Faizon Love net worth has become a topic of renewed interest as fans revisit the comedian and actor’s long career in Hollywood. Best known for memorable roles in Friday, Elf, and Couples Retreat, Faizon Love spent more than three decades building his reputation through film, television, voice acting, and stand-up comedy. Despite appearing in several popular projects, his financial journey has seen major ups and downs. As of 2026, estimates of Faizon Love’s net worth generally place it around $500,000, reflecting both his entertainment earnings and the impact of recent legal and financial challenges. His story shows how a lengthy career does not always translate into lasting wealth.
Who Is Faizon Love?
Faizon Love is a Cuban-born American actor, comedian, and voice performer whose commanding physical presence and sharp comic timing have made him one of the most recognizable character actors in Hollywood over the past three decades. Born Langston Faizon Santisima, he built his career from the ground up — starting as a stand-up comedian at 15, making his acting debut off-Broadway at 19, and eventually landing the role that defined him culturally: Big Worm, the menacing drug supplier in F. Gary Gray’s 1995 comedy Friday.
His career spans 70-plus film credits, a voice role that became iconic in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, and television work across multiple network sitcoms. His 2026 stand-up special, Bitch Please, is his most recent release — described on his official website as “40+ years of raw, unfiltered comedy from the legendary Big Worm himself.”
Quick Facts About Faizon Love
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Real Name | Langston Faizon Santisima |
| Stage Name | Faizon Love |
| Date of Birth | June 14, 1968 |
| Age in 2026 | 58 years old |
| Birthplace | Santiago de Cuba, Cuba |
| Raised In | San Diego, California and Newark, New Jersey |
| High School | Morse High School, San Diego |
| Nationality | Cuban-born American |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.77 m) |
| Profession | Actor, Comedian, Voice Actor |
| Years Active | 1983 – present |
| Breakout Role | Big Worm, Friday (1995) |
| Most Recent Special | Bitch Please (2026) |
| @faizonlove (270K+ followers) | |
| Real Estate | Buckeye, Arizona home ($1.27M, 2019) |
| Net Worth 2026 | $50,000 (Celebrity Net Worth, June 2026) |
| Current Legal Status | Held at Orient Road Jail, Tampa, FL — 2 contempt of court charges |
Early Life, Family and Background
Langston Faizon Santisima was born on June 14, 1968, in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba. Because his father served in the United States Navy, his childhood was defined by constant relocation — he was raised across multiple cities, most significantly San Diego, California, and Newark, New Jersey. That upbringing as a self-described “military brat” gave him early exposure to a wide range of cultural backgrounds and social environments, all of which would eventually find their way into his comedy.
In San Diego, he attended Morse High School. He discovered stand-up comedy at 15, performing at local venues while still in school. By 19, he had made his acting debut off-Broadway, marking the beginning of a professional entertainment career that would stretch across four decades. He never attended college — the stage was his education.
How Faizon Love Got Famous — From Bebe’s Kids to Friday
His professional career began in the comedy clubs and off-Broadway stages of New York before he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue film and television work. His motion picture debut came in 1992 with Bebe’s Kids, an adult animated comedy based on comedian Robin Harris’s stand-up material. Harris had died two years before the film was completed, and Love stepped in to voice his character — a remarkable debut that required him to deliver a close vocal impression of a comedian the world had already lost.
His next major break came through director Robert Townsend, who cast him in The Meteor Man (1993) and then offered him a co-starring role on his sitcom The Parent ‘Hood, where Love played Wendell Wilcox from 1995 to 1999 — his first significant ongoing television role and a steady source of income during a formative period of his career.
The role that defined him came in 1995. In F. Gary Gray’s Friday, Love played Big Worm — a drug supplier whose combination of genuine menace and dark comedy created one of the most memorable supporting characters in 1990s cinema. The line “Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions” became a cultural touchstone that audiences still quote nearly three decades later. The character’s success was rooted in Love playing the comedy and the danger simultaneously, never undercutting Big Worm’s threat for the sake of a laugh.
