Money

🚨🚨 MAJOR BEEF ALERT 🚨🚨

A.J. McKee and Patricio Pitbull -- Bellator Featherweight Grand Prix finalists -- do NOT like each other, and it all goes back to ... an autograph?!

"I actually asked [Pitbull] to sign a newspaper," A.J. tells TMZ Sports.

But, instead of just signing the paper ... Pitbull had other ideas, and McKee is PISSED.

"He done crossed my whole face out, picture out. So, I'm f****** him up for that like. Like I lost a lot of respect for him because of that."

And, McKee says he thinks Pitbull's shook.

"I'm in his head so f*****g heavy!"

A.J. and Patricio are the last 2 men standing in a tournament that started with 16 of the best 145-pound fighters in Bellator.

McKee has never lost ... winning all 17 of his Bellator fights -- many of them with ease.

Meanwhile, Pitbull is a legend. He's 32-4 and has wins over Michael Chandler and Juan Archuleta -- to name a few. Patricio is also a double champ ... holding the 145 and 155 lb. titles.

The featherweight title's on the line, but arguably more important is the million-dollar prize!!

We asked McKee what he was gonna do with the cash ... and let's just say this isn't the 1st time he's thought about the 7-figure check being deposited in his bank account.

"Oh, I spent it already bro. It’s spent already. I’m paying off my dad's house. I'm buying a [Porsche] GT 2RS. I need a Porsche in my driveway, man."

FYI, A.J.'s dad is Antonio McKee -- a veteran MMA fighter.

The championship fight goes down Saturday night ... personal beef, a title, and a million dollars are all that's on the line.

Lamar Odom has been ordered to pay his ex nearly $400,000 ... after a judge ruled the former NBA star hadn’t pay a cent of support in over a year.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, a New York judge ruled Odom had stopped making payments to his ex, Liza Morales, in June of last year, despite a 2015 settlement agreement requiring the NBA legend to pay thousands of dollars per month for the benefit of the former couple’s two kids.

In all, the court hit Odom with a $380,549 tab, including $91,220 in outstanding child support, $88,117 in missed rent, $161,305 for their children's college funds and expenses, and nearly $40k for her legal fees and expenses.

Morales had sued Odom back in May, claiming the former basketball player had missed all the payments he agreed to make since June 2020.

In the court's ruling, the judge noted Odom did not show up for a key hearing in the case in June "despite due notice."

Gloria and Emilio Estefan's investment nearly 3 decades ago on a Miami mansion has paid off big time ... TMZ's learned the couple sold it for a whopping $35 million.

According to property records ... the famous couple sold their 6-bedroom, 10-bathroom crib on Miami's Star Island last week. The Estefans sure got top dollar for the nearly 8,000-square-foot mansion especially when you consider this -- property records show the couple bought the house in 1993 for $1,840,000. #ChaChing.

We're told ... as of late Gloria and Emilio used the home for guests when they visited the famous couple, who aren't going anywhere 'cause they have another property down the street. The area, of course, is a major enclave for celebs like Alex Rodriguez, Shaquille O'Neal and Sean Combs, to name a few.

As for the corner-lot house itself ... it sits on a 58,332-square-foot lot. It offers sparkling waterfront and unobstructed views to Biscayne Bay and the downtown Miami skyline.

For the new owner's guests ... there's a 2-story guest house with 3 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms and 1.5 baths complete with a spacious living room and private dining room. It's also got killer views. And, if the new owner has a boat (guessing yes), there's also a private dock at this one-of-a-kind estate.

Helluva score.

Marcus Brice helps Air Force One take off and land almost every day as an air traffic controller ... and he says it's all because he spent hours playing video games.

The FAA is recruiting the next generation of air traffic controllers, like Marcus, and they're specifically targeting gamers because as it turns out ... skills honed by video games are coming in handy at airports.

Marcus joined us on "TMZ Live" Friday and put a face and a cool story to the FAA's "Level Up" hiring campaign, which seeks to hire 4,300 new air traffic controllers over the next 5 years ... with heavy recruitment going towards gamers, women and minorities.

It's pretty cool ... Marcus explained which video gaming skills set him up with the tools to be an air traffic controller at Joint Base Andrews. And, while the stakes are much, much higher ... he says air traffic control is very much like certain games.

Another bonus Marcus was too humble to brag about ... the gig pays pretty well, with the FAA saying the median annual wage for air traffic controllers is just over $138,000.

Suni Lee is about to be one VERY rich 18-year-old college student -- the gold medalist just surpassed 1 million followers on Instagram ... and is poised to stack some SERIOUS endorsement money!!!

