John Travolta might have made a mistake when he decided to turn down 'Forrest Gump,' but he got it absolutely right when Quentin Tarantino offered his flagging movie career a shot in the arm with 'Pulp Fiction.' He wasn't the only (at the time) faded star on Tarantino's wish-list though - he also threw a lifeline out to Mickey Rourke. Rourke, for reasons best known to himself, decided not to catch it.
It wasn't Travolta's part that Rourke was offered - it was the washed-up boxer Butch, who was eventually portrayed on-screen by Bruce Willis. As a mostly-failed boxer himself, perhaps Rourke felt it was just a little too close to home. It would be over a decade before he eventually got his career back on track with 'The Wrestler,' so maybe he should have just accepted that broken-down sportsmen were the right way to go for him at the first time of asking.
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.