Money

R. Kelly se defiende de una enorme sentencia en su contra en una demanda que involucra a mujeres que afirmaron haber sido víctimas de él... dice que no sabía de la demanda y no debe ser considerado responsable.

Así es la cosa, seis mujeres recibieron 10.5 millones de dólares en agosto después de demandarlo a él y a su ex gerente, Donnell Russell, alegando que eran responsables de un esfuerzo por cerrar una proyección de diciembre de 2018 en Nueva York de la docuserie "Surviving R. Kelly" con una amenaza de tiroteo masivo.

Según los nuevos documentos legales obtenidos por TMZ, Kelly afirma que se habría defendido de la demanda si hubiera sabido sobre el asunto.

El cantante en desgracia afirma que su cabeza ya está dando vueltas sobre sus diversos casos penales y procesamientos y que ha sido demandado tantas veces últimamente que apenas puede mantenerse al día con todo desde su celda de la prisión en Carolina del Norte.

Kelly también afirma que también ha barajado los equipos legales desde que fue encerrado y dice que esta demanda debe haber deslizado a través de las grietas, o no han sido entregados a él detrás de las rejas en absoluto.

Aun si hubiese recibido la demanda, Kelly dice que no sería capaz de entenderla o distinguirla de cualquier otro documento legal, diciendo que confía en sus abogados para que le expliquen las cosas porque "no puedo leer o entender palabras más allá de la de un niño de primaria".

Lo que es más, Kelly afirma que Donnell nunca fue su manager como la demanda afirmó y dice que no tenía ni idea de que Russell estaba tratando de detener la proyección de "Surviving".

Kelly dice que no le pidió a Donnell que lo hiciera y dice que si Russell hizo una amenaza de tiroteo para detener la proyección, "lo hizo por sus propias razones."

R. Kelly is firing back against a huge judgment leveled against him in a lawsuit involving women who claimed they were victimized by him ... he says he didn't know about the suit and shouldn't be held accountable.

Here's the deal ... six women were awarded $10.5 million in August after suing him and his former manager, Donnell Russell, claiming they were responsible for an effort to shut down a December 2018 NYC screening of the 'Surviving R. Kelly' docuseries with a mass shooting threat.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Kelly claims he would have defended himself against the lawsuit if he knew about the darn thing.

The disgraced singer claims his head is already spinning over his various criminal cases and prosecutions ... and he's been sued so many times lately he can hardly keep up with it all from his prison cell in North Carolina.

Kelly also claims he's also shuffled legal teams since being locked up ... and he says this lawsuit must have slipped through the cracks, or not have been delivered to him behind bars at all.

Even if the lawsuit had been received, Kelly says he wouldn't be able to understand it or distinguish it from any other legal documents ... saying he relies on his lawyers to explain things to him because "I cannot read or understand words beyond that of a grade schooler."

What's more, Kelly claims Donnell was never his manager as the lawsuit claimed ... and he says he had no idea Russell was trying to stop the 'Surviving' screening.

Kelly says he didn't ask Donnell to do so and says if Russell did make a mass shooting threat to stop the screening, "he did that for his own reasons."

Martin Luther King Jr. planeaba un viaje a la Unión Soviética tras sobrevivir a un intento de asesinato y su carta explicando los motivos de la visita está a la venta.

El famoso líder de los derechos civiles fue a una firma de libros en Harlem solo dos meses después de ser apuñalado, cuando le escribió al Consejo Nacional de Iglesias, explicando sus motivaciones detrás de una visita a la URSS.

La carta de 1958 esboza 6 razones para querer programar una escala en la Unión Soviética en su camino de regreso de la India, incluyendo el deseo de investigar por qué los soviéticos seguían siendo religiosos a pesar del ateísmo patrocinado por el Estado.

El Dr. King también le dijo al Consejo Nacional de Iglesias que quería reunirse con los bautistas en la Unión Soviética y averiguar cómo las políticas soviéticas afectan a las minorías.

Algo que llama la atención, es que el señor King calculó que el viaje le costaría 35 dólares diarios sumando hoteles, trenes, aviones, intérpretes, carros y choferes... lo que hoy en día equivale a unos 370 dólares diarios.

La rara pieza historica se va a la venta a través de Moments In Time por $54.000, después de haber sido conservado durante años por un coleccionista privado.

