Money

Livvy Dunne is too cool for school -- literally -- the LSU gymnast says she can't go to class like a normal college student due to "safety reasons."

The popular influencer -- who has millions of followers on social media -- opened up about her struggles with fame in an interview with Elle this week ... admitting she always has to be "careful" when she walks around campus in Baton Rouge, 'cause there are always people watching her every move.

In fact, the interdisciplinary studies major says fellow college kids even sometimes approach her for selfies ... but some interactions were not so friendly, and she had to switch up her routine as a result.

Dunne says she now handles all her studies online ... claiming, "There were some scares in the past, and I just want to be as careful as possible."

"I don’t want people to know my daily schedule and where I am."

Of course, Dunne has made a killing off her brand ... reportedly earning millions of dollars through Name, Image and Likeness deals.

Snoop Dogg seems to be making a statement to Tinseltown about the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes -- 'cause he's nixing 2 of his big shows here in solidarity with the union members.

The rapper announced the move Tuesday, writing ... "We regret to inform you that due to the ongoing strike and the uncertainty of when this will be over, we need to cancel the Hollywood Bowl show."

Snoop adds, "We continue to stand in solidarity with all of our brothers and sisters in the WGA and SAG/AFTRA during this difficult time and remain hopeful that the AMPTP will come back to the negotiating table with a REAL proposal and we can all get back to work."

Snoop's cancelation of his big L.A. concerts appears to be symbolic ... as he has other gigs lined up elsewhere around the country, which he did not address. Presumably, they're happening as scheduled.

Now, while Snoop's decision might seem like it's coming out of nowhere -- after all, musicians aren't impacted by the SAG/WGA strikes -- it actually tracks with some bold statements he's made lately demanding change in the recording industry.

He recently sounded off on modern-day artists getting stiffed on residuals in the age of streaming -- while also pointing out showbiz writers and actors are fighting over the same stuff in their strikes.

Bottom line ... he's quite privy to the struggle, and is most certainly in SAG/WGA's corner in the ongoing negotiations. Also worth noting, his Death Row guys are on board as well -- as a handful of Death Row artists and affiliates have been seen on the picket lines themselves.

The Rock dropped at least a million bucks to help working actors get through the SAG-AFTRA strike -- and if you're one of them ... here's a how-to on reaping the benefits.

ICYMI ... Courtney B. Vance -- who heads up a private, SAG-adjacent foundation, and oversees an emergency fund tied to the union -- fired off a letter this month at the start of the strike ... with the correspondence sent to some of the highest-earning talent in the biz.

It essentially outlined the great need for financial assistance during this precarious time -- namely, for the not-so-famous actors ... who might be out of work for a while now.

In response to that, Dwayne Johnson's people followed up ... saying he wanted to donate 7 figures to back their cause -- something Courtney says proved to be an historic boost, and which will go a long way to keeping striking actors afloat. Again, most of 'em aren't A-list.

It's a super cool move on The Rock's part, obviously -- and for the thousands of actors out there who might need it ... there's an easy way to go and apply for funds, just hit their site.

There are some eligibility requirements one has to meet in order to be considered -- including being paid up on your SAG dues through Oct. 2022, and providing proof that you're in need of emergency financial support, among other things -- but all in all ... it seems simple.

BTW, if other big earners are inclined to donate to the fund ... they can do that here.

One last noteworthy thing about The Rock stepping up in this situation. Fact is, it's kinda fitting considering he's reportedly in line for a massive payday.

Michael Cera made quite an impression playing the long-forgotten Allan doll in the new "Barbie" movie, and it fans are responding ... by making a fortune selling their own.

The Allan character is turning out to be a fan fave since the movie's release -- probably because he turns out to be an unsung hero in the plot -- and as you can imagine, folks have been wondering if Mattel has plans to re-release the toy.

For those unaware, the Allan doll was first rolled out in '64 as a friend of Ken's, but was discontinued a couple years later. Despite his newfound Hollywood relevance, Mattel recently announced its keeping Allan off store shelves. Bad news for all you Allan stans.

However, that news has impacted Allan's value in the open marketplace. TMZ did some digging, and there's been a major price surge over these past few days. On Thursday, we saw several eBay listings for old Allan dolls going for cheap ... about $35 to $76 a pop.

