Everyone is talking about how Eddie Griffin crashed a $1.5 million Enzo Ferrari owned by the producer of his new movie. There’s some controversy about whether it was staged as a publicity stunt or not, and TMZ points out the guy next to the barrier that doesn’t flinch when the car crashes just a couple of feet away. The car was owned by producer Daniel Sadek, and they note that two of his Porsche Carerra GTs used in the film Redline were also totalled during production. Griffin crashed the car at Irwindale Speedway, where he was going to race it for charity to promote Sadek’s move Redline in which he stars.

Here’s the video of Eddie Griffin’s crash:

I think the crash was legitimate and that Griffin just handled himself well afterwards. Griffin explained that:

“Undercover Brother’s good at karate and all the rest of that, but the brother can’t drive,” Griffin told the Associated Press. Griffin told CBS News that he “was coming around the track and came into a tight turn and I hit a cone and the cone got caught underneath the tire. So the tire locked up and [the car] slammed into the wall.”

And his boss, the owner of the car, said “I’m glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed.” He went on to say there are worse things happening in the world and that it occured to him that people are dying every day, so he should be able to get over it.

Simon Cowell ruined another new Ferrarri, but one worth considerably less at $180k. He also did a mere $10,000 worth of damage. Just a day after taking the car home, Cowell hit the undercarriage on a speed bump, causing extensive damage. It can be fixed, but Cowell is going to get rid of it anyway.

Just 24 hours after dropping 180 grand on a brand-new Ferrari F430, Simon Cowell failed to spot a speed bump on an LA street, flew over it and…. CR-R-RUNCH!… bottomed out his low-slung Italian sports rocket, destroying the lower half of the grille and most of the undercarriage! Bummed, the “American Idol” mogul told pals he will now dump the car – because even though the $10,000 damage has been repaired … it’s “not really new anymore.” (And to be fair, the bloody ashtray was dirty!)

[From The National Enquirer print edition, April 2, 2007]

I guess that’s what it’s like to be mega rich and arrogant. Most people would be greatful to own a used car worth a third of that. Cowell gets paid for being a dick and dismissing people and at least he’s consistent in his personal life.

Here’s a link to the ten most expensive cars in the world. I’ve seen a few of these before on the amazing car show Top Gear from the BBC. I’m mostly covering this for my husband, who is a car afficionado.

And here are some pictures of the Ferrari Enzo and F30 models that were totalled by Griffin and Cowell.