Money

The negotiating is underway ... but Jon Jones says $10 MILLION is simply not enough cash to get him in the Octagon with Francis Ngannou.

Ngannou became the UFC heavyweight champ after demolishing Stipe Miocic in a violent 2nd round victory at UFC 260 on Saturday.

Immediately after the fight, all eyes were on Jones -- widely considered the greatest UFC fighter of all time -- who tweeted, "Show me the money."

The good news ... Jones says he's been in touch with the UFC's top business guy, Hunter Campbell, and they're already discussing money.

The bad news ... Jones says the two sides are very far apart.

"I had a brief phone meeting with UFC‘s lawyer Hunter a few days ago. As of right now, I expressed to him that anywhere around eight to $10 million would be way too low for a fight of this magnitude. That’s all that has been discussed so far."

Unclear how much Jones is looking to pocket for the Ngannou fight -- but it would undoubtedly be one of the most anticipated fights in UFC history.

Gronk's doing it. Same with Patrick Mahomes. Even Snoop -- and now L.A. Rams safety Taylor Rapp is launching his own NFT collection.

But what's cool about Rapp's foray into the world of non-fungible tokens -- he's donating part of the proceeds to the #StopAsianHate movement.

The 23-year-old free safety -- the Rams 2nd round pick in the 2019 NFL Draft -- is Asian-American (his mom is Chinese) and has been outraged by the recent wave of anti-Asian hate crimes across the country.

So, when Rapp was presented with the chance to jump into the NFT craze, he knew it would be an opportunity to help his community.

"I am Asian American, and this community means a lot to me," Rapp told CNBC.

"I wanted to help my people, and what better way to raise money right now to donate than through creating an NFT collection and using my platform."

An NFT is essentially a digital collectible built on a blockchain, oftentimes featuring a cool piece of art or video.

Rapp is launching 6 digital collections on Thursday -- and will auction off 90 total NFTs, according to CNBC.

Rapp says he will donate a "large chunk" of the auction proceeds to the #StopAsianHate GoFundMe page, which has already more than $4 million.

This is wild ... so many collectors are sending in their sports cards to be officially graded by PSA, the company has been forced to temporarily suspend services!

In other words, the hobby has exploded over the past several months -- and PSA can't handle the sheer volume of submissions.

FYI, PSA -- aka Professional Sports Authenticator -- is one of the most trusted names in sports memorabilia.

Collectors will often send cards to be "graded" -- which includes a thorough examination of everything from the physical condition of the item to the quality of an autograph.

PSA is widely respected in the industry -- so most people with a potentially valuable card, will submit the item to PSA for grading.

The problem ... there has been a well-documented surge in the card collecting industry over the past year, with sports collectibles in particular selling at never-before-seen prices.

In fact, PSA says the surge is still in full swing -- and in a statement Tuesday, the company explained, "We recently received more cards in three days than we did during the previous three months."

"Submissions continue at never-before-seen levels."

PSA president Steve Sloan says the company is unable to process submissions for the foreseeable future, so it is suspending submission services on 3 of its most popular levels until they can get caught up.

"Effective immediately, PSA is temporarily suspending our Value, Regular and Express service levels. This will allow us to fully unbox and receive the recent surge of orders and focus on our most impacted service lines."

Sloan adds, "Given our growing backlog, it would be disingenuous for us to continue to accept submissions for cards that we will be unable to process in the foreseeable future ... it is necessary to properly serve the customers who have already submitted to PSA."

PSA is hoping to bring all services back by July 1.

Bottom line -- the sports card market is blowing up with no signs of stopping any time soon.

Jeff Lowe is moving forward with his plans to auction off an "official" Joe Exotic NFT collection ... despite legal pushback from the 'Tiger King' himself.

Here's the deal ... Jeff and his wife, Lauren Lowe, recently announced an auction of non-fungible tokens featuring Exotic and the rest of the 'Tiger King' stars and it seems to have caught the attention of Joe's legal team.

Exotic's attorneys fired off a legal letter to Jeff and Lauren, obtained by TMZ, claiming the couple does not have legal standing to sell the NFTs ... and demanding they call off the auction or risk financial and legal ramifications.

Lauren tells TMZ ... she and Jeff are still pressing on with the auction despite Exotic's legal threats.

