and i had to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy
to protect my parents from going to
prison for mismanaging my finances
welcome to watch mojo and today we're
counting down our picks for the top 10
richest to rags celeb stories celebs who
lost everything the trouble was while
her records were selling millions she
was only taking home
thousands for this list we'll be looking
at celebrities who amassed a large
fortune only to end up broke in the
comments let us know what you would do
with your money if you were rich
number 10 mc hammer over the span of a
decade mc hammer became the
quintessential rags to riches and back
to rag's hollywood story after releasing
two moderately successful albums hammer
achieved worldwide fame with this hit
single you can't touch this from his
third studio album
at the time hammer's net worth was
valued at over
million dollars by forbes this seemingly
overnight wealth was soon sucked up by
his lavish spending extravagant mansion
and numerous dependents everybody knew
that i had 200 employees it wasn't no
secret so what you think i was playing
them in uh in the hamburgers by 1996
hammer's musical success had plummeted
and he had to file for chapter 11
bankruptcy as he was over 13 million
dollars in debt the california rapper
never quite recovered from his fall
despite a few comeback attempts mr devil
can you give me a sign he said
that's one of mine
number nine t-pain
since bursting onto the scene in 2005
t-pain has racked up a slew of hit
singles and accumulated a fortune of
over 40 million dollars however instead
of making wise financial investments he
bought a massive house and a 2.1 million
dollar bugatti which he later sold off
for just eight hundred thousand dollars
and then i was like hey since i got this
bugatti you know i need another house i
can probably take this i can probably
take this one
these uh people just moved out of a
house that's literally connected to my
house so you know it certainly didn't
take too long for that bank account to
go low low low
by 2019 the bayou a drank singer was
left with no option but to file for
bankruptcy protection
[Music]
he did win the first season of the
masked singer the same year and things
seem to be looking up for t-pain
nowadays
number 8. todd herzog
prior to being cast on the 15th season
of survivor todd herzog traveled across
america as a flight attendant for
skywest airlines his highly calculated
run on the show culminated in him
winning the season and taking home the
one million dollar cash prize at just 22
years old winner of survivor china
[Applause]
[Music]
but while he triumphed on the screen
herzog's entire fortune was in jeopardy
as he was struggling with alcohol use
disorder it wasn't until about 30 days
into treatment then i realized exactly
how bad i was and you had no
recollection of being on the dr phil
show i remember about this much after
seeking professional help herzog was
able to turn his life around he has
since attained sobriety and now lives a
rather quiet life with his husband jess
hermansen
had the dolphins
help me propose to this beautiful man
jess number seven fantasia
this north carolina singer and actress
was propelled to stardom after winning
the third season of american idol in
2004 the winner
of american idol
2004
is
fantasia marina
her first ever single i believe went
straight to number one in the u.s and
canada and her debut album was certified
platinum things seemed to be off to a
good start for fantasia but due to her
sole breadwinner status among her
siblings mother and daughter and the
declining sales of her second album she
soon found herself struggling her 1.1
million dollar house was set to be
auctioned off to cover an unpaid loan in
an interview with oprah fantasia owned
up to her mistakes blaming her
misfortune on her financial decisions
and inability to say no
[Music]
number six gary busey once upon a time
gary busey was a mainstream hollywood
star the texas actor gained national
attention for his leading performance in
the 1978 bio film the buddy holly story
which earned him an oscar nomination
he followed this up with starring roles
in movies like lethal weapon and point
break which were certified box office
hits listen snot those little [ __ ] i was
taking shrapnel in case sod while you
were crapping in your hands and rubbing
it on your face his financial downturn
came in 1988 when busy was involved in a
serious motorcycle accident that left
him with permanent brain damage the one
spankable hollywood player became
erratic on and off camera and soon
struggled to find roles in movies and tv
shows my brain got altered in a way
that
not normal
and i have a different way of looking at
things and feeling things and i know how
special life is with most of his money
gone and not enough coming in busy had
to file for chapter seven bankruptcy in
2012.
