Yesterday we reported on the news that Tori Spelling, 42, was being sued by American Express for nonpayment of a nearly $38,000 debt. The last payment Tori attempted to make was in June of last year. It was around $1,000 and Tori’s check bounced, suggesting that she’s pretty deep in debt. Many of you mentioned that this large Amex credit was probably the tip of the iceberg for Tori because people with one large credit card bill usually have several.
A paparazzo from TMZ caught up with Tori’s mother, Candy, who inherited the bulk of her late husband, TV magnate Aaron Spelling’s estate. They asked her if she knew about Tori’s Amex debt and Candy seemed surprised. (Although it was hard to tell because her face is permanently stuck in that expression.) She was pretty candid about the fact that she’s been paying all of Tori’s bills but wasn’t about to bail her out of this one. Here’s what she said and you can see the video below.
Would you be willing to help [Tori] out?
I’ve been helping her out, I’m paying all her bills now. I’m not paying extras like that. I’m not paying any back payments, just for the house and the kids school and the food.Why did she miss a payment?
I don’t know. Extravagance I guess.
As I mentioned yesterday, Candy buys insane amounts of sh*t, at least she did during Tori’s childhood. She had one of the largest beanie baby collections in the world, she had rare dolls worth tens of thousands, and the mansion she sold in LA – which she had custom made – had three gift wrapping rooms, a doll room, a barbershop and a bowling alley. Many massively wealthy people have rooms for their hobbies but Candy’s mansion was just beyond. So that’s where Tori learned her spending habits. I’m not saying her mom should bail her out at all. I think Candy is taking the right stance, especially if you think of Tori as an addict. Tori’s addiction is spending, and if her mom pays for more than the basics (that word being extremely relative in this case) she’s just feeding Tori’s addiction.
Also, Candy sees her grandchildren from what I’ve read but she and Tori have had a very strained relationship to date, most likely due to the money issue. Candy claimed in 2014 that Tori would beg her for “extravagant” things and not allow her to see her grandchildren when she refused.
Radar Online is reporting that Tori’s husband Dean is encouraging her to file for bankruptcy. That’s not going to stop her though, just look at Teresa Giudice.
I see what you’re saying about not bailing her out however, the time to teach her some personal and financial responsibility would have been as her parent when she was growing up. Is Candi not at least partially responsible for how Tori has turned out? Maybe I’m wrong and she did…
*not saying she should bail her own but she seems to not be taking any ownership in how she turned out
My parents would give me the world if they could but they also taught me to get up off my own arse, don’t expect anyone else to support you and to appreciate what I earn and are given.
Tori has no real skills and was raised to believe she was going to be very wealthy.
But then she decided to divorce the rich husband and marry for love.
Unfortunately, she has never adjusted to the reality of marrying for love.
She needs to declare bankruptcy after her next shopping spree.
Why doesnt she have an accountant? If she does, get a new one. Not everyone in Hollywood is good with money (most aren’t and use these people for good reason). Her mom spent within her budget. It was just huge. Tori has been on multiple tv shows, and had plenty of opportunities to save/invest. At one point when you’re over 30, and she’s over 40 with kids, you have to figure out what is your budget and how can you stay within in it. If Candy is paying for the house, food, and kids (really the necessities) that means they’re going over on credit card bills on needless stuff.
The accountant can say “hey Tori, you barely earn an income, this is how much you have and this is how you can spend it to make it last more until you figure out what to do” and she can either take the advice or do whatever she wants to do.
No way. Because that would be one more person telling her she has no business trying to live large and she doesn’t want to hear it.
And No, Candy is not responsible for how Tori is now. She probably did not teach her how to handle finances and obviously Candy doesn’t know how to live modestly, however, Tori is not 18 or even 23. She is in her 40s! She is a grown woman who has been a grown woman for at least 20 years. I don’t hold Candi responsible. And even if did, it wouldn’t be Candy I would hold responsible. It would be Aaron. Candy has never had to worry about finances. She can’t teach what she hasn’t learned herself. Aaron would have been the one to teach responsibility and accountability. Tori knew over a decade ago that she would not be inheriting her father’s fortune and she made no efforts to altar her habits. She is her own monster and has been for a very long time. I also dont’ care for the assumption that she is an addict. Nobody has any reason to think she is an addict. We every reason to beleive she is simply an entitled brat who refuses to put her family first – that’s what it really comes down to. Tori is all about Tori. If her priorities were straight, she would making sure the kids have a secure roof over their head, clothes, and food and schooling. Only after that, would she consider what material things she wants for herself. But she doesn’t do that. She puts her wants first. She is selfish.
This fool is suffering from affluenza and the only remedy is cold turkey soup.
Let Tori go bankrupt and her dirtbag husband start pulling his dead weight. They should move to Iowa and work on a farm. The reverse Beverly Hillbillies. The real life Green Acres. Hey, I might actually WATCH that show!!! Tori, call me. We’ll pitch it!!!
@Pinky I live in Iowa and we don’t want them here… they should move to Oklahoma or Nebraska, away from us poor Iowans!
Pinky, as usual your summarization for the situation is Apropos.
Bitch needs several jobs. And don’t forget a McDonald’s application for Dean.
They created television shows for Tori to star in and learn how to earn money. That should have been enough to teach responsibility. Instead Tori blew all that money on boyfriends and frivolous stuff. I think Aaron and Candy did okay as parents – their son is living proof – and blaming them for Tori’s mess at this stage of her adult life is lazy.
The son Randy was an idiot for years too. He also had a reality show with Rod Stewart’s kid. But Randy moved out of Hollywood a few years ago, left the industry. I have a struggling actress friend who knows Randy as he runs some sort of self-help seminars shes attended. Tori needs to take a page from Randy, leave Hollywood and live within her means.
He is a married now, has a family and is a life coach who teaches there is more to life than material possessions – how fitting is that?! He seems to have matured and come to some epiphany about his father’s wealth. He not only lives within his means, but he’s gone to the other end of the spectrum practicing simplicity. I really admire that. I think his life as a trustfund baby was killing him inside. He used to get in trouble, did alot of coke. He’s made a complete about face. Meanwhile sister is boohooing to her mother to buy her something she wants or she can’t see her grandkids. And she did keep them from her for years. That not only hurt Candi, but those kids lost out on the one grand parent they still have a live here in the states. Shame on Tori. She is a sorry excuse of a mother.
