From earning $250,000 per episode on a sitcom to not being able to pay rent – how did Brett Butler get here?
Butler’s big break came in the ’90s when she was approached by the creators of “Roseanne” to star in her own sitcom, “Grace Under Fire.” The two sitcoms were filmed on the same lot and though similar, they contained differences. Roseanne Bar‘s show depicted a working-class family while Chuck Lorre, the show’s creator, described “Grace Under Fire” as being more focused on single mothers who work.
At first, things were going great. However, Butler’s reputation soon preceded him and he gained a reputation for being difficult to work with. Then, after being prescribed Vicodin for sciatica, Butler became addicted to the prescription painkiller. Already struggling with alcoholism, this only made matters worse.
Butler repeatedly went to rehabilitation in an attempt to quit the addiction but was unsuccessful. The shooting schedule for season 5, the show’s final season, was pushed back due to Butler’s rehab, however, his behavior couldn’t be fixed and eventually led to the show’s demise. The season was supposed to be longer, but it was cut short due to low ratings.
Butler believes that she is the reason why the show came to an end. As she told The Hollywood Reporter, “At the bloody bitter end, I really was difficult. I was out of my mind. Drugs will do that to you. The show should have been pulled sooner than it was.”
Though she earned a hefty $25 million from the show, bad financial decisions caused her to lose much of it. She 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 decided to leave Hollywood to purchase a farm in Georgia. In addition, she rescued multiple cats, dogs, and horses. In the end, she was unable to afford the mortgage for the farm and subsequently lost ownership of it. As opposed to what some news sources reported, she did not end up in a homeless shelter. Instead, she went back to Hollywood with the goal of making a comeback.
In 2021, Butler was renting an apartment for $2500 a month, but she found it difficult to cover the costs. Lon Strickler convinced her to set up a GoFundMe to help with expenses. The fundraiser is no longer accepting donations; it raised almost $50,000, though the original goal was only $15,000.
Although Butler has had a few small acting jobs in recent years, none of them pay nearly as well as “Grace Under Fire” did. According to her, she received a role as a cocktail waitress on the show “Anger Management” because of Charlie Sheen. Additionally, she made appearances on hit shows such as “How to Get Away with Murder,” “The Leftovers” and “The Walking Dead.” Recently, she played the character Reese Witherspoon’s mom on “The Morning Show.”
