Celebrity Credit Card Debt
The rich and famous lifestyle sometimes hides a shocking and shameful secret: hundreds of thousands of credit card debt. On the outside, the glitterati and clan of hyper-visible celebs seem to be living large and rolling high, but just beneath the surface, they may be just as poor as you and me. It doesn’t matter if you have a six, seven or eight figure income, platinum records and enough Emmys to sink a canoe, you can still fall into the trap of spiraling, uncontrollable debt. Here’s living proof:
Lindsay Lohan Blows It
The news of the day is Lindsay Lohan’s colossal credit card debt that looms larger than her waning star power. Her movie flops (going straight to DVD in a Redbox near you!), overspending, hard partying and social largess flaunted without the capital of a profitable career have sent this 23-year old former starlet to the cleaners with about $600,00 in debt on plastic accounts. That’s on top of being 2 months late on her rent to the tune of $23,000, according to TMZ, and now this Mean Girl gone money misuser is getting her credit frozen, her cards canceled and her estate threatened by lawsuits. Oops.
Corey Haim Loses to the IRS
Once one of the highest paid child actors in the biz, Corey Haim went from a flush little mogul into just another chapter in the novel of bankruptcy. After amassing a tidy fortune throughout his 1980s and 1990s movie career, his drug addiction started costing him big time, both in cash and starring roles. By 1997, he was $100,000 in debt – partially in credit cards – with an additional $100,000 owed to Uncle Sam for taxes. He filed for bankruptcy with $100 in cash in his pocket and a 10 year old BMW. In 2001, he attempted to sell one of his molars on eBay to help him pay his medical bills (no health insurance), but to no avail. Tragically, he passed away in 2010 after finally getting clean and sober.
Tori Spelling Lives for Today
Daughter of a billionaire and star of Beverly Hills 90210, Tori Spelling banked hard on her continued success, spending every penny she could (and then some) while the cards were being dealt in her favor. But then the show went off the air and the money spigot got turned off, leaving her with hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt thanks to her shopaholic habits. After falling hard, though, Spelling got back to work and climbed her way out of the red. A sophomoric fall from financial fecundity, but an admirable recovery for Ms. Spelling.
Ed McMahon Gives it All Away
As ironical as it may, seem, the man who was paid millions of dollars to be the spokesman for giving away million of dollars on behalf of the American Family Publishers, died with a legacy of debt to his household name. Ed McMahon and his wife raked up between $180,000 and $750,000 in credit card debt and defaulted on over $4.8 million in real estate loans. What happened? “I spent more than I made,” he told Larry King in an interview a year before his demise.
Courtney Love’s Stolen Identity
It doesn’t matter how much scene cred you’ve got, American Express is still going to take you to court when you refuse to pay $350,000. This is precisely what happened to Courtney Love, or so she says. One of the liabilities of being high profile is that it’s pretty easy to guess your mother’s maiden name and address history. Love claims that her gargantuan credit card bill was racked up due to fraudulent charges and has hired a private investigator to track down the identity thief. She probably should have hired that cute guy from the FreeCreditReports.com commercials to keep an eye on her credit report, though, and nipped it in the bud.
Lessons Learned
Perhaps the best lesson to learn from these mistakes is that income don’t mean jack when it comes to staying out of debt. Responsible financial planning, personal restraint and proactive credit monitoring are key to staying in the black with your various creditors. It doesn’t matter if your face is on the big screen and your songs are on the airwaves – you can still fall victim to the traps and tricks that lead to credit card debt. So, whether you make $10,000 a year or $10 billion a year, an education in personal finance is absolutely essential.
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