Celebrities often live lavish lives, but which movie star went so far as to buy an entire
town?
That's a formula for bankruptcy if ever there was one.
Keep watching for some ridiculous stories of broke celebs.
In the 70s and 80s, Burt Reynolds was an incredibly popular actor, as he starred in such box office
hits as Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance, and The Cannonball Run.
During this period, he also went on a bit of a spending spree.
Some of his pricey purchases included multiple properties, custom cars, a private jet, a
helicopter, 150 horses, and $100,000 in toupees.
While this excessive spending certainly didn't help his bottom line, his most serious financial
trouble was actually caused by a bad investment.
At the peak of his career, Reynolds was persuaded by his business manager to invest in a chain
of restaurants called Po' Folks, along with co-investor Buddy Killen.
The arrangement was sour from the start, with Killen telling The Washington Post in 1996,
"The service was bad, the quality of food was not holding up.
[...] Everything that could go wrong went wrong."
In an attempt to offset the loss, Reynolds was advised to invest in another chain, Daisy
Diner.
But that also failed and cost him and Killen approximately $20 million.
These failed investments, as well as a messy divorce and a lack of funds to repay a loan
from CBS, led to Reynolds filing for bankruptcy in 1996, as he was reportedly over $10 million
in debt.
Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is one of the most popular rappers, but that hasn't prevented
him from getting in deep financial trouble.
After releasing his multi-platinum debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin in 2003, he continued
to grow his musical career, while also investing in a number of different businesses, including
Vitamin Water, with total estimated earnings of approximately $100 to $150 million.
This sure sounds like someone who's financially well off, but by 2015, 50 was living down
to his name, as he filed for bankruptcy that year, claiming nearly $36 million in debt.
"You declared bankruptcy, you said you're out of money."
The filing came shortly after a court ruling required 50 to pay $7 million to Lastonia
Leviston, the ex-girlfriend of rapper Rick Ross, for posting a NSFW tape of her online.
He'd also lost $10 million the year before, due to failed business ventures.
And on top of that, he owed money to his stylist, barber, and fitness coach
In the late 80s and early 90s, MC Hammer was one of the biggest names in the music world,
with hits like "U Can't Touch This" and "2 Legit 2 Quit" blasting out of stereos everywhere.
Hammer was most famous for his unique rapping style and unmatched dance moves, but he was
also known for his careless spending.
By 1991, Hammer had an estimated net worth of $70 million and earned approximately $30
million a year.
But he also had serious expenses, a majority of which were attributed to his custom-built
mansion in California.
The home cost $30 million to build, which included indoor and outdoor pools, as well
as three waterfalls.
Hammer's other expenses included tending to several horses, an extensive car collection,
and a pricey entourage that reportedly cost him $500,000 a month.
His days of excessive spending eventually had to come to an end, as he filed for bankruptcy
in 1996, claiming $13 million in debt and assets of only $1 million.
His debt included $100,000 to both the IRS and the California State Franchise Tax Board,
with other creditors including his brother, limousine companies, department stores, and
utilities.
Toni Braxton had a successful music career along with her sisters as The Braxtons, but
she's more widely known for her solo career, with her 1996 release "Un-Break My Heart"
spending 11 weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
But just two years later, she found herself in the midst of a complicated lawsuit that
led to her bankruptcy.
The filing came eight weeks after Braxton filed a lawsuit against LaFace Records and
its parent company, Arista, to end her recording contract.
Careless spending also played a role in her financial losses.
"I love dishes and house things, so I kind of lost it a little bit on the houseware."
Despite this setback, Braxton managed to get back on her feet following several subsequent
album releases and acting gigs.
Alas, in 2008 she found herself back in debt.
She had a set of shows booked in Las Vegas, but reportedly had to cancel them due to angina,
a condition that causes chest tightness and pain.
This decision cost her millions and led to her filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
One of the greatest power hitters in baseball history, Jose Canseco was once upon a time
one of the most famous athletes on the planet.
Over the course of his career, he earned a total of $45 million.
But somehow, he managed to blow through it all.
Following his retirement from the MLB in 2006, Canseco had a brief stint with independent
baseball leagues, and nowadays he remains popular via his social media presence.
In 2012, he filed for bankruptcy, claiming a total of $1.7 million in debt and only $21,000
in assets.
He attributed the depletion of his multi-million dollar fortune to a number of things, ranging
from his two divorces, to taking care of family members, and even the government.
As he explained in an essay that he wrote for Vice in 2012,
"If you've got friends and family, the more money you make the more you spend on them.
So let's say you spend half your money on them and the rest on yourself and the cost
of living.
It may so happen that during all of that you forget to pay your taxes.
And then all of a sudden penalties and interest start to add up, and you're in a pool of quicksand
from which you cannot escape."
Larry King was one of the most successful radio and TV hosts of all time, with a career
that spanned more than 50 years.
At the time of his death in 2021, he was reportedly worth $50 million.
But before his start as the media figure we remember today, he had a rocky relationship
with his finances.
