Most of the famous people who are now successful with their craft never got it on a platter of gold. Many of them went through hell to get to where they are now, and one of such persons is Will Smith.
According to Will Smith during a Thursday book-tour appearance in London, he borrowed $10,000 from one of his friends who was a drug dealer.
Will Smith borrowing $10,000 from his drug dealer friend, was on the heels of going broke after failing to pay his tax debt in the early 1990s.
Via Yahoo:
During a Thursday appearance at the Savoy Theatre in London to promote his autobiography, “Will,” Smith talked to the actor Idris Elba about his financial problems after becoming famous. “I’m not sure what the government is like with taxes in the UK, but in the US they take it seriously,” Smith told the audience. “So Uncle Sam wanted his money,” he continued, adding: “I didn’t forget — I just didn’t pay.”
“I had to sell everything, and I knew whatever my new life was going to be I could feel it was going to be in Los Angeles,” he said. “So I borrowed $10,000 from a friend of mine who was a purveyor of neighborhood pharmaceuticals,” he continued as the audience laughed.
“Was his name Stringer Bell?” Elba responded, mentioning the character he played on HBO’s “The Wire.” The “King Richard” star said he almost declared bankruptcy before ultimately moving to Los Angeles and winning the lead role on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” According to “Will Smith: A Biography,” the IRS garnished 70% of his salary over the first three seasons of the show.
The interesting thing is I am sure that $10k had interest on it, and if Will didn’t pay that man back, there wouldn’t be a Will Smith around today to get embarrassed by Jada Pinkett.
Flip to the next page to the next page to watch the interview.
