Money

You're looking at the most expensive hockey card that's EVER lived ... 'cause this Wayne Gretzky rookie from 1979 just fetched $1.29 MILLION at auction!!!

FYI -- the price is WILD for a hockey piece ... no hockey card had ever even surpassed the $1 million mark!!!

As for why The Great One's RC did so well on the block ... for starters, he's the best player to ever lace up skates -- but, the story behind the card is the main reason.

Heritage Auctions says the card's perfect, Gem Mint 10 grade is so incredibly rare, there are only 2 with the rating in existence!!

The guys at HA say because of the way O-Pee-Chee (AKA the Canadian wing of Topps) cut the cards ... most of the Gretzky rookies produced over 40 years ago graded poorly.

O-Pee-Chee reportedly used wire, not blade, to separate the cards ... and that created massive issues on corners that led to imperfect grades nearly across the board.

Somehow, though, this Gretzky card survived that process ... AND the ensuing 4 decades -- which made it the Holy Grail of hockey cardboard.

Unclear who the buyer is ... but it's the latest example of the ridiculous boom in the card industry -- in the last few months, cards from all sports have gone for INSANE prices.

Noah Jupe's only 15 and living large after starring with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant in "The Undoing" ... cause we've learned he got a hefty paycheck for his work on the show!!!

The kid who played Nicole and Hugh's son, Henry, on the hit HBO series banked a whopping $100k per episode for the 6-episode limited series. That's a cool $600k in Noah's bank account for starring in the psychological thriller.

According to his minors contract, filed in L.A. County Court, Noah also got some other sweet perks. For starters, he got at least 5 roundtrip business class tickets for him and his parents to fly to New York, where they filmed the show.

The deal, which he signed when he was only 13, also secured him a 3-bedroom apartment ... which is GOLD in the NYC area!

More perks for Noah -- a $100 per diem, and a weekly $350 Uber stipend.

All part of his growing Hollywood success. Noah's appeared in several other TV shows, including "Downton Abbey" -- but we're guessing "The Undoing" is his biggest payday up to this point.

The Kardashians won't be without a medium for their reality tv content for long, because they're headed to Hulu ... just months after announcing 'KUWTK' was kaput.

The announcement was made Thursday during Disney's Investor Day in Santa Monica. We're told Kim, Kris, Kylie, Khloe, Kendall and Kourtney will all join the streaming service to create new global content that is expected to debut late 2021. Their content will air exclusively on Hulu domestically and on Star internationally.

As we reported, it was back in September when the family announced that after 20 seasons on E! "Keeping Up with The Kardashians" was coming to an end next year. At the time, Kim said, "This show made us who we are and I will be forever in debt to everyone who played a role in shaping our careers and changing our lives forever."

At the time, we were told the family was able to promote their own personal brands and products on their own social media pages, and needed to step away from TV for a bit.

Lil Wayne is deep in the hole with his ex-manager to the tune of more than $20 mil ... at least according to a new lawsuit.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ, Ronald Sweeney claims Wayne hired him in 2005 to help renegotiate his deal with Cash Money. You'll recall Weezy beefed with Cash Money honcho Birdman over how much Cash Money paid out to Wayne's label, Young Money.

Long story short ... Lil Wayne settled that Cash Money lawsuit in May 2018, but Sweeney now claims he only got a few payments from that settlement ... and they were nowhere near what he says his full cut should be.

Then there's this ... in the suit, filed by attorney Ed McPherson,  Sweeney says back in May 2018, Lil Wayne asked him to fire Cortez Bryant -- Weezy's manager and childhood friend -- over a conflict of interest in a legal dispute involving Drake and Cash Money.

Sweeney says he did so, and took over Bryant's duties and got Wayne to give him a pay bump from 10% to 17% commission. But, Sweeney claims Bryant and Mack Maine then conspired to drive a wedge between Wayne and Sweeney, which allegedly worked. Sweeney says Wayne fired him in September 2018.

Then, this past June, Lil Wayne sold his masters to Universal Music Group for more than $100 million. Sweeney doesn't seem to be asking for any money from that deal ... but brings it up seemingly to point out Wayne has the cash to pay him what he claims he's owed.

Kelly Clarkson has declared war on her estranged husband, claiming he defrauded her out of a fortune.

Clarkson just filed legal docs with the California Labor Commission, claiming her ex, Brandon Blackstock, who also served as her personal manager, defrauded her by charging exorbitant fees, and she wants all of the loot back.

