To a certain generation, Warner Bros. will always be 'that company who makes cartoons,' and for decades, that was an accurate description. It's not anymore. Back in 2003, Warner Bros. decided to get out of the animated films business for good, and it was 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action' that convinced them to do it. 'Looney Tunes' should have been a 'Greatest Hits' album for Warner, featuring all of their most famous animated characters, and giving them time to shine. Instead, it came across as a lazy and bored band trudging through their back catalog, and going through the motions.
The movie blended cartoons with live action footage, and even had the always-popular Brendan Fraser on screen. Even that wasn't enough. Despite the $80m production cost, and the high hopes for one of the biggest hits of the whole year, 'Looney Tunes: Back in Action' just didn't capture peoples' hearts the way that the characters used to back in the 1950s. It made $68m back, and Warner Bros. officially stopped making cartoons.
Not all celebrities have fame and fortune, some are just famous – and in a ton of debt. They came from rags to riches, then went back to rags. Whether they’ve filed bankruptcy, ended up in court, or just can’t stop spending, celebrities mismanage their money just like everyone else. They just hide it well.
50 Cent coined the term “wanksta,” then “partied like it was his birthday” until he filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015. The rapper was said to be anywhere between $10 million and $50 million in debt. In 2016, a federal bankruptcy court judge in Connecticut approved a plan for the founder of G-Unit to pay his debts back. He was able to get his bankruptcy discharged in February of the following year.
Following a 45-year-long career in Hollywood, acting in more than 70 films, actor Gary Busey found himself in more debt than he was worth. In 2012, it was reported that Busey owed between $500,000 and $1 million worth of debt, but only had $50,000 to his name. The 74-year-old actor owed money to hospitals, banks, the L.A. Waterworks District, and even a storage company. He filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy that same year. Despite his longstanding career in Hollywood, Busey's net worth is now only $500,000.
Burt Reynolds is still worth five million dollars, but his battles with debt date back more than 20 years. Between bad investments and a pricey divorce from actress Loni Anderson, the 1970s superstar had to deal with over $10 million in debt and decided to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1996. While testifying in a 1994 custody hearing, the South Florida native said he spent $40 million getting through his divorce.
The former Hollywood bad boy, Charlie Sheen owes the IRS nearly $5 million. But that's not all. In 2016, his net worth was reportedly still as high as $150 million, but he was nonetheless $12 million in debt at the time – including mortgages, legal fees, and taxes. That same year, Debt.com reported Sheen owed nearly $300,000 on an American Express card alone.