Though she starred in the ABC hit show Grace Under Fire, Butler recently revealed she is living in homeless shelter. "I was dying of addiction," she said of her struggle. She's now trying to make a comeback by doing stand-up comedy. "I don't think about what I survived. I hope I forgive, I hope I'm forgiven and I'm just really glad that I think things are funny and there's no end to that."
VIDEO: Former 'Grace Under Fire' Star Brett Butler Reveals She's Homeless
Despite having one of the most famous sister’s in the world, Anthony Ciccone recently revealed that he is homeless and living on the streets in Michigan. “You think I haven't answered this kind of question a bazillion times — why my sister is a multibazillionaire and I'm homeless on the street?" Madonna’s older brother told the Michigan Messenger.
Fantasia Barrino should have been on top of it all after winning the third season of American Idol. Her first album, Free Yourself, garnered her three Grammy nominations. In 2009, however, the singer’s $1.1 North Carolina home was set to be auctioned off if she could not repay the loan that she took against it. The lawyers were able to reach an agreement before the auction took place.
He gifted millions in sweepstakes prizes, but Johnny Carson's longtime sidekick seemed to have trouble hanging onto his own money. Lenders went after him in 2008 for $644,000 owed on a $4.8 million home loan.
How did he go broke? He explained to Larry King: "Well, if you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. A couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. You want everything to be perfect, but that combination of the economy, I have a little injury, I have a situation. And it all came together."
While Michael Jackson’s famous 2,900-acre Neverland Ranch was once a well-kept fantasy land including an amusement park and animal residents. But after the singer was acquited of child molestation charges, he vowed to never return to the property, and it fell into disarray. Neverland Ranch fell into foreclosure proceedings in 2007 when the singer had nearly $23.5 million in loans on the estate. Before it went up for auction, however, a private-equity firm purchased the loan. In 2008, he transferred the title to Sycamore Valley Ranch Company LLC.
One of Hollywood’s highest-paid actors, Nicolas Cage at one time had homes all over the world, including a castle in Germany. In 2009, the IRS alleged that Cage had failed to pay more than $6.2 million in federal income tax for the year 2007. While Cage sued his former business manager for mismanaging his money, his New Orleans, Bel Air and Nevada homes were foreclosed and sold at auction.
The former Charles in Charge and Eight Is Enough star revealed that he slept under bushes and in parking garages after going bankrupt and having his house foreclosed on." At the very peak [of Eight Is Enough] I was making a little over a million dollars a year," he once said. "Then suddenly there was no job, no bank account, no wife, no child. I never dreamt it could happen that fast."
The Smokey and the Bandit and Cannonball Run star declared Chapter 11 after his high-profile divorce from Loni Anderson. As recently as August 2011, Reynolds faced foreclosure on his Florida home, owing almost $1.2 million to Merrill Lynch Credit Corp., which claimed he hadn't made a mortgage payment in a year.
Funk legend Sly Stone recently revealed he's homeless, living out of a van he parks on residential streets in Los Angeles. He blamed the financial hardships on substance abuse, mismanagement and spending beyond his means.
The But I'm a Cheerleader and American Pie actress seems to have bounced back from a tough run a couple of years when she was reportedly homeless and hospitalized with serious health issues. At the time, Lyonne was said to be suffering from hepatitis C, a heart infection and a collapsed lung and also undergoing methadone treatment, which is typically employed to help heroin users.
She also has had a spate of legal troubles but is earning praise for her Nov. 16 appearance on Law & Order: SVU.
The '80s movie star and frequent drug user was "so broke" when he died in March 2010 that he didn't even have a car, according to pal Corey Feldman. Among his financial woes, the Canadian actor filed for bankruptcy in 1997, owing $100,000 to the IRS and another $100,000 in debt. In 2001, he tried selling a tooth and some of his hair on eBay to raise cash.
In 2006, Miami Vice star Don Johnson was within hours of losing his 17-acre estate in Woody Creek, Colo., to foreclosure auction. At the eleventh hour, he paid $14.5 million in delinquent debts to the D.A. to keep his home.
The actress filed for bankruptcy in 1993 after losing an $8.1 million lawsuit to Main Line Pictures for backing out of the film Boxing Helena and also had to sell out on her $20 million investment in the town of Braselton, Ga.
The "Mercy, Mercy Me" and "What's Going On" singer filed for bankruptcy after his divorce from Anna Gordy, sister of Motown founder Barry Gordy. In lieu of alimony, Gaye agreed to record a new album, later titled "Here, My Dear," and give all royalties to Gordy.
In 1990, Forbes estimated that the rapper was worth $33 million. He filed for Chapter 11 protection six years later, having, among other things, spent up to $20 million building a custom mansion. He told THR, "It’s time to close out old business and stop being the lottery for people who see MC Hammer as this big celebrity with a bottomless pit of dreams for people."
He's now launching an Internet search engine, WireDoo.
Despite making about $400 million over the course of 20 years, the former heavyweight champion managed to spend it all on things like Bengal tigers, a $2 million bathtub and millions of dollars of jewelry. He filed for Chapter 11 in 2003. The boxer has since resurrected himself, taking on a new career in film. He most recently appeared in The Hangover Part II.
The "Unbreak My Heart" singer blames her financial woes on bad business deals, medical bills and chronic health issues. Her first bankruptcy occurred in 1998 — she claims that even though she sold more than 40 million records, she only saw $2000 in royalties. She filed for business and personal bankruptcy again in 2010 with millions of dollars in debts due in part to the cancellation of a series of Las Vegas shows.
In 1990, the IRS went after country music singer-songwriter Willie Nelson for $16.7 million in back taxes and seized most of his assets to help pay the charges. The crooner filed for bankruptcy and later that year released the double album The IRS Tapes: Who'll Buy My Memories? with all profits going straight to the IRS.