Career Highlights — 70+ Films and Counting
Faizon Love has enjoyed a remarkably consistent career, with memorable roles across comedy, drama, animation, and video games. His diverse body of work has helped him remain a familiar face in Hollywood for decades.
His most significant film appearances include Friday (1995) as Big Worm — his defining role; Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood (1996); B.A.P.S. (1997); Money Talks (1997); The Replacements (2000); Made (2001), the Jon Favreau crime comedy co-starring Vince Vaughn and Peter Falk; The Fighting Temptations (2003); Elf (2003) as the overworked Gimbel’s store manager — his second most recognized role; Torque (2004); Couples Retreat (2009) as newly divorced Shane — his most prominent mainstream studio comedy role; and The War with Grandpa (2020).
On television, his most significant credits include The Parent ‘Hood (1995–1999) as Wendell Wilcox; The Big House (2004) alongside a then-unknown Kevin Hart; Black-ish (2015–2017) as the recurring character Sha; The New Edition Story (2017) as Maurice Starr; and Step Up (2018–2022) on YouTube Red and Starz.
Faizon Love’s biggest voice acting role came in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), where he voiced Sean “Sweet” Johnson. Since the game became one of the most popular and best-selling titles of all time, the role brought his voice to millions of players worldwide and made him recognizable to audiences far beyond his film career. He also voiced Bruce the Bear in Zookeeper (2011) and Robin Harris in Bebe’s Kids (1992).
His most recent credit is the 2024 TV series Shoot the Pitch Roll the Clip. His 2026 stand-up special Bitch Please is currently his most active project.
Faizon Love Net Worth in 2026
Faizon Love’s net worth in 2026 is estimated at $50,000 according to Celebrity Net Worth’s June 18, 2026 update — the most current and most credible source available. Earlier estimates varied widely: the same site had previously listed him at $8 million, HNHH cited $8 million as recently as 2024, Kahawatungu estimated $4 million as of February 2026, and some sources still circulate figures between $4 million and $8 million. The sharp drop to an estimated net worth of $50,000 reflects years of financial setbacks caused by legal judgments, garnished earnings, and little to no recent income.
A court filing from early 2026 provides a clear picture of Faizon Love’s finances. In the document, he stated that he earned no income in 2025 and that his highest annual gross income during the previous five years was just $13,000. That self-reported figure, filed in Hillsborough County family court, paints a starkly different picture from the $8 million estimates that circulated just two years earlier.
Net Worth Timeline — How His Finances Changed
| Period | Estimated Net Worth | Key Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 1995–2000 | $500K – $2M | Friday, Parent ‘Hood, steady film work |
| 2001–2010 | $2M – $5M | Elf, Made, Couples Retreat, GTA: San Andreas royalties |
| 2010–2018 | $4M – $8M | Black-ish, Step Up, stand-up touring |
| 2019 | ~$1.27M property | Buckeye, Arizona home purchase |
| 2023 | Declining | $500K default judgment against him |
| 2024 | Further declining | Felony assault charge filed, NBCUniversal residuals garnished |
| 2025 | ~$50K | Self-reported $0 income, $13K highest in 5 years |
| 2026 | $50,000 | Celebrity Net Worth June 2026 estimate, Tampa arrest |
How Does Faizon Love Make Money? Income Sources Breakdown
Film and Television Residuals
The bulk of Love’s passive income comes from residuals on his most widely broadcast films and television appearances. Friday, Elf, Couples Retreat, and Black-ish all continue to generate residual income through broadcast, streaming, and licensing. However, the NBCUniversal garnishment case showed that his residual income may be far smaller than expected. When Hevekiah Walker attempted to collect her $500,000 judgment by garnishing his NBCUniversal payments, the company reported that only about $652 in residuals was available.
Stand-Up Comedy and Live Performance
Stand-up comedy has traditionally been Faizon Love’s most reliable and controllable source of income. His official website lists tour dates, and his most recent special, Bitch Please, is his 2026 release — described as 40-plus years of raw comedy. His self-reported $0 income for 2025, however, suggests that touring and performance income has either dried up significantly or is being structured in a way that does not appear in his financial disclosures.
