Celebrities are known to make tons of money. They are also known to lose it in a multitude of ways, including divorce, taxes, bad investments, etc. From rising to the top to falling flat on their faces, here are some famous people who are currently broke.
1. Lena Headey
Lena Headey is best known for playing the evil queen Cersei in the HBO show ‘Game of Thrones’, as well as Queen Gorgo in ‘300’. You might think Lena is a working actress and so must be rolling in the dough, but a bitter divorce and custody battle cost her so much money that she found herself having 5,000 dollars in the bank at one point of time. She had to sell her home in the Hollywood hills and bought a home in the San Fernando Valley. She is still dealing with her ex-husband in handling over legal paperwork so she can pay her bills and legal fees.
2. Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson made about 400 million from boxing. He was one of the most successful sports stars in the world. Tyson should have been sitting on a comfortable financial cushion, but he spent all his money on mansions, large animals, and a hefty entourage. And when his marriage ended, his ex-wife took a significant amount of his money to the point where he had to file for bankruptcy in 2003 with debts running 27 million dollars.
3. MC Hammer
Even though he had a global hit with his 1990 song ‘You can’t touch this’, MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and was reported to be 13 million dollars in debt. Even though he made 30 million dollars, he bought a 12 million mansion, kept over 200 people as staff and 40 as entourage, and his priorities went out of order. He also had to deal with copyright lawsuits, so he simply ran out of money.
4. Pamela Anderson
Pamela Anderson has had one of the most successful careers among her ‘Baywatch’ crew. But she didn’t have financial smarts to stay financially stable after she bought her 1.1 million dollars home in Malibu. After paying contractors for construction and dealing with back taxes, Anderson had to sell her home for 7.75 million in order to get herself out of debt.
5. Brendan Fraser
Even though he has so many movies under his belt and makes about 2,00, 000 dollars a month, Brendan Fraser has trouble making ends meet. Between paying monthly alimony and child support payments, plus paying his agents, managers and bills, he often finds himself on the edge. Moreover, Fraser also suffered a back injury during hurricane Sandy, which has prevented him from working. He is just about to liquidate his 25 million dollars in assets in order to stay afloat.
6. Courtney Love
After Kurt Cobain’s death in 1994, Courtney Love fought to keep his music from getting into the hands of those who would hand it out for free. She eventually lost her home and end up dealing herself with drug and alcohol abuse. Love finally gave in and sold 25% of her husband’s music catalogue in 2006 in order to get some money.
7. Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Baldwin is known for his substance abuse and soul-searching. He became bankrupt in 2009 from thousands of dollars in back tax payments, over extension of mortgages, and credit card bills. All of these together resulted in millions of dollars in debt.
Life is full of ups and downs. Not everyone will stay rich forever, and neither will they remain poor forever.