Martin Luther King Jr. was planning a trip to the Soviet Union after surviving an assassination attempt, and his letter explaining his reasons for the visit is up for grabs.

The famed civil rights leader was only 2 months removed from being stabbed at a book signing in Harlem when he wrote to the National Council of Churches, explaining his motivations behind a visit to the USSR.

MLK's 1958 letter outlines 6 reasons for the stopover, on his way back from India, including a desire to investigate why Soviet citizens were still religious despite state-sponsored atheism.

Dr. King also told the National Council of Churches he wanted to meet with Baptists in the communist nation to figure out how Soviet policies affected minorities.

One really eye-opening part of the letter is the price ... MLK estimated the trip would cost a whopping $35 per day for his hotels, trains, planes, interpreters, cars and chauffeurs. Yeah, different time -- today that would be about $370 per day.

The rare piece of MLK history is going up for sale through Moments In Time for $54,000 ... after being stored for years by a private collector.

Lena Waithe is the latest celeb to fall victim to smash-and-grab burglars ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... a group of burglars smashed a window to the actress/comedian's Los Angeles-area home last week while she was out of town.

Our sources say the thieves made off with $200k worth of jewelry. One of Lena's staff discovered the break-in after coming to the home the following day and finding the front door unlocked.

Lena, best known as Denise from "Master of None" and creator of "The Chi," isn't alone ... several other stars have fallen victim to similar crimes in the past couple months.

Burglars in ski masks smashed one of Keanu Reeves' windows and entered his home in early December, and "Entourage" star Kevin Connolly's house was given similar treatment on Christmas Eve.

Model Abigail Ratchford might've endured the most terrifying situation of all ... actually being in the upstairs bedroom when someone broke in.

Tom Brady never netted a dollar playing professional baseball ... but a card of him in uniform just made one seller a boatload of cash.

A baseball card of the seven-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback sold for $158,600 online Saturday after a contentious bidding war on the site Goldin.

As we previously reported ... the happy seller is a Minnesota card collector who pulled the one-of-a-kind signed Bowman Tom Brady Montreal Expos Superfractor card ... talk about a lucky draw!

TB12 played catcher for his high school baseball team, and the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) took him in the 18th round, 507th overall ... not high enough to entice Tom away from his University of Michigan scholarship.

The rest is history ... Brady's gone down as the greatest QB of all time, a surefire Hall of Famer -- though it hasn't stopped people from imagining what could've been.

Topps put out a commercial reimagining Brady's life as an MLB player instead ... guy ended up being the G.O.A.T. in a different sport (no surprise there).

Noah Knigga is looking to give the people what they want ... telling TMZ Sports he's gotten a ton of requests to sell jerseys and merch after becoming an internet sensation -- and he wants to help make it happen!!

The two-sport junior from Lawrenceburg H.S. in Indiana went viral after the masses got wind of his unique surname (relax, it's pronounced Kuh-Nay-Guh) this week ... which, naturally, resulted in thousands of social media users chiming in on the phenomenon.

We caught up with Noah -- a three-star linebacker -- about his new fame ... and he says the whole experience has been life-changing.

The football and basketball star says his accounts have been flooded with people inquiring about getting their hands on some apparel ... and while he would love to fulfill the demand, Knigga explained he's gotta make sure anything he pursues won't hurt his eligibility with the Indiana High School Athletic Association.

FYI -- Indiana is one of the handful of states that has not allowed Name, Image and Likeness monetization at the high school level yet, so Knigga says he's looking to meet with officials before giving anything the green light.

Aside from a potentially booming business on his hands, Noah also tells us he's gotten a lot more interest from college coaches about playing ball at the next level ... naming schools like Indiana, Eastern Michigan, Kentucky, Northwestern and more that have reached out.

Jeff Bezos turned 60 yesterday, and a day later -- he emerged looking like he's in his 20s again ... at least that's what his outfit's screaming here all the way over in Europe.

The Amazon founder/multibillionaire hit the town Saturday in Milan -- where he and his fiancée, Lauren Sanchez, are visiting as he celebrates the big 6-0 in style. Emphasis on that last part ... 'cause, as you can see here, they left their hotel dressed to the nines.

JB was in an all-black getup ... rocking a leather jacket and some nifty shades, while his lady was in a matching black-and-white ensemble. Indeed, they look very power couple-y.

Of course, there were a ton of paps around snapping their exit, and Jeff made sure Lauren got into their waiting car first -- ever the gentleman. Gotta say ... dude's a bit of a butterfly.

