Marvin Gaye is a legend of soul music. His timeless songs became almost an anthem of the 70s, and people are still listening to “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”, “Let’s Get It On”, and countless more to this day. Gaye even won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Grammys in 1996.
Sadly, Gaye had to file for bankruptcy in 1976 after failing to pay alimony to his ex-wife, Anna Gordy. After a judge declared he had to pay $600,000 from the royalties of his album “Here, My Dear”, Gaye was left in a very bad economic situation. Tragically, Marvin Gaye died in 1984, after he was shot and killed by his own father when he tried to stop a fight between his parents. Gaye still owed almost $300,000 to his ex-wife in alimony.
Mekhi Phifer
The handsome Mekhi Phifer rose to fame in the mid-90s, playing a physician in the hit TV show 'ER'. He then went on to act in several films, such as '8 Mile', 'O', 'Clockers', 'Honey', and more. Obviously, he amassed quite a sum of money, but unfortunately for him, he had very weird and expensive tastes. Among them, a bed entirely made from leather and a huge amount of firearms.
He was spending more than he was making, and in 2014, Phifer had to file for bankruptcy. The actor owed more than $1 million and all he had to his name was a little over $60,000.
Teresa Giudice
The loud-mouthed Teresa Giudice became famous after starring in the popular reality show, 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey'. Unfortunately, she and her husband Joe had big legal problems in 2013 after they were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud, and wire fraud. Teresa got 15 months of jail time, and her husband was sentenced to 41 months.
Needless to say, the couple had to pay a lot of money, a huge part of which was in back taxes. Now, with Joe Giudice still serving jail time, Teresa is trying to get back on her feet.
Gary Coleman
Back in the '80s, "Diff'rent Strokes" was a wildly popular TV show, and its child star Gary Coleman was making $70,000 per episode! Unfortunately, when the show ended in 1986, Coleman realized that his parents and business advisor had terribly mismanaged his money.
After his success on TV, Coleman tried to find other work but wasn't lucky. So, he decided to sue his parents and business advisor, which he won. However, it still wasn't enough money to keep him from going bankrupt in 1999. Coleman had to accept a job as a security guard after a long bill of lawyer fees and several bad investments left him penniless. After facing legal troubles in the 2000s, Coleman passed away in 2010 from a bad fall caused by a seizure.
David Cassidy
David Cassidy had an extremely successful acting and singing career back in the '70s and '80s. Catapulted to fame by his role as Keith Partridge in the famous TV show 'The Partridge Family', David was already known around the country and used this to start a career in music.
In 1970, his hit song "I Think I Love You" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the teen idol was on top of the world. Unfortunately, as it often happens with these stars, Cassidy went bankrupt in 2015, after being in debt for $10 million. A long history of DUIs, alcohol abuse, and a costly divorce in 2014 forced Cassidy to auction off his mansion. Sadly, he died from liver and kidney failure in 2017.