These celebs lost it all...and then some. For this list, we’ll be looking at once-successful celebrities who went from riches to rags.
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00:00It's cost you what, about two and a half million dollars already?
00:02It's cost me everything I've ever made.
00:04Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 celebrities who lost everything.
00:11He had to give us $15,000 a piece to go and file bankruptcy.
00:16Bankruptcy to go broke.
00:17That's ridiculous.
00:18He couldn't even afford to go broke.
00:19For this list, we'll be looking at once successful celebrities who went from riches to rags.
00:24Which of these cases do you think is the most tragic?
00:27Let us know in the comments.
00:30Number 20, Heidi Montag.
00:33Heidi Montag was only 19 when she joined the cast of the MTV reality show, The Hills.
00:38What are your goals?
00:39Well, I want to do PR.
00:41That's like my ultimate goal.
00:42I want to be like the fun party PR girl in LA type of thing.
00:46So that's kind of what I want to do.
00:49At one point, the Colorado-born star was earning a six-figure salary per episode,
00:54alongside her future husband, Spencer Pratt, who she also met on the show.
00:59Montag and Pratt were worth a combined $10 million.
01:03But that all went down the hills due to their extravagant lifestyle.
01:07Every single night, we were taking 10 people to Wolfgang's Cut in Beverly Hills and ordering
01:12$3,000 bottles of Screaming Eagle.
01:14And I would get like one sip because there would be like 10 people at the table.
01:17And I'd be like, we got to get another bottle so I can get another sip.
01:20We took our friends on vacations.
01:22You know, we were very generous with our money.
01:24The couple admittedly spent thousands on mindless shopping sprees and made
01:28questionable financial decisions that blew away their wealth.
01:31It got so bad that they had to vacate their home and move into Pratt's parents' house.
01:36Luckily, things seemed to be looking up,
01:38as Montag has made significant changes to their lifestyle and curbed unnecessary spending.
01:44Where do you see us in 10 years, Spence?
01:47Selling a lot of crystals to maintain our lifestyle.
01:52Number 19.
01:53Sly Stone
01:54Sly Stone rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the frontman
01:58and bandleader of Sly and the Family Stone.
02:08The group was groundbreaking, not only for their unique blend of funk,
02:12rock, soul, and gospel, but also for their racially and gender-diverse lineup.
02:17Stone's visionary talents led the group to commercial fame,
02:20but his struggle with substance use disorder largely contributed to their dissolution in 1975.
02:26In the years following that, Stone launched a solo career that never quite took off.
02:31What was the one or two reasons that caused you to be tired of being retired? I mean,
02:35that's everybody's dream to just, you know.
02:37Well, I needed attention and money, and I needed to do songs.
02:41On top of that, the substance use persisted,
02:44and he reportedly clashed with his manager and lost access to royalty payments for many years.
02:50This apparently put him in the hole, leaving him homeless and dependent on welfare checks.
02:55Number 18.
02:57Doug Hutchison
02:58Although he had accumulated a string of supporting film credits,
03:01Doug Hutchison's breakthrough came in 1999's The Green Mile.
03:05I just want to be out front is all.
03:08Come on, one time.
03:12And you know what?
03:13You be ready.
03:14Hutchison earned critical acclaim and multiple award nominations for his
03:18performance as a sadistic prison guard in the Stephen King adaptation.
03:22He eventually lost all of that favor when, at the age of 51, he got married to the then-underaged,
03:29upcoming singer Courtney Stodden.
03:31Why the rush to get married?
03:33Because, you know, I felt like, um, this world isn't gonna last forever. And, uh, you know,
03:38life's short.
03:39Hutchison was widely criticized for the move and, according to him,
03:43was completely blacklisted by Hollywood and even his own family.
03:47This brought his once-flourishing career to a screeching halt,
03:50leading him to file for bankruptcy in 2017.
03:53The couple managed to weather the storm and remain together for years,
03:57although they eventually called it quits in 2020.
04:00It's been the rock for me through so many things, you know, that I've been through. So,
04:06um, you know, it's, it's, it's been, it's been interesting.
04:10Number 17.
04:11Teresa Giudice
04:13Since 2009, Teresa Giudice has been a regular cast member on The Real Housewives of New Jersey.
