Money

The abduction of Lady Gaga's dogs and the shooting of her dog walker has put Hollywood dog walkers on high alert ... they're looking to protect themselves and the pets they care for with some significant firepower.

We contacted a bunch of dog walking companies in the Hollywood area -- where the shooting/abduction went down -- and according to a few companies, they're increasing security -- changing their dog-walking schedules to prevent a repeat of what happened Wednesday night.

Anna-Marie Arredondo, owner of Happy Heart Pet Care in WeHo, tells TMZ ... she's looking to get a concealed carry permit, STAT. If she's successful -- which is incredibly difficult to obtain in California -- she plans on packing heat on her walks.

She's also looking into taking jiu-jitsu classes so she can protect herself and the pets. What's more ... all nighttime walks will only go down in well-lit, highly-trafficked areas. She says if it's too dark or sketchy ... she'll haul the dogs in her car and drive to a safer spot.

Renee Lutz, owner of Fetch! Pet Care in the Hollywood Hills, tells TMZ ... she'll give all 38 of her dog walkers pepper spray and flashlights. She's also 86ing nighttime walks.

Alyssa and Saul, owners of Troop Canine in Griffith Park, tell TMZ ... they, too, are no longer doing nighttime walks ... for the foreseeable future, they'll limiting walks to mornings and afternoons. They're also looking into purchasing body cams, like GoPros, so cameras are rolling should any would-be thieves want to get handsy.

All the owners we spoke to said they'll continue to walk French Bulldogs ... a coveted breed. TMZ broke the story ... Lady Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot Wednesday night in Hollywood after 2 men got out of a white sedan and abducted 2 of her French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav.

A pro athlete just signed a huge, $10 MILLION contract ... but it wasn't a hooper or a football player -- we're talking DISC GOLF, BABY!!

30-year-old Paul McBeth just became the richest player in the sport's history ... inking the massive endorsement deal with Discraft Disc Sports that will pay him a solid 10 milli over the next 10 years.

McBeth is widely considered one of the best disc golfers on the planet -- he has 130 pro wins, 5 world championships and 2 national titles ... and was ranked #1 in the Professional Disc Golf Association rankings before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

So ... what the heck is disc golf?? It's pretty much like golf, but instead of hitting a ball with a club, you throw a flying disc into a basket made of chains.

It's a sport McBeth has been playing since he was a kid ... and the dude is thrilled to be raking in the dough after decades of hard work.

"It’s mind-blowing to me to think about that 17-year-old me — or even before that, 14-year-old me — made the right move back then to put myself in this position and be able to propel the sport potentially to the next level," McBeth said in a video announcing the deal.

The guy was already making some serious coin via his signature disc line -- he reportedly sold more than 100k of his own discs last year, earning $4 per disc, according to Cypress Point Disc Golf.

McBeth's previous contract with Discraft -- 4 years, $1 million -- was also considered the biggest in the sport at the time ... before he shattered it with the new deal.

McBeth is also married to pro disc golfer in Hannah McBeth, who is a badass in the sport as well with 3 career event wins. The two got married in 2018.

NBA superstar Russell Westbrook is following LeBron's lead ... opening a state-of-the-art school for underprivileged youth in his home city!!

The 32-year-old SoCal native has partnered with the L.A. Promise Fund to launch the "Russell Westbrook Why Not? Academy" ... which will cater to students in South Los Angeles from grades 6 through 12.

Brodie announced the decision in a touching video on Wednesday ... while he was being interviewed by one of his future students!

"My plan is making sure you guys and the future kids coming in have access to all the resources you need to be successful," the former NBA MVP said.

The schools will focus on providing access to "high-quality athletic programs while balancing a strong education and leadership development," according to a statement from the Foundation.

Westbrook says he will be actively involved with the school -- and will serve as a board member to oversee the progress.

Of course, LeBron's "I Promise" School in Akron has been a huge success -- with student program's test scores exceeding expectations since it opened in 2018.

Ahmaud Arbery's mother claims an organization continues to raise funds in his name despite agreeing months ago to stop, but the org claims it's doing good work ... and Ahmaud's father is behind it.

Wanda Cooper tells TMZ ... the 2:23 Foundation is using her son's name and likeness without permission, and says the org hauled in a massive amount of cash Tuesday -- $226,000 on the anniversary of his death -- from donations.

She says 2:23 is not affiliated with her, and claims that's confusing the public. Meanwhile, she says the official Ahmaud Arbery Foundation -- which Wanda started -- is struggling to get donations.