She says they will defend their position that they're the only entity in the U.S. that holds the 'Tiger King' trademark, which Lauren claims Joe signed over to them way back in 2016.

The auction goes live Thursday at 5 PM ET with the bidding running through 5 PM ET Sunday ... so the clock is ticking for either side to blink.

'Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' star Jen Shah helped support the lavish lifestyle she flaunts on the show through wire fraud and a massive telemarketing scheme ... at least according to the feds, who arrested her Tuesday.

According to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY ... Shah and Stuart Smith -- who's portrayed as her assistant on the reality series -- generated and sold "lead lists" of innocent people who could be targeted for their nationwide scam for about 9 years.

The feds say many of those targeted were "vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people" who were duped by the promise of business opportunities involving Shah, Smith and their alleged co-conspirators.

Both Shah and Stuart were arrested in Salt Lake City and will appear in federal court later Tuesday.

They are each charged with 1 count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing through which they victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55. The maximum penalty for that charge is 30 years.

In addition ... they've also been hit with 1 count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years.

According to the feds ... Shah and Stuart allegedly targeted and defrauded hundreds of victims before being busted by the NYPD, Homeland Security and other law enforcement officials in a joint effort.

On the debut season of 'RHOSLC' ... Jen was often seen throwing tantrums, yelling and exhibiting explosive and volatile behavior. She's really got something to be pissed about now.

Pro-wrestling star Chris Jericho donated $2,500 to the family of an Uber Eats driver who was killed last week during an alleged botched carjacking ... telling TMZ Sports he was extremely saddened by the story and felt compelled to help.

"Just the feeling of terror he must’ve had being stuck halfway out of the car as the thieves ... mere children ... hit the gas. Something out of a horror movie," Jericho tells us.

If you're not familiar with the situation ... Mohammad Anwar -- a 66-year-old food delivery driver who immigrated from Pakistan in 2014 -- tragically died Tuesday in Washington D.C. after officials say two girls -- ages 13 and 15 -- allegedly deployed a Taser on the driver in an apparent attempt to steal the vehicle.

The incident was captured on cell phone video and appears to Anwar attempting to re-enter his vehicle while at least one of the girls is inside the car.

At one point, Anwar can be heard yelling, "This is my car" -- and that's when someone inside the vehicle punches the gas, which sends the car down the block for 9 full seconds before it eventually crashes.

The car flipped over on its side -- and Anwar was killed.

In light of the devastating tragedy, the Anwar family -- which says Mohammed was their financial provider -- started a GoFundMe to help ease the monetary burden in the wake of his death.

The fund has already raised over $808k (the initial goal was $100k) ... thanks to Jericho and over 23k other donors.

The former WWE and current AEW star tells us he knows his donation can't fix everything ... but he just wanted to help and show the family that people care.

"I just thought the whole situation was terrible and it really hit me hard."

Jericho added ... "It's not much, but it's the most I could do to try and bring some light into a dark situation."

Vanessa Bryant has asked a judge to give her mom the boot in her lawsuit to win lifetime support.

Vanessa's mom, Sofia Laine, has filed a lawsuit against Kobe's estate, claiming Kobe promised to take care of her financially for the rest of her life.

In new docs, Vanessa points to a legal fight Sofia was having against her ex-husband in 2004 and 2008 over spousal support. Sofia's ex-husband claimed he should not have to pay her because she was being supported by Kobe and Vanessa. Sofia fired back that her daughter and son-in-law had no obligation to support her, and whatever they gave her was simply out of the goodness of their hearts.

Sofia's ex also pointed to tabloid stories which claimed Vanessa bought a $1 million home for her so she wasn't in need of support. Sofia shot back ... the stories were "absolutely false" and "I would never permit Vanessa to do such a thing. I have not and do not (nor should I be required to) rely on Vanessa for my support."

And, Vanessa has other reasons why she wants the lawsuit dismissed. Among them ... Sofia argues Kobe made an oral promise to "take care of her financially." Vanessa's legal team says even if Kobe said that, it's too vague to be enforced.

And, there's this ... Sofia also says Vanessa and Kobe violated California labor laws by not giving her meal breaks, rest periods and giving her minimum wage for babysitting services. Vanessa fired back in legal docs, "[Sofia] was never an 'employee' ... [she] is a grandmother who, at times, helped her daughter and son-in-law by spending time with her grandchildren."

