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Forbes' 8 celebrity business BOMBS
Britney Spears
Pop star
Restaurant: NYLA, in New York City
This tabloid darling made a comeback as a member of the Forbes' Celebrity 100 list after releasing a fifth chart-topping album. Her foray into food, however, wasn't so well-received. She shuttered NYLA--a Southern-style eatery in New York's Dylan Hotel named after Nyla's Burger Basket, a Spears favorite near her hometown of Kentwood, La.--in 2003 after opening just one year earlier. Spears went through several chefs, and the original manager, Bobby Ochs, claimed the joint was $350,000 over budget on opening day.(Spears could not be reached for comment.)
Michael Vick
Quarterback, Atlanta Falcons
Restaurant/wine shop: The Tasting Room, in Atlanta
Once one of the NFL's highest-paid players, the former quarterback got scrambled in his entrepreneurial pursuits. In March 2007, he and partner Gerald Frank Jenkins opened Atlantic Wine & Package, a wine store, and The Tasting Room, an adjoining restaurant, in East Point, Ga. After Vick's indictment (for running a dog-fighting ring) that same year, the restaurant defaulted on a $1.3 million loan it had received from Wachovia the previous year. A suit claimed Atlantic Wine's multiple checking accounts were overdrawn by nearly $35,000 and that the business failed to make monthly payments. Last July Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, claiming assets of $16 million and liabilities of $20.4 million. This month Vick will complete his 23-month prison sentence. (For more on Vick's indictment, see "Not So Good Sports" and "Can The Falcons Make Fans Forget Vick?")
Jay-Z
Rapper, producer
Nightclub: 40/40 Club, in Las Vegas
No. 32 on Forbes' Celebrity 100 list by no means has a perfect entrepreneurial track record. His 40/40 Club, an upscale sports bar and restaurant at the Palazzo in Las Vegas, closed its doors in late 2008 for lack of a following, less than a year after it opened. Meanwhile, his flagship 40/40 location, opened in 2003 in New York City, continues to rake it in.
Victoria Beckham
Former pop star
Clothing line: dVb Jeans
Lauded by many as a fashion icon, Posh Spice stumbled as a designer. In 2006, along with soccer star husband David Beckham, she launched her fashionable denim line, dVb Jeans, inspired by vintage looks from the 1940s, '50s and '70s. Prices were not quite vintage: Sunglasses and jeans retailed between $200 and $300. The line fell out of favor fast--L.A.-based Kitson Boutique (a celebrity-shopping haven), Henri Bendel and eventually Saks all walked away. Her menswear line suffered a similar, and quicker, fate. (See also: "Posh Relegated To Fashion's Basement.")
Usher
Musician
Restaurant and wine bar: The Grape, in Atlanta
In 2007 R&B singer and self-styled oenophile Usher Raymond IV told the Palm Beach Post of his new venture: "I just felt like, you know what? It's a sound investment." He had high hopes, indeed, with a plan to open branches in destinations as far as Shanghai and South America. More focus at home might have helped: Grape did not renew its liquor license with the Georgia Department for Revenue this year, and parent company Grape Enterprise Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Novembe
Kim Basinger
Actress
Venture: the entire town of Braselton, Ga.
Smoldering in films such as 9 1/2 Weeks, Batman, L.A. Confidential and I Dreamed of Africa, Basinger bombed on a grand scale in 1990 when she sunk $20 million into buying all of Braselton, Ga. Her vision: to turn the small town of 500 residents, 50 miles northeast from Atlanta, into a tourist attraction, with a movie studio and a film festival. In one fell swoop, Basinger became the landlady of Braselton's bank, post office, supermarket, a number of retail stores, historic structures, more than two dozen homes and an industrial park--nearly 1,800 acres in all. Three years later the blond bombshell filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, after losing an $8.1 million lawsuit to Main Line Pictures for backing out of a verbal agreement to star in the film dud Boxing Helena. As for Braselton, she ended up selling it for a mere $1 million.
Jennifer Lopez
Pop star, actress, producer
Restaurant: Madres, in Pasadena, Calif.
Lopez might have all the moves in the entertainment world, but her days as a restaurateur were numbered. Her Latin-themed eatery, inspired by her grandmother's Puerto Rican recipes, went out of business in July 2008 after a six-year run. The duties of motherhood may have taken a toll.
Lauren Conrad
Actress
Clothing line: The Lauren Conrad Collection
Star of MTV's Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and later The Hills Conrad found the fashion business less scripted and more finicky. Her eponymous collection--launched in 2007, with financial backing from MTV and Tangerine Promotions--included flirty-yet-casual dresses, many priced north of $100. The masses yawned. Earlier this year, Conrad sent plans for a spring/summer line to the scrap heap, citing the current "economic climate."
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