Come Monday, however ... a lot of those prices have multiplied. The vast majority of Allan's eBay listings are now at least $150, if not a lot more. There are some going for $300 and up.

It's basic economics -- the flick was hugely popular this weekend, and now that we know Mattel ain't putting any new Allans out into the world ... the demand is at a peak right now.

While the re-sale market won't really help Mattel's bottom line -- there are a lot of private sellers who stand to ride the "Barbie" movie's coattails and clean up as well.

Lionel Messi's clearly looking to make South Florida feel more like home ... the new Inter Miami star was spotted house hunting over the weekend -- scoping out a massive mansion in Fort Lauderdale.

The 36-year-old -- fresh off scoring the game-winning goal in his debut for David Beckham's MLS squad last Friday -- used his day off on Sunday to check out the potential new spot for him and his family.

Messi's wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and all of their tykes joined the footballer on the trek ... looking at a big place that was right along the Intracoastal Waterway.

No word yet if Messi liked it enough to put an offer on it ... but one thing is obvious -- the guy can certainly afford whatever price tag it came with.

As part of his new 2.5-year deal with Inter Miami, he'll reportedly make roughly $5 MILLION per month!

Of course, he's already shown he's worth it ... 'cause he lifted his new squad over Cruz Azul with a free kick in the 94th minute of his first match with the team.

The "Barbie" movie had a huge weekend at the box office with $155 million ... a success shared by its "Barbie World" theme song by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice.

Millions of fans streamed the song to the point it ranked in the top 10 for all genres -- it also placed in the top 5 on Spotify and Apple Music, and jumped 6 spots on the radio airplay chart.

"Barbie: The Album" dropped Friday, and also features Lizzo, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and others -- but "Barbie World" was probably destined to be the breakout hit after Margot Robbie personally requested the song be highlighted on the soundtrack!!!

Nicki and Ice clearly did their job helping promote director Greta Gerwig's film ... which had a historic debut as the biggest opening weekend from a female director.

"Barbie" is already the top-earning film so far in 2023, and "Barbie World" marks the biggest female rap collab in more than 2 years.

Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann might be bickering again amid calling off their divorce -- but they're still breaking bread together, and doing it in public, no less.

TMZ has obtained photos of Kim, Kroy and their kids hitting a Chili's Sunday in Georgia, and they all sat in the same booth ... with eyewitnesses telling us mom and dad were right next to each other during their 45-minute meal.

While they might've been shoulder to shoulder, our sources tell us Kim and Kroy weren't interacting much. On its face though, it looks like they were playing nice as a family.

It's interesting they went to such a highly trafficked restaurant, especially amid some renewed bad blood we're hearing is brewing between them right now.

As we reported ... sources are telling us Kim and Kroy are fighting once more, this after some police body cam footage was released from earlier this year -- when they were still in the throes of their nasty divorce, which they've withdrawn from the courts.

Some harsh allegations were hurled on both sides during a police visit in May. Kroy claimed Kim had a gambling problem ... and Kim said Kroy might be suffering from a brain injury.

Just when things seemed to be turning around for Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann, there's more drama at home ... and it's all because of what each said about the other in police body camera footage.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Kim and Kroy are fighting again, and this time it's over the newly released footage from their interactions with police during their nasty divorce, which they've since called off.

Specifically, we're told Kim and Kroy are upset about what each said about the other to the cops. In the video, Kroy tells police Kim has a gambling problem and she tells officers Kroy may be suffering from traumatic brain injury.

The footage is from May, when police responded to the couple's Georgia estate for a domestic dispute amid their nasty split.

TMZ broke the story ... Kim and Kroy called off the divorce two weeks ago, at a time when sources said things were good between them and they wanted to make the relationship work for the sake of their kids.

With the police body cam footage opening some wounds, people close to them say it wouldn't come as a shock if Kim and Kroy broke up again soon ... though this time our sources don't believe Kim and Kroy would rush to file for divorce a second time.

Twitter is dead, and in its place -- a new name and logo live ... welcome to the world of X!

Indeed ... Elon Musk followed through on his promise from this weekend, rebranding the storied social media company and completely getting rid of the familiar white bird icon and blue background. Ditto for its moniker ... now, Twitter will forever be known simply as "X."