04:18Hey!
04:21Coming to my trip!
04:23That same year, Giudice and her husband Joe filed for bankruptcy,
04:27citing over $8 million in liabilities. This, however, was only the start of their troubles.
04:33In 2013, they were both indicted on multiple fraud charges,
04:37with some of them related to their 2009 bankruptcy case.
04:41What did you know about any of that?
04:42I would love to answer all your questions, and one day I will,
04:46but, you know, out of the respect of the process, I'm gonna let, you know,
04:51the legal matters play out in court.
04:53They eventually entered a guilty plea and were ordered to pay over $400,000 in restitution.
04:58As a result, Giudice was sentenced to 15 months in prison,
05:02which she served at the Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut.
05:06In 2020, Giudice filed for divorce from Joe,
05:09and the couple sold off their longtime New Jersey mansion the following year.
05:13How do you make a marriage like that work? I mean, it's kind of hard. Like,
05:18I want to wake up with someone, go to sleep with, you know, with some, you know,
05:22I want to wake up. I want to spend every day with that person.
05:26Number 16. Kelly Rutherford
05:28Kelly Rutherford has been a staple on the small screen from as far back as the late 80s.
05:33The Kentucky-born actress first burst onto the scene with the NBC soap opera Generations.
05:39I want to, I want to thank you for making my dad's wish come true.
05:44You know, I am so glad he has you for a friend.
05:48Oh honey, thank you for your support.
05:50She later gained further recognition with major roles in Melrose Place and Gossip Girl.
05:55But all of the money Rutherford amassed from those shows was eventually whittled away by
06:00a grueling custody dispute with her ex-husband, Daniel Garish.
06:04After filing for divorce in 2008, Rutherford fought for sole rights of their two children,
06:10a battle that cost her about $1.5 million in legal fees alone. As a result,
06:15she filed for bankruptcy in 2013. Regardless, the dispute continued,
06:20and Rutherford ultimately lost custody of both children in 2015.
06:25From the beginning, I said I would fight for my children. I think most parents would.
06:29This was a mother refusing to abide by a court order,
06:34and forcing the father to do something that he was loathe to do.
06:39Number 15. TLC
06:41With four Billboard number one hits, multiple awards, and tens of millions of records sold,
06:47TLC were undeniable powerhouses throughout the 90s.
06:59Their sophomore album, Crazy Sexy Cool, was released in November 1994,
07:04and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. So it came as an absolute shocker when,
07:10the very next year, it was announced that they were filing for bankruptcy.
07:14TLC cited their seemingly exploitative record contracts,
07:18which left each lady with less than $50,000 in annual payments.
07:23At the height of their fame, they filed for bankruptcy,
07:25cheated, they say, by unfair recording contracts.
07:28We're so broke, we had to borrow money to go broke.
07:31They succeeded in renegotiating their contracts, and bounced back with 1999's Fan Mail.
07:37However, due to the sad and untimely death of Lisa Left Eye Lopez in 2002,
07:43they went on a hiatus, but have since come back together, now as a duo.
07:48Number 14. Brett Butler
07:50For five years, Brett Butler played the titular divorced single mother on the ABC sitcom,
07:56Grace Under Fire.
07:57Bedtime.
08:00How come I go to sleep when I'm not tired?
08:03Because whether you're tired or not has nothing to do with it, honey.
08:05You go to bed when mama's tired.
08:08As the main star, Butler took home around $250,000 per episode, but her struggles with
08:14substance use disorder eventually contributed to the series getting the axe in 1998.
08:19Since then, Butler has come under financial fire,
08:22admittedly making careless decisions that ate up most of her net worth.
08:26This is so dramatic, but I felt like my soul was leaving before.
08:29I knew I was probably gonna die.
08:31It wasn't what it should have been, which is losing my terrific husband, getting fired.
08:37Although she made a return to the small screen,
08:39taking up recurring roles in How to Get Away with Murder and The Walking Dead,
08:43things don't seem to have gotten any better.
08:46In 2021, Butler became so broke that she nearly lost her apartment,
08:51and hesitantly set up a GoFundMe page in order to save it.
