MC Hammer is in the spotlight for financial troubles once again. The rapper-turned-search engine creator is being sued by the IRS.
According to the IRS, a lawsuit has been filed against Hammer (real name Stanley Burrell) and his wife for the $779,585 owed in back taxes.
The money is, reportedly, from 1996 to 1997, MC Hammer’s most financially unstable years. To catch up on his overdue bill, sources say that the IRS is requesting Hammer’s concert earnings be directed straight to the money owed.
In 1996, MC Hammer, 49, filed for bankruptcy after totaling a $13 million debt. Just five year earlier, Forbes Magazine estimated Hammer’s net worth at more than $33 million.
Once his financial struggles went public, Hammer admitted to spending frivolously.
“I didn’t just take money and say, ‘I want to be a blessing to myself,'” he said. “I took my money and employed 200 people in my community. I had a payroll of a million dollars a month at times.”
He has attempted to recover from the bankruptcy with new album releases, a career as an ordained preacher and TV show host, among other ventures.
Recently, he made headlines for his attempt at making big bucks by creating a new search engine to compete with the likes of Google. WireDoo, a search engine focused on “deep search” and relational topics, is still in its start-up phase.