Voice Acting Residuals
His role as Sean “Sweet” Johnson in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas still brings in small residual income, as the game remains one of the most popular and widely played video games in history. He also voiced characters in Zookeeper, The Boondocks, and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, all of which add smaller residual streams.
Commercial Work
In 2012, Love appeared in a series of Boost Mobile commercials promoting the carrier’s 4G phones — a brand partnership that generated supplementary income during a period of relatively steady career activity. No comparable commercial deals have been publicly reported in recent years.
Real Estate
In November 2019, Love paid $1.27 million for a 5,300-square-foot home in Buckeye, Arizona, his most publicly documented asset. Whether he still owns this property as of 2026 has not been confirmed in public records or reporting.
Legal History — A Pattern That Has Defined His Recent Career
2014: Bill Cosby Defense
In 2014, Love posted a series of tweets defending Bill Cosby against sexual assault allegations, using profanity and racial slurs against the accusers and against comedian Hannibal Buress for bringing the allegations wider attention. He doubled down in 2015. The controversy damaged his public reputation at a time when his career was still generating significant income.
2017: Columbus Airport Assault
In March 2017, Love was arrested in Columbus, Ohio, on a misdemeanor assault charge after surveillance video captured him grabbing a valet at John Glenn Columbus International Airport by the neck and throwing him to the ground and into a desk. He initially pleaded not guilty but later entered a no-contest plea. The court imposed a $500 fine and a 180-day suspended jail sentence.
2018: Sexual Harassment Lawsuit
A former personal assistant sued Love for sexual harassment in 2018. The case was later settled out of court.
2022–2023: Second Sexual Harassment Lawsuit and Default Judgment
A former personal assistant, Hevekiah Walker, filed a lawsuit in 2022 claiming she experienced sexual harassment while working for about five months at his home in Gwinnett County, Georgia. Neither Faizon Love nor his company, Assembly Robot Inc., responded to the case. As a result, in 2023, the court entered a default judgment and awarded Walker $500,000 in damages, plus about $43,000 in interest and other costs.
2024: NBCUniversal Garnishment
In June 2024, Walker filed a garnishment case against NBCUniversal to recover the $500,000 judgment, saying the company was holding residual money owed to Love. NBCUniversal did not respond at first, so the court issued a default judgment of $543,652 against it. Later, after missing the deadline to challenge the ruling, NBCUniversal appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court in August 2025. The company stated that it held only around $652 in residual payments that could be garnished, indicating that Love was earning very little ongoing income from the network.
February 2025: Felony Assault Charge — San Diego Hotel Incident
In February 2025, Love was charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon in San Diego County, California. Prosecutors alleged that in August 2024, Love arrived at a Sheraton hotel in Mission Valley to check in, was told no room was available despite his third-party booking, and responded by ripping a credit card reader from its mount and throwing it at a female front desk clerk, striking her in the head. Prosecutors added a great bodily injury enhancement. Love pleaded not guilty. In July 2025, a judge ruled there was sufficient evidence for the case to proceed to trial. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in state prison.
June 2026: Tampa Arrest — Contempt of Court, Child Support Case
This is the most recent and most publicly visible chapter in Love’s legal history. On June 16, 2026, at approximately 10:48 PM, Love was arrested in Riverside County, California, on a fugitive warrant and subsequently extradited to Florida by authorities acting on orders from Hillsborough County Judge Mark Kiser.
He was booked into Orient Road Jail in Tampa on two counts of contempt of court — one of which is classified as criminal contempt — connected to a paternity case, case number 19-DR-017453, involving a woman identified as Tiffany Lee, the mother of his child. The case originated in 2019 and has been marked by repeated compliance failures.
According to court records reviewed by USA Today and the Washington Times, a Hillsborough County judge issued a contempt warrant after Love failed to appear at a scheduled April 8, 2026, hearing and failed to submit a required full financial affidavit and supporting documents. He was subsequently ordered to surrender himself to jail by May 1, 2026 — a deadline he also did not meet. The court then issued an order for his arrest to serve a 90-day sentence for indirect civil contempt.