EM touted the big change by retweeting re-X'ing his new CEO's announcement, which reads ... "It’s an exceptionally rare thing – in life or in business – that you get a second chance to make another big impression. Twitter made one massive impression and changed the way we communicate. Now, X will go further, transforming the global town square."

She adds, "X is the future state of unlimited interactivity – centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking – creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities. Powered by AI, X will connect us all in ways we’re just beginning to imagine."

Now, the actual site/app itself still pretty much looks the same in terms of design, function and format. In fact, you can actually still see remnants of the old Twitter floating around ... like on the search bar, for instance, where it continues to read "Search Twitter."

Even when it comes to retweets, those are labeled as such ... so on its face, it still very much feels like Twitter. It's unclear if more of a relaunch will take place over the coming days.

While Elon and co. really got the word out about the switch-up this weekend ... they'd actually been telegraphing this for a while, especially in official corporate docs tied to the organization.

The group of investors that came together to buy this thing -- again, for $44 billion -- had called themselves X Corp. earlier this year. Now, they'll be known as such going forward.

One last thing ... it appears the new "X" is going to be powered by AI -- at least according to this above-mentioned CEO. Funny enough, Elon was railing against AI not too long ago ... calling on a slow-down, if not a full-blown pause, because he thought it was dangerous.

It's no Powerball jackpot, but in the world of storage lockers, one bidder hit the mother lode by scooping up The Game's old unit ... and it's filled to the brim with super rare finds.

Carol, the new storage unit owner, tells TMZ ... she and her son have been picking up lockers as a hobby, and they spent $1K on a 10 x 20 L.A. unit earlier this month. They paid an additional $1,400 to dump some of the clutter and furniture that was inside.

However, we're told the unit contained more than a thousand other items like personalized art, awards, framed jerseys, clothes, shoes, hats, a guitar, and photos -- which is when they realized exactly whose unit they'd just won in the auction.

Carol says they learned a member of Game's team put a bunch of the artist's stuff in storage after he'd moved out of a home, and went back recently to snag a few things before signing off the rest for auction ... because he didn't want to keep paying rent.

She obviously wants to make some dough off her incredible find, but Carol says her first option would be selling the stuff back to The Game. She says there a lot of the items are so personal, and she has no clue if he knows the unit was sold.

Both films opened Friday across the US and abroad, generating massive ticket sales and revenue with a whopping $511 million in total estimated proceeds, which rarely ever happens in the movie biz.

Hollywood's bouncing back with a vengeance, leaving the pandemic in the rearview! Movie theatres across North America witnessed their largest crowds since "Avengers: Endgame" hit the screens back in April 2019.

As for which flick took first prize ... "Barbie", starring Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie, snagged the top spot, raking in over $155 million in U.S. box office receipts  -- making "Barbie" the biggest opening of the year taking the top spot away from "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" at $146 million.

On the other hand, Director Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" landed in second place, taking in over $80 million domestically and $174 million globally, making it the third-strongest opening this year.

But that's not all – when all the numbers are tallied, it's expected that this weekend will go down as the fourth biggest box office weekend in history, with a staggering industrywide total of over $300 million. The impact of this weekend's box office success is undoubtedly going to be talked about for a long time to come.

If they continue along this track, the sky's the limit for Barbie and Oppenheimer.

The Twitter CEO posted a message to his social media platform early Sunday morning, announcing the huge makeover that will certainly bring the company into a new phase with an all-new look.

Musk wrote, "And soon we shall bid adieu to the twitter brand and, gradually, all the birds."

In a second post, Musk added that the "X" logo could soon be unveiled if he finds an emblem suited to his tastes.

Musk followed up by offering an image of a glimmering "X," but he wouldn't say if that one qualified as the fresh face of Twitter.

Hollywood might not be the only industry that's on strike -- pretty soon, it could be parcel carriers who are hitting the picket lines as well ... namely, thousands of UPS workers.

You may not have heard of this until now, but a doomsday is fast approaching that could halt a lot of UPS's operations across the country -- which would seriously screw up the supply chain ... among other facets of American life that rely on the shipping/receiving giant.

