Hi I’m John Green. Welcome to my salon. This is Mental Floss on YouTube and did you
know that Willie Nelson owned a truck stop in Texas called Willie’s Place? It went
bankrupt in 2011, but for a few years, it was a Nelson-themed stop with a concert venue
and bar.
And that’s the first of many businesses owned or partially owned by celebrities that
I’m going share with you about today! In a video where we shall learn all the many
ways that celebrities can lose money.
Singer Akon owns a diamond mine in South Africa. He also signed Lady Gaga to his record label
within Interscope, which is all he needs financially. According to him, “She’s pretty much retired
me.”
Marilyn Manson owns his own brand of absinthe, known as Mansinthe. It actually won a gold
medal though at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
In 2007, rapper Lil’ Romeo bought the potato chip brand, Rap Snacks. These are chips called
“The Official Snack of Hip Hop.”
The band Kiss sells Kiss everything, including a line of Kiss-themed coffins, known as Kiss
Kaskets (with a K, of course). When they were introduced in 2001, Gene Simmons announced,
"This is the ultimate KISS collectible. I love livin', but this makes the alternative
look pretty damn good."
In 2009, there were reports that Joe Jackson and Cristiano Ronaldo got together to shoot
commercials for the “Goalie Grill,” which was a grill in the shape of a soccer ball.
Jackson was a partial owner of Game On Products, which produced the grill. But the commercial
never aired. More like GAME OFF little Smurf.
Bill Wyman, the former Rolling Stones bassist, has his own patented metal detector, which
is extra light and adjustable. According to Wyman, “Metal-detecting is not just for
anoraks or eccentrics; it’s probably the best and the most enjoyable way of learning
about our history.” Specifically our history of leaving bottle caps at the beach. What,
has no one has told Bill Wyman about Crash Course?
Speaking of rock band members, Bon Jovi drummer Tico Torres has his own line of baby clothes
called Rock Star Baby. They also sell things like cribs and strollers.
Ashton Kutcher owns one-third of a venture capital firm called A-Grade Investments. They’ve
made investments in apps and websites like Airbnb, which lets people rent out their houses
like hotels, and YPlan, which tells you about things going on in your city that night. But
before you go calling him a genius, please rewatch “The Butterfly Effect” or "No
Strings Attached" or "What Happens in Vegas" or really most non-"Dude Where's My Car" related
Ashton Kutcher films.
Jeff Foxworthy has his own line of beef jerky, named after himself, of course. The product
is technically owned by Monogram Food Solutions, but Foxworthy is an investor.
Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar owned a bicycle shop for a while. In fact, in the
nineties, his second shop Sausalito Cyclery was the number one independent bicycle store
in California. But eventually he sold it.
In 1989, Kim Basinger made headlines for buying the town of Braselton, Georgia. It cost her
and a couple business partners $20 million for the 2,000-acre town. She wanted to make
it into tourist town with film studios, but had to sell it at a tremendous loss within
five years. Not everybody can be as successful as Sammy Hagar.
Pro tennis player Venus Williams has her own interior decorating company based in Florida,
called V Starr. It’s a small company with only a few employees and it takes on huge
projects like luxury condos worth millions of dollars.
In 2005, Steven Seagal released a line of energy drinks, known as Lightning Bolt. They
came in two flavors: Cherry Charge and Asian Experience. Really Steven Seagal? Really?
Sylvester Stallone once co-owned the company Instone, which sold nutritional supplements.
They were best known for Stallone High Protein Pudding. But the company was shut down after
a decade long legal fight surrounding stolen pudding recipes.
Rush Limbaugh sells tea named “Two If By Tea” (a play on the line "One if by land,
and two if by sea," from the poem "Paul Revere's Ride"). The tagline: From Tea to Shining Tea.
Oh my god, that makes me want some Mansinthe. This size of this tea pot illustrates just
how little I want Rush Limbaugh tea. Oh it's you again soccer playing Smurf. I thought
I told you the game was off.
In 2010, Kevin Costner sold his oil and water separation machines to BP for an estimated
$16 million. But his overall investment in the technology was around $24 million. So
it didn't work out that well. It's like "Water World."
In 2011, MC Hammer launched a search engine, WireDoo. It was supposed to provide you with
search results in addition to topics related to your search. The catchy tagline was, “Search
once and see what’s related.”
Carlos Santana has his own line of women’s footwear that’s sold at Macy’s. It’s
called “Carlos” and Mariah Carey starred in advertisements for the brand in 2008.
In 2006, former Melrose Place star Andrew Shue co-created a social network for moms,
known as CafeMom, with another man: Michael Sanchez. They’ve since launched three other
websites and claim to get a combined 30 million views monthly.
Also in 2006, Danny DeVito made news for showing up drunk to his appearance on The View. It
turned out he had been drinking Limoncello with George Clooney the night before. So,
DeVito did what anyone would do: he endorsed a new brand of Limoncello.
Kevin Smith owns a comic book store in New Jersey called “Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret
Stash.” It was once just Smith’s favorite place to buy comics: Comicology. He bought
the store for $30,000 when found out it was about to close.
Then finally, I return to my salon to tell you that in 2012, Shaquille O’Neal announced
that he would be releasing a vodka called “Luv Shaq.” Tragically it has yet to be released,
which may have something to do with the fact that he also announced his vodka would special
because it’s gluten-free...like all vodka.
Thanks for watching Mental Floss on YouTube, which is made with the help of all these nice
people. And thanks for patronizing my celebrity restaurant John's Place, which only serves pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper.
As we say in my hometown, don't forget to be awesome.
And don't forget to eat pizza and Diet Dr. Pepper at a price of my choosing.
Because it's about how much I like it and not about it's actual value.