Tom Cruise is another name we mentioned right at the beginning of this list, so you knew we were always going to get back around to him eventually! There have been many jokes made about Cruise's diminutive height over the years, but Cruise has always had the perfect answer in terms of success. Common sense says that Cruise shouldn't have landed half the action movie parts he's been able to land, but he has so much charisma that directors find it impossible not to cast him. In the 'Jack Reacher' novels, the protagonist is well over six feet tall. That hasn't stopped Cruise playing him at the movies.
How tall Cruise actually is remains something of a mystery. In the past few years, he's been telling people that he's 5 foot 7. We've found interviews from the 1990s in which he's claimed to be taller, though. Some people who've worked with him say that he wears lifts inside his shoes, or even discreetly elevated heels. As with so much of Cruise's life, it's hard to separate the fact from the fiction - but we can safely say he's short.
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.