Money

Pitbull may need to go by "Dale" Earnhardt, Jr. now ... 'cause the party music legend is now a proud co-owner of a NASCAR racing team!!

The Grammy award winner shared the big news on Friday (which also happens to be his 40th birthday) ... officially announcing his partnership with Team Trackhouse and owner Justin Marks.

As it turns out, Mr. Worldwide says he's been a fan of NASCAR ever since he saw the 1990 flick "Days of Thunder" starring Tom Cruise ... and now he couldn't be more pumped to get in on the action.

"This is a great way to celebrate my 40th bday, so Get Ready! Dale!" Pitbull said on Twitter.

Trackhouse features star driver Daniel Suarez, who gave his new boss a shoutout shortly after the announcement was made.

"Welcome to the family amigo 🤙🏼💪🏼 @pitbull," Suarez said. "Daleeee!!!🔥🔥  Big things are happening."

Pitbull won't just be a mascot owner -- the musician is slated to be in-person to watch his team compete at the Daytona 500 next month.

He's already been active in the racing community ... performing alongside Blake Shelton at Phoenix Raceway back in March.

NASCAR released a statement on the big move, saying, "Pitbull is an iconic talent in the music industry and has tremendous passion for NASCAR racing."

"We look forward to working with him to further engage diverse audiences and introduce new fans to our great sport.”

Kyrie Irving has been hit with yet another fine this season ... this time, the Brooklyn Nets superstar will have to cough up $50,000 for violating the league's health and safety protocols.

As we previously reported, the NBA was investigating video of a maskless Irving attending a private birthday party for his sister earlier this week, which is against the league's COVID-19 policy.

The rule states players cannot attend indoor events exceeding 15 people.

The Association handed down its punishment Friday ... and while KI was hit with the $50k fine, he will also forfeit game checks for the 2 games he missed following the party, which amounts to $816,898, according to insider Bobby Marks.

It's not the first time Irving has had to pull out his wallet this season ... he was fined $25k for refusing to speak to the media.

The latest development adds to the drama-filled season for Irving -- who went MIA on the Nets last week for "personal reasons."

Would you slam a vat of Italian dressing for $1,000!?!

That's a question Tim Lincecum apparently asked one of his teammates back in 2018 ... and, according to the salad-topping drinker, the answer was YES!!!

Tyler Wagner -- a former Texas Rangers pitcher -- revealed the story on social media late Thursday night ... and it's hilarious, mostly because he provided photographic proof that it all went down!

Wagner says when he and Lincecum were teammates in Texas about three years ago ... the two-time Cy Young winner bet him a grand that he wouldn't drink the leftover dressing that came with the team's salad.

Turns out, Lincecum clearly underestimated Wagner's love of cash ... 'cause the guy threw it back like a shot of tequila!

The pics are laugh out loud funny, especially the post-drink one ... 'cause you can tell, Wagner was bragging to all his clubhouse mates about the gross (and impressive!) feat.

Wagner even provided a pic of the check Lincecum cut him to prove the guy paid up!

And, get this, Wagner says Lincecum threw in an EXTRA $250 on top of the $1,000, because, "he said just because it was rough to watch."

G.S. Warrior star Kelly Oubre claims his ex-GF tried to extort him out of nearly $3 million ... and if he didn't pay up, she'd launch a smear campaign intended to destroy his reputation.

The allegations are part of a lawsuit filed by the 25-year-old hooper in Los Angeles.

Oubre -- a 6-year NBA vet who was a former 1st-round draft pick -- claims his ex, Makena LeDuff, contacted him on January 11, 2021, and demanded a large sum of money ... or she would retaliate against him.

"Makena demanded that Kelly her pay her nearly $3 million or she would make public her false, scurrilous, and extortionate allegations by the end of the week," the lawsuit reads.

The suit claims LeDuff contacted Oubre and threatened to say he was engaged in "criminal conduct" and make other false allegations ... all "crafted to cause maximum and irreparable harm to Kelly, his reputation, and his career."

If this case sounds familiar ... well, that's 'cause it is.

Oubre first filed suit against LeDuff back in 2019 .... saying she became an absolute nightmare after they broke up. He claims she stole his 2 dogs, Soul and Saint, slashed his tires and refused to leave the house he was renting in Beverly Hills.

Kelly says he still hasn't gotten his dogs back ... and now the situation has escalated with the threats. So, his attornies amended their initial complaint ... and now they're seeking punitive damages against LeDuff.

That's not all -- Oubre also claims Makena threatened to hurt him with a thinly veiled threat she posted on social media back in August 2019.

