Money

Drew Brees just announced he's donating $5 MILLION to the State of Louisiana to help with coronavirus relief efforts ... just days after signing a new $50 mil contract with the Saints.

Pretty awesome move from Brees who's already beloved in New Orleans for doing good work in the community ... like building all-inclusive playgrounds.

"Brittany and I are committing $5,000,000 to the State of Louisiana in 2020," Drew says ... "The priority now is helping our communities get through this tough time."

"After considerable research and conversations with local organizations, we will be mobilizing our partnerships with Second Harvest Food Bank, Ochsner Health Systems, Walk-Ons, Jimmy Johns, Smalls Sliders and Waitr to prepare and deliver over 10,000 meals per day throughout Louisiana for as long as it takes to children on meal programs, seniors, and families in need."

He added, "Let’s all do our part, maintain hope, and get through this together."

Drew's donation is the largest we've seen so far from an active pro athlete -- pretty amazing stuff.

Ariana Grande's well aware of the plight of many of her fans amid the coronavirus pandemic, and she's answering calls for help by sending some of them cash to get through these tough times ... TMZ has learned.

Several sources have told us ... the pop star's been communicating on the regular with her fans on social media, who've opened up about financial struggles -- like not being able to pay upcoming bills -- because they've lost their retail or service industry jobs for the time being.

We're told in at least 10 instances -- maybe more -- Ariana had connected with fans who've lost their jobs and sent them a cash donation ... via Venmo.

Fans have told us they've received Venmo payments ranging from $500 to $1,500 ... and it's something she's been doing on the down-low the past few days.

Our sources say Grande's donations seem to be random luck of the draw based on her Twitter interactions ... other than that, she's focusing on those really in a pinch and out of work. She's especially sympathetic to people who have lost their job in the retail industry.

One guy apparently got some Venmo money shortly after telling Grande he was short on rent for April because he was no longer pulling in a paycheck.

It's an incredibly kind gesture, but Ariana's going to have way too many potential donations candidates soon, based on the new jobless report ... more than 2 and a half MILLION Americans are expected to file for unemployment.

Kylie Jenner just made a massive donation to help in the efforts to get the coronavirus under control ... giving $1 million.

Jenner's donation will be used to buy hundreds of thousands of face masks, face shields and other protective gear to be used by healthcare professionals working the frontlines.

Dr. Thais Aliabadi -- who delivered Stormi -- thanked Jenner for the generous gift Wednesday, saying, "I am speechless, my eyes are filled with tears of joy and my heart is overwhelmed with gratitude. I made a wish to the Universe to gather protective masks for our brave healthcare workers and today my dream came true."

She continues, "I have never felt more blessed to be a doctor, as helping our brave ER and ICU workers feels just as gratifying as helping my own patients. From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU Kylie Jenner. You are my hero. This generous donation will help save many precious lives. Our world is a better place with you in it. I love you so much."

Kylie joins a growing list of celebs to make serious donations to the efforts ... Arnold Schwarzenegger also donated $1 million and companies like Apple and Yelp have pledged masks and money to the fight.

Kylie was also one of the first celebs to use their platform to urge fans to stay inside and quarantine. The Surgeon General made a plea to Kylie, Kevin Durant and others on TV as a way to reach a younger audience ... Kylie's got 167 million followers just on Instagram.

As coronavirus wreaks havoc, celebs and companies with deep pockets are chipping in to help combat the pandemic ... and the philanthropy seems to be contagious.

Ryan Reynolds got things going by committing 30 percent of all proceeds on sales of his Aviation gin through May 1 to go to bartenders who are out of work. Shortly afterward, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul followed suit with their Dos Hombres mezcal.

Lionel Messi and Pep Guardiola are donating over $1 million each to help fight the coronavirus outbreak in Spain -- while Roger Federer chipped in a mil to help the most vulnerable families in Switzerland.

Michael Jackson's estate is getting in on the action too ... donating $300k to help 3 communities that have been impacted by the virus -- $100k each to Broadway Cares, MusiCares and Three Square Food Bank in Nevada.

Gwyneth Paltrow also added $100k to Schwarzenegger's donation to the Frontline Responders Fund, and WWE star Rusev is shelling out $20k to WWE production and security staff.

On top of all this, Vice Prez Mike Pence announced huge corporations are doing their part -- like Apple donating 9 million masks -- and Yelp announced it's matching up to $1 million in donations to local businesses.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Taylor jump-started donations on Tuesday ... dropping million-dollar donations to 2 separate organizations.

Costco is lining the wallets of its employees with even more money, but they won't get the loot unless they tough out the pandemic.

The chain's CEO sent out a memo to all of its employees, which reads in part ... "In recognition of your hard work during this unprecedented time, all full-time, part-time and limited part-time hourly Costco employees in the U.S. and Puerto Rico will receive an additional $2 per hour for hours worked during the five weeks of March 2 through April 5, 2020.

Sounds great, and God knows these employees are a lifeline for untold thousands of people who get food and vital supplies from the mega-store.

Here's the catch ... "The additional compensation will be paid in a lump sum in your April 17 paycheck."

Translation ... you gotta stick it out till the end and if you don't, you don't get the money.

Conor McGregor is putting his money where his mouth is -- donating €1 MILLION in medical supplies to hospitals in need, in his native Ireland.

After the UFC star made a passionate video encouraging Ireland to go into "full lockdown" to combat the spread of COVID-19, Irish politician Paschal Donohoe reached out and asked Conor to keep up the good work because young people listen to him.

Conor responded to Donohoe by spelling out his new plan to help Ireland.