Among other things, Kelly says Brandon wasn't legally allowed to operate as a talent agent, because he never obtained a license.

She wants all the money back, and we are talking a fortune. Kelly has been one of the top money earners in the music biz for a long time now, so the commissions she's paid are enormous. She was with Brandon's company for 13 years.

Bryan Freedman, lawyer for Starstruck, tells TMZ “The labor petition conveniently ignores the fact that Kelly had her own licensed talent agency CAA at all times. While Starstruck Management Group provided talent management services on her behalf, it did so at all times that CAA was her agency of record."

He continues, "It is unfortunate that Kelly is again attempting to avoid paying commissions that are due and owing to Starstruck to try and achieve some perceived advantage in her ongoing custody and divorce proceedings.”

Kelly was sued by Brandon's company in September, Starstruck Management, claiming she owed the company $1.4 mil in commissions.

This is the latest shot over the bow in what has become a nasty divorce.

TMZ broke the story ... Kelly and Brandon were fighting over custody ... he wanted their 2 kids to stay with him at the family's Montana ranch. She said she did not want the kids shuttling back and forth between states, and L.A. has been home base for the children. The judge agreed, and now Brandon can only see the kids every other weekend.

Listen up, Peloton -- you're excluding deaf people from being able to enjoy your app ... at least that's what's alleged in a new class-action lawsuit.

A man in New York is suing the stationary exercise bike company on behalf of his fellow deaf and hearing-impaired people ... claiming the app is violating their civil rights.

That's because, according to legal docs obtained by TMZ, the Peloton app does not include closed captioning for its workout videos.

The plaintiff claims this makes it "impossible" to comprehend the audio portions of the workout tutorials for deaf Peloton members, so they are not able to enjoy the features of the app as much as people without hearing impairments.

Specifically, the man suing says he was unable to understand vids on the app titled "10 Minutes Stretching," "10 Minutes Arm Toning" and "3-Minute Warm-up" due to the lack of closed captioning.

The lawsuit's seeking damages from Peloton and an order requiring the company to close-caption its videos.

This isn't the first big controversy for the exercise company as it's skyrocketed in popularity the past couple years. About a year ago, it caught flak for a Christmas ad many deemed "sexist" ... though it stood behind it.

If you ever wanted to walk a mile in Bill Belichick's shoes, now's your chance ... that is, if you got a bunch of cash saved up!!

The Patriots coach is auctioning off his game-worn My Cause, My Cleats sneaks from New England's lopsided 45-0 victory over the L.A. Chargers on Dec. 6 ... with proceeds going toward his foundation’s scholarship and grant programs.

Of course, the custom kicks were part of the NFL's Week 13 campaign which allows players and coaches to rock custom sneakers to raise awareness for a special cause.

BB decided to rep his Bill Belichick Foundation, which provides coaching, mentorship and financial support to football and lacrosse organizations throughout the country.

The legendary coach is also expected to wear the sneaks for the Pats' "Thursday Night Football" showdown with the L.A. Rams.

The auction is part of a huge donation by the BBF during the holiday season -- the org. is also distributing $440k in grants and scholarships to athletes and programs throughout the country.

On top of that, the BBF is hosting a "virtual" toy drive to benefit the Boston Marine Toys for Tots.

Pfizer is in inevitable competition with the other drug companies that are developing COVID vaccines, and it's apparently trying to get a jump on its competitors with a new catchphrase.

The pharmaceutical giant filed docs this week to lock up the rights to the phrase, "Science will make the breakthrough." The phrase will be used in several initiatives, including marketing vaccines.

As we get closer to mass inoculation, the drug companies that are able to market COVID vaccines will have to make the case ... they should be the first choice, and good marketing becomes essential.

And remember, this is not a one-time deal. Everyone will have to periodically get re-inoculated ... ultimately it will go direct to consumer, so marketing will be essential.

While a rep for the company wouldn't say exactly what the campaign would look like, they did tell us, "We plan to use the phrase in our corporate campaign as a continuation of our 'Science Will Win' digital ads.”

As you know ... it was almost exactly a month ago when Pfizer gave the world a figurative booster shot by announcing it had developed a coronavirus vaccine that was more than 90 percent effective.

That number went up even higher -- closer to 95 percent -- after a phase 3 study concluded, and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has already begun to be administered to at-risk folks in England.

Pfizer's mission statement says its purpose is to "deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives" ... so they must be feeling themselves right now.

The house featured in "A Christmas Story" is normally a tourist hot spot during the holidays, but this year business is hurting as much as getting your tongue stuck to a frozen flagpole.

