The Richest Celebrities Who Have Asked For Your Money on Kickstarter So Far

Ever since Veronica Mars opened up the floodgates for celebrity crowdfunding, there has been a ton of online soul searching regarding whether celebs should be able to ask for our money. Many feel that the rich and famous have compromised Kicstarter, that something pure has been sullied by the agents of big media. Others, including Kickstarter themselves, believe that every celebrity who attempts crowdfunding means another victory for its legitimacy as a business model. Regardless of your philisophical feelings on this issue, we can all agree that an actor with the net worth of $60 million asking their fans to spot him $100,000 feels kind of ridiculous. Nobody wants to sell off one of their Bugattis, but sometimes you have to suffer for your art. We made a list of the richest celebs asking for your cash, just in case you were looking for someone else to be mad at today. Here are The Richest Celebrities Who Have Asked For Your Money on Kickstarter So Far.

Net Worth: Unknown
Project Name: The Rich and the Ruthless
Amount Asked For: $50,000
Amount Raised: $17,894

We are often told to write what we know. Though this can be good advice, it doesn't mean that people are going to get excited about your project. Rowell hoped to take her almost twenty years of soap opera experience on The Young and the Restless and mine it for humor in the creation of a parody pilot called The Rich and the Ruthless. Unfortunately, Rowell's video feels like a parody of a Kickstarter campaign. From Rowell's over-the-top, divalicious sales pitch to the completely amateurish preview clips, The Rich and the Ruthless looks like the most poorly conceived of vanity projects. It appears that guest spots on Law and Order: SVU will continue to be a better career option than director/producer for Rowell.

Net Worth: $200,000 / Unknown
Project Name: The Canyons
Amount Asked For: $100,000
Amount Raised: $159,015

You probably know of The Canyons from the publicity the film received after casting leads Lindsay Lohan and James Deen. Director Paul Schrader and writer Bret Easton Ellis are celebrities in their own right, but they don't have the bank accounts of others on this list. Easton Ellis is reportedly in dire financial straits and director Paul Schrader isn't exactly a household name. It doesn't look like The Canyons is going to do much to raise the profile on these two either: the film has been universally reviled. Rottom Tomatoes summarizes, "Oppressively misanthropic and ineptly made, The Canyons serves as a sour footnote in Paul Schrader's career."

Net Worth: $5 million
Project Name: On Begley Street
Amount Asked For: $25,000
Amount Raised: $29,311

Comedy lovers everywhere are envious of Ed Begley Jr.'s career. He's shown up in Arrested Development, Family Tree, Portlandia, The Office, and a host of other awesome shows. Begley has been an environmental activist almost as long as he's been a comedian. Last year, he launched a Kickstarter to fund a web series about sustainable homes. Begley set a small funding goal of $25,000 to make a web series chronicling the building of the world's greenest house. Unlike pretty much every other celebrity Kickstarter, Begley promised to match contributions to his cause, donating $25,000 of his own money to the project. As if his campaign wasn't already hard enough to hate, Begley's eleven year-old daughter makes an appearance in the Kickstarter video, ensuring that only climate change deniers will hate On Begley Street.

Net Worth: Unknown
Project Name: John K's "Cans Without Labels"
Amount Asked For: $110,000
Amount Raised: $136,723

You probably don't recognize John Kricfalusi's name, but odds are you are familiar with his legendary cartoon creation, Ren and Stimpy. We have to admit we loved his Kickstarter video as much as we loved Powdered Toast Man back in the day. Rather than give you the same old song and dance about his artistic identity and the shackles of commerce, Mr. Kricfalusi regales us with tales of his late father and the inspiration for his newest project. Opting to sell us on the story rather than himself, Kricfalusi monologues for five minutes about his old man's tendency towards buying unmarked canned foods. We weren't alone in being charmed by Kricfalusi's pitch. He reached his modest goal, and has already posted storyboards and layouts up for fan inspection. Though the project has been funded for over a year, it is worth watching Kricfalusi's video to see the master at work, sketching and voicing characters on the fly.

Net Worth: $4 million
Project Name: The Bounce Back
Amount Asked For: $1,500,000
Amount Raised: 249,459 (Cancelled)

An amazing feat was achieved with Shemar Moore's Kickstarter: the former Young and the Restless star managed to make his Kickstarter video feel like a cheesy infomercial. From the poor cutting to the "random" appearance by a potential co-star (Nadine Velasquez) to a shoehorned in shirtless shot, there is very little that comes off as honest or genuine here. In case there was any doubt in your mind that this was not a cause worth donating to, Moore closes out the video with "I guess what I'm trying to say is I like my lemonade sweet and I need some sugar." Though Moore managed to raise a quarter million dollars, he fell short of his goal; he only came up with about one-sixth of his desired sugar content.

