Money

There's one person who might be taking Wednesday night's Game 3 results harder than the actual Oklahoma City Thunder players -- rap mogul Jay-Z, who lost a whopping $1 MILLION after the Indiana Pacers took a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals.

TMZ Sports reported ahead of the series the 25-time Grammy-winning artist was so confident in OKC's chances against the Eastern Conference champions, he placed the hefty wager through the Fanatics Sportsbook that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co. would hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy after five games.

We're sure Hov was sweating just a little bit after Tyrese Haliburton's game-winning shot in Game 1 ... but when the Thunder stormed back the next contest, his bet was looking solid again.

Crypto kidnap and torture suspects John Woeltz and William Duplessie are now indicted on multiple felony counts, and prosecutors are addressing TMZ's wild videos showing their alleged victim partying and having sex ... calling it an elaborate smoke screen.

In a Manhattan courtroom Wednesday, crypto bros Woeltz and Duplessie were accused of staging those kinky videos to make it seem like they were not holding Italian businessman Michael Carturan captive.

Prosecutors say the duo arranged for Carturan to be photographed in those party pics and sex scenes to sell the lie that he was just living it up.

As Immigration Customs and Enforcement raids go down across the country, ICE now has its very own impersonator ... and he's wreaking his own brand of havoc in Philadelphia.

Detectives are searching for a man posing as an ICE agent, who they say tied up a woman and stole $1,000 in cash from her at a repair shop last weekend.

Police say the sham agent screamed "Immigration" before tying up the woman for more than 2 hours and swiping her money. The woman was eventually freed by a co-worker long after the suspect had fled in a white Ford van.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend "Jane" had a tense back-and-forth with defense attorney Teny Geragos ... after getting asked about the price of some designer handbags.

It all played out Tuesday in Diddy's federal criminal trial in New York, with Jane under cross-examination from Geragos, who is 4 months pregnant.

Jane -- who is testifying under a pseudonym to protect her identity -- was talking about an argument with Diddy over a Chanel bag he allegedly gave to another woman.

Feds are poking around a home owned by the two suspects charged with kidnapping and torturing an Italian man for weeks inside a swanky multimillion-dollar New York City townhouse in an alleged scheme to obtain a Bitcoin password.

Cryptocurrency investor John Woeltz and his alleged accomplice, Swiss businessman William Duplessie, own an estate in Kentucky ... and the property is currently crawling with law enforcement.

Federal agents from the ATF and officers from the Kentucky State Police and the New York Police Department are currently executing two warrants at the property ... sources with knowledge have confirmed to TMZ.

Massive rough patch for Macklemore -- masked bandits hit his Seattle home, swiping thousands in jewelry and bear-spraying the nanny while kids were inside the house.

Check out this dramatic doorbell footage -- the nanny, shaken and desperate, banged on a neighbor’s door, seeking refuge ... after two men wearing black outfits, vests and face masks broke into the home very early Saturday morning through a patio door.

The nanny reportedly told police the intruders sprayed her in the face with bear mace and demanded to know where the jewels were kept ... she said one of the men yelled at her, "Where are the jewels, b****?"

8:00 AM PT -- In an earlier version ... TMZ inaccurately reported that Justin Baldoni's lawyers filed a motion to dismiss Blake Lively's claims in her lawsuit.

Blake Lively may have thought her legal drama with Justin Baldoni was finally behind her after her stunning court victory ... but JB's lawyer says the case is just getting started.

As you know ... Blake scored a big win Monday when a judge tossed out the claims Baldoni made against Lively, her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and the New York Times in a $400 million lawsuit.

Baldoni accused them of defamation over an article about Justin's ugly feud with Blake behind the scenes of their 2024 film, "It Ends With Us." He insisted it was all part of a smear campaign against him.

Rafael Nadal just smashed another record -- and this time, it wasn't on the court -- it was on the auction block!

The tennis legend's match-used racket from his 2017 French Open championship win just sold at auction for $157K -- making it the most expensive tennis racket ever sold.

Bidding for the item closed on Sunday night ... with the sale price topping the previous record of $139,700, also held by Rafa, for his '22 Australian Open racket.

Ben Crump's picked his side in the Elon Musk and Donald Trump beef ... but, he's not backing a personality, he says he's backing the better idea -- and, he doesn't want the "One Big Beautiful Bill" to pass through the Senate.

We caught up with the civil rights activist and attorney at WayMaker Men's Summit -- a part of BET weekend -- and asked him about the fight between POTUS and his former advisor ... and, he doesn't directly say he's on Elon's side -- but, he does think this spending bill is terrible.

