money (83 posts)

Rick Gomez / Zuma Press

50 Cent has made a run for the court order.

The Get Rich or Die Tryin' rapper sued Taco Bell Corp. Wednesday for "diluting the value of his good name" with a guerilla ad campaign that he says was intended to fool the chalupa-craving masses into thinking he had endorsed the fast-food chain.

Last month, Fiddy's camp called the gimmick a "sleazy and ill-conceived publicity stunt."

"Without seeking or obtaining Jackson's authorization, defendant Taco Bell made him the star and focus of its nationwide advertising campaign by using his name, persona and trademark to promote Taco Bell's business and products," stated the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

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Sipa via AP Images

Here's some news Will Smith can take to the bank, along with those eight-figure paychecks: The Hancock star is the top-paid actor in Hollywood, according to the latest figures from the number crunchers over at Forbes.com.

Based on salaries earned between June 1, 2007, through June 1, 2008, Smith bested all competitors, male or female, raking in an estimated $80 million for his big-screen efforts.

His nearest moneymaking rival is Johnny Depp, whose pirate's booty totaled $72 million.

Not bad for a year's work.

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Kevin Mazur/WireImage.com

Courtney Love has been accused of leaving a hole in the books.

A business management and accounting firm has sued the Celebrity Skin artist for failing to fork over a percentage of the proceeds after selling a portion of Nirvana's publishing rights for $19.5 million.

The Los Angeles-based London & Co. claims its cut should have been $975,000, based on an oral agreement Love made with the firm in which she pledged to hand over 5 percent of her earnings, according to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in L.A. Superior Court.

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AP Photo / Tammie Arroyo

Ed McMahon has come up with a way to ease his financial pain.

The 85-year-old TV icon has sued a number of people connected in one way or another to the 2007 fall that resulted in his broken neck, an injury that he says has required three surgeries and left him unable to work (the main reason he's given for his recent money troubles).

McMahon filed a lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court charging Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; the hospital's attending ER physician when he was first admitted; the orthopedic surgeon who oversaw his spinal care; and billionaire investor Robert Day and his wife Kelly, the owners of the home where he fell down, with a variety of offenses, including negligence, premises liability, battery, fraud and elder abuse.

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John Stanton Wireimage

Papa has fetched a brand new bag—of money.

The medical bracelet James Brown was wearing before he died on Christmas Day in 2006 sold for a whopping $32,500 Thursday at a Christie's auction of Brown memorabilia.

The winning bidder: The Late Show With David Letterman sidekick and band leader Paul Shaffer.

But although the bracelet way surpassed Christie's $200 to $300 estimate, the day's overall take of $857,688 fell short of expectations.

Also among the 317 personal items on the block at the behest of the Godfather of Soul's estate, which maintained that the auction was necessary to pay bills and taxes: a full-length, black satin cape that went for $47,500; a red leather furniture set that sold for $40,000; and a denim jumpsuit studded with the acronym GFOS that fetched $25,000.

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AP Photo/Matt Sayles

Billy Crystal is clearly in a New York state of mind.

The Emmy winner has joined the board of directors of the National September 11 Memorial and Museum, a foundation raising funds for the still-in-the-works local memorial to the 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.

Crystal, who was born on Long Island and who performed at a benefit concert to raise money for the city a month after 9/11, joins fellow Big Apple native Robert De Niro on the now 45-member board.

The organization has privately raised more than $350 million to go toward a memorial at the WTC site, a project that has attracted no end of creative, logistical and financial controversy.

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Gilles Mingasson/Getty Images/Discovery Channel

Are there are few demons lurking in Jesse James' monster garage?

A Nebraska man has sued the West Coast Choppers CEO, claiming Sandra Bullock's motorcycle-pimping hubby agreed to custom build a vintage Cadillac for him for a certain price and then backtracked on his original estimate and never delivered the goods.

Per the lawsuit filed Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, in 2005, Michael P. Jones enlisted James and his company to customize a 1949 Cadillac Sedanette for between $250,000 and $350,000. (Check out a picture of a similar vehicle.)

James and his colleague at the time, Chris Smith, verbally agreed to the sum and James said that he would personally supervise all of the work, the suit states.

But while Jones made all of the required payments, he says that by the spring of 2007 all he had was the promise of a dazzling ride. When he asked James about having the Caddy ready in time to compete for the prestigious Don Ridler Award for car-building creativity, the Discovery Channel star told him the job could end up costing as much as $700,000.

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Rena Durham/ZUMAPress.com

We're thinking the wage earned pulling kitchen and laundry duty isn't going to cut it...

Lou Pearlman, the imprisoned boy-band visionary who bilked a number of banks and private investors out of $300 million, has been ordered to repay the entire sum to his victims—starting with the unfortunate, unincorporated individuals who had the misfortune of doing "business" with Pearlman.

The 10 banks, including Washington Mutual and Bank of America, that unwittingly loaned him money under false pretenses will be the last to collect any restitution, according to the ruling issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp.

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Gamma/Eyedea/ZUMAPress.com

If a higher power asks for a rewrite, what are you gonna do?

The scribe suing Mel Gibson for fraud over a royalty dispute related to The Passion of the Christ filed an amended lawsuit Monday after being told his original complaint "lacked specificity" and was taking a "chain letter" approach.

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Mathew Imaging/WireImage.com

Sharing threads with Angelina Jolie? Hot. Sharing a tee time with Morgan Freeman? Way hot!

A round of golf with the sonorous thesp sold for $49,000 earlier this month in an online auction benefiting hurricane relief victims, nearly five times as much as the winning bid for the sleek leather jacket Jolie wore in her new action flick, Wanted.

Her assassin's black zip-up from the film, which also stars Freeman, ultimately fetched $10,300.

The $2,722 per hole it's costing some philanthropic soul to hit the links with the Oscar-winning 71-year-old also includes a rainproof golf outfit and a set of spanking-new clubs, but still—it shows you can't underestimate the value of making small talk with a guy who's played God.

Not that he and Jolie were competing with each other.

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