Money

Blueface did something which on the surface is awesome -- giving money to the poor -- but on another level, some say what he did is degrading.

The rapper went to Skid Row Monday in downtown L.A. where he jumped atop his SUV and launched an untold number of bills into a crowd that he whipped into a frenzy.

No doubt his generosity was appreciated by those present, but he's getting some blowback on social media, with some calling it demeaning and dehumanizing -- people down on their luck diving for dollar bills.

Blueface posted the video on his Instagram account, simply captioning it, "The season of giving $." That's not the way everyone saw it.

Mariah Carey works her hired help to the bone, and then kicks 'em to the curb when she's had enough ... so claims her ex-nanny in new legal docs.

MiMi's being sued by a woman named Maria Burgues, who claims she worked for Mariah between late 2017 and early 2018 ... watching over her two kids and, allegedly, flying all over the world with them without getting paid her fair share for the job she was doing.

Burgues alleges in her lawsuit -- obtained by TMZ -- that Mariah and co. wouldn't let her take required breaks she's supposed to get under California law, including rests and meals. Burgues says those just weren't a thing while she was employed.

Burgues doesn't get specific about what exactly her schedule or allotted hours for each week were, but she makes it sound like she was working round the clock for Mariah, often on non-nannying duties and tasks that allegedly didn't involve the kids at all.

Adding insult to injury, Burgues claims Mariah had a bodyguard she reported to who was a scumbag and allegedly treated her like dirt out in the open on more than one occasion. She even alleges the guy almost got them into a major traffic accident for being on his phone.

Ryan Phillippe and a bevy of other high-profile stars are catching tons of flak for promoting a Saudi Arabia event -- but Ryan is digging his heels in and going to bat for the nation.

Here's the deal ... Ryan and a bunch of other stars like Sofia Richie, Armie Hammer, Irina Shayk, Scott Disick and other models and influences all went to this music festival called MDL BEAST in SA over the weekend, and they all seemed down to plug the hell out of it.

Ryan was in a festive spirit, as he rocked traditional Saudi headgear and face paint. While he called it a "cultural exchange," others found it offensive ... for more reasons than one.

The "Cruel Intentions" star's Instagram comments got flooded with people shaming him for promoting a country that's known for their human rights violations -- especially against women and the LGBTQ community, not to mention journalists they don't like.

Ryan didn't seem to care much about all that though -- he fired back early and often.

He responded to several of the comments -- and his message was basically this ... the country's changing, bro! He doubled down in his support of Saudi Arabia, saying he'd feel good about bringing any woman who was important to him for a visit.

On the other side of things, Sofia also caught tons of backlash for what many deemed tone-deaf posts, including one of her and two other ladies, which she captioned as "Saudi girls." The caption has since been deleted, but Sofia was all over the place touting SA and MDL BEAST.

Ditto for Armie, who likened the event to "Woodstock in the 1960's" and going on to say that he felt things were progressing and moving forward there. Similar messages from most everyone else too, BTW ... who all probably got paid a pretty penny to do this.

Emily Ratajkowski sounded off on the issue, saying she actually turned down payment because she felt the country's practices don't line up with her principles.

Cardi B is playing Santa Claus this year -- only she's doing it without the big red hat, reindeer or sleigh -- and will bring smiles to a ton of kid's faces.

Cardi was spotted in Miami Friday spending a bunch of money on gifts for kids at a local Target store. The rapper also had a U-HAUL rented to load the presents and ship em off for those in need.

We're told in total, Cardi spent about $5,000 on everything from games, dolls, car sets and more. She had staffers help her load everything up in the truck.

It's unclear exactly where the gifts will go -- Cardi talked about helping kids out in New York -- but nonetheless, it's an awesome gesture.

Cardi's daughter, Kulture, will be celebrating her second Christmas this year, and if mom's spending for other kids on Friday is any indication ... it's about to be a big year.

Merry Christmas from Cardi Claus!!!

R. Kelly and Michael Cohen are spending their first Christmas behind bars, and they're about to find out what Suge Knight and Billy McFarland already know -- time to pig out unless you're Bill Cosby.

Prisons across the country are feeling the Christmas spirit, and they're stocking commissaries with special holiday treats, and allowing inmates to spend a little extra on sweets. Rejoice!!!

We did some digging and found out what some of America's most famous convicts will be fattening up on before their New Year's resolutions ... here's a breakdown of their options:

Kelly at MCC Chicago:

-- The spending limit for commissary increases by $50 in December to a cool $410, and Kelly can snack on holiday cookies, pound cake, jalapeno cheese and chocolate bars.

Cohen at New York's FCI Otisville:

-- President Trump's former personal attorney can also spend $410 at commissary this month after a $50 bump, and he can nosh on holiday cakes, chocolate and caramel clusters, assorted chocolates and an olive salad.

It's the season of giving ... which means boxing superstar Errol Spence got himself an AMAZING Cartier watch for the holidays ... and it's got a $100k price tag!!