"Makena posted a photo on her Instagram account, where she intimated that she would take physical action against Kelly, Kelly’s friends, or anyone else that tried to enter the house to help Kelly to retrieve his things," the lawsuit claims.

The suit continues ... "Specifically, the photo showed Makena in the backyard of the Beverly Hills house, wearing one of Kelly’s favorite hats, while at the same time brandishing a rifle. In the caption, Makena wrote, 'Exercising ALL my rights.'"

Airbnb is blocking and canceling reservations in the D.C. area for Inauguration Day, but supporters and protesters looking for a crash pad have a plan B ... they're flocking to Craigslist.

The online classifieds site is fast becoming the place to go for those looking to sleep somewhere other than a hotel for the Inauguration ... with accommodations ranging from apartments to homes, to vacation properties.

TMZ did some digging and here's what the inauguration rental landscape looks like on Craigslist:

One-bedroom apartments a little over a mile from the Capitol are running $250 per night, but there's a catch ... ya gotta book a minimum of 3 nights. That gets ya a fully furnished pad with a full kitchen that could come in handy due to COVID restrictions at restaurants.

A little further out from the Capitol -- 2.2 miles or a 15-minute drive -- 600-square-foot apartments loaded with amenities are running around $90 a night for 2 people.

One reason for low prices -- low demand, or at least that's what the Biden administration is hoping. They're encouraging people to take in the Inauguration from the comfort and safety of their own homes. Remember, the National Mall, where inauguration crowds typically gather, is now closed to the public due to heightened security.

For those who persist, and are traveling in big groups, nearby Arlington, VA has larger accommodations ... for instance, you can get 3 days in a 4-bedroom, 3-bath home for a total of $1,650. Again, that's a deep discount from the usual price of $4,500. There are also 5-bedroom options in Arlington.

Trevor Noah's stepping up his game in a big way with his new digs ... as things with Minka Kelly are apparently kicking up a notch as well.

'The Daily Show' host has upgraded mansions in super swanky Bel-Air, dropping $27.5 million on an 11,000 sq. ft masterpiece of a hillside home ... and he closed the deal late in 2020.

His huge buy seems to be part of a trend for Noah -- he purchased another mansion in Bel-Air in 2019 for $20.5 mil ... but turned around and sold it last summer for $21.7 mil.

Apparently, he's got a thing for showplaces in the area, and his newest one is inspired by Japanese aesthetics and spans 3 stories ... on a sprawling estate overlooking a scenic backyard and infinity pool.

Noah bought the 6-bed, 11-bath home from L.A. architect Mark Rios. Along with a spacious room and an abundance of natural light ... the mansion comes with an office, library, elevator, gym, spa, steam room, game room and a movie theater leading to a rooftop terrace.

A magnesium globe? Check. A one-of-a-kind diamond? Check. A four-satellite structure that moves at a crazy speed set on a base of diamonds that's encased in crystal and gold? Check!

Yup, Conor McGregor's new wristwatch has it all ... the UFC fighter flaunted the newest addition to his wardrobe Thursday -- and it's INSANE!!!

The piece is called Astronomia Tourbillon Baguette ... and it's reportedly valued at over $1 MILLION.

The folks at Jacob & Co. created the piece -- and it's clearly so cool, Conor just had to cop it before his huge fight with Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 next weekend.

McGregor bragged about the watch on social media, posting pics and videos with it -- and he even said he got a new pricey car and suit to go along with it.

Jacob & Co. reps say the watch is truly an epic piece ... and in the video they created to show the thing off -- you can see just how intricate and amazing the flashy mechanism is.

Of course, McGregor is no stranger to fancy watches (he's copped this one AND this one just recently) ... but when you're the Notorious One, you can never have too many options, right??

If the insurrectionists had a bite to eat, a rental car or a pillow to lay on while in D.C. last week before storming the Capitol, the feds just might find out about it ... because they're digging through a laundry list of receipts to track down the culprits.

Federal law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the FBI has gone well beyond just resorting to flight manifests to find the people they suspect took part in Wednesday's siege -- they're looking at any and everything the rioters might've put their name to while in town.

That includes sifting through restaurant bills, hotel ledgers and rental car records in the days leading up to and following the attack on the Capitol ... and linking that up with intel of their own.

Here's another thing ... our sources say much of the legwork for this comprehensive approach is being done by the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force ... a group founded in NYC in the '80s.

Of course, there have been several high-profile arrests all over the country since last week's insurrection. Law enforcement says they nabbed the horn guy, the shield guy, the feet-on-desk guy, the two zip tie guys, the Auschwitz sweater guy, the lectern guy ... and others.

