Singer Dionne Warwick files for bankruptcy in NJ

Associated Press ^ | Mar 26, 2013 5:11 PM EDT

[Olog-hai]

Singer Dionne Warwick claims in a recent bankruptcy filing that she owes nearly $10 million in back taxes and her monthly expenses exceed $20,000. …

Warwick’s publicist said that the singer was victimized by bad financial management in the 1990s and that she has paid back the actual amount of the taxes, but penalties and interest have accumulated over the years. …

[dfwgator]

I called the psychic hotline and asked them why they didn’t see this coming.

Isn't that what friends are for?

[Daffynition]

LOL...Because of you, we're going to have to start all over again!

[cracker45]

Well, all my ex’s have complained that I was hard to train and then didn’t stay trained afterward! HAW

JC

[jwalsh07]

The IRS is worse than any loan shark. I have some sympathy for anybody with the IRS hooks into them.

[Daffynition]

>>...all my ex’s.....<<

Goodness! How big was this stable?

[cracker45]

“Stable”...that’s the key word!! HAW

JC

[Daffynition]

“Stable”? I meant to type *sable*...ya mean you're wanting to replace my Tiffany necklace with a mink coat?

I'll have to think about that. I dunno. Doesn't mink smell when it gets wet?

[cracker45]

A mink is a type of weasel, and they all have stinky musk glands. A skunk is a member of the weasel family also! HAW

JC

[Daffynition]

Now you're claimin' the part as *weasel*...downgrading my Tiffany necklace and mink coat to Skunk-status!

Is your intention to make me *give up*?

[Right Wing Assault]

“The monthly outgoings include $5,000 in rent, $5,000 for “housekeeping/sitting”, $4,000 for a personal assistant, $1,000 for electricity, $500 for the telephone, $500 for food and $750 for laundry and dry cleaning.”

OK, $5,000 rent in South Orange, NJ. Why does she need to live in such an expensive place. Does she have a reason to live in South Orange? Family, boyfriend? There are tons of nice places where you can live for less than $5,000 a month.

$5,000 for housekeeping/sitting? She’s paying $150 a day to cleaners and people to sit and watch TV? Sounds as if her house is too big and she is away from it too often. Where is she going? Article below mentions living in Brazil part of the year.

$4,000 for a personal assistant. I’ve got a complicated life, but I don’t have a damn personal assistant to pay $135 every day of the year. Maybe she should do some things for herself.

$1,000 for electricity! WTF? What does she use all of that for? That’s a lot of juice for an old woman. I would love to see what she has plugged in.

$500 for the phone? Who is she calling all the time and why does it cost so much? She can get a decent cell phone account for 1/10 of that. She could even get one for her personal assistant (whose ass she should fire).

$500 for food? Maybe, if she entertains a couple times a month. But I imagine she gets a LOT of free meals from various admirers. Strangers would probably LOVE to buy here dinners. People like to give things to famous people. I’ve never understood it. Even stupid Bieber can walk into any restaurant in the country and they’ll buy him a free meal.

$750 for laundry and dry cleaning. Laundry costs Mrs. RWA and me about $15 a month for soap and water. We don’t do dry cleaning very often. Why does she need so much dry cleaning? Does she go out a lot where she dresses up? Alone or with boyfriends?

The woman seriously needs to come down to the level of the average person and stop living like a queen.

And I really can’t believe she never set up some kind of retirement account.

A lot of details here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/9962594/Dionne-Warwick-dizzying-downfall-of-a-bankrupt-diva.html

[cracker45]

Not at all; I want you to keep those things - I have no use for them, especially that civet cat hide......

JC

[Daffynition]

But....but....no itty-bitty tiara? Geeeeeeeeeeeeeez! I need something that I could pawn.

[Revolting cat!]

Her sister’s dead, her cousin Whitney’s dead, no one left to help the poor broad spend the rest of her money!

[cracker45]

That civet cat hide will bring a pretty penny down at yer traditional Chinee meds store! Ground up, powdered and steeped in a hot tea, it will cure all manner of afflictions like broke toe, stinky feet and ugly wife, plus lots more if someone has a fat wallet!

JC

[Daffynition]

[fatnotlazy]

Thanks for the link. Sadly, financial ruin happens a lot to entertainers and sports figures. A number of them aren't very well educated. They don't know how to manage their assets or how to make a budget and live within it. Many entertainers come from poverty and have little to no education, but even athletes, who presumably graduated from college and thus should he better educated, make the same mistakes. They feel the need to live high on the hog because they believe the fans expect them to. And they feel obligated to support family and friends, often giving them meaningless but well paying jobs (house sitter, dog walker, etc.). That's wonderful at the height of a celebrity's career, but what happens when that career is over?

Ms. Warwick has or had a financial manager. All well and good if you find an honest, competent one. But what if you don't? A good manager would have invested her money well and put her on a reasonable allowance. But Ms. Warwick herself should have kept tabs on her money and the manager, making sure that the manager was handling her finances in a sound manner and if he did recommend altering her lavish spending, she should have listened.

Ms. Warwick is in her 70s, hasn't had any major success in decades, plus her children are grown and on their own. She should have retired, downsized and uncomplicated her life years ago. She has no one to impress anymore. She could have lived well in a nice condo or an upscale senior community for a lot less than what she was spending. Foolishness on her part.

[Right Wing Assault]

Sadly, I agree. She seems like a nice person publicly, which is a lot more than entertainers today can say. I do feel sorry she did not get some better advice.

[Lizavetta]

As was Fred MacMurray.