15 Celebs Who Prove Money Can't Buy Happiness

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There has long been the understanding that money cannot buy happiness. People have backed up this statement with cliches like; money cannot keep you warm at night, money is not the equivalent of love, and money is the root of all evil. In this day and age, it looks like this cannot get any truer; we as a society are watching people with an abundance of money singlehandedly trying to force us into a change that is not necessarily good for us. However, before we get too political, we should also mention that celebrities do feel the effects of having money. We like to believe that having a lot of money is great; we can buy what we want and we can go anywhere in the world, and while that lifestyle sounds amazing, it can surely get old fast.

Many celebrities out there have had a rough time navigating the rich life. They live beyond their means or they realize that being so rich is actually the root of their problems. Prime examples of celebrities who prove that money simply does not buy happiness are Britney Spears, Beyonce, Faith Evans and even more, as this article will show.

15. Lindsay Lohan

The much publicized actress seems to be living a much happier and grounded life today. At one point in time, Lindsay Lohan was young, rich and a hot mess; she ended up in rehab numerous amounts of time and her family was so full of drama she was constantly in the news for their problems as well. Now that she has cleaned her act up and cleared her head (and not to mention, she is significantly less rich than she was before), she seems to be living a happier, quieter life. She has a new boyfriend and is all about positivity.

14. Kendall Jenner

It was recently documented on Keeping Up with the Kardashians that Kendall Jenner felt left out and alone a lot the time. While she is away working, her siblings are getting closer to one another and she constantly feels like the outcast. Yes, she is booking modeling and print work all over the world but where does that get her when she has no one to really share it with? She complained about missing out on the lives of her nieces and nephews and not getting the family time that everyone else gets. Maybe she will look into early retirement (if her mom let’s her), jet setting and making money does not seem worth it.

13. Kristen Stewart

Actress Kristen Stewart has perfected the look of being miserable and unappreciative. She rarely smiles and her makeup always looks as though she was crying just before getting to whatever red carpet event she was invited to. Stewart is rarely seen out and about, especially after the crazy affair scandal she had a few years back. While she has made millions of dollars completing the Twilight Saga, she has somehow remained anti-social, obviously sad and truly lacking in real happiness (it is written all over her face). Guess all that money is no real comfort when you still have all that bad press.

12. Emma Roberts

Emma Roberts may be more known for her scandals than her acting chops. Unfortunately for her, one big, abusive fight with her on again/off again fiancé became public knowledge and kind of ruined the cookie cutter-Nancy Drew-good girl reputation she was sporting at the moment. She has fortunately made a lot of money from the films and television shows she has appeared in, but she will not hesitate to admit that Hollywood, fame and fortune comes with its challenges.

11. Cara Delevingne

The young model took to Twitter last month to discuss her depression and how it has affected her life. However, she also discussed the ups and downs she has with her happiness and the career that made her famous. She was quoted saying that the modeling industry made her "hallow". How can someone be hallow when they are making millions of dollars just walking down a runway? Simple, the job is so superficial you forget who you are. Cara Delevingne admitted to feeling like she was old and rundown; at her age she should be enjoying money and fame. Instead she has realized that when she is not spending money on people they are conveniently not around

10. Amy Winehouse

This is one of the saddest cases possible; singer Amy Winehouse had a lucrative career. She was beyond talented and well deserving of her fame. Unfortunately for her, she had a lot of troubles and a few demons on her back. Winehouse made millions of dollars during her short career and she was even starting her own record label, but she was miserable. This was partially due to her drug addiction, and partially due to her sudden fame and the shock and stress it put her. She only wanted to be a singer; the money meant nothing, and this was proven by the way she lived her life. She did not have a big fancy house or spend wildly, she was modest.

9. Justin Bieber

Where do we start with Justin Bieber? Bieber has had a hard time in Hollywood. Growing up in front of the cameras may seem cool, but it looks like he is not too well adjusted. What is that saying? Misery loves company... well it seems like Bieber can do misery all on his own. It is unclear what has made him so sad but he is never happy and it shows in everything that he does; disrespects his fans, rarely smiles in photos and carries on with erratic and emotional behaviour that is clearly out of the norm.

