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There are a lot of people involved and pulling for Britney Spears these days, but the one person who has worked behind the scenes to remove Jamie Spears and end the conservatorship altogether is Cade Hudson, who has deep ties to Britney ... TMZ has learned.

Hudson has been one of Britney's closest friends for a dozen years. He's also been her agent for 9 years and has been in her inner circle the entire time.

Our sources say Hudson has been in constant contact with Britney, advising her on how to navigate the conservatorship. When Britney was upset about restrictions by conservators and others involved in the conservatorship, Hudson was there to give her guidance.

He was working behind the scene for a long time to try and bring the conservatorship to an end. And, our sources say ... Hudson is the one who hooked Britney up with attorney Mathew Rosengart, who is now shepherding Britney's move for freedom.

As they say, it's the thrill of victory for Britney Spears -- but the agony of defeat for her father, Jamie Spears, is potentially just beginning, and we're explaining why on the new TMZ Podcast.

Just moments after Britney's conservatorship hearing ended, we got the team together for the inaugural episode of the pod. There's a lot to break down from Wednesday's hearing, and even more to discuss about what happens next.

As you know, the judge suspended Jamie from his gig as conservator of Britney's estate, and now Britney's lawyer is vowing to investigate him for alleged misappropriation and other conservatorship abuses.

We'll tell you why there could be some very real consequences for Jamie. Also, as you'd expect, Britney's already celebrating her big win as only Britney can. Ditto for the throngs of #FreeBritney supporters who were outside the courthouse.

Speaking of which -- looks like there's a #FreeBritney convert among us.

Michael Strahan is making sure Texas Southern University's football team is straight for the rest of the season -- donating 100 brand new helmets to his alma mater.

TSU's head coach, Clarence McKinney, spoke with TMZ Sports about the amazing gesture on Wednesday, saying after his team's white helmets got old and beat up, they hit up Strahan for help.

And, it didn't take long for the Hall of Famer to deliver aid -- with McKinney telling us the former TSU star sent over 100 new maroon and grey Riddell helmets to the Tigers last week!

"He's been good to our program," McKinney said. "The players are pretty excited about the donation."

"We practiced in them on Monday," McKinney added. "The players love them."

This ain't the first time the New York Giants legend helped out his alma mater -- Strahan also donated high-quality XTECH football pads to the Tigers in 2019.

Strahan was a beast when he played for the HBCU in the 90s ... he broke TSU's single-season sack record (19) and still holds the school record for career sacks (41.5).

The 49-year-old was also named Black College Defensive Player of the Year (1992) and was inducted into the Black College Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

Britney Spears' potentially game-changing day in court is about to begin with her conservatorship hanging in the balance, and the environment -- inside and outside court -- is dramatic.

As you know, Wednesday's hearing is the most highly anticipated one since Britney testified in June during a previous hearing, in which she made shocking allegations and clearly stated she wanted to end the conservatorship after 13 years ... and possibly even sue her family.

Though Britney is not present in court today, her parents -- Jamie and Lynne Spears -- will be appearing via Zoom, along with Britney's attorney, Mathew Rosengart.

Wednesday's hearing for arguments on ending the conservatorship was originally set for January 28 but got moved up to today -- and while no one is expected to object to dismantling it ... it's still unlikely the judge will end the conservatorship today.

Instead, the judge could order another mental evaluation for Britney, or possibly order mediation where all the parties get together and come up with a plan on how to transition from the conservatorship.

Along with all that ... the hearing will likely address the removal or suspension of Jamie, fees for Jamie and his lawyers, and various accounting issues. So, get ready for a long one.

As we've reported ... ever since Britney spoke in court in June, a LOT has gone down -- both with the case and in Britney's personal life.

Following a quick Hawaiian getaway with her then-boyfriend, Sam Asghari, after her court testimony ... Britney began taking legal action to choose her own lawyer (her previous one, Sam Ingham, resigned) and remove her father as conservator of her estate.

Britney eventually hired Rosengart, who quickly went to work in ousting Jamie ... before Britney's dad seemingly agreed to step down in legal docs he filed in mid-August.

Things have gotten more complicated since then, however. After Britney formally asked to end her conservatorship last week, new allegations dropped in the NYT documentary, "Controlling Britney Spears," in which Jamie's accused of recording her bedroom conversations.

Then, on Monday, Jamie asked the judge not to forcefully remove him as conservator, but instead consider dissolving the conservatorship entirely.

