Stars Who Flat Out Faced Eviction From Their Homes

This feature discusses drug and alcohol misuse, domestic violence, and homophobia. 

There's this assumption many of us make that celebrities are somehow exempt from the struggles of an ordinary person. In some instances, that's most certainly true. The sheer amount of money at their disposal means they'll likely never have to worry about things like paying utility bills on time or covering the cost of that necessary doctor's visit. But it's not always the case. Sometimes fame and fortune aren't enough to shield them from some of the more negative parts of life.

Our proof? These celebrities who have all been evicted from their homes. Like us, many of them have been victims of rising rents while others have been displaced through circumstances out of their control. But whatever the reason, their stories prove that even the wealthiest and most influential folks out there occasionally have to deal with the lousy realities of being a human. Maybe these stories will help you feel a little bit better about your own journey, whatever that may be.

You'd think things like being a member of the royal family (a la Prince Harry and Meghan Markle) or being a billionaire would mean that you'd be safe from ever facing an eviction. It turns out, neither of those things will actually protect you from getting kicked out of your home. Just ask Jay Z and Beyoncé, one of the richest self-made couples in the country.

In 2015, the power couple was renting a 16,000-square-foot estate in the Hombly Hills area of LA. They were reportedly paying around $200,000 a month for the luxurious pad, which boasted seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, a swimming pool, a tennis court, a fitness center, and two libraries. The pair only ever intended to be temporary residents in the rental home, which had been built on speculation (aka without a specific buyer in mind), while they searched for a more permanent place to settle their growing family. But then a buyer scooped the property up from under them, paying a whopping $35.5 million to make it their own.

Jay and Beyoncé apparently weren't interested in buying the home for themselves. As a result, they were reportedly given just 60 days to pack up and get out, per TMZ. Given the Carter's deep pockets, we can't imagine that it was all that difficult for them to find somewhere else to live even on such short notice.

In the early '00s, actor Isaiah Washington had a thriving career. A mainstay on the popular medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," his star was finally taking off and he had the paychecks to prove it. Flush with cash, the actor moved his family into a luxurious $20,000-a-month property in the Venice Beach area. He managed to retain the option to buy the home down the line if he were to wind up falling in love with it. Generally, things seemed to be going swimmingly.

Then, in mid-2007, it was announced that the actor had been fired from the popular ABC series after he was accused of using a homophobic slur during an on-set argument. Despite his various attempts to make it right, the network ultimately decided that the best way to handle his transgression was to let him go. Unsurprisingly, with his primary source of income dried up, the star began to experience financial issues.

In March 2009, just about a year and a half after he'd been fired from "Grey's," the owner of Washington's home filed eviction papers. Per People, according to the court documents, the actor hadn't paid rent in five months and owed $100,000 in back rent — a sum that was expected to be paid in full within three days. Perez Hilton later reported that Washington and his family were subsequently spotted packing boxes and vacating the premises, with the star's former landlord stating, "They are very nice people, this is an unfortunate matter."

Kenya Moore isn't the only Housewife to face eviction. Her co-star, Kim Zolciak-Biermann, has been on the verge of losing her home on multiple occasions.

The first time Kim faced eviction was back in 2014. At the time, she, and her new husband Kroy Biermann, were in the process of finishing up the build of their dream Atlanta mansion. Money had already been a bit of an issue — they'd had to take out an emergency $300,000 loan just to have enough cash to pay the craftsmen — and then the couple was hit with a tax lien. According to documents obtained by Radar, the pair owed the City of Milton and the State of Georgia a combined $12,237. A judge ruled they had to pay up within 90 days or their half-finished house would be seized.

The reality stars were apparently able to come up with the money because they moved into the mansion not long after. But their money troubles didn't end there. In 2023, it was announced that the Alpharetta home was in foreclosure and would be auctioned off in early March. People reported that the whole thing started when the pair defaulted on a $1.65 million loan they had taken out on the property. For her part, Kim insisted that the whole thing was just a misunderstanding and that they wouldn't actually be evicted. So far, that seems to be true, as the family still lives in the home as of this writing, though it isn't clear exactly what changed.

