Money

Steve Smith is clearly trying his best to remain in good spirits as he faces a lawsuit for allegedly ruining a marriage earlier this year ... appearing to crack a joke about the situation while live on an NFL broadcast Thursday night.

The two-time All-Pro wideout was providing color commentary during the Panthers vs. Steelers game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte ... when one of his boothmates started reading off a promo for Bojangles.

The ad ensured Panthers backers would get a free chicken sandwich if they scanned a QR code on their screens ... and when the convo turned to if Smith would add a few more food items to fans' bags on his dime, he seemed to reference how he's currently battling a civil case in the North Carolina court system.

Donald Trump has nabbed a major legal victory in his "yuge" civil fraud case ... a New York appeals court has just thrown out a half-billion dollar judgment against the president.

On Thursday, the New York appeals court announced the ruling with 5 judges voting to do away with the massive judgment -- which was $355 million plus interest! In short, Trump stood to lose over $500 million ... and large parts of his business empire, but not anymore.

Why? Because the appeals court deemed the fine "excessive" ... with some of the judges noting it could've violated DT's Eighth Amendment rights -- which protects citizens from excessive bail, fines, and cruel and unusual punishment.

Fat Joe isn't fighting gray hair alone ... the hip hop legend just signed former UFC star Brendan Schaub as an ambassador for his hair dye company!

TMZ Sports has learned Joey Crack's Rewind It 10 recently brought Schaub, a top 10-ranked UFC heavyweight turned podcast host, on board ... and the rapper's stoked to get to work.

“Brendan Schaub brings authenticity to everything he does, so it was only right to have him join the winning team at Rewind It 10,” Joe told us.

“His influence as an athlete and podcaster is going to help us reach newer audiences and kill the stigma about men coloring their hair and beards.”

Schaub joins an already star-studded team ... with Travis Kelce, DJ Khaled, and Tyson Beckford, among others, already hocking the products.

Joe co-founded the company, which already has over $50 million in sales, in late 2023, motivated to knock out the stigma associated with hair dye.

Jay Cutler is adamant Kristin Cavallari received plenty of cash from him in their divorce years ago ... and he says her claiming otherwise is "borderline slander."

Cavallari told her "Honestly Cavallari: The Headline Tour" listeners earlier this summer she never got "a penny" from Cutler following their split ... but in the latest episode of his "Take It Outside" podcast, the former NFL star insisted that's B.S.

"Yeah, she didn't get a penny," he said with a smirk, before adding she actually got "a lot, a lot, a lot of [dollar] bills."

Kim Kardashian kickstarted her week by causing some serious cabin pressure -- 'cause she stripped down for one heck of a sky-high tease on her way to Korea!

The reality star's Monday IG was straight-up NSFW -- flying private with sister Khloé Kardashian and pal La La Anthony in fur coats, before stripping down in the jet bathroom to flaunt her famous cleavage.

Kim slipped in some major SKIMS promo for the near-naked snap -- rocking shapewear hiked up high, though it barely contained all that voluptuousness.

Fifty years later and "Jaws" still has a ferocious bite -- with Bruce the shark’s bug-eyed stare haunting us all the way to the auction block ... and you’re gonna need a great white green stack of cash to reel it in!

The OG animatronic eyes from one of the three full-size sharks will soon be up for grabs -- photo-matched to BTS shots, still on the original armature, and just as creepily lifeless as they were back in 1975.

Special effects legend Robert A. Mattey gifted the eyes to a neighbor in 1980 -- after they’d literally watched Bruce come to life in his garage. Decades later, the orbs are still holding up like they were built yesterday!

Brad Pitt's Los Angeles house -- the one that was broken into earlier this summer -- is officially on its way to a new owner ... but TMZ has learned the sale was already in motion well before the burglary.

Real estate sources tell us ... Pitt's hillside 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom Los Feliz property is currently in escrow in an off-market deal. We're told there was a flurry of interest as soon as word got out -- no surprise, considering the home has Hollywood history and Brad’s star power.

Brad purchased "The Steel House" from Aileen Getty ... who'd bought it from James Valentine of Maroon 5 in 2019.

Sports fans with deep pockets are currently in a bidding war over a one-of-a-kind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant basketball card expected to sell for over $6 million.

Check out the card -- it's from the 2007-08 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection and features autographs from each basketball legend alongside different NBA logo patches. Kobe's signature parallels a blue, white and red patch, while Michael's patch is gold and white.

The unique card is up for grabs on Heritage Auctions' site and has a bid of just over $5 million as of Saturday morning ... with the final auction price expected to be at least $6.1 million.

Former WWE Superstar and two-time RAW Tag Team Champion Matt Riddle is raking in serious cash outside the ring -- thanks to a side hustle that's turning plenty of heads.

Riddle joined the latest episode of TMZ’s "Inside The Ring" podcast and revealed his OnlyFans account is doing "a lot" for his bank account, crediting much of the success to gay men who watch wrestling and find him "extremely attractive."