Folks running A Christmas Story House & Museum -- the Cleveland residence used for exterior shots of Ralphie's home in the 1983 classic -- tell TMZ ... they're projected to have about 50,000 less visitors compared to 2019.

On top of that, the home -- which guests can reserve for an overnight stay and sleep in Ralphie and Randy's beds -- is still available on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day ... which we're told is unprecedented.

Since the place began allowing overnight reservations in 2008, it's usually booked for November and December 6 months in advance ... even though it costs nearly $3k per night!!!

But, with COVID-19 cases surging, stay-at-home orders and financial struggles for families across the country ... 2020's put the 'Christmas Story' business in a difficult spot too.

The good news is ... the museum's online gift shop is helping make up for some of the losses in tour and lodging revenue this year.

We're told the shop's sold around 14,000 different variations of the movie's famous leg lamp, 1,000 pink bunny suits, and a couple hundred Red Ryder BB Guns ... and there are plenty more in stock.

Talk about speaking something into existence ... YFN Lucci's been gifted the first 2021 Maybach SUV in the U.S. to celebrate his success.

The Atlanta rapper's the recipient of Mercedes' first Maybach GLS whip thanks to his gracious boss, Girvan "Fly" Henry. We're told Fly dropped $200k for the luxury whip.

We're told Fly -- who is the CEO of Think It's A Game Records -- wanted to celebrate YFN's release of his latest album ... "Wish Me Well 3." The album's getting a lot of buzz already ... especially for the hitmakers who collaborated, including Rick Ross, Yo Gotti, Mulatto and Mozzy.

The Maybach SUV -- brought to market to compete with the likes of Rolls Royce and Bentley SUVs -- just oozes luxury with rear seats that recline and massage passengers.

The whip's also got a wine fridge big enough to store some good bubbly.

Elon Musk, we have a problem.

SpaceX's much-hyped high-altitude test flight of Starship -- a spacecraft designed to take people and cargo to the moon and Mars -- ended in a fireball as it crash-landed Wednesday in South Texas.

Video shows the large reusable capsule, which is supposed to land vertically, came down way too hard and instantly exploded. However, even though the footage is crazy ... it was not unexpected.

Musk predicted Starship would likely crash land, but said data gathered in the test flight would be critical in moving the mission forward. SpaceX stated ... "With a test such as this, success is not measured by completion of specific objectives but rather how much we can learn."

G Herbo is grounded -- for international travel, anyway -- after handing over his passport and pleading not guilty in his fraud case.

The rapper appeared, via Zoom, in front of a federal judge Wednesday in Massachusetts to enter his plea. According to legal docs obtained by TMZ ... Herbo posted $75k bail but there are lots of strings attached.

For one, the rapper had to surrender his passport, and even some of his domestic travel will require permission. He also can't sell or give away any assets worth more than $50k. And, get this ... Herbo's also barred from opening any new lines of credit. It's a fraud case, after all.

He's also gotta submit to drug testing. As we reported ... Herbo, along with his associates, are accused of perpetrating a massive fraud to fund their fancy vacations, private jets and even puppies.

According to the federal complaint ... Herbo allegedly conspired to defraud several businesses with stolen credit cards over the course of a 4-year period. The feds also alleged Herbo used the scheme to purchase 2 "designer puppies" at a luxury pet store. He was charged with 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and 2 counts of aiding and abetting aggravated identity theft.

A Portland controversy that's been simmering for months is now boiling over ... creating a chaotic confrontation with cops and several arrests ... and the Mayor's fed up.

Protesters gathered at a home dubbed "Red House on Mississippi" Tuesday morning to keep police from allowing fencing to be put up on the property, but it escalated to violence ... including rocks and paint-filled balloons being hurled at the officers.

After the fencing was up, police attempted to leave but the chaos continued when demonstrators removed part of the fence and trespassed on the property, and even created a makeshift barricade to block off the street.

With no sign of the chaos subsiding, Mayor Ted Wheeler authorized Portland Police "to use all lawful means to end the illegal occupation," adding ... "There will be no autonomous zone in Portland."

Cops say 7 arrests were made, and several police vehicles were damaged. Mayor Wheeler is rebuking the demonstrators for their behavior, saying ... "There are many ways to protest and work toward needed reform. Illegally occupying private property, openly carrying weapons, threatening and intimidating people are not among them."

So what's this all about? Well, activists have been protesting at the location since an Afro-Indigenous family -- the Kinneys -- got evicted in September. Their house went into foreclosure and the Kinneys were forcibly removed amid the pandemic and raging wildfires in Oregon ... which did not sit well with people.