08:55Number 13. Sinbad
08:57Comedian and actor Sinbad first gained popularity on the TV series A Different World,
09:02before landing his own sitcom, The Sinbad Show.
09:06Come on, man, we're a team, right, man?
09:08Always been a team when something good happened to me, something good happened to you, right?
09:11Team, brother. Don't leave me hanging, brother, come on.
09:14Although the series was canceled after one season,
09:16Sinbad went on to film multiple stand-up specials,
09:19and appeared in a host of movies and TV shows.
09:22But as his star power kept rising, so did his spending,
09:26up to the point that it exceeded his income.
09:29And it certainly didn't help that he kept defaulting on his tax payments,
09:32ultimately accruing a tax debt of $2.5 million.
09:37In 2013, Sinbad filed for bankruptcy,
09:40declaring that he was $11 million in the hole, with only $16,000 in monthly income.
09:46I ain't even saying when the bankruptcy hit me, people looked at me like,
09:50look at you. I said, bro, look at my life. You can look at me.
09:53You ain't never seen Sinbad with something that he wasn't supposed to have.
09:56I helped a lot of people in my life. I pushed a lot of people forward in my life.
10:01Number 12. Amanda Bynes
10:03Amanda Bynes spent four years on the Nickelodeon sketch series All That,
10:08before landing her own spinoff, The Amanda Show.
10:11Hello, I am Judge Trudy. Now, uh, Jason Fima,
10:15I understand you have a complaint against your parents.
10:18Sure do, Judge Trudy.
10:19His complaint is ridiculous.
10:22Did I tell you it was your turn to speak, Mr. I-Can't-Keep-My-Mouth-Shut?
10:25By the 2000s, she was already a teen idol,
10:28racking up credits like What a Girl Wants and Hairspray.
10:32But things soon took a downturn.
10:34Bynes faced a tough battle with substance use disorder,
10:37and found herself in a rabbit hole of legal trouble.
10:40With rules drying up and so many court cases piling,
10:44it became easy for money to go down the drain.
10:46Then she started making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
10:50A series of driving violations, disturbing tweets,
10:54even a hospitalization under a psychiatric hold.
10:57Even worse, she was placed under a conservatorship and lost control of her finances.
11:02Bynes seems to be getting her life back on track, however,
11:05as she has maintained a long streak of sobriety,
11:08and had her conservatorship ended in 2022.
11:12Number 11. Gary Coleman
11:14For his role as Arnold Jackson on the NBC sitcom Different Strokes,
11:18Gary Coleman was, at one time,
11:20receiving the biggest salary for any child actor on the small screen.
11:25Get a load of Super Mouse.
11:27Watch it, Vernon.
11:29The last dude who talked to me like that, I laserized his nose.
11:33But after Different Strokes came to an end in 1986,
11:36Coleman realized that his parents, who had been overseeing his finances,
11:40had grossly mismanaged it.
11:43In 1989, he filed a lawsuit against them, as well as a financial advisor,
11:48and was awarded $1.28 million in restitution.
11:52In the end, when he went to court to compel that accounting,
11:54he found that after everyone else was paid, there was almost nothing left for him.
11:59You were fleeced. Pretty much.
12:02However, the rules seemed to dry up as Coleman grew older,
12:05leading him to file for bankruptcy in 1999.
12:08He reportedly battled with multiple health and legal issues later in life,
12:12and passed away in 2010 after falling down and suffering a brain bleed.
12:17I just hope Gary's happy and, you know,
12:19he's in a better place and he's not suffering anymore.
12:21Number 10.
12:22M.C. Hammer
12:23Over the span of a decade,
12:25M.C. Hammer became the quintessential rags-to-riches and back-to-rags Hollywood story.
12:30After releasing two moderately successful albums,
12:33Hammer achieved worldwide fame with his hit single,
12:37from his third studio album.
12:43At the time, Hammer's net worth was valued at over $33 million by Forbes.
12:49This seemingly overnight wealth was soon sucked up by his lavish spending,
12:53extravagant mansion, and numerous dependents.
12:56Everybody knew that I had 200 employees.
12:58It wasn't no secret.
12:59So what'd you think, I was paying them in hamburgers?
