Toni Braxton needs someone to unbreak her finances. TMZ reports that the singer has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in California – again – and though she’s only worth somewhere between $1 million and $10 million, she could owe up to $50 million in debts to a number of creditors. Check out the astounding list:
- AT&T
– The Four Seasons Hotels
– Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
– Various medical bills
– DirecTV
– Neiman Marcus
– The William Morris Agency
– Tiffany & Co.
– Orkin Pest Control
– The Internal Revenue Service
– BMW Financial Services
– ADT Security
– American Express
– Flamingo Las Vegas
– Mesa Air Conditioning
– Nevada Power Company
– Screen Actors Guild
– The Westin
– Wells Fargo Bank
Braxton, 47, may also owe money to the City of L.A. Parking Violations Bureau, and to the DMV in both California and Nevada. This isn’t her first time with the big B; she also filed for bankruptcy back in 1998.
The singer has sold over 40 million albums in her career (her latest one, Pulse, came out in May) and even appeared on Season 7 of Dancing with the Stars. How did she run out money – twice? Clearly she needs a better financial planner.
In a 2000 interview with Ebony magazine, Braxton blamed her money troubles on the unfair practices of the music industry. “People don’t understand this business, a lot of my personal money went into tours,” she said. “You never get out of the red. Every lightbulb, costume, band member, hotel, gas for the tour bus, airplane ticket–everybody has to be paid, and the artist has to pay them. In this business, the product–the artist–pays for everything, and then [we] get what’s left over.” She had also said, “Like Scarlett O’Hara, I won’t be broke again.” Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out that way.
