MTV Cribs was one of the most iconic reality series of the early 2000s, giving the world
a glimpse into the private homes of popular celebrities.
Famous people change, but real estate remains the same...so what happened to those luxurious
houses on MTV Cribs after the cameras left?
Actress Melissa Joan Hart was a television staple for well over a decade.
Following her starring turn on Nickelodeon's Clarissa Explains It All, she completed a
seven-season sitcom run as the title character in Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
As Hart was nearing the end of the latter career-defining gig in 2001, she made time
to share a glimpse of her Spanish-style home on MTV Cribs.
In this season 2 episode, Hart shows off her gorgeous pad in Sherman Oaks, California,
which is filled with tons of Shirley Temple memorabilia, an impressive art collection
that includes Picasso etchings, and a whole lot of gin.
However, according to the Los Angeles Times, she's since sold that home.
As of April 2019, the TV star revealed to Architectural Digest that her and her family
of five decided to make a permanent move to their vacation home in Lake Tahoe.
Supermodel Naomi Campbell started her professional career at just 15 years old, gracing the covers
of popular publications like the international versions of Elle and Vogue, making her a dominant
figure in the fashion industry for most of her life.
At the time of her MTV Cribs tour, Campbell lived in author Ian Fleming's historic Jamacian
villa, where he famously wrote all his James Bond novels.
While giving viewers an inside look at her residence in paradise, the English beauty
displays a fridge full of beer for friends, photos of the late Nelson Mandela, who notably
called her his honorary granddaughter, and guest bedrooms galore.
Other celebrities have since come and gone from this ocean-front property, including
Bono, Sting, and Pierce Brosnan, with each inhabitant leaving their imprint by planting
and naming a tree in the private garden.
"Everyone that's been here, my dad likes them to plant something for memory and then you
come back here and stay and your tree's done."
In 2011, the Fleming Villa became part of the luxury Goldeneye Resort.
Redman was a popular figure in the '90s hip-hop scene.
As both a solo artist and half of the Method Man & Redman duo, he released several albums
and nabbed a starring role alongside his musical collaborator in the 2001 stoner movie How
High.
But when the cameras made the trip to Redman's house for MTV Cribs, everyone was in for a
big surprise.
The rapper's tour of his modest Staten Island home ended up being one of the most popular
episodes ever.
In addition to not cleaning up before filming and ironing his clothes on the floor, Redman's
pad featured shoe boxes full of money.
While speaking with VladTV years later, he called out the high expectations set by the
series, which allegedly led other celebs to showcase fake home rentals on the show.
"They wanted me to rent a house.
So I could open the big double doors and s---."
Redman has continued to live in this same simple house, likely because, as he explained
on MTV Cribs, the location has given him the sense that he can always strive upwards.
"Whatever happened to the house, remember from MTV Cribs?"
"Yeah, that's what the hell I live in!
The same one!"
50 Cent got his start as a protégé of Eminem and skyrocketed to fame when his 2003 smash
single, "In Da Club," soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Two years later, the rapper simultaneously held three of the top five songs on the same
coveted chart.
With records like these, 50 Cent clearly earned the big bucks and was not shy about spending
it.
"This is it right here.
This is my empire."
Referring to his pad as the "East Coast Playboy Mansion," 50 Cent's 50,000 square foot Connecticut
home is complete with 19 bedrooms, 35 baths, and his own personal movie theater.
However, it was later revealed that the music star had rented out the three Ferraris that
appear in front of his home.
According to The Wall Street Journal, 50 Cent sold the expansive property in 2019, after
12 years on the market, settling on $2.9 million instead of his original asking price of $18.7
million.
The actual Playboy Mansion, not 50 Cent's Connecticut compound, was a Hollywood icon
long before it was featured on E!'s The Girls Next Door.
The late Hugh Hefner reportedly purchased the mansion in 1971 for just over $1 million
dollars.