8. Selena Gomez

Like her former best friend Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez had a run in with an illness that set her back a few months. She tried to keep her Lupus diagnosis under wraps but she could not hide the fact that she was miserable and in constant pain. What good is having all this money if you are too ill to spend it? Gomez has had a hard time in Hollywood; due to her very public relationship with Justin Bieber, she seems constantly sad as she cries during most of her concerts and avoids public attention as much as possible.

7. Demo Lovato

There was a time when this amazing singer, Demi Lovato, was more known for her antics backstage than her actual talent. She was a Disney star and a touring musician but her life was in pieces; all that money and she could not keep her crap together. Lovato had to step back and re-evaluate not only who she had in her life, but what was important. Money or sanity? She chose sanity, and spent some time away in a rehab-like facility to deal with “emotional and physical issues”. She came back as someone who is body positive, healthy minded and not so worried about how much money she made and how much fame she had, and more worried about who she allows in her life. Ironically enough, unwrapping herself from the grip of fame actually ended up making her more famous.

6. Corey Feldman

In Corey Feldman’s glory days, he was young, making a lot of money and partying with the best of them, but underneath all of that “glamour”, Feldman describes having fame and money as something that brought a lot of evil into his life. So much so that his best friend and other half did not survive the repercussions of having fame and fortune. Feldman openly admits now that he is broke but he admits to living a happier, simpler life.

5. Ashley Judd

Actress Ashley Judd had a great career, success, prosperity and a famous family, but she quickly realized that the fame and money meant nothing. She was sad and diagnosed as clinically depressed. In 2006 she decided to check herself into a rehab facility for 42 days to fight her bout of depression and emerged a greater person, learning that the wealth she gained meant nothing if she could not control her mental stability. She is now married and involved with a number of charities that help people battle problems like depression. For Judd, a picture perfect life does not involve fame and fortune.

4. Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga has made a name for herself that involves loving who you are and what you have been given. She has also been very vocal about the struggles that come along with having fame and fortune. She describes her teenage years as being somewhat torturous due to bullying, and for a while she carried that torture with her. Even after her super successful first album and an amazing world tour, she would go home feeling somewhat lonely and lost. She recently spoke out about finally being truly happy with where she is in her life, and surprise, surprise, money had nothing to do with it.

3. Natalie Imbruglia

Singer Natalie Imbruglia has been described as successful, rich and unhappy, what would warrant such a description? After her hit song "Torn" hit the airwaves in 1997, Imbruglia stuck around for the fame and money part and then kind of disappeared for a very long time. She said that after all the fame and making a lot of money off of one hit song she felt “isolated”. She did not want to leave her house and admitted that all the money offered no real comfort because with the money and the fame, came unwanted people in her life. Imbruglia is now in her early 40s and is able to deal with life as a musician and understands that money is not what she needs.

2. Shia LaBeouf

Shia LaBeouf is constantly on a sad tip; the young actor learned early on that money does not equal happiness. He grew up in a home with parents who were not necessarily the most traditional (they were performers in their own right, and LaBeouf was frequently on the road with them). He has always known that money is irrelevant and while he is quite famous and has enough of a status to demand a certain amount of money per role, LaBeouf is more concerned with living a simple, private life and working on owning his craft as an actor and performance artist.

1. Keanu Reeves

He is somewhat of a recluse currently, but in his prime Keanu Reeves was in hit after hit, and had a bright shining star. He was a household name, but during his early days in Hollywood he realized that the partying, the fame and the fortune were nothing in the grand scheme of things. He was best friends with River Phoenix who famously overdosed in a very public way. And, Reeves' pregnant fiancé died in a car accident in the early 90s. Reeves knows heartbreak and has been very vocal about living a real life and not needing money to do so, because it really does not dictate your true happiness. It was even reported that he gave his entire Matrix salary away! He knows there is no emotional value in money.

Sources: WallStreetJournal, UsMagazine, Standard