Wanda's repped by civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, and he's now warning 2:23 that the family is going to escalate litigation, claiming the org is violating an agreement it struck with Wanda in September to stop doing what it's doing. We broke the story back then that Wanda was upset people were allegedly profiting off Ahmaud's tragedy.

Here's the flip side -- the 2:23 Foundation has responded to her claims, insisting it has the support of the majority of Ahmaud's family ... including his father, Marcus Arbery Sr.

2:23 claims it's also been on Wanda's side from the get-go, adding ... "Our team has gone to great lengths to ensure she was aware of the work we were doing to help pursue justice for Ahmaud."

The org also claims it helped raise $2 million for Wanda, and says the contentious "I RUN WITH MAUD" trademark it filed was done on the family's behalf.

Ben Roethlisberger's run in Pittsburgh may not be over yet -- the QB met with team owner Art Rooney on Tuesday and both sides insist they want to get a deal done to bring the QB back for an 18th season.

"Ben Roethlisberger and I met yesterday morning and we had a productive meeting, Rooney said in a statement.

"Ben assured me that he is committed to coming back to help us win, and I told Ben that we would like to have him back to help us win a championship."

So, what's the problem? Ben's contract -- it's too damn big.

Under his current deal, 39-year-old Roethlisberger is set to make around $19 mil in salary and bonuses in 2021 ... but the team would take a $41 million salary-cap hit.

The Steelers are reportedly about $30 million over the cap, according to ProFootballTalk, which means they can't bring Ben back without restructuring his contract to lower the cap hit.

"We both understand the next step is to work out Ben’s contract situation," Rooney said.

Look, it's good news for Ben that his team wants him back -- that's a positive thing -- but it's worth noting that Rooney is NOT guaranteeing they'll get a deal done.

The big question ... is Ben willing to take less money or restructure his deal to less favorable terms in order to remain with the Steelers, the only team he's ever played for?

Dr. Dre and his estranged wife, Nicole, have several areas of conflict in their contentious divorce, but the biggest stumbling block is the validity of their prenup, and Dre wants a trial ... STAT.

Dre's lawyer, disso queen Laura Wasser, has filed legal docs asking for a 5-day trial over the prenup. As we reported, Nicole signed the prenup before they married but claims Dre came to her shortly after the nuptials, saying he regretted "pressuring" her to sign it and tore up multiple copies right in front of her. Dre denies he pressured her and denies he ever tore it up ... and points to a clause in the document that says altering it must be in writing.

Dre has asked to remove the case from the court system and have a private judge handle the divorce case -- away from the public spotlight -- but Nicole has rejected that, favoring instead a traditional court trial. If it stays in the courts, it may take a very long to for a judge to hear the case ... because the pandemic has caused enormous trial delays.

John Harbaugh was feelin' saucy on Tuesday night -- so he broke out his wallet and paid for dinner for EVERYONE dining at Jimmy's Seafood Restaurant in Baltimore.

The Ravens head coach and his wife Ingrid hit up the famous seafood spot for a charity event to benefit the Famous Fund, which helps local businesses hit hard by the pandemic. The Famous Fund has already raised more than 450k!

People instantly recognized the 2019 NFL Coach of the Year -- and he couldn't have been nicer about it ... taking pics and chatting up fans.

Afterward, Harbaugh went to restaurant management and paid for dinner for EVERYONE who was dining at the spot that evening.

The final bill reportedly broke the $2,000 mark!

People in the restaurant were stoked -- including patron Kreghan Rebstock who tweeted about the situation!

"John Harbaugh was just sitting across from my friends and I at @JimmysSeafood we didn’t wanna bug him, he ended up secretly picking up our tab and we wanted to thank him, hopefully he see this! @Ravens (also fangirling hard)."

Harbaugh later told ESPN ... his wife should get the credit!

"It was 100% Ingrid's idea," Harbaugh said ... while praising the restaurant owner.

"[Restaurant owner] John Minadakis is the hero for the fund he's doing for local businesses hit by the pandemic."

We know what you're thinking ... how much money is Harbaugh making these days?

NASCAR is clearly NOT playing around about its COVID safety rules ... it just dropped the hammer on Chip Ganassi for a violation, hitting the famed team owner with both a ban and a fine.

NASCAR officials say at a race at Daytona International Speedway last weekend, Ganassi brought "a non-essential individual that was restricted from the footprint" into the competition area.

