Entertainment and Pop Culture

We all love to gawk at celebrities in the news. The rest of the world may focus on sex tapes and wardrobe malfunctions, but here we like to discuss and cover the trials and tribulations of the rich and famous. Tax and finance information affecting celebrities and others from the entertainment world fascinate us, and result in some of the most interesting quirky behavior like musicians touring to pay off tax debts.

When people from the entertainment world get into financial trouble, it often makes the news, and seems incredulous from there higher income. However, because touring musicians and other celebrities who earn income in various states and countries have more complex filing requirements, it stands to reason that they need larger numbers of financial personnel in their orbit. The entertainment world often features colorful financial advisors, who create news and scandals of their own.

Willie Nelson’s story of the IRS seizing his assets made news in 1990, but other artists have found themselves in tax problems. Other entertainment figures that found themselves in IRS problems over the years include Wesley Snipes, Richard Hatch, O.J. Simpson, Sinbad, and Lauryn Hill. O.J. Simpson has had a series of legal problems, some criminal and some civil, which included his spending 9 years in person for robbery. Most entertainment scofflaws limit themselves to financial scandals.

See something money related in the news about someone famous? Saw something on Twitter or Instagram that you think that we should cover here? Tag us, DM us, forward the Post to Us, or mail us so we can cover it. Seriously, hit us up on social media and we’ll share it with everyone else.

Unpopular Opinion – Tax Refunds

By |2022-12-16T13:43:24-05:00September 2nd, 2021|Categories: Quickies with Bette|Tags: , , , , , |

Hi, Bette Hochberger or CPA, CGMA. And on today's Business Quickie, I'm going to tell you about an unpopular opinion that I have. So I know a lot of people really love getting tax refunds. There are all kinds of ads that say, "how to spend your refund, refund, refund, refund." People can't wait to get that refund check, but here's the big butt, why do I not like it? It's your money. You're not getting free money from the government. You're getting your own money back to you. So my unpopular opinion is don't create these huge tax refunds and don't think your CPA is amazing just because they get you a big tax refund.

Miami Crypto : What You Need to Know

By |2022-12-16T13:45:31-05:00August 31st, 2021|Categories: Quickies with Bette|Tags: , , , , , |

Other Miami crypto news, which is super exciting, MiamiCoin is the first city coin to come to market. Woo hoo, it's fantastic. It's like a Bitcoin and is on the Blockchain protocol, so whenever that coin is mined, a percentage, actually 30% of what's mined, goes to the city of Miami.

#VenmoMe is Tax Deductible

By |2021-08-19T18:54:48-04:00August 19th, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , |

We have all seen giveaways from brands; you might wonder why brands do this or how they can afford it. The truth is brands can do this because it is tax-deductible, meaning they get their money back when tax season rolls around. Brands also do this because it is excellent advertising; I mean, who doesn't like free stuff? This brings us to our topic: #VenmoMe.

Bad Luck or Bad Financial Planning?

By |2021-08-12T16:58:10-04:00August 12th, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , , , , |

Tomorrow is Friday the 13th, and considering the holiday's superstitious history, I wanted to share some tips from Twitter about avoiding bad luck with finances and taxes. This article is a different kind of Social Media Round-up, but I decided that there is no better day than Friday the 13th to try something new because if it flops, I will blame it on bad luck. I find this mindset funny because I think much of "bad luck" is actually just bad planning, and I hope this Twitter commentary can help us all avoid the pitfalls of poor finances and poor tax planning. Let's get started. 

Rihanna Is a Billionaire

By |2021-08-06T17:15:42-04:00August 6th, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , , , , |

Entrepreneur and businesswoman aren't the first words I think of when I imagine the pop star, Rihanna, however all that is about to change because, according to Forbes, she is now a billionaire. You can find Rihanna trending on Twitter with the hashtag #SelfMadeWomen along with many opinions about her new status. This trending hashtag is what I want to share with you on this week's social media round-up.

The Olympics Are Taxing

By |2021-08-02T18:03:22-04:00August 2nd, 2021|Categories: Quickies with Bette|Tags: , , |

Hi, I'm Bette Hochberger, CPA, CGMA. And today, we're going to talk about the Olympics because they're going on right now, and even though there's a bit of controversy around the games and some of the athletes, I like to bring it back to my favorite topic: taxes. Specifically, taxes that Olympians must pay on their winnings and complexities within that tax.