JJ, it sounds like Tori could take some advice from her brother. Good for him for becoming self-sufficient. I think Tori’s problem is that she likes the attention living in LA brings her and this together with her immaturity and money problems are all linked. Her mommy lives down the road and is somewhat supporting her – it’s a slippery slope to Candy paying for everything, if Tori whines enough I guess. I’d be so embarrassed to be in my 40s and still relying on my parents to support me and my family. Hey, Tori and Dean – sell the contents of the storage units, pay your debts and get jobs. What are they teaching their kids by leeching off of Gramma? McDonald’s is always hiring!!!
Money is love to Tori. Each time Mom bails her out, Tori is hearing Mom say, “I love you.”
This is why Tori spends and spends. She craves reassurance that Mom does, in fact, really love her.
Very insightful, I had not considered that
I believe this 100%.
Exactly. And it’s how she, Tori, says “I love you” to her children, her husband, and to herself. It’s empty, of course, which is why there’s never enough.
Oh man. That is incredibly deep. And if you’re right, it’s really sad.
I think there is some truth to what you are saying there.
I don’t beleive that. Tori manipulates her mother. She uses her kids against her. She gives ultimatums. How does that fit into material gifts equally love? What I see is Tori still wanting to be a little girl – no responsibility, being spoiled and doted on, not having to do anything she doesn’t want to do. She knows her mother loves her – that is the weapon she weilds over Candi – “Give me what I want, or you’ll never see me or your grandkids again.” That doesn’t speak of someone looking for love. That speaks of a selfish, deviant personality using whatever leverage they have to get what they want. She is a narcissist. They want what they want when they want it – everybody else be damned!
JJ, I don’t think the two are mutually exclusive. She can be a shitty narcissist who demands love and attention in the only form she knows: money. Plenty of people contrive and manipulate others in order to serve their needs, including the need to feel loved. It’s not always a pure and simple thing.
As a parent who failed to teach my sons financial responsibility, I can testify that it is biting me in the butt now. In my 50’s I finally started to learn how to take care of my own finances. Both of my sons are struggling, and I know that we are to blame for failing to teach them properly. However, they are old enough now to sink or swim on their own, and I have mixed feelings about how appropriate it is to bail out your kids. I do think Candy is doing the right thing making sure her grandkids have housing and food though.
It’s refreshing to hear a parent own a failure in raising their kids and you even admit it. I admire you for that. I understand your feeling guilty about an aspect of your child-rearing, but you wouldn’t be helping them by bailing them out. There are financial planners in every city. Some are very affordable and specialize in us regular folk’s economic bracket. I have a girlfriend at work who went to 2-3 meetings with a financial planning company and they simply set her up with a budget based on her income and goals. She has stuck to it for years now and is living well, goes on 2 vacations per year and she is very proud of her responsbility. She wasn’t necessarily living beyond her means to begin with. She just knew she hadn’t been taught how to save or budget so she sought it out. That would be much healthier and actually address your son’s problems rather the quick fix of patching up an overdue bill.
CANDY HAS 600 MILLION DOLLARS. END OF STORY. CANDY DIDNT EARN A PENNY OF IT. It was Aaron’s and he would want tori to be taken care of.. he is probably rolling over in his grave that Candy has beanie babies that cost 50 grand and she is calling tori extravagant. They raised her to be entitled so now she is.
Lisa I have to respectively disagree with you. Candy was married to Aaron before he made a dime. They created a family and lifestyle together. He worked and she stayed home and raised a family. The money was and is their money to do with as they both decide. Before his death a will either by him or together was created. A sum of money was given to each child with the bulk going to the still living spouse. When she passes the remaining amount of the estate will be divided between the remaining children. He did not have to leave any amount to his children. Unless a trust was previously set up this is traditionally the way estates are handled. Tori is and has been very well taken care of. The estate is rightfully her mother’s to do with as she see pleases.
If Aaron wanted Tori to be “taken care of”, he would have left her a hundred million dollars instead of just one million.
It’s pretty clear he wanted her to be comfortable, but to support herself.
Tori is 100% responsible for herself regardless of her upbringing. There comes a time when adults can no longer blame the parents and Tori is well past that time. Candi could afford to spend lots of money when Tori was being raised. Tori cannot.
Purely from an outsider’s POV, Tori needs tough love coupled with aggressive intervention.
She really needs to go to Debtors Anonymous. http://newsite.debtorsanonymous.org/getting-started/da/ I said it in the other thread, but this is a REAL problem, an emotional/mental issue, and while it seems like she can’t be “reasonable” or “smart” and she has the hustle and works hard she should have learned how to save properly. YES, this is true for most people who have a healthy relationship with money. Clearly, she does not, she never has and she needs to learn now before it gets WAY way worse (can it really get worse, I don’t know). When someone has spending problems like this, it almost always comes from an emotional need and they need to be rewired. It’s serious ish. The first steps of DA are similar to AA, except that you have to log in ALL that you spend over 90 days.
I’m not saying she shouldn’t take responsibility or change her ways, I’m just saying without the intervention or the proper tools she will continue to cycle through these issues.
Also – deadbeat husbands and over the top living doesn’t help. Also – taking advantage of people isn’t cool, and when you spend 38k on a credit card and don’t have the means to pay it back, that’s taking advantage.
I agree, but I can see why Candi pays for the house, food and school expenses – it’s for the children. If Dean and Tori were the only ones involved then definitely kick them in the ass and don’t pay for anything, not even the essentials. But when you have children involved (and they are the innocent ones) then it becomes a bit of a different story. Having said that, Dean and Tori need to down size even more when it comes to their living space and where the kids go to school and also get rid of any help they have. Dean can cook so they don’t need a chef and they are both able bodied people and so can clean the house themselves AND teach the children how to clean. Even my 3 year old grandchild knows how to clean – not by herself but she can pick up and she even likes to help load and unload the dishwasher and fold laundry. I always joke about child labor being the best but the other side is that they are learning to take care of things.