Obviously, it's a huge no-no during the pandemic ... the org is trying like hell to limit any potential spread of the coronavirus, and unauthorized guests certainly compromise that.

So, to send a stern message, NASCAR slapped Ganassi with a one-race suspension as well as a $30,000 fine.

Ganassi will have the opportunity to appeal ... but, for now, he's barred from this weekend's races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The mariachi band that made Ted Cruz's stoop a stage performed at a discount, saying the Senator's actions were so despicable, they would've played it for free if they could.

TMZ spoke to Jose Antonio Solis of Mariachi Mi Mexico -- the group that brought their song and dance to Cruz's front door Sunday -- and he says they took nearly $100 less than normal for the gig in Ted's well-to-do Houston neighborhood.

Normally, Solis says their hourly rate runs $475, but they agreed to $400 flat. Solis says he understands Ted and the fam wanting to get away from the cold, but not when the people Ted represents are dying.

Solis says they would've played the gig for free, but lost out on recent money because of the storm.

Mariachi Mi Mexico was hired by a fella named Bryan Hlavinka ... whom Solis says told them there was a GoFundMe account set up specifically to pay them to play.

The Babe Ruth baseball card market is still ON FIRE!!!

Check out this rare 1933 Goudey #149 card-- signed by The Bambino himself -- that just sold for $761,100 at auction Sunday night ... more than DOUBLE the highest price ever fetched for this particular card!!!

The item was part of the legendary "Uncle Jimmy" collection -- an insane collection of ultra-rare cards that Jimmy Micioni had stashed away at his home in New Jersey since he was a kid.

Experts say Uncle Jimmy did such an amazing job preserving the cards, it's like they were printed yesterday!!

Micioni died in March 2020 at the age of 97 -- but his family has gone public with the incredibly valuable treasure trove of cards ... and they've been getting record prices at auction.

In fact, Jimmy had a SECOND signed Babe Ruth 1933 Goudey #149 that sold in 2020 for $325,000 -- which was a record at the time.

The 2020 card quality was graded at a 4.5 (very good to excellent condition) and the Ruth signature on the card got a 6 grading.

The card that sold Sunday night was PSA graded 4 with an 8 on the autograph.

Final gavel price ... $761,100 -- a record for that particular card and proof the sports card market is still as hot as ever!!

The card sold through Wheatland Auctions -- which only expected the card to fetch somewhere between $300k and $600k.

Memorabilia collectors have always been fond of Babe Ruth -- remember, in 2019 someone forked over $1 MILLION for the bat he used to smack his 500th home run in 1929.

The Fighting Irish has announced it will NOT be a part of the new EA Sports NCAA college football video game ... saying they won't give the green light until it's clear how players will be compensated.

The new video game, which was announced earlier this month, is the first EA Sports college football game since 2013.

When EA Sports made the announcement, the company said more than 100 teams would be in the game ... however it would NOT include current rosters or images and likenesses of real college players.

At the moment, NCAA rules prohibit players from selling their NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) rights while they're still in school.

But, Notre Dame says they won't cooperate with EA Sports until there's a plan in place for Fighting Irish athletes to be compensated fairly.

"Notre Dame athletics welcome the return of EA Sports college football, the video game series that has historically helped promote interest in college football," AD Jack Swarbrick said.

"Notre Dame will not, however, participate in the game until such time as rules have been finalized covering the participation of our student-athletes."

The statement continued, "As those rules are developed, it is our strong desire that student athletes be allowed to benefit directly from allowing their name, image and performance history to be used in the game."

ND head coach Brian Kelly also weighed in -- saying, "We are here to support our student-athletes."

"Much like we have empowered our players when it comes to providing a platform to speak on racial inequalities & social issues that are important to them, we must support them when it comes to NIL & the work that still needs to be done."

It's obviously a big deal -- Notre Dame is arguably the biggest name in college football and has been for decades. The team finished the 2020 season ranked #4 in the country.

Ex-NBA star Chris Webber believes there's A LOT of money to be made in the weed business ... and he wants to make sure minorities get a fair shot to get that green.

Webber has teamed up with JW Asset Management to launch a $100 million private equity fund specifically to help minority entrepreneurs succeed in the marijuana industry, which has exploded all over the country.

The issue ... Webber says there are several barriers in place which seem to prevent minorities from getting a piece of the action -- and he's looking to even the playing field.