TMZ Sports has learned, the champ wanted to treat himself at the end of the year ... so he hit up his go-to guy, Iceman Nick, to make him a one-of-a-kind diamond Cartier watch!!

We're told it's a one-of-one 2-tone Santos de Cartier Skeleton watch ... which is decked out with 30 carats of VVS diamonds, 18k rose gold screws and bezel, 7-sided crown set with a faceted sapphire, blue-steel sword-shaped hands and a sapphire crystal case back.

Yeah, fancy stuff.

And, after surviving a near-fatal Ferrari crash in October -- we totally get why the boxer would want to spend a little money on himself!

Of course, Iceman Nick is also the guy behind Errol's sick, $400k "Man Down" chain ... so you know the dude loves what he sees.

Drake has completed his fly-boy look with something folks thought he would've had done years ago ... getting his ears pierced. And, the reason he finally did it is hilarious.

Otniel Pichardo, who's the owner of Atlanta Ink -- a tattoo and piercing studio in the ATL -- tells TMZ ... Drizzy's team called up their shop Friday night out of the blue and requested Otniel and the crew come to Drake's hotel in Buckhead, Atlanta for a personal session.

Apparently, the rapper's camp did a quick Google search of the best piercers in the area, and Atlanta Ink came up close to the top in the results. Talk about having a good rep!!!

Anyway, Otniel rolled out with his biz partner, CJ, and their best piercer, Christian, and they hit up Drake's hotel room ... where none other than Champagne Papi himself was waiting. We're told Drake wanted his ears pierced ... and naturally, was kinda nervous about it.

Wyclef Jean says there's something way more important than just producing or performing on a track, and that's publishing ... a moneymaking well he wants to help new artists tap.

The Fugees rapper talked to us Friday in NYC about his new industry venture -- a publishing and distribution company he started and just got major financial backing for called Carnival World Music Group -- which is meant to give a big leg up to up-and-coming creatives.

The idea behind it is that Wyclef and co. will offer royalty advances to artists, producers and songwriters who want to get their music out there, but without taking copyright ownership.

Check it out ... Wyclef says the focus of the company is for Africans, but that doesn't mean he's excluding anyone who wants to partner up. Come one, come all, pretty much.

As for why he's doing this ... the guy says he's learned a valuable lesson from his many years in the game, and it's basically this -- producing/rapping/singing only makes you so much cash. The real green comes from publishing rights, which are often awarded to the songwriters, composers and the publishing companies those people are affiliated with.

Take, for example, "Killing Me Softly." He says while he produced the iconic cover, he and the Fugees didn't make the millions they should have because they didn't write or compose the new version. Most of that money presumably went to Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel.

50 Cent just spoiled his son rotten for Christmas ... getting an entire Toys 'R' Us on lock and letting the kid have whatever his heart desired. Jealous much?

The rapper pulled the ultimate parenting move this weekend for his 7-year-old, Sire, by renting out an entire store in New Jersey -- only one of two locations open at the moment -- and closing it off to the public while his boy went around and picked out anything that caught his eye and letting him take it all home as his gift(s) for the holiday.

Basically, a personal shopping spree for a kid ... which became even more of a custom experience with Sire's name and mug incorporated into the presentation. A decal on the ground read 'Sire's Toys R Us' ... not even Charlie Bucket could've dreamt of this.

As for how much all of this cost ... we're told Fitty dropped a pretty penny to give his son the best Christmas ever -- about $100k to have this place to himself and Sire.

Hell, it looks the cash went so far as to pull Geoffrey the Giraffe out of retirement -- who posed with 50 and Sire in a sweet photo-op. You'll recall, Toys 'R' Us temporarily closed up shop last year -- but it's being brought back, slowly but surely, under new ownership.

Marc Anthony's burned out yacht is posing a significant danger to Miami's coastal waters -- so the federal government's stepping in to assist ... but it ain't gonna be cheap.

As you know, Marc's $7 million yacht, the Andiamo, burst into flames Wednesday night in a Miami marina, and despite valiant efforts ... the vessel went under. It's still resting mostly submerged, and it will until divers tackle the issue of fuel leaks.

The U.S. Coast Guard tells TMZ ... the government is dipping into something called the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to pay for the divers. We're told they're inspecting the wreckage to figure out the best way to clear the engines and tanks.

After the fuel clean up, another company will tow Marc's baby to dry dock where investigators can determine what caused the fire. Officials estimate the job will cost about $300,000 -- that's how much they pulled from the fund.

Now, before ya fire off an angry email to Congress ... the feds only front that $300k.

We're told the government will seek reimbursement from Marc, or more likely, his insurance company, once the job is done. So, if you need to know ... taxpayers will NOT be paying to raise his yacht.

Todd and Julie Chrisley are adamant the feds' case against them is based on evidence the government should never have had, and they want it all tossed out of court and returned to them.

