Can you imagine being a lover of luxury cars, having enough money to buy them and not being able to do it? It may be a difficult situation for a mere mortal to conceive of, but for celebrities it can be a tragedy. European automakers Ferrari Y Bugatti They have decided that not everyone is worthy of owning one of their exclusive vehicles and each one has its ‘blacklist’ of banned celebrities.
the italian Ferrari it was positioned as the most profitable automaker of 2021, after breaking its sales record, according to a company report. The automaker founded by Enzo Ferrari reported having sold 11,155 cars and a profit of more than 907 million dollars last year.
“We have carefully managed an impressive order book, in line with our strategy of pursuing controlled growth and preserving the exclusivity of the brand,” Benedetto Vigna, Ferrari CEO, said in the report. This means that they attribute their success, in part, to the fact that it is not enough to have enough money to buy a Ferrari, as buyers must meet other requirements.
For its part, the French Bugatti ensures that it is not as strict as the automaker of the Prancing Horse, but neither do they neglect their prestige.
“This brand should not be seen as closed. We want to share. If someone comes in, the car is not cordoned off, you can take a look. You can touch it, feel it. We’re not here because we want to sell cars, we’re here to represent a beautiful brand. It’s important to us,” Anita Krizsan, manager of a Bugatti dealership in the UK, said in remarks quoted by Halftime.
What celebrities are banned from Ferrari and Bugatti?
For various reasons, celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Tom Cruise, Simon Cowell and Nicholas Cage are prohibited from buying cars from one or another of these brands.
In general, some of the reasons for being discarded as a Ferrari and Bugatti client are lack of payment, being involved in scandals on board one of their vehicles or speaking ill of them, among others.
Look who are the banned celebrities and why the prestigious companies don’t want to see them driving their cars.
Ferrari blacklist
1. Justin Bieber
to the interpreter of sorry it likes to put its personal touch on vehicles, but Ferrari believes that such modifications detract from their elegance and damage its image as a luxury brand. Also, a few years ago Justin drove his Ferrari 458 while intoxicated, forgot where he parked it, and was missing for almost two weeks. Both incidents caused him to no longer be able to buy one more, as he explains Business Insider.
2.Nicolas Cage
The extravagant protagonist of Ghost Rider he was forced to sell his Ferrari Enzo to overcome some economic problems. The actor’s finances are not a problem for the Italian automaker, but he did bother them that he offered it for a lower price than the original.
3.50 Cent
The American rapper, songwriter and actor, whose real name is Curtis James Jackson, posted some videos of himself cleaning his Ferrari with champagne. Although the detail raised eyebrows, 50 Cent ended up banned for making inappropriate statements about one of the brand’s models and revealing the precarious maintenance he gave it.
4.deadmau5
The Canadian DJ and producer has been on the blacklist since 2013, when he decided to customize his Ferrari 458 Spider. In addition to hitting him with a vinyl of the ‘Nyan Cat’ meme, the artist nicknamed him “Purrari”. Faced with this sacrilege of style, the Italian house asked him to return the car to its original state. The artist, whose real name is Joel Tomas Zimmerman, ignored the request: he was banned as a client and almost won a complaint for damage to Ferrari’s image.
5.tyga
In 2016, the rapper and ex-boyfriend of millionaire Kylie Jenner leased a Rolls-Royce Ghost and a Ferrari 458 Spider, but stopped paying before the end of the contract. As a result, both cars were repossessed and a lawsuit for non-payment of the vehicles amounting to $129,000 was won. Although she can no longer buy another Ferrari vehicle, he still shows off the ones he drives on social media.
Celebrities banned in Bugatti
1. Tom Cruise
Although he was one of the first owners of a Bugatti Veyron, the actor cannot buy another car of the brand today. According to the specialized portal Hot Cars, Cruise fell on the French firm’s blacklist because he failed to open the door of his car in the middle of the premiere of an installment of the ‘Mission Impossible’ saga, where he is the protagonist. Apparently, the company considered that this gave an image to the brand.
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The famous boxing champion is one of the few who are blacklisted by Ferrari and Bugatti at the same time. The sportsman sold both of his Lavish Bugatti’s because he didn’t consider them as good. As if that were not enough, he later boasted that he had bought two vehicles from another brand, which of course the exclusive firm did not like.
3.Simon Cowell
The famous British producer of Sony has not been very happy with the automaker since they noticed that he hardly used his Bugatti Veyron. In 6 years, Simon drove his own car 1,600 miles (almost 2,575 kilometers). To top it off, he declared that: “This weekend I bought my favorite car, so I’m going to have to say goodbye to my Bugatti.” And that was the last car that the creator of pop groups like One Direction and Fifth Harmony was allowed to buy.
Four. Jenson Button
Bugatti doesn’t like celebrities who ‘waste’ their cars either. The former Formula 1 driver also left his Veyron at home most of the time and the brand realized that he barely had 1,500 miles (about 2,414 kilometers) logged on his dashboard. It is said that the driver of teams like Renault, Honda and McLaren was never satisfied with the car and chose others to show himself in public. But what caused him to end up being banned was that in 2009 he sold it for ‘only’ a million dollars, well below his price.
5. Flo Rida
In 2011, the American rapper was stopped by the police for driving his Bugatti while intoxicated. The scandal was quite uncomfortable for the firm, since they have made it clear that taking care of his image is a priority.
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