Hollywood can make or break a celebrity. Do it right and the cash comes in faster than you can say “withdraw”.
Celebrities have tons of money which has fans envying their lifestyles. But some have gone overboard with the spending, to the point of near-bankruptcy.
Meet some of the brightest stars who have, one way or the other, gone broke, but for some reason are still around in tinseltown.
Nicolas Cage
Cage is an icon in Hollywood, but is also a chronic over-spender. He was once worth $150 million back in 1996, but between then and 2011, he blew it all on castles, fancy cars, and whatever else he wanted.
The actor ended up selling some of his treasured possessions just to recover his financial situation.
50 Cent
In 2015, the famous rapper was over $32 million in debt to the International Revenue Services. He declared bankruptcy in 2016.
This shows what happens when you live outside your means, even when you are a popular rapper.
Lindsay Lohan
Lohan was a beloved actress in her childhood years and even into adulthood, but her reputation plummeted after bad publicity and reports of her being difficult to work with surfaced.
Her poor reputation followed in rehab, and together with bad overspending habits, had her in $233,000 debt to the IRS.
Today, her net worth is still under $1 million at $800,000.
MC Hammer
The ultimate one-hit wonder, MC Hammer never touched the wealth he made with U Can’t Touch This again. This was what led him to lose his money.
MC Hammer’s life involved luxuries like private jets, a record company, and a home worth over $30 million. He declared bankruptcy in 1996 and was paying money back to the IRS for years after.
Shia Labeouf
Labeouf has not lost all his money, but his behaviour had become strange for a time in the 2010s. Many people refused to work with the actor and the projects he worked on drew in no one else.
He made no money for a time, despite spending it. Today Labeouf is doing alright, having come back from that odd behaviour.
Michael Jackson
The King of Pop lived a glamorous life from the outside, but Jackson was in tons of debt due to his legal fees and overspending issues.
He lost over $20 million in legal fees alone which put a huge dent in his fortune. His estate did recover after his death which leaves Jackson as one of the best-earning dead artists ever.
Kim Basinger
Basinger did what many others would if they were famous with lots of money to spend: she spent it on a piece of land.
Unlike what most would do though, Basinger spent $20 million to buy an entire town. She had big plans for it, but Basinger sold the town in 1993 after being forced to declare bankruptcy.
Burt Reynolds
Reynolds was a big Hollywood name in the 60’s and he carried that fame through the 80’s. He spent on whatever he wanted for many years, thanks to his incredible success.
But his pricey divorce alongside a lot of loans he didn’t keep an eye on had him filing for bankruptcy in the 90’s.
Toni Braxton
Not only has Braxton filed for bankruptcy in her lifespan, but she’s had to do it twice. The first was in 1998 when her record label payed her such poor royalties in comparison to her spending habits.
The next was 10 years later in 2008, due to medical fees. The price of healthcare is not a joke.
Mike Tyson
In 2003, Tyson was $23 million in debt. He declared bankruptcy while finishing his sentence in jail. He returned to rehab before reaching financial stability.
The champion boxer owed money to the IRS, British tax authorities, lawyers, a personal trainer, a financial manager, and a music producer.
He then had to pay $9 million in a divorce settlement while being behind on child support.
The retired boxer is now financially stable, launching a marijuana company called The Ranch Companies in California in 2018.
Tyson has also announced plans to open a cannabis-themed resort.
Stephen Baldwin
The youngest brother of the acting clan the Baldwins, Stephen enjoyed fame in the 90s with such hits as The Usual Suspects.
His career was short lived, as the younger Baldwin filed for bankruptcy in 2009. He owed money on taxes and a couple of mortgages.
His house was foreclosed after for failing to make mortgage payments due six years.
In 2017, Baldwin was arrested, serving five years’ probation for failing to pay his taxes for three years.
Marvin Gaye
Gaye first married Anna Gordy, his childhood sweetheart, in 1963. But in 1976, he filed for bankruptcy when he fell behind on alimony payments to his ex-wife.
