Bruno Mars has responded to rumours that he has racked up tens of millions in gambling debt.
You could say he has thrown a ‘Grenade’ to dispel the accusations.
On the Stories section of his Instagram account, the American performer re-shared a post from Spotify which announced he was “first artist to reach 150 million monthly listeners in Spotify history.”
With his tongue firmly in cheek, Mars re-shared the update with a message to say:
“Keep streaming! I’ll be out of debt in no time!”
With that response poking fun at the reports that first surfaced last year, the Hawaii-born singer-songwriter, real name Peter Gene Hernandez won’t be ‘Locked out of Heaven’ or his bank account any time soon.
On January 27th Bruno Mars became the first ever artist to hit 150 million monthly listeners on Spotify. Mars, the number-one artist on the platform, responded with an Instagram seemingly addressing rumors in 2024 that he had a $50 million gambling debt which he wracked up in Los… pic.twitter.com/vYaGqgJo2K
— Brut America (@brutamerica) January 30, 2025
He has no debt
Online rumors went into overdrive following a NewsNation report that Mars was embroiled in a very deep financial mire. It was alleged he had accrued gambling debts of more than $50 million with MGM Resorts, but the resort previously commented publicly to deny the rumor.
The Grammy Award winner has a residency agreement with MGM, appearing at the Park MGM in Las Vegas and the nearby Bellagio Resort and Casino. It was said Mars was effectively locked in as he couldn’t pay his debts.
“MGM and Bruno’s partnership is longstanding and rooted in mutual respect. Any speculation otherwise is completely false; he has no debt with MGM,” said the company last March.
Bruno Mars recent accolade from Spotify comes on the back of his new hit track, ‘Fat, Juicy, and Wet (featuring Sexxy Red)’.
The racy tune is something of a departure from his previous titles, sparking a viral reaction on social media, including TikTok. One outcome of the new release is over 10 million streams on Spotify, contributing to the monthly total of over 150 million listeners on the music-streaming platform.
Image credit: Via Midjourney