Was Pimp My Ride Fake, Why Was It Canceled, And Where Is Xzibit Today?

If you watched any amount of MTV during the mid 2000s, chances are you know all about the hit reality television series "Pimp My Ride." The series ran from 2004 to 2007 and was hosted by rapper and actor Xzibit, who helped people restore and customize (AKA "Pimp") their poorly maintained cars.

Although the series was a staple of MTV programming throughout the 2000s (and spawned a slew of spinoff series that included "Pimp my Ride UK" and "Trick my Truck"), the show has since come under fire for "faking" car restorations and performing shoddy workmanship in general. A 2015 report from The Huffington Post interviewed three participants who allowed their cars to be modified for "Pimp my Ride," and they revealed that modifications seen on television don't always make it back onto the street. 

Seth Martino from Season 6 claimed that the TVs installed in his car did not work, and that he had to remove the doors they'd installed after they began interfering with his seat belts. Martino also said that the "Pimp my Ride" team added so much weight to his car that it started to bottom out on bumps in the road. Perhaps strangest of all, Season 4's Jake Glazier even claimed that the team installed a fake exhaust pipe to mask the car's broken muffler, and that he sold the car a month after the show because it was in such poor condition.

Alongside the unfortunate condition of the cars themselves, "Pimp my Ride" also fell victim to the sneaky editing and fictionalized drama that are all too common throughout reality television.

For example, the Huffington Post report claims that the vehicