Sinbad has been many things to many people: An acclaimed comedian.
The security detail to the First Kid of these glorious United States.
The guy who lost Star Search to the voice of the Crypt Keeper.
But a few years ago, Sinbad became something else that was a lot less fun: bankrupt.
Yes, the one time superstar filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and when that was dismissed due to
a clerical error, he filed again in 2013.
At the time, he told the court that he was a whopping $11 million in debt.
So how did he get in such trouble?
Well, according to NewsOne, roughly $8 million of the comedian's debt came in the form of
back taxes.
The rest of it, though, apparently boils down to old fashioned American optimism.
Speaking to the Huffington Post on the subject of his bankruptcy cases in 2013, Sinbad described
working in the entertainment industry in terms that any gig economy employee with a credit
card can understand.
"I spent money, and I kept thinking, 'I get one more movie and I'll wipe these bills out,'
but that movie never came.
So you owe a million dollars.
I can pay that.
OK, fines, fees, now you owe two and a half million.
'But I didn't do nothin'!'
Now you owe four million."
He went on to explain that this happened despite the fact that, unlike, say, Nicolas Cage,
he wasn't blowing his fortune on extravagant purchases like haunted mansions or dinosaur
skeletons.
And his court filings seemed to bear this out, as at the time he only listed $131,000
in personal assets.
"I didn't buy Bentleys, I never lived large.
I believed in me, I invested in me, and I invested in a lot of other people.
I would not change it, I would not go back."
Another factor in his financial woes was declining health.
The older you get, the bigger the medical bills get, and Sinbad, now 63, has had his
fair share of top shelf medical problems over the years.
In the 1970s, the 6'5" comic had planned to play professional hoops, and even earned a
basketball scholarship to the University of Denver, but a knee injury sidelined the aspiring
athlete.
Joint damage, as you're probably aware, is the student loans officer of the medical world:
it always catches up with you in the end.
By the late 2000s, a large frame and an active lifestyle had finally taken their toll.
In August of 2010, the comedian revealed in a Twitter post that he'd undergone the second
of two knee replacement surgeries, the first of which he'd discussed at some length in
his special from earlier that year, Where U Been?
Then, in November of 2015, UPI reported that Sinbad was recovering from spinal fusion surgery,
a complicated procedure in which two or more vertebrae are welded together.
The process reportedly lasted 10 hours.
He later Tweeted,
"Thank everyone for their prayers.
I shall be back up soon.
This surgery was no joke."
"You haven't changed a bit!"
"Oh.
Ha, ha.
I've changed."
"We've grown up watching you!"
"I've got more metal in my body, I can't go through any kind of detectors."
Besides the cost of those medical bills, the physical woes also certainly affected his
ability to work, further lowering his income.
Luckily, it seems as though the worst of it is now in the past for Sinbad.
In 2013 and 2014, he had a recurring voice role on cult favorite cartoon show Steven
Universe playing Mister Smiley, the Beach City Funland mainstay and, in a meta twist,
ex-comedian.
Then, in 2017, he showed up on the Disney Junior animated series The Lion Guard as Uroho
the baboon, a part that lasted two episodes.
In 2018, he returned to Fox the network that aired the single season of The Sinbad Show
in 1993 for the live-action sitcom Rel starring Lil Rel Howery.
The show made it 12 episodes before being cancelled in April of 2019.
And in 2020, he was out on the road, maintaining a tour schedule that would make any comedian
jealous pandemic, or no pandemic!
One thing he probably won't be doing again any time soon, though, is work for Donald
Trump.
Back in 2010, he was fired by The Donald after just two episodes on The Celebrity Apprentice.
He told Oprah in 2013 that he wishes he hadn't done the show, and if he could go back, he
would tell Trump to fire his barber instead.
"I'm sorry.
I ain't feeling you, man.
You're fired!
I fire you, Donald Trump!"
Still, it seems Sinbad has had the last laugh, because despite all his financial problems,
Celebrity Net Worth estimates the value of his personal wealth now at roughly $4 million.
Way to go, Sinbad!
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