Broke celebrities - 25 stars who have been down to their last 50 cents

But the star – whose real name is Curtis Jackson III – is not the first celebrity to surprise everyone by declaring themselves broke.

Here are 24 other stars who it may surprise you to know have managed to go broke.

1. Lena Headey

Things aren’t quite as bad for the Game Of Thrones actress as they were for Queen Cersei Lannister at the end of season five when she was forced to walk naked through the streets.

But the 41-year-old mother-of-two has revealed that a nasty divorce battle with her ex left her with just five dollars in her bank account and she was forced to sell her Hollywood home just to get by.

2. Lady Gaga

She’s always topping the charts and selling out world tours – so how can the Bad Romance star have possibly managed to be in the red? But Lady Gaga has admitted that she was bankrupt during her 2009 Monsters Ball tour after spending millions of dollars on making her stage show as lavish and spectacular as she possibly could.

In a documentary about Live Nation Entertainment CEO Arthur Fogel, Gaga revealed: “I had three million dollars in the bank to my name and I threw it all in to make my stage. So I was bankrupt during the show.”

Don’t feel too sorry for her though – in the end Live Nation paid her 40 million dollars (£25.9 million) for the tour and now she’s rolling in it.

3. Lindsay Lohan

These days she’s living it up on yachts and in swanky hotels and attending lavish showbiz parties. But back in 2012 the troubled former child star was living a little close to the breadline.

The IRS reportedly froze Li-Lo accounts due to her owing 234,000 dollars (£151,000) in back taxes, and her Scary Movie 5 co-star Charlie Sheen had to lend her some money.

4. Michael Jackson

Jacko may have been one of the world’s most successful musicians, not to mention owning the rights to much of the Beatles back catalogue, but his lavish lifestyle got the better of him. Michael filed for bankruptcy in 2007 when he was unable to pay back the loan for his Neverland ranch.

Maybe splashing out on his own zoo and fairground was going a little too far…

5. Mike Tyson

As a professional boxer and well-known celebrity Mike Tyson has made over £258 million. But his extravagant spending and pricey divorce left him with debts of over 17 million dollars and he filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

Coincidentally, 50 Cent is currently living in Mike’s old mansion in Connecticut.

6. Blue

Yup, all of them. In May this year Lee Ryan became the final member of boyband to declare themselves bankrupt.

Duncan James was the first to file for bankruptcy in September 2013, shortly after the band’s company Blueworld Ltd was unable to pay creditors and went into administration. Simon Webbe declared himself bankrupt a few weeks later, and Antony Costa joined them on the breadline shortly afterwards.

Lee, who reportedly once had a £10 million fortune, became the fourth and final member of Blue to declare himself bankrupt a month after they were dropped by their record label. More reality TV appearances are expected imminently…

7. Lauryn Hill

The Fugees singer served three months in jail in 2013 for failing to pay tax on earnings of over £1.1 million between 2005 and 2007. During her court appearance Lauryn told the judge she lives a fairly modest life.

8. Natasha Lyonne

After finding fame in American Pie, the 36-year-old actress battled drug and alcohol problems and ended up living on the streets. After having open-heart surgery in 2012, Natasha has turned her life around and earned an Emmy nomination for her role as Nicky Nichols in hit Netflix show Orange Is The New Black.

9. Nicolas Cage

The National Treasure star has been struggling with ongoing money troubles since 2009, including unpaid tax bills and a lawsuit with his former business manager.

But since he reportedly owns numerous mansions, castles, yachts, cars – including nine Rolls Royces – and an exotic art collection including a dinosaur skull, he has been cashing in some assets to pay back his debts.

10. Amanda Abbington

There was outrage in 2013 when the star of Sherlock and Mr Selfridge declared herself bankrupt for not paying £120k in taxes – because her partner Martin Freeman is said to be worth over £10 million thanks to his starring role in The Hobbit movies.

But Amanda has vowed to pay back her debts herself, without relying on The Office star’s help.

11. Wesley Snipes

The Blade star filed for bankruptcy in 2006 when he was indicted for tax evasion, but still served three years behind bars for his £7.7 million tax bill.

The 52-year-old action star got out of prison in 2013 and pal Sly Stallone helped him get back on his feet with a role in The Expendables 3.

12. Courtney Love

After the death of Kurt Cobain, grieving widow Courtney Love racked up a mountain of debt, and was forced to sell her home and 25 per cent of Nirvana’s music catalogue to make ends meet. She still claims that certain individuals in the industry stole millions from her and Kurt.

13. Marvin Gaye

The Let’s Get It On singer had over 67 top 40 hits in his lifetime and made millions from his record sales. But back in 1979 the Sexual Healing star was so hard up he filed for bankruptcy and is reported to have spent time living in a bread van. Or so we heard though the grapevine.

14. Pamela Anderson

The former Baywatch star has had her financial highs and lows over the years. When the cost of lavish renovations on her Malibu mansion spiralled out of control in 2010 she ended up living in a trailer park. And after tax bills piled up she declared herself bankrupt in 2012.

15. Westlife’s Shane Filan

The Irish boyband may have had 14 number ones in the UK charts, but Shane managed to lose £18 million due to bad property investments and declared himself bankrupt in 2012.

The singer was forced to sell the house he had designed himself and claimed he couldn’t even afford a £30 toy for his son.

16. Kim Basinger

The former Bond Girl and Batman actress is a huge film star and was once part of an A-list power couple when married to Alec Baldwin. But Kim filed for bankruptcy back in 1993 when she lost more than £5 million in a lawsuit after backing out of a movie and breaching her contract.

17. MC Hammer

The U Can’t Touch this star was once worth an estimated £21.3 million but it seemed the debt collectors could touch this after he squandered it on luxuries including 200 paid staff. The rapper filed for bankruptcy in 1996.

18. Miquita Oliver

The TV presenter was only 27 when she filed for bankruptcy in 2012, after failing to pay a tax bill of more than £174,000.

19. Janice Dickinson

Despite doing so much reality TV, the 60-year-old model admitted in 2013 she was over one million dollars in debt and filed for bankruptcy a year later.

20. Meat Loaf

He would do Anything For Love, and he must have been spending money like a Bat Out Of Hell, because during the 80s he was bankrupted twice.

21. Martine McCutcheon

It wasn’t a Perfect Moment for the former EastEnders star in 2013 when she was forced to declare herself bankrupt.

22. Willie Nelson

Laid back rocker Willie’s years of not paying enough taxes caught up with him in 1990 and he declared bankruptcy. But he got On The Road Again, released an album and sold off some memorabilia, and managed to clear his debt three years later.

23. Mary J Blige

The No More Drama star’s career has always appeared to be going strong. But in 2013 she was hit with a whopping tax interest bill of £2.2 million when she and her husband defaulted on a £1.2 million loan.

24. Kerry Katona

Mum-of-five Kerry has been battling financial troubles ever since she was dropped as the face of Iceland in 2009 after she faced drug-taking allegations. The Atomic Kitten has been declared bankrupt twice already and was recently forced to deny she was facing bankruptcy for the third time, because she still hadn’t recovered from the second filing.