The eviction sparked a rally to help the family reclaim their home on North Mississippi Ave, but has also evolved into a larger protest of evictions during the COVID crisis ... which makes the homeless crisis even worse.

So, Portland demonstrators have made the Red House the focal point of their larger message and their efforts have helped the GoFundMe accrue over $100k to fight the eviction -- but the problem is ... cops say there have been more than 80 calls about the property in the past 3 months.

You make it to the NBA, you get iced out ... and that's exactly what LaMelo Ball did -- copping an incredibly shiny diamond grill to kick off his rookie season!!

Of course, the youngest Ball bro. already knows how to be a pro -- he played in Lithuania and Australia before going #3 overall to the Charlotte Hornets last month.

But, making it to the Association calls for a BIG "treat yo self" moment ... so the 19-year-old enlisted AP The Jeweler from Atlanta to come up with an unforgettable piece.

AP tells TMZ Sports ... Melo eventually decided last month it was time to get his first grill, so he got Ball's mold and went straight to work.

The finished product is a pair of 14k white gold chompers (8 top teeth, 8 bottom) with VVS diamonds in a honeycomb set.

As for how many rocks?? AP tells us it's "The most diamonds I've ever put in a grill."

We're told AP personally flew to Charlotte to hand-deliver the finished product on Monday ... and the dude is jacked about the finished product.

Taylor Swift is lending a much-needed hand to a couple of mothers struggling financially due to the coronavirus pandemic ... just in time for the holidays.

The singer donated $13,000 apiece to 2 moms who have fallen on hard times, and whose stories were featured in a recent article about the millions of Americans who are unemployed, or behind on their rent and utilities.

The women -- Nikki Cornwell from Nashville and Shelbie Selewski from Michigan -- both received a generous donation from Taylor on their GoFundMe pages ... along with a personal note of encouragement.

Taylor wrote to Nikki ... "I read about you in the Washington Post and thought it was really brave of you to share your story. I'm so sorry for everything you've had to go through this year and wanted to send you this gift, from one Nashville girl to another."

Shelbie's message says ... "I'm sending you this gift after reading about you in the Washington Post. No one should have to feel the kind of stress that's been put on you. I hope you and your beautiful family have a great holiday season."

Both women have suffered both medical and financial hardships this year and say they are in danger of being kicked out of their homes if they don't catch up on bills.

Sadly, there are millions more in the U.S. who are also in dire straits, and without another government stimulus for support ... are feeling helpless.

Olivia Jade's facing the music for her family's involvement in the college admissions scandal, claiming it opened her eyes to her privileged life ... and she's aiming to do better now.

Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli's youngest daughter got in the hot seat for a "Red Table Talk" with Jada Pinkett Smith, Willow Smith and Jada's mom, Adrienne Banfield-Jones, and the biggest takeaway from the interview ... Olivia was so blind to her white privilege, she didn't even realize what her parents did was wrong ... at first, anyway.

The popular YouTube influencer tells the women she's embarrassed and even calls herself the "poster child for white privilege."

Olivia admits she thought what her parents did to help her get into school was perfectly normal -- something all families like hers did -- and she was confused when they got in trouble.

Though she defends her parents' intentions and insists they're good people ... Olivia says she did realize something was amiss when news of her resume came out. However, she claims she was unaware of the illegal dealings of Rick Singer, who she says she trusted as a professional college counselor.

As for her parents ... it's pretty evident Olivia harbors no ill-will toward them, but says she hasn't been able to talk to them since they began serving their prison sentences ... due to COVID restrictions.

She does believe they deserve a second chance -- same goes for herself -- and to prove they are contrite.

As we first told you ... Olivia's sit-down also included a tense moment where Adrienne confronted her over her family's involvement in the college bribery scandal, asking her if she understood why people like her would be so upset.

Olivia said she did, but added she came on the show to learn more ... and admitted her parents used their means to help her gain an unfair advantage.

As you know ... Lori and Mossimo took plea deals for their roles in the admissions scandal, and are both currently serving short prison sentences.

Olivia's parents helped get her and her older sister, Isabella, accepted into USC by paying Singer $500,000. The scheme also included creating a bogus resume for Olivia making it look like she was a competitive rower aiming for a spot on USC's crew team.

Lori was sentenced to 2 months behind bars after pleading guilty to 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Mossimo got 5 months for pleading guilty to 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and 1 count of honest services wire and mail fraud.