Crump rips the bill for making cuts to Medicaid -- the medical assistance program for people with lower incomes.

Elon Musk and Donald Trump are going at it so savagely, you’d need a reminder these two once had a full-blown bromance.

Just take a peek at our gallery of the pair grinning together and living it up like besties -- Elon was full MAGA, backing Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, showing up at rallies, the whole nine. And Trump? He couldn’t stop gushing about Tesla and Elon's galaxy-sized brain.

In fact, the President was practically part of the fam, even kickin’ it with Elon's son X Æ A-Xii like it was just another day in the West Wing.

Fast-forward to now ... that bromance has crashed hard. Elon’s slamming Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill" as a "disgusting abomination" and even calling for his impeachment -- while Trump’s firing back, branding Elon "crazy" and threatening to yank his government contracts.

Shaq Mason's officially entering his 10th season in the NFL, and to celebrate the big milestone, the offensive lineman treated himself to an iced-out pendant -- of himself!!

The 31-year-old guard -- who's suited up for the New England Patriots, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and, most recently, the Houston Texans -- got the new bling from Suny The Jeweler, TMZ Sports is told ... and check it out, it's awesome.

It features a detailed mini-Mason -- complete with his No. 69 jersey -- plus logos from every team he's played for during his decade-long career.

Diddy's ex-girlfriend "Jane" is testifying in detail about how she says the freak-offs worked during their 4-year relationship ... zeroing in on a male escort with whom she says they routinely hooked up with and paid for his services.

Jane - the pseudonym for one of Diddy's exes on the witness stand -- was taking questions from the prosecution on Day 18 of the Diddy trial ... and she brought up a man known as "Sly."

She said she and Diddy were impressed by images of "Sly's size," prompting her to reach out to him via Instagram.

Brit Eady is suing Bravo over a jaw-dropping photo on posters Kenya Moore handed out at her salon opening of what looked like Brit engaged in a sex act last year.

In her lawsuit, Eady claims the posters appeared to show her performing oral sex ... and she says Bravo "falsely yet unmistakably implied" it was her in the b***-job pic. And she's looking for $20 million in damages.

ICYMI ... the Kenya Moore Hair Spa opened in June 2024 -- and Kenya handed out posters that appeared to show Eady in the oral act. Eady was not present at the opening, but she blew up about it when she found out. Kenya was subsequently booted from the series.

The alleged victim in the bizarre crypto kidnap-torture case is starring in yet another short film  -- but this time it's no sex tape ... but rather a new video of his daring escape from the "House of Horrors" in NYC.

TMZ obtained exclusive footage of Italian entrepreneur Michael Valentino Teofrasto Carturan hightailing it down a sidewalk in Manhattan's posh Nolita neighborhood after he broke out of the townhouse his alleged captors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, were renting. Cops say the three men were business partners in a Bitcoin venture.

The video -- dated May 23 -- starts off with a uniformed NYPD traffic enforcement agent strolling down the sidewalk, followed by Carturan -- clad in a black outfit with no shoes on -- frantically running up behind him.

Jay-Z will have an extra close eye on the NBA Finals this year ... 'cause the hip-hop mogul just placed a gigantic wager on the Oklahoma City Thunder winning the 'chip in five games!

TMZ Sports has learned Hov threw down $1 MILLION with his good friend Michael Rubin's Fanatics Sportsbook ... and if he's right, he will profit $2,300,000, on top of the milli he wagered (he'll walk away with $3.3m total).

The Thunder, led by this year's NBA MVP, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, are heavy favorites to beat Tyrese Haliburton's Indiana Pacers.

But, Jay's bet isn't as simple as picking the overwhelming fav to win ... it's gotta be in five games, meaning the Thunder cannot lose more than once in the best-of-seven series.

It's a bit of a longshot ... though if Jay-Z ultimately loses the wager, don't cry too hard for his bank account. He's worth around $2.5 BILLION, according to Forbes.

The woman who just overtook Taylor Swift as the youngest self-made female billionaire isn’t letting that get to her head -- she's shaking off the Taylor Swift "dethroning" talk, and making one thing clear ... she’s a proud Swiftie first, mogul second.

Lucy Guo -- the 30-year-old Scale A.I. co-founder with a billion-dollar-plus empire -- tells TMZ Taylor’s the icon, and yep, she fully fangirled when she met her at Coachella last year.

Lucy kept the Swift praise coming … saying Taylor was super chill, and they even bonded over knowing folks in Ice Spice’s circle.