Shakira is having the last laugh — and the biggest bank account. After an eight-year legal battle with Spain's treasury, the superstar has been acquitted of tax fraud allegations and awarded a whopping €60 million (about $64 million) in overturned fines.
Spain's high court ruled that Shakira lived in the country for just 163 days in 2011 — falling short of the 183 days prosecutors claimed to prove she was a tax resident. She was not a tax resident, and therefore did not commit fraud.
"After more than eight years of enduring brutal public targeting, orchestrated campaigns to destroy my reputation, and sleepless nights that ultimately impacted my health and my family's well-being, the National High Court has finally set the record straight," Shakira said in a statement. "There was never any fraud, and the Administration itself could never prove otherwise, simply because it wasn't true."
The legal drama surfaced in her music. In her viral collaboration with Bizarrap on "BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53," she took shots at both her ex Gerard Piqué and Spanish authorities, singing about being left with "a debt with the treasury." That debt no longer exists.
Shakira celebrated the verdict by posting photos of herself with Rihanna's "Bitch Better Have My Money" playing in the background.
Her fanbase has dubbed the victory proof of "mujeres que facturan" — women who earn and win.
