Money

Kanye West is being ordered to sit down for a deposition in a lawsuit filed against him by a former employee at his Donda Academy ... and the judge set a strict deadline.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a judge in Los Angeles on Tuesday ordered Kanye to appear for a deposition within 30 days ... and Yeezy has to show up in person to answer questions.

The depo is for a lawsuit a man named Trevor Phillips filed against Kanye in April 2024 ... in the suit, Phillips claims he worked for Kanye at Donda and says Ye frequently shared antisemitic views with staffers and once announced he wanted to shave students heads and intended to put a jail at the school.

Hulk Hogan granted his daughter Brooke her wish to be removed from his will ... because she isn't gonna receive a penny of his almost $5 million in assets, according to new court documents.

The WWE legend's son Nick filed court documents Tuesday -- first obtained by Us Weekly -- which say Hulk left behind $200,000 in cryptocurrency, $799,000 in personal property and intellectual property, as well as his right to publicity, worth about $4 million.

Nick left blank the monetary amount for a possible medical malpractice lawsuit stemming from Hulk's alleged botched neck surgery in May, months before his death.

A cruise ship passenger took a pretty major gamble ... intentionally going overboard, allegedly to dodge the massive debt he'd run up while onboard!

Federal officers have arrested Jey Gonzalez-Diaz after they say he jumped from a cruise ship into the ocean during a U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection at the end of a week-long cruise around the Caribbean.

Gonzalez-Diaz was then brought to shore by someone riding a Jet Ski, according to CBS News, and what appears to be surveillance video shows the moment he was pulled out of the water. Quite the getaway!

Whoopi Goldberg may be 69 years old, but the showbiz vet is NOT eyeing retirement ... mainly because she "can't afford" it.

The Oscar winner revealed Tuesday she has no plans to exit "The View" after 18 LONG seasons -- but it's not her love of daytime TV hosting keeping Whoopi on the air ... instead, she's only working late in life due to not marrying "well."

Lil Tay is speaking out against Sophie Rain who is claiming that Tay fibbed about the amount of money she has made on OnlyFans ... saying it's all just projection and if Sophie doesn't accept her $60mil offer to box out the beef, Bhad Bhabie is up next on the block.

We spoke with Lil Tay about why she thinks Sophie Rain is disputing her financial success and is refusing to fight her, and she seems to think Sophie is just upset her title of OnlyFans queen has been revoked.

Check the clip ... Tay tells us if the boxing match does ever come into fruition, she will knock Sophie out first punch ... so Sophie can say "whatever the f*ck she wants to say" because Tay is ready and waiting for her to step into the ring.

Expect T-Pain to turn heads even more than usual around Atlanta ... thanks to his new custom-built Alpha Ford Raptor -- courtesy of the guys from Truck Dynasty!!!

Jerry Eisenband from the new Discovery series "Truck Dynasty" tells TMZ Hip Hop, T-Pain traded in the Ford Bronco they previously designed for him, and took home a sleek gray and fire-red 2024 Ford Raptor R.

If you need more evidence Jeffrey Epstein was one sick pup ... then look no further than his 50th birthday book — which features drawings of his favorite subject — underage girls!

Congress, as you know, obtained a copy of ol' Jeffrey's Bday book and released it publicly Monday, showing artwork from an unidentified artist (or pervert!) that will surely gross some people out.

The documents, obtained by TMZ, include a drawing depicting a man handing multi-colored balloons to a group of pig-tailed girls with "1983" scribbled at the bottom.

It's not exactly clear if the guy is Epstein because he has a full head of dark hair instead of his famous salt and pepper look. However, Epstein was just 30 in 1983, so he probably wasn't graying much yet.

One of Emmitt Smith's former business associates is asking the court for the right to countersue the NFL legend ... claiming the ex-running back defrauded him.

Smith initially sued Johnny Wimbrey back in Dec. 2024 -- alleging he gave Wimbrey and several other defendants hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest ... but claims the funds were "misappropriated for other purposes."

This week, though, Wimbrey filed to amend a previously dismissed lawsuit against Smith -- alleging the Dallas Cowboys great was actually the one who caused the financial losses.