Net Worth: Unknown (Father David Mamet, $8 million)
Project Name: The Cabin Sisters - Zosia and Clara Mamet
Amount Asked For: $2,783
Amount Raised: $32,000

If you follow any trendy blog, you already know the story: the funniest gal on Girls and scion of the Mamet family dramatic empire, Zosia Mamet, had a failed Kickstarter campaign. No, this campaign was not aimed at funding an indie film or a sketch comedy team: Zosia and her sister (and fellow sitcom actress) Clara wanted to get some scratch together to make a music video. It's easy to see the genesis of the vitriol aimed at this Kickstarter when you watch their fundraising video, filled with quotes like "We wanted an excuse to spend more time together," "I started picking up the banjo and I played it very badly," and "our music ... has been a sisterly bond." Where would the $30,000 they hoped to raise have gone? According to the ladies, we would have seen some "beautiful gowns" and "a large opulent loft space." For those of you who have seen neither beautiful gowns nor opulent loft spaces in your day, trust us when we say that you are missing out.

Net Worth: Unknown
Project Name: M2057 by Maria Pinto: Urban Chic Fashion Collection by Maria Pinto
Amount Asked For: $250,000
Amount Raised: $144,405 (Campaign still active)

Not every celebrity Kickstarter campaign is for a film or television project. Maria Pinto, a fixture of the Chicago fashion scene whose designs have been worn by Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama, has taken her talents to Kickstarter. Her (currently active) Kickstarter for a line of women's dresses takes the celebrity crowdfunding movement into the world of fashion. Like many Kickstarters for goods, her dresses are available to funders for a relatively modest donation ($250). In fact, a donation gets you a slight price cut, as dress prices will bounce up to $275 once funding closes. Unlike many celebrity Kickstarters, Pinto strikes a pragmatic rather than idealistic tone. Why did she come to Kickstarter? "The fashion industry is littered with waste, but with Kickstarter, I'll only produce what backers want, and backers' choices will inform future collections." When Kickstarters resemble e-commerce experiments rather than vanity begging, it's hard to hate.

Net Worth: Unknown / $8 million
Project Name: Veronica Mars Movie Project
Amount Asked For: $2,000,000
Amount Raised: 5,702,153

The smashing success of the Veronica Mars Kickstarter opened the door for celebrities of all sorts to start asking you for your hard earned cash. Sure, it also gave TV fanboys of every show ever cancelled false hope and kept food on media bloggers' tables for months, but that's another conversation. Fans clearly want a Veronica Mars movie, as over 90,000 backers have jumped on board. The project smashed a number of Kickstarter records: it was the fastest project to reach $1 million, the fastest project to reach $2 million, and went on to become the third highest funded project in Kickstarter history. Veronica Mars created a playbook to help celebrities achieve ambitious Kickstarter goals. Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell made some savvy crowdfunding moves, inlcuding creating frequent, engaging fan videos, and utlizing a tiered reward structure with nearly two dozen categories. What is lost on many celebrities is that all of that would have been a waste without the devoted fan base that came built in with Veronica Mars. Many celebrities only have such a fan base in their mind.

Net Worth: Unknown
Project Name: Charlie Kauffman's Anomalisa
Amount Asked For: $200,000
Amount Raised: $406,237

It doesn't surprise us too much that the legendarily offbeat Charlie Kaufman needed to resort to crowdfunding to get a film made. We also aren't surprised to hear that producers and Community veterans Dan Harmon and Dino Stamatopolous want to create something free from the firm hand of studio executives. Though these are the kind of claims other attempted crowdfunders so often make, Kauffman and Harmon have the pedigree to back it up. Not only have they produced fan-friendly projects in the past, but Harmon and Kauffman both have a well-documented uncompromising approach. In their Kickstarter video, Stamatopolous and Harmon aren't just selling us on this project, but on the idea of Starburns as an independent studio that produces meaningful content. Though you won't know much about Anomolisa after we finish watching the Kickstarter video, you likely will buy into the vision presented by the creative team behind it.

Net Worth: $14 million
Project Name: Darci's Walk of Shame
Amount Asked For: $2,000,000
Amount Raised: $51,605 (Cancelled)

We now know that the limits of 90s nostalgia only stretch so far. If you had told us before Melissa Joan Hart launched her Kickstarter campaign that the Clarissa Explains It All and Sabrina the Teenage Witch star would fail, we would have bet a boatload of Full House GIFs and a BuzzFeed list about 90s kids that you were wrong. Hart's Kickstarter turned out to be one of the biggest failures in celebrity crowdfunding history, falling $1,950,000 short of her goal before Hart and her team pulled the plug. It's easy to understand why she fell short, as her Kickstarter video is largely about how she needs to save her career from Hallmark Channel obscurity. There are few rallying cries less effective than "I need your help to prove to people that I'm more than just Clarissa or Sabrina. You can help me do a funny sexy part. You can help me take the walk of shame." We hate to say it, Melissa, but we're pretty sure this was your walk of shame.