He says he keeps it pretty tame -- nothing "too crazy" -- usually just rocking a Speedo and doing workouts on camera ... but the results have been a huge financial win.

David Geffen is firing back at his estranged husband ... he says the guy's claims that Geffen promised to financially support him for life are bogus and a textbook shakedown attempt.

The billionaire just responded to a lawsuit filed by his estranged husband, David Andrew Armstrong (AKA Donovan Michaels) ... and Geffen flat out denies ever making assurances to take care of Armstrong financially for the rest of his life.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Geffen says Armstrong's claims are ludicrous and part of a contrived attempt to humiliate Geffen in public and extract a financial settlement.

3:48 PM PT -- Bri Stern's lawyer Tony Buzbee tells TMZ ... "As expected, Andrew Tate filed a counterclaim against Brianna Stern. This follows the lawsuit Ms. Stern filed against Tate in March for violent sexual assault. The tone of Mr. Tate’s counterclaim isn’t a surprise. He has openly proclaimed himself a woman-hater. He had the audacity to tweet: 'Literally everything females say is r******d.' Tate brags about how he treats women. This is a quote from him: 'Slap, slap, grab choke, shut up b*tch, sex.' When they were together, Tate told Ms. Stern 'If you don’t start being good, . . . I will f***ing rape you. Because that’s what you deserve.'

"He also told her 'if you ever f*** with me, I will f***ing kill you. I mean it. I will kill you.' Tate’s delusion is that he’s so important that he’s above the law. He isn’t. His counterclaim is junk and will be dismissed. More importantly, I can’t wait to get him in front of a Los Angeles jury.  He will finally be held accountable for his years of his outrageous and harmful conduct. Although Tate has attempted to scrub his social media, unfortunately for him, we have it all. Tate is nothing more than a big mouthed bully, but this time he picked the wrong person. Ms. Stern won’t be bullied."

Andrew Tate is going on the legal offensive against his ex-girlfriend Bri Stern ... he's now countersuing her, claiming she defamed him with what he says are fabricated allegations of sexual assault and abuse.

In new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Andrew claims Bri orchestrated a deliberate smear campaign against him based on false claims that he choked her during sex despite telling him to stop.

Andrew claims Bri spread the false allegations in the media and online ... and he says she was out for profit, fame, and the destruction of his reputation.

Priscilla Presley exploited her own daughter's health crisis to gain control of the Elvis Presley Estate, allegedly yanking life support from Lisa Marie when her heart stopped, according to a new lawsuit -- but Priscilla strongly denies the claim.

Elvis' ex-wife is being sued by her former business partners, and in the $50 million lawsuit, they lay out serious allegations -- claiming "Priscilla pulled the plug within hours of Lisa being admitted" in January 2023 after suffering cardiac arrest.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, the plaintiff's claim Priscilla made that fateful decision before Lisa Marie's daughter, Riley Keough, was able to get to the hospital -- and, despite Lisa Marie having signed a directive to "prolong her life."

A crisis PR firm in Texas working for Justin Baldoni and Wayfarer Studios in their war against Blake Lively asked for more money to battle on his behalf ... and it looks like at least some of the price was because of Blake's former bestie Taylor Swift and her legion of fans.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, someone from Justin's team asked for a $30K fee to deal with possible online blowback from Swifties.

An exhibit filed in the Baldoni-Lively case is an email among PR execs on Baldoni's side ... it's from August 7, 2024 and it lays out their game plan.

While some are calling Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford the most anticipated boxing match of the year, Lil Tay's trying to give the bout a run for its money -- calling out OnlyFans model Sophie Rain for a fight.

The musician/social media personality laid out the offer to the Bop House member on social media ... saying she'll give Rain $60 million to step inside the ring.

"Don't pretend you're above it all just because you're scared I'm gonna beat the brakes off you. I'm ready for you. I've been training."

The owner of the suburban Albuquerque home from "Breaking Bad" ain't budging on their nearly $4 mil price tag -- claiming it’s a steal, especially since the next owner could cash in by turning it into the ultimate fan magnet!

TMZ spoke to current owner Joanne Padilla -- whose late parents owned the famous pad -- and she’s hoping whoever drops $3,995,000 on it will finally give fans what they’ve been dying for ... turning it into a full-on museum.

Joanne tells us the 1,900-square-foot, 4-bed, 1-bath home could rake in some serious cash as a museum -- even 12 years after the show ended. She says they still have an average of 300 carloads of fans a day from all over the world who come to New Mexico just to see it.

Taylor Swift looks like she has big plans related to her new album ... her company has filed a trademark covering just about everything under the sun tied to its title.

Swift's management group, TAS Rights Management LLC, filed docs to lock up the rights to "TLOAS" Monday evening ... just hours before the pop star made her bombshell announcement about her upcoming album, "The Life of a Showgirl."

According to the new trademark filing -- obtained by TMZ -- Taylor's company is apparently trying to corner the market in everything having to do with her music ... from recordings to things like musical instruments, guitar picks and wireless speakers.