Two months after launching their relationship, Megan Thee Stallion and Klay Thompson are once again stepping out in public ... this time at a star-studded Jay-Z event!

TMZ Sports has learned Klay, 35, and Meg, 30, plan to hit up Hov and billionaire Michael Rubin's REFORM Alliance Casino Gala at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City on Saturday, one of their few public cameos together.

Of course, the future Hall of Famer first got people talking about him and Meg on July 12 ... when he posted a pic kissing a woman whose back was to the camera. Fans speculated it was the rapper.

Kristin Cavallari is rarely at a loss for words ... unless you're talking about Jay Cutler blasting her for claiming she didn't receive a dime in their divorce.

TMZ caught up with the reality star Friday at LAX ... and the beautiful blonde did her best to maneuver away from our camera guy, but she didn't have much luck until the very end.

Check out the clip ... it starts with our cameraman filming Kristin walking swiftly out of the arrivals terminal into the passenger pickup area ... our photog stays right with her the whole way to her vehicle, peppering her with questions about Jay.

Damon Dash is claiming he hit "Roc" bottom and has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy ... he says he's staring down 8 figures of debt but only has a few grand in assets ... and only $100 in cash!!!

According to court docs, 54-year-old Dash estimates he's currently in the hole with somewhere between one to 49 creditors, and only has a paltry amount of assets valued at $4,350 ... versus $5,200 in monthly expenses and $25,303,049.47 in liabilities.

One of those people he says he owes money to is Josh Webber of Muddy Water Pictures LLC, who was in a lawsuit with Dash stemming from their failed "Dear Frank" film.

One famed Los Angeles-area residence is shedding its Hollywood past thanks to an extensive remodel ... and it's ready for a new owner, TMZ has learned.

The Encino Hills mansion featured in 1984's "The Karate Kid" has hit the market for a whopping $5.85 million ... but fans of the martial arts flick likely won't recognize the abode after its glow-up.

Check it out ... the house has undergone a complete top-to-bottom remodel, turning the 5-bedroom, 5-bath estate into a modern design gem. They did a lot more than "wax on, wax off" for this remodel, too!!!

Judge Judy doesn’t play. She's got a message for women -- if a woman can’t make her own money, she’s basically handing someone else the remote control of her life!

On Amy Poehler’s 'Good Hang' podcast this week, Judy's clear that being a homemaker is fine ... with a word of caution -- if you’ve got no income of your own, your potential exit plan doesn’t exist.

The TV legend says not every woman without a way to support herself ends up being controlled -- and it’s not always obvious or aggressive when that happens -- but the option to change her own circumstances should be part of her mindset.

Steve Ballmer is adamantly denying the L.A. Clippers had a role in Kawhi Leonard's massive endorsement deal with Aspiration ... claiming the contract came months after the NBA superstar already agreed to an extension with the team.

The billionaire owner opened up on the recent bombshell report on ESPN on Thursday ... kicking things off by saying the Clippers have always abided by the league's salary cap circumvention rules, as it's "the right thing to do."

Ballmer then went into detail on his relationship with the now-bankrupt company ... saying the team was approached regarding a potential sponsorship deal, and he felt it was a "match made in heaven" based on its emphasis on carbon neutrality.

Darth Vader's lightsaber might be red, but its former owners are only seeing piles of green right now ... 'cause they sold the prop for millions.

The screen-matched Hero Dueling Lightsaber used by Vader in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" sold at auction earlier this week for $3.6 million -- even higher than the original $1M-to-$3M estimate.

We caught up with Brandon Alinger -- COO of Propstore, the company that sold the saber -- as the item hit auction ... and, he told us the company's previous "Star Wars" prop record sale was $2.3 million. Looks like The Force was just stronger with this one.

Lil Tay is making headlines for allegedly rolling in dough after being on OnlyFans for only two weeks ... but another star who's raked in millions on the adult site is calling BS.

Here's the deal ... Lil Tay claims she's made $15 million since she debuted on OF ... and she used the Benjamins to take a shot at dethroning Sophie Rain, who also made bank on the site pretty damn fast.

Sophie tells TMZ … she finds it very hard to believe Lil Tay has made the millions she claims in such a short amount of time … 'cause that kind of cash takes months to pile up -- and you need a damn good team to help market you!