Earlier in 2026, Love filed court documents stating that he was financially unable to meet his child support obligations. In the filings, obtained by TMZ, he claimed that his income for 2025 was $0 and that the highest amount he had earned in any of the previous five years was $13,000. He also said he missed the April 8 hearing because of a medical issue, but the court still allowed the contempt proceedings to continue.
His attorney, Glen R. Lansky of Lansky Law Group, confirmed the arrest in a statement to E! News on June 18: “The underlying case involves a motion for contempt for failure to pay child support.” As of the date of this article’s publication, Love remains in custody without bond and is expected to appear before a Hillsborough County judge. His attorney has declined to comment further on the details of the case.
Faizon Love’s Social Media and Public Presence
Love maintains an active Instagram presence at @faizonlove, where he has accumulated more than 270,000 followers. His posts range from promotional content for upcoming performances and his Bitch Please special to personal commentary and opinions on social and cultural issues. He has been consistently outspoken online, a trait that has occasionally amplified his public controversies but also kept him in front of an audience between projects.
His official website, faizon.love, lists tour dates and promotes his stand-up work, and describes him with characteristic bluntness: “Born in Santiago de Cuba and raised across America as a military brat, Faizon Love started doing stand-up at 15 years old. By 19, he was on off-Broadway stages. By 27, he was Big Worm — and the world hasn’t been the same since.”
Also read: Carlos Mencia Net Worth 2026
Conclusion
Faizon Love’s estimated $50,000 net worth in 2026 is perhaps the starkest illustration in recent Hollywood history of the gap between cultural recognition and financial stability. The man who gave the world Big Worm — one of the most quoted characters of the 1990s — reported zero dollars in income for 2025, self-reported a five-year peak earning of $13,000, and was arrested this week on a fugitive warrant and transported across state lines to serve jail time over unpaid child support.
None of this erases what he built across 40 years of stand-up and 70-plus film credits. Friday is still being watched. Elf is still being streamed every Christmas. GTA: San Andreas is still being played by a new generation who grew up hearing his voice as Sweet Johnson. But the financial reality of Faizon Love’s net worth in 2026 is a reminder that cultural legacy and financial security are two very different things — and that a career built almost entirely on supporting roles, without the ownership stakes, backend deals, or business diversification that transform entertainment income into lasting wealth, can leave even the most recognizable faces in Hollywood financially vulnerable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Faizon Love arrested in June 2026?
He was arrested on June 16, 2026, in Riverside County, California, on a fugitive warrant and extradited to Tampa, Florida, where he was booked into Orient Road Jail on two contempt of court charges tied to a child support dispute with a woman identified as Tiffany Lee. He allegedly owed $250,000 in child support, missed a court hearing on April 8, and failed to surrender himself to jail by May 1 as ordered.
How much did Faizon Love claim to earn in 2025?
In legal filings submitted to Hillsborough County family court earlier in 2026, Love stated his income for 2025 was $0 and that the highest gross income he had earned over the previous five years was $13,000.
What is Faizon Love’s most famous role?
Big Worm, the drug supplier he played in Friday (1995) and Next Friday (2000), remains his most culturally enduring role. His line “Playing with my money is like playing with my emotions” is still widely quoted nearly 30 years after the film’s release.
Does Faizon Love still earn money from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas?
He voices Sean “Sweet” Johnson in GTA: San Andreas, one of the most-played video games in history. He would receive residual income from that role, though the exact amount is not publicly disclosed.
What is Faizon Love’s upcoming felony case?
He faces a felony assault with a deadly weapon charge in San Diego County, California, stemb ming from an August 2024 incident at a Sheraton hotel in Mission Valley. Prosecutors allege he threw a credit card reader at a front desk clerk, striking her in the head. He has pleaded not guilty, and the case is proceeding toward trial. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in prison.
What is Faizon Love’s most recent stand-up special?
His 2026 special Bitch Please is his most recent comedy release, available on his official website and promoted as 40-plus years of raw, unfiltered material.
