Money

Ariana Madix is putting Raquel Leviss and Tom Sandoval on the back burner because she's got more pressing issues ... like figuring out how to juice up her electric car.

The "Vanderpump Rules" star was out Tuesday in Los Angeles when she ran into some car trouble ... namely, how to get the dang ride to charge.

Ariana was parked at an electric car charging station as she was peppered with the usual "Scandoval" questions from paparazzi ... and the most notable thing to come out of the interview was her having no clue how to charge her ride.

It looks like Ariana was scrolling the internet on her phone for answers ... and she brushed off questions about Raquel because her mind was on the task at hand.

Ariana seems to have gotten one of the first steps down ... she's got the car plugged into the charging point ... but apparently, it wasn't working.

She says she's not a millionaire either despite a bunch of recent brand deals that have come her way courtesy of the Scandoval exposure ... but it sounds like she needs the help of a billionaire here.

Armie Hammer has settled his divorce with his estranged wife, just under 3 years after she first filed for divorce.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Armie and Elizabeth Chambers reached an agreement regarding their property and any child and spousal support issues between them.

The details aren't clear yet, but the agreement is typically presented to the judge, who then, routinely, signs off on it.

TMZ broke the story, Elizabeth filed the divorce petition back in 2020, with Armie filing his answer at around the same time.

In the OG docs, Elizabeth cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split and was seeking primary physical custody of their 2 kids -- 8-year-old Harper Grace and 6-year-old Ford. Armie was asking for joint legal and physical custody of the kids.

Ice Spice's dominance in the hip hop game cannot be denied this year, and there's some impressive new data to back that up.

The Bronx-born rapper hit 1 billion Spotify streams as of Tuesday ... a fitting honor considering her "Like...?" EP is the top performing hip hop project to drop in 2023.

The EP birthed the gold-selling hits "Munch (Feelin' U)" and "In Ha Mood" and her guest features have been even more successful.

Her "Boy's a Liar Pt. 2" duet with PinkPantheress is now Platinum and "Karma," the remix collab she released with Taylor Swift back in May is still holding strong in the Top 10 of the Hot 100 at #9!!!

Ice has even more opportunities to run up her numbers this week -- she and Nicki Minaj are releasing another track this Friday for the "Barbie" soundtrack that's already huge ... in the controversy department.

Rapper Jason Martin (formerly known as Problem) accused Nicki of swiping the track from him and Saweetie after they previously worked on the buildup behind the scenes.

Babyface is speaking out about the alleged bad blood between Anita Baker and him which led to him getting canned as a supporting act on her Songstress Tour!!!

TMZ Hip Hop obtained the first clip of the R&B maestro's upcoming appearance on "The Jason Lee Show" where he addresses his newfound free time head-on.

Babyface clarified to JL that the tour belonged to Anita, as it celebrated the 40th anniversary of her debut album -- but he did suggest one of his last nights on the tour was far more "complex" than his fans know.

He was referring to the Newark show where technical difficulties drastically shortened the show, meaning only one of the legacy artists could perform -- and, as we reported, that was the headliner ... Ms. Baker.

Anita pulled the plug last week on Babyface's role as her opener ... after what she called cyberbullying from fans upset with his limited stage time. She also accused him of going over his scheduled stage time.

Babyface says he had no issues opening for Anita and enjoyed watching her perform after him.

The clock's ticking for rescuers to find the 5 people missing on a sub aimed at exploring the Titanic wreckage ... but that's not stopping the stepson of one of the passengers from enjoying his favorite band, Blink-182.

British billionaire explorer, Hamish Harding, is among those onboard OceanGate Expeditions' Titan, a carbon-fiber submersible. Harding's stepson, Brian Szasz, posted about Harding's disappearance on Facebook Monday ... writing, "Hamish my stepdad is lost in a submarine thoughts and prayers that the rescue mission will be successful."

Just a few minutes after posting about the rescue mission, Brian revealed he was attending a Blink-182 show in San Diego, posting a pic of himself outside the venue.

Clearly recognizing some people might take it the wrong way, Brian writes, "It might be distasteful being here but my family would want me to be at the Blink-182 show as it’s my favorite band and music helps me in difficult times!♥️🙏🏽"

As we reported, OceanGate lost communication with Titan almost 2 hours into its journey down to the wreckage. The submersible has a 96-hour emergency supply of oxygen onboard -- which has likely dwindled to about 40 hours remaining.