number five lil kim i've been going for
a minute now
widely regarded as the queen of rap lil
kim inspired a generation of rappers
with her music and has sold upwards of
30 million singles globally life really
was all about the benjamins for the
hip-hop star
however following dwindling album sales
and a prison stint in 2005 lil kim found
herself in a free fall in 2018 she
declared bankruptcy claiming to be about
four million dollars in debt with unpaid
taxes and mortgage loans taking up a
large chunk of that figure in order to
pay off her debt the queen bees 2.3
million dollar mansion was auctioned off
with the opening bid being 100
yep you heard that right yo shorty won't
you go get it
i'll be undressed
number four kim basinger kim basinger
became a hollywood fixture for her
notable femme fatale roles throughout
the 80s and 90s merry christmas to you
officer
that obvious huh
it's practically stamped on your
forehead but at the height of her acting
career basinger faced multiple setbacks
that severely impacted her finances tell
me uh what do you know about
i don't know anything about batman first
she paid 20 million dollars to acquire a
small town in her home state of georgia
an investment that backfired
tremendously next she backed out of the
doomed movie boxing helena for which she
was sued and forced to pay millions of
dollars to the studio this resulted in
her filing for bankruptcy to top it all
off her marriage to alec baldwin ended
in a messy divorce that reportedly cost
the oscar-winning actress another few
million dollars um you know we we're all
fine we all get along whatever but he's
been but he's a challenge let me come on
she never quite recovered financially
number three aaron carter in the late
1990s aaron carter became a teen idol
before he was even a teenager
[Music]
[Applause]
the younger brother of backstreet boys
singer nick carter aaron started
performing from as early as seven years
old and had reportedly amassed more than
200 million dollars before the age of
18.
[Music]
according to carter all of this money
was mismanaged by his parents and when
he crossed into adulthood he had
accumulated back taxes to the tune of
four million dollars before 18 the money
goes into my mom and my dad's pockets
they're supposed to be the ones that
handle it correctly but it went to cars
it went to boats it went to lavish
lifestyle it went every which way except
for in my trust fund with no more hit
singles and fast selling albums carter
declared bankruptcy in 2013 in an effort
to pay off most of his debt the former
teen heartthrob seems to be on the right
path now as he has fully eliminated his
debt and even bought a house in 2019
number 2 tony braxton for someone like
tony braxton who sold more than 70
million records worldwide it's hard to
imagine how she could go bankrupt twice
[Music]
just two years after her smash hit
unbreak my heart braxton found herself
in dire straits and had to declare
bankruptcy while her music generated
millions braxton barely got any of it
due to specific clauses in her recording
contract 170 million
in sales and you got 1 972
is that right yeah that's right that's
true she managed to dig herself out of
that hole but ended up filing for
bankruptcy again in 2010 after her vegas
residency was cancelled due to her
health issues but just like the phoenix
she was able to rise from her financial
ashes and has since produced and starred
in the successful reality series braxton
family values that no one did anything
for me my family wasn't my people that i
love because when you're being inducted
into something you call the people close
to you right everybody bailed on me
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number one burt reynolds oh i love your
suits there must be a [ __ ] getting a
size 68 extra fat hollywood legend burt
reynolds was a top box office draw in
the late 70s and early 80s but he
gradually lost his bank ability as the
years progressed this coupled with his
costly divorce from lonnie anderson and
some poor investment choices led to the
actor filing for bankruptcy in 1996 he
made a career come back soon after with
boogie nights in 1997 which earned him a
golden globe and an oscar nomination
jack warner something really yeah i'll
make it
adult films exotic pictures by 2014
reynolds was auctioning off personal
items and memorabilia which rekindled
news of bankruptcy in 2014 he auctioned
his most iconic belongings the canoe
from deliverance
trans am from smokey and the bandit and
his 1998 golden globe for boogie night
until his death in 2018 reynolds lived
at his florida estate which once faced
foreclosure but was then bought by his
neighbor who let him live on the
property at a low cost
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[Music]