Lee -- the first Hmong American to make the USA Olympic gymnastics team -- cemented her spot in history after taking top honors in the all-around competition on Thursday ... with a bunch of new fans slamming that "follow" button on the social media app.

Lee was hovering around 250k followers prior to her gold medal win ... and saw that number SKYROCKET in the hours after her incredible performance, saying she's "speechless" with the milestone.

Of course, Lee -- who's slated to continue her gymnastics career at Auburn this fall -- usually wouldn't be able to cash in on that kinda exposure due to the NCAA's name, image and likeness rules ... but luckily for her, the organization lifted its policy earlier this month.

In other words, Lee is free to ink a TON of endorsement and sponsorship deals following her rise to superstardom without forfeiting her college career ... something that's never been done in the sport before.

That wasn't always the case. Back in 2016 ... Katie Ledecky -- one of the Summer Games breakout stars -- was forced to forego a ton of endorsement money after she decided to attend Stanford University.

Lee is now a household name, regardless of her social media presence, but having more than a million followers on IG certainly doesn't hurt her chances at lining her pockets.

Auburn coach Jeff Graba spoke about the importance of the new NIL rules for Lee's career ... saying, "I just love the fact that ... thank goodness for the NIL, because she doesn’t have to make a horrible decision," he said, according to al.com.

"She’s capable of, in her words, 'I want it all. I want to be able to do everything.' Now she actually gets that shot."

Scarlett Johansson's agent is joining in on the war with Disney ... blasting the Mouse House for "shamelessly" attacking her over her "Black Widow" lawsuit.

Bryan Lourd, one of the head honchos at the powerhouse agency CAA, just went to bat for his client and said Disney "shamelessly and falsely accused Ms. Johansson of being insensitive to the global COVID pandemic, in an attempt to make her appear to be someone they and I know she isn't."

ScarJo's rep also took a huge issue with Disney spilling the tea on her salary in their response to her lawsuit. Lourd said, "The company included her salary in their press statement in an attempt to weaponize her success as an artist and businesswoman, as if that were something she should be ashamed of."

The "Black Widow" star has done nine Disney movies ... but the relationship's reached a boiling point after she claimed in a lawsuit Disney violated her deal when it simultaneously released "Black Widow" in theaters and on Disney+ ... which cut into her backend because her salary was tied to how well the film performed at the box office.

Lourd added, "The suit was filed as a result of Disney's decision to knowingly violate Scarlett's contract. They have very deliberately moved the revenue stream and profits to the Disney+ side of the company, leaving artistic and financial partners out of their new equation. That's it, pure and simple."

Cole Anthony -- last year's 15th overall pick -- is confessing his biggest rookie year screw up ... laying down wayyy too much cash on a chain prior to draft night.

TMZ Sports ran into the Orlando Magic star only hours before the 2021 NBA Draft ... and we asked the 2nd year hooper out of UNC how he treated himself after being picked in last year's 1st round.

"Before the draft, I bought myself a chain which I immediately regretted," the 21-year-old said. "It was a lot of money at the time ... at the time, it was a lot. I ain't going to lie to you."

FYI, Anthony signed a near-$16 million, 4-year deal with Orlando in the November draft (it was delayed over COVID-19).

Tonight, 60 more young fellas are about to strike it rich ... and Cole has some sound financial advice for the soon-to-be millionaires.

"You don't owe nobody nothing. Don't come in there trying to take care of a thousand people, man. Just take care of yourself. Take care of your mom and dad, if necessary," Anthony says.

"And, just focus on basketball."

Seems former NBA star Jermaine O'Neal would agree ... 'cause when we got the ex-Indiana Pacer out in NYC earlier this week, his biggest piece of advice to the future rookies was also to be smart with their cash!

"I think the most important thing is saving, right?" the 42-year-old said. "You know, put aside some money. You work hard, you should be able to choose what you want to buy. But don’t spend it all in one place."

Scarlett Johansson is going after the Mouse House ... she's suing Disney, claiming the simultaneous release of "Black Widow" in theaters and on Disney+ violated her deal, and cost her serious money.

In legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "Black Widow" star claims her contract with Disney stated the movie would be exclusively released in theaters. Problem is ... Disney broke that deal, she says, when the movie was made available in theaters and on its streaming service.

Scarlett says her salary was tied to how well the film performed at the box office. But, the actress claims, releasing the film on Disney+ meant fewer butts in movie theaters ... which cut into her backend.

Other studios have dealt with similar issues and given their stars additional compensation to make up for their backend loss, and you gotta imagine Scarlett's lawyers and Disney's lawyers tried settling this before she filed her lawsuit. She says she tried settling, but she was pretty much ignored.