It's not yet known where the Titan is, or whether the 5 on board are even alive.

We covered it all on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Drew Rosenhaus went from being a proverbial shark on Tuesday ... to wrestling an actual one -- and the wild scene was all captured on video!!!

The NFL super agent's chaotic meeting with the sea beast happened just minutes ago while he was out fishing with his client, Dolphins superstar Tyreek Hill.

You can see in footage that Rosenhaus just posted to his Twitter page ... as he was out in the ocean snorkeling, a shark pulled up to the boat -- but instead of swimming away in fear, he went toward it!!

People on the ship urged Drew to think twice ... but the man who's helped negotiate over $7 BILLION in NFL contracts put his hands on the shark nonetheless, and then pulled it toward him!

Rosenhaus could be seen in the footage then urging people on the boat to then take a picture.

One of the best parts of the clip? One of the fisherman asked Hill if he wanted to join in on the water party with Drew ... and Tyreek's answer was priceless.

"Hell nah!" the wide receiver exclaimed.

Rick Ross brings more to his community than just car show bonanzas ... and his latest act of kindness to his Georgia neighborhood is sparing a health center from imminent doom.

We're told the MMG rapper learned about the Fayette C.A.R.E. Clinic's fate through a conversation with his lawyer Steve Sadow.

Rozy was immediately touched by pending bad news for the community ... and swooped in with a $30k check to save the clinic from an immediate shutdown, and he's planning to do more down the line.

Rozay told the local media his father would probably still be alive had he had access to healthcare resources, and he didn't want anyone else to suffer the same fate.

The clinic executive director Geneva Weaver says their patients live 200% below the national income level and Rick's donation is the largest they've ever gotten!

Rozay's neighbors recently complained about the additional level of vehicle and foot traffic his annual car show brings to the area ... a hurdle that was overcome and he went on to get praise from the county itself.

Sounds like Meghan Markle's rumored megadeal with Dior might be a 'lil more fiction than fact ... because new reports say the previous claims are just bogus.

According to a spokesperson for Meghan and Prince Harry, who spoke to The Telegraph, the "Duchess of Dior" isn't getting to any finish line with the fashion line -- and a similar denial came from Dior itself after this weekend's alleged news.

One of The Telegraph's sources claims they were "nonplussed as to how the story came about."

For what it's worth, Page Six sources say MM's hoping to work out a deal with a luxury brand at some point ... but she's allegedly eyeing Cartier as the business of choice -- a company that's got its own ties to the royal family, ironically.

For those unaware, Caroline Graham of the Daily Mail cited her sources this weekend, saying Meghan was on the brink of inking a huge deal with Dior ... claiming, "If she pulls that off, then no one will remember that her silly little podcast got canceled after one season."

The brand made sense -- she's been spotted in Dior quite a bit over the years, as has Harry ... and with the news coming just days after their podcast deal with Spotify fell apart, the move sounded legit.

Maybe that rumor mill's just workin' overtime.

"Good Times" star and "America's Dad" John Amos doesn't want any of the money his daughter crowdfunded on his behalf ... and now her GoFundMe has been taken down.

John's daughter, Shannon Amos, had been seeking donations for medical bills and attorney fees in the name of her famous father, who she claims is fighting for his life in a hospital after falling victim to elder abuse and possible financial crimes ... all of which John has called total BS.

As we reported, Shannon started a GoFundMe with a $500,000 goal earlier this month, but it's now been wiped from the internet ... and a spokesperson for GoFundMe tells us it's because John declined the funds.

A rep for GoFundMe tells TMZ ... "Ensuring that donors’ intentions are honored is our top priority. However, upon being informed that Mr. Amos wished to decline the funds raised on his behalf, the GoFundMe was put under review by our Trust & Safety team and then removed from our platform."

Shannon's GoFundMe reportedly brought in $13,000 from 300 people before being shuttered ... and the rep says the money is being refunded to donors.

Saucy Santana being a no-show for his Memphis Pride event is potentially about to cost him a bundle -- the event organizers are demanding the money they already paid.

A rep for One Memphis One Vision tells TMZ Hip Hop they paid "Material Girl" rapper half the $25K advance of the performance for this past weekend -- but, in light of his absence, they want all of it back ... even if that means installments.

So far, the company says Saucy hasn't ponied up a cent.