And if you look at what Candy pays for, those are all checks she can write directly to the schools, mortgage companies, even grocery stores. She isn’t stupid enough to hand Tori a stack of cash. She is making sure her grandchildren are protected.
@Carol, didn’t think about how she could pay those directly and not give the money to Tori and Dean. Good point!
According to my dad, half the point of kids is not having to do boring chores yourself anymore. Dishes need washed? Child, get scrubbing! I had to do all kinds of things, including changing tires long before I was old enough to drive. That stank, but hey, I was the only one of my friends who knew how to do it.
I have always been grateful that my sister and I did most of the cleaning and other chores when we were kids. We are both clean in our own homes, know how to cook, and dont’ feel overwhelmed by all of it. I have friends who were never made to do any chores and it boggles the mind how that carries over into adult-hood. They literally cannot manage a household. They have no idea how to cook and are intimidated by the mere thought. I taught one friend how to sort laundry. She didn’t know you’re suppose separate whites from darks and reds you wash alone. To this day, she struggles with what I consider the most mundane aspects of managing a household. I started my son early with chores. He has been dusting, polishing, and windexing since he was three. He actually really likes to clean the toilets – go figure and good for me 🙂
Tori needs to figure out why there’s a hole in her soul that she’s trying to fill with stuff.
I think she knows and doesn’t want to air it anymore than she to – she is in a loveless marriage – a marriage of convenience for the kids’ sake. People who over-indulge in anything do so as a means of instant gratification. It’s a high to buy and get stuff. Some people eat their feelings, some people use drugs or alcohol to numb their feelings. Some people hoard and buy stuff to fill their emptiness and almost all of those people do it because on some level they are lonely and feel unloved.
Perfect hashtag: #childhoodissweet. Just add #adulthoodis…foreverybodyelse
OMG, you’re killing me. spot on. 🙂
Candy is just as bad as Tori with spending…she just has more money.
At least she waited until she had enough money before she started her weird collections.
She was a socialite. She came from money and has never known anything else. She went straight from her own daddy’s money to Aaron’s. I don’t have much respect for her – not becuase she did anything wrong per se, but she hasn’t ever stood on her own feet and I’m sure even now, she has advisors and planners doing all the finances, so all she has to do is obey them.
Damn I really feel sorry that their lives are so public. This family like so many others share way too much. This is just unnecessarily embarrassing.
I think Aaron Spelling was wise to leave the bulk of his fortune to Candy because if Tori had it, she would have spent it all already.
At least Candy is being generous by paying Tori’s essentials, it’s not as if she’s left her high and dry, but I also think Tori and Dean McDermott need to find jobs and stop living so excessively.
She and Teresa could start “The Real Bankrupt Wives” franchise.
Teresa could toss over tables and Tori could “fall” onto barbecues at restaurants
OMG. Theresa would scare the crap out of Tori. Can you imagine?
I thought the same thing the other day. Someone needs to take these sad sacks, give them an allowance and watch them try to make it last for each episode.
Hey Candy…I still have almost 31k of student loans left… I’m willing to let you run all the ‘Erinn is a mess financially – I’m bailing her out AGAIN’ stories you’d like until it’s paid off….
i consider all those years that she was on her father’s show to be a pro rated inheritance, i have no sympathy for her
Hah, good point. The problem is that Tori saw it as a first instalment.
I know a lot of people on yesterday’s post thought that she’s just an entitled spoiled rich girl who should face reality because … champagne problems and other people have real problems, I guess. But I honestly don’t see how someone who was handed everything in life without learning the meaning of goals, work, achievement, or being self-sufficient could possibly know how to live on a budget, no matter how large that budget is. Her parents blew money up her a** until she made life decisions they didn’t approve of and then cut her off. Wow. Yeah, use your money to control your daughter. Charming. There really are no winners here and Candy gets the daughter she deserves.
I do feel bad for the kids. I don’t see how they could possibly learn the value of money from these two morons. Mom goes bankrupt and grandma bails her out. What does dad do, btw?
Well the Kendall or Kylie Jenner buy their own mansion…
That was a sarcastic observation, right? Because the KK have not exactly been a model of how to raise your kids right – ensure they get an education and a strong moral code and self reliance. Buying mansions with your share of the family reality tv show your mom has pimped you on since childhood, doesn’t seem all that admirable to me. But yes, while Kris is a whole level of despicable, she is a brilliant saleswoman and also, by all appearances, a great money manager.
buying it…do we know if they are making payments, or they bought it outright? Off topic I know, but I was just curious.
I’m not saying the two situations are equal at all, but I never had to worry about money until I was out on my own. My father (long story) had to become financially responsible for his parents at a very young age, and he never wanted his children to feel that stress. As a result, he went a little too far in the other direction, and we weren’t taught anything about financial responsibility at all. When I was first on my own, I made $10,500 a year, along with some bad financial decisions that put me in a bad situation. But I got another job and dug myself out of it, and have been very aware of how to live within my means ever since. Granted, we were not rich like the Spellings, but my point is, you can’t blame everything on how you were raised. After a certain point, it’s you.
I’m not saying there is one person to blame here. None of them look great. I do think, however, that while at some point adults need to get their sh*t together and her upbringing is not an excuse for this mess, it is definitely an explanation. These are extreme circumstances. If you go in the other direction and look, for example, at children of parents who have never had a job and live on welfare (in Germany it’s doable if not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination), they have a hard time grasping the concept of a 9-5 job. If they live in a poor neighborhood with high unemployment, they simply don’t know what that looks like and they are more likely to end up without an education and on welfare as well. And you can get a frickin’ masters degree for free here. So why don’t most of them even finish high school? Because they never learned the importance of any of it. Tori never learned how to live a normal life either. The difference is that she’ll always be bailed out.
I imagine your father did teach you basic life skills though? I wasn’t wanting for anything growing up either (though I did have to do additional things around the house for my allowance at some point) but I was taught that the things I got didn’t fall from trees, my parents worked for them. That’s the difference between middle class spoiled and filthy rich spoiled. I don’t believe Tori has basic life skills.