13:03By 1996, Hammer's musical success had plummeted,
13:06and he had to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as he was over $13 million in debt.
13:12The California rapper never quite recovered from his fall, despite a few comeback attempts.
13:23Number 9.
13:24Dennis Rodman
13:26As a professional basketball player,
13:27Dennis Rodman became world-famous for his insane skills on the court,
13:32as well as his controversial persona.
13:39Rodman retired from the NBA in 2006 and also performed as a wrestler, actor, and reality TV
13:46star. Rodman's journey to penury began in the mid-2000s when he became involved with the con
13:52woman Peggy Ann Fulford. Fulford posed as a financial advisor and was able to scam Rodman,
13:58as well as multiple other athletes, of millions.
14:02Peggy King, aka Fulford, befriended them, promised to safeguard their finances,
14:09and then cheated them out of millions of dollars.
14:13She was caring and loving, but then also just robbing them blind.
14:16This ate into his finances so much that he could barely afford to make his child
14:21and spousal support payments. After Fulford was convicted, Rodman was awarded over $1 million
14:27in restitution, which, admittedly, he most likely will never get.
14:32Number 8. T-Pain
14:34Since bursting onto the scene in 2005, T-Pain has racked up a slew of hit singles and accumulated
14:40a fortune of over $40 million. However, instead of making wise financial investments, he bought
14:46a massive house and a $2.1 million Bugatti, which he later sold off for just $800,000.
14:53And then I was like, hey, since I got this Bugatti, you know, I need another house.
14:57I can probably take this. I can probably take this one. These people just moved out of a house
15:02that's literally connected to my house. So, you know.
15:05It certainly didn't take too long for that bank account to go low, low, low.
15:14By 2019, the Buy U A Drank singer was left with no option but to file for bankruptcy protection.
15:23He did win the first season of The Masked Singer the same year,
15:29and things seem to be looking up for T-Pain nowadays.
15:32Number 7. Todd Herzog
15:35Prior to being cast on the 15th season of Survivor, Todd Herzog traveled across America
15:40as a flight attendant for SkyWest Airlines. His highly calculated run on the show culminated in
15:46him winning the season and taking home the $1 million cash prize at just 22 years old.
15:52Winner of Survivor China.
15:58But while he triumphed on the screen, Herzog's entire fortune was in jeopardy
16:03as he was struggling with alcohol use disorder.
16:05It wasn't until about 30 days into treatment that I realized exactly how bad I was.
16:11And you had no recollection of being on The Dr. Phil Show.
16:14I remember about this much.
16:16After seeking professional help, Herzog was able to turn his life around.
16:20He has since attained sobriety, and now lives a rather quiet life with his husband,
16:25Jess Hermanson.
16:26We had the dolphins help me propose to this beautiful man, Jess.
16:32Number 6. Fantasia
16:38This North Carolina singer and actress was propelled to stardom after winning the third
16:43season of American Idol in 2004.
16:46The winner of American Idol 2004 is Fantasia Barrino.
16:56Her first ever single, I believe, went straight to number one in the US and Canada,
17:01and her debut album was certified platinum. Things seemed to be off to a good start for Fantasia,
17:07but due to her sole breadwinner status among her siblings, mother and daughter,
17:11and the declining sales of her second album, she soon found herself struggling.
17:16Her $1.1 million house was set to be auctioned off to cover an unpaid loan.
17:21In an interview with Oprah, Fantasia owned up to her mistakes,
17:24blaming her misfortune on her financial decisions and inability to say no.
17:34In 2023, she announced her return to school after dropping out as a teen.
17:39Number 5. Gary Busey
17:41Once upon a time, Gary Busey was a mainstream Hollywood star.
17:45The Texas actor gained national attention for his leading performance in the 1978
17:50bio-film The Buddy Holly Story, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
18:01He followed this up with starring roles in movies like Lethal Weapon and Point Break,
18:05which were certified box office hits.
18:08Listen, stop those little shit! I was taking shrapnel and quesadille
18:11while you were crapping in your hands and rubbing it on your face!
18:14His financial downturn came in 1988, when Busey was involved in a serious motorcycle
18:19accident that left him with permanent brain damage. The once bankable Hollywood player
18:24became erratic on and off camera, and soon struggled to find roles in movies and TV shows.