Upwards of 325,000 UPS employees are primed to stop working starting on August 1 if their Teamsters union and their UPS bosses can't strike a new labor contract ... which has been getting ironed out in recent months, but which has hit a snag on the money front.

Specifically, part-time workers' pay is at issue. At the moment, UPS says its PT staff -- which makes up a significant number of its workforce across the company -- makes about $20/hour on average, after completing a 30-day period. The union is asking for a serious raise.

The union's leader, Prez Sean O'Brien, has been quoted with some fiery language over the prospect of UPS workers hitting the streets. During a rally speech in Atlanta Saturday, per CNN Business, he said, "We’ve legalized, strategized, now it’s time to pulverize."

BTW, this would-be strike wouldn't just affect ground transportation -- a separate union repping UPS pilots has apparently also committed to joining in solidarity if an agreement can't be reached soon ... so this would be felt both domestically and abroad too.

Of course, the backdrop of all this is the SAG and WGA strikes that are going on right now -- whose members are demanding a number of things as well in their own negotiations.

Selena Gomez just turned 31 -- and with this turning of the page, the internet's also adorning her with some big alleged news ... namely, that she's almost a billionaire.

The singer is being celebrated left and right on Twitter right now because on Saturday ... she hit the big 3-1. But more than just sending her well-wishes on her special day -- it seems like people are also congratulating her on this huge purported spike in her net worth.

The number being floated is $800 million. The site CelebrityNetWorth.com is the one that's putting this figure out there, citing the sales of her makeup line Rare Beauty as the X factor.

This new (unofficial) inflated net worth seems linked to a recent Bloomberg report, which says Selena's Rare Beauty blush, on its own, generated around $70 mil last year ... while also claiming RB is expected to fetch at least 3x that amount on this one product in 2023.

If true, it would certainly seem to somewhat back this notion that SG's net worth has, indeed, jumped significantly. Last year, her empire was valued at about $95 million, all told.

It also serves as another testament to the success celebs have found in the cosmetics game. Of course, Kylie Jenner herself became a billionaire with her highly profitable brand -- and now, it would appear Selena is following in her footsteps ... and perhaps even catching up!

Speaking of Rare Beauty, Selena shouted them out explicitly in a birthday post. She writes, "I am thankful for so much in my life and one of the things I am most thankful for is the work we’ve been able to do with the Rare Impact Fund through @Rarebeauty. Because of YOU we’ve been able to raise awareness and increase access to mental health services for young people. This is my true passion in life."

She continues, "People keep asking me what I want for my birthday, and I tell everyone the same thing please do not get me anything but if you want to do something for my birthday, please donate to the Rare Impact Fund."

Director Christopher Nolan's summer blockbuster, "Oppenheimer," was released Friday in the U.S. and other countries, but there's one nation where you won't see it ... and that appears to be on purpose.

Japan has not yet announced a release date for the film, which is about the creation of the nuclear bomb in the United States, culminating in a successful test of the doomsday weapon in July 1945.

Weeks later, America dropped 2 nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, respectively, putting an end to World War II. The Japanese cities were completely obliterated with roughly 200,000 people killed and next month marks the 78th anniversary of the bombings.

So, it's no coincidence Japan has put the movie on the back burner ... for now. Keep in mind, though, Japan has a history of postponing new Hollywood film releases for weeks or even months to assess their popularity and value within the market.

But, some have already speculated the tragic historical events are what's really at play here, and Japanese audiences might be sensitive to some of the film's content.

"Barbie" director Greta Gerwig not only made a huge splash on the silver screen, but she dazzled audiences when she showed up unannounced at a viewing of the movie in NYC.

Greta made heads turn and jaws drop as she strolled inside a theater before the showing of "Barbie" at Alamo Drafthouse in Brooklyn Friday, which was the official release date of the much talked about film.

Gerwig stood in front of her captivated audience, thanking them for their interest in the flick that she and her cast created with "so much joy and hope." She then told them to enjoy the movie and walked away.

Alamo Drafthouse later posted a series of Instagram photos highlighting the moment Greta spoke in front of the crowd.

The caption, in part, read, "Last night we invited our pal Greta Gerwig to surprise the crowd at a sold out showing of BARBIE and minds were blown! There were cheers. There were tears. There was lots and lots of pink."