Fantasia has a Grammy Award and multiple NAACP Image Awards, but those accolades in the entertainment industry came at a cost. “The Color Purple” star went through financial hardships, including owing a large debt to the U.S. government.
Forbes caught up with Fantasia at the Atlanta-set ForbesBLK Summit 2024 in June. That conversation featured the “American Idol” season 3 winner explaining how she ended owing Uncle Sam seven figures in back taxes.
“I always tell people that I lost everything twice, and I think that everybody places that with bankruptcy, but for me, it was like I had a bunch of people on my team who said they were handling all the business. I look up and I owe a million dollars, in taxes and because of that my lawyer didn’t show up to court and then they put my house up for auction,” Fantasia recalled in front of an audience.
The singer and actress also admitted that money troubles impacted her extended family of about five or six people who lived with her in Charlotte, North Carolina. She eventually paid off the $1 million tax debt. However, Fantasia had to cancel several shows due to an injury in 2018 while trying to make enough money to sustain her lifestyle. She spent the following two years recovering as much as possible.
“In the midst of paying that million dollars, I messed up both my knees. Let’s talk about it. I had to have two knee surgeries, tore my knees up trying to fix it,” Fantasia said.
She added, “I lost it all and then I just went back to work. I didn’t file for bankruptcy. I didn’t even know nothing about that. Nobody sat me down and was like, ‘Look, this is what you can do.’ It was either go to work or go to jail. That’s all I kept thinking, and I wasn’t ready for jail.”
Fantasia’s money problems go back over a decade. While speaking with Oprah.com in 2010, the R&B vocalist expressed hitting rock bottom after finding out her card got declined while trying to pay for a pizza.
In 2012, TMZ reported Fantasia listed her five-bedroom Charlotte mansion for $800,000. She originally bought the home for $1.3 million in 2007. By 2013, the “I Believe” hitmaker reportedly lost the house by transferring the deed to the bank to avoid the foreclosure process.
A clip from Fantasia’s ForbesBLK Summit 2024 appearance recently resurfaced on TikTok. Some commenters under the Livebitz post praised the 40-year-old entertainer for her perseverance. Other TikTokers had questions and concerns.
“Her lawyers didn’t advise her to file bankruptcy [thinking face emoji],” one person wrote on the social media platform.
Someone else asked, “And she still had to pay the mortgage?” Another individual wondered, “Did she ever receive a letter or [an] email?”
In contrast, a supporter commented, “That’s why God is [blessing] you right now because in all that you had to go through you still got joy.” Another fan posted, “So many lessons from her wisdom and transparency.”
Fantasia was able to bounce back from her financial downfall. Her critically acclaimed performance in the 2023 film “The Color Purple” earned the reality show veteran a victory in the Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture category at the 55th NAACP Image Awards on March 16, 2024.
She is also a mother of three and wife of Kendell Taylor.
