Money

We know Pauly D is a hot draw in the DJ booth, but we didn't know he was THIS hot -- as in, someone throwing down six-figures to watch him in action!!!

The 'Jersey Shore' stud is super pumped up about raising $200,500 for the All In Challenge -- raising money for food charities -- and he came on "TMZ Live" Wednesday to explain why it could be a great deal for the winner.

Pauly's gonna teach the high bidder how to mix it up on the 1s and 2s, plus take them and a few friends for a night on the town. Even he admits, he didn't know what he could offer for the All In Challenge, at first -- considering Meek Mill donated a freakin' Rolls-Royce!!!

But, the highly in-demand DJ told us the winner's not just getting a party experience for that $200k. Yes, there will be bottle service, custom jerseys and wild parties, but more importantly ... the DJ lessons he's giving could mean a new high-paying career for the winner.

Speaking of the Sin City party scene -- Pauly says he's got his ear to the streets in Vegas, hoping for a shred of good news about the future reopening. He also admits it's really hard to keep social distance in his biz.

While the pandemic's hitting lots of people where it hurts -- Pauly says he's already canceled 30 shows -- celebs are making a difference with the All In Challenge.

The brainchild of 76ers partner Michael Rubin has raised $32 million and counting. A chunk of that is thanks to David Blaine. The famed magician's fan experience -- flying to your home for a private show -- went for $220,000, but it was a 3-way tie. Blaine decided to go to all 3 winners' homes, so that's $660k for charity!!!

As for Pauly ... yes, the tuition at Pauly D U. is expensive, but it's for a great cause.

The Troubadour's doors have been closed since coronavirus shutdowns began, and there's a real chance they won't reopen ... but it's trying to get by with a little help from its fans and friends.

The historic venue in West Hollywood -- where Elton John's career got a huge boost -- has hosted live music, comedy and other entertainment since the late 1950s, and despite being a small, independently run business ... it's never faced a threat of permanent closure like it is now.

Ed Karayan, the club's owner, and his daughter Christine, the general manager, are very concerned about the Troub's chances of survival. They suggest with the way the pandemic is playing out, whenever they are finally allowed to reopen it will be too little, too late for the 500-capacity hot spot ... especially with social distancing rules.

Ed says ... "The more I think about it, it’s just completely futile. At least a big seated venue has space where they can keep people apart. But, I don’t know how that works for a general admission venue. Are you going to stop them from using the restroom?"

On the bright side ... the nightclub launched a GoFundMe to raise money for its staff of 20, almost all of which have been laid off. The Troubadour's initial goal was $30k, but it cruised past that and set a new goal of $50k ... and as of now, it's raised over $55,000!

So, just how significant is the L.A. venue? Here's a quick history lesson -- in the mid-60s it began welcoming rising acts like The Byrds, Nina Simone and Judy Collins ... along with helping launch the stand-up careers of Richard Pryor and Steve Martin.

The late '60s saw it play host to big names like Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor and the Eagles ... all before 1970, when Elton John made his famous U.S. debut on the Troubadour's stage at age 20. The moment was captured in last year's "Rocketman" biopic.

Since then, it's been the general admission, standing-room-only venue for hair bands in the '80s, grunge and alt-rock in the '90s and '00s and everything in between ... up until March 11, when the band Glass Animals last played live for an audience.

Hungry consumers are looking elsewhere for a juicy bite as America starts to feel the crunch from meat shortages ... and it's a boon for plant-based meats.

Here's the deal ... with traditional meat processing plants and slaughterhouses getting hit hard by COVID-19, there's a looming shortage of traditional meats and poultry. Based on the numbers, more and more people are taking the opportunity to try new, healthier options.

Two of the country's biggest plant-based meat producers, Tofurky and Impossible Foods, both tell TMZ ... sales are up and they've already found ways to cut into the conventional meat industry's marketplace.

Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos tells us his company is selling more inventory to stores than ever before. It's a pretty stark change ... Tofurky says one of its retail partners fears conventional meat sales will nosedive 30 percent.

Tofurky is upping its supply to fill the void.

In response, Tofurky's upping its supply to fill the void, and capitalize on the Wendy's burger shortage ... it's about to roll out a new line of plant-based burgers.

Over at Impossible Foods, President Dennis Woodside says they had record retail sales in April and struck new deals with major grocery chains like Kroger. Impossible already jumped into the fast-food game by partnering with Burger King -- pre-pandemic -- and Woodside says those sales remain strong.

Beyond Meat is making a killing too ... with a whopping 141% increase in first-quarter net revenues, compared to last year.

Plant-based beef ... it's what's for dinner in 2020.

Nike is stepping up in a huge way to help healthcare heroes ... pledging to donate more than 130,000 pairs of shoes and socks to frontline workers who are battling to stop the spread of COVID-19.

The apparel giant made the announcement Tuesday ... recognizing the need for hospital staffers to have comfortable footwear while they spend hours on their feet daily dealing with sick patients.

"From one athlete to another," the company said, "Nike athletes recognize the physical and mental resilience of healthcare athletes."

Nike says it will be donating pairs of Air Zoom Pulses to hospitals at several healthcare facilities across the U.S ... and its enlisted several superstar athletes, including Grizzlies rookie Ja Morant and Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson, to help deliver the goods.

Nike officials add the company will also come through with over 95,000 pairs of comfy soccer socks for the workers as well.

Of course, all of this is in addition to the thousands of protective masks Nike made and donated last month.

Two huge stars are joining forces to raise money for Holocaust survivors affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ... by kicking your ass into shape!

NFL star Julian Edelman and NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas have signed on to teach a Trooper Fitness virtual workout class to raise money for the 333 Charity and UJA-Federation.