I agree GNAT, but I have a feeling that while your dad may have been a bit too indulgent /generous, he taught you other great things such as a sense of responsibility, a moral code, a desire to accomplish things and so on. I had a very similar dad and I grew up in a country where the kids of well off families did not get a job until post uni. You stayed home with your parents, they paid for everything, even for married young couples (sounds weird but that was both a cultural and socio-political environment) and my dad was horrified that I wanted to work while attending uni. He took it ver personally but I wanted to gain some financial independence – it felt wrong to me to ask my parents for money to buy a pair of boots, you know. Spending your own money gives you self control. But I had learned from him that independence and self reliance need to be earned, and Tori never got that lesson, directly or indirectly.
I agree that she has had a long time to learn that lesson, but I also feel that her parents set her up for failure, not success. As I said yesterday, unless she was willing to quit HW and get a real education, this was a path to disaster. Without her father’s backing she was never going to be an actress and she obviously lacks the KK gene for making money in a reality tv universe.
Yes to both of you – good points. I was not taught how to manage money, but I was taught to be responsible in general and other life skills. I see exactly what you mean.
See, I think giving her 90210 should have taught her responsibility and a work ethic. She wasn’t a good actress, but he brought her into the family business, allowed her to see how hard she would need to work, made her earn that money, and exposed her to lots of other jobs, even behind the camera. It’s not her parents’ fault she blew through all that money and didn’t bother to learn anything. I think blaming the parents is weak.
Weak? They raise you, they lay the groundwork, so to speak. I explicitly stated that nobody is 100% to blame but you cannot discount that kind of crazy upbringing. She wasn’t a good actress but he made sure she got one of the most prominent roles in one of the most successful shows of the 90s. See the problem? She didn’t have to work to get it, she barely had to work to keep it. That’s no basis for any kind of work ethic.
@ littlemissnaughty
But that was what? Nearly two decades ago. She’s since been able to get her own shows by herself and write books without daddy’s help. He’s been dead ten years, but she’s been able to generate her own income.
And like the article yesterday said, she’s spent $18 million in the first 8 years of her marriage. Who’s fault is that? Daddy or mommy’s? Or hers and her husband’s?
So she’s proven that she has some kind of work ethic without her daddy being around.
But the problem isn’t just her income. It’s her addiction to spending and hoarding. She buys stuff, then pays for numerous storage units to hoard her purchases, then buys more stuff, then hordes it.
Since her mother pays for the housing, food, and the kids’ tuition, what is Tori spending money on besides the storage fees? Like Candy said, she’s not going to pay for Tori’s extravagances. That’s on Tori to pay for with all the jobs she’s proven she can get without daddy’s connections.
Her father gave her untalented self job after job. Her mother is paying for all the housing, food, and kids’ tuition. Her father left her nearly $1 million in his will. Tori herself has been able to get TV jobs and make money off of books even after her father died and jobs from him weren’t coming in. So she’s not incapable of finding work and income all by herself.
So what more can anybody else do for her when she refuses to stop spending and hoarding?
Her brother was raised in the same family and got basically the same thing from their father’s will, but he didn’t turn out like her.
I have seen siblings in very poor families turn out polar opposite in how they handle finances as well. In this case, she’s had multiple claims of being broke, ‘downsizing’, etc., and now mother claims she’s paying for housing, tuition and food.
It’s inexcusable for a 42 year old with the opportunities she had. Her brother didn’t have a role on a hit series and he seems fine.
littlemissnaughty, I could not agree more! Spot on!!
She’s a 42 yr old woman. It’s not her mom’s fault if she hasn’t figured out how to make a budget and balance a checkbook by now. She’s lucky her mom pays the basics. I have no sympathy for her. She’s had so many opportunities and she’s just squandered them.
Trust me if her dad wasn’t who he was, Tori would never have gotten hired as an actress. She lacks talent. He handed her a career which she made lots of money from. It’s her fault she was so horrible at managing her money. Don’t worry, she’ll probably mooch off her kids once they get a hold of their trust funds. This woman is a mess and I do feel bad for her kids…not to mention the father those kids have. Ughh.
You would think that cow pie of a husband would be embarrassed. He’s a bad enough actor to do tons of Hallmark and Lifetime movies.
What a worthless hot piece of mess.
get a college education in something, get a job and live within your means. This makes me so mad.
Actually the last thing she should do is get a college education. She’d just be in more debt. LOL!
Maybe she can get finacial aid 🙂
I’m sure her mom would pay for a real college education…. That’s an investment in the future of her grandchildren.
I dunno this kind of sucks. Candy has more money than God. Just bail tori out. I wouldn’t leave my daughter hanging like that, even if she was a spoilt brat.
How in the world is paying for their food, shelter, and children’s education considered leaving her daughter hanging?
It seems to me as if Tori is spending more money on storage unit fees than she does on basic necessities for her own kids, especially since Candi pays for most of that.
Why should Candi pay for Tori’s spending and hoarding addictions?
Since Tori won’t stop her addictions, the more money you give to her, the more it’s NOT going to go to her own kids. So then Candi will not only be paying for the housing, the food, and the kids’ tuition, but also for Tori to stuff more expensive junk into more storage units?
Giving her any money for non-necessities would be throwing money to the wind. She never seems to want to learn how to do better.
She’ll file bankruptcy and other people (customers of companies left with her unpaid debt) who have had far less opportunities will end up paying for her reckless spending.
@ Christin
I agree with you that the solution isn’t to give her more money, because all she’ll do is spend it instead of fixing her addictions (spending and hoarding).
I don’t think she’ll file bankruptcy because that might mean she has to give up all that stuff she’s been hoarding. She can’t claim it’s necessary household items as they’ve been sitting in storage units for years.
I’m thinking she’s hoping Benihana settles out of court.
I get what you’re saying, but just because Candy has money doesn’t mean she “owes” it to Tori so she can fix her problems and learn nothing. It’d be like throwing money down a well. Candy’s paying for the house and kids schooling and stuff so her grandchildren don’t suffer the consequences of Tori’s inability to learn how to live within her means. I’m tired of people making excuses for her; that’s why she doesn’t change – because someone else will manage the consequences. She’s a 42 year-old mother of four for crying out loud. Enough.
