Last night, following a low-scoring cha-cha with partner Jenna Johnson, Corey Feldman was eliminated from “Dancing With the Stars.” I know. Shocking news.
Normally, when someone is eliminated for DWTS, they stick around the stage as the credits roll, chatting with and saying goodbye to their castmates and dance partners. That’s not the route Corey chose. He stormed right off the stage. The awkward moment quickly spread on social media, sparking a bunch of overnight traffic on CelebrityNetWorth from people curious about his net worth.
I get it. Corey is an intriguing guy. He’s been famous for forty years. He starred in some of the biggest movies of the 1980s and was certifiably one of the most famous celebrities of the era. Between 1984 and 1990, he starred in banger after banger without a single miss: “Gremlins,” “The Goonies,” “Stand by Me,” “The Lost Boys,” “License to Drive,” “The ‘Burbs,” “Dream a Little Dream,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (he voiced Donatello). What a run. What a resume.
Obviously, his career started to wane in the 1990s, but Corey has still managed to stay relevant and working all these years later.
There’s a natural curiosity about Corey’s finances after all these years. And in fact, Corey has addressed his peak wealth directly in various interviews. According to Corey, when he was 15, in roughly 1986, his net worth was $1 million. That’s the same as being worth around $3 million today. Around that time, he was seeking emancipation from his parents. By the time the emancipation was granted, only $40,000 remained of his former fortune.
As for his more recent financial position, we actually learned quite a bit of detail late last year thanks to his ongoing divorce with his ex-wife Courtney Anne Mitchell…
Corey and Courtney Feldman (Mike Windle/Getty Images)
Corey’s Marriage History
Corey actually has a surprisingly impressive marriage history. You know Vanessa Marcil? She’s the gorgeous actress who is probably best known for starring on “Las Vegas” and “90210,” but to me will always hold a special place in my heart for playing agent Stanley Goodspeed’s gorgeous and rooftop-sex-positive-pregnant-and-catholic wife from the 1996 classic “The Rock.” Corey and Vanessa not only dated BUT WERE MARRIED from 1989 to 1993. I’m actually running low on Getty Images downloads this month. But I couldn’t resist grabbing a photo of Corey and Vanessa in 1992. I mean, come on:
(Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
In October 2002, Corey married an equally stunning woman named Susie Sprague in a ceremony that was filmed as the final episode of the first season of “The Surreal Life” and was officiated by MC Hammer. As one does. They had a son together before they separated in 2009. Perhaps as a preview of what was to come, their divorce took FIVE YEARS to finalize.
Sometime around 2015, Corey began dating the woman who would become his third wife, Courtney Anne Mitchell. Their relationship first became public when they appeared on an episode of the fourth season of “Celebrity Wife Swap.” And as you can see from the photo at the top of this article, most men would have been extremely happy to wife swap with Corey. Though I’m told in the television series, nothing fun actually happens between the swapping partners.
Around the time of the Wife Swapping, Corey was managing a group of women he dubbed “Corey’s Angels.” Courtney was one of the Angels. I never really understood what the goal was with this endeavor. They would pop up from time to time on the “Today” show and various radio interviews. Was he trying to make them a famous girl group? Do they have songs and videos on YouTube/Spotify? Honestly, I don’t have the energy to look it up.
Corey and Courtney married on November 22, 2016, in Las Vegas. This union ended in late 2023. Mitchell officially filed for divorce in March 2024, citing irreconcilable differences. In her filing, she requested spousal support and attorney’s fees.
Divorce Lays Bare Finances
Once the divorce paperwork hit the courts, a rare window opened into Corey’s actual finances.
Courtney told the court that she had been left in dire straits. She said she lost her barista job, had no car, was bouncing between friends’ homes, and had accumulated more than $20,000 in medical debt from chronic health issues like chronic fatigue and recurring hives. She argued that the $2,000 Corey had been voluntarily sending her each month wasn’t nearly enough, and asked a judge to raise the amount to $5,000 so she could cover her basic needs. Her lawyer emphasized that she had supported Corey emotionally and professionally since 2011, and now found herself abandoned without income.
Corey painted a completely different story. In his filings, he claimed he had just $34,000 in the bank, no real estate, and around $200,000 owed to the IRS. He admitted to additional credit card debt, noting recent payments of $439 on a Capital One balance and $1,600 to the IRS. His declared monthly expenses added up to $16,799, with line items like $5,000 for healthcare, $2,000 for groceries, $2,000 for eating out, $1,500 for auto expenses, $1,000 for laundry, $835 for entertainment, and $500 for clothing.
The biggest gap came in how each side described his income. Courtney insisted Corey was pulling in as much as $280,000 per month, pointing to his $35,000 fan convention appearance fees, Cameo videos, merchandise sales, and even a $700,000 payday for a documentary in 2020. Corey countered that these were cherry-picked highs, not the norm. He said his actual 2023 income was just $78,946, and that between 2016 and 2024, he made a cumulative $179,852. And while convention gigs may sound lucrative, he stressed that agents, managers, lawyers, and taxes devour most of those checks before he sees a dime. As for residuals from his impressive catalog of films? As he put it in one filing:
“I do not receive any residuals which add anything significant to my income or savings.”
Texts and Tensions
The financial drama wasn’t confined to spreadsheets. Courtney even submitted text messages from Corey as evidence that he acknowledged her struggles but claimed he was too broke to help. In one message, Corey wrote:
“Courtney, I’m sorry to hear U R struggling. Please send me a bill or break down of what these medical expenses are and I’ll see what can be done. Unfortunately, this is the worst timing ever. I leave for tour Tom and have no $ at all as I am way over extended.”
He went on to explain that he had fronted $120,000 in expenses for a tour, which wiped him out until future payments came through. “Communication is key,” he told her. “I don’t want to be your enemy at all.”
Courtney, meanwhile, blamed her decision to quit drugs in 2023 as the real reason for the marriage’s collapse. She said she told Corey she could no longer “party” or join him on tour because of her health, and that the relationship unraveled immediately afterward. Corey flatly denied any allegations of drug use, insisting their lifestyle was modest and even pointing out that they lived in a rental home with three roommates.
The divorce does not appear to be resolved as of this writing. And given that his last divorce dragged on for five years, this one could keep exposing Corey’s finances for a long time to come.
