $400,100 luxury SUV, but he thumbed his nose at them and kept it.

The suit also includes the purported lease agreement signed by both parties and goes into detail about Kroy's failures to make his monthly payments.

From July 2020 to July 2023 ... BMW claims Kroy was supposed to turn over $5,297.64 each month for 36 months, totaling $190,715.04.

But Kroy often came up short, the docs say ... and, more recently, he just didn't pay at all. BMW also points out Kroy's last payment was made all the way back in September 2022.

As a result, BMW is asking for a "writ of possession" in the suit ... translation: give us back our damn vehicle, Kroy!! They also want the money they've lost out on.

Meanwhile, Kroy has been battling his estranged wife, Kim Zolciak, in divorce court over their finances and custody of their 4 young kids. In legal docs, the 'Real Housewives of Atlanta' alum has accused Kroy of smoking too much weed ... and Kroy has called out Kim for her alleged gambling addiction.

We've reached out to Kroy's attorneys for comment about the lawsuit ... so far, no word back yet.

Jacky Oh's death is propelling her business ... her cosmetics line is seeing a huge spike in sales, and we're told there's talk her young daughter could eventually take over the brand.

A rep for Jacky tells TMZ ... her beauty brand, J Nova Collection, is being flooded with orders in the wake of her shocking and sudden death ... and products are selling out.

We're told the company's received over 2,000 orders since Jacky died two weeks ago ... with lip liner, lip gloss, and eyelashes among the most popular products. At one point, we're told the website had to shut down due to the huge increase in traffic.

Jacky named the brand after her and DC Young Fly's first daughter, Nova, and we're told the plan is to keep the business running and possibly make Nova the face of the brand.

We're told Jacky was super hands-on with the J Nova Collection, running it with her sister Megan, who serves as the brand's creative director ... and her family and friends are all pitching in to run the brand in the interim and get all the orders shipped out.

Nova's only 6 years old, so she's a long way off from taking over the business side of her mom's brand ... but we're told the family plans to sit down soon and figure out who will fill the leadership role moving forward.

Those decisions may be on the back burner ... it's only been two weeks since Jacky died.

Johnny Depp's charitable donations are gonna go a long way in helping the orgs he's vowed to help out ... telling us they can't wait to put the money to work.

A rep for Make-A-Film Foundation, a lucky recipient of $200K from JD calls him "one of the most generous people we've ever worked with." The org grants critically and terminally ill kids the opportunity to make short films and documentaries with actors. We're told, each film costs $25K - $35K and documentaries range from $3K to $5K ... so Depp's donation will go directly to the production costs -- i.e. equipment, props, hair/makeup, insurance.

As we reported, JD is donating his million-dollar lump sum from Amber Heard to Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society and the Amazonia Fund Alliance. You'll recall, AH's insurance company covered the cost as part of her settlement following the U.S. defamation trial.

Joe Seidenberg, executive director of Red Feather, is also super happy to put the money to good use -- telling us the funds will help to address housing disparities for Native Americans ... specifically the Navajo and Hopi tribes.

A rep for Amazonia tells us the money will be transferred to BFUCA (Brazilian National Federation of Associations, Centers, and Clubs) for various projects ... and the org works tirelessly to help preserve the Amazon ecosystem.

Depp also made a $200K donation to Marlon Brando’s charity, Tetiaroa Society. The orgs' Executive Director, Frank Murphy, tells us, "Mr. Depp's generosity is overwhelming and we are honored to be among these amazing organizations that he supports. His contribution will help Tetiaroa Society in its work to protect Tetiaroa, support indigenous voices across the Pacific, and advance ocean-based solutions to climate change."

50 Cent and Rémy Martin are no longer beefing ... the famous alcohol brand settled its lawsuit over the rapper's cognac bottle design.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, 50 Cent’s company and Rémy Martin reached a settlement June 1 but asked the court to keep terms of the settlement under seal.

The beef dates back to August 2021, when Rémy Martin sued 50 Cent's Spire Spirits in Manhattan federal court ... claiming the rapper’s Branson cognac brand ripped off their distinctive bottle design.

In the suit, Rémy Martin claimed 50 Cent's cognac copied their famous jewel-shaped glass bottle design. Rémy Martin claimed the design was synonymous with their brand and could cause confusion.

Reps for Rémy Martin tell TMZ ... they're pleased to resolve the trademark and patent dispute, and the brand respects 50 Cent’s entry into the cognac market.

Kevin Costner says his estranged wife Christine is refusing to pack her stuff and leave their home despite the clear terms of their prenup ... claiming he's already given her well over a million bucks to find a new place.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kevin says according to their prenup, Christine had 30 days to vacate the home he owns when she filed for divorce on May 1, but she still hasn't left.

The docs say Kevin's now asking for the court to get her out, and adds she shouldn't be able to stay in the house ... only using her position as leverage to make Kevin agree to her "various financial demands."

Kevin claims he's already given her a whopping $1.2 million per his obligations under the prenup -- and says overall, the amount he's shelled out has grown to around $1.45 million ... money she now has available to lock down a new place.

The docs even say he'd be open to contributing as part of his child support obligations $30K per month for a rental house and is willing to advance another $10K for her moving costs.

As we reported, Kevin insists he owns all 3 of their homes, and their long-standing prenup -- signed back in 2004 -- specifically stated she had to fully vacate upon filing for divorce.

Amber Heard's million-dollar IOU to Johnny Depp has finally been paid -- and now, we know exactly where the money's going ... different charities near and dear to his heart.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... in light of the million recently making its way to Johnny -- which, as we reported, was covered by Amber's insurance company as part of her settlement following the U.S. defamation trial -- JD is ready to dish out the dough, pronto.