No, her mom is right on this one. If she pays off Tori’s credit card, Tori will just fill up another card with debt for non-essentials. Tori really needs somebody to cut up her cards, and Amex is the first to do it. Others will follow. I can only imagine what kinds of penalty interest Tori is already paying. Credit card companies don’t play softball. They will descend upon her and pick her bones, chew them up and spit them out… If she can’t make $1000 monthly payments, she’s toast financially. She’s very lucky that her home, school tuition, and food are all being covered by her mom. She doesn’t have to make changes that will disrupt the kids’ lives. But she has to downsize in other areas. She does seem to need therapy for her needless spending and hoarding habits, though. It reached illness level a long time ago. Paying off her credit cards would be like buying booze for an alcoholic.
Tori’s brother has a wife, kids, and his own career and he doesn’t seem to have these problems. If one sibling can learn to manage money, why can’t the other?
+100000000!!!
Bingo!
I wonder if the real difference is that Tori, on some level, knows that a large part of Dean’s attraction to her is based on her being a Billionaire’s firstborn and only daughter. She feels a need to justify Dean’s decision to be with her by spending large, and sparing no expense.
To disguise a lack of genuine connection, or to chase away boredom, you spend on vacations, cars, and more material goods than you need.
So the difference is she married Dean and her brother, Randy, did not.
I think you’re right. It’s the same as LeAnn Rimes. Super insecure “other” woman needs to keep her hubs close by showering him with extravagant gifts.
The real tragedy here is four little kids who are probably going to need boatloads of therapy down the road….and as people pointed out yesterday, Tori probably gets enough in residuals to live at a level that most of us would consider to be very comfortable.
Candy maybe be a shopaholic too, but she has the money to do it. It’s sad they never taught Tori the value of work and money though, or if they did, it went in one ear and out the other. Her brother seems to be doing alright, and she certainly got more opportunity for earning than he ever did, with 90210 and all the stuff that came from her fame from that (shows, books, etc).
It’s insane to me that they have rung up such debt, even with having living and school expenses paid for. Tori needs serious help, but much like the drama in their relationship, the money problems keep them in the news, and I think that’s all she cares about.
What is it go to take for Tori and Dean to clean up this mess?
To have your mom/motherinlaw pay for you as an adult when you are fully able is terrible.
Clearly Tori and Candi have the same issue with shopping. Only Candi has all the money so she doesn’t have a problem.
Only feel bad for the kids.
Was it ever known why exactly her dad did not leave her a big portion of his money? Were they feuding?
The parents disapproved of how she dumped her husband (and slobber dumped his wife) for an affair. They did not approve of the deaner.
I doubt it was a feud thing. Her brother got the same exact amount of money.
It is quite normal in my country that the children don’t inherit more than what they “deserve” by the law and that the partner inherits everything. I mean, if the partner is also the children’s mother/father. They’ll inherit everything after the partner dies.
As noted above, both Tori and Randy got the same amount of money in the will – but Tori was on very bad terms with her parents by the time Aaron passed. Not only did they completely disapprove with how she broke up with her first husband (after just a couple of years of marriage, after an incredibly expensive wedding, and having their couple’s counselor break the news to Charlie) to hook up with Dean, who they considered to be a gold digger (don’t forget the way he dumped his wife in an instant, in the middle of an adoption), but don’t forget that Tori also had the gall to imply that her and Candi’s strained relationship was because TORI didn’t approve of CANDI’s relationship with her tennis pro.
Interesting because upon my father’s death, I inherit everything and my mother only receives a living stipend and the house. But my mother was very abusive to me when I was younger and my father doesn’t trust her with my inheritance. Family’s are funny.
Candy may have money but did she earn it? I didn’t think so unless you count sex with a much older man, which probably is work.
But that is the example she set- marry well and shop.
Tori though, needs to stand up and be an adult and role model for her kids.
I do feel for tori- any mother that gives an interview like that sucks, imo. What tori wants to tell people is up to her. Candy should stfu.
Yeah, this is what always bugs me about the Tori-Candy feud. They both have spending addictions and they are both hoarders. But for some reason Candy claims the moral high ground since she has her dead rich husband’s money to sustain her addiction. And she seems to love berating and controlling Tori by granting or withholding Aaron Spelling’s money. Candy is gross.
The whole argument about Candy “earning” the money is ridiculous. She was married to a very successful man, and as his wife, I have no doubt that she “earned” every penny; his success came after they were married — she didn’t marry a man already hugely successful, and to be married to a workaholic means everything else falls to her. And there is no “earning” when a marriage is involved anyway. He left the money to her, as most married people do.
That makes it even worse. I admit I assumed he had money when they married. If he did not, as you claim, then candy really went crazy spending when they did have it.
So by your logic she earned her money by keeping his house and doing everything else for him ( never mind the mansion, housekeepers, groundskeepers, personal assistants, etc). So again, what did she role model? Spend spend. Horde and spend . Why not? She earned it. (How exactly? By being married? Gosh she lucked out)
@ OriginalKay – Agree to disagree on this one. I’m not willing to go back to a 1950’s attitude that women married to successful men don’t deserve a part of that fortune in a divorce or upon death. And in this particular case, it’s not about deserving or earning at all. Aaron left the money to his wife, and must have known well that she would spend it. In fact, he, too appeared to love expensive items and spend freely. Is Candy lucky? Maybe – I have no idea what her life has been like. But luck/earn/deserve or not, the estate is hers because Aaron wanted it that way (and a huge chunk would have been even if he had tried to cut her out of the will, which he did not).
Now whether Candy was a decent mom is a different story — she sure doesn’t appear to be great, but again, who knows. The only thing I do know for certain is that at some point, we have to move past the many insults visited upon us, whether by parents or others, and take control and build a happy life. Tori has plenty of resources to be able to do that.
Her dad probably also knew that his wife would make sure Tori and her children always had a nice roof overhead, food to eat, and access to good schools. All of which she has done. They were partners, he didn’t make his money in a vacuum. His wife was part of the process, he would not have been able to have a real home with children without her. I’m sure she was involved with the business end of things, especially entertaining business associates and acting as a safe sounding board for him. It was her money, too, even if it was his name on the checks.
Tori usually has something bad to say in public about her mother.
I don’t think what Candi told TMZ was bad, unless it’s ‘bad’ to reveal the truth that she does pay for Tori’s necessities and hasn’t completely cut off Tori, like Tori would like the world to believe.
