Being a celebrity brings many things that everyone desires – fame, money and an expanded platform. Additionally, every gearhead wants to fill their garage or driveway with their favorite cars when their pockets allowed, and for that reason celebrities aren’t all that different. Artists around the world love to splurge extravagantly and most if not all love to create car collections to be the envy of the world. It’s not always roses, however, because like the rest of us, celebrities have issues with their cars, no matter how high-end their wheels may be.
Most automakers don’t take too well when their popular high-end customers speak negatively about their cars, as this ensures that criticism has an amplified platform due to the celebrity’s fanbase. Some manufacturers like Ferrari just don’t like it when their cars are criticized, making the Maranello-based brand one of the most notorious when it comes to celebrity blacklisting. What’s more, on several occasions, brands have gone even further and sued celebrities who badmouthed their cars or in any way discredited their names. With that in mind, here are some celebrities who got into trouble because of their cars.
8th Tyga – Rolls Royce
Popular tabloid TMZ reports that American rapper Micheal Ray Nguyen-Stevenson, known as Tyga, leased two cars in 2016. Those two cars were a 2012 Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Ferrari 458 Spider. Surprisingly, however, the artist stopped making payments before the lease was finalized, resulting in the cars being impounded.
That wasn’t all, as the dealer involved reported that Tyga still owed around $45,000 for the Ferrari 458 Spider and almost $100,000 for the Rolls-Royce Ghost. This even led to the company filing a lawsuit against Tyga for the amount, which also included interest and attorney fees. Sure, the reports can be a little exaggerated, but when it came to Ferrari, the bad publicity surrounding the incident alone led to the brand reportedly blacklisting the artist from its customer list.
7 Deadmau5 – Ferrari
There are two things that are certain in the world. First, anyone with money and fame would love to bring home a Ferrari, and we can’t blame them. Secondly, when it comes to auto controversies in the celebrity world, most of them would pick up the Prancing Horse. The brand has some very high standards for customers and what they’re allowed to do with their Ferraris, even after they’ve driven away from the dealership.
When Canadian music producer Deadmau5 decked out his Ferrari 458 Italia in sky blue and decked it all out with a Nyan Cat meme vinyl, the brand wasn’t happy. Ferrari, loathed, served Deadmau5 with a cease and desist letter on his 458 Italia, which he had christened “Purrari”. As a result, the music producer had to restore his car to its original white paintwork.
6 John Cena Ford
The Ford GT is rightly one of the most renowned sports cars in the world. When Ford decided to revive the GT for a new generation in 2016, it also kept production slow to ensure the car’s exclusivity was never compromised. Of course, all the big names wanted a GT for themselves, and WWE superstar and movie star John Cena wanted one too. After all, the man is a popular hobo and even managed to land himself a role in the latest episode of Fast and Furious.
Ford knew exactly how much demand there was for his car and had instituted a 24-month “anti-flip” rule, preventing owners from reselling their car within the first two years of purchase. However, Cena sold his car for almost triple the retail price of half a million dollars to a retired farmer with only 30 miles on the odometer. As a result, Ford sued Cena and the dealer involved in the resale. The legal battle dragged on for some time and ended with Cena’s attorneys announcing that the matter was settled and all proceeds were donated to charity. Cena himself apologized for breaking the rules set by Ford, professed his love for the brand and the car, and even urged other Ford GT owners to respect the 24-month anti-flip law.
5 50 cent Ferrari
It’s no longer a secret that Ferrari doesn’t care how big a celebrity is when they bring their brand into disrepute. So when popular rapper 50 Cent took to social media platform Instagram, Maranello wasn’t too keen. 50 Cent had a Ferrari 488 that kept having problems with a dead battery. Consequently, 50 Cent had to have his Ferrari towed, all the while posting on Instagram while berating the car and the brand.
Perhaps the turning point was when the artist went so far as to call the Ferrari 488 “damn lemon”. While Ferrari didn’t (surprisingly) sue the rapper over his outburst, it did result in 50 Cent also allegedly being blacklisted by the brand.
4 Jenna Jameson- Maserati
Famous adult film star Jenna Jameson couldn’t avoid being sued by an angry car company. According to the Toronto Sun, Jenna was sued by a rental company after the X-rated movie star had leased a Maserati Quattroporte S since 2010 but stopped paying her monthly payments early.
This led to Maserati Financial Services slapping Jenna Jameson with a $100,000 lawsuit. The tabloid website TMZ even reported that Maserati Financial Services bosses claimed the movie star failed to comply with the car’s repossession, according to legal documents they received.
3 Philipp Plein Ferrari
In 2017, the German fashion designer Philipp Plein came into conflict with Ferrari precisely because of his Instagram posts. Plein has posted a series of images on social media with his sneakers on the hood of his green Ferrari, with the shoes and car color coordinated. Ferrari did not take this well and sued the designer for tarnishing the brand’s name and causing it material damage.
Ferrari claimed that Plein uses the Ferrari brand to add value to and promote its own brand and products. It was Ferrari who won the legal battle that resulted in Plein having to pay 300,000 euros ($310,000) to the Italian manufacturer. In addition, he also had to pay legal fees, which totaled around $25,000. The German also had to remove all Ferrari cars from his social media ads.
2 Justin Bieber Ferrari
Global pop sensation Justin Bieber has had a series of problematic incidents involving his Ferraris. After purchasing a Ferrari 458 Italia F1 Edition, Bieber went to West Coast Customs to customize it. While Ferrari allows minor modifications to their car in the name of personalization, they don’t like to embrace extreme changes, but Bieber didn’t pay attention. Originally white, the singer had his 458 Italia draped in an electric blue, even going so far as to manipulate the Prancing Horse logo as well.
That wasn’t the only issue, however, as Bieber reportedly made it onto Ferrari’s blacklist for yet another misdemeanor. Justin lost his Ferrari for a full three weeks after a drunk night in Los Angeles. It reportedly took the singer’s assistant a full three weeks to locate the car. So it’s not too much of a surprise that Ferrari won’t be selling to Bieber any time soon.
1 Britney Spears- Lobster
Nobody’s blaming celebrities and A-listers from the 1990s and 2000s for succumbing to the cultural trend of buying a Hummer. Even Britney Spears, the Princess of Pop, has one of these SUVs. Spears unleashed her creativity, customizing her Hummer with an all-pink paint job and proudly displaying the car in a music video for her 2004 song “Do Somethin’.”
However, it seems that Britney went too far in customizing her vehicle as she went ahead and put fake Louis Vuitton badging on her Hummer. This led to the prestigious luxury brand Spears being sued for $300,000 for its negligent error. The brand won the lawsuit and Britney was ordered to stop airing or marketing the music video. Given how tacky the SUV looked after the custom build, we doubt anyone complained about not being able to see it again.
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