Although Will Smith and Mike Sorrentino are celebrities in different fields, they have something common between them.

While Smith is a versatile actor, rapper, and producer in Hollywood, Sorrentino is a well-known motivational speaker and a reality TV star. However, it is bizarre that both of them have more in common than what their followers might imagine. 

Smith landed up in trouble for evading taxes while starting his career in music. The actor opened up about this in a YouTube clip. Smith remembers that he and DJ Jazzy had a bug hit in 1988.

They made quite a lot of bucks and even won a Grammy for the song titled Parent’s Just Don’t Understand. He could purchase cars and motorcycles after the album became triple platinum. 

Smith even admitted of trying to use his popularity to shut down a Gucci shop in Atlanta. The idea was to get a chance to shop there privately with his friends. 

However, he could not enjoy his newly-acquired wealth for long. Their next music album flopped and it was a disaster for them. As he had drained all his wealth, he could not pay taxes to the IRS. 

The actor-musician said that he did not forget to pay his dues. Neither did he think of not paying them. He just did not have any money left with him to clear off his tax dues. 

The IRS eventually took away his motorcycles and cars. He feels that being popular but a pauper is not a good combination for him. Similar to Will Smith, Mike Sorrentino along with his brother was slapped with charges of tax fraud in 2014. 

The motivational speaker failed to pay taxes from his earnings of about $8.9 million from his participation in a reality TV series on MTV called Jersey Shore. He, reportedly, made deposits less than $10,000 in his different bank accounts to steer clear of government detection. The reality star claimed luxury purchases made by him as his business expenses, Chicago Tribune reported. 

When Smith was going through terrible financial constraints, his then-girlfriend convinced him to join The Arsenio Hall Show to start earning and take care of his tax evasion. Though the idea seemed a bit too far-fetched at that time, Smith got success. 

Similar to Will Smith, the reality TV got success after he dealt with the legal proceedings of his tax evasion lawsuit. Today, Sorrentino and his wife have a popular channel on YouTube and have still been selling merchandise inspired by Jersey Shore. 

Plus, Mike Sorrentino is scheduled to return in Jersey Shore Family Vacation season 4, Showbiz Cheat Sheet reports.