American comic CHRIS TUCKER has earned a whopping $23 million (£17. 6 million) for his two blockbuster RUSH HOUR flicks, but he still cries poverty when friends try to get cash out of him.

Once Tucker hit Hollywood success, family he didn't even know and long-forgotten pals from his youth started coming out of the woodwork, hoping to get a portion of his money. Tucker says,

"I have so many new relatives. It's just crazy. They come up to me and say, 'You know, I'm your cousin. Your grandmother knows who I am. '" But the funnyman isn't about to part with his millions.

He says, "I tell them you're my grandmama's cousin. I don't know you!" But Tucker, 28, insists he's not just being cheap - he complains that having the big bucks isn't all it's cracked up to be, adding, "People don't realise you don't get to keep all the money. You've got to pay taxes, that's half of it. Then you have to pay a lawyer. " (RGS/TG/ES)

Source: WENN