Money

Pete Davidson's making sure his friends on "Bupkis" have good memories of him -- as he makes his exit, Pete's dishin' out thousands to some of the show's staff ... TMZ has learned.

Sources tell us, Pete's handing out cash prizes -- totaling hundreds of thousands -- to some creators who worked on season 1 of "Bupkis" to thank them for all their hard work on the show, pre-cancelation.

We're told Davidson gave the money to just a handful of people ... all of whom were involved with season 1, but who weren't necessarily working on the now-dead second season.

Pete Davidson se está asegurando de que sus amigos en "Bupkis" tengan buenos recuerdos de él mientras cierra ese capítulo, ya que el actor está repartiendo miles de dólares a algunos miembros del personal, según ha averiguado TMZ.

Las fuentes nos dicen que Pete está entregando premios en efectivo, por un total de cientos de miles, a algunos de los creadores que trabajaron en la primera temporada de "Bupkis". Todo, para darles las gracias por su duro trabajo, antes de su cancelación.

Nos dicen que Davidson le dio dinero a solo un puñado de personas, todos quienes estaban involucrados en la temporada 1, pero que no estaban necesariamente trabajando en la segunda temporada, ahora cancelada.

Bronny James is doing the right thing by keeping his basketball options open ... so says ex-NBA player and coach Byron Scott, who tells TMZ Sports he personally thinks the young hooper should stay in school another year.

The 19-year-old USC Trojan announced his plans to enter the NBA Draft on Friday ... saying he will explore the interest from teams at the next level while maintaining his NCAA eligibility and entering the transfer protocol.

We spoke with Scott about the big hoop news ... and he tells us the former four-star recruit's smart by leaving doors open.

"Not surprised, not shocked," Scott said of James' announcement. "I think Bronny and, obviously, his dad and Klutch Sports, they've probably been thinking about this for a while and how to kind of go about it."

"So him entering his name in the draft and also in the portal -- I think he’s just weighing his options to see where he can probably get drafted, and then if he doesn’t like that and likes a situation where he can go play college basketball for another year, then I think it’s the best of both worlds. I think he’s in a great position."

Bronny will almost certainly have a new home no matter what he decides to do ... and if that's a different university, Scott sees LeBron's eldest son being highly coveted in the 2025 NBA Draft.

"You know what, to be honest with you, I think one more year of college wouldn’t hurt him," Scott added. "I think he has some great skills, there’s no doubt about that -- he knows how to play the game, he’s got a great basketball IQ, but playing one more year and being almost kind of featured, I think would really really solidify him in the next NBA Draft."

Alex Jones is living it up in Hawaii, chillin' by the pool and downing drinks ... even though his massive debt to the families of Sandy Hook victims remains unpaid.

Eyewitnesses on the island of Kaui tell TMZ ... the controversial podcaster was at a ritzy resort earlier this week with his wife Erika, and they didn't appear to have any other family or friends hanging with them.

Jones was dressed pretty relaxed for his tropical vacay ... sticking to t-shirts and shorts while he hung around the hotel pool and bar area.

Angelina Jolie está haciendo un gran e innecesario alboroto sobre un acuerdo de confidencialidad que Brad Pitt quería que firmara, al menos así lo ve Brad, quien piensa que ella y todas las celebridades firman este tipo de acuerdos todo el tiempo.

Los ex siguen en guerra por Miraval, la bodega francesa de la que son co-propietarios, y Brad acaba de presentar documentos en esa disputa ... refutando la afirmación de Angie de que ella desistió de un acuerdo para vender su parte de la bodega a Brad, porque él insistió en que firmara un estricto acuerdo de confidencialidad.

En los documentos obtenidos por TMZ, Brad no niega que haya querido que Angelina firme uno, pero dice que no hay nada oneroso o amplio sobre el acuerdo que le presentó. De hecho, dice que es muy gracioso que Angelina se queje, porque su abogado "propuso una cláusula de no separación mutua aún más amplia" a Brad en relación con su divorcio.

Angelina Jolie is unnecessarily making a big fuss over a non-disclosure agreement Brad Pitt wanted her to sign ... at least according to Brad who says she, and all celebs, sign these all the time.

The exes are still warring over Miraval, the French winery they co-own, and Brad just filed docs in that dispute ... refuting Angie's claim she walked away from an agreement to sell her share of the winery to Brad, because he insisted she sign a strict NDA.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, Brad doesn't deny wanting her to sign one, but he says there's nothing onerous or broad about the NDA he presented her. In fact, he says it's pretty rich for Angelina to complain, because her lawyer "proposed an even broader, mutual non-disparagement clause" to Brad in connection with their divorce.

The Ravens and the Orioles are coming together for the city of Baltimore ... donating a combined $10 million to the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse emergency relief fund.

The two professional sports organizations announced the amazing gesture on Friday ... 10 days after a cargo ship crashed into the bridge over the Patapsco River and outer Baltimore port.

Two of the six victims were found dead in a pickup truck recovered in the water. The four others are presumed dead.

Universal Music Group is facing a new lawsuit ... and it all has to do with Mary J. Blige's most famous song -- which someone is now claiming illegally sampled an old jam.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, a company called TufAmerica, Inc. -- which owns Tuff City Records -- is suing the music publishing giant, claiming it sampled their song "Impeach the President" in MJB's "Real Love" without getting permission.

