Over the past 20 years, reality television has taken off in a way that couldn’t have been predicted even by the most astute TV connoisseurs. With new shows popping up weekly, reality TV has over-saturated the entertainment industry, so it only makes sense that reality TV stars have also garnered much more attention and appreciation than ever anticipated.
With fame and recognition (plus appearing on TV and signing contracts with huge networks) comes fortune and wealth, and reality TV stars have been adding to their paychecks and celebrity endorsements with opportunities more abundant than ever before. On the darker side of things, several celebrities get in over their heads when they acquire so much wealth, unaware of how to properly handle their finances. Here is a list of ten reality TV stars who have failed to pay their taxes.
Catelynn Lowell & Tyler Baltierra — Teen Mom OG
When MTV premiered their controversial docu-series 16 & Pregnant in 2009, it was never expected to take off and branch out into the expansive ‘Teen Mom‘ franchise that exists today. Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra gained respect and recognition for giving their firstborn daughter Carly up for adoption back when they were teens, but it seems the longstanding couple still has several lessons to learn in adulthood.
As E! News announced earlier this month, Catelynn and Tyler were slapped with a federal tax lien from years 2016 and 2o17 for $535,010 on Nov. 19, 2019, and to add insult to injury, had one more tax lien added in December 2019 of $321,789 for the 2018 year, which totals them at over $800k in IRS debt! Radar Online made a report in 2018 which claims every Teen Mom OG cast member gets paid $25,000 per episode, causing their annual salaries to be well over a half-million dollars.
Teresa and Giuseppe ‘Joe’ Giudice — Real Housewives Of New Jersey
As one of the most infamous housewives amongst the popular Bravo franchise, Teresa Giudice made headlines after she and her husband Joe were indicted in 2013 for hiding their fortune despite filing bankruptcy, plus Joe had failed to file his taxes from 2004 to 2008, which eventually led to their 2014 arrests. They initially pled not guilty but changed their minds after being offered a plea deal.
In October 2014, Joe and Teresa Guidice pled guilty to mail, wire, and bankruptcy fraud and were sentenced to 51 months and 14 months in prison, respectively. After serving her time, Teresa returned to Real Housewives of New Jersey, while her estranged husband Joe was deported back to Italy after being released from prison.
Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne — The Osbornes
Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne shocked his fans in 2002 when he signed on for an MTV reality show which covered his unconventional family dynamics– still, The Osbournes became an instant success and household name. The wacky family was hit with a surprise in 2011 when Ozzy and his wife Sharon were hit with a tax lien, owing $718,948 for the 2008 tax year, and $1,024,175 for 2009.
After Sharon Osbourne shared with Perez Hilton that the IRS had put a lien on one of their properties, the couple settled and paid their $1.7 million debt.
Jax Taylor — Vanderpump Rules
As seen on Bravo’s popular Vanderpump Rules, OG cast member Jax Taylor is no stranger to breaking the rules. Following a 2015 arrest in Hawaii when he stole a pair of sunglasses from a Sunglasses Hut while on a cast trip, Taylor has since kept himself out of trouble, though his recently exposed tax liens may tell a different story!
According to E! News, Jax Taylor was hit with an $80,424 tax lien in 2019, the same year he wed Brittany Cartwright and purchased their $1.9 million Valley Village home, which happens to look identical to co-stars Katie/Schwartz’s and Ariana/Sandovals’s new respective houses. According to the VPR‘s rep, “everything was taken care of before purchasing the house” in regards to his tax lien.
Martha Stewart — Martha Stewart Living
When the infamous homemaker Martha Stewart was arrested in 2001 for inside trading and tax evasion, the world was shocked to see such an upstanding citizen be threatened with a federal prison sentence. Stewart owed over $200,000 in back taxes to the State of New York, failing to pay taxes on her swanky Hampton’s home.
In 2004, Stewart was convicted of four felony charges– conspiracy to obstruct justice, committing perjury, obstruction of justice, and giving false statements. She was sentenced to five months in federal prison with five months of additional house arrest.
Todd Chrisley — Chrisley Knows Best
Todd and Julie Chrisley, known from Chrisley Knows Best, a reality show on the USA network which started in 2014, were indicted last August by a federal grand jury for committing tax evasion and 12 counts of various financial-based crimes, including wire fraud and falsifying asset documents.
The couple owed over $2 million for unpaid taxes between 2008 and 2016 and handed themselves over to the police once their indictment went through. After pleading not guilty to the charges and settling for less than $150,000, Todd and Julie decided to file a lawsuit against Georgia’s state tax investigator, accusing him of exaggerating their tax evasion claims. Interestingly enough, the Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge went on record to defend Todd Chrisley and his family, a random tidbit tying the Chrisleys into the Bravosphere (see below).
Dorit & PK Kemsley — Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills
Since their debut in season 7 of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Dorit Kemsley and her affluent husband PK have been involved in several lawsuits and tax scandals, including Dorit’s unpaid taxes from 2015 worth $635,887 and PK’s $289,423 of unpaid taxes from 2014 and 2016– totaling $925,310 of back taxes from the reality stars!
Dorit recently settled a lawsuit involving her bathing suit line Beverly Beach and a previous disgruntled employee who accused her of failing to pay or credit them for designs and sketches used within her swimwear.
Nene Leakes — Real Housewives Of Atlanta
After the Real Housewives of Atlanta star, NeNe Leakes, was hit with a tax lien of $95,232 in September of 2015 for failing to pay her 2014 taxes, she was slapped with yet another tax lien– this time costing her a whopping $824,366 with threats of having her assets seized– totaling almost a million dollars in taxes evaded!
Leakes settled her debt in April of 2017 and has since stayed out of trouble with the IRS. The reality star has a questionable criminal past which includes an arrest in 1992 which included three felony and one misdemeanor counts of ‘theft of services’ from a phone company Leakes previously worked for.
Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino — Jersey Shore
Back in 2009, Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino would’ve never imagined the intended one-off reality show he signed on for would soon become an international success and provide him with unfathomed stardom– then again, the enigmatic and inexplicable enjoyment derived from Jersey Shore is a head-scratcher all-around!
Mike and his brother Marc were indicted in 2014, with the brothers accused of failing to pay taxes on 8.9 million dollars in income between 2010 and 2012. In 2018, Mike “The Situation” was sentenced to 8 months in prison for tax evasion. Mike was released on September 12th, 2019, and plans to resume filming Jersey Shore: Family Vacation with his OG co-stars.
Richard Hatch — Survivor
Richard Hatch will forever be the pioneer and first winner of the CBS giant reality competition series, Survivor. Back when Hatch won the $1 million prize in 2000, he failed to report his $1.4 million overall income to the IRS, which ended up getting him into a boatload of trouble! Hatch was sentenced to 51-months in prison and was eventually released after three years in 2009.
The Survivor star has since appeared on other reality shows likeThe Biggest Loser and Celebrity Apprentice but Hatch was refused a shot at competing in the all-winners season that’s currently airing, Survivor: Winners at War. Jeff Probst told Us Weekly that he was “uncomfortable” including the first-ever winner coming off the Dan Spilo sexual misconduct scandal of season 39.
