To lose one fortune may be regarded as bad luck; to lose two looks like carelessness. In the case of two-time loser Toni Braxton, who was responsible for the song Un-Break My Bank - sorry, Heart - it appears to be a matter of A-list tastes coupled with less than A-list earning capacity. Braxton first filed for bankruptcy in 1998, claiming to be about $5 million (Dh18.4m) in the hole. This time, the 43-year-old singer says she's racked up debts of up to $50m. Her creditors reportedly include the Four Seasons Hotel, Tiffany & Co and Neiman Marcus. Hard times indeed.
Braxton is not the first celebrity to have taken the plunge from penthouse to pavement. The list of bankruptcy-filing high-fliers over the years includes Mike Tyson, Larry King, MC Hammer, Burt Reynolds, Kim Basinger, George Best, Willie Nelson and Meatloaf. The money bug hasn't only afflicted today's celebrities, either - the big-spending 17th-century painter Rembrandt went bankrupt, as did the former US president Abraham Lincoln and the 19th-century wit Oscar Wilde.
While these unfortunates may have provided fodder for drawing-room gossip-mongers, they were at least spared the rigours of the internet. There are tens of thousands of tut-tutting reports making the rounds about Braxton's plight, including one claiming that the singer hit the town in designer togs and top-end bling a mere two days after becoming officially destitute. "Being $50m in the hole never looked so good," it added.
This article has been altered as Donald Trump was incorrectly included in a list of celebrities who had previously filed for bankruptcy. Mr Trump has clarified that he has never been bankrupt.
