We regularly equate fame with wealth, however generally, being a celeb may be surprisingly costly (particularly once you’re first beginning out).
Listed below are 17 occasions celebs opened up concerning the costly issues they needed to pay for to get forward:
1.
Insurgent Wilson misplaced cash doing Bridesmaids. In 2024, she informed the podcast Diary of a CEO, “It was my first job in America. I imply, it was very fortunate to get it… However to be paid that little. Mainly, that $3,500 I then needed to pay to the union to hitch the union. So, I principally made no cash. I misplaced cash, as a result of I needed to pay to go to the premiere, like to purchase my costume and all the things. So, I misplaced cash doing Bridesmaids.”
2.
In 2023, Taraji P. Henson informed Sirius XM, “I hear individuals go, ‘You’re employed loads.’ I’ve to. The mathematics ain’t mathing. And once you begin working loads, you understand, you’ve a group. Huge payments include what we do. We do not do that alone. The truth that we’re up right here, it is an entire total group behind us. They must receives a commission.”
She continued, “So once you hear somebody saying, ‘Oh, such and such made $10 million,’ no, that…did not make it to their account. Know that, off the highest, Uncle Sam is getting 50 %. Okay, so do the maths. Now we’ve got $5 million. Your group is getting 30 %, or no matter your group is, off of what you grossed, not after what Uncle Sam took. Now do the maths…I am solely human, and it appears each time I do one thing and I break one other glass ceiling, when it is time to renegotiate, I am on the backside once more, like I by no means did what I simply did, and I am simply drained.”
3.
In 2024, Busy Philipps informed Web page Six, “I’ve to repeatedly hustle. It’s so true. With hair, make-up, and wardrobe and what it price…I take a look at, like, the amount of cash I am supposedly making, and I take a look at, like, the payments…and what’s anticipated of [me]. After which it isn’t simply the payments, it is what’s anticipated of me once I present up at a spot, you understand? And it is like, effectively, okay, this movie firm or this manufacturing firm is simply gonna pay this share of your hair and make-up and wardrobe, so you must make up the remainder. So you then’re hundreds of {dollars} out of pocket, after which, on the finish of the day, it is like, ‘Properly, what am I doing?’
“I used to be saying to Renée [Elise Goldsberry]…I used to be like, ‘We should always simply present up a multitude at one in all these items,'” she mentioned.
4.
In 2024, DJ Qualls informed the podcast Within You with Michael Rosenbaum that he did Hustle & Stream for $10,000, turning down “nearly $2 million” from one other alternative. He was very proud when he watched the screening at Sundance, however the expertise put him in debt. He mentioned, “I went $30,000 in debt in that. I imply, like, publicity debt. And going to Sundance, individuals do not realize that that shit’s not free. It’s a must to pay for all of that. The film’s not bought. There is no studio. So you must pay ten grand to hire a home as a result of your hair and make-up individuals have to come back. You are doing stay feeds to CNN at two o’clock within the morning.”
“It prices you cash, after which you must rent a publicist as a result of there isn’t any publicist. And all of these things must be carried out, and, I imply, lots of the enterprise is about as much as take cash from us. I imply, after all, it’s. Loads of the enterprise is parasitic,” he mentioned.
5.
When artists signal with a file label, they’re typically given an advance, however they’re anticipated to pay it again by way of royalties earned from their music. Throughout a 2024 look on the podcast Desk Manners, popstar-turned-actor Billie Piper revealed that she’s nonetheless in debt to her former label greater than 20 years after leaving music. She mentioned, “There’s a lot extra money…You are touring a lot greater than I see musicians journey now. There’s, like, you understand, you do all these massive promotional excursions, which I hated. I completely hated. Hated going off. And video shoots the place they might price, like…I am nonetheless in debt to Virgin. So if I ever launch an album, which I will not, I might in all probability must repay that debt. It is like a college debt.”
6.
In 1995, TLC filed for Chapter 11 chapter on the heels of their profitable album CrazySexyCool. On the 1996 Grammys, member Chili mentioned, “We’re not gonna sugarcoat something anymore. We have been quiet lengthy sufficient…We’re the biggest-selling feminine group ever — 10 million albums worldwide. We have now labored very laborious. We have now been on this enterprise for 5 years, and we’re broke as broke may be. And we’re not making an attempt to be a tragic story. If that was the case, we might’ve been on all people’s discuss present speaking about how broke we’re. We have not carried out that. I do know it is laborious to consider as a result of we have bought so many albums, however it’s potential. That is the deal right here, so, and we’re not blissful in any respect.”