18:30My brain got altered in a way that's not normal, and I have a different way of looking at things
18:37and feeling things, and I know how special life is.
18:40With most of his money gone and not enough coming in,
18:43Busey had to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2012.
18:47Number 4. Lil' Kim
18:53Widely regarded as the queen of rap, Lil' Kim inspired a generation of rappers with her music
18:58and has sold upwards of 30 million singles globally.
19:01Life really was all about the Benjamins for the hip-hop star.
19:05However, following dwindling album sales and a prison stint in 2005,
19:10Lil' Kim found herself in a freefall. In 2018, she declared bankruptcy,
19:15claiming to be about $4 million in debt, with unpaid taxes and mortgage loans taking up a
19:20large chunk of that figure. In order to pay off her debt, the Queen B's $2.3 million mansion
19:26was auctioned off, with the opening bid being $100,000.
19:31Number 3. Kim Basinger
19:34Kim Basinger became a Hollywood fixture for her notable femme fatale roles throughout the 80s and 90s.
19:40Merry Christmas to you officer.
19:44That obvious, huh?
19:46It's practically stamped on your forehead.
19:48But at the height of her acting career, Kim Basinger was the one to go.
19:52She was the one to be remembered as the queen of rap,
19:54and she was the one to be remembered as a queen of the hip-hop industry.
19:57It's practically stamped on your forehead.
19:59But at the height of her acting career,
20:01Basinger faced multiple setbacks that severely impacted her finances.
20:05Tell me, uh, what do you know about me?
20:08I don't know anything about that man.
20:10First, she paid $20 million to acquire a small town in her home state of Georgia,
20:14an investment that backfired tremendously. Next, she backed out of the doomed movie
20:20Boxing Helena, for which she was sued and forced to pay millions of dollars to the studio.
20:25This resulted in her filing for bankruptcy. To top it all off, her marriage to Alec Baldwin
20:30ended in a messy divorce that reportedly cost the Oscar-winning actress another few million dollars.
20:37You know, we're all fine. We all get along, whatever.
20:40But he's been, but he's a challenge. I mean, come on.
20:43She never quite recovered financially.
20:45Number two, Toni Braxton.
20:48For someone like Toni Braxton, who's sold more than 70 million records worldwide,
20:53it's hard to imagine how she could go bankrupt twice.
20:59Just two years after her smash hit, Unbreak My Heart,
21:03Braxton found herself in dire straits, and had to declare bankruptcy. While her music generated
21:09millions, Braxton barely got any of it due to specific clauses in her recording contract.
21:14170 million in sales and you got $1,972? Is that right?
21:20Yeah, that's right. That's true.
21:22She managed to dig herself out of that hole, but ended up filing for bankruptcy again in 2010
21:27after her Vegas residency was canceled due to her health issues.
21:31But just like the Phoenix, she was able to rise from her financial ashes,
21:36and has since produced and starred in the successful reality series, Braxton Family Values.
21:41That no one did anything for me. My family wasn't my people that I love,
21:45because when you're being inducted into something, you call the people close to you.
21:49Everybody bailed on me.
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22:071. Burt Reynolds
22:09Oh, I love your suits. You must be a bitch getting a size 68 extra fat.
22:13Hollywood legend Burt Reynolds was a top box office draw in the late 70s and early 80s,
22:19but he gradually lost his bankability as the years progressed. This, coupled with his costly
22:24divorce from Lonnie Anderson and some poor investment choices, led to the actor filing
22:29for bankruptcy in 1996. He made a career comeback soon after with Boogie Nights in 1997,
22:36which earned him a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination.
22:40By 2014, Reynolds was auctioning off personal items and memorabilia,
22:44which rekindled news of bankruptcy.
22:47In 2014, he auctioned his most iconic belongings, the canoe from Deliverance,
22:53Trans Am from Smokey and the Bandit, and his 1998 Golden Globe for Boogie Nights.
22:58Until his death in 2018, Reynolds lived at his Florida estate,
23:04which once faced foreclosure, but was then bought by his neighbor,
23:07who let him live on the property at a low cost.