How The Former Hollywood Star Lost Millions

Back in the 2000s, Amanda Bynes was one of America’s most famous faces. She rose to stardom as a Nickelodeon teen star, and quickly moved into a lucrative film career. But by the early ‘10s, the young actress began to crash and burn. Her erratic behavior made headlines and she suffered a very public mental health breakdown. That lead to Amanda Bynes’ conservatorship, which was enacted back in 2014 and continues to make headlines today. Here’s an inside look at the star’s rise and fall—and the money she lost as a result.

The History Of Her Whirlwind Career

Amanda Bynes posting at the 2003 movie awards
(Featureflash Photo Agency/Shutterstock.com)

Born in Thousand Oaks, California, on April 3, 1986, Bynes started her professional career at the tender age of seven. She worked onstage, booking commercials, and was then discovered by a talent agent for Nickelodeon. Bynes was cast in a sketch show for the network called All That, which ran until 2000 and earned the young actress tons of recognition. She then starred in the show’s spin-off, The Amanda Show, which became even more popular than its predecessor.

After two years fronting The Amanda Show, Bynes starred in her first feature film, the 2002 hit Big Fat Liar. It was a big success at the box office and elevated Bynes’ celebrity status. Over the next four years, she starred alongside Jennie Garth in the popular WB sitcom, What I Like About You, while also appearing in high-profile movies such as What a Girl Wants and She’s the Man.

Bynes had her biggest box office hit in the 2007 musical comedy Hairspray, which won her a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Acting Ensemble and a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Young star Bynes was thrilled to be cast in the role alongside Hollywood stars like John Travolta or Michelle Pfeiffer.

“This was the type of movie I want to be in which is a movie with the heavy hitters and the veterans who I hope to, one day, be like,” Bynes said in a 2007 interview with Collider. “So, for me, I just wanted to do my best. I was game every day to just be the best Penny I could be. And, a lot of times, when I do a role, I think, ‘what if someone else was playing this role?’ and, if I was watching it, ‘how would I do it better?’”

Bynes launched Dear, a clothing line and accessories in 2007 after her success in film and TV. Her acting roles began to diminish by 2009. She dropped out of a number of scheduled projects, and after appearing in the Emma Stone hit Easy A in 2010, Bynes announced in a Tweet that she was quitting acting. “Being an actress isn’t as fun as it may seem,” she wrote. “If I don’t love something anymore, I stop doing it. I don’t love acting anymore, so I’ve stopped doing it. I know 24 is a young age to retire, but you heard it here first.”

Bynes was serious about her assertion, despite the fact that she recanted her statement a month later. The now 35-year old celeb has not been in a TV or movie since 2010.

Her Infamous Conservatorship

Amanda Bynes attends an appearance at Manhattan Criminal Court on July 9, 2013 in New York City.
(Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

A couple of years after her 2010 Tweets, Bynes’ personal life began to unravel. After being charged with DUI in April 2012, Bynes was also facing hit-and-run charges in September 2012. The She’s The Man star was also pulled over for driving with a suspended license, which had been revoked as a result of her hit-and-run charges. Rumors about the star’s troublesome behavior began to circulate, including reports that she had stopped talking to her management teams and as a result, had been dropped by her agent, publicist, and lawyer.

Bynes was again charged with reckless endangerment in May 2013 and marijuana possession. She was later placed under a 72-hour mental hold and involuntarily hospitalized. At this point, in an effort to help their daughter get her life under control, Bynes’ parents filed for a temporary conservatorship.

According to 2013 court documents obtained by TMZ, Bynes’ parents were extremely concerned about their daughter’s spending habits. They claimed that Bynes had spent more than $200,000 in two months, and that much of this money was used to purchase marijuana and other illegal drugs. Bynes’ parents also expressed deep concern for their daughter’s mental health, saying she had become “extremely paranoid about being watched” and believed she had become homeless.

In 2014, Bynes’ mother was granted full legal conservatorship of her daughter, and in September 2021, The Blast reported it was extended by the court until at least 2023. This report was later refuted by Byne’s lawyer, who clarified to People that the arrangement is “open day to day,” and that the former actress is simply due for a health status update in 2023. “Her conservatorship will terminate when it is no longer convenient for Amanda,” her lawyer added.

Bynes has been in rehab and sober living facilities since the conservatorship was established. In 2010, she retired from Twitter because of her bizarre behavior.

“I saw [the movie Easy A] and I was convinced that I should never be on camera again and I officially retired on Twitter, which was, you know, also stupid,” she told Paper magazine in 2018. “If I was going to retire [the right way], I should’ve done it in a press statement—but I did it on Twitter. Real classy! But, you know, I was high and I was like, ‘You know what? I am so over this’ so I just did it. But it was really foolish and I see that now. I was young and stupid.”

Amanda Bynes’ Net Worth

Amanda Bynes in a video from her now-deleted Instagram
(Amanda Bynes/ Instagram)

According to CelebrityNetWorth.com, Amanda Bynes’ current net worth is $3 million. Her struggle with money and stardom had a major impact on her fortune. She spent substantial sums of money before she was granted conservatorship. She also hasn’t taken on a film or TV project in more than a decade, and her clothing and accessories line has long since folded. And while Bynes did drop a rap song on her YouTube channel earlier this year called “Diamonds,” it doesn’t appear this is anything more than a fun hobby.

As much as the conservatorship helped to curb Bynes’ overspending during troubled times, it’s also appears responsible for draining some of the Nickelodeon star’s funds. In a 2020 Instagram video, Bynes spoke up about some of the hefty expenses mandated by the arrangement. “Today I want to talk about a controversial topic: my conservatorship case,” She said. “I have been going to a treatment center that charges $5,200 a month. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t go to a therapist who takes my insurance for $5,000 less a month. This is why I’ve asked to see the judge next week regarding this conservatorship issue.”

Although the legal arrangement remains in effect, Bynes appears to be making positive steps towards a day when the contract can be dissolved. Her lawyer told People while clarifying her conservatorship terms that she is hard in work at school at California’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. He also mentioned that she is considering fragrances as well as a clothing line. He mentioned that Bynes enjoys taking yoga classes and meditation in her free time.

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