Nearly bankrupt: These celebs lost all their money at some point

It may be hard to believe, but after Jason Momoa finished his part of Khal Drogo in 'Game of Thrones,' he was completely broke and did not know how to support his family. Momoa only appeared in the first season of the legendary series and did not get a lot of roles afterward.

Years later, Momoa told InStyle that he'd been "starving" to pay all the bills for his two young children with actress Lisa Bonet. "I couldn’t get work. It’s very challenging when you have babies and you’re completely in debt."

'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' saved Will Smith from a million-dollar debt. He had made a lot of money with his 1988 rap album 'Parents Just Don't Understand,' but the artist did not declare it to the IRS. Soon enough, the tax authorities demanded $2.8 million from him.

On the verge of filing for bankruptcy, the actor signed a contract with NBC to play in The Prince of Bel-Air. For the first three seasons, the Treasury kept 70% of his salary.

Michael Jackson's sudden death in 2009 led to the discovery of a debt of nearly half a billion dollars. His famous Neverland ranch was about to be foreclosed.

The cause of all of this was the King of Pop's big spending habits. He had taken out one loan after another. Fortunately, his heirs easily repaid the debt through his estate.

The Hollywood muse of the 1980s invested $20 million in a company that would create a tourist resort and a film and television production center in Braselton, Georgia in 1993. The project failed and the actress lost everything she had invested.

To top it off, Main Line Pictures sued Basinger for the breach of a verbal contract to act in the film 'Boxing Helena.' She reached an agreement with the production company in 1995 and had to pay them $3.8 million.

Unlike many colleagues, Chris Pratt knew what poverty was before he came to Hollywood. He slept in a van or on the beach and worked as a waiter to pay for his food and gas.

At the time he was working as a waiter, Rae Dawn Chong spotted him and offered him an audition for 'Cursed: Part III.' It was the first film role of a successful career.

At one point in his career, Johnny Depp managed to earn an average of $30 million per film. A nice sum he immediately reinvested in mansions, cars, islands, parties, and a not-so-sustainable lifestyle.

In 2017, he sued his financial team, accusing them of letting him go bankrupt. When he was reminded that he was spending $33,000 a month on wine, the actor was outraged because it didn't seem that much to him.

After being Disney's rising star, Lindsay Lohan became famous for her party-girl lifestyle. LiLo's fortunes went from one million to a meager $800,000 in 2018.

To get back on her feet, the actress decided to release an album that turned out to be, unsurprisingly, a resounding failure.

Although Donald Trump has never personally filed for bankruptcy, his companies filed for bankruptcy up to six times, according to Politifact. His Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City was the first to go bankrupt in 1991.

After that, and until 2009, the businessman's casinos, hotels, and resorts suffered the same fate. "Basically, I used the laws of the land to my advantage, like many others at the top of the business world," he told Forbes.

She was the child star of the 80s sitcom 'Full House.' When that ended, Jodie Sweetin took refuge in the consumption of all sorts of substances. She accumulated a debt of $53,000 to the public treasury.

To her debts, Jodie Sweetin had to add the alimony payments for her two children and the expenses caused by her four divorces. When she was hired to act in 'Fuller House,' the remake of the sitcom in 2016, Sweetin was literally broke.

The rapper and actor, a 21st-century superstar, had a debt of 32.5 million dollars that forced him to go bankrupt in 2013. The reasons for this debt were several lawsuits and arrears in alimony payments.

However, three years later, TMZ reported that 50 Cent had become a millionaire thanks to the 700 bitcoins he had earned for an album. The rapper himself has always denied it.

There were years when the actor earned $40 million for his work in Hollywood. However, he spent it faster than he made it. Between 1996 and 2011, Nicholas Cage wasted over $150 million.

The actor had a mansion in Malibu, the medieval castle Midford, and even an island in the Exuma archipelago. His 15 properties led him to file for bankruptcy and accept whatever roles he could get in recent years.

The man who aspired to become a big Hollywood star with 'The Mummy' had several bad moments in his career. For a long time, until he triumphed with his Oscar-winning role in 'The Whale' (2022), Fraser had to pick up small roles and watch his spending.

According to several media reports, Brendan Fraser has had to pay $900,000 a year in alimony for the three children he had with his ex-wife Afton Smith. That's more than he makes.

"I've squandered more money than you can imagine," the actor told Vanity Fair in 2015. A private plane and up to $100,000 in wigs in the 1980s were among his many excesses.

Add to those expenses his divorce from Loni Anderson in 1994, for which Reynolds had to pay $2 million plus a monthly pension of $47,000, and there was not much left in his pocket. He filed for bankruptcy in 1996 with a debt of $10 million.

In 2009, Stephen Baldwin had to file for bankruptcy because he could not afford to pay the taxes he owed nor repay his two big loans. The ordeal was repeated in 2017.

After six years without paying his mortgage, he lost his house. He also spent five years on parole for failing to pay his taxes for three consecutive years. In short, Baldwin is not a friend of the IRS.

In 2006, the legendary Blade went bankrupt. A few months later, he was found guilty of tax fraud and tax evasion for an income of $12 million. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

It is hard to believe that the creator of today's largest entertainment empire was suffering from financial difficulties. Yet his early productions were not as successful as expected. Everything changed when Mickey Mouse came into his life.