On the time, reps for Arista Data and LaFace Data informed the LA Occasions that the band members had been appropriately compensated underneath a “truthful, industry-standard settlement.” The group and their label later settled a multimillion-dollar lawsuit. It resulted in a contract that was extra truthful.
In 2023, Chili alleged to Folks that, due to unhealthy contracts, the band members had been unfairly compensated for album gross sales and being charged for “presents” from their label. She mentioned, “When cash got here in, we had been splitting, like, $5,000. We are the cause [LaFace parent company] Arista Data first obtained safety. We sort of held Clive Davis hostage, like, ‘You are the pinnacle man. How can we repair this?'”
7.
For Margot Robbie, touchdown the function of Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad got here with an elevated want for private safety. In 2018, she informed The Hollywood Reporter, “There’s simply all these things you study alongside the best way, like, once you get these demise threats, it is [smart] to have a safety group do a background verify on whoever despatched them to see if there may be any previous historical past of violence, since you’ll have to know whether or not you want safety to go to sure occasions. And each time you do a background verify, it should price $2,000, so take that into consideration once you’re getting your self into this.”
She continued, “And it is like, ‘Okay, that is a special sort of profession.’ As a result of then you want to all the time do a job that may financially help that way of life; you may’t simply do indie movies for the remainder of your life as a result of that movie again there modified all the things, and now you’ve to have the ability to afford safety. I simply want somebody had defined lots of these issues to me early on. I would not have resented the place I discovered myself in as a result of I might’ve recognized what I used to be getting myself into.”
8.
When Demi Lovato was 15, their community suggested them to get beauty dental work. In 2016, she informed Attract, “I signed with Disney Channel once I obtained Camp Rock, and I had a niche between my two entrance enamel. They had been like, ‘Would you be prepared to repair it?’ I want immediately that I hadn’t, as a result of my hole was actually cute.”
9.
When Tiffany Haddish was looking for a costume for her Women Journey premiere in 2017, she purchased a $4,000 Alexander McQueen costume, which she’s famously reworn to a number of occasions. In 2021, she informed Folks, “I [was] like, ‘Oh, hell no. That is my mortgage. I am unable to put on this costume…I used to be simply devastated [I couldn’t return it]. I used to be very upset that I spent that a lot cash on a costume, interval. Then I used to be like, ‘Properly, I’ll put on this costume all over the place I’m going. I’ll get my cash’s price.’ …The costume has made me the cash that it price, plus, at this level.'”
She wore the “robe that retains on giving” to the 2018 MTV Film & TV Awards. She’s additionally worn it on Saturday Night time Reside, My Subsequent Visitor Wants No Introduction, and Folks’s Most Stunning Difficulty.
10.
In a since-deleted 2020 TikTok (per the UK’s Metro), Gray’s Anatomy and Reign actor Adelaide Kane mentioned, “So I came upon immediately the web thinks I am price $4 million. My crippling debt says in any other case. WHERE?!” In a follow-up video, she broke down how a lot she made and the way a lot she needed to spend on taxes and her group. She mentioned, “Usually talking, [Screen Actors Guild] minimal for a sequence common on a community present is $20,000 per episode. Say I did 78 episodes on Reign; that pares out to $1.56 million for 4 years of labor. So, assuming that I’ve made $5 million in my total profession since I began working at 16, right here is how that breaks down.”
She mentioned that her supervisor will get 10 %, her lawyer will get 5 %, and her enterprise supervisor additionally will get 5 %. She additionally famous that, as a non-American citizen working within the US, she paid 30 % in taxes. She continued, “So I lose 60 % proper off the bat, which leaves me with about $2.2 million over the past 14 years. Which, in case you common it out, comes all the way down to $178,000-ish a 12 months, which might be positive, an excellent wage. Besides I’ve to pay hire in main cities, generally two cities directly.”
Then Adelaide described some further prices that her job requires. She mentioned her publicist and social media group prices about $2,000 to $3,000 month-to-month. Per look, she spends $700 to $1,500 on a stylist and $1,000 on her hair and make-up group. She mentioned, “Simply to be clear up, each actor I do know saves as a lot as humanly potential as a result of most of us go for months or generally years at a time between jobs. And we do get residuals, however… So, I am positive, however my financial savings will not final endlessly, have you learnt what I imply?”