The judge is expected to address some, if not all, of these issues Wednesday in court ... so get ready. You know the #FreeBritney crowd will be there ... as they've already gathered outside the courthouse to support their queen.

Meanwhile, as all of the legal issues have been unfolding, Britney's music manager resigned and claimed she's retired from performing ... and Britney and Sam got engaged.

The famous Folgers coffee jingle, "The best part of wakin' up is Folgers in your cup" is up for grabs ... the royalties for a piece of coffee history are on the auction block.

The bidding started this week at $63,000 and we're told there have already been 16 bids, with the auction entering its final stages at the Royalty Exchange.

The auction house says the Folgers jingle royalties for the past 12 months paid $11,747 and since 2011 the song's earned a total of $38,164 ... with more than half, about $20k, coming in the past 2 years ... so it's a long-term investment.

The winning bidder will own the songwriter's share of public performance royalties ... and get paid any time the song is used in commercials, on TV, in movies, on traditional and satellite radio, plus internet streaming.

The current bid stands at $70,700 and bids are in increments of $550 ... and the auction ends Thursday at 5 PM ET ... so it's coming down to the wire!!!

LaMelo Ball may not need school, but the NBA star is stressing the importance of an education for others ... by kickstarting his very own 4-year scholarship program!!

The 20-year-old Charlotte Hornets superstar announced the big plan on Wednesday ... saying he'll help one lucky student looking to study sports management or communication/marketing at Long Island University's Roc Nation School of Music, Sports and Entertainment in Fall 2022.

Students with a 1100 SAT score (or 22 on the ACT score) are eligible ... and the app requires a written essay on what the LaMelo Scholarship will mean to them 10 years down the road.

The scholarship will come with some sweet perks -- the Roc Nation school prides itself in its variety of industry resources to help students prepare for the real world.

Ball says he decided to give back in hopes of helping the youth succeed ... just like he did when he entered the league in 2020.

"I want to encourage the next generation of sports executives and leaders to follow their dreams just like I did to make it to the NBA," LaMelo tells TMZ Sports.

"I’m fortunate to have the means and public platform to support others, so I want to do my part and create a lane for a student to get a strong education and be in position to make a meaningful impact in the sports industry."

Of course, Ball recently spoke out about his own educational experience ... saying "school not even teaching you s***" ... but later clarified he didn't mean that was the case for EVERYONE.

Britney Spears' lawyer has taken off the gloves in his war with Jamie Spears, calling him a "reported alcoholic and gambling addict," and that's just for starters.

Attorney Mathew Rosengart has gone on the attack, after Jamie filed legal docs challenging the person Rosengart has tapped to replace Jamie temporarily as conservator of Britney's estate.

TMZ broke the story, Jamie claimed CPA John Zabel is unqualified to assume that position, but Rosengart's new legal docs refer to Zabel as a "highly-esteemed, nationally-recognized, award-winning CPA with an impeccable record of serving in positions of trust."

Rosengart finds it rich that Jamie is blasting Zabel, saying Jamie has "zero financial background or experience in financial matters, who previously filed for bankruptcy and has a Domestic Violence Restraining Order currently in effect against him."

Rosengart's legal docs challenge Jamie's request for fees for himself and Jamie's lawyers. He calls Jamie incompetent and rails on what he says is "abuse of his daughter (which evidently goes back to her childhood), and the dissipation of Estate assets."

Ex-NBA star Chris Webber is bringing more weed business to his hometown -- by opening a $50 million cannabis facility in Detroit.

Of course, Webber is already in the weed industry -- he launched a $100 million equity fund with JW Asset Management to help minority entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry earlier this year.

Now, he's taking it one step further and building Players Only Holdings -- a 180,000 square foot facility featuring a 60,000 square foot cultivation, a dispensary and a cannabis consumption lounge.

The $50 million dollar location -- that will be owned by Webber and Lavetta Willis -- will also be a training spot that will focus on cannabis cultivation, creative content and management, branding and real estate.

The awesome compound just broke ground on Tuesday and is expected to be finished in March 2022 ... with plans of expanding the cultivation by 80,000 square feet later on.

Webber's also expanding Cookies Campus -- his cannabis training program in California -- to the Motor City ... and the 5-time NBA All-Star is excited to bring this opportunity to his hometown.