Her argument is pretty clear ... the contract says the movie would be released exclusively in theaters, so Disney violated it by putting it on its streaming service. What's more ... Disney presumably benefited financially by getting additional subscribers, while Scarlett was aced out of what she would have made had theaters been the only game in town.

"Black Widow" grossed $80 million in domestic box office opening weekend. It grossed another $78 million overseas and $60 million from home purchases on the streaming platform.

We've reached out to Disney, so far no word back.

Donald Trump is looking to unload one of his personal helicopters ... and it seems like he's hoping someone makes him an offer he can't refuse. Like, literally.

Sources tell TMZ ... the former President recently put one of his personal choppers on the market, but there's no exact asking price, and potential buyers can just submit offers.

According to the online listing, Trump's helicopter is a 1990 Sikorsky S76-B ... and we're told the market for these kinds of choppers is usually around $1 million.

TMZ broke the story ... Trump put another one of his personal choppers up for sale in November when he was still in office, and back then the listing also said "Make offer."

We're told this new one, being sold through an aerial retailer via Aero Asset, is the exact same model as the one Trump previously listed.

Remember ... Trump's owned 3 Sikorsky S76-B helicopters over the years, plus other private aircrafts.

As you can see, the helicopter's got all the typical Trump bells and whistles ... like gold seat belts and gold handles, plus upholstered leather and custom flooring.

Someone's about to fork over good money for decades-old cake ... which shows you how much of an event Princess Diana and Prince Charles' wedding was way back in the day.

The 28-ounce slice, preserved in plastic wrap and stored in a decorative tin for 40 years, is going up for sale August 11 -- and the winning bid is expected to come in at a cool $700. Not a huge amount of money in terms of celeb memorabilia, but ... for old cake???

As you can see ... the slice still has the royal coat of arms decoration ... and it looks like no one's managed to sneak a bite -- if anyone even would, after all these years.

The sale announcement comes on the very day marking what would've been Charles and Diana's 40th anniversary. The royal wedding -- aka "Wedding of the Century" -- went down July 29, 1981 at St. Paul's Cathedral in London with 3,500 guests attending in person. Another estimated 750 million people tuned in across the world.

The slice of wedding cake going up for sale was given from the Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth's mom) to Moyra Smith, whose family sold the cake in 2008 to a collector.

A one-of-one Mike Trout rookie card just sold for OVER $1 MILLION in a private sale to one of the industries top DJ's ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The 2011 "Platinum" Mike Trout Topps Update card is one of the most coveted modern-day baseball cards in existence.

We're told that DJ Skee -- who's worked with top artists like Kendrick Lamar and Post Malone -- along with Mint 10 business partners Courtney and Carter Reum (Paris Hilton's fiancé) ... dropped nearly $1.1 milli on the cardboard.

Collectible marketplace, PWCC brokered the sale, according to the company.

The front of the card features a photo of a then 19-year-old Trout at the plate in his Angels uni. The back is stamped 1/1 ... and says "The New Jersey born speedster debuted on July 8 vs. Seattle, then showed his wares the next night with his first hit and two runs."

The card -- rated a Mint 9 by the card graders at Beckett -- will be on display this week at the Topps booth at the National Sports Card Convention in Chicago.

And, if you don't have 7 figures to spend on a card, Skee teamed up with Topps ... and is releasing a wayyyy more affordable, $20 card that resembles the ultra-rare Platinum card.

Of course, the high-end card market has EXPLODED over the last few years ... a 2009 Bowman Chrome Superfractor sold for $3.9 million in August 2020.

Soulja Boy's birthday party didn't sit well with neighbors and especially the cops that shut it down ... but he was still ridin' high in a brand new McLaren that looked like a steroided-out bumble bee!!!

Soulja arrived late for his own birthday party -- in fact, so late cops already put the kibosh on the shindig before he roared up in his new ride courtesy of pal Ray J. He didn't seem to mind at all that guests were scattering left and right ... his attention was laser-focused on his screaming yellow whip.

It seems that rapper OG 3Three hosted the party, because he's the one who was imploring partiers to beat it before cops started writing tickets.

OG 3Three said cops told him the complaints were various -- noise, too many people and way too late at night. Police actually swarmed the area, both on land and in the air.

Ray J was no anonymous gift-giver ... he was more than happy to tell us he's the one who made Soulja's night with the McLaren. Ever the pitchman, Ray made sure the car had Raycon stickers, promoting his headphones.

Jean-Claude Van Damme is so damn famous, all eyes were glued on him instead of a nearby thief -- with great timing -- who made off with millions in jewels ... on a scooter.