The orgs say all proceeds will go toward providing meals for Holocaust survivors living in New York who are unable to leave their homes due to the health crisis.

"There are 36,000 Holocaust survivors living in the New York area, 40% of whom are living in poverty," 333 says.

Isiah Thomas explained his decision to join the event to Page Six ... saying, "Watching New York and the rest of the world get hit by the COVID-19 pandemic has been extremely difficult."

"Myself and my family are happy to work with 333 Charity and other organizations on Giving Tuesday to support meal deliveries for Holocaust survivors living in poverty during this difficult time."

The class -- $20 per person -- will take place over Zoom beginning at 3:30 PM PT.

Byron Allen says the news about people waiting in line for hours to feed their families motivated him to do something, and he got instant support from a slew of superstar comedians.

The famed TV mogul told us he hatched the idea for the "Feeding America Comedy Festival" just a couple weeks ago, and his first call to get it going was to Kevin Hart.

Byron was on "TMZ Live" Tuesday and said he followed up with calls to Tiffany Haddish, Eddie Murphy, Billy Crystal, Adam Sandler and so many more ... and they all had the same answer -- let's do this.

Byron -- who's partnering with Funny or Die to produce the benefit -- says viewers can expect more than just cookie-cutter material from the comics and actors. He tells us he gave them free rein to get creative in 2-3 minutes ... and it's going to produce lotsa laugh-out-loud moments.

Some other big names set to appear on the 2-hour comedy special include Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Whitney Cummings, Whoopi Goldberg, George Lopez, Marc Maron, JB Smoove and Marlon Wayans.

'Feeding America' encompasses a nationwide network of 200 food banks, and Byron told us the majority of them are facing increased demand for food and supplies due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Phoenix Zoo has a celebrity in its midst -- a handsome sloth that's become all the rage on the web, and while he's slowly making dough ... the zoo's still far from being financially stable.

The little guy's name is Fernando, a 4-year-old Linne's two-toed sloth who lives his life -- inch ... by ... inch -- within the confines of the zoo and lately, he's been raking in some much-needed cash on Cameo. That's the site where folks pay for personalized video messages.

Yes, people are paying for shout-outs from a non-speaking, slow-moving, tree-climbing mammal. At first, a Fernando Cameo only cost ya $25 -- but now, because of his popularity, the zoo's upped that to $50 a pop. At least 150 people have hired him, so far.

While it's great the Phoenix Zoo is getting innovative during the pandemic -- it also speaks to the hardship the industry, as a whole, is going through.

This specific zoo is reportedly a $1-million-per-month operation, and since closing its doors around mid-March ... it's been losing damn near $80k a day. So, the zoo is scrambling to raise funds any way it can right now.

Fortunately, the Phoenix Zoo recently got approved for a small business loan worth nearly $3 million as part of the federal stimulus package -- but even that's not enough to match what they'd normally make while open for biz.

For now, Fernando's doing all he can on Cameo.

Here's further proof not all heroes wear capes or badges ... sometimes they're famous TV mobsters like Joseph Gannascoli, who is taking it upon himself to feed frontline workers.

The actor -- famous for playing capo Vito Spatafore on the hit HBO series -- started his mission early last month with a goal of raising $50k to feed hospital workers, firefighters and other frontline workers.

Joseph started a GoFundMe and the donations started piling up pretty fast. So far, he's raised just over $25k and he's ordered food from his local neighborhood restaurants and delivered it throughout NY ... from Long Island and Staten Island to the Bronx and Brooklyn.

His objective -- help local restaurants with some much-needed business while also helping emergency workers who are working nonstop to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. So far, he's brought TONS of meals to hospitals, fire departments, police departments and even a U.S. post office.

Joseph's massive deliveries -- from his neighborhood restaurants like Villa Maria, Vincent's Clam Bar, Greek Xpress, and Habanero Mexican -- have really wowed those receiving it, including Cohen Children's Hospital, Nassau University Medical Center to the Lynbrook Police Department. And, as long as the money keeps coming in, he'll continue to order the food, pick it up himself and also deliver the food himself.

And, get this ... Joseph got some much-needed good news just a few days ago after learning his 104-year-old aunt, Ida Acconciamessa, survived her bout of COVID-19 after she was diagnosed early last month ... when Joseph started his feed-frontline-workers project.

She's a tough woman ... having survived stage 4 melanoma, two broken hips, and not to mention, having lived through the Spanish Flu. Goes without saying ... Joseph will also be delivering food to her nursing home in Brooklyn later this week.

It's not the first time Hollywood's done its part to help frontline workers. As we first reported ... Steven Spielberg did the same with hospital workers in Burbank. Danny Trejo personally delivered tons of Mexican food from his famous L.A. joint.

Gold's Gym is feeling the crunch, but we ain't talking abs ... one of the world's largest gym operators is filing for bankruptcy as the pandemic wreaks havoc on the fitness biz.

With most locations shuttered across the globe due to the coronavirus outbreak, and about 30 corporate-owned gyms permanently closed, Gold's says it's being forced to seek relief from creditors.

The company hopes to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy by Aug. 1 at the latest, and says it will keep paying vendors and suppliers while under court protection.

The Dallas-based company is carrying between $50 million and $100 million in debt, with assets in the same range ... according to the bankruptcy filing.

Gold's Gym, which is mostly franchised, says "the bankruptcy will have no further impact on current operations while under court supervision" ... and despite dozens of closures, Gold's Gym still has nearly 700 locations.

The gym giant says it's had to furlough the majority of its staff, about 4,600 strong.

The filing underscores how hard the fitness industry's been hit by shelter-in-place orders. There are reports 24-hour Fitness is also considering bankruptcy.