Celebrities have a lot of money; that’s part of the reason they’re famous. And with great money comes great spending power. Despite the glaring differences, celebrities are pretty much just like us. They eat, they sleep, and they impulse buy all sorts of things late at night after one too many glasses of wine.
The real difference is that while you might be using your tax return to buy a new iPhone, they’re buying a gold iPhone that costs $32,000 more than yours. Just because they can! Some famous people just can’t control their credit cards, making extravagant and ridiculous purchases left and right, that’s why we put this list together of the craziest celebrity impulse buys.
All the weird purchases aside, our beloved celebrities have also proven that they can be normal by purchasing what are not so over the top. Our celebrities have also shown us that they can buy regular things like regular people.
One of the most interesting things about all of these collections is that they’re all incredibly personal. Most of the celebrities are pretty on brand with their cool stuff but some of the other celebrities on here have some truly weird items. Here, are 10 strange things that celebrities have ever owned, and 10 which are actually normal.
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20 Strange – Flavor Flav Owns a Statue Of O.J Simpson
At the height of OJ Simpson’s hubris, he commissioned a statue of himself that was placed in his backyard. In 1999, after losing a $33 million civil trial to the parents of Ron Goldman, everything had to go – including the statue. After O.J. went bankrupt and his possessions were auctioned off, the statue was bought by radio host Mancow Muller for $3,250. Muller later gave the statue to rapper and clock-wearer Flavor Flav, who still has it. Flav said he tried to get O.J. to take the statue back, but Simpson refused, saying that it would probably be taken back anyway. (Source: Jezebel)
19 Strange – Ghost Detection Machine By Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga’s fear of a ghost named Ryan has been well-documented. She is so terrified by the prospect of spirits that she’s willing to spend big money to get them out of her house. A source close to Gaga once told Glamour that Gaga believed in paranormal activity and would not take any risks especially when she was out on the road. It was important for Gaga to be safe from spirits. One step she’s taken to ensure her safety is a $47,000 state-of-the-art Electro Magnetic Field detecting machine to identify any ghosts. It’s still not clear though, what Ryan the Ghost wants from the pop singer. (Source: TampaBay)
18 Strange – A Whole Town By Kim Basinger
In 1989, at the height of her fame, Kim Basinger came up with the totally 100% normal idea of buying a town and turning it into a tourist attraction. Kim Basinger bought Braselton, Georgia, hoping to turn the town into a tourist attraction with movie studios and a film festival. There’s no exact cost for the price of buying a town, but the New York Times reports that Basinger bought 1,751 acres of the 2,000-acre town for $20 million from a group of investors. Well, that didn’t quite pan out, and in 1993, she sold the town for $1 million. (Source: NYTimes)
17 Strange – Haunted Mansion By Nicholas Cage
Of course, he did. Why? Because he is Nicholas Cage. He is such a legend that there could be an entire post dedicated to weird, expensive things Nicolas Cage has bought: two albino cobras, an octopus, a Gulfstream jet, $276,000 dinosaur skull, a private island, and a comic book collection valued at $1.6 million, among other things. But one of the absolute strangest things he’s bought was a (supposedly) haunted mansion in New Orleans. The house was originally owned by Delphine LaLaurie and was featured in American Horror Story: Coven. Cage purchased the house in 2006 but lost it due to foreclosure in 2009. (Source: Forbes)
16 Strange – Dog House Worth 325k By Paris Hilton
Don’t just build a kennel for your dog. No, have the most expensive one that money can buy. Yes, Paris Hilton is an heiress but that doesn’t mean her purchases are any less outrageous than anyone else’s. In 2009, she dumped $325,000 into a dog house, but not just any dog house—this house was designed to replicate her own multi-million dollar abode. The plushy duplicate includes mini designer furniture, heating, air conditioning, ceiling moldings, access to the pool and even a dainty black chandelier. The two-story dog house for her many dogs was indeed a sign that money can get you just about anything. (Source: BuzzFeed)
15 Strange – Solid Gold Bathtub By Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson had money and Mike Tyson knew how to spend it. He was such a lavish spender that he drove the fortunes he had built into the ground in quite a short period. He went on a bit of a spending spree when he was in his prime but nothing can top the solid gold bathtub, for which he spent $2 million. He bought the bathtub for his then-wife Robin Givens, who, in an interview with Barbara Walters, would later describe her relationship with Tyson as torture and pure hell. So we are guessing the bathtub didn’t do the trick. (Source: HuffingtonPost)
14 Strange – Diamond Encrusted Barbie By Beyoncé
The good thing about this is, she did not buy this for herself. That would have been absolutely weird, and crazy. No, Queen Bey dropped $85,000 on a Barbie doll as a gift for her then one-year-old child, Blue Ivy. Beyoncé and her husband Jay-Z went to town to mark their little Princess’s first year in the world. We guess when you are the King and Queen of Hip Hop, the world is at your call and no luxury is beyond your grasp. Specially customized, the doll is said to include 160 diamond gems as well as white gold jewelry.