By that ... we mean he's glowed up quite a bit over the past 2 decades -- especially ever since he got with Lauren. Jeff's in the best shape of his life, and he's finally dressing like the uber-wealthy tech mogul that he is. This fashionable outfit is Exhibit A on that.

Consider what he looked like when he first started Amazon in the '90s .. a stark difference.

Now, homeboy's in his Lex Luthor phase ... and he's definitely living it big as one of the richest men on the planet. Luckily for him, Lauren completely complements that vibe too.

They've been on a nonstop unofficial honeymoon ever since they got together -- traveling the world and soaking in vacays everywhere you can imagine. Safe to say, she's brought him out of his shell a bit ... or dare we say, his cocoon!

Jason Momoa está aclarando su situación de vida después de sugerir recientemente que técnicamente podría ser una persona "sin hogar". Ahora está diciendo que simplemente no tiene una morada y que eso no es lo mismo.

El actor hizo nuevos comentarios sobre el tema en People Mag el jueves, después de hacer la sorprendente revelación a ET a principios de esta semana. Esto es, que no tiene "un hogar en este momento" y que está pasando gran parte de su vida en la carretera.

Ahora el actor está aclarando esa observación en una nueva entrevista, diciéndole a People: "Solo estoy sin casa. No soy un sin techo. Tengo una bonita caravana". Y añade: "Todo el mundo dice: 'Jason Momoa es una persona sin hogar'. Yo digo: 'Tranquilos. Tengo un puto saco de dormir'". Mmm... okay.

Jason Momoa también dice esto: "No he comprado una casa todavía y estoy emocionado de hacerlo algún día". Piensa que cuando finalmente compre una casa, la gente dirá... "Santo cielo, ahora tiene una almohada".

Si bien puede sonar un poco chocante escuchar que Jason, que es una estrella de la lista A, no tiene propiedad, él dice en esas entrevistas que está muy bien y que la razón radica en el hecho de que está muy ocupado con películas y otros proyectos.

En resumidas cuentas... que no tenga un techo propio es una decisión totalmente suya y no es por falta de medios. Al contrario, el tipo está absolutamente forrado y simplemente prefiere este estilo de vida en este momento.

Curiosamente, tiene una nueva docuserie a punto de estrenarse llamada "On the Roam" y narra exactamente eso: Jason Momoa recorriendo el país y reuniéndose con gente interesante.

Por supuesto, el telón de fondo de esta noticia es el hecho de que él y Lisa Bonet acaban de completar su divorcio la semana pasada. Es bueno saber que no tendrán que preocuparse por quién se queda con la casa... porque parece que no habrá ninguna que repartir. 😅

La música de Drake podría ser considerada técnicamente "rap" si tuvieras que clasificarla en un género, pero Yasiin Bey (alias Mos Def) dice que no es puro hip hop, según lo que él entiende.

El legendario MC se sentó a conversar para una entrevista con "The Cutting Room Floor", en donde el anfitrión le preguntó directamente si consideraba que Drizzy era "hip hop", lo que se convirtió en un intercambio fascinante. Cuento corto, no ... Mos no cree que Aubrey esté en el círculo.

Echa un vistazo al video para ver su respuesta completa... porque es bastante brutal. MD dice que las canciones de Drake son como la música para ir de compras, es decir, amigables y fáciles de escuchar y digerir, tal vez con un poco de ventaja de vez en cuando.

También utiliza a Target para hacer su punto, señalando que Drake en general es tan corriente y comercial, que sería mejor llamarlo pop que hip hop. Sí, es duro.

Mos tenía aún más que decir sobre el tema. Preguntando retóricamente si Drake realmente desafiaba a su público con arte (o música) que no necesariamente disfrutaran, pasó a sugerir que todo el mundo piensa que la música de Drizzy es siempre "buena" y que hay un montón de pompones haciéndole barra.

Por supuesto, este ha sido un debate candente desde siempre, con los puristas del hip hop constantemente lanzando m**** sobre Drake por ser demasiado suave para su gusto y ahora, otro grande del hip hop se está sumando a la pila.

Drake se ha defendido sobre este tema, y ha demostrado que puede rimar con los mejores, por lo que su buena fe en el hip hop ha quedado demostrada. Sin embargo, sigue siendo considerado demasiado pop para algunos de sus contemporáneos... lo cual está bien.