Granted ... there are literally hundreds more who didn't stick out so clearly ... so there's a lot more work to be done in the weeks and months to come as law enforcement attempts to bring all these people to justice.

TMZ broke the story ... they're investigating certain Capitol police officers and others who work at the Capitol, because there's evidence this could be an inside job. Our sources say 10 to 15 cops are under the microscope and the investigation is far along.

We've seen law enforcement in D.C. mobilized like never before -- the Capitol swarmed by thousands of National Guard members, FBI, Secret Service, Capitol Police and on and on.

A Mickey Mantle baseball card just sold for $5.2 MILLION at auction ... smashing the previous record by over a million bucks!!

The 5 million dollar card?? A 1952 #311 Topps Mickey Mantle ... considered one of the most desirable trading cards in existence.

We're told the card -- graded in mint condition and 1 of only a few in existence -- was brokered by the people at the online auction site, PWCC.

Aside from Mickey being a 20x All-Star and 7x World Series champ ... 1952 was also the 1st year Topps produced baseball cards.

This isn't the only time this particular Mantle card has been sold ... back in 2018 it raked in $2.88 mil at auction. 2 years later ... it's almost doubled in value.

Before the Mantle card set the new record ...a Mike Trout 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects Superfractor held the title -- with a $3.9 million price tag.

So, who has a big enough fortune to drop $5 mil plus on a 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch (albeit extremely valuable) piece of cardboard?

The guys' name is Rob Gough ... and if that name rings a bell, it's because he's the man behind the iconic CBD brand, DOPE CBD.

Rob's bank account is $5 mil lighter today ... but on the bright side, he now owns the most valuable baseball card ever made.

The Kardashians are showing major gratitude for the folks behind the scenes of their reality show ... gifting the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" crew classic timepieces.

'Keeping Up' finished shooting the final episode last Friday, and production sources tell TMZ ... Kim, Kourtney, Khloe and Kris surprised the crew of about 30 people with Rolex watches.

We're told the Kardashians and production team thanked everyone with speeches, and sent well-wishes after the show wrapped. Crew members also shared stories of their favorite memories working on 'KUWTK' ... several of them saying they'd stayed with the show for so many years because it was fun working with the fam.

Our sources say the Kardashians then busted out the Rollies, which as you can imagine, drew a lot more tears, excitement and thanks. We're told the entire cost was just around $300,000 -- about $10k per watch -- so, sweet parting gifts!

Jake Paul is making good on his promise to move out of Los Angeles to focus on boxing ... he just put his Calabasas crib up for sale.

Real estate sources tell TMZ ... Jake wants $7 mil for his 3.5-acre estate, which gets you 8 bedrooms and 15,045 square feet.

The mansion is decked out with a three-story entryway and spiral staircase ... plus an office, theater, wet bar and gym.

Of course, there's the obligatory Cali pool and spa with some pretty cool accents ... 2 waterfalls, a grilling area and patios with sweeping views of the canyon.

So, what to do if you want to replicate Aaron Spelling's mega-mansion but only have 15,000 feet of living space? Well, there's enough land to build a second, massive structure. And, there will be plenty of room to park ... the driveway can handle 20 cars.

As we reported ... the YouTube star and undefeated boxer announced last month he was fleeing the distractions of L.A. to focus on becoming a boxing champ. Jake's eying Miami for the move ... it's a good town for boxers.

Jake's former neighbors will be looking forward to a new occupant ... he was pretty famous for pissing off folks with his wild parties and YouTube shoots.

TMZ broke the story ... the property was the scene of an FBI raid last year, when agents in armored trucks stormed in with a search warrant and ended up seizing some weapons. It's unclear what's come of that.

"Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles" stars Josh and Matt Altman have the listing ... they repped Jake back in 2017 when he bought the property.

Miya Ponsetto was allegedly wreaking havoc at a vacant NYC apartment before her notorious hotel incident ... and TMZ's got photos of the damage.

As we reported ... when "SoHo Karen" was charged Saturday in her attack of 14-year-old Keyon Harrold Jr. at the Arlo Hotel, prosecutors briefly detailed another incident from earlier that day in which she allegedly damaged an apartment door.

Sources familiar with the apartment incident tell TMZ ... Ponsetto entered the building by using a fire extinguisher she found to destroy the doorknob and smash her way in.

We're told a tenant of the building confronted her, and Ponsetto allegedly claimed she rented the vacant unit through Airbnb and locked her keys inside. Our sources say Airbnb isn’t allowed to operate in the building, and we're told Miya never contacted management about renting it.

Once she got in ... Ponsetto allegedly stayed for several hours, did damage to the curtains, left mail scattered on the floor and dirtied up the bathroom. We're told she also left debris in the hallway outside the apartment.

