Here is yet another example of a child star who couldn’t continue earning the big bucks after he was all grown up. Drake Bell, who most of us remember from the hit Nickelodeon show Drake and Josh, dropped off the map at some point over the last few years.
After the show came to an end, the actor made the decision to focus on his music, but unfortunately, his career never took off. When 2014 rolled around, Bell was unable to keep up the payments on the house which he had purchased in 2007, and the bank foreclosed on the property.
Johnny Depp
Named the fifth highest-paid actor in Hollywood in 2016, Johnny Depp, famous for his portrayal of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, sure knows how to spend money. Over the years, he has spent millions of dollars on a failed record label and a 150-foot yacht, among other things.
Depp got into it with his business managers in 2017, blaming them for his financial problems and suing them for making bad financial decisions without his knowledge. They turned around and decided to counter-sue him. These days, some people estimate the actor may be dealing with a debt of roughly $40 million.
Lauryn Hill
Two decades ago, Lauryn Hill was on top of the music game with her hip-hop and R&B groove. The talented singer won multiple Grammys but was apparently not as prolific when the time came to pay the taxman, which landed her in some financial hot water.
The singer took a strange stand in the years 2005 to 2007 by deciding to refuse to pay taxes claiming that a “climate of hostility” and “manipulation” were negatively impacting her creativity. Not only did this get her sentenced to three months of jail time, but she was also ordered to pay $554,000 to the IRS.
Chris Tucker
At the end of the last century, comedian Chris Tucker starred in the enormously successful Rush Hour trilogy alongside Jackie Chan. The movies were a huge hit and for a short time, Tucker was unbelievably the highest-paid actor in Tinseltown.
At some point, the actor disappeared from the public eye and in 2014, due to some bad financial decisions, he ended up owing the IRS a whopping $14 million in back taxes. Tucker came to an agreement with the IRS, which luckily meant that he did not have to serve any time, but with no foreseeable hits in his future, he is certainly no longer living large like he used to.
Bow Wow
In the year 2000, Shad Gregory Moss, better known as Lil’ Bow Wow, was a rap music phenomenon. Unfortunately, as he grew older and became just plain old Bow Wow, his popularity took a real hit along with his fortune. So much so that in 2012 when he was ordered by the court to pay the mother of his child $3,000 a month, he stated that all the money he had in the world amounted to $1,500.
The singer was recently called out on Twitter by a fellow airline passenger after posting a picture on his Instagram account claiming to be traveling on a private jet while actually taking a commercial flight.