And, Vanessa's legal team argues, in order for Sofia to go after Kobe's estate, she had to file a creditor's claim within a year of his death, and she did not do that.

"Storage Wars" star Rene Nezhoda is having a bad case of déjà vu -- his store was burglarized, again ... and this time the crooks made off with thousands in merch, again.

So here's the deal, Rene and his wife, Casey -- owners of the Bargain Hunters Thrift Store featured on the show -- say they were enjoying a day off back on February 17 when they were notified that a couple of thieves were ransacking the San Diego area store.

We’re told surveillance camera footage shows the burglars entered through a back door after smashing the glass. When the dust finally settled ... we're told they made off with tons of sports memorabilia cards and other collectibles worth between $7k-$8k.

On top of that ... Rene, Casey and their crew say the store was a disaster -- physical damages only ran 'em about $1,500, but it took a long time to clean up the mess.

Two things to note ... Rene says the burglars missed out on some VERY expensive trading cards, and thinks one of the thieves left behind some possible evidence. DOH!!!

A spokesperson for the San Diego County Sheriff's Department tells TMZ ... detectives are in the initial phase of the investigation, but are working a few leads they've developed since the heist. They have not identified the suspects yet

Here's your chance to own a big piece of Notorious B.I.G. history ... a hubcap from the SUV the rapper was shot in is hitting the open market.

The folks over at Moments In Time are brokering the sale of one of the 4 hubcaps from the infamous GMC Suburban Biggie was riding in when he was gunned down March 9, 1997, as he left L.A.'s Petersen Automotive Museum.

We're told the seller originally got the hubcap from a family friend who owned the rental company which owned the SUV ... so it's been around the block. We're told the seller had the hubcap for years and just decided to unload it, with an asking price of a cool $150,000.

As you can see ... the hubcap still has part of the sticker that was slapped on it some 24 years ago, and you can still make out the advertisement for his 1997 album, "Life After Death."

The sticker says, "THINK B.I.G. MARCH 25 1997," which was the album's release date.

You can see the hubcap with the sticker in the crime scene photos from back in the day ... after B.I.G. was shot 4 times in a drive-by while the SUV was stopped at a red light on Fairfax and Wilshire Blvd.

Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello got quite a scare this week when their place was broken into, but even worse ... cops say Shawn's now down one G-Wagon.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the singers were home together in L.A. when the suspects broke in through a window. We're told the perps made a pretty quick exit when they realized the couple was home ... but not before grabbing the keys to Shawn's ride.

Our sources say police were called and rushed to the house, but it was too late ... the suspects had already taken off in his Mercedes SUV.

We're told so far no arrests have been made, but LAPD is still investigating.

Kodak Black's creative juices have been flowing since his prison release, and we're not just talking music -- he's launched a clothing line that'll benefit a cause dear to him.

Kodak's attorney, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... the rapper's starting a new clothing line dubbed L.O.V.E. ... an acronym for "Loyalty Out Values Everything." The brand's only in its infancy but Bradford says major retailers like DTLR, Hibbett Sports, City Gear and Snipes have pre-ordered the apparel.

So far, biz is boomin' ... we're told L.O.V.E. has nearly sold out its first run of pre-orders. There are also plans to roll out a sneaker line and possibly partner up with national brands down the road.

The best part of this venture is Kodak plans to donate a portion of the profits to local, national and international charities dedicated to empowering minorities and judicial reform ... according to his lawyer.

As you know, former President Trump commuted Kodak's sentence in January.

Famous Dex's very bad month just got a whole lot worse -- we've learned he got hit with 19 charges, including domestic violence and gun possession, stemming from 3 separate incidents.

Two of the allegedly violent altercations involved the rapper's ex-girlfriends. Back in November, cops say they responded to a domestic disturbance call at his home and found a woman with cuts on her. As we reported at the time, this led to a SWAT standoff -- police suspected Dex barricaded himself inside with guns ... after allegedly harming his ex.

For that incident, he's been charged with domestic violence, weapon possession, dissuading a victim from reporting a crime and defacing property.