Our sources say police were called, but when they arrived they could not access the vacant apartment because the door was so badly damaged it wouldn't open ... and Miya was long gone.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... a police report was filed, and Ponsetto is currently under investigation for criminal mischief. We're told there was at least $250 in damage.

We reached out to Miya's NYC attorney, Paul D'Emilia, who declined to comment.

Of course, this bizarre incident might be the least of her worries. As you know ... Ponsetto was arrested last week in SoCal, flown back to NYC where she was charged with attempted assault, attempted robbery, grand larceny and endangering the welfare of a child for her altercation with the teenager at the Arlo Hotel.

Mark Cuban is sinking more than half a mil into a fantasy football trophies company called TrophySmack, and one of TMZ's former staffers is reaping the benefits!

Dax Holt was back with us for "TMZ Live" Monday to explain how he and his TrophySmack partner, Matt Walsh, managed to hook Cuban on the most recent episode of "Shark Tank."

He tells us the trophy market was coming up short in terms of creative trophies to satisfy the smack-talking demands of modern-day fantasy football fans ... so they stepped up.

Dax and Matt decided to go on "Shark Tank" in hopes of landing enough financial backing to expand beyond fantasy sports ... and ol' frosty tips (as he was known on "TMZ on TV") says they caught the perfect fish.

Cuban didn't make it easy on them -- putting all the pressure on the TrophySmack founders to make a VERY quick decision on his offer to invest. From Dax's perspective ... it wasn't too hard of a call to opt for Mark and his $600k investment.

As for the fact, they were backed into dissing Lori Greiner ... Dax says that's more on Cuban than them.

Patrick Mahomes is apparently an MVP quarterback AND MVP fiance ... 'cause the NFL superstar just gifted Brittany Matthews with a new whip -- and she was FIRED UP over the present!!!

The Chiefs superstar's fiancee -- who's several months pregnant with the couple's baby daughter -- revealed Mahomes gave her the ride for breakfast on Monday morning.

"Nothing like waking up at 8am to a new car on Monday," Matthews said. "@PatrickMahomes YOU THE BEST #momcar🔥."

24-year-old Brittany posted a video from inside the ride with a friend and Patrick's brother, Jackson ... and the whip looks fancy as hell.

Unclear exactly what the make and model is ... but the interior resembles the Lamborghini SUV -- which is a set of wheels that can cost well over $200,000!!!

"We got a new car!!!" a super happy Brittany said in the clip of the ride. "Heyyyyy!!!!"

Matthews added the caption, "Mom car" with a set of heart-eye emojis.

Brittany and Patrick have been dating since high school ... and got engaged in 2020. They announced their pregnancy in September.

Listen up Pokémon fans, you've got a clear path to feel like Togekiss -- the happiest Pokémon ever -- 'cause a 1999 Pokémon first edition complete set's about to hit the auction block.

The folks over at Goldin Auctions will soon auction off this 103-Pokémon card set that's in mint condition and expected to fetch upwards of $750,000. The collection includes the highly sought-after Charizard card.

Each card is gemstone certified. Goldin says while the cards have rounded corners, the Professional Sports Authenticator has given it a Gem Mint 10 grading ... meaning they're virtually perfect cards.

The fact that the set expected to earn three-quarters of a mil is pretty impressive ... since nearly 30 billion Pokémon cards have been traded since the craze started.

Some of the other cards in the set include Alakazam, the cute Blastoise, Chansey, Mewtwo and Poliwrath. That might sound like gibberish to some of you, but trust us ... that's badass.

BTW, it also has 72 Devolution Spray cards! 😲

The auction opens Monday with a minimum bid of $125k. If that $750k mark sounds far-fetched, think about this -- just last month, Goldin Auctions sold a pristine Charizard for nearly $400k.

Casey Anthony is the owner of a new private investigation company but she's not legally allowed to privately investigate.

Here's the deal ... Anthony just opened her own P.I. company in West Palm Beach --- Case Research & Consulting Services, LLC -- but state officials tell us she hasn't even filed for a P.I. license in Florida, so she can't legally do any investigating herself.

It's possible Casey's intention was to hire legit private eyes to work for her ... but if she wants to put in her own work as a P.I., she's got to navigate some hoops and hurdles.

Casey's gotta get a Class C license to work as a private eye in Florida, a lengthy process requiring 2 years of training, a background check and a state exam.

As you know, it's been nearly a decade since Casey was acquitted in the death of her daughter, Caylee ... and state officials tell us they would need to review her criminal history to determine if she's even eligible for the Class C license.