Rich, famous and tussling with the taxman

Jaime Pressly

The star: She's a model-turned-actress who starred in "Not Another Teen Movie" and won an Emmy Award for her role on the NBC sitcom "My Name Is Earl."

Amount owed: $694,000, based on four liens listed below

What happened: Sometimes life imitates art. It seems so in Pressly's case, given that her recent real-life troubles mirror the jams that would befall her "My Name Is Earl" character, the ex-wife of reformed petty thief Earl Hickey, played by Jason Lee. First, her series was canceled. Then came the tax problems, which according to Radar Online, include liens of $95,080 and $56,769 by the state of California and liens for $281,699 and $260,370 from the IRS. Money troubles like these are enough to drive you to drink, or drink and drive, which is what police in Santa Monica, Calif., charged Pressly with in 2011. She pleaded no contest and received three years’ probation. That was apparently the straw that broke up her marriage of 16 months to entertainment lawyer Simran Singh, according to entertainment site BANG Showbiz.

The outcome: Only time and tax court will tell. In preparation, the IRS might want to peruse Pressly's 2009 autobiography, "It's Not Necessarily Not the Truth."