A judge ordered Gaye to pay Gordy $600,000 from royalties of his upcoming album Here, My Dear. It was released in 1978 and dedicated to Anna.
At the time of his passing in 1984, the 44-year-old Gaye still owed Anna a little under $300,000 in back alimony.
Gary Coleman
Gary Coleman rose to fame, and fell from grace, in the late 70s and 80s. He starred in sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, making $100,000 per episode.
The show ended in 1986, where his adoptive parents and business advisor had mismanaged his earnings. That forced Coleman into bankruptcy in 1999.
After lawyers’ fees, bad investments and a few legal issues, he had to work as a security guard.
After years of struggling with poor health, Coleman died in May 2010.
Larry King
King began his career in broadcast in the 1950s and ’60s as a radio announcer in Miami, Florida.
In 1971, he was accused of stealing $5,000 from his business partner at the time. The charges were dropped, but his reputation suffered all the same.
King fell into debt, filing for bankruptcy in 1978, but he soon landed a national radio talk show in Washington, DC.
That led to the Larry King Live TV program on CNN.
Cindy Lauper
Cyndi Lauper, known for hits like Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, was part of the group Blue Angel before going solo.
The band’s only album was a flop, and their manager sued them for $80,000, forcing Lauper to file for bankruptcy in 1981.
She released a solo album, She’s So Unusual, in 1983, making her a Grammy- and Tony-award winning artist.
Aaron Carter
Child stars tend to struggle with the transition from child actor to adult. Aaron Carter, brother of Backstreet Boy Nick Carter, was no exception.
He opened for the Backstreet Boys in 1997 then released his solo debut album in December of the same year.
His life and career took a bad turn in 2013. Carter declared bankruptcy with $2 million of debt with only $917 in his checking account.
Rebuilding his career proved fruitless, and in November 2022, Aaron Carter was found dead in his bathtub at the age of 34.
T-Pain
An interview with the radio show The Breakfast Club had rapper T-Pain sharing that he went from having $40 million to having so little money that he would borrow cash to get his kids burgers.
“Now I know what the high end is and what the low end is,” said T-Pain. “I’ve been mega-rich, I’ve been super broke, right in the middle of thinking I was mega-rich, and then got rich again, and you know learned how to really give a s*** about money.”
He is releasing new music, won the first season of Fox’s The Masked Singer, and is doing better financially now that he knows how to manage his money.
Kelly Rutherford
Rutherford’s acting career spans from soap operas to hit TV shows. She is famous for playing Lily van der Woodsen on the CW’s Gossip Girl.
Her money problems come from a legal dispute with ex-husband, Daniel Giersch. Five years after divorce proceedings, Rutherford shared that she was penniless.
Legal fees and travel expenses to visit her kids, who were sent to live with Giersch in Germany, forced the actress to declare bankruptcy, but she has managed to rebuild her net worth back to around $1 million.
TLC
1990s girl group TLC found themselves low on cash even after the success of their 1994 album, CrazySexyCool.
Group member Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes shared in a documentary that because of taxes and fees paid to the recording studio and record company, the three band members made just $300,000 from the album, even though it sold 15 million copies.
TLC enjoyed some success in the music industry, but their fortunes have not been lucrative.
Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins filed for bankruptcy in 2011. Shue’s over $1 million of debt and has a net worth of just $1.5 million.
Willie Nelson
Country music superstar Willie Nelson found himself facing a $16.7 million tax bill from the IRS in 1990.
He settled the debt for $9 million in 1993. Nelson recorded an album called The IRS Tapes: Who’ll Buy My Memories? to help pay off his debt.
It took awhile, but by 1999, Nelson was back with an estimated net worth of $25 million.
Dennis Rodman
Dennis Rodman earned more than $27 million during his NBA career. He lost a lot of his money due to poor management by a financial advisor named Peggy Ann Fulford.
Authorities learned that Fulford had overseen 85 bank accounts, laundering money through more than 20 shell corporations, three of which were in Rodman’s name.
She was sentenced to 10 years and ordered to pay $5.7 million in restitution.
Sinbad
Comedian David Adkins, popularly as Sinbad, starred in several movies and TV shows in the 1990s.
He filed for bankruptcy in 2011, and told TMZ that he was around $11 million in debt.
He owed $374,979 to American Express, $32,199 to Bank of America and $2.3 million to the California Franchise Tax Board in 2001. Adkins also owed $8.3 million to the IRS.
Sinbad has since managed to get his finances back on track. He now has a net worth of $4 million.
Corey Haim
Appearing The Lost Boys and License to Drive made Corey Haim one of the biggest young stars of the late 80s and early 90s, just before his career was ruined by drug addiction.
Before his early death in 2010, Haim was so broke he didn’t even have a car. He filed for bankruptcy in 1997, owing $100,000 to the IRS and $100,000 in debt.
In 2001, Haim tried to sell some of his hair and one of his teeth on eBay for cash.
Dionne Warwick
Warwick is a legend in the industry, with an enduring career dating back to the mid-50s. She has five Grammys, selling more than 100 million albums.
In 2013, Warwick was down to her last $1,000. She was drowning in tens of thousands in credit card debt, including a $10 million tax bill.
The singer blamed it all on financial mismanagement and her compulsive shopping habit.
Wesley Snipes
Blockbuster movies like White Men Can’t Jump, Demolition Man and Blade, made Wesley Snipes one of the biggest names in Hollywood in the 90s.
But after being convicted of tax fraud in 2008, he spent a year in federal prison.
Snipes’ troubles began when he followed the advice of an anti-tax advocate. He then spent lavishly, with an $8 million mansion in Alpine, New Jersey.
These days, the actor is back with films such as Dolemite Is My Name and Coming 2 America.
Gary Busey
Busey was a one-time Best Actor Oscar nominee for The Buddy Holly Story, but is more famous for his erratic real-life behaviour than his on-screen performances.
The actor filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2012, when he owed more than $10 million to creditors and the IRS.
His struggles over the years, which include cocaine addiction and sexual misconduct allegations, go all the way back to brain damage suffered in a 1988 motorcycle accident.
Mekhi Phifer
Phifer starred in the hit TV series ER and opposite Eminem in the movie 8 Mile. He filed for bankruptcy in 2014, claiming $1.3 million in debts and just $67,000 worth of assets.
He was earning $7,500 a month in income but monthly expenses totalled to $11,600.
His luxury purchases, which included an extensive gun collection and leather bed, contributed to his financial problems and downfall.
Joe Francis
Joe Francis was the founder of the Girls Gone Wild franchise. He was once so rich that he owned a Bentley Flying Spur and Cadillac Escalade.
But in 2015, he was facing arrest for not surrendering his luxury cars which was ordered by a bankruptcy judge as part of his legal troubles.
Francis was convicted of assault and owed more than $10 million to casino magnate Steve Wynn.
His final downfall was attempting to conceal those cars. Francis has spent recent years with his family at an estate in Mexico.
Donald Trump
Trump has never personally filed for bankruptcy, but six of his casinos and hotels did go bankrupt between 1991 and 2009.
The first was filed by Trump Taj Mahal in 1991 after a year in operation. The place was $3 billion in debt.
Within another year, Trump filed for three more businesses: Trump Castle, Trump Plaza and Casino, and the Plaza Hotel.
The last two had up $800 million worth of debt. Trump Hotels and Casinos filed for bankruptcy in 2004, while four casinos had a combined debt of $1.8 billion.
And in 2009, Trump Entertainment Resorts filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
David Cassidy
In 2015, David Cassidy had debts above $10 million, owing $290,000 to Wells Fargo, $21,000 to American Express, $17,000 to Citibank and $102,000 to an attorney.
The actor was arrested three times between 2010 and 2014 with charges of driving under the influence.
Cassidy’s wife divorced him after his third arrest. He passed away in 2017 from organ failure.
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