11.
Patricia Arquette misplaced cash filming Boyhood, which was filmed over 12 years. In 2015, she informed WENN, “It is vital to me as an actor to have the ability to make a dwelling, [but] I’ll inform you one thing – I paid extra money to my babysitter and my canine walker than I made on Boyhood, and to be in Boyhood!”
12.
When Gabourey Sidibe made her movie debut in Treasured, she wanted a costume for the 2009 Cannes Movie Competition. Nonetheless, in 2018, she informed Teen Vogue that no designers supplied to decorate her for the occasion as a result of she was “too fats.” So, she bought an inexpensive costume from Torrid. She mentioned, “Although we’re transferring in the direction of extra visibility for plus-size individuals, there’s a lot [of] pushback. So it’s vital to maintain combating [and] to maintain being seen till the dialog modifications and [it] is not about our our bodies as a result of I am not my physique. I am an entire individual.”
13.
In 2022, Sydney Sweeney informed The Hollywood Reporter, “I wish to have a household. I’ve all the time needed to be a younger mother, and I am frightened about how this {industry} places stigmas on younger ladies who’ve kids and appears at them in a special mild. I used to be frightened that, if I do not work, there isn’t any cash and no help for teenagers I might have…If I needed to take a six-month break, I haven’t got earnings to cowl that. I haven’t got somebody supporting me. I haven’t got anybody I can flip to to pay my payments or name for assist. They do not pay actors like they used to, and with streamers, you not get residuals. The established stars nonetheless receives a commission, however I’ve to offer 5 % to my lawyer, 10 % to my brokers, 3 % or one thing like that to my enterprise supervisor. I’ve to pay my publicist each month, and that is greater than my mortgage.”
She additionally defined that, generally, prices related to doing press, reminiscent of journey, hair and make-up artists, a stylist, and a tailor, aren’t lined by the community. So, she began doing model offers. She mentioned, “If I simply acted, I would not be capable to afford my life in LA. I take offers as a result of I’ve to.”
14.
Amanda Seyfried purchased her personal attire for the NYC and LA premieres of Imply Women. In 2022, she informed Jimmy Kimmel Reside, “I didn’t have a stylist. I used the one cash I had to purchase a costume — however there have been two premieres, and so I had to purchase two attire since you put on completely different attire.”
Describing her NYC premiere costume, Amanda continued, “I did not know any of the principles, so I used to be carrying a white bra and black underwear and no slip. And I paid $600 for that costume. I could not even afford a journey dwelling, no, I am kidding. I did not have a publicist. I did not have a stylist. I did my make-up.”
15.
In 2023, Fats Joe informed the Wall Road Journal that he thinks main labels are a “Ponzi scheme.” A 12 months later, he expounded on the touch upon Instagram Reside, revealing he nonetheless owed his former label cash from hit data he’d made twenty years in the past. He mentioned, “They requested me impartial or main label, and I mentioned main file labels are a Ponzi scheme. What does that imply, Joe? It implies that once you as good as me and once you been lengthy sufficient as me, you understand it is similar to a financial institution.”
He continued, “More often than not, they take a child who grew up within the tasks that is gifted and offer you cash to make an album. Off the revenue of the data, they cost you no matter they spend on the video. It ain’t like we 50/50 companions; we pay half for the video, they pay half. On the finish of the day, you might carry a scientist who received the Nobel Peace Prize to do the accounting, they usually cannot determine it out. So it is theft, during…They personal your shit. That is why I say it is a Ponzi scheme. I bought two million data, nonetheless ain’t recouped. [2001’s] J.O.S.E. bought two million data. After I get my assertion from the most important label 20 years later, I nonetheless owe them cash. I put out an album independently on EMPIRE and get distribution. My album would possibly promote 250,000, 300,000 data, I make tens of millions of {dollars} off of it. What is the distinction?”
16.