If Tori feels she’s not getting as much as she can out of Candi, then she needs to cut down on her spending and hoarding. She needs to start selling off everything in her storage units so that she can get some cash and stop paying storage fees.
Excellent response, Josephine. Original Kay, I think Tori and Dean sold their dignity away a long time ago. If they want Candy to shut up about their finances, learn how to manage them without her checkbook. With what they put out there on their own shows and with how freely Tori decided to share (right after Aaron died) that she thought her mom was having an affair and that her mom is a mean miser who denies her children’s needs, I don’t think she gets to complain when Candy explains exactly how much she indeed helps out.
HAHAHAHA. I said it yesterday.If Mommy goes bankrupt Dean will run so fast there will only be a puff of smoke and the smell of burning hair gel and strange lingering in the air.
The whole mess is embarrassing.
Candy could easily set up a trust for Tori and/or her kids that ensures they are cared for – perhaps for the next 2 years or the next 20- whatever and then get Tori one year’s worth of therapy and/or accounting to help her take control. It’s just lazy parenting on both their parts. Candy seems like a terrible horrible hypocrite. And tori seems like a spoiled entitled brat. But ew.
Also what does Dean do?
Again, Candy is already covering their food, shelter, and children’s education. Why should she now be required to set up a fund for the nonessentials to be considered a good mom?
I realize Candy already covers them. I didn’t comment without considering the story/source first.
My opinion is such that I believe candy has more money than she needs and is being a greedy Daffy Duck. Does she OWE tori? No. Should tori know better? Yes. But that’s why I said 2 or 20 years. And why I suggested therapy. Bc I’m coming from a place of presupposing love. Family. And opting for the most important things – love and family NOT money- but this is my opinion and I don’t expect anyone to agree with me. I just think money has corroded both of their perspectives. And yet Candy seems especially vial to me.
The grandkids have huge trust funds – they are already covered. And setting up a trust find for an able woman in her 40s is absurd.
Ugh, this makes me realize that Dean’s kids have huge trust funds. He’s set, his kids will take care of him later after he leaves Tori when her money runs out.
How can someone force another person to change, even through therapy, if that person doesn’t want to change in the first place?
My bet is that her mom would be happy to pay for real therapy and any help to learn to manage her finances. She just isn’t going to throw money down the black hole of Tori’s never-ending credit card debt. That would be enabling, not truly helping her daughter.
I would guess Tori and Deano have some sense of entitlement and feel Mama Bear should pay their bills because Tori didn’t get much of an inheritance. Look at the Ecclestone girls. Petra bought Spelling Manor with Daddy’s money. Most rich parents foot the bills for their spoilt kids their entire lives. Not saying it’s right but that’s just how it is. Trust fund babies.
This family’s PS is really bad and why do they color both kids’ hair?
That little girl’s hair is bleached, right? She’s not that blonde! Maybe the boy’s hair was dyed with those dyes that go away after a wash.
Hopefully Candy will divide her estate between her grandchildren, setting up trusts (especially for Tori’s children).
Yes, otherwise Tori and Dean will burn through that money so fast ! I really believe had Tori not had any kids, her mother wouldn’t be around for her. She’s there for those poor grand kids.
I think the whole family of 6 needs lessons on basic budgeting.
Someone needs to introduce Tori to Gail Vaz-Oxlade (that no-BS lady that cuts up credit cards and gives you a spending jar, and asks you to find a way to bring more money in).
Involving children in understanding income vs. Spending will better ensure long-term successs. If children are constantly pressuring for high-end things their friend have, because they don’t understand budgeting, it puts pressure on parents who might eventually succumb.
I love Gail! But I don’t know if Tori could withstand the reflection of the mirror that Gail would hold up to her life. Tori would spend the whole episode crying.
Gail is a national treasure! 🙂
I had to pay my debt back thru credit counselling but still had to pay my own rent etc. Glad candy is keeping a roof over their heads etc but she’s not obliged to find Tori’s shopping. Grow up.
So when is it ever going to become Tori’s fault after being an adult more than half of her life and her father dead for a decade?
What’s going to shock her into self-accountability? Having four kids? Not being able to pay for her extravagances even after mom pays for all her necessities?
Her brother didn’t turn out to be like her. So it’s not just the way they were raised. It’s self-choice.
And how is she going to declare bankruptcy when she’s still paying storage unit fees for housing all her luxury spending? The court is going to tell her to sell everything in an auction. The sale of all that stuff is probably going to cover her Amex bill and others.
Can you declare bankruptcy when you keep buying things, hoard it away, and pay for several storage units to do so, and then go buy more things and repeat the cycle?
Is bankruptcy based on the fact that you don’t want to stop spending on luxuries and you don’t want to sell all the unnecessary, expensive stuff you have?
Articles @ 2014 says she has 127 “Vaults” totalling 20,000 square feet, and she pays anywhere from $3K to over $6K per month ( hard to determine because likely gets a bulk discount).
Stopping the bleeding from not having those storage fees would be a good start. Not having to pay out many thousands of dollars every month is really like generating an income – I don’t know if people get what I am saying.
And she DID do a large-scale garage sale at least once- didn’t Jason Priestly who played Brandon Walsh, accuse her of selling his wedding invitation for $5.00?
@ Canadian Becks
Thanks for the info. 🙂
It’s ridiculous that she spends all that money on storage fees and then cries about not having any money.
My pleasure. Your point about eventually being court-ordered to sell off her warehoused goods is a valid one.
Paying thousands of dollars of real money to house goods that are probably losing value by the day (electronics, housewares, even clothing, unless they are vintage, DO lose value) is a losers’ game. You are putting up real money against what is ultimately, a pile of de-valuing junk. And the pressure of having to come up with those thousands of dollars every month….well, no wonder she has been so fryequently hospitalized.
I had 2 mortgages that I was making weekly payments on, and when I finally paid off one of them, it was like I suddenly had all this extra money. But I had the exact same amount of money as before, but not having to service that one debt was like extra money in my pocket.
If we were suddenly free from a monthly rent or mortgage payment, imagine the freedom.
God what a mess!
