Money

"Below Deck" alum Emile Kotze claims producers portrayed him as “immature” and “sexually aggressive,” and now he’s taking them to court over it -- but the producers say his suit should be tossed out because they're protected under the First Amendment ... TMZ has learned.

Emile filed a federal lawsuit in New York demanding $850 million in damages from NBCUniversal and the reality show producers.

Rob Rausch is a man of his word ... because he bought Maura Higgins a luxury purse after promising her one on the 'Traitors' reunion show.

Check out these photos showing the 'Traitors' season four winner buying a Birkin bag Wednesday in New York City.

Rob was accompanied by comedian -- and "Therapuss" podcast host -- Jake Shane for his shopping spree at Hermes.

Dennis Hopper’s family is locked in an intense legal battle … with the late actor’s daughter claiming his widow interfered with a binding deal to manage the Dennis' image rights and legacy.

According to the lawsuit, obtained by TMZ, Hayward Luxury -- a luxury goods brand founded by Hopper’s daughter Marin Hopper -- claims Victoria Duffy Hopper worked behind the scenes to derail a signed contract that gave Hayward the right to control Dennis Hopper's various trademarks and rights of publicity.

The suit says after Dennis Hopper died in May 2010, the Hopper Art Trust was created to promote and manage his artwork -- including photographs, paintings, and sculptures -- along with his intellectual property.

Hayward says it struck a deal in 2018 with the trust to purchase certain intellectual property rights tied to Hopper, claiming Hayward paid around $800,000 in the first few years of the agreement to invest in the rights it had purchased.

Rapper Quavo allegedly failed to pay a massive seven-figure tax bill ... and now the IRS has hit him with a massive lien over the unpaid amounts, TMZ has learned.

According to docs filed in January, Uncle Sam hit Quavo -- legal name Quavois Marshall -- with a federal tax lien for money they say he owed for 3 separate years.

Teen tech whiz Zach Yadegari is giving us a major update on his life after he sold his calorie-counting app a year after we first learned about it ... and he's now considering his options after half a year in college.

Zach stopped by "TMZ Live" Tuesday and spilled a few details about the multimillion-dollar deal selling the company he started at age 16 ... now 19, he's taking a "gap semester" after half his freshman year at the University of Miami ... one of the few schools that accepted him somehow, with his multimillion-dollar brain!

You might remember ... he told us last year he got rejected from most of the Ivies -- and now he admits his time at Miami could be wrapping up early ... after taking a cue from Steve Jobs and taking classes on just whatever he's found interesting. Watch the full clip for more on how that experiment's gone so far.

Bethenny Frankel is allegedly dragging her feet on being deposed in a multimillion-dollar battle over issues with her divorce ... but the reality star's lawyer adamantly denies she's dragging it out ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ, Bethenny’s former lawyer, Jamie Schreck, claims the 'RHONY' alum has not been providing dates for her to be deposed ... since 2022.

Jamie said Bethenny has “abandoned” the case, “failing to prosecute or do anything on it for nearly four years.” He said she has not responded to his offer to settle the case for $25K ... in addition to not providing available dates to be deposed. Bethenny and her team have since engaged with the suit and dispute she ever abandoned the case.

Tyrese Gibson is honoring his pal’s legacy in the fast lane ... announcing nearly $1 million has been raised in honor of his late "Fast & Furious" costar Paul Walker's charity.

Tyrese hit the stage with Paul's brother Cody at FuelFest in West Palm Beach, FL, over the weekend ... telling the 20,000-plus crowd that Paul’s nonprofit, Reach Out WorldWide, had officially surpassed the $1M milestone.

TMZ has learned that Tyrese got a little bit ahead of it ... but they have nearly reached $1 million! The org is confident they’ll cross the full mark by year’s end ... after seven years of steady fundraising.

That little black puck Jack Hughes buried in overtime? It might be worth seven figures.

Experts at SCP Auctions tell TMZ Sports the game-used puck that found the net on the golden goal in Milan could fetch $1 million if it ever hit the auction block -- a staggering number for a piece of vulcanized rubber that delivered Team USA its first men’s Olympic hockey gold in 46 years.

Of course, it won’t be for sale anytime soon.

