The Latest Celebrity Foreclosure: Ed McMahon

By Alex in Money & Finance on Jun 6, 2008 at 3:30 pm

The mortgage crisis is so bad, it’s now claiming celebrities as victims: Evander Holyfield’s $10 million home in Fayette County, Georgia; Jose Canseco’s home in Encino, California; and Ed McMahon’s $4.8 million home in Beverly Hills, California are being foreclosed.

One guy that averted foreclosure was Michael Jackson: his Neverland Ranch auction was cancelled when an investment company bought the loan.

Ed McMahon even went on Larry King’s show to explain how he got into financial hot water:

King: And the payments, you can’t make — what’s the problem?

Ed McMahon: Well, if you spend more money than you make, you know what happens. And it can happen. You know, a couple of divorces thrown in, a few things like that. And, you know, things happen. You want everything to be perfect, but that combination of the economy, I have a little injury, I have a situation. And it all came together. [...]

King: But, Pam, the assumption is that the McMahons are multimillionaires and multimillionaires — how much behind are you, $644,000, right? That’s what’s reported? … If you’re a millionaire, shouldn’t you be able to pay $644,000?

Pam McMahon: I think over the years, you know, it’s just a kind of a combination of maybe Ed working so hard and not kind of looking at proper management, which happens a lot. … Because you’re a celebrity, people think you have a lot more than you have. And you always want to take great care of all of your friends and your family and everybody, and you do. And you don’t, and I think, you know, we didn’t keep our eye on the ball. We made mistakes.

Transcript of Ed and Pam McMahon’s interview with Larry King: Link


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  1. biltmore
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 3:52 pm

    Maybe Ed should’ve been smart enough not to buy a $4.8 million dollar house in the first place.

  2. chris
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 4:23 pm

    Doesn’t anybody proof read their posts anymore? You’ve got the word “Georgia” just kinda thrown in there, it should refer to Evander’s Fayette County residence….

  3. Parker
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 4:36 pm

    You don’t just forget hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills..and when you’re Ed McMahon you also aren’t THAT busy. It’s not the end of the world if you live in a place that costs less than millions..give me a break. I hope he didn’t make that appearance hoping to garner sympathy or worse..donations.

  4. Greg
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    For the amount he owes in back payments, I could buy a very nice house, and I live in the SF Bay Area.

  5. Geekazoid
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 5:15 pm

    I don’t see the big deal over Ed McMahon when former pro boxers like Evander Holyfield is reputed to be broke, having blown through hundres of millions of dollars he earned in the ring. That’s got to be way more than Ed has ever earned in his career.

    It’s simple really with great earning come great responsibility to wisely spend and invest. Lots of these high profile types think the money stream will last forever until they realize otherwise.

    But let’s face it it’s not like Ed is a typical American struggling with a foreclosure that has no finances or options that people he does.

  6. Alex
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    @chris:

    You mistake Neatorama for a professional operation! :) Thanks for catching that – I’ve fixed it for ya!

  7. Woogie
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    I find it both fascinating in a “wow, this crisis really is hitting regardless of status”… And then there’s the part of me going “HAHA! Rich bastards losing their homes!”

  8. Miss Curly
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 8:55 pm

    Boo hoo hoo. No sympathy from this neck of the woods. I’ll just bet they still drive expensive cars and have never EVER entered a Wal-Mart or a Family Dollar.

  9. Jennifer
    Jun 6th, 2008 at 10:05 pm

    I think that labeling the foreclosure of McMahon’s home as a sign of how bad the mortgage crises has gotten is poor. McMahon has admitted that he failed to manage his money, and that he, spent more money than he made. This has nothing to do with the mortgage crises, which has in fact been caused by the sale of bad loans from unscrupulous lenders.

  10. TT
    Jun 7th, 2008 at 12:35 am

    In the end, they’re just entertainers and actors, show-people.

    Nobody said they were smart business people – they’ve got people to do that bit.

    Duh.

  11. ~April
    Jun 7th, 2008 at 1:10 am

    Boo-frickity-hoo

  12. hark
    Jun 7th, 2008 at 1:18 am

    whatever. pandering crap-insurance-peddling relic, hack chucklehead sidekick, he’s lucky to be in the news for something other than his death. way way WAY down on the list of people I’d find sympathy for.

  13. ted
    Jun 7th, 2008 at 10:06 am

    From that picture, she’s either a lot younger than him, or they spent all his dough on her plastic surgery.

    Pam McMahon – it almost rhymes.

    Oh, yeah – he’s got money problems. Sucks, but hard to sympathize with him. A lot of people don’t make in their lifetime as much as he owes.

  14. tomtheman5
    Jun 8th, 2008 at 12:45 am

    Must suck to lose your home at age 85.

    (but I’m sure he’ll survive…)

    :o )

  15. Capella
    Jun 8th, 2008 at 10:48 am

    Oh noes, they are looking their 4 million dollar homes!
    Now they will have to live in 2 million dollar homes!

  16. MEC
    Jun 9th, 2008 at 12:05 am

    Yep, real hard to have sympathy for a man who has made millions of dollars, and is now apparently broke.

    I have never had a lot of money, and I have always said that if I ever do have a lot of money that I would invest it wisely and build businesses to make even more money so that I would never have to worry about not having enough ever again!

    Guess my old one line joke on the way out the door (If Ed McMahon knocks on the door while I am gone, tell him I will be right back!) is no longer valid!

    Damn! I feel like a true American Icon has just really let me down! Say it ain’t so, Mr. McMahon!

  17. Jimbo
    Jun 9th, 2008 at 5:45 am

    Fixed Rate would have prevented this.

    NEVER get a loan with a flexible (aka adjustable) payment plan or a balloon payment at the end. When interest goes up, your payment goes way up.

    Always ask for FIXED RATE for the term of the loan.

  18. astrodex
    Jun 9th, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    They didn’t have less money than I think they did. They just spent more money than they should have. No none needs a 4.8 million dollar house. Unless it is meant to house a family of 50 or more.

    If I thought he was going to end up living in a ’78 Ford and eating at soup kitchens I would be able to feel sorry for him. He will come out the other end of this living in far greater luxury than most of us can dream of. Without having learned a thing, most likely.

  19. Olivia
    Jun 14th, 2008 at 3:19 am

    Ugh… only spend money you actually have, Ed.

    In response to a few of the posts here, I’m sorry, but no one’s selling “bad loans.”

    If a loan company says you haev a flexible rate, and you sign it, YOU are responsible for paying that. Considering the government is forcing loan companies to go aginst the contracts, a TON of them are going belly-up. Why? They counted on the money that would come from those loans, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to make the ultra-low rate promises to people. If you sign something, you should be bound to it. It’s not the insurer’s fault you don’t want to pay what you agreed to.


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