Duane Martin and Tisha Campbell-Martin—one of Hollywood's most beloved black power couples since the 1990s—recently revealed that they filed for bankruptcy at the top of this year, Rolling Out reports.
Their financial situation appears bleak. According to court papers, the Martins are a little over $15 million in debt, and the money they've got coming in (court papers cite under $8,000 per month) does not cover their expenses.
Here's a quick snapshot of what the Martins say they owe: $39,000 to American Express; $455,000 to City National Bank; $500,000 in loans given to their company, XE Visions; $400,000 to a company called Money Real Estate; $17,000 in student loans they borrowed for a nephew; money for a 2016 Range Rover they leased for $43,000; money for a 2014 Range Rover they leased for $67,000; and money for a 2016 Jeep Wrangler they leased for $17,000.
Rolling Out reports that Campbell-Martin took to Twitter on Monday to invoke some humor into this news concerning their money problems.
"Hey anybody got nickel? Yeah guys it's not like what's being reported at ALL but it's funny tho," she tweeted but then later took down, according to the news site.
She reportedly went on to explain that she and her husband took out some bank loans, the market crashed and they weren't able to reach an agreement with the banks on a new payment plan for the loans.
"Quick statement, have y'all seen the movie 'The Big Short?' … Yup we did file but its becuz my hubby n I invested n real estate, got involved w some loans b4 the BANKS caused the market to crash … Obviously couldn't agree 2 a settlement with the banks, so we filed to reorganize, that's all, but I so appreciate the genuine concern 4 my fam. I got the best supporters ever thanks TWITTER FAM,” Campbell-Martin wrote, according to Rolling Out.
Whew. The Martins' marriage is one that people often point to during discussions about which Hollywood marriages—particularly black marriages—are lasting and seemingly healthy. They do seem to be taking this on as a united front, which is wonderful.
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Diana Ozemebhoya Eromosele is a staff writer at The Root and the founder and executive producer of Lectures to Beats, a Web series that features video interviews with scarily insightful people. Follow Lectures to Beats on Facebook and Twitter.
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