The success of his four Avatar sequels are in no way guaranteed, but James Cameron is smart enough not to put all his eggs in one basket. Even if these long-delayed follow-ups to an initially popular but quickly irrelevant film end up flopping, Cameron still has his pea protein facility to fall back on.
Cameron and his wife, Suzy Amis Cameron, have just launched Verdient Foods Inc, a Saskatchewan-based pulse processing facility that, according to Deadline, will soon be the largest organic pea protein fractionation plant in North America. But Cameron isn’t alone in wanting to diversify his showbiz income. Here are some other strange Hollywood investments.
Joe Jackson’s barbecues!
As the abusive father of Michael Jackson, Joe Jackson’s place in history is already cemented. However, every harrowing story of domestic terror needs a happy ending, which is why in 2009, Joe Jackson bought a stake in a company that sold football-shaped grills with Cristiano Ronaldo. Not quite the satisfying third act one would expect for Joe Jackson’s horrible life.
Hulk Hogan’s Pastamania!
You’re a busy adult, and you can’t have it all. For example, you can either enjoy a steaming bowl of carbohydrates or fund the gradual eradication of the free press, but you can’t do both at once. Oh, for the glory days of 1995, when Hulk Hogan opened his quick-serve Pastamania restaurant in the Mall of America, offering dishes like Hulk’s Power Pasta and Hulkaroni and cheese. Sadly, it closed after less than a year.
Rush Limbaugh’s tea!
“Rush Revere is in a plane sounding the alarm at a faster pace! Inside a patriotic red, white & blue bottle is the pure essence of a delicious black tea that is unsweetened & calorie free!” This is a real product description for a real tea that really has a picture of Rush Limbaugh dressed up as Paul Revere on the label. You can really buy it, although you really shouldn’t.
Raquel Welch’s wigs!
Raquel Welch has a successful line of wigs. That’s really all you need to know, so let’s conclude this entry with a list of the names given to some of those wigs. Breeze. Bravo. Cutting Edge. Brave the Wave. Excite. Editor’s Pick. Infatuation. Infatuation Elite. Modernista. Miles of Style. Provocateur. Savoir Faire. Special Effect. The Art of Chic. The New Romantic. Voltage.
Kevin Costner’s environmental supermachine!
Kevin Costner was in a film called Waterworld, and his interest in the oceans continued to the point where he developed a floating centrifuge designed to clean up oil spills. After Deepwater Horizon, Costner’s invention was used by BP, making this a truly meaningful connection between art and science. Now, if he’d hurry up and also invent something to get all these dead baseball players out of my field, we’ll all be happy.
Justin Timberlake’s doomed social media!
MySpace effectively died in 2009, when people discovered Facebook. And yet, two years after that, Justin Timberlake partnered with Specific Media Group to buy MySpace for $35m. That’s much less than the $580m News Corp paid for it six years earlier, but still about as sensible a use of money as shoving it down your trousers and setting yourself on fire. MySpace is now owned by Time Inc, who will also fail to do anything good or interesting with it.
Donald Trump’s cologne!
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York star Donald Trump has a history of putting his name on any number of broadly egotistical products. In the past there have been Trump suits, Trump steaks, Trump water, Trump chandeliers and Trump bedding that you can all make your own jokes about. But perhaps oddest of all is Trump’s range of colognes. Two are currently available: Empire (“For those who aspire to create their own empire through personal achievement”) and Success (“an inspiring blend of fresh juniper and iced red currant, brushed with hints of coriander”).
The latter is also available as a deodorant stick, making it a wonderful ironic stocking filler.
