Celebrities Who Totally Lied About Their Homes On MTV's "Cribs"
When JoJo debuted her episode of MTV Cribs, the tween-aged popstar actually didn't live in a home at all. She admitted that she and her mother had been bouncing around hotels at the time. Instead of rushing to move into a luxury condo, JoJo borrowed her uncle's house on the Cape:
It was so ridiculous. The thing is, we didn't have a home at that point. My mom and I were living out of suitcases and we were mostly in hotels. So that was actually my uncle's house, on the Cape. That wasn't my house. That wasn't my stuff. When I was sitting on the spinny thing, that was his kids'. That's the truth. I should've balled hard, and been like, 'Welcome to my crib, look at how luxurious it is,' and I should have rented out a place. But no. I just used my uncle's crib. So that was me lying on Cribs.
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It makes sense the rapper who wrote an album called Get Rich or Die Tryin' felt the need to show off a lavish collection of sports cars in his episode of MTV Cribs. However, it's not clear whether the cars were actually his. In his 2015 bankruptcy filing, the rapper said he was only able to rent the lavish cars he often touts as his own.
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The Yin Yang Twins Rented A House They Hadn't Even Seen Before Filming
The Ying Yang Twins may have had an impressive pad, or it may have been just like Redman's infamous Staten Island home, but no one will ever never know. While the hip-hop duo never confirmed one way or another, it did appear as though the home they showed off in the episode wasn't their own. Even worse, it was decorated so far off base from what fans might expect from the pair that many posited they didn't even do a walk-through before filming.
In the early '00s, when Destiny's Child was enjoying massive mainstream success, MTV tried to make everyone believe this girl group actually lived together in a house in Houston, Texas. While hard to tell if this slumber-party fantasy was actually true, what fans do know is that the group used its episode to shill Candie's shoes.
Beyoncé took cameras into Kelly Rowland's "room," where she uncovered a Candie's shoebox filled with mementos from old boyfriends. Destiny's Child got an endorsement from the company at the time and their own line of kicks.
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Rapper 50 Cent isn't the only one who didn't actually own his impressive car collection. Birdman, CEO of Cash Money Records, showed off a 1972 Chevy Phantom Donk Conversion that was on loan for his episode. The car reportedly belonged to a Cincinnati business owner, but it went along with his baller image at the time.
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Lil' Bow Wow was caught up in controversy in 2018 about taking a private jet when he posted a stock photo on Instagram and claimed it as his own. These revelations in mind, it comes as no surprise to learn he also misled viewers about his car collection on Cribs. The then 21-year-old rapper showed off his Bentley, Lamborghini and Cadillac Escalade, but they were reportedly rented for the occasion.
Each car was emblazoned with the word "Prestige," the name of a luxury rental car company in Miami.
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British pop star Robbie Williams showed off a rather impressive celebrity home in his episode of MTV Cribs — it just happened to belong to another celebrity. Williams was apparently renting the home from Jane Seymour of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.
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Dame Dash Rented Mariah Carey's London Home
In Dame Dash's episode of Cribs, he showed off an impressive abode in the heart of London's Chelsea area, which boasts some of the world's most expensive real estate. This is pretty, pretty suspicious considering the music mogul suffered from some major financial problems.
In 2010, Dash lost two Tribeca lofts to foreclosure and reportedly had $7.3 million left on the mortgages. In 2013, he claimed he was $100,000 behind on rent in his Carmel, New York, mansion. So, how is it that Dame managed to afford this luxury home? Rumor has it he rented it from Mariah Carey.
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Ja Rule probably owned a pretty impressive house in the early '00s, but you wouldn't know it from his appearance on Cribs. The rapper actually rented a mansion for the weekend and passed it off as his own when MTV Cribs started rolling their cameras. Ja was eventually sued by the actual owner in 2004 for trashing the property and letting MTV film without permission.
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Redman's episode of Cribs emerged as one of the most popular episodes of all time because it made no attempt to maintain a fake image of celebrity glamor. It completely turned the show upside down, and opened people's eyes to how the program really operated. In this case, MTV was the one who tried to sell a fantasy.
Redman's small Staten Island home was littered with dirty laundry and didn't even have a working doorbell. When cameras showed up, his cousin was still asleep on the floor, and he was wrapped in a blanket. MTV was less-than-pleased and tried to get the rapper to rent a home instead, but he refused.
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Mariah Carey's episode of Cribs is one of the most watched in history. The insanely lavish home, which boasts 17 floors and houses Marilyn Monroe's piano, is 100 percent real — but it's pretty obvious some things are exaggerated. The audience was meant to believe that Carey only used her shower one time and trained her fish to be nocturnal just to match her schedule?
That's a bit of a stretch.
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