We're told they booked Saucy, and he even helped promote the event on IG -- but then he missed the performance ... apparently, due to a flight delay.

OMOV tells us it shelled out thousands on a personal vehicle -- because Saucy refused to use Uber Black -- which Saucy's team paraded around in all day, despite his absence.

The rep thinks Saucy has no respect for their nonprofit, which advocates for youth battling HIV/AIDS ... and they even griped about his fancy schmancy tour rider!!!

Saucy's tour rider didn't win him any friends either -- we're told his list of needs includes several bottles of tequila, cans of Red Bull, and boxes of chicken. OMOV says it provided all of the above, and it wasn't cheap.

The organizers say the sole purpose of the event was to get people tested, and while fans flocked to the doors ... OMOV says they dipped out once they realized Saucy was a no-show.

OMOV says it's prepared to file a lawsuit this week if they don't get a refund.

We reached out to Saucy's team, but mum's the word so far.

If you've ever wanted to use the same bidet Jay-Z and Beyoncé perhaps did, look no further ... because unique items from one of their swanky former homes have made their way to eBay.

Eric from "Eric’s Architectural Salvage LA" tells TMZ … he has some sweet items up on the site, all from a pad they rented -- in addition to the bidet, which has an asking price of $2,400, Eric's selling some sconces, exterior lights, and a huge, arched metal door frame.

There are also some beautiful French doors, which could actually be spotted inside the home before the whole place was redone.

As we reported, the Carters signed a one-year lease for a Holmby Hills mansion back in 2015, and the owner sold the place after they moved out.

Eric says the new owners of the spot wanted to do a complete renovation, resulting in the scrapped items making their way to Eric in 2017.

He says his company purchases all types of items that demolition companies and developers are looking to ditch.

So if you're crazy in love with these pieces -- ya better go grab 'em!

It's a dog-eat-dog world, but in one pro fishing team's case ... a shark-eat-marlin one too, which ended up costing 'em a ton of dough -- to the tune of millions of dollars!

Officials for the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament in North Carolina disqualified a crew this weekend after they hooked a massive marlin that they'd spent upwards of 6 hours reeling in ... and weighing in at over 619 pounds.

It should've won 'em the grand prize. Should have ...

That award would've been a whopping $3.5 million ... but the team, cruising on their boat Sensation, got screwed out of it -- all because their catch had been mauled.

Indeed ... tourney honchos came down with their controversial decision to disqualify the marlin after Sensation landed the massive fish and had taken tons of pics with it hanging over their boat and deck too. Apparently, the thing had significant shark bites in it.

Those bites aren't all that visible to the untrained eye ... the marlin appears to be mostly intact and in good shape -- but, as it turns out, there was enough damage to it for the Big Rock people to cross it out.

Instead, another fishing crew -- riding on a boat called Sushi -- ended up winning with a much smaller marlin ... which weighed only 484 pounds or so. The Sensation team, of course, was bummed about losing out ... saying it was a tough pill to swallow.

Anyone holding out hope that Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann might find some common ground during their nasty divorce should just give up ... cuz it just ain't happening.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us the estranged couple has stopped all direct communication ... only having a back and forth using their lawyers.

What's more -- the two still live under the same roof, but in separate wings of the house, while still sharing their 4 young kids between the two of them. Our sources says there's absolutely zero chance the pair will ever get along again, things are just that bad.

When speaking of their relationship, our source says, "They hate each other. It's very contentious." We're told the whole thing has been messy for their family, and will continue at least until the divorce is finalized and Kim and Kroy can legally go their separate ways.

TMZ broke the story, Kim filed docs earlier this week defending herself as a mother and accusing Kroy of being mentally and emotionally abusive over the years.

Kroy's taken his own jabs at Kim, too, accusing her of having a serious gambling addiction and asking the judge for sole physical and legal custody of the couple's children.

Dozens of statues Michael Jackson displayed at his Neverland Ranch are going back up for grabs ... but instead of a package deal this time, the art is up for sale individually.

Noble Art Lovers tells TMZ ... the private collector who owns 28 pieces from the singer's infamous California estate is still trying to sell the art, and is no longer seeking $2.5 million for the collection as a whole.

Instead, the entire collection is being sold separately, with most of the statues going for five figures ... shipping not included.

Michael's bronze statues include several images of children ... one such art piece is called "Kids and Tree Swing," and it's going for $150,000. Ditto for another one depicting kids, called "Follow the Leader."

