Do not believe everything you may have heard — Christy Carlson Romano is not a “millionaire” despite consistently booking acting jobs with Disney.
In case you need a quick refresher, the 37-year-old actress started working with the multi-media company when she was just a teenager back in the early aughts. You probably remember her starring alongside Shia LaBeouf in Even Stevens and later voicing the character Kim Possible. Both of which most likely earned her a hefty paycheck!
However, in a recent video posted to her YouTube channel, Romano passed on some financial wisdom while recounting how she “lost millions of dollars” due to her extravagant spending habits and never learning how to manage money at the time. She began in the footage:
“This is how I blew all my Disney money. I started making money with Disney when I was 16. My biggest thing about child actors, you aren’t told that the work is going to slow down. In fact, I was told the opposite, specifically by my mom, some of my team, even my money manager at the time. ‘Oh don’t worry, the residuals come; you’re going to keep making money.’ It’s interesting, it bred a sort of contempt in me. It’s a tremendous amount of pressure, and I think I self-destructed.”
While the Broadway alum saved some money to go to college, she dropped out a year and a half later (FYI, she eventually finished her degree at 30). And Romano ultimately regretted not investing wisely or buying a house during the early years of her career:
“I had this money at my disposal. I was never told how much money I was making. Money didn’t have a purpose for me, I didn’t really know what it was. I just knew that I had it and didn’t care about it. That’s a problem.”
In particular, Christy said she was surrounded by people who made her feel she wasn’t good enough and would spend it on luxury items like Ralph Lauren or a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. The social media personality even shelled out tons of money to a psychic who apparently took so much of her coin:
“I felt like if I could just buy certain things, I would feel better, or if I just lived a certain lifestyle, I would be closer to that joy of feeling accepted and a lot less alone because I felt really dumb for not knowing about my money, and I never really made peace with that. Even to this day, there’s nothing I can really do about the fact that money came and went.”
The momma of two also recalled helping her parents out with money, which ultimately strained their relationship for almost a year. It happened around the time where she “made about $1 million” on a book and record deal, but she immediately spent it all.
“Over time, the value of money and the influence it had on me, it just got more and more complicated.”
Romano even ended up taking on movie roles she “didn’t want to do” due to her problems, explaining:
“Basically, I did a nude scene. I had never thought in a million years that I would ever do something like this. I was America’s sweetheart, morally sound in my mind. I believed in the Disney magic, I still do. And then I felt so exploited and marked and horrible.”
Nowadays, Christy says that she is “OK” and has earned money by monetizing her channel and creating sponsored content:
“If you’re having a hard time, know that I have had a hard time too. Build small and make sure that you’re doing things that are smart — that can make you money, not break you.”
Wow. Glad she learned from her mistakes! Ch-ch-check out the entire video for yourself (below):
Reactions, Prezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via Nicky Nelson/WENN]
The post Christy Carlson Romano Says She ‘Lost MILLIONS’ Of Her Disney Earnings! appeared first on Perez Hilton.