Vanilla Ice Net Worth and Facts About His Wife and Family

What is Vanilla Ice’s net worth?

Vanilla Ice is a rapper, songwriter, dancer, athlete and home improvement TV personality. As of 2021, Vanilla Ice’s net worth is $12 million.
Net Worth:
$12 million
Salary:N/A
Income Sources:Professional Rapper and Actor
Age/Date of Birth:
56 years old (31 October 1967)
Height:
5ft 11in (181 cm)
Nationality:American
Last Updated:
2021

Vanilla Ice was born Robert Matthew Van Winkle on October 31, 1967, in Dallas Texas. He grew up partly in Texas and South Carolina. During his teenage years, Ice developed a passion for rap and was part of a rap and breakdancing groups. Ice was also involved in motocross and won three straight Grand National Championship titles in Dallas. After an injury truncated his motocross career, he returned to music and began performing regularly at City Lights nightclub in Dallas. At 16 he wrote the lyrics to “Ice Ice Baby” which would go on to be his hit song.

He signed his first record deal with Ichiban Records in 1989 and released his debut album “Hooked” which received substantial play in clubs. He later signed with SBK Records and reformatted his debut album releasing it again under the title “To the Extreme” the album became the fastest-selling hip hop album of all time, and the first hip-hop album to top the Billboard 200. The album sold over 11 million copies worldwide. The hit single “Ice Ice Baby” topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and is his most successful song to date.

Vanilla Ice

Controversy With Label, Comeback Attempts

Following the success of his debut album, Vanilla Ice appeared in the 1991 movie “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Secret of the Ooze”. However, after a controversy between him and his then-manager about fabricating his biography to improve his personality, Ice’s music career began to nosedive. His live album “Extremely Live” peaked not closer than number 30 on the Billboard 200 and received negative reviews, the failure continued when he took his first lead role in the movie “Cool as Ice” which grossed a little over $600,000.

In an attempt to recover his career, he embarked on a tour of Europe, Asia, South America and Australia. He soon returned to the motocross sports and Jet Skiing and later released his second studio album Mind Blowin in 1994 but was still unsuccessful, SBK records soon went bankrupt and Ice started doing drugs.

Vanilla Ice

After surviving an attempted suicide, Ice picked up the pieces of his life and focused more on Jet skiing and motocross, he became the world’s number 6 sit-down Jet Ski racer and won a sponsorship with Kawasaki. He went back to music yet again and released “Hard to Swallow” in 1998 which focused on his rough childhood, the punk-rap style of the album attracted media attention and a new fan base so he began touring even though the album generally received negative reviews. Ice was never able to revive his music career to his former glory and is often labeled a one-hit-wonder, however, he continues to record songs and go on tours, thanks to the loyal fan base he built during his heydays, he has also stated that his recent endeavors in music are more for his personal pleasure rather than for making money.

See Also: Is Suge Knight Dead or Alive And What Was His Relationship With Tupac?

On the brighter side, the TV seemed to be more welcoming for Ice as he starred in a number of successful reality TV shows. He appeared in “Celebrity Boxing”, “The Surreal Life” and its spin-offs and others. He also ventured into real estate and began renovating and selling houses which he continues to do via his reality TV series “The Vanilla Ice Project” which began airing in 2010 on the DIY Network.

Details Of Vanilla Ice’s Wife or Girlfriend 

The Musician Has Been Married Once To Laura Giaritta

Full Name: Laura Giaritta

Date of Birth: October 18, 1970

Spouse: Vanilla Ice (m. 1997 div. 2019)

Number of Children: Two

Vanilla Ice and Laura Giaritta image source

After surviving the attempted suicide, Vanilla Ice met and married Laura Giaritta. The duo met three years before – at a Fourth of July party in 1994- and exchanged marital vows on March 30, 1997, just two days after they got their marriage license. They tied the knot in a ceremony performed by a notary public at the couple’s Star Island mansion in Miami Beach. Not long after they became husband and wife, their family increased with the arrival of their daughters.

Although the Van Winkles’ marriage lasted for a long time, it eventually came to an end 19 years and 7 months later. Speaking in an interview with DailyMail.com Laura revealed that she filed for a divorce from the marriage on October 18, 2016 (the day of her 46th birthday) as she wanted to give herself a birthday gift and stop living a lie, referring to her marriage to Vanilla Ice as “a lie”.

Despite having what could be described as a long-lasting marriage by entertainment-industry standard, Robert and Laura’s life together was never a smooth ride and among the issues that erupted in their marriage was a cheating report that came up against Laura in 2011. Vanilla Ice was also arrested on three occasions, first in 2001 and later in 2004 and 2008, for domestic battery.

According to records, the couple had been living separately for five years before Laura filed for divorce. While Vanilla Ice’s wife lived with their children in their old $716,000 matrimonial home in the Versailles development in Wellington, Robert lived in a $1.2million home in The Hunt, a high-end community located in the suburban West Palm Beach city of Lake Worth.