TMZ broke the story ... Noble Art Lovers put the statues up for sale back in April 2021 as a package deal for $2.5 million ... and we're told some affluent potential buyers showed interest, but no one closed the deal.

Noble Art Lovers, based out of Dubai, hopes the separately priced statues will give more folks a chance to own a piece of Neverland.

Ezra Miller's "The Flash" has been getting hailed as the greatest comic book movie of all time -- but it seems audiences don't really care ... 'cause, so far, they're hardly going to see it.

The 1st-day box office numbers are in ... and they're not very hot. Between Thursday's previews and Friday's haul, "The Flash" has only grossed $24.5 million domestically -- which means this flick isn't even close to hitting the original estimates of $70 mil+.

At this point, 'Flash' is pegged to hit between $55-$59 million through the 3-day weekend -- which is a huge disappointment considering how much good word of mouth it'd generated. BTW, The Rock's "Black Adam" performed slightly better last year on opening day ... and that film was largely considered a flop big picture. With that in mind, this is truly a disaster.

You might've heard about the buzz over the past several months -- tons of screenings were held by Warner Bros., and some were walking away calling it one of the best DC installments to date. There was even an anecdote about Tom Cruise recently seeing it ... and calling the director to praise him and the film. Like we said, it's been the talk of the town for a while.

Despite all this favorable publicity -- outside of Ezra's personal scandals -- it would appear your average moviegoer doesn't give a rip ... but it's hard to say why at this point.

Some might attribute it to Ezra themself ... who's been mired in controversies for about 2 years now. It might also be the lack of a traditional press run the studio opted for -- there were hardly any interviews in the lead-up -- but others are pointing to James Gunn.

Of course, Gunn is at the helm of DC now ... and he's strongly suggested he's going to be rebooting the entire DCU, and sorta doing away with whatever Zack Snyder established.

"The Flash" is one of the last few leftovers pre-Gunn ... so, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem like anything that happens in this movie really matters -- seeing how JG is going to start from scratch anyway. In other words, little to no stakes seem to be at play.

It's gotta be a bummer for the studio heads who were hoping cameos and reprisals would drum up excitement for "The Flash." Remember, Michael Keaton came to play Batman again ... and there's been word of lots of other Batman actors making an appearance as well.

In the end, though ... it doesn't seem like people were all that into it. Plus, if you watch the movie itself (which we have) then you'll come to realize -- there's a lot of time-jumping and universe rebooting ... and it's somewhat hard to follow what the hell is really going on.

For instance, the final question of who's Batman gets teased (and left as a cliffhanger). If you thought it'd be Keaton, Ben Affleck, or even Christian Bale ... you're dead wrong.

!!!SPOILER ALERT ... WE'RE ABOUT TO SPOIL "THE FLASH" ... SO LOOK AWAY NOW!!!

Anyone 'memba this guy??? Yeah, he's back too ... but again, to what end is anyone's guess.

Bill Simmons called Meghan Markle and Prince Harry de facto charlatans amid their Spotify exit -- and he clearly believes they brought little to nothing to the table there.

The longtime sports media personality and Ringer founder -- who made a boatload of cash in a mega-sale to Spotify a few years back, and who oversees a sea of podcasts under The Ringer brand there at Spotify as well -- trashed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in one of his latest podcast episodes ... where he did not mince words on how he felt about 'em.

BS launched into a quick and mini tirade about the Royal couple ... jokingly saying he wished he was part of their deal to leave Spotify, and then proceeded to call them "grifters."

Check it out yourself ... not only does Bill call them virtual phonies in the podcast game, but he actually drops what sounds like an F-bomb too. Adding insult to injury, he teases a story he says he has about trying to pitch PH a podcast idea over Zoom once upon a time.

Doesn't sound like that went well ... 'cause Bill obviously isn't a fan of them or their content.

Speaking of that content, reports have suggested that Meg and co. simply weren't cranking out enough of it to meet their end of the $20 million bargain. As such, some media outlets are saying they won't get paid out in full on their contract -- which is ... not great.

BTW, Harry and Meghan aren't the only people at Spotify getting kicked to the curb. It appears there's a lot of fat-trimming going on for pods that aren't producing -- Jemele Hill's losing her Spotify deal, and the Obamas lost theirs as well in the not-too-distant past.