King's career in broadcast journalism took off in the 1960s, when he got a job as a radio
announcer for a station in Miami.
Throughout the decade, he managed to establish himself as a reputable journalist.
By 1971, however, it all came crashing down when he was charged with grand larceny, as
he'd allegedly stolen $5,000 from his business partner, Wall Street financier Louis Wolfson.
Though the charges were eventually dropped, King was fired and essentially blacklisted
from any broadcast journalism jobs, leaving him out of the industry for four years.
During this time, King fell deep into debt.
He had married and divorced multiple times in the 60s and 70s, and the lack of work wasn't
exactly helping his finances either.
In 1978, he filed for bankruptcy, claiming over $350,000 in debt.
But good fortune was just around the corner, as that same year, he was offered his own
radio talk show, which would become Larry King Live and remain on the air for 25 years.
A renowned pitcher for teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks, Curt
Schilling was once one of the biggest names in the sport of baseball.
According to Celebrity Net Worth, he earned $114 million throughout his playing career,
and additional millions in endorsements.
Following his retirement, he explored an interest in the video game industry, and in 2006 he
founded the company 38 Studios.
Alas, this ended up being a financial disaster that led to the loss of his entire fortune.
From 38 Studios' very beginnings, Schilling knew what his dream needed to survive.
In an interview with Boston radio station WEEI, he explained,
"One of the going concerns from Day One [...] is we needed to raise capital.
We tried for a long time to do that and it didn't come to fruition."
Schilling invested $50 million into the company and also received a $75 million loan from
the state of Rhode Island and $5 to $10 million from other investors.
The loan was supposed to provide jobs for over 400 employees as well as bolster the
economy of Providence, where Schilling promised to move the company to.
But a series of bad financial decisions, failed deals, and an inability to pay employees ultimately
led to the demise of 38 Studios.
The company filed for bankruptcy, claiming $150.7 million in debt and only $21.7 million
in assets.
By the early 90s, Kim Basinger was one of the biggest names in Hollywood, as she'd recently
starred in the likes of The Natural and Batman.
In 1989, she purchased most of the land in the town of Braselton, Georgia, for $20 million.
The plan was to glam up Braselton into a tourist attraction, as well as a destination for movie
studios.
But it didn't exactly turn out as planned.
Basinger ended up juggling Braselton along with her acting projects, including the 1993
film Boxing Helena.
Alas, conflicts between her and co-producer Carl Mazzocone and screenwriter Jennifer Lynch
reportedly led to Basinger pulling out of the film.
But this sudden decision had serious consequences, as she was sued by Main Line Pictures for
$7.4 million for breaching her oral contract.
Meanwhile, her business plan was falling through and costing her millions.
So in 1993, she filed for bankruptcy, despite an approximate net worth of $5 million.
"Everybody seems to be kinda disappointed right now, because they thought when she bought
this thing, they'd do something with it right away, I reckon."
This one's slightly different, as Nicolas Cage has never formally declared bankruptcy,
but he is known for his eccentric and extravagant spending habits.
This has included burning through his $150 million fortune on a variety of expensive
items ranging from cars and mansions to a haunted house and even a piece of an extinct
animal.
In the 90s and early 2000s, Cage was reportedly earning approximately $40 million per year,
making him one of the richest actors in Hollywood.
As his income continued to increase, he went on a spending spree that resulted in him losing
most of his money and approaching the brink of bankruptcy.
His purchases included 15 residences, including a $25 million waterfront home in Newport Beach,
California, a haunted mansion in New Orleans, two European castles, and an island in the
Bahamas.
And that's not all, as he also reportedly bought a $150,000 pet octopus and a $276,000
dinosaur skull.
"I just don't know what you mean by that, Nic."
Cage's days of spending quickly came to an end in 2009, when several of his properties
were lost due to foreclosure.
At the time, the homes were worth millions of dollars.
The actor also owed $6 million to the IRS for unpaid property taxes.
Following this period of financial trouble, he was ultimately able to take on various
acting projects and stay afloat while paying his debts.
At the height of his boxing career, Mike Tyson was reportedly worth $300 million.
In 1991, as his career was continuing to blossom, he was arrested for rape and found guilty
of the crime in February 1992, for which he spent three years in jail.
By the time of his release in 1995, he became notorious as a lavish spender.
Tyson spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a variety of big-ticket items, ranging
from jewelry to real estate and exotic animals.
He reportedly spent over $4 million on a car collection, $100,000 on Bengal tigers, $2
million on a solid gold bathtub for his ex-wife Robin Givens, and lavish parties with a price
tag in the $400,000 range, to name just a few of his spending sprees.
"Money."
"Yeah, what about it?"
"What does money mean to you?"
"Paper blood."
"Paper blood?"
"Yeah, I don't know."
By 2003, however, Tyson had blown through his $300 million fortune and filed for bankruptcy,
as he claimed that he was $23 million in debt.
This included $13.4 million owed to the IRS, $4 million owed to British Tax Authorities,
and $51,949 owed in child support.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available.
Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline
at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).