13 Strange – A Sonogram Machine By Tom Cruise
Ah, Crazy Cruise, the couch-jumping madman. When he is not jumping off planes without a parachute, he is trying to hold his breath for what looks like an eternity. Good times. Well, when his wife Katie was pregnant with daughter Suri, Cruise acted like a slightly overprotective dad-to-be and actually purchased a sonogram machine for their home. Did he know how to use it? Probably not, but that’s not important when the health and safety of your daughter is concerned. Was it totally weird, most definitely! But because he is Tom Cruise, I think we can let this slide. (Source: NBCNews)
12 Strange – Kabbalah Water By Madonna
You probably would not have heard of Kabbalah had Madonna not got mixed up in it during the 1990s. Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom that provides practical tools for creating joy and lasting fulfillment. The pop star even bought a multi-million pound central London townhouse and converted it into a Kabbalah center. Along with it, she started spending gobs of money on anything associated with the mystic religion. In 2008 The Today Show reported that Madonna was spending $10,000 a month on “specially blessed Kabbalah water.” At the time the water was $5 a bottle and Madonna was shipping cases of it to where ever she was staying at the time. (Source: Today)
11 Strange – Marylin Monroe’s X-rays
This has to be the weirdest entry on this list but hey, who are we to judge? In 2013, an undisclosed buyer bought a set of x-rays and the partial medical history of Marilyn Monroe at a Julien’s Auctions. The sale was dubbed the “Icons and Idols” sale. This intriguing set of medical memorabilia was sold for $25,000. While x-ray wall decor might be ideal for creepy doctors or Halloween stunt, it’s hard to imagine that anyone even close to normal will drop that much money to see the bones of a long-dead starlet. Well, this one for sure did. (Source: Complex)
10 Normal – A Lot Of Flowers By Elton John
Sir Elton John is a man of many indulges. In 2000 The Telegraph reported that Elton John was spending like a madman while working with former manager John Reid. He partied, and he bought a lot of flowers. In a court case against his former manager that began in the late ’90s, it came out that he spent £293,000 at a florist in less than two years. Of the price tag, Elton John was quoted saying that he liked flowers. He said that he did not have anyone to leave his money to. It was his money, so he should be given a break. (Source: Telegraph)
9 Normal – A Bengal Tiger By Mike Tyson
When we saw Mike Tyson with a pet tiger in the first Hangover movie, we kind of thought of it to be cliché. After all, he is Iron Mike Tyson. However, it turns out the movie’s gag was based on real life. In 2004, the Washington Post reported that when the former boxer went bankrupt, he listed the purchase of two white Bengal tigers for $140,000. On top of that, he spent $125,000 for their trainer. Tyson certainly enjoyed the money while he had it. Of course, the tigers didn’t bankrupt him, it was the cars, watches, and diamonds that did the trick. Although the tigers couldn’t have helped his bank account. (Source: WashingtonPost)
8 Normal – A Diamond Mine By Akon
If diamonds are a girl’s best friend, what would you call a diamond mine? Akon, the singer behind 2006’s “Smack That” raised eyebrows when he dropped an unknown amount of money on a diamond mine. The singer, who insisted that the mine was legitimate and did not sell conflict diamonds, said that the mine was quite expensive but that he would not have passed up the opportunity. When faced with the backlash against his purchase Akon said that he did not believe in conflict diamonds and that the notion of conflict diamonds only became a thing after people watched the movie Blood Diamond. (Source: Independent)
7 Normal – A World War II Motorbike By Brad Pitt
I think we can all conclude that Brad Pitt has a disturbing like for World War 2 memorabilia. Maybe it is because of his role in Inglorious Bastards, we could be wrong. What we are not wrong about, is that in 2015, Brad bought a German soldier bike for $385,000. As far as impulse buys go, a Nazi relic is one of the most regrettable that someone can make, except Brad. In 2015, Pitt bought the three-wheeled bike so he would have something fun to tool around in while vacationing on the Greek island of Crete. Pitt didn’t comment on the bike at the time of purchase though, because it was just a tip of the iceberg for his WW2 obsession. (Source: NYDailyNews)