"Today I am purchasing myself, 1 million euro worth of personal protective equipment to be deployed to all the fighting hospitals in the Leinster region," McGregor said ... "Our most affected region, to this date."

He added, "St. James. Mater, Tallaght, Beaumont. Vincent's. Where we would be without these brave men and women, I do not know. May God bless over them and keep them safe!"

Conor then pushed back on Minister Donohoe -- saying he thinks the government needs to take more action to protect the people.

"We need more units on the street to enforce this lockdown Pascal! It has been too lax!"

"Building sites should be closed. They are open for what? We can always build again after this. In every way. But, we must put Health before Wealth."

"I respect you, and your team and I believe you are doing as good a job as you possibly can. I have been impressed by all. As has the nation. I feel like we are moving in the right way, it just feels to me like it is not all the way."

Arnold Schwarzenegger is putting his money where his heart his -- dropping a small fortune to help get crucial supplies to doctors and scientists battling the virus.

The ex-Gov of California shared the news Tuesday, telling his followers he'd donated a million bucks to a GoFundMe account called Frontline Responders Fund -- which is run by an organization called Flexport. They specialize in transporting must-have equipment to different causes around the world ... right now, all their efforts are focused on the coronavirus.

Arnold says, "I never believed in sitting on the couch and complaining about how bad things are, I always believed we should all do our part to make things better." He continued, "This is a simple way to protect our real action heroes on the frontlines in our hospitals, and I’m proud to be part of it."

He also encouraged everyone to follow in his footsteps by giving whatever you can "to support these heroes."

As for how exactly the money -- a whopping $3.2 million so far -- is going to be used ... Flexport breaks it down on the GFM page. They say it's a 4-step process: manufacturers make the stuff, trucks take it to airports and ports, cargo planes and ships transport it where it needs to go and then trucks deliver supplies to hospitals and anywhere else they're needed. Delivered items include masks, gloves, surgical gowns and thermometers.

All of that loading and unloading ain't cheap, and Flexport supports and finances companies directly involved in the endeavor. Arnold just made it a whole lot more affordable!

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the world, a cruise ship company continues to get hit with lawsuits ... 3 more former passengers are the most recent plaintiffs.

According to new legal docs ... Jeffrey and Anabel Jones, along with Eddy Castellanos, want at least $1 million in damages, claiming Princess Cruise Lines was grossly negligent in allowing them to travel on the Grand Princess cruise ship when it allegedly knew there would be coronavirus exposure.

A significant part of their argument -- according to the suit -- is what happened on another PCL cruise ship ... the Diamond Princess. As you'll recall, the Diamond was quarantined off the coast of Japan due to coronavirus concerns BEFORE the Grand set sail from San Fran and was quarantined in the Bay Area waters for a week.

The 3 passengers claim PCL should have handled the situation better based on what happened with the Diamond, but instead ... they botched it.

Furthermore, the defendants claim an email was sent to former PCL passengers on February 25 to inform them of the risk of coronavirus ... but the defendants say they received no such email. They claim if they had gotten word of it, they would have disembarked from the cruise at the next stop in Honolulu.

Also, just like in the suit first filed by Ronald and Eva Weissberger on March 9, the new suit alleges the ship's staff KNEW at least 2 other passengers with coronavirus had just disembarked from a previous voyage. Despite this, there was no testing done and the screening process was totally insufficient.

Mark Cuban is ripping both sides of the aisle for letting petty differences get in the way of helping the American people in a pandemic ... he says it's terrifying to see our government messing around while lives hang in the balance.

The "Shark Tank" star and Dallas Mavericks owner joined us on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and dressed down Republican and Democratic Senators for the coronavirus stimulus stalemate.

Mark says there are lots of folks out there with their backs against the wall, not knowing where their next paycheck is coming from or when their kids are going back to school as the country stays on lockdown, and he says Rs and Ds gotta get them some economic relief and fast.

Mark let his frustrations boil over in a Twitter tirade against Sens. Chuck Schumer and John Cornyn, but he's got more bones to pick ... telling us why both sides are to blame for the impasse and wondering why no one is seemingly negotiating for the average American.

The Cubes is definitely on board with the government cutting checks to help folks who are outta work due to the virus ... he says anything that keeps people from being fired or laid off is gonna help the economy.

Speaking of the economy ... it's at the forefront of Donald Trump's mind, but Mark says people don't need to be rushed back to work in the middle of a pandemic.

Mark stops short of ripping Trump, but he's hopeful the Prez takes time to reevaluate things in 2 weeks instead of just opening the country back up for business and lifting quarantines and "stay at home" orders.

The way Mark sees it, the economy could take an even worse hit if people are sent back to work as the outbreak continues ... and he tells us why that's a very slippery slope.

Rob Gronkowski has a lot to smile about during the coronavirus pandemic ... the retired NFL superstar's teeth whitening business has seen a MASSIVE increase in sales ... and now he's paying it forward.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Snow -- which is part-owned by Gronk and UFC legend Chuck Liddell -- has been inundated with orders for the teeth whitening kits since the outbreak.

Josh Elizetxe tells us sales have increased by 240% and the orders are still coming in strong  -- most likely due to an influx in video chatting while people work from home.

"We are shipping around the clock from Arizona to our customers’ doorsteps to help them feel more confident for those video calls and social distance selfies," Elizetxe tells us.

But, all the profits ain't going to line pockets -- Snow has decided to donate proceeds to help smaller businesses survive during the pandemic.

Gronk tells us ... "I'm excited that we as a company have decided to donate proceeds from every order on TrySnow.com to small businesses across America affected by COVID-19."