In the world of celebrities, luxurious lives are pretty standard, and so are the high-profile breakups that make headlines. Legal battles over child support generally result in hefty settlements.
Join us as we explore ten of the most expensive child support rulings among celebrities. These cases redefine luxury and have far-reaching consequences beyond the courtroom. Get ready for a wild ride that will make you rethink just how “expensive” your daycare is.
Related: Top 10 Famous People Who Died Broke
10 Terrell Owens: $45k/Month
Terrell Owens, a former NFL star and wide receiver, has been making headlines with his ongoing legal battles related to child support payments. Owens, who has four children with four different women, has been ordered to pay substantial amounts each month, adding to his financial burden.
One case involves Owens’s daughter with Melanie Smith, for whom he was initially on the hook for $20,000 in missed payments. In 2012, Owens paid $20,000 in back child support to Smith to avoid potential arrest. For all four children, it was reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Owens pays $44,600 each month in child support costs.
The weight of these child support bills has taken a toll on Owens, pushing him into a deep financial hole. Despite his past success as an NFL player, Owens claims to have zero income at present, leading him to seek a reduction in his child support payments. However, his requests have been met with resistance, with the court ruling against him and upholding the existing payment amounts.
Owens’s struggles with child support payments and his financial predicament were discussed on Dr. Phil in 2012, where he opened up about his “daddy drama” and the challenges he faced in meeting his obligations.
9 Kelly Clarkson: $45k a Month
Kelly Clarkson is required to pay $45,000 a month in child support to her ex-husband, Brandon Blackstock, as part of their divorce settlement. This payment is for their two children, River Rose and Remington Alexander. In addition to child support, Clarkson will also pay her ex-husband $115,000 a month in spousal support until January 31, 2024.
Also, as part of the settlement, Clarkson will make a one-time, tax-free payment of $1,326,161 to Blackstock. The couple also agreed that their children will fly private until they are fully vaccinated, and Clarkson will make a $50,000 “reimbursement” payment to Blackstock for the children’s private air travel. Blackstock will pay Clarkson $2,000 a month in rent to stay at the ranch until June as he searches for his own home.
8 Nas: $51k a Month
Rapper Nas was ordered by a Los Angeles family court judge to increase spousal and child support payments from $40,000 to $51,101 per month to his former wife, singer Kelis, and their son, Knight. Kelis currently receives $8,000 a month in child support but requests more as her monthly costs exceed $25,000. In May 2018, Nas disclosed his monthly expenses at $76,834.04, $20,245.70 of which goes to helping some of his family members. He also has a rent payment.
In 2010, a Los Angeles superior court judge ordered Nas to immediately pay more than $47,249 in back child support and $40,454 in spousal support to Kelis. In May 2018, Nas disclosed his financial figures after Kelis claimed the $8,000 per month she’s receiving for child support isn’t enough. A judge is involved in the ongoing child support battle between Nas and Kelis.
7 Eddie Murphy: $35k a Month for One of Them
Eddie Murphy might have 10 kids, but just one of them has jaw-dropping child support payments. We’re talking about the daughter, Angel, he had with Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown.
Originally, he was court-ordered to pay Mel B $25,000 a month from 2009 on. But in the fall of 2020, Mel asked for more because she had a substantial drop in what she was making herself. And in 2021, the court ordered Murphy to pay an additional 10 grand a month, making Angel’s paycheck now $35,000.
But while Murphy’s and Mel B’s relationship ended in a pretty rocky place (he accused her of tricking him into the pregnancy), they seem to be in a much better place now. In fact, Murphy even picked up the tab for her legal fees.
While we don’t know how much he pays for his other kids, we can certainly assume his monthly child support bill is astronomical.
6 Sean Combs: $55k a Month
Sean Combs, also known as P. Diddy, has been ordered to pay child support for his children with his ex-girlfriends. Here are some details about his child support payments:
In 2004, Combs was ordered to pay $35,000 a month in child support to his ex, Misa Hylton-Brim. But when P. Diddy appealed for a lower amount, the fashion stylist came back for more. By 2005, Combs was required to fork over $21,000 more per month.