However, that never stopped them from showing up at events in Palm Beach County together as they were still seeing each other as ‘boyfriend/girlfriend thing’, according to Laura. Because Rob also wanted people to see him as a great family man, he went on vacations with Laura. But after returning from Curacao where they had gone on one of their ‘fake’ vacations in 2015, Laura said, she decided she could no longer continue living a lie and therefore sought to have their union annulled. Validating her reasons for wanting to call it quits, she claimed her children wanted her to leave their father.

The couple’s divorce was eventually finalized in 2019.

Before His Marriage, The Entertainer Was Romantically Involved With Madonna

Full Name: Madonna Louise Ciccone

Date of Birth: 16 August 1958

Spouse:  Guy Ritchie (m. 2000–2008), Sean Penn (m. 1985–1989)

Number of Children: Six

Madonna image source

Vanilla Ice once had a short-lived romance with Madonna during his heydays which lasted eight months in 1990. Speaking of how they met in an episode of the Dan Patrick Show, Mr. Ice himself disclosed that Madonna came after him during one of his New York City shows that took place in the early 90s. “She’s aggressive. She wanted me. She was much older, so I was like ‘Whoa, what’s going on with this?’ She came into the dressing room right after the show. She grabbed me and we were having cocktails that night”, he said.

Their relationship remained good until eight months later when Madonna published her erotic coffee table book called “Sex”. Opening up about their romance in 2011, the Ice Ice Baby hitmaker told the British tabloid News Of The World (via Digital Spy) that the infamous book was the reason for their split. The book contained pictures of Madonna engaging in sexual activities with numerous partners and among the few heterosexual pictures in it was that of the two entertainers together.

While he described his time with Madonna as exciting partly because she was older than him and also a great lover, Rob called it quits with her after she printed “Sex” “because I was hurt to be an unwitting part of this slutty package. It was disgusting and cheap”, he explained. Continuing, he said he felt embarrassed and ashamed when the book came out as it turned out to be a pornographic piece. “She threw me in like I was a product off a shelf and I didn’t appreciate it. That was it and I ended it”, Vanilla Ice added.

Meet Rob’s Children

Full Name: Dusti Rain Van Winkle

Date of Birth: 1998

Occupation: Not Known

The entertainer has two children, both daughters, with his ex-wife Laura. The first, Dusti Rain Van Winkle, was born sometime in 1998 and is said to be a graduate of Full Sail University. There is really not much information about her but judging by her Instagram account, she is in a relationship with a young man named J Kyle Christoffers. Dusti is very active on the social media site where she has acquired over 4.1k followers, thanks to her regular posting of her pictures as well as that of her and her boyfriend.

Full Name: KeeLee Breeze Van Winkle

Date of Birth: 2000

Occupation: Not Known

KeeLee is Vanilla Ice’s second daughter/child with his ex-wife. She was born in the year 2000 and just like her sister, information about her is scarce. She, however, has an active Instagram account where she is followed by 1,141 fans. According to KeeLee’s mother, she raised her and her sister by herself and also home-schooled them.

Did you know that?

  • Vanilla Ice does not know his biological father till date
  • He dated the ‘Queen of Pop’ Madonna for about eight months but just enough to appear on her book ‘Sex’
  • He is into Real Estate and has a website: www.vanillaicerealestate.com
  • He has attempted to commit suicide
  • He wrote the hit track ‘Ice Ice Baby’ when he was just 16
  • He had a legal battle with David Bowie over copyright theft
  • His mother is a music teacher
  • He is a triple motocross champion. He won all three championships in the 1980’s
  • At a point in his career, he went into hard drugs
  • Vanilla Ice’s 1990 Ice Ice Baby hit track was the first hip-hop song to top the Billboard charts.
  • His net worth is placed at $12 million.
Profile Summary
First Name: Robert
Last Name: Van Winkle
Estimated Net Worth:
$12 million
Salary:NA
Source of Wealth:Professional Rapper and Actor
Last Updated:
2021
Also Known As:
Vanilla Ice
Robert Matthew Van Winkle
Ice Man
Ice
Iceman
Robbie
Sex/Gender:
Male
Profession:
American rapper and actor
Famous For:his 1990 his hit "Ice Ice Baby" and "Play That Funky Music"
Colleges/Universities Attended:
RL Turner High School
Educational Qualifications:
NA
Religion:
Christianity
Birthday & Zodiac
Age/Date of Birth:
56 years old (31 October 1967)
Zodiac Sign:Scorpio
Birth Place:
South Dallas, Dallas, Texas, United States
Nationality:American
Ethnicity/Race:
German and English ancestry
Country of Residence:
The United States
Physical Attributes
Height:
5ft 11in (181 cm)
Weight:
76 kg or 167.5 lbs

Eye Colour:
Hazel
Hair Color:
Dark brown
Other Body Measurements:
NA
Relationships
Marital Status:
Married
Spouse/Partner:
Laura Giaritta (m. 1997)
Family and Relatives
Father:
William Basil Van Winkle
Mother:Camilla Beth Dickerson
Children:
Dusti Rain
KeeLee Breeze
Siblings:Kip Van Winkle
Other Relatives:
Great-great-grandfather John Richard Van Winkle

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