El hecho es que es uno de los artistas más famosos del mundo y, además, es muy rico. Se cambia una cosa por la otra, suponemos ... Ser atractivo para las masas es bastante lucrativo.🤷🏽‍♂️

Drake's music might technically be considered "rap" if you had to throw it in a genre bin -- but Yasiin Bey (aka, Mos Def) says it ain't pure hip hop as far as he's considered.

The legendary MC recently sat down for an interview on "The Cutting Room Floor" ... where the host asks him straight up if he considers Drizzy to be "hip hop," which made for a fascinating exchange. Long story short, no ... Mos doesn't think Aubrey's in the circle.

Check out the video to see his full response on this ... 'cause it's pretty brutal. MD says Drake's tunes are like shopping music -- namely, friendly/easy to listen to and digest ... perhaps with a little edge every now and then.

He also uses Target to make his point here ... noting Drake, by and large, is as mainstream and commercial as they come, and calling him pop more than hip hop. Yeah, it's harsh.

Mos had even more to say on the topic ... rhetorically asking if Drake actually challenges his audience with art they might not necessarily enjoy -- going on to suggest that everybody thinks Drizzy's music is always "great," and that there's a lot of pom-pom cheering.

Of course, this has been a raging debate forever now -- with hip hop purists constantly s****ing on Drake as too soft for their taste ... and now, a hip hop great is piling on.

Drake has defended himself on this issue, and yes ... he's proven he can spit with the best of them, so his hip hop bona fides have been proven. Still though, it sounds like he continues to be considered a little too pop-y for some of his contemporaries... which is fine.

Fact is, he's one of the most famous artists in the world, and he's wildly wealthy too. You trade one thing for the other, we suppose ... mass appeal is pretty freaking profitable.🤷🏽‍♂️

Jason Momoa is clarifying his living situation after recently suggesting he might technically be "homeless" -- now saying he's simply without an abode ... noting it ain't the same thing.

The actor dished some fresh comments on the subject to People Mag Thursday -- this after making the startling revelation to ET earlier in the week ... namely, saying he didn't "have a home right now." He went on to note that he's largely living his life on the road right now.

Welp, he somewhat cleared up that remark in this new interview -- telling People ... "I'm just houseless. I'm not homeless. I have a nice trailer." He goes on to say, "Everyone's like, 'Jason Momoa's homeless.' I'm like, ‘Relax. I got a f***ing sleeping bag." Hmm ... okay.

JM also says this ... "I've never bought a house yet, so I'm excited to one day." He thinks when he does eventually purchase a pad, folks will say ... "Holy s***. He's got a pillow now."

While it might sound a little shocking to hear that Jason -- who's a freaking A-lister -- doesn't own property ... he does point out in these interviews that he's doing just fine ... and that the reason lies in the fact that he's so damn busy with movies and other projects.

Bottom line ... him not having his own roof over his head is entirely his decision -- and it's not for a lack of means. On the contrary, the guy's absolutely loaded ... he just prefers this lifestyle at the moment.

Interestingly enough, he's got a new docuseries coming out called "On the Roam" ... and it chronicles exactly that -- JM traversing the country and meeting with interesting people.

Of course, the backdrop to this news is the fact that he and Lisa Bonet just finalized their divorce this past week. Good to know they won't have to worry about figuring out who gets the house ... 'cause it sounds like there just might not be one to divvy up. 😅

Ron Browz's name is etched in rap history for producing Nas' brutal Jay-Z diss track "Ether," and more than 20 years later he's still collecting residuals ... at least, on some social platforms, but he says others are robbing him blind!!!

TMZ Hip Hop sat down with "Etherboy" this week after his beat was used TWICE to highlight 2 of the biggest moments of the week on the internet ... both of which involved lots of "Ether" level disrespect.

The first was Katt Williams' "Club Shay Shay" interview where he mentioned virtually every comedian in his lane -- and the second came with Stephen A. Smith's hour-long flogging of Jason Whitlock.

The internet -- undefeated, as it is -- seized the moment and put the Ron-produced track over Katt and Stephen's highlights. That's not great for Ron, because he says if those posts aren't on TikTok or YouTube, which track music, then he's ass out ... and has no clue how much money he's missing.

He says the powers that be at other social platforms have yet to creat their royalty road map.