After releasing "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" in 1998, Grammy-winning recording artist Lauryn Hill all but disappeared from the public eye. In the handful of interviews she's given in the intervening decades she's always cited an aversion to so much exposure and difficulties in her personal life as her primary reason for leaving fame and fortune behind. Additionally, Hill has long maintained that there wasn't much "fortune" to her career as she made very little from her success. In a lengthy Tumblr blog posted in 2012, she even claimed that she had been exploited by the music industry.

A year later, the "Ex-Factor" rapper was evicted from her New Jersey mansion. Vibe reported that she had been living in the house since 2009, but had stopped paying rent at least a month prior to the suit being filed. Her landlord had tried to settle things with the songstress privately, but when she refused to pay the back rent she owed or move out of the house, he was forced to take legal action.

We'd also have to imagine that the landlord had gotten wind of Hill's other legal troubles, and wanted to get his money while that was still a possibility. In 2012, Hill was convicted of tax evasion and wound up spending three months in jail. Just prior to serving her sentence, the musician agreed to pay $7,000 and vacate the property. In a Tumblr post written at the time, Hill claimed that tabloid reports regarding her eviction situation had been misleading and inaccurate. 

In the early 2010s, Bobbi Kristina Brown was going through a rough time. Her famous mother, Whitney Houston, died in 2012, and the loss understandably hit the 19-year-old hard. Estranged from her father Bobby Brown, following some family infighting, her support system seemed shaky, at best. Additionally, her subsequent relationship with her foster brother-turned-fiance, Nick Gordon, wasn't widely accepted by the remaining members of her inner circle and she was also speculated to be misusing drugs and alcohol.

In 2013, the young couple was evicted from their Alpharetta, Georgia apartment following a series of noise complaints from neighbors that spanned six months, per Insider. When they finally departed the unit they left a nasty note for their downstairs neighbor, which was posted on Reddit. It read, in part, "Thanks. You are all s*** on the bottom of our shoe. Thank you for making a hard year harder. You are a miserable couple and always will be."

It's unclear where, exactly, the couple moved next. However, just a year and a half later, Bobbi tragically died in a manner similar to that of her late mom, when her body was found unresponsive in a bathtub. An autopsy later suggested that drug intoxication likely played a part in her death. Five years later, Gordon also died from a drug overdose. 

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Rock star Courtney Love is no stranger to being in trouble with the law. Over the years, the former spouse of Kurt Cobain has been involved in everything from libel lawsuits to an alleged plot to kidnap her former son-in-law (she denied the allegations, per Fox 11). So it really shouldn't come as a big surprise that she's also faced legal proceedings surrounding her NYC apartment.

In 2011, the "Celebrity Skin" singer was fighting eviction from her West Village townhouse. She was being charged with falling $54,000 behind in rent, setting fire to the unit, and redecorating — which apparently went against the terms of her lease. For her part, the celeb claimed to Page Six (via HuffPost) that she was current on the $27,000 a month payments and had asked for, and received, permission to redecorate before hiring painters and designers agreed upon by both parties. Love's lawyer also accused the landlord of trying to evict the singer so that they could bring publicity to the building that they were trying to sell.

In the end, an NYC judge sided with Love, tossing the case altogether and allowing the rocker to remain in her swanky pad, per E! News. Or at least, she did for a time. As of 2019, she had moved to London where she planned to focus on rewriting her tell-all memoir while recording some new music. 

Finally, "Real Housewives of Orange County" star Lynne Curtin's eviction predicament featured heavily on a season of the series, proving once and for all that many of our favorite reality stars are likely living beyond their means.

During an episode of the show, it all went down like this: Curtin's two teenage daughters were served eviction papers for their massive California rental home. Upon discovering this, the star confronted her husband, Frank, who explained that the family is essentially broke and that he hadn't paid the $10,000 security deposit required by the owner. Stunned, Curtin fumed at her man, who had kept her entirely in the dark about their financial position up until that point. The incident eventually led to the couple's divorce.

It turned out broke-as-a-joke wasn't even an exaggeration when it came to Curtin's situation. In court documents obtained by TMZ, the reality star claimed to only have $100 to her name and stated that she had been living off of $500 a month for quite some time. It's unclear whether or not the Curtins were actually evicted from that house or whether they chose to leave of their own volition, but Lynne seems to be doing much better these days. As of this writing, the licensed esthetician is gainfully employed and continues to work on her jewelry line.