But how does Teresa get a loan for $10m but Tori Spelling can’t even get away with $38,000. I’m not saying it’s not the price of a car but to someone like a Spelling, that’s probably chump change so that a bank would rat her out for that seems odd. I mean she got away with not paying for 6 months but still Teresa hasn’t paid back a dime, still spends and still has all of her belongs and apparently is acquiring more by the day. Tori has an excuse she doesn’t know a different life, we’ve all seen Maid to Order, I’m not willing to call her a scrounger and a thief just yet.
Teresa did her grifting over a long span of years, so it wasn’t just one loan.
I don’t think Amex talked to the press. I think Tori or her party did. Any publicity is good publicity in her mind. It makes her look like a victim and have people feel sorry for her and blame her parents.
Teresa has had to pay back some money though.
Tori has spent over half her life as an adult, had ten years of no father but married to Dean, has had TV shows and books purporting to be living on her own money, and is capable of learning and has gotten income on her own, so there really isn’t much of an excuse left for this 42 year old woman with four kids.
Tori needs some major counseling. I can’t imagine what her kids witness at home as a result of her financial woes. Yes, she was probably a spoiled brat growing up, but I’m sorry, that is NO excuse continue on the way she does, considering she brought four kids into this world. She needs to get to the root of her problem and get it fixed. I don’t think it’s Candy….I think it’s the deadbeat she married.
She cries all the time about not having money yet spends like crazy ! Why is her mom paying her bills? I guess because she feels bad for the grand kids (which might explain why Tori kept getting pregnant…cha ching !).
That’s what I’m thinking too. The benefits to having kid after kid while crying poverty and being married to a loser were not only to make herself look like a martyred victim which I think she loves playing, but she also got her mother to pay for her family’s living expenses and she got publicity usage out of the kids in the media and on TV.
Screw this! That isn’t even Candy’s money, it’s her husbands, who would probably be horrified to know that his daughter is in debt and her mother won’t give her her inheritance. Ia it because she dislikes Tory’s husband? At least Tori goes out and works for a living even if it is schleping all kinds of products and reality shows. She’s worked since she was a teenager which is more than can be said for many trust fund kids. What has Candy ever done in her life? besides spends millions of her husbands money and cart her kids off to nannies? I know Candy is helping her to a certain point but if Tori has been used to outrageous living standards then she can’t expect her to know how to budget especially with 4 kids and all that comes with that.
They are both spoilt brats but it sounds to me like Candy loves lording it above Tori and making her grovel
What kind of money has Tori’s brother been given?
Tori got her father’s inheritance. She just spent it all up. And like the article yesterday said, she spent $18 million in the first 8 years of marriage to Dean. And she puts a lot of her extravagant spending in numerous storage units.
If Tori has proven that she can find jobs and income for herself, then she needs to keep doing that on top of giving rid of her spending and hoarding addictions. It sounds like she spends more money on herself and her storage fees than she does on her own kids.
Tori is 42 years old. She’s had all this time to learn to act like a grown up. Her brother isn’t like her. He’s grown up. How come that just for Tori, it’s OK for her to never change if she doesn’t want to? She has four kids that depend on her to be an adult. But if she won’t change and become a more responsible person for them and herself, then what can her mother do?
Her brother spoke to EOnline in 2007 and said that they all knew what they were getting in their father’s will, that they knew for years, and that they both got the same amount, so it wasn’t like Candi changed the will on them.
Both kids received US $800,000.
You have to think of this situation like you would for an addict. Would you keep giving money to an addict knowing they were going to throw it away on drugs or alcohol? Doubtful. Candy paying her mortgage and minor bills is more than enough help. If she does more than that she knows Tori will just blow it on plastic surgery, parties, failed businesses, clothes, hubby’s motorcycles, etc.
Aaron Spelling strongly disapproved with how Tori was living her life by the time he passed. He hated Dean and he hated how Tori treated her first husband Charlie. Not to mention the fact that Aaron apparently never planned on his children inheriting a ton of money from him (as mentioned just a couple of comments above, both Tori and Randy knew this for years) but had thought giving his children careers was sufficient.
Ummm, am I the only one who thinks both mother and daughter are purposefully fanning the flames of this fire to reignite public interest in some sort of “Tori & Dean: the Poor House–It’s Really Happening This Time” reality show, as has been done SO many times before?
I think Candy is sick and tired of having it said of her that she doesn’t help Tori out in any way. So she revealed the truth that she pays for Tori’s housing, food, and kids’ tuition, but she won’t pay for all of Tori’s extravagances.
Maybe also serving notice to Amex not to expect a bailout from her.
Candy is better looking than Tori.
Candy looks like she could be Tori’s daughter! Either tori isn’t aging well or candy is aging amazingly- or both?
Tori needs psychological help, the sooner the better.
Her brother Randy has certainly shunned the HW Spotlight…..that is him in the 3rd photo, right?
Looks like him. He’s not incurring the expenses of living in HW. He supposedly resides in a modest Oregon home.
Obviously his name gives him added opportunities to make money, but at least he’s not crying poor or suing a restaurant.
Ugh did Tori dye her kids’ hair? Now that is something she could have saved money on. You don’t dye little children’s hair!
Candy shouldn’t pay for any of it. I wonder how the bankruptcy will work if Candy is still financing her livelihood.
The kids are old enough to decide for themselves about hair color… Those wild colors are popular with the kids, they wash out.
Candy Spelling shading her daughter for extravagance is rich coming from her, the Grand Dame of Unecessary S-t. Especially since all Candy did was have a rich husband.
I know people like these kind of stories where the wealthy spend all the money they have and end up broke, but I kind of think so what? It happens everyday in life on smaller and larger scales, a lot of people in the US can’t manage money and either get bailed out by relatives or friends or they file for bankruptcy. She’ll either learn or not and the cycle will go on. I’m betting not as Candy will bail her out with all her millions.
I started looking because Candy looks so much better than Tori. Whoever Candy’s plastic surgeon or botoxer is does much better work than the person who does Tori’s stretched out look. Candy looks good.
If I were Tori’s husband, I’d feel like a low life if I could not make my house payment and pay for food for my family.
I wonder how things would have been if she had stayed with the man she married before her affair (Charlie).
