Brett Butler had a fortune of $25 million, earning $250,000 a week, and is now begging people to help her pay rent.
When she realized in early July that she had not paid her rent for six months, actress Brett Butler for the first time faced the fact that she was on the verge of bankruptcy. Scared of eviction from her Los Angeles apartment, the actress and comedian, who once earned $ 250,000 per episode, has finally asked for help.
Some know Brett Buttler (63) from the series "Anger Management" with Charlie Sheen, she also appeared briefly in "The Walking Dead", but Brett is best known for her role in the sitcom "Grace under Fire", which was one of the most popular shows in the mid-nineties. That series brought her fame and fortune, but due to her problems with alcoholism and pill addiction, she lost it all.
'I told my friend that I had probably waited too long to tell someone what my situation was and that I was in trouble. I was embarrassed. Indescribably ashamed' revealed Butler, who is 63 years old today.
Her friend decided to start a GoFundMe campaign to help her and so far they have already raised about $30,000.
The story of Bret, however, is not the story of a classic pampering Hollywood diva. This actress has been pushing all her life despite the problems. Before she got a big TV role, she struggled as a stand-up comedian in New York, while at the same time trying to beat alcoholism but also to escape from her abusive husband. That pattern was already well known to her because her father was a violent alcoholic. While filming the series "Grace Under Fire" (which is partly based on her life), she got addicted to painkillers due to back problems, and as she admits, her addiction turned her into a nightmare on set. Other actors left the series solely because of her, and for the same reason, filming was stopped in the middle of the fifth season.
"It's a bitter truth," I said. I was crazy. This can happen when you are on drugs. The series should have been canceled long before they did", Brett Butler told the Hollywood Reporter, adding that she had not tasted alcohol or taken a single pill since 1998.
A few years later, she bought a house that she lost because she could not pay the mortgage, and reportedly even lived as a homeless person, although she says it is was made up by producers in hopes of raising the ratings of the series in which she then played.
Brett says that she owes the greatest gratitude in her life to Charlie Sheen, who in 2012 secured her a role in his sitcom "Anger Management".
"If it weren't for Charlie, there's no way I'd be in that show. He literally saved me - says the actress who stayed in the series for two years, playing the eternally annoyed waitress and bartender in the bar where Shin's character was constantly going out."
Problems returned with the coronavirus, although in the meantime she had several minor roles, including the one in the "The Morning Show" with Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. She found herself in a situation where she would be left without an apartment, so in the end, she had to ask for help. As she says, the fear of becoming homeless forced her to eventually agree to the GoFundMe campaign because she tried to avoid it at all costs. Not only because of pride but also because of people who don’t love her and would just enjoy her misfortune.
'A friend insisted and told me that I must not live my life fearing what those who do not love me will do' says the actress who managed to lose a huge fortune.
She earned $25 million from the "Grace Under Fire" series alone, but she lost part due to her extravagance and part due to the fraud of the people who ran her finances.
'I trusted the people who work for me too much, and a lot of things were stolen. That’s on me because I didn’t insure anything. Besides, I lent a lot of money to others because I felt guilty. It's as if I couldn't get rid of the money fast enough' she says and adds that she doesn't expect people to understand and sympathize with her.
'We all have the same problems and most people who have them have never had a chance like me. This, of course, does not diminish the feeling of self-loathing or fear, but I want it to be known that it is clear to me where I went wrong'.
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By: Helen B.