Nearly four decades later and wrapped in his signature smoking jacket, Hefner and a few
of his Playboy Bunnies showed off the Los Angeles property in the season six premiere
of MTV Cribs.
At the time of filming, the mansion housed seven live-in girlfriends and boasted the
legendary grotto, a staff of 80, its own zoo, and of course, Hef's secret stash of cookies.
"Sneak in here and get cookies.
You can see one down here that says HMH only, 'cause these are my favorite cookies, and
I don't want anybody else taking them."
According to CNN, the mansion was later sold to Hostess co-owner Daren Metropoulos for
$100 million, making it the most expensive property ever shown on MTV Cribs.
Part of the purchase agreement was the stipulation that Hefner would live in the mansion for
the remainder of his life.
When the media mogul passed away a year later at the age of 91, his death left many wondering
what would happen to the famous home.
In a statement released to the Los Angeles Times, Metropoulos vowed to restore the estate,
and even applied for the mansion to be designated as a landmark status...which was ultimately
denied.
Sir Richard Branson is a billionaire entrepreneur who got his start with Virgin Records in the
early 1970s, before growing his Virgin Group to a conglomerate of music, airlines, telecommunications,
and space travel divisions.
Branson purchased the uninhabited Necker Island for $180,000 while he was just in his 20s,
but was required to transform it into a luxury resort.
By 2006, the island was reportedly worth around $60 million.
"I didn't have any money to build anything on it.
So, as Janet Jackson had a hit, I would build a little piece of the island."
MTV Cribs traveled to the destination just a few years prior to this claim, giving viewers
a brief look at the picturesque location, which features ten guest houses spaced over
74 acres and, naturally, a Mariah Carey cameo towards the end.
While Necker Island sustained extensive damage when Hurricane Irma passed through in 2017,
Branson has since returned the property back to its original splendor.
While this private Caribbean island resort is typically vacationed by the ultra-rich,
for a few so-called "Celebration Weeks" each year, the general public can book rooms starting
at a low $3,500 per night.
R&B superstar Mariah Carey got her start in music in the early '90s, achieving 19 No.
1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the most by a solo artist.
And as her various appearances on MTV have shown, her personality is truly one-of-a kind,
which led to the perfect recipe during her MTV Cribs appearance.
The network's season four visit marked the first-ever episode dedicated to just one celeb.
In what's still considered by many to be the best episode of the entire series, Carey guides
viewers through her Tribeca triplex.
The diva offered no clear explanation for being unable to show her piano, which apparently
once belonged to Marilyn Monroe, or even her own bedroom.
"I'm not going to show you guys my bedroom because I think it's better if I keep, like,
one thing for myself."
She manages a costume change while walking, and takes an on-screen bubble bath in a towel.
As of 2017, Carey still owned this impressive abode.
She caught up with Vogue that same year to show her already insane closet had grown since
her Cribs episode, and what it's like sharing the space with her children…when she's not
living in one of her other luxury homes.
Much like the other celebrities featured on MTV Cribs, Melissa "Missy" Elliott was hitting
the peak of her musical career in the early 2000s, picking up four Grammy Awards and becoming
the highest-selling female rapper ever.
Given her bravado in everything from iconic music videos to the red carpet, it came to
no surprise that her second home tour on MTV Cribs fit with this public lifestyle.
Elliott's Florida condominium is on full display as the musician gives the world an updated
look into her idea of luxury.
The impressive pad includes nautical themed bedroom doors, a custom "Missy" water fountain,
Lamborghini couches, a lounge chair with fish tanks in the arms, and a Ferrari bed with
a hidden shoe drawer.
The rapper eventually sold the place in 2014 for just under $1.5 million.
Musician Ozzy Osbourne and his family had the honor of being in the very first episode
of MTV Cribs.
The multi-Grammy winner, who fronted one of the most legendary metal bands of all time,
shows viewers around his Los Angeles home in a tour that includes cameos by wife Sharon,
daughter Kelly, and son Jack.
Unsurprisingly, the rocker's house features satanic art pieces.