We're told the cash will be split up evenly five different ways for 5 different orgs -- so, $200k each -- that tackle causes Johnny believes in. Those efforts include everything from aiding sick children with life-threatening illnesses and providing housing for historically disenfranchised communities ... to preserving ecosystems/natural environments globally.

Specifically, he'll be donating to the following nonprofits ... Make-A-Film Foundation, The Painted Turtle, Red Feather, Tetiaroa Society and the Amazonia Fund Alliance.

Make-A-Film is similar to Make-A-Wish, but it grants kids' wishes from people within the film world -- actors, directors, etc. We're told Johnny's done a short film with them in the past, so that's why he's selecting them on his short list.

BTW, our sources tell us two other orgs here -- Painted Turtle and Tetiaroa Society -- are actually homages to heroes in Johnny's life ... namely, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando. Each guy was instrumental in these charities' founding and success over the years, and we're told Johnny wants to continue their legacies, respectively, by making these donations.

Red Feather and Amazonia, meanwhile, are all about helping indigenous communities keep their culture and heritage intact all over the Americas (North and South) ... be it through shelters and sanctuaries for individuals or large-scale infrastructure projects to protect villages.

The Drake curse may officially be over. The hip-hop superstar hit on two massive bets when the Denver Nuggets secured the 'chip in 5 games, profiting over 800 grand!

The 36-year-old superstar placed two bets on the Denver Nuggets back on June 1, before game 1 was played. The first wager ... risking $1 million on the Nuggets to win the series outright (pays 1.23 mil total). The second ... Drizzy put up $250K on the Nuggets winning the series in 5 games (pays $850K).

All told (assuming Drake isn't holding back any losing tickets), the rapper, minus what he risked, won $830K!

It's a good sign for many of the most popular teams across the sports landscape. Of course, Drake's notorious for rooting for, and betting on teams or athletes ... who have then had a reputation for losing.

Thus, the Drake curse.

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team fell victim to it, and so did the Alabama Crimson Tide football team. Conor McGregor, too (though Khabib probably deserves the credit here).

Not all have fell victim. Drake's beloved Toronto Raptors won the title in 2019, Tyson Fury, who the rapper supported against Deontay Wilder in 2021, also won.

Now, you can add the Nuggets to that list.

Garth Brooks has heard all the noise about him promising to sell Bud Light at his new Nashville bar -- and he's here to put out the fire ... by again vowing BL will be on tap.

The country star hopped on camera Monday to address the "stir" that had been caused by his comments last week -- namely, where he alluded to the fact that he'd be serving the now-controversial Anheuser-Busch brand at his forthcoming Honky Tonk on Broadway.

You'd think his OG remarks were quite clear in his stance -- and, on their face, they certainly were -- but GB wanted to hit the point home further by elaborating on his rationale.

Check out his breakdown on why he's going to sell Bud Light in his establishment -- he says this is all about diversity and inclusiveness, which he wants his business to foster ... and which he says he's always been about as a person. We know, that might be a shocker to folks.

As for those who disagree with him on this issue -- and even those who might choose to boycott his bar -- Garth has a telling response ... hey man, that's okay too. It's a refreshing take.

Now, on top of wanting to host a place where all are welcome ... Garth also says that, as far as his beer selection, it's the people and patrons who actually decide what's going to be served -- and they do so with the use of their dollar. Basically, he says Bud Light is still one of the most popular beers around ... and until it isn't, it's going to have a place there.

Garth's got one final message for anyone who wants to swing by and enjoy themselves -- in short, he says to come in with love and acceptance ... and with an open mind too.

The simplicity in his PSA is actually charming, and it sorta puts this whole "controversy" in perspective. We now live in a time where people are riled up about who's drinking what beer -- and the way Garth explains it, that's all pretty damn silly.

Cheers, y'all...

Put away the celebratory joints ... Snoop Dogg will not be the next owner of the Ottawa Senators after all -- the NHL franchise announced Tuesday it's opted to sell its team to another bidder.

Snoop had been a part of the group that L.A.-based entrepreneur Neko Sparks had put together in an effort to buy the hockey team ... but the Sens revealed they ultimately chose to go with the offer that Toronto billionaire Michael Andlauer had made instead.

Reportedly, Andlauer and his backers will fork over right around $1 BILLION for the team as part of the sale.

Snoop has yet to comment on the matter ... but it's no doubt got to be disappointing for the rapper -- you'll recall, back when he initially became a part of Sparks' group, he said in an Instagram post that he desperately wanted the squad.

Andlauer, meanwhile, said Tuesday he was fired up to have beaten out the rest to become the team's next owner.

"I believe that the Senators' fanbase is one of the most passionate in the league," he said, "and I'm excited to take the franchise's success both on and off the ice to the next level."

Lisa Marie Presley's daughter Riley Keough seems to be getting close to the finish line in her winding journey to take over her mother's trust ... she just needs a stamp of approval from the court.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Riley wants the court to approve the settlement confirming she's the sole trustee of Lisa's trust ... which holds the proceeds of a life insurance policy.

As we previously reported, Riley and her grandmother, Priscilla Presley, recently settled their dispute over who would control Lisa's trust ... agreeing to a settlement where Riley got control and Priscilla got a seven-figure payday.

Riley wants the court to approve the settlement the family agreed to ... which also confirms Lisa's ex-husband, Michael Lockwood, as the guardian ad litem regarding these estate matters for their 14-year-old twin girls.

Remember ... when Elvis Presley's only child died back in January, there was a lot of behind-the-scenes family drama ... with Priscilla and Michael squaring off against Riley.