‘Grace Under Fire’ actress Brett Butler admits she’s broke

The struggle is real. “Grace Under Fire” star Brett Butler revealed she’s broke after a GoFundMe was created by a friend to help pay her bills.

Butler — who starred on the hit ’90s sitcom and made $250,000 per episode —  told the Hollywood Reporter she was six months behind on her rent. The 63-year-old explained she may have waited too long to let her friend launch the GoFundMe.

“I’ve been ashamed,” she said. “Almost ashamed to death.”

“Grace Under Fire” was based off Butler’s life and experiences with alcoholism and abuse. The ABC series aired from 1993 until 1998 and it chronicled Butler playing a single mother raising her three kids alone after divorcing her abusive husband.

Butler told the publication that the pressure of being on TV aided in her Vicodin addiction. She was prescribed the painkiller to combat her sciatica. “At the bloody bitter end, I really was difficult,” she said. Butler also admitted she only remembers about 80 of the 112 episodes she filmed during the decade. 

“I was out of my mind. Drugs will do that to you.”

Brett Butler

“I was out of my mind. Drugs will do that to you. The show should have been pulled sooner than it was,” the “Morning Show” star added. She revealed she eventually got sober after the show was canceled. However, horrible financial decisions and theft by disingenuous people she thought she could trust led to her money problems. The pandemic also contributed to her current financial state.

Butler said, “I was a little bit too trusting with some people that worked for me, and I had a lot of things stolen. That’s just stupid on my part, not to have insurance for those things. And to loan and give a lot of money away. I really just felt so guilty for having it — I almost couldn’t get rid of it fast enough.”

Butler returned to acting in 2011 and reached out to “Grace Under Fire” creator Chuck Lorre for work. The “Two and a Half Men” producer helped Butler get hired for a role on his show “Anger Management.” Butler has since made guest appearances on shows such as “How to Get Away With Murder” and “The Walking Dead.”

“I’m not the only one in this boat,” she said. “Most people that are in it never had the opportunities I did. It doesn’t really lessen my self-loathing or fear about it, but I do realize that.”

Butler starred on “Grace Under Fire” from 1993 until 1998.
Alamy Stock Photo

Leave a Comment