So, get this ... a grey-haired man in a suit reportedly held up the high-end jewelry store Chaumet in Paris earlier this week. Cops say he pulled a knife during the robbery, and while no one was injured ... the suspect took off with a "monumental haul" in jewels and gemstones. Cops say he nabbed somewhere between $2.4 million and $3.5 mil.

What's shocking is the guy got away on a green, electric scooter ... which makes ya wonder how he was able to pull this off -- and that's where JCVD comes in.

Law enforcement says there were plenty of potential witnesses nearby, but they were all distracted by Van Damme ... who was inside a nearby optometrist's office.

The "Bloodsport" and "Street Fighter" star had inadvertently drawn the attention of just about everyone on the block ... allowing Scooter McJewelThief to make a clean getaway.

Well, nearly clean. Cops did have surveillance cameras, and we've confirmed they arrested 2 suspects in connection with the heist. We're told cops also recovered a substantial part of the stolen jewelry.

Ron Popeil, the Renaissance man who created the Pocket Fisherman and Hair in a Can, has died ... TMZ has learned.

Family sources tell TMZ, Ron experienced a severe medical emergency Tuesday and died early Wednesday morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in L.A. He was surrounded by his family.

Popeil created the famous Showtime Rotisserie & BBQ and coined one of the most iconic catch phrases ever -- "Set it and Forget it!!!" The product grossed more than $1 BILLION in domestic sales, shattering QVC and other sales records.

Ron was born in New York City in 1935. His first entry into business was with his dad at his manufacturing facility in Chicago, where they sold kitchen products. It obviously made an impression on him, because Ron learned and then perfected the art of kitchenry.

Ron created the famed Chop-O-Matic in 1959 and it sold like crazy -- 2 million units. He followed that up with the Veg-O-Matic and another great catchphrase ... "But wait, there's more!!!" And that one's become an infomercial industry standard ... reused by product after product.

Popeil also created the Rhinestone Stud Setter, which later became the Bedazzler. And, it doesn't end there ... he created Mr. Microphone and the Inside the Eggshell Egg Scrambler.

Popeil formed his own company -- Ronco -- in 1964 and marketed hundreds of products to global TV audiences.

He also made dozens of cameos in TV and film ... and was famously parodied by Dan Aykroyd on 'SNL' in 1976.

The last time we got Ron on camera was 2017, when he talked about the new fad, Fidget Spinners.

Ron amassed a fortune estimated at $200,000,000.

Ron had a collection of friends and they referred to themselves as "The Rontourage."

Ron is survived by his wife, Robin, 4 daughters and 4 grandchildren.

Ron was 86.

Kelly Clarkson will be coughing up almost a quarter of a million dollars every 30 days to her ex-husband in the fallout of their divorce, at least for now ... TMZ has learned.

The judge in her divorce recently signed off on docs formalizing the temporary spousal and child support Kelly will pay Brandon Blackstock -- it's nearly $200k/mo. according to the docs. We're told the ruling actually happened in April, and it merely formalized what Kelly had already been paying her ex since she filed for divorce last June.

According to the docs, Brandon will get $150k in spousal support and $45,601 for their 2 kids. Hard to think of that huge amount as a discount for Kelly, however ... Brandon had requested $436k per month. So, with that in mind, it's a bit of a win for KC.

She does also have to fork over a one-time $1.25 million payment to cover Brandon's attorney fees.

Once the divorce is settled, we're told Brandon will only get 2 more years of spousal support, based on the length of their marriage. The unresolved issue is their prenup. If the judge determines it's valid, all those support numbers go out the window, and Brandon will get whatever is spelled out in the prenup.

Kelly was also awarded primary custody of their children -- 6-year-old River and 4-year-old Remy -- a little while back.

John Corbett's got a condo on the market that's been Aiden Shaw tested and Carrie Bradshaw approved.

The "Sex and the City" star has listed his WeHo condo for a cool $1,311,600. It's in the luxurious Empire West high rise building and the unit's on the seventh floor. So, talk about views.

The 1,607-square-foot condo has 1 bedroom, 2 bathrooms and plenty of space to store tons of shoes ... if you're a Carrie-in-training. It also has lots of old Hollywood charm and great views of Tinseltown.

The new owner of this condo is getting the full VIP service. The building offers round-the-clock full service ... from 24-hour valet parking and concierge to a sick gym and private tennis courts. There's also a jaw-dropping rooftop deck with a brand new swimming pool, lounge beds and breathtaking 360 views.

And, for those who wanna take a stroll in and around Hollywood, the condo's just a stone's throw away from some of the best joints WeHo has to offer.