Pinky Cole, the Slutty Vegan founder who is new to 'RHOA', filed for bankruptcy ... and it looks like she's got a good chunk of debt.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Pinky filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy ... and she says she owes the U.S. Small Business Administration $1.2 million.

What's more, Pinky says she owes another $192,000 in total to the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Cardi B is demanding blogger Tasha K show up for an examination of her finances in person, and to turn over her bank records ... just months after the two ended their battle over millions of dollars owed, TMZ has learned.

According to docs from Tasha's bankruptcy case in Florida, obtained by TMZ, the "WAP" rapper is demanding Tasha's company produce records relating to her income from YouTube and other social media accounts. Cardi also wants copies of Tasha's tax returns.

An iconic movie moment from the '90s is hitting the auction block ... it's the mechanical rhinoceros that gave birth to Ace Ventura in a Jim Carrey sequel.

Yes, the butt birth rhino from "Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls" is up for grabs over at Propstore's upcoming auction ... with the movie prop expected to fetch between $4,000 and $8,000.

It's the same rhino from the movie scenes where Ace is inside spying on some bad guys ... before escaping through the rhino's butt in a comedic exit.

Denise Richards is the one writing checks in her messy divorce from Aaron Phypers.

According to court documents, obtained by TMZ, a judge on Wednesday ordered Denise to pay Aaron $5K per month in temporary spousal support while the divorce plays out. The payments are due on the 5th of each month starting March 5 and will continue until further order of the court.

In addition, the docs state Denise must foot Aaron $25K in attorney's fees, plus an additional $5K that may be used for a forensic accountant. The $30K total will be paid in three $10K installments at the end of March, April and May.

The ruling stems from Aaron's October 2025 request for spousal support. Both he and Denise were sworn in and testified before the judge made the decision.

Aaron Carter’s mom is embroiled in a legal battle with the late pop star’s ex-fiancée, Melanie Martin, over what she claims are "illegal withdrawals" from his accounts ... TMZ has learned.

Jane Schneck filed court docs opposing the final accounting for Aaron’s estate. She said she had various issues with the accounting report submitted by the court-appointed estate administrator.

In her filing, Jane said she believed Aaron’s name, image and likeness were worth more than listed. Aaron died on November 5, 2022.

Adin Ross has officially locked down the iconic "Breaking Bad" house ... dropping $1.3M to win the full-blown bidding war, TMZ has learned.

The 4-bedroom, 1-bath Albuquerque, NM property had been sitting on the market for more than a year with a $4M asking price -- until the owners took it off the market.

They hired a new realtor, Alicia Feil of Keller Williams Realty, who relisted it for $400k earlier this month.

As we first told you, the streamer came won the bidding war after the homeowners received around 20 legit offers for the TV-famous spot.

'Golden Bachelor' star Mel Owens paid off the nearly $1 million he owed his ex-wife, Fabiana Owens, under their divorce settlement ... TMZ has learned.

According to court docs, it looks like the reality star has officially resolved the 7-figure debt he owed Fabiana in their December 2024 divorce settlement.

The divorce turned ugly in late 2025, when Fabiana told the court Mel had yet to pay the money owed to her, despite him being on "The Golden Bachelor." She asked for Mel’s 5-bedroom, 3-bathroom, 2,768-square-foot home to be sold off to come up with the cash if he didn’t cough up the dough.

Eric Dane's ex-girlfriend Priya Jain has donated $10,000 to his GoFundMe following his death last week.

Priya and Eric dated for about a year after first being linked in November 2024 ... and her quiet donation comes as Hollywood pals and fans alike continue to dump money into the fundraising page, which is meant to support his two teenage daughters after he lost his life to ALS.

We've had an eye on the GoFundMe ... and it is nearing a half a mill in donations ... including from major Hollywood names such as Hailey Bieber and "Euphoria" creator Sam Levinson -- who dropped $20K each. Other sizeable contributions have come from Gwyneth Paltrow's husband, Brad Falchuk, and Lala Kent's ex, producer Randall Emmett, who threw in $10K each. Madonna's longtime manager Guy Oseary and Disney President Dana Walden also gave $5K each.

As we told you, 53-year-old Eric died last Thursday after being diagnosed with ALS in spring 2025. He is survived by his once-estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart and his two daughters, Billie and Georgia.