It seems like celebrities are always looking for a way to make money, or expand their careers further. Most celebs are willing to put their names on anything if it means they can sell a product or service. Over the years, there have been a number of celebrities who have started their own businesses, and many of them have been very successful.
Of course, there have been many celebrities who have tried to start their own businesses and failed miserably. From Nicky Hilton and her hotel to Hulk Hogan and his pasta restaurant, or Neil Young's MP3 player, ideas have looked better on paper than in real life.
10 Nicky Hilton - Nicky O Hotels
When you have a background in the hotel industry like Nicky Hilton does, it only makes sense that she would want to go out and start her own hotel chain. As a result, Nicky created the Nicky O Hotel. Unfortunately for Nicky, things ended before they could even get started.
The project was dropped when the lawsuits happened. It was alleged that Nicky failed to promote the project and that she contracted design work that she was supposed to do herself. As a result, the project was nipped in the bud.
9 Neil Young - PonoMusic
Over the years, singer Neil Young worked hard to create his PONO Music Player and the digital music store that went along with it. Unfortunately for Neil Young, this invention didn't go the way he intended for it to go.
By the time he had his product developed, it was too late, as music consumers were starting to stray away from the traditional downloading of music from a music store, and instead switching to streaming services. As a result, his PONO Music idea failed miserably.
8 Lenny Dykstra - The Player's Club
Lenny Dykstra is a famous (or should we say infamous) baseball player that tried to start his own business and failed miserably. He started The Players Club, a business that tried to do too many things. It was a magazine, charter jet service, and investment service all in one that was marketed toward other professional athletes.
There was too much happening at once, and there weren't any athletes that wanted to use The Players Club. Things just spiraled from there, as Lenny Dykstra didn't pay his employees or the printers of the magazine. As a result, the company folded and came to an end.
7 Suzanne Somers - Suzanne's Kitchen
Not only is Suzanne Somers known for her role on Three's Company, but she's been known to have some really good business ventures over the years. There are not many ideas that Suzanne has had that hasn't turned to gold, that is except for Suzanne's Kitchen. The idea of Suzanne's Kitchen would be a chain of stores that would prepare and sell home-cooked meals.
After the first store opened in Kentucky, everything went down the drain. Suzanne and her business partner couldn't agree on anything, and her partner believed that he was misled, and he filed a lawsuit. As a result, the store closed and this business venture ended.
6 Lindsay Lohan - Lohan Beach House
It had been a while since we heard anything from Lindsay Lohan, as she hadn’t put out any new music or taken on any new roles for a long time. Well, that’s because Lindsay was starting on a different adventure, and that was starting her own business.
Lindsay opened a beach club in Mykonos, Greece in 2018. Not only did she open the club, but she also got her own MTV show out of the deal that followed Lindsay and her experience running the beach club. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well, and after one year, Lindsay lost both her show and her bar.
5 Pharrell Williams - Qream with a Q Liqueur
In 2010, Pharrell Williams took on a new business venture, and that was releasing his own liqueur called Qream with a Q Liqueur. Unfortunately, not very long after it’s launch, production stopped abruptly due to poor sales.
Pharrell claimed that the reason for his company’s failure was that the brand was not marketed correctly, as Pharrell aimed for it to be a high-end liqueur, while it was marketed as a party and club drink instead, hence the demise of the company.
4 Debbie Reynolds - Debbie Reynolds' Hollywood Hotel
In 1993, Debbie Reynolds decided that she was going to open her own hotel, and the Debbie Reynolds Hotel & Casino was born. While Debbie owned the hotel, another company owned the casino in the hotel, and from the beginning, the casino struggled big time, which made for a huge financial issue.
In 1996, the casino shut down, and Debbie tried to get a gaming license to open back up again. Unfortunately, due to a lack of money, she could not. As a result, in 1997 the hotel filed for bankruptcy and was sold at auction a year later.
3 Britney Spears - Nyla Restaurant
Britney Spears once decided to get into the restaurant business, opening Nyla, a restaurant in New York that served some of her favorite Cajun food from back in Louisiana. It was a big deal when Britney opened the restaurant, however, after only a few short months, Britney walked away from the restaurant.
Nyla had so many problems from the food, to the chefs, to the staff, and even financially, that Britney decided that she was going to wash her hands of the whole thing and remove her name and association from it. It was a good thing that Britney decided to walk away, as the restaurant closed not long after.
2 Hulk Hogan - Pastamania
Back in the day, Hulk Hogan was one of the most famous and popular wrestlers. Hulk decided to capitalize on his popularity, opening a restaurant in 1995. The restaurant was located in the Mall of America and was called Pastamania.
The restaurant served — you guessed it — pasta. They offered everything from traditional pasta dishes like Alfredo and spaghetti with meatballs, however, there was even Hulk Hogan shaped pasta. It was cute in the beginning, but after a while the novelty wore off and the restaurant shut its doors.
1 Kim Basinger - Braselton, Georgia
In 1989, Kim Basinger started off on a unique business adventure when she bought the town of Braselton, Georgia for $20 million. Kim’s plan was to make the town a tourist attraction and building something on the land to draw people to visit.
Unfortunately, none of Kim’s plans came to life, and nothing came from the town. A few years after she bought the town, she filed for bankruptcy, and that was the end of her project before it even began.