"Real Love" allegedly uses an uncleared sample from "Impeach the President" in both a sound recording and the musical composition. Tuff City claims they've reached out to UMG over the issue, but Universal hasn't addressed their concerns ... so, now they're suing.

The NBA has a new partner ... and it's none other than K-pop group LE SSERAFIM!!

Adam Silver's organization announced the big collaboration this week ... saying the quintet of musicians will headline the NBA's celeb and influencer operation in Asia.

The Association hopes the group's popularity will help expand its fanbase overseas ... similar to what it did when it enlisted BTS' Suga as an ambassador.

It seemed like a pretty "Smart" move -- especially considering Chaewon, Yunjin, Sakura, Kazuha and Eunchae are quite the hoop heads.

In fact, the group hit up a Laker game in customized jerseys back in November ... and briefly got to meet NBA legend Magic Johnson during their time at Crypto.com Arena.

The ladies also took a break from promoting their new project, "Easy," to tune in to the All-Star Game from a cellphone in February ... and recently posted a video of them showing off their choreography while decked out in numerous teams' merch.

With the collab, it's safe to say fans will see a lot more of LE SSERAFIM at games in the future ... and they can expect a ton of new content on socials.

The group made its debut in 2022 ... and has exploded in popularity ever since.

The 99 Cents Only stores are all going out of business, and they'll be shutting their doors across the country in due time ... which has caused many to be up in arms.

The parent company announced the big news Thursday, saying they were going to begin a nationwide wind-down of all of their locations in the U.S. ... a whopping 371 locations, all of which will be shuttered in waves over the coming months.

Specifically, there are 4 states that currently host 99 Cents Only stores -- California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas ... and yes, they're all going bye-bye.

The Dodgers fan who caught Shohei Ohtani's home run on Wednesday night is now upset with her favorite team ... claiming officials from the org pressured her into giving it up for a low-ball offer.

Ambar Roman scooped up the memento in the seventh inning of LA's tilt with the Giants at Dodger Stadium -- after Ohtani blasted it some 430 feet from home plate into her seat in the right field bleachers.

It was Shohei's first-ever dinger as a Dodger ... and, initially, Roman was fired up to score the treasure. She was seen on the game's broadcast going crazy -- but just minutes later, she said things turned very stressful.

Angelina Jolie is floating new allegations against Brad Pitt -- claiming he'd roughed her up before the plane incident that ended their marriage ... but we're hearing a different story.

In court docs, obtained by TMZ, Angie's attorneys levied a heavy accusation against her ex -- namely, that he'd allegedly physically abused her before their incident in the sky in September 2016 ... which Angelina has maintained involved Brad putting hands on their kid.

We know Brad's denied that, and that the authorities cleared him of wrongdoing -- but Angelina has continued to insist it happened ... including here, where her attorneys say the abuse AJ claims to have endured via Brad actually pre-dated whatever happened in 2016.

Angelina Jolie está reflotando nuevas acusaciones en contra de Brad Pitt, esta vez alegando que la habría maltratado antes del incidente del avión que puso fin a su matrimonio. Aunque estamos escuchando una historia diferente.

En los documentos judiciales obtenidos por TMZ, los abogados de Angie lanzaron una fuerte acusación en contra de su ex, esto es, que supuestamente habría abusado físicamente de ella antes del incidente aéreo de septiembre de 2016, en el que Angelina ha mantenido que Brad puso las manos sobre su hijo.

Sabemos que Brad lo ha negado, y que las autoridades lo absolvieron de haber hecho algo malo, pero Angelina ha seguido insistiendo en que sucedió, y sus abogados dicen que el abuso que habría soportado de Brad habría ocurrido antes de lo sucedido en 2016.

The L.A. area mansion Serena and Venus Williams purchased years ago for their mother is hitting the market ... TMZ has learned.

We're told the tennis superstars grabbed this Woodland Hills property for their mom/coach, Oracene Price, back in 2005 ... just as their careers were skyrocketing. Oracene lived in the mansion up until 2019, when it was reportedly sold for just under $2 million.

Now the property is going back on the market, and our real estate sources tell us it will be listed for $4,649,000 starting Friday.

Gene Simmons ain't lumping himself in with other musicians threatened by the emerging use of AI in the biz -- in fact, he's leaning into it, and is ready to live on as a hologram in music.

The KISS singer spoke to us on "TMZ Live" Thursday about the band's upcoming digital avatar residency ... saying he and his bandmates are ready to rock out as digital pixels for years to come, because if they don't they'll just become yesterday's news.

Gene tells us despite his band never touring as KISS in the flesh again, things for them are only just beginning -- this after selling their entire music catalog, name, and likeness to Pophouse Entertainment for about $300 million.

Gene Simmons no se siente amenazado por el uso emergente de la IA en el negocio, de hecho, se está inclinando hacia ella y está listo para vivir como un holograma músical.

El cantante de KISS habló con nosotros en "TMZ Live" el jueves sobre la próxima residencia avatar digital de la banda, diciendo que él y sus compañeros de banda están dispuestos a rockear como píxeles digitales en los próximos años, porque si no lo hacen solo se convertirán en noticias de ayer.

Gene nos dice que a pesar de que su banda nunca volverá a girar como KISS en carne y hueso, las cosas para ellos no han hecho más que empezar, esto después de vender todo su catálogo de música, nombre y semejanza a Pophouse Entertainment por unos 300 millones de dólares.