BTW, there's an interesting backstory on the making of the track -- Ron says the aggressive DNA of the song came from him desperately looking for a way out of his Harlem hood, and had the coin flipped on the other side, the instrumental could've belonged to Jay!!!

Ron says he passed the beat, and several others, to Jay's A&R at the time, Kyambo "Hip Hop" Joshua, but it never fell into Hov's lap.

"Ether" is not the only instrumental RB produced that morphed into a problematic track ... Busta Rhymes' 2008 hit "Arab Money" can easily be misconstrued for bigotry, especially in the current social media landscape.

Ron says he was simply inspired by the Arabic music playing inside NYC bodegas and added his 1uto-tuned twist to the hook.

However, it includes a recanting of the Islamic Shahada -- a profession of faith -- and that almost got Busta in hot water, and Ron too when he got booked for a Dubai gig ... but he swears the track is all positive.

Despite both beats taking a life of their own, Ron tells us his fav track he did was actually "Pop Champagne" with Jim Jones and Juelz Santana.

Jeremy Allen White says he ain't interested in the sofa from his Calvin Klein underwear shoot -- even though it's free on the web right now ... for whoever wants to come claim it.

We got Jeremy at the Four Seasons in Los Angeles Friday and our photog asked him how he felt about the couch being listed for $0 on Facebook Marketplace by a woman claiming the orange couch is literally sitting on top of her NYC building right now ... up for grabs!

You'll recall ... this is the same sofa on which Jeremy stripped down to his underwear for a recent rooftop photo shoot for Calvin Klein in New York City ... snapping a few pics on the rooftop furniture in a spread everyone's going wild for, even now.

Jeremy's a pretty humble guy ... he says the $0 price tag is about what it's worth, and he doesn't think the couch belongs in a museum somewhere either. Dude ain't interested in it for himself either, BTW ... he says he's got more couches than he can deal with.

The famous piece of furniture popped up on FB this week for free ... with the lady listing it writing, "Guess what? I've got the hottest seat in town – the legendary red corduroy couch that a famous celebrity chef (in not-so-many clothes) sat on in the commercial everyone’s talking about." She goes on to say her hubby had the hookup, but it's been left behind.

She's offering it up for free to anyone who wants to come and grab it -- but they gotta do all the heavy lifting themselves. As for the price tag ($0), JAW thinks that sounds about right.

The suit Nicole Kidman wore in her memorable AMC ad is heading to the auction block ... and heartbreak's gonna feel real good for whoever gets an outfit like this.

Nicole's grey, pin-striped Michael Kors suit is a part of Sotheby's new "Visions of America" series, and is expected to fetch $5-10k ... that's a whole lotta popcorn.

The iconic fit is known by AMC theatergoers everywhere for being pretty dazzling -- just like the images on a huge silver screen, to quote the ad that plays before every flick in the chain's theaters.

Nicole's ad quickly gained a cult following, debuting as theaters opened after the pandemic shut it all down ... and fans today are reciting her lines, cheering, and even saluting the actress when she shows up.

It's spawned a bunch of (unofficial) merch like shirts, pins, hats, bumper stickers, and more -- all referencing Nicole's brief time on the screen.

Her ad also has been getting the true parody treatment -- with the 'SNL' cast and even the promotion team behind "Saw" getting in on the fun. Also, it's just become a pop culture phenomenon in general ... people recite this thing when they go to AMC theaters now.

Kim Zolciak and Kroy Biermann are still beefing with a bank over their Georgia mansion ... and now the bank says it has every right to foreclose on the place to collect the money it’s owed.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, Truist Bank claims the couple defaulted on their mortgage … and now the bank has the right to foreclose on their mansion.

Kim and Kroy are going through a messy divorce, but they're still living inside the family residence ... remember, Kroy's got the primary bedroom and Kim has the nanny suite and basement.

Truist Bank says it's well aware of the divorce proceedings, but it claims that's not enough to block its foreclosure rights.

TMZ broke the story ... in October, Kim and Kroy asked a judge to stop the bank's foreclosure auction so they could sell it on their own ... and they've slashed the price on the estate to $5.5 million.

Truist Bank says it voluntarily delayed the auction in November ... but Kim and Kroy haven't been able to sell it themselves, and now the bank is apparently getting impatient and intends to exercise its foreclosure rights so it can collect on the debt.

Meanwhile, Kim and Kroy remain at each other's throats over their finances and divorce proceedings ... that is, when they're not banging.