Celebrities Who Talked Candidly About Going Broke

What Happened: Before he shot to international fame in the sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Will Smith was making a name for himself in the music industry with DJ Jazzy Jeff. Their success was so intoxicating that he bought a motorcycle, cars, and a mansion. He actually indulged so much that he neglected to pay his taxes, and he soon found himself borrowing $10,000 from a neighborhood drug dealer to pay off his debts. Then, he moved to Los Angeles to further his career, and the rest, as they say, is history. That confession happened while Smith was promoting his autobiography, simply entitled WILL, in a 2021 interview with British actor and rapper Idris Elba at London’s Savoy Theatre. 

A Broke Quote: 

Uncle Sam wanted his money… I didn’t forget, I just didn’t pay. I had to sell everything, and I knew whatever my new life was going to be, I could feel it was going to be in Los Angeles. So, I borrowed $10k from a friend of mine who was a purveyor of neighborhood pharmaceuticals.

What Happened: American country singer, guitarist, and songwriter Willie Nelson thought it’d be a good idea to poke fun at the notoriously rigorous and rarely amused Internal Revenue Service. So, in 1992, he released his 39th studio album under the title, The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories?, and used his revenues to pay back some of his dues. Two years prior, he was notified that he owed $32 million in income taxes, so the government closed down his music studio and seized all his assets. But that didn’t stop him from staying optimistic and fighting to win his property back, as per his 2002 interview with Playboy. 

A Broke Quote: 

I was just trying to test their sense of humor, I suppose. I actually heard that they thought it was pretty funny. The funniest part was that it was the best promotion for an album I ever had…The more people heard about my troubles, the more they came out to help. At shows, people would try to give me money. Friends bought my stuff so I could buy it back from them.

What Happened: Reality TV stars Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt got married in 2009 and, besides a few rocky patches, have been together ever since. Some might remember that in 2012, many people around the world thought that doomsday would occur on December 21, based on an alleged Mayan prophecy. Montag and Pratt were among the lot, so they thought it’d be a good idea to deliberately spend all of their $10 million before the so-called Mayan Apocalypse, be it handing out huge tips or buying exorbitant luxury items. When the disaster failed to happen, Pratt expressed his regret to the British magazne OK!

A Broke Quote: 

We thought, we have got to spend this money before the asteroid hits. Here’s some advice, definitely do not spend your money thinking asteroids are coming. But the world didn’t end. I would give my friends $15,000 for their birthday. I would buy people cars. I would pay people $200 just to open doors for us.

What Happened: American rapper, songwriter, and record producer T-Pain (the T is short for “Tallahassee”) may have a current net worth of $45 million, but he squandered almost just as much in the past. In 2019, he confessed to the hosts of the radio show The Breakfast Club that he had to borrow money for the most basic needs, like sustenance, because he had lost his fortune due to bad investments and managerial decisions, per his explanation. 

A Broke Quote: 

We started going crazy with the money. I wouldn’t pay attention to it…It was bad business choices…I had to borrow money to get my kids Burger King… [My manager] would just buy complete dumps and think that we can just paint and then we should be fine. Never sold anything that we bought.

What Happened: The famously intense actor and film producer Nicolas Cage may not have always made the greatest career choices, but his fans actually deem some of his “worst movies” quite entertaining. In a 2023 interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes, he recalled how he had wasted most of his earnings and owed $6 million in debt, a situation that the crashing of the real estate market definitely didn’t help. Following this, he moved to Las Vegas and said yes to just about any role that was thrown his way, and gave it his all every single time. 

A Broke Quote: 

Work was always my guardian angel. It may not have been blue chip, but it was still work. Even if the movie ultimately is crummy, they know I'm not phoning it in, that I care every time. 

What Happened: Actress, podcaster, and singer Christy Carlson Romano, whose two most iconic roles are Ren Stevens on Even Stevens and voicing the lead in Kim Possible, candidly posted a 10-minute video in 2021 on her YouTube channel titled “How I Lost All My Money.” She started earning big bucks at the age of 16, and said that she was never taught how to properly manage her fortune, which she squandered on cars, designer clothes, and even an unscrupulous “psychic.”

A Broke Quote: 

I was never told how much money I was making. Money didn't have a purpose for me. I didn't really know what it was. I just knew that I had it, and didn't care about it. That's a problem. You got to teach kids the value of each single dollar that they make… The biggest regret that I have is that a psychic came into my life and managed to get a lot of money from me.