It doesn't end there ... Dex allegedly got physical with a different woman back in October, and he's being charged with corporal injury domestic violence, threatening a domestic partner, exhibiting a firearm, inflicting bodily injury, dissuading a victim from reporting a crime, defacing property and illegal possession of a firearm.

Finally, there's the story we broke earlier this month ... when he was arrested for a loaded gun, cops claim they found under his seat during a traffic stop. Prosecutors now say he was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to a restraining order, so they charged him for that plus possession of a firearm without a serial number.

The City Attorney's Office tells us Dex is facing up to 18 years behind bars if you add up potential punishments for all the charges, although we're told some counts may merge as the case develops.

On top of his legal troubles ... Dex claims he was the victim of an armed robbery earlier this month in the San Fernando Valley. He told cops the robbers made off with thousands in cash and a $50,000 watch.

Boosie isn't with all the fake acting when it comes to making movie magic -- dude actually puts some real hurt into his product ... just ask this guy who got an open palm to his dome.

The Louisiana rapper was reportedly down in North Carolina shooting a music video for his and DaBaby's single together, 'Period,' where they were apparently shooting a scene in a liquor store of some sort. Seems the video's gonna have some explicit violence featured.

Check out this guy -- who appears to be a hired actor and/or extra on set -- mouthing off to Boosie as he and DB try to buy some stuff at the checkout counter. He's saying Boosie isn't a real rapper -- and before you know it ... he's getting his head rocked.

Boosie unleashes a brutal slap straight to the man's face -- and no, he didn't ham it up for the cameras either ... this was a straight-up real one, which was captured from multiple angles.

As brutal as it looked from afar, it sounds even worse when it was filmed from up close.

Like we said, the man seems to be in on the scene -- it's not like this was done at random or out of malice or anything like that. Still, even if it was for the video ... a lot of people are saying Boosie didn't have to slap the guy this hard for real.

It looks like Boosie and/or DaBaby paid him for his troubles -- there's a follow-up video where one of them are seen handing this brave fella a cool $500. Apparently, he got an extra $54 as a "tip" ... so, all in all -- he made $554 for the wild stunt.

Someone hit the Beyhive ... Beyonce's storage units were broken into and burglars made off with more than $1 million worth of valuables.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... 3 L.A. area storage units filled with Beyonce goodies were hit twice by thieves earlier this month, and the culprits swiped her expensive handbags and dresses.

While the storage units are being rented out by her production company, Parkwood Entertainment, we're told the missing items from the first heist all belong to Queen Bey.

Our sources say burglars came back within a week, and took down 3 storage units in the same facility ... making off with handbags, kids toys and photos belonging to one of Beyonce's stylists.

Bey is the latest singer to have storage units burglarized, and we're told these kinds of crimes are on the rise. As we first reported, thieves recently stole clothes, family photos and mementos from Miley Cyrus' storage space.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has come up with a novel idea on how to repair the neglected roadways around the country -- a tax on mileage driven, and he's getting dragged.

The former presidential candidate said the Biden Administration is noodling on the idea and it's showing "a lot of promise."

Here's the criticism ... it's unfair to people who live in rural areas. because they have to drive further by necessity than urban dwellers.  But, more fundamentally, a mileage tax in big cities like L.A., New York City, Chicago and on and on hit middle and lower-income people harder than people who are well-to-do and can live smack in the middle of their city. People who are not well off typically move to suburbs far, far away from the city center.

Buttigieg, already nicknamed "Pothole Pete," has a tough job to sell ... the infrastructure plan will cost $3 TRILLION. The term "infrastructure" has been redefined broadly to include pre-K programs and childcare.

NBA star DeMarcus Cousins has sold the AMAZING Las Vegas estate where he's lived since 2017 ... and made a 7-figure profit to boot.

The pad is unreal -- complete with a home theater, basketball court and a massive outdoor pool with waterfalls and a slide!!

Cousins listed the property back in September 2020 for $8 million ... and got pretty close to his asking price ... closing the sale at $7.5 mil.

And, since he bought the place for $6.5 million, it turned out to be a pretty solid investment.

No word on who purchased the estate -- but the new owner will have 10 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a sports media room ... and there's an elevator inside the home!!

There's also a state-of-the-art gym -- perfect for the COVID-conscious 2021 world we're all still living in.