These Celebrities Got Into Trouble With Brands Because Of Their Cars
Car manufacturers take their reputation seriously, and they won’t stand for someone famous not playing by their rules.
Being a celebrity brings with it a lot of things everyone wishes for—fame, money, and an amplified platform. Furthermore, every gearhead wishes to fill up their garage or driveway with their favorite cars if their pockets allowed for it, and on that account, celebrities aren’t all that different. Artists all over the world love to splurge extravagantly, and most, if not all, love creating car collections that become the envy of the world. However, it is not always roses, as like the rest of us, celebrities, too, run into problems with their cars, regardless of how high-end their wheels might be.
Most car manufacturers don’t take too kindly to their high-end, popular customers talking negatively about their cars, since it ensures that the criticism would find an amplified platform, owing to the celebrity’s fan following. Some manufacturers like Ferrari simply do not like their cars being criticized, which is what makes the brand from Maranello one of the most infamous when it comes to blacklisting celebrities. Moreover, several times, brands have even gone one step further and sued celebrities who have bad-mouthed their cars or just brought disrepute to their name in some manner. In that vein, here are some celebrities who got into trouble because of their cars.
8. Tyga – Rolls-Royce
Popular tabloid news outlet TMZ reports that American rapper Micheal Ray Nguyen-Stevenson, known as Tyga, leased two cars in 2016. These two cars were a 2012 Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Ferrari 458 Spider. Surprisingly, however, the artist stopped making his payments before the completion of the lease, leading to the cars being repossessed.
This wasn’t all, as the dealership involved reported that Tyga still owed around $45,000 for the Ferrari 458 Spider, and close to $100,000 on the Rolls-Royce Ghost. This even led to the company filing a lawsuit against Tyga for the amount, which also included interest and legal fees. Sure, the reports do have a chance of being blown a bit out of proportion, but when it came to Ferrari, the bad publicity around this incident alone resulted in the brand reportedly blacklisting the artist from their customer list.
7. Deadmau5 – Ferrari
There are two things certain in the world. One, anyone with money and fame would love to bring home a Ferrari, and we can’t blame them for that. Secondly, when it comes to car controversies in the celebrity world, most of them would include the Prancing Horse in them. The brand has some very high standards with customers and what they are allowed to do with their Ferraris even after they drive off from the dealership.
When Canadian music producer Deadmau5 decked his Ferrari 458 Italia in sky blue and completely decorated it in a Nyan Cat meme vinyl, the brand wasn’t happy. Ferrari, detested, served Deadmau5 a cease and desist letter for his 458 Italia, which he had dubbed the ‘Purrari’. Consequently, the music producer had to return his car to its original white paint.
6. John Cena – Ford
The Ford GT is one of the most renowned sports cars in the world, and deservedly so. When Ford decided to revive the GT for a new generation in 2016, it also kept production slow to ensure the exclusivity of the car never took a hit. Naturally, all the big names wanted a GT for themselves, and WWE Superstar and movie star John Cena wanted one too. After all, the man is a popular gearhead and even managed to get himself a role in the latest Fast and Furious installment.
Knowing just how high the demand for their car is, Ford had implemented a 24-month ‘anti-flip’ rule, which kept owners from re-selling their car within the first two years of buying it. However, Cena sold his car to a retired farmer for almost triple the retail amount of half-a-million dollars with just 30 miles on the odometer. Resultantly, Ford sued Cena as well as the dealership involved in the re-sale. The lawsuit went on for some time, and ended with Cena’s lawyers announcing that the matter had been settled, and all proceeds went to charity. Cena himself apologized for having broken the rules set by Ford, professed his love for the brand and the car, and even urged other Ford GT owners to respect the 24-month anti-flip law.
5. 50 Cent – Ferrari
By now it is no secret that Ferrari does not care about how big a celebrity is if they bring disrepute to their brand. Thus, when popular rapper 50 Cent took to the social media platform Instagram, Maranello wasn’t too thrilled. 50 Cent had a Ferrari 488 that kept running into trouble because of a dead battery. Consequently, 50 Cent had to get his Ferrari towed, all the while posting on Instagram as he berated the car and the brand.
Perhaps the tipping point was when the artist went so far as to call the Ferrari 488 ‘a f***ing lemon’. While Ferrari (surprisingly) didn’t sue the rapper for his outburst, it did lead to 50 Cent, too, being reportedly added to the brand’s blacklist.
4. Jenna Jameson – Maserati
Famous adult film star Jenna Jameson wasn’t able to avoid having an angry car company sue her. According to the Toronto Sun, Jenna was sued by a car hire company after the X-rated film star had leased a Maserati Quattroporte S since 2010, but stopped paying her monthly installments prematurely.
This led to Maserati Financial Services slapping Jenna Jameson with a $100,000 lawsuit. Tabloid website TMZ even reported that according to legal documents obtained by them, the bosses over at Maserati Financial Services claimed that the film star had not complied with the car’s repossession.
3. Philipp Plein – Ferrari
In 2017, German fashion designer Philipp Plein got into trouble with Ferrari because of his Instagram posts, of all things. Plein posted a series of images on the social network with his sneakers on the hood of his green Ferrari, with the shoes and the car matching colors. Ferrari did not take kindly to it and sued the designer for tarnishing the brand’s name and causing them material damage.
Ferrari claimed that Plein was using the Ferrari trademark to increase the value of his own brand and products and promote them. It was Ferrari who ended up winning the lawsuit, which resulted in Plein having to pay 300,000 Euros ($310,000) to the Italian manufacturer. Furthermore, he also had to pay legal fees, which were around $25,000. The German also had to remove all Ferrari vehicles from his advertisements on social media.
2. Justin Bieber – Ferrari
Worldwide pop sensation Justin Bieber has had a string of problematic occurrences with his Ferraris. After buying himself a Ferrari 458 Italia F1 Edition, Bieber went to West Coast Customs to customize it. While Ferrari does allow minor modifications to their car in the name of personalization, they do not take kindly to extreme changes, but Bieber didn’t pay heed. Originally white, the singer got his 458 Italia wrapped in an electric blue and even went so far as to tamper with the Prancing Horse logo as well.
This wasn’t the only problem, however, as Bieber reportedly made it on Ferrari’s blacklist for another offense. Justin lost his Ferrari for three whole weeks after a drunken night out in Los Angeles. It reportedly took the singer’s assistant three whole weeks to find the car. Thus, it doesn’t come as too much of a surprise that Ferrari won’t be selling to Bieber anytime soon.
1. Britney Spears – Hummer
Nobody blames celebrities and A-listers from the 1990s and 2000s for succumbing to the cultural trend of buying a Hummer. Even Britney Spears, the Princess of Pop, got herself one of these SUVs. Letting her creative juices flow, Spears customized her Hummer with all-pink paint job and proudly showcased the car in a music video for her 2004 song Do Somethin’.
However, it seems Britney went too far in customizing her vehicle, as she went ahead and installed fake Louis Vuitton emblems on her Hummer. This resulted in the prestigious luxury brand suing Spears for $300,000 for her careless mistake. The brand won the lawsuit, and Britney was ordered to stop broadcasting or marketing the music video. Considering just how tacky the SUV looked after the custom job, we doubt anybody complained about not being able to see it more.
Credits: Samarveer Sing / Hotcars