6 Normal – An Island By Tyrese Gibson
How do you show your little princess that she means the world to you? Buy her a pony, or a lifetime entry to Disneyland? How about an island? Well, Tyrese did the latter. For Christmas in 2015, Fast and the Furious star Tyrese Gibson bought his then 8-year-old daughter, Shayla, an island. Gibson wouldn’t say where the island was for obvious reasons, but he did say that his daughter knew all about it and the island was called Love Island. However, it’s unlikely that Tyrese’s daughter is really going to appreciate the deal that her father likely got until she’s well into adulthood. (Source: USMagazine)
5 Normal – A Skeleton By Marylin Manson
Let us just say, that there is nothing normal about Marylin Manson, and he takes every opportunity to prove that. In 2007, revelations came to light from Marilyn Manson’s former keyboard player, Madonna Wayne Gacy, who claimed that the singer wasted the band’s money on sick and disturbing purchases. The purchase that Gacy (real name Stephen Bier) had a problem with most was that of a full skeleton that had once belonged to a 4-year-old Chinese person that was turned into a chandelier, and another skeleton of a man in a wheelchair. It’s unknown how much it costs to purchase an actual skeleton, but in 2009 Bier received somewhere between $175,000 and $380,000 from Manson’s insurance company in a legal settlement. (Source: BlabberMouth)
4 Normal – A Gold iPhone By Victoria Beckham
We are seriously convinced that Posh Spice is one of the most spoilt women in the world. Why buy a regular iPhone when you can own a gold one? In 2011 it was revealed that Victoria Beckham owned a gold iPhone worth $33,000. At the time it was believed that she received the phone as a gift from her husband, David Beckham, for giving birth to their fourth child, daughter Harper Seven. However, that rumor was dispelled by her agent who revealed that Beckham had in fact owned the phone for a very long time and that it was not new. (Source: USMagazine)
3 Normal – 10 Burger Kings By Kanye West
In 2010, when they were about to get married, Kanye West bought his then-fiancee Kim Kardashian a chain of Burger Kings. The franchise purchase was meant to be a wedding present for his bride to be. What a way to go big! I mean we would have gone for a Patek Phillipe watch but hey, a Burger King Chain is also a good way to go. The rapper bought his bride to be 10 Burger Kings in Europe (France, England, and Italy). This was in addition to the several Chicago Fatburger locations that he owned in his hometown. Why? Because he’s Kanye West, that’s why. (Source: NME)
2 Normal – Grills Worth A Million By Kanye West
Still with the West family, in 2010, Kanye West appeared on Ellen and showed off his bottom row of teeth that he claimed had been pulled out and replaced with diamonds. Now no one knows if he really did this or not, but oral surgeons suggest that the surgery would be possible. However, it would be difficult to convince us that the gold was extended into his actual socket within the gum and bone to replace the teeth. Estimating the cost of the grill is another feat altogether. The most expensive grill ever made cost around $150,000, but the cost of West’s bottom row of teeth would depend on where he bought the jewelry from. (Source: EW)
1 Normal – A Movie Theater By Quentin Tarantino
In 2007, just before Los Angeles’ New Beverly Cinema was set to be redeveloped, legendary director Quentin Tarantino swooped in at the last minute and purchased the building for an undisclosed sum of money and became their de facto landlord. He then moved forward and set up double bills of films from his private collection, as well as some of his favorite and undiscovered gems. When Tarantino purchased the theater he told reporters that as long as he was alive, and as long as he was rich that the New Beverly would always be there, showing double bills in 35mm. Good man. (Source: In.Reuters)
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