"I'm not really a Satanist.
It's just a hobby of mine."
However, Osbourne's odd personality and interactions with his famous family are by far the highlights
of the episode.
Less than two years later, MTV network launched The Osbournes, a reality show focusing entirely
on the unusual family.
Throughout its run, the series earned an Emmy and was at one point MTV's most-watched series.
In 2007, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne sold the mansion to Christina Aguilera for $11.5 million.
Six years later, actress Miao Pu bought the property from the pop star.
One of the most interesting throwbacks in the MTV Cribs archive is an episode featuring
a young Kim Kardashian, with cameos by the rest of the Kardashian-Jenner family.
Right before their own long-running E! series began, Kim invited MTV's cameras into former
Olympian Caitlyn Jenner and momager Kris Jenner's Hidden Hills, California home.
While explaining how she loves to bake, Kim points to a batch of obviously store-bought
cookies she recently threw together before showing off her go-to move on a golden stripper
pole in her bedroom.
Outside, the TV personality has her custom white Range Rover with pink accents on display,
product placement for her then-upcoming branded car wheel rim line.
The audience also sees a two-story playhouse where little sisters Kendall and Kylie play.
"My sisters are very silly, and they're doing something very inappropriate in the corner."
After five seasons of being featured on Keeping Up with the Kardashians, this famous family
home was sold.
The new owner demolished the mansion in 2012, after donating many of its components to Habitat
for Humanity.
According to TMZ, the new home owner kept one piece: Kim's stripper pole, now a coat
rack.
Rapper Ludacris was influential in Atlanta's hip-hop scene before gaining popularity in
the early 2000s with hits like "Rollout (My Business)."
He later transitioned into acting with multiple appearances in The Fast and the Furious franchise
and 2006's best picture winner Crash.
During his MTV Cribs appearance, Ludacris shows us part of his fantasy with an incredible
A-town mansion.
"This right here, genuine German Shepherd, y'all.
I'm just playing, it's called Russian Sable, man, it's more priceless than mink."
His house, nicknamed "The Swamp" for its hallway art, has a vinyl wall and a lion-themed bedroom
with gold chains on the pillows and fox fur covering the bed.
The property also boasts a football field and blacktop basketball court, complete with
custom "Disturbing tha Peace" graffiti, in what the multi-talent calls the "biggest backyard
in the world."
It was the first home Ludacris ever purchased, and while he went on to move out and buy a
gorgeous Hollywood Hills, California mansion in 2014, the charitable rapper-actor kept
the property and invited mom Roberta Shields to move in.
Three years later, Ludacris got rid of his original bachelor pad decor and surprised
his mother with a home makeover on My Houzz to better fit her style.
Legendary singer Wayne Newton started performing in the late '50s and quickly became a staple
in the Las Vegas entertainment scene, earning him the apt nickname "Mr. Las Vegas."
According to Travel + Leisure, the popular entertainer purchased a plot of land in Paradise,
Nevada in 1966.
After turning the site into his home, which includes a ranch and stable for his pure-bred
Arabian horses, Newton continued to expand the property.
By the time he appeared on MTV Cribs, he'd amassed 52 acres of land and a 14,000 square
foot mansion, a property known as the Casa de Shenandoah.
Featuring an opulent desert oasis complete with crystal banisters, a 17th-century French
piano, rare artwork, and a vintage Rolls Royce collection, Newton's home was later dubbed
one of the show's "Priciest Pads".
By 2010, Newton had sold the 52 acres amid financial woes and moved to a new house nearby
on the same property.
The new owners and Newton opened up the estate as a tourist attraction in 2015, allowing
Wayniacs to finally get a close-up look at the singer's self-designed home, which included
a memorabilia room and a zoo with exotic animals.
However, less than three years later, the owners decided to close the public attraction,
allowing Newton and his family to continue to live elsewhere on the famed property.
As of 2019, the property was sold again, for just over $5.5 million, far below the $70
million asking price.
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