Webber told the guys on "TMZ Live" ... some states require a $60,000 deposit to apply for a license to open a dispensary which is an extraordinarily high price.

"People need help," Webber says ... "So we’re gonna come in these places and we’re gonna train, we’re gonna make sure we provide jobs, and we’re gonna make sure you have a hub to understand how you can enter the cannabis industry not just as a cultivator or grower, or some star, but also how to make a great living by providing certain services that the industry allow."

Webber broke it down this way in a statement -- "It’s crucial that we diversify the leadership in the cannabis industry and level the playing field for people from our communities."

Kris Jenner is taking a page from her daughters' playbooks ... 'cause she's tapping into the beauty business.

The Kardashians matriarch filed trademark docs to lock up rights to a couple different names for beauty and skincare lines she presumably plans to launch ... including "Kris Jenner Beauty," "Kris Jenner Skin" and "Kris Jenner Skincare."

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Kris is looking to use her name on a wide range of products for hair, skin, nails and eyes, plus cosmetics and fragrances ... pretty much anything folks use to look and smell good.

Kris' daughters have already been down this road ... Kim has a massive beauty empire and makeup made Kylie Jenner a billionaire, while Khloe and Kourtney also have cosmetics lines with Kylie.

If Dodgers prospect Yadier Alvarez ever makes it to the big leagues ... he'll be riding there in style -- 'cause the pitcher just copped a 6-wheel behemoth that's absolutely INSANE!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... Alvarez -- an MLB minor leaguer who earned a $16 MILLION bonus from the Dodgers in 2015 after he defected from Cuba -- was looking for a ride similar to the whip Aroldis Chapman snagged last June.

You'll recall, the NY Yankees star closer purchased a custom, massive 6-wheeler ... and we're told after seeing it, Alvarez REALLY wanted something bigger and badder.

So, the 24-year-old reached out to the guys who made Aroldis' car -- Apocalypse Manufacturing in Fort Lauderdale, FL -- and turns out, they had just what he was looking for!!

Shop honcho Joseph Ghattas tells us they had just built an Apocalypse Hellfire ... and stored it at a local mall.

And, when they showed it to Alvarez last week ... he loved it so much -- he bought it straight out of its display!!!

Check out the footage of Alvarez shortly after he got the ride ... he was smiling ear to ear!!!

Of course, Yadier had every reason to be happy ... the vehicle is absurd -- we're told it comes with 500 horsepower and an 8-speed automatic transmission.

We're also told it has a three-part Kevlar protective coating, power to all six wheels, 40-inch tires and a boatload of other bells and whistles.

In total, Ghattas says the ride was $180,000 ... but seems Alvarez was very cool with that tag -- 'cause Ghattas says he's been getting calls about people seeing the whip all over the Miami area already!!

As for Alvarez's baseball future ... despite previously being ranked as one of the best prospects in the game with a 100 MPH fastball, he's had an up-and-down minor league career, and it's unclear if he'll ever make it to The Show.

This is the coolest video ... a cop could have given an elderly woman a ticket, but instead, he gave her a gift card to get her car repaired!

Sgt. Wayne Costa, a patrol officer with Orlando PD, stopped a woman who was driving with her brake lights out.

It's apparent Sgt. Costa felt the great grandmother was struggling financially, so giving her a ticket where she'd have to pay a fine would create additional hardship and make it even harder to fix her brake lights.

So, Sgt. Costa, armed with a $25 gift card to Advance Auto Parts, surprised the great-grandma with the card. The lady was driving with her great-granddaughter, who was strapped in the back seat with a seat belt, and suggested she also buy a car seat.

The interaction is heartwarming and, well, pretty incredible.

Justin Bieber finally got the keys to his futuristic Rolls-Royce ... and the sight of his new whip brought him to tears.

Ya gotta see when Justin lays eyes on his custom 2018 Rolls-Royce Wraith ... he can't believe what he's seeing, and he gets super emotional.

The boys over at West Coast Customs are the masterminds behind the Biebs' jaw-dropping new ride ... the vision is 3 years in the making, so it's easy to see why Justin got teary-eyed.

Justin was floored when he saw the finished product, and he needed a quick lesson on how to even open the driver's door. The car is SICK, and JB is loving the wheel covers, which make the one-of-a-kind ride look like it's floating.

The Biebs couldn't wait to take a quick spin, and ya gotta see this thing on the streets. Somewhere out there, RoboCop just got super jealous.

Justin's new ride has an insane sound system too, so it's basically a rolling music studio.