As the saying goes, not all that glitters is gold – especially when it comes to contracts in the entertainment industry. Though many celebrities have inked deals that are making them millions, plenty have gotten the short end of the stick by signing what’s often referred to as “slave contracts.” Here are 15 stars who’ve signed bad record deals.

Source: Michel Linssen / Getty
TLC
This is how a group can sell 10 million records and be broke: They sign a slave contract that not only pays their management too large a cut of their money, but also requires that they foot the bill for every one of their expenses and retain little ownership of what they produce. Pebbles may be alleging that the women of TLC were heavy spenders, but she can’t seem to explain away the fact that each member only took home about $35,000 a year – at the height of their careers.