Easily one of the most legendary comedians and actors of his generation, Eddie Murphy is beloved by millions of fans all over the world. Due to how many people adore Murphy, there is a lot of interest in things like how his children affected his career and what happened to the women he has dated.
While Murphy is protective of his kids and won't put up with people pretending to be related to him, there is nothing he can do to keep some aspects of his personal life private. A perfect example of that is Murphy couldn't control the headlines about what happened after he got divorced or what happened to his ex-wife's career.
How Getting Divorced Helped Eddie Murphy's Ex-Wife's Career
During Eddie Murphy's career, the famous actor has made some mistakes including passing on a franchise that became incredibly successful. Thankfully for Murphy, however, he has starred in a long list of movies that went on to be considered all-time classics.
Due to Murphy's roles in several legendary '80s comedies, he has remained successful ever since. Most notably, Murphy starred in the Shrek film franchise alongside the likes of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, and many more popular actors.
Murphy's incredible filmography earned him the ability to demand some incredible paydays over the years. As of the time of this writing, Celebrity Net Worth reports that Murphy has a $200 million fortune.
After Murphy became famous, he met and fell for a woman named Nicole Mitchell. In 1993, the couple walked down the aisle, and they would stay married for more than a decade. In 2005, Murphy's wife who was then known as Nicole Mitchell Murphy filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences
By the time the former couple finalized their divorce, the year was 2006 and Mitchell Murphy walked away with a significant amount of money. According to reports, the divorce settlement called for Mitchell Murphy to get $15 million.
Almost certainly thanks to the fortune that Mitchell Murphy got from her divorce, she was able to advance her career in a big way. Years after Mitchell Murphy worked as a model, she founded and became the CEO of a company that is designed to help other people look their best.
On the website for Mitchell Murphy's company, Y-FOY, there is a section that tells the story of what her products are supposed to do for customers.
"YFOY was founded to share Nicole’s tried and true secrets to looking and feeling youthful, beautiful, and confident with women all over the world. Balancing a successful career as a model, business owner, and most difficult of all, a proud mother of five, Nicole knows the importance of finding time for yourself and that feeling and looking good doesn’t mean you have to stop living your life."
The website continues, "Nicole knows that with a dedication to putting in the work and having confidence in yourself, your age and society’s expectations don’t define who you are, how you should look and feel, or the life you should live. YFOY is about embracing who you are and owning it. There’s no need to search for the Fountain of youth, it’s already within each of us!"
On the company's website, several different products can be ordered as of the time of this writing. Some of those products include protein powder, body butter, supplements, skin cleanser, vitamin C, and more.
On top of being able to launch her company likely due to her divorce settlement, that isn't the only way that ending her romantic relationship aided Mitchell Murphy's career.
Between 2012 and 2014, Mitchell Murphy became a reality show star because of her status as Murphy's ex-wife. One of several women tapped to star in the VH1 reality show Hollywood Exes, Mitchell Murphy appeared in every episode of the series.
On top of Mitchell Murphy, Hollywood Exes also starred Sheree Fletcher, Andrea Kelly, Jessica Canseco, Mayte Garcia, Shamicka Lawrence, and Shanna Moakler among others. For those who are unfamiliar with those names, each woman was involved with a huge star.
Amazingly enough, it could easily be argued that at least one of Hollywood Exes stars was married to someone more famous than Eddie Murphy since Will Smith's ex was part of the show. Some of the other celebrities whose exes starred in the show include Martin Lawrence, baseball player Jose Canseco, R. Kelly, Martin Lawrence, Prince, and Travis Barker.
How Divorcing Eddie Murphy Made Nicole Mitchell Murphy's Life Harder
As is the case with most celebrity divorces, there were a lot of headlines when Eddie Murphy and Nicole Mitchell Murphy went their separate ways. After the news that Mitchell Murphy reached a divorce settlement with her ex, it was no secret that she walked away with a lot of money.
Once the world learned that Mitchell Murphy had a fortune, she became the target of a scam that did massive damage to her life. While there isn't any proof that Mitchell Murphy was targeted because of her divorce, it seems very safe to assume that the headlines about her settlement played a role in what happened.
In a report that was published by The Daily Mail, it was revealed that a man named Troy Stratos scammed Mitchell Murphy out of most of her assets.
"It's alleged Stratos then persuaded Murphy to invest the proceeds of her 2006 divorce overseas, promising that she would earn a high rate of return. She put $ 11 million into a revocable trust with Stratos, giving him full access to her personal finances, including real estate and jewelry."
The Daily Mail then went on to reveal what Stratos really did with Mitchell Murphy's money. "But prosecutors say the conman - recently convicted for concocting an $11 million fraud involving Facebook stock - never invested the money, but used it to fund his own extravagant lifestyle."
The report continued, "The 50-year-old Stratos also allegedly opened a bank account in Florida and used portions of the money to pay Murphy's expenses while they were on a trip in Europe together, claiming he was paying for her out of his own pocket."
After Stratos was found guilty, he pleaded with the judge for mercy. That turned out to be a futile effort as Stratos was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison.
