Here's How Much Steven Seagal Is Really Worth

In 2013, Vice contributor Jamie Lee Curtis Taete called Steven Seagal "the lamest guy ever." Those sound like fighting words, which you might not want to level at a guy who has black belts in multiple martial arts. But Taete accused Seagal of being a B.S. artist. Per the Chicago Tribune, he has "hinted in hushed tones" (the only tones the actor uses) that he performed "special favors" for the CIA. Whether or not that claim fails the smell test, a CIA agent that Seagal hired as a consultant accused the action star of doing shady crap. 

As the New York Post details, in 2003, former intelligence officer Herbert Saunders alleged that the "Under Siege" star asked him to access "confidential Drug Enforcement Administration files he believed were being collected to frame [Seagal]." Seagal also allegedly asked him to blackmail a journalist. "I don't think he's able to sort out fantasy from fact," Saunders remarked. Earlier that year, a Canadian filmmaker said of Seagal, "His ability to be truthful is questionable, very much so." That comment came amid testimony during a trial in which Seagal alleged his ex-producer, Julius Nasso, joined forces with the mob to extort Seagal for millions of dollars. The actor apparently also claimed to have fought the yakuza.

On top of the gangster shenanigans, the actor bragged about teaching UFC fighter Anderson Silva a front kick he used to win a match — a claim which Silva flat-out denied. He told a similar story about UFC fighter Jon Jones, which was similarly denied. Maybe Steven Seagal has mastered the art of Dung Fu. But does he at least have millions of dollars that the yakuza could extort from him if they wanted to? Because if you have absurd amounts of money, who cares if you tell absurd lies?