Celebrities who went bankrupt

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Celebrities who went bankrupt

Rapper 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy in 2015. His assets and debts were worth between $10 million and $50 million, according to court documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

Actor Gary Coleman filed for bankruptcy in 1999, according to Time. He has said his parents took much of his earnings from the sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes."

Comedian and actor Sinbad has filed for bankruptcy twice: in 2009 and 2013, according to TMZ and the Huffington Post. In 2013, he said he owed about $11 million, including $8 million in back taxes.

Actor Gary Busey filed for bankruptcy in 2012 with debts between $500,000 and $1 million, according to Reuters.

Actor Burt Reynolds filed for bankruptcy in 1996, following a divorce and a failed chain restaurant, according to VH1, with debts of $10 million.

Singer Toni Braxton has filed for bankruptcy twice, according to Time -- once, she said, due to low royalties and once because she had to cancel a Las Vegas performance due to illness.

Musician Willie Nelson filed for bankruptcy in 1990, according to Forbes, and owed $16.7 million in back taxes to the IRS.

Actor Stephen Baldwin had debts of around $2.3 million, in 2009, according to VH1. Baldwin later admitted to income tax evasion, according to the BBC.

Musician Billy Joel has reportedly filed for bankruptcy three times, though he has disputed that. He did file a hefty suit against former manager Frank Weber in 1989, according to Page Six. The suit against Weber, his former brother-in-law, was for $90 million -- including $30 million for fraud and misappropriation of funds, according to Yahoo.

Model Janice Dickinson filed for bankruptcy in 2013, according to the Los Angeles Times. She allegedly had nearly $1 million in debt, according to court documents obtained by the New York Post -- with a tax debt of more than $500,000.

Talk show host Larry King filed for bankruptcy in 1978, according to Time, declaring he had $352,000 in debts -- though he started a radio show that same year that would eventually lead him to CNN.

Football player and former Falcon Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy in 2008, according to Forbes, after being convicted in a dog-fighting ring. He had previously been listed as the world's fourth highest-earning athlete.

Actor and native Georgian Kim Basinger filed for bankruptcy in 1993, according to Forbes, after losing nearly $9 million to a production company after refusing to star in its film. She was also forced to sell the private property she owned in Braselton, and in total lost $19 million.

Singer Wayne Newton filed for bankruptcy in 1992, while he was appearing in a Las Vegas show, with debts of $20 million, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy in 2003, with debts of about $23 million, according to Time, though the New York Times reported his career earnings up to that point at about $400 million.

Rapper MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996, according to Time. He was then allegedly delinquent on years of taxes.

Musician Cyndi Lauper filed for bankruptcy in the early '80s following the failure of her first music group, according to Rolling Stone.

Actress and model Pamela Anderson went broke in 2009, according to VH1, with debts of more than $2 million. She owed $800,000 to the construction company behind her Malibu, Calif., home; and she owed $1.7 million in taxes, according to VH1.

Businessman Donald Trump's companies have filed for bankruptcy four times: in 1991, 1992, 2004 and 2009, according to VH1. “We'll have the company. We'll throw it into a chapter. We'll negotiate with the banks. We'll make a fantastic deal," he told ABC.

Actor Nicholas Cage had to sell his Bavarian castle, and lost to New Orleans homes to foreclosure, after amassing more than $6 million in owed back taxes to the IRS, according to Forbes. Cage blamed it on the mismanagement of former manager Samuel J. Levin, and brought a $20 million suit against CPA.

Musician Tom Petty filed for bankruptcy in 1979 in order to try and nullify his contract with his record label, which had been acquired by another company, according to Time.

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Rapper 50 Cent filed for bankruptcy in 2015. His assets and debts were worth between $10 million and $50 million, according to court documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal.

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