After her breakout function in Primary Intuition, Sharon Stone discovered herself unable to afford the safety she abruptly required, so she made do. In 2021, she informed Q with Tom Energy, “It is Friday, and also you’re you. Tuesday, you are the Beatles. Persons are climbing throughout your automotive. You attempt to stroll down the road and abruptly 30 those who had been buying are working, chasing you. You are working and locking your self in shops, and the individuals are like, ‘Wait, do not lock the door,’ and you are like, ‘Oh, I will purchase one thing. Please assist me.’ Abruptly, you are on this bizarre chase. I did not receives a commission to do Primary Intuition. I made just a little bit of cash. Michael [Douglas] made $14 million and has factors. I made not sufficient cash to purchase my costume to go to the Oscars the subsequent 12 months. I used to be on this bizarre limbo the place I used to be abruptly well-known however did not have any cash.”
“I did not have what I wanted. We went to Cannes, and the film simply was madness. I obtained again to the lodge, and all of my belongings had been stolen besides the garments on my again. My contact lenses, my movie out of my digital camera, my toothbrush — all the things was gone. My room was simply rifled by way of, and we needed to get me out of the lodge, however I did not have the safety to do it. The bodyguards obtained all of the kitchen workers and all of the busboys to come back up, they usually created this massive circle that I and my two girlfriends had been within, after which they attempt to take me by way of the foyer. There have been so many individuals, tons of of individuals, pulling at us and going berserk. So this was our introduction, ‘Hey, you are well-known.’ We had no thought,’ she mentioned.
Sharon was additionally on her personal when it got here to preparing for the Oscars. In 2023, she informed the podcast Desk for Two with Bruce Bozzi, “After I first obtained invited to the Oscars [in 1992], proper earlier than Primary Intuition had come out. Film hadn’t come out, so nobody would lend me a costume. After which it got here out, like, a number of days, proper earlier than the Oscars or one thing, and I used to be gonna current, however nobody would give me a costume. It was unbelievable as a result of I did not have any cash to purchase something. And I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, all these individuals of their $40,000, $50,000 attire.’ And I went and purchased a Betsy Johnson jumpsuit as a result of that was it, a polyester jumpsuit. That was the most effective I may do. And I am doing my very own hair and make-up.”
“And I used to be similar to, ‘Wow, like that is terrible. Like, how am I going to do that?’ However then I obtained there. and I used to be, like, within the fourth or fifth row again, which was actually good. And I used to be on the aisle, and I used to be seated proper behind Anthony Hopkins. And once I walked by, he put his arms collectively and put them over his head like [a] champion and held them as much as me once I handed him, and I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, he noticed my film, and he is giving me that factor.’ And I informed my dad, and my dad was like, ‘Child, you might look good in a burlap sack.’ And I used to be like, ‘Oh, proper.’ And so after that, I believed, you understand, it does not matter. I may put on a t-shirt to the Oscars, and so I did,” she mentioned.
17.
And at last, actor Wealthy Rotella obtained limb-lengthening surgical procedure so as to add three inches to his top to assist him e-book extra roles. In 2022, he informed Enterprise Insider, “I’ve all the time felt the have to be taller, at the same time as an adolescent. I used to be 5’5″ and felt like I paled compared to my friends…I have been an actor in Hollywood since 2009 and have labored with a handful of celebrities, from Betty White to Mindy Sterling, and gifted filmmakers. Over time, it appeared like I used to be caught within the sidekick function. So in 2019, on the eve of my tenth anniversary in Hollywood, I requested some administrators and filmmakers to share their sincere opinions about my profession. They informed me I hadn’t been in a position to get lead roles due to my top. Lead actors are usually 5’8″ and up, they informed me. This got here as a shock, and I felt like I used to be knocked down a number of pegs.”
A number of months later, he took steps in the direction of discovering a surgeon. He mentioned, “The worth of the process is determined by the strategy you select and if bodily remedy is included. I selected to do a femoral surgical procedure, or above the knees, and ended up spending greater than $100,000. My insurance coverage did not cowl the surgical procedure, however I might advocate that individuals embody bodily remedy classes of their price evaluation. I elevated my top by 3 inches, going from 5’5″ to five’8″. Instantly after the surgical procedure, I despatched a mass electronic mail to my household and pals informing them of my choice. I acquired blended reactions, however lots of people questioned my judgment…I am at present engaged on the documentary [which is set to be released in 2025]… I am additionally beginning to search for alternatives to get in contact with executives from main studios within the hopes of promoting the rights to my story. Within the meantime, I’ve a number of different movies that I am seeking to work on.”