Not only that, don’t forget Dean cheated on Tori. Though I don’t feel bad for her because she is also a cheater (with her last husband). People this f*cked up should not have kids. Candy probably feels sorry for those kids so is paying for food, shelter, and education to better their lives since the parents are royal f*ck ups.
I think Candy is doing the best she can by making sure the kids have a roof over their head and an education. Beyond that, she’s right, it’s up to Tori and Dean. Tori desperately needs help for her hoarding and bad financial choices. I’m singling her out because this is something that has been ongoing in her life before she even met Dean (according to her books anyway). She lives beyond her means. I know what that’s like since I did that in my 20’s and spent my early 30’s cleaning up that financial mess. Now I am debt free and have been for 3 years. Obviously her parents made mistakes while raising her, but there’s only so long that you can blame everything on your childhood. She’s an adult with her own family, so grow up and take ownership of your issues.
The little blonde girl in the photo already looks like she is OVER it.
The lengths that Tori will go to stay even slightly in the spotlight are just humiliating at this point. If that last disaster of a reality show wasn’t a wakeup call, I don’t know that anything will really get through to her. She could easily fix her financial situation if she wanted, but instead would rather sell her sad little stories about how broke she and Dean are, and try to drum up those little bits of attention. Tori is another one of those people who would rather be ‘famous’ than have any self-respect.
I doubt she will file for bankruptcy, as that would require listing her assets aka the storage units crammed full of stuff that she won’t get rid of. The court would make her sell that stuff to pay down debts before they’d approve a bankruptcy.
tori complained in an interview that she ‘only’ got $100,000 when her dad died. she’s entitled. she wants her mom to bail her out, and being this frivolous when you have kids is this much more irresponsible because this doesn’t just affect her or adults in her family. the money represents something to tori
The amount I’ve been reading is $800k.
Oh man Tori cops a lot of flak for being a spoilt brat but she was raised by her mum to be like this and this is the outcome. Candy should accept responsibility for not equipping her daughter with the necessary life skills to raise a family with integrity and nous.
I feel so sorry for Tori. She is a complete moron and so unfortunate looking in a beauty obsessed world but she is adrift and lost and spiritually empty.
My dad made us all do lots of chores growing up – take out the rubbish, washing, dishes, dinner etc and I’m so grateful now because I can virtually whip up a meal out of nothing and even though there are six of us living on one income I can make ends meet by being careful.
I do not envy the super rich. A wrapping room FCOL! Candy et al seem so damn miserable!
I’m not surprised. I’ve worked in various departments for a major bank/credit company for years. The award for absolute worst payment history, hands down, would go first to actors, then to musicians. Names you’d recognize from both groups had very large debt and bad credit … bounced checks, delinquencies, over credit limit, etc. The ones who didn’t invariably had an CPA/accountant (not their manager) paying the bills. Billing statement went to accountant, accountant would occasionally call about charges, and then make a payment. It’s hard to believe the huge sums of money people spend on their pets. Not for medical treatment, but for toys, treats, pet furniture, pet clothes, etc. I love my pets, but I couldn’t figure out how to spend $6-$10K per month on them if I tried. This is not an exaggeration. Every now and then, the CPA would mention that Celebrity X had gone over budget and the CPA would having a conversation with him/her, and to expect much less spending in the coming months until Celebrity X was back within budget. They weren’t kidding.
Whomever said it up thread is correct. This behavior stems from a lack of love, self worth etc. Before she can fix the spending issue, she has to fix the root of the issues.
Doesn’t Dean have other kids from a previous marriage?
I honestly kind of feel bad for Tori. She grew up with a mother who spends like there’s no tomorrow and who has so much stuff she managed to make one of the biggest homes in the country into a hoarders nest. Candy was so mindblowingly extravagant, Tori’s perceptions had to be skewed. Compared to her mother, she’s frugal! From her perspective, her lifestyle is already massively, massively downgraded from from the lifestyle she had in her childhood and her twenties.
She was raised thinking that lifestyle would never end. Most families with large estates leave a big chunk to their children. Someone as wealthy as Aaron Spelling would usually leave his children more than enough to continue the lifestyle he’d given them. That he didn’t was fine, it was his money, but he should have prepared his children for that from an early age. Instead it seems he let them think they would be getting a lot more than they did.
Obviously she needs to get with the program and rein it in, but compulsive spending isn’t an easy thing to stop, and again, from her perspective, her spending isn’t that bad. This credit card bill is the kind of money Candy would drop on Beanie Babies in few minutes.
I feel bad for Tori too. It’s like Candi is purposely skipping her generation (her brother included) to leave everything to the grandkids. I realize Tori seems desperate and spends foolishly but Candi is so incredibly rich, I don’t understand why she can’t give her daughter a break and share some of her crazy wealth. She can’t take it with her and she’s no spring chicken. I personally would despise my mother being so frugal with me and I’m sure Aaron would hate to see how badly she’s struggling with money even after all her hustling. She’s not work shy. She shouldn’t be punished for her choice of life partner regardless of what anyone thinks of him as she obviously loves the guy. Unpopular opinion here I’m sure.
This is similar to how I feel…Tori wasn’t raised with any realistic life outlook or concept of spending, budgets, living costs, etc. She also has a poor sense of self-worth, it’s clear in her poor choice of life partner, and her repeated self-destructive choices in life. It’s hard to get on top of things, take control and get ahead when you keep thwarting yourself…when you don’t believe in yourself, because you have a weak self-image.
Why does her brother seem to have it together? Likely a much stronger sense of self-worth and capability, he probably wasn’t raised with the only goal of being eye-candy. I think Tori’s lack of self-worth is directly related to Candy…
Instead of tough-love or publicly throwing her daughter under the bus, Candy should be looking at family counselling: to address the past, to rebuild a healthy relationship with her daughter now, to help her daughter get a backbone and confidence in herself so she can make healthy choices. Tori also needs to recognize emotional abuse…her husband is a manipulator which always comes with emotional and psychological abuse, and it seems there’s subtle emotional abuse from Candy too. Toxic families create a sad multi-generational mess.
While I normally don’t believe that parents should financially support their adult children, most rich people do seem to keep it in the family, you know? And since Candy didn’t actually do anything to earn any of the money she inherited from her late husband, she has no more right to it than his children in my opinion. She apparently has plenty of money so why not help Tori out?