Seven Celebrity Businesses That Went Down in Flames (and the One That Actually Earned Its Keep)
Photo: G. Edward Johnson, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Every few weeks, a celebrity announces a business venture, and every few weeks, we're expected to pretend it's a passion project. Sometimes it is! Mostly it's a licensing agreement wearing a linen blazer. So let's rank the decade's most chaotic entries into the celebrity commerce sweepstakes — from spectacular implosions to the one that made the whole model look easy.
7. The Speed-Run Liquor Brand
The playbook: a tequila (always tequila) announced with a moody launch video, a 'personally crafted' claim, and a price point that suggests the celebrity personally watered the agave. Several of these arrived in the post-Teremana gold rush, and several of them are already being sold off at duty-free discount. Verdict: The star could not name the distillery without checking their phone.
6. The Six-Month Skincare Line
Announced with a Vogue video, gone before the second refill cycle. These launches often skip the boring part — formulation, dermatology, supply chains — and jump straight to the campaign shoot. When the reviews mention 'fragrance sensitivity' more than results, the clock starts ticking. Verdict: Borrower, not builder.
5. The Restaurant With a Beautiful Menu Nobody Ordered From
A beloved star opens an eatery in LA or NYC; the opening night is star-studded; the food is photographed lovingly; eighteen months later, it's a ghost kitchen. The problem is rarely ambition. It's that hospitality is a grind, and no amount of red carpet buzz fixes a Tuesday-night covers problem. Verdict: Great party, worse business.
4. The App That Launched Already Outdated
A celebrity-backed fan app or social platform that arrives two years after the trend peaked, priced like it's early. The download chart spikes for a weekend, then the app store becomes its final resting place. Verdict: A business plan written in a press release.
3. The athleisure Drop That Felt Like a Group Project
Not a disaster, just... forgettable. Leggings with the star's initials, a website that crashed on launch day (which, counterintuitively, generated better press than the product), and a quiet markdown by month three. Verdict: C+ energy. The celebrity attended one design meeting, and it shows.
2. The Shapewear and Cosmetics Empire That Actually Stuck
The rare case where the celebrity was genuinely the product: involved in fittings, formulations, and the unglamorous middle. When the founder shows up to the warehouse, the margins and the repeat customers tend to follow. Verdict: Annoyingly, legitimately good.
1. The One That Actually Worked
And then there's the gold standard: the celebrity who treated the venture like a second career instead of a merch table. Think of the stars whose alcohol, beauty, or media brands outgrew the celebrity's own fame — the ones where customers buy the product without being able to name the famous face behind it. That's the entire test. Verdict: Builder. Certified.
The Divide
The pattern is brutally simple: celebrities who co-own the boring parts — operations, quality, customer service — build empires. Celebrities who rent out their likeness get a nice licensing check and a footnote. The market can smell the difference, usually within two quarters.
So the next time your favorite star launches a tequila, a skincare line, and a production company in the same calendar year, ask one question: who's actually answering the customer service email?