"We will create, foster and provide a cannabis ecosystem that celebrates diversity, creates jobs, and benefits this community – focusing intensely on those who are being left behind," Webber said.

Whoever plans on buying Emmitt Smith's Dallas mansion -- which has a hefty price tag of $2.2 MILLION -- will get a once in a lifetime bonus with the crib ... dinner with the NFL legend!

The Hall of Famer announced the sweet deal with his listing agent, Arthur Greenstein, this week -- saying he's down to personally wine and dine whoever buys the home.

The dinner is a cool touch, but probably not super necessary ... considering, ya know, the place -- which was built in 1995 -- is amazing.

It's 10,806-square-feet ... and has five bedrooms, five full bathrooms, four half bathrooms and a huge kitchen with a dining room that sits up to 22 people.

There's also a game room, a media room, plus an amazing pool in the backyard.

Unclear why Emmitt's parting with the crib -- but he seems pretty bummed about moving out ... saying he absolutely loved entertaining at the home.

The Playboy Mansion is getting closer to looking like a classic party venue again, instead of the construction zone it's been for 2 years now.

These are some aerial pics showing the insane progress that's taken place at the iconic mansion after its massive facelift. You can see the roofs are no longer covered in plastic, and there are fewer piles of dirt scattered about -- always a positive sign on a construction site.

There's still quite a bit of work to be done, but the huge progress is undeniable. One legendary Mansion landmark is still visible -- the old grotto's still getting renovated. Some of the work includes adding "structural steel mesh" and replacing the walls.

As we reported, the mansion's overhaul was nearing 7-figures back in April 2020, and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

Some of the big-ticket items were the staff area and garage renovations for $400k ... and redoing the basement -- which included expanding the theater, golf simulator area -- cost $125k.

Here's a scary-good deal ... Freddy Krueger's famed razor glove and Michael Myers' mask can be yours, if you're willing to go all out for a costume.

The folks over at Prop Store are about to hold an auction for some of the most iconic horror movie props ever made -- more than 1,000 pieces of film and TV memorabilia that could haul in up to $7.6 million.

There's no doubt about it ... Freddy Krueger's razor finger glove from "A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors" should see heavy bidding. It's estimated to bring in anywhere from $27,600 to as much as $41,400.

Same goes for Michael Myers' mask from "Halloween: Resurrection" -- the 8th film in that franchise.

Not down for the gory glove or frightening mask? There's some other cool stuff too. Like the "Elf" costume Will Ferrell wore in the 2003 classic. There's also the Hogwarts Student Gryffindor House robe from "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2." That robe could fetch as much as $21,000.

There's pretty much something for everybody here. Like Batman's sonar batsuit display from "Batman Forever." The auction folks expect it could fetch just over $82,000.

Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man costume from "Spider-Man 3" is also available ... and it's expected to haul in around $70k.

The bad news is winning bidders will have to wait until next Halloween to show off, because the auction doesn't go down until November 9-11.

Rick Ross just started cutting checks to his baby mama ... the judge in his paternity case just signed off on his agreement to cough up monthly child support payments for their 3 kids.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the "Aston Martin Music" rapper will pay his baby mama, Briana Singleton, $11,000 per month in child support.

The docs say RR also has to foot the bill for their children's health insurance, and he's got to help her pay for the kids' extracurricular expenses once the figure goes north of $7,560 ... with Ross on the hook for additional annual payments of up to $3k per child.

Rick also agreed to cut a check to Brianna's attorney for $25,000, but he can afford it ... the docs say RR's monthly income is $585k, compared to $142 a month for his baby mama.

TMZ broke the story ... Briana told Rick last year he needed to take COVID-19 tests to see their 3 kids.

Yo Gotti has gone from taking over the rap game to taking over the soccer game -- 'cause the star MC is now a co-owner of the MLS' D.C. United!!!

Gotti just announced his new business venture on Monday ... saying he -- alongside 3 other investors -- bought ownership of the franchise.

With his investment, Gotti currently owns 2-3% of the team -- and BTW, D.C. United is currently worth $750 million.

Gotti's investment comes shortly after Houston Texans RB Mark Ingram II invested in June to push the team’s value to $710 million.

The "Put a Date on It" rapper explained his decision to get involved in a statement on Monday.

