From MTV’s Cribs to Architectural Digest, viewers love peeking inside multimillion-dollar celebrity homes.
But behind the infinity pools and designer kitchens, some of Hollywood’s biggest names were actually caught pretending to be richer than they were.
Here are the stars who were exposed lying or staging their house tours.
50 Cent
When 50 Cent showed off his massive Connecticut estate on Cribs, he flaunted an impressive collection of luxury cars, including a Ferrari and a Bentley.
In a 2015 court appearance, the rapper admitted his wealthy lifestyle on the show was all faked for “entertainment.”
Some of the cars, such as the Ferrari and the Bentley, were rentals.
Sharp-eyed viewers even spotted vehicle tracking numbers taped to the windshields during the episode.
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50 Cent admitted some of the cars were rentals. Picture: MTV / YouTube
Ja Rule
Ja Rule gave MTV a tour of a sprawling five-bedroom mansion on Miami’s Star Island.
It turned out the rapper had only rented the estate for four days under a strict lease that banned parties, according to the owner.
She reportedly sued him for $1.5 million ($US1 million) after seeing the party on MTV. She returned home to find her property trashed with structural damage, syringes and condom wrappers.
Ja Rule gave MTV a tour of a sprawling five-bedroom mansion on Miami’s Star Island. Picture: MTV / YouTube
Robbie Williams
Robbie Williams gave Cribs a tour of an eight-bedroom manor in Bath, complete with a team of butlers attending to his every need.
The house didn’t belong to him. The British pop icon had rented it from actress Jane Seymour without telling her he planned to pretend it was his own.
The Take That alum issued an apology to the Dr Quinn Medicine Woman star.
“We didn’t let [Jane] know that I was going to pretend it was my house,” he told a US radio station in 2020.
“And because I was like 23 and full of spunk, I didn’t even consider other people’s thoughts or feelings.
“So I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to Jane Seymour.”
The singer also hired butlers to serve him during the filming.
Robbie Williams gave Cribs a tour of an eight-bedroom manor in Bath. Picture: MTV / YouTube
Dakota Johnson
During her Architectural Digest tour, Dakota Johnson proudly pointed to a bowl of limes in her kitchen, declaring her deep love for the fruit.
A year later on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, she confessed it was all set dressing added by producers before cameras rolled.
“I actually didn’t even know they were in there,” she admitted. “I’m actually allergic to limes.”
During her Architectural Digest tour, Dakota Johnson proudly pointed to a bowl of limes in her kitchen. Picture: Architectural Digest / YouTube
Ashley Tisdale
Showing off her sleek bookshelves during an Architectural Digest walk-through, Ashley Tisdale made a surprising admission.
“These bookshelves, I have to be honest, did not actually have books in them a couple of days ago.
“I had my husband go to a bookstore, and I was like, ‘You need to get 400 books.’”
Showing off her sleek bookshelves during an Architectural Digest walk-through, Ashley Tisdale made a surprising admission. Picture: Architectural Digest / YouTube
Kim Kardashian
Before becoming part of reality TV royalty, a young Kim Kardashian invited MTV cameras into a lavish mansion for a tour.
The home didn’t belong to her, it was her mother Kris Jenner’s house.
During the tour, Kim pointed to a plate of fresh cookies and claimed she had baked them, despite viewers pointing out they looked obviously store-bought.
During the tour, Kim Kardashian pointed to a plate of fresh cookies and claimed she had baked them, despite viewers pointing out they looked store-bought. Picture: MTV / YouTube
JoJo
Teen pop star JoJo gave Cribs a tour of her vacation home on Cape Cod in Massachusetts.
Years later, the Leave (Get Out) singer revealed she and her mother were “living out of suitcases” and “mostly in hotels” at the time.
With no home of her own to show, she used her uncle’s house and passed off his kids’ belongings as her own.
“It’s so ridiculous, because why wouldn’t I like, get a really nice place,” the musician told Zach Sang Show in 2017.
“But because my family didn’t have access to like … like we just didn’t know people really that had places like that, so, yeah. That was what we did. It was so stupid.
“We didn’t have any house. We were living at a … well, we had an apartment. My mum and I had an apartment.
“It wasn’t compelling enough for Cribs, so we were like, “Let me just …” We had like three rooms!”.
When asked why she did the episode, JoJo said it was for the exposure.
With no home of her own to show, JoJo used her uncle’s house and passed off his kids’ belongings as her own. Picture: MTV / YouTube
Bow Wow
Rapper Bow Wow used his Cribs appearance to show off a collection of prestige vehicles, including a Ferrari 360 Modena, a Lamborghini, and a Bentley.
Viewers quickly spotted that the cars still carried “Prestige” promo license plates.
It turned out he had simply rented the entire fleet from Prestige Luxury Auto Rentals in Miami for the shoot.
Rapper Bow Wow used his Cribs appearance to show off a collection of prestige vehicles. Picture: MTV/YouTube
During her Architectural Digest video tour, Vanessa Hudgens showed off a grand piano, which “doesn’t really get used that often.” Picture: Architectural Digest / YouTube
Vanessa Hudgens
During her Architectural Digest video tour, Vanessa Hudgens showed off a grand piano, which “doesn’t really get used that often.”
The High School Musical star played a brief snippet of Mozart for the camera.
In the accompanying magazine profile, she admitted the instrument came from her previous house.
“I don’t play. I don’t read music, really,” she said. “I’m great at faking it.”
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