But this isn’t the first child P. Diddy has had to pay child support for. He also pays an ongoing $20,000 a month to model Kim Porter for their son, Christian King. Of course, this was on top of his $150,000 lump sum, multi-million dollar life insurance policy, and promises to pay for college. Years later, the couple reconciled and had twins, but Porter died in 2018 from lobar pneumonia.
In total, P. Diddy now has seven kids.
5 Brendan Fraser: $75k a Month
Brendan Fraser, the renaissance man himself, has been paying a significant amount of money in child support and alimony payments to his ex-wife, Afton Smith, following their divorce in 2009. Under the divorce settlement, Fraser was responsible for paying $900,000 a year in alimony and child support for his and Afton’s three sons. In addition, he was paying $50,000 per month in spousal support.
In 2013, Fraser filed to reduce his annual child support payment since Fraser needed to earn about $2 million a year before taxes to make the court-ordered alimony and child support payments.
4 Charlie Sheen: $80k a Month
Charlie Sheen has been ordered to pay child support to two of his ex-wives: Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller. The amount of child support he’s been ordered to pay has been more of a rollercoaster than his acting career—almost.
In 2006, Sheen was ordered to pay $55,000 per month in child support to Richards for their two daughters, Sam and Lola. In 2011, Sheen was ordered to pay an additional $25,000 per month in child support to Mueller for their twin sons, Bob and Max.
In 2016, Sheen filed a motion to have the child support payments lowered, citing his reduced income. The court granted his request and lowered the payments to $20,000 per month for Richards and $10,000 per month for Mueller.
In 2021, Sheen filed another motion to have the child support payments lowered again. This time, he argued that the payments were no longer necessary, as both daughters were now living with him full time. The court granted his request and terminated the child support payments to Richards.
As of now, Sheen is not required to pay child support to either Richards or Mueller. However, he is still responsible for 50% of the children’s medical and educational expenses.
3 A-Rod: $115k a Month
Alex Rodriguez was ordered to pay $115,000 per month in child support to his ex-wife, Cynthia Scurtis, in 2008. The couple had two daughters together, Natasha and Ella. The payments were intended to be adjusted once Rodriguez retired from baseball, but he has been unable to get the payments lowered.
In 2018, Rodriguez filed a motion to have the payments lowered, citing his reduced income since retiring from baseball. However, Scurtis’s lawyers argued that the payments should remain the same, as they were based on Rodriguez’s income at the time of the divorce.
The case is still pending, and it is unclear whether Rodriguez will be able to get the payments lowered.
2 Kanye West: $200k a Month
In the case of Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, both parents have high incomes, and the cost of living in Los Angeles is very high. As a result, West’s $200,000 per month child support payment is not out of the ordinary.
West is also responsible for 50% of the children’s medical and educational expenses and security costs.
The child support payments are a significant financial burden for West. Still, he has said he is committed to providing for his children. He has also said that he is grateful for the opportunity to co-parent with Kardashian and that he wants to do what is best for the children.
1 Nick Cannon: $250k a Month
Nick Cannon has 12 children with 4 different women. He does not pay monthly child support to any of the mothers of his children. Instead, he has an informal arrangement with them where he provides for their needs as they arise. This arrangement has worked well for Cannon and the mothers of his children and has allowed him to be a more involved father.
He says that he spends well over $3 million a year on his kids.
Cannon apparently doesn’t believe in the traditional child support system. He wants to be a hands-on father and provide for his children directly. He also believes that the traditional child support system can be unfair to fathers, as it can often leave them feeling like they’re being punished for having kids in the first place.
Cannon’s arrangement with the mothers of his children has been both praised and criticized. Some people believe that Cannon is setting a good example by being a more involved father, while others believe that he is shirking his financial responsibilities. Ultimately, let’s leave it up to Cannon and the mothers of his children to decide what works best for them.