According to new legal docs obtained by TMZ ... the Chrisleys claim the Georgia Department of Revenue illegally seized 2 of their Atlanta storage units in 2017. The units had a trove of the Chrisleys' financial docs.

The Chrisleys claim the GA Dept. of Revenue seized the units based on a bum warrant. In docs, they say the warrant was based on a non-existent tax lien -- meaning, investigators cut corners and violated their rights.

The Chrisleys say that evidence was handed over to federal prosecutors ... who then indicted the reality stars on multiple counts of conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion.

Todd and Julie want their stuff back, and they want the judge to declare the ill-gotten records off-limits to prosecutors.

As we reported, a federal grand jury indicted the Chrisleys in August ... alleging they concocted a scheme from 2007 to 2012 to fabricate docs and provide false information to banks when applying for and receiving millions in loans ... money they allegedly used to fund a lavish lifestyle.

Pete Buttigieg isn't apologizing for raising some serious cash at a wine cave fundraiser, despite criticism from his Democrat opponents ... because he says it's vital in the fight against Donald Trump.

Mayor Pete appeared on "TMZ Live" Friday and noted the Prez and his allies have already raised hundreds of millions of dollars and in order to keep pace for the 2020 push ... so he's not going to turn down money from ultra-rich donors. Besides ... the max the donors can fork over is $2,800.

Buttigieg says he's proud more than 700,000 people have donated to his campaign, and with big-money donations included ... the average contribution is around 30 bucks.

As for the now-famous wine cave -- which is actually more of a fancy basement -- Buttigieg says it's as remarkable as advertised ... and he's happy to have the support of the billionaires who own it. BTW, many Democrats before him have felt the same.

Joe Horn is facing 10 YEARS in prison after the ex-NFL star just pled guilty to scamming the NFL's retired player health care plan out of nearly $150,000.

The former New Orleans Saint was one of several ex-NFL players -- including Clinton Portis -- who was charged by federal prosecutors earlier this month with defrauding the Gene Upshaw NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account Plan.

Officials say Horn, along with 10 other ex-NFLers, sought reimbursements for things like expensive medical equipment and prescriptions that they never bought in the first place.

But, instead of fighting the case in court, 47-year-old Horn agreed to plead guilty on Thursday to one charge of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, the charge carries a sentence of up to 10 YEARS behind bars ... as well as fine of up to $250,000 -- plus probation.

But, it seems Horn took the plea deal with the hopes a judge will take it easy on him at his sentencing hearing later next year.

As for the details of the plea agreement -- according to the docs, Horn admitted to submitting two false claims that totaled up to $149,775 ... and will have to pay that back.

Joe Burrow says he's absolutely floored by the nearly $500,000 worth of donations to his hometown food bank ... but tells TMZ Sports he's already thinking of other ways to help.

23-year-old Burrow delivered a powerful speech after winning the Heisman Trophy on Saturday ... bringing national attention to some very serious issues.

“Coming from Southeast Ohio it’s a very impoverished area and the poverty rate is almost two times the national average," Burrow said.

"There’s so many people there that don’t have a lot and I’m up here for all those kids in Athens and Athens County that go home to not a lot of food on the table, hungry after school. You guys can be up here too."

America was so inspired by Joe's words ... thousands of people donated more than $458k to the Athens County Food Pantry.

Fresh off winning the most desired award in college football, Burrow joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... where he says he was shocked his words kick-started a half-million-dollar campaign.

"It's been crazy. I didn't expect that at all," Burrow said. "I was just speaking from the heart and just trying to bring attention to an area that kinda gets lost in the mud."

The family of "The Walking Dead" stuntman John Bernecker scored millions in a wrongful death lawsuit but it was significantly short of what they wanted.

A jury on Thursday awarded the estate $8.6 million after 2 days of deliberations ... this according to a report. AMC Networks was found NOT to be negligent, but the show and its production company, Stalwart Films, were found liable. Stalwart was found 40% responsible and the show is 25% responsible.

The jury ruled the victim -- Bernecker -- was 6% liable for his own negligence. There were others found liable as well, but it appears none will have to pay out of pocket. Insurance will cover the judgment.

Andrew Yang is riding high after getting a big thumbs-up from Donald Glover, using the celeb endorsement to push merchandise and raise funds for his presidential campaign.

This is America as the decade comes to an end.

We got the 2020 candidate Thursday at his Donald Glover X Andrew Yang pop-up merch shop in Hollywood, where Andrew was busy getting mobbed by a huge throng of supporters chanting his name.

The Yang Gang was out in full force, and Andrew says his collab with Glover is doing wonders for his campaign's bottom line and helping spread his message to voters. Ya gotta hear how much Andrew says he's pulling in thanks to his most famous fan.

Donald was there too, hanging out in the back while Andrew schmoozed with shoppers on the store's floor. Yang seems like he's having the most fun of any White House hopeful.