Is the Internet Broken?

By |2021-07-22T14:49:25-04:00July 22nd, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , , |

It's the end of the world as we know it, just kidding. A glitch in our internet infrastructure has caused many to panic, but I'm here to clear up any confusion about why this happened and discuss what Twitter is saying about it in this social media round-up.

Movie Revenue Post Pandemic

By |2021-07-12T17:49:28-04:00July 12th, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , , , |

Slowly movie theaters have been opening back up thanks to the Covid-19 vaccine. Furthermore, the pandemic has made it hard to gauge whether or not movies as we once knew them will return. So I decided to take a look at Twitter and assess the number of people going to the theaters versus the number of people using Primier Access to watch the new Marvel movie called Black Widow and make a prediction about the future of movie theaters and at-home streaming. 

Meals, Entertainment, & Tax-Deductions

By |2022-12-16T13:48:31-05:00July 7th, 2021|Categories: Quickies with Bette|Tags: , , , , , , , , |

Hey, guys, happy Wednesday. We're going to hop on with a little business quickie about meals and entertainment because this is a tricky area for a lot of business owners. I know everyone wants to write off every meal possible that they ever have as a business expense and, unfortunately, can't always do that.

Appearance. Does it Matter in Business?

By |2021-07-02T16:37:03-04:00July 2nd, 2021|Categories: #FinanceFriday|Tags: , , , , , , |

Join Samra and me while we explore why appearance matters in business. Hello, happy Friday. Happy Finance Friday. I'm Bette Hochberger, CPA, CGMA. And today, I have my fantastic friend who keeps me looking great and young. Since last night, people said to me, why do you look so young? And I'm like, Samra. Samra Vogel, an independent Mary Kay salesperson for over 20 years, and is fantastic. I'm sure she has many pink cars, which is cool too. Watch the video below to learn more!

Bobby Bonilla Day

By |2022-12-16T14:07:23-05:00June 30th, 2021|Categories: Quickies with Bette|Tags: , , , , |

Tomorrow is Bobby Bonilla Day. Bobby Bonilla is a former player in Major League Baseball who played in the major leagues from 1986 to 2001. This day is celebrated by the sports and financial world! Why? Because the Mets pay Bonilla $1,193,248.20 every July 1 from 2011 until 2035.

#DearIntern & Twitter

By |2021-08-09T16:23:46-04:00June 25th, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , , , |

Dear Intern is trending on Twitter, and for those who don't know, people are using it as an opportunity to share the embarrassing mistakes they've made while at work. Concerning the sheer amount of business books we've read at book club that emphasizes the importance of creating and learning from mistakes, I figured I'd share some of these tweets with you all. So let's take a look at this Social Media Round-Up.

Black-Owned Financial Groups

By |2021-06-18T20:29:12-04:00June 18th, 2021|Categories: Quickies with Bette|Tags: , , , , , |

In honor of Juneteenth, I want to highlight some amazing black-owned financial groups. The Black Angels Miami Investor group, black-owned banks and credit unions (and where to find them), and the Black Bitcoin Billionaire are doing so much for their communities. Let's get started.

Barking Up The Wrong Tree – Video

By |2021-06-17T17:01:55-04:00June 17th, 2021|Categories: Business Book Club|Tags: , , , , , , |

"Barking Up The Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success Is (Mostly) Wrong" by Eric Barker was June's Business Book. Join me and my fellow book club members as we discuss our key takeaways from "Barking Up The Wrong Tree," and let us know what you think in the comments. We concluded that this is one of our favorite book club books and that if you were going to read only one of our business books, Barking Up The Wrong Tree is the one you should read.

Is Florida Covid-Free?

By |2021-06-04T21:27:20-04:00June 4th, 2021|Categories: Other Perspectives|Tags: , , , , |

Is Florida "Covid-Free?" No, but people are sure acting like it. Florida is opening back up, and according to usafacts.org, 39% of Florida's population is COVID-19 vaccinated. I have noticed that most businesses in Florida don't require masks (as long as you're fully vaccinated). I figured that I'd take a look at what Twitter is saying about Florida's Covid-free future.

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