"I was introduced to the game by my son and watched how quickly it has grown in our country, so I’m honored to join the D.C. United ownership group,"

The Memphis rapper is known for his business acumen since his early days ... and has sold over millions of records, created multiple hits and even started his own rap label called CMG in 2014 (Collective Music Group).

Tony Robbins can be added to the long list of folks spewing COVID-19 misinformation with misguided jokes and phony statistics, and unfortunately ... he spread his message to a bunch of salespeople.

The controversial self-help guru was a featured speaker at something called Funnel Hacking Live in Orlando, a 3-day conference held by Russell Brunson ... aimed at boosting attendees' sales success by listening to motivational stories.

Of course, that's right up Tony's alley, but he used his time to mock science and the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic, while firing up the anti-vaxxers in attendance by questioning the effectiveness of the vaccine.

Let's break it down -- first, Tony rips nighttime curfew laws in Australia by joking the virus only comes out at night. As most everyone knows, the curfew is designed to keep people from packing indoor bars and clubs and spreading COVID.

Next, Robbins pokes fun at the concern over the unvaccinated spreading the virus, when in reality ... the unvaccinated population largely accounts for the spread of the Delta variant and the lion's share of hospitalizations and deaths.

Finally -- like many others before him who have spewed false info about COVID -- Robbins equates it to other everyday risks like driving your car ... but makes up his own statistics to fit his narrative.

Tony claims 1,200 people die per day in the U.S. in car accidents, when the actual number is closer to 100 daily, while ignoring that more than 2,000 people have died from COVID every day over the past 2 weeks.

R. Kelly is so deep in the red, a lot of people are claiming to be richer than him -- that is, if you believe a site's estimation of his net worth ... which has it pegged as a negative.

At some point this year, Celebrity Net Worth updated R. Kelly's page to list his overall value in assets as negative $2 million ... something the Internet appears to have just caught on to in the past few days or so, including one 42 Dugg -- who was howling over the news.

He posted a video showing himself cackling with his buddies, as they recorded different articles (all circling back to CNW) reporting on Kelly's latest alleged numbers.

Ditto for the rest of Twitter ... whose users are posting jokes about how they're technically wealthier than the one-time R&B icon -- who's in the middle of several criminal cases, as well as one that's about to wrap up, with jury deliberations having officially gotten underway.

As for how Celebrity Net Worth landed on the -$2 mil figure ... it seems they're simply citing a story we broke last year -- in which R. Kelly told a judge, via court docs, that he owed Uncle Sam nearly $2 million in back taxes ... which he cited as a reason why he wouldn't be a flight risk if released on bail. The court shot him down ... he's remained in custody since.

Now, whether or not R. Kelly actually has a negative net worth is pure speculation -- but one thing is for sure ... the guy does seem to be strapped for cash, and apparently has been for years now. He revealed as much himself in song back in 2018 ... calling himself "broke."

Of course, he's been struggling on the business side of things even before "Surviving R. Kelly" aired ... as different streaming platforms took down his music, and several venues refused to book him for concerts. And, with the addition of a cadre of attorneys who've been in and out for at least 2 years now ... you can only imagine the legal bills he's racked up.

Anthony Johnson's family is no longer burdened with funeral costs ... thanks to the generosity of celebs like Offset.

The late actor's widow, Lexis Jones Mason, tells TMZ ... Anthony's funeral has now been paid for, with nearly $70,000 in donations pouring in from famous folks and thousands of random donors.

We're told the Migos rapper chipped in $5,000 for the service, with Lil Rel Howery donating another $4k on the family's GoFundMe.

Lil Rel's rep tells us the comedian/actor felt compelled to help out because he sees comedy as a brotherhood.

Michael Blackson also helped raise $10,000, and in addition to donations, Anthony's widow tells us she received a flurry of calls this week from celebs like Fat Joe, D.L. Hughley, Faizon Love, Michael Colyar, Tommy Davidson, D.C. Young fly, Tyrin Turner and more.

We're told folks who called expressed their love, sent condolences and talked endlessly about how much they loved the "Friday" star.

TMZ broke the stories ... Anthony was found lifeless in a Los Angeles store earlier this month before being pronounced dead, and his family was scrambling to pay for his funeral.

With the services paid for, Anthony's widow says she's giving some of the extra money to his 4 children and she wants to use other funds to start a standup comedy school for underprivileged youth.

We're told Anthony didn't have life insurance, so Lexis wants to use some of the money to spread awareness and begin advocating for comedians and actors to get life insurance.