Comedian and Actor Robin William's last known message was addressed to his daughter Zelda on the social media site Instagram. It read: "#tbt and Happy Birthday to Ms .Zelda Rae Williams! Quarter of a century old today but always my baby girl. Happy Birthday @zeldawilliams Love you!". Williams committed suicide on August 11, 2014, at his home in California, at the age of 63. In the initial report released on August 12, the Marin County Sheriff's Office deputy coroner stated Williams had hanged himself with a belt and died from asphyxiation. It was revealed, following his death, that Williams had been suffering from severe depression, and had been sleeping in a different room from his wife due to restlessness and anxiety caused by his Parkinson's.
Robin Williams' only daughter tweeted back to her father's final public words in which he pledged his love for his little girl. She reciprocated with: "I love you. I miss you. I'll keep trying to look up." In her tweet, she quotes from The Little Prince, a French illustrated book for children by Antoine De Saint-Exupery. "You - you alone will have the stars as no one else has them ... In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night ... You - only you - will have stars that can laugh."
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.