Net Worth: $15 million
Project Name: More Business of Being Born
Amount Asked For: $100,000
Amount Raised: $121,679

The documentary The Business of Being Born was quite a sucess upon its release in 2008. Filmmakers Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein decided that they had more material to add to the conversation (and profit from) after the film hit big. Though you've probably heard of their birthing documentary by now, you likely know Ricki better from the days you spent home sick from middle school. Ricki Lake hosted her daytime talk show for over a decade before getting into the documentary business. It seems that the documentary game has treated her well, as The Business of Being Born has spawned a book and an online community in addition to the glorified DVD extras that comprise More Business of Being Born. Why couldn't this burgeoning birthing empire dip into their own coffers to produce MBOB? We guess that's none of our business.

Net Worth: $20 million
Project Name: Palo Alto Stories
Amount Asked For: $500,000
Amount Raised: $327,929

Unlike many ambitious celebrity crowdfunders, James Franco got to keep his money even though he didn't fully fund Palo Alto Stories. As is typical of everyone's favorite renaissance man, Franco approached the project a little bit differently than your standard Kickstarter or Indiegogo-er. Though the stories are adapted from Franco's collection of short fiction, he tapped three emerging filmmakers to direct the films. Why did he do this? You won't be surprised to hear that Franco waxes philosophical on that very subject in his crowdfunding video. When reflecting on his process, he said, "In this way, the movies we want to make get made in the ways we want to make them." Alright, that's suitable pretentious and vague for our tastes: where do we sign up?

Net Worth: $45 million
Project Name: Darryl Makes Comics
Amount Asked For: $100,000
Amount Raised: $5,537

Your fans may love you, but not enough to pay to see you do something other than what you got famous for. Both Zosia Mamet and Darryl McDaniels have learned this lesson the hard way. McDaniels hit Kickstarter earlier this year with an attempt to transition from hip-hop to comic books and missed his target by a hefty $95,000. Let no one say that McDaniels's pitch wasn't heartfelt: the man loves comics as much as he loves rap and he believes that a hip-hop graphic novel is just what the world needs. We're not ready to make a call on that one, but we can say that McDaniels is not the consensus choice to fill that need in the market. Though there is still much love for DMC out in the world, fans weren't ready to trust him in a field in which he is an unproven commodity.

Net Worth: $45 million
Project Name: Whoopi Goldberg's Documentary, "I've Got Something to Tell You"
Amount Asked For: $65,000
Amount Raised: $73,764

Almost 900 backers have come to Whoopi Goldberg's aid to provide help with the production of her Moms Mabley documentary. Though we admittedly weren't familiar with Moms, Goldberg's argument that we should be is quite convincing. In Whoopi's view, Mabley is a comic icon. Without Mabley, "there probably would not have been a Totie, a Joan, a Kathy, a Wanda, or any of the others who may follow," Goldberg claims. Goldberg goes on to say that "With her boundary pushing stand-up she was able to get past the obstacles of all of the 'isms': racism, sexism, ageism." If you are as unfamiliar with Moms as we were, you should start with this video.

Net Worth: $60 million
Project Name: David Lynch Documentary
Amount Asked For: $30,000
Amount Raised: $179,554

Forgive us for taking the easy way out, but the Kickstarter video for the documentary about David Lynch is, well, downright Lynchian. Lynch Three is the third documentary Jason S. has made about David Lynch. After listening to Jason S. tell us why he needs to make a third Lynch documentary, we were still unclear way he needs to make a third Lynch documentary, but we know that the man is passionate about it. We also know that David donated an original abstract artwork as one of the rewards. We also know that, in Jason's words, "David is a battery of creativity and all of us around him plug into that battery." Good to know.

Net Worth: $275 million
Project Name: Reach Me
Amount Asked For: $250,000
Amount Raised: $259,789 (Cancelled)

We don't claim to know your deepest dreams here at Complex, but we're willing to bet that seeing Nelly, Kelsey Grammer, and Sylvester Stallone light up the screen together is not one of them. Reach Me was the most star-studded Kickstarters to date. It was also probably the most derided, and though it met its goal, the project was cancelled amid widespread media mockery. There was no way that the attempt of all of these rich people to raise finishing funds for a film was going to be met with anything other than scorn, but the Kickstarter video certainly didn't help. Broadly comic golf scenes, E from Entourage talking about how great it is to work with an "actor's director," and a weird black and white appearance from Thomas Jayne combine to create what feels like a bad comedy sketch. This is the current low point in celebrity Kickstarter history, though we bet it only gets worse from here.