The life of a celebrity can be a glamorous one. The parties go all night and are filled with bottles of wine that cost more than your rent. They have more houses than fingers and at least at the time, and the idea of worrying about your finances seems like a problem that would never come to fruition. But for the celebrities on our list, they learned the hard way that fame and especially fortune, don’t last forever. You’ll also be astonished at how many of them felt that paying their taxes was overrated, a decision that landed one former superhero in jail for several years. And while Gary Coleman, Drake Bell, and Judy Garland may have started at a young age, definitely didn’t guarantee their long-term success. Some of our stars have bounced back, but that may make their brushes with drug addiction, mug shots instead of headshots and homelessness all the more startling. Though sadly, for other entries, their life came to a tragic end with little to nothing to show financially for the efforts they made in this world. These are Celebrities You Thought Were Rich But Are Actually Broke!
Stars Who You Thought Were Rich But Are Actually Flat Broke
Janice Dickinson
Janice Dickinson is one of the biggest icons in the world of modeling. The height of her career came in the 70s and 80s, but she also had a role on America’s Next Top Model as a judge in the 2000s. But Dickinson’s financial woes have also followed her into the 2000s, including reports she spent upwards of $300,000 to alter her body.
Her inability to pay her taxes also led to accrued fines and debt that at in 2013 when she claimed she was broke, was reportedly as high as $1 million. Those are plenty of reasons to not be smiling when looking into a mirror! Things are going better for Dickinson however as of late, including getting married to a psychiatrist in December.
Nicolas Cage
There are some actors who appear in a lot of movies because they love acting. There are others who appear in a lot of movies because they literally need the pay cheque. Can you guess what side Nicolas Cage falls on?
Reports of Cage’s financial woes have emerged over the years, including some saying he has allegedly blown through over $150 million and still owes the IRS over $10 million. Among his lavish purchases were 4 yachts, two Bahamian islands, and over 10 houses.
His name recognition alone means his career is probably safe for at least the foreseeable future, so let’s hope he uses some of those future earnings to hire someone who is better with money to help him.
Natasha Lyonne
Natasha Lyonne is one of the many actresses that are thankful for the success of the series Orange is the New Black. It’s not like Lyonne is a stranger to raunchy shows considering one of her big breaks before this was in the American Pie franchise. But life in between the start of her career and where she is now was full of police reports, drugs and the mindset where she thought she was as good as dead.
“When you go as deep into the belly of the beast as I went, there’s a whole other world going on and something like show business becomes the dumbest thing on planet Earth,” said Lyonne.
It was also appearing in an Off-Broadway play Two Thousand Years in 2007 that helped her clean her life up.
Chris Tucker
There were recent reports that Rush Hour 4 may actually be getting made in 2018. If that is the case then nobody would be happier about the news then Chris Tucker.
It was reported in 2014 that not only was Tucker hurting for cash but that he allegedly owed the IRS upwards of $14 million – though his representative did later say the claims were exaggerated and that the debt wasn’t as substantial.
One thing is for sure, Tucker’s issues with paying his back taxes lasted for 7 years! So while he reached a settlement offer with them, it definitely didn’t leave this comedian laughing all the way to the bank.
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes was one of the most profitable actors in the 1990s with several huge films, including starting the Blade film trilogy. But all of the money he was making came back to bite him after it became clear to the IRS that he wasn’t paying his taxes. A decision that had him spend December 9th, 2010-April 2nd, 2013 behind bars.
We’re sure he had plenty of memories of lavishly spending his money to think back on during his time in jail, we just hope that it also made him smarter when he returned to the outside.
In 2017, Snipes starred in Armed Response which was put on in part by WWE pictures and also starred Seth Rollins. It scored 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Toni Braxton
Toni Braxton may love to sing “un-break my heart” but that song would have had to pay her over $100 million to sooth the financial pains that were coming her way. Braxton decided paying her taxes was overrated and on two separate occasions filed for bankruptcy.
When talking about some of her unnecessary expenses, Braxton admitted
“I love dishes and house things so I kind of lost it a little bit on the houseware. One-thousand thread-count sheets, that’s what I indulged in.”
It took Braxton several years, but in 2013 it was reported by TMZ that she had finished paying off her $45+ million in debts.
50 Cent
50 Cent loved bragging about how much money he had online. But after later declaring bankruptcy, his lawyers explained
“The postings, which among other things, make use of stage or prop money, are part of the debtor’s routine social media marketing activities and relate directly to the debtor’s various business interests. Prop money is routinely used in the entertainment industry, including in movies, television shows, videos and social media postings.”
Yikes, talk about trying to keep up a positive image! Cent’s legal issues included reports in 2015 that he had debts of over $35 million but less than $20 million in assets.
The positive news is that in February of this year, 50 Cent had successfully paid off his debts. Part of his ability came from a settlement he received of $13.65 million after a malpractice lawsuit was filed against other attorneys. So while he may have money now, his financial situation (at least at one time) may still leave you shocked!
Heidi And Spencer Pratt
Heidi and Spencer Pratt absolutely love keeping up appearances. When their time was the brightest in the spotlight, they would spend money on items to feature on their reality show that they would then later discard.
Part of their tastes also included bottles of wine that cost upwards of $3,000 and despite allegedly making roughly $2 million a year when on The Hills, they stated in 2016 that they had gone through the roughly $10 million they earned.
It was reported by Dailymail that they were living in a home that is owned by Spencer’s parents. At the very least they did state that they’ve started to spend money with more common sense.
Drake Bell
Drake Bell was a large part of many people’s childhoods for his role on the series Drake & Josh. But while the show may have been a large part of your childhood, Bell’s mismanagement of the financial gains from the show was a large reason why he found himself in trouble in 2014.
It was reported by TMZ that Bell had filed for bankruptcy and accrued a debt of over $500,000. Bell also sold his house to try and recoup some of his losses. To help explain his downfall, TMZ also reported that Bell made over $400,000 in 2012 but only $14,100 in 2013.
John Cleese
John Cleese knew how to make you laugh with Monty Python but his financial situation is sadly no joking matter. The main cause of his financial woes comes from a costly divorce from Alyce Eichelberger
“I was comfortably well off before I got divorced from Alyce Faye Eichelberger. I never knew how much I really had — I was just comfortable. But now I’ve been working for seven years to pay off the alimony. She’s far better off than I am. So you could sit around being bitter about that. Or you can just think it’s completely ridiculous.”
Cleese admitted he will have paid her upwards of $20 million. While it’s not clear how significant his own struggles got, it definitely left him hurting and in a situation that we’re sure you do not envy.
Brett Butler
Brett Butler had the potential to have a lucrative career with her show Grace Under Fire. It ran for 5 seasons but perhaps fittingly with the name, ended in flames. Butler’s off-set addictions created an incredibly hostile working relationship where she later admitted she was abusive to work with.
Following the cancellation of the show, Butler moved away to a farm to be with her 15 pets. But that plan eventually fell apart and before long, Butler admitted that she ended up at a homeless center. Butler has thankfully turned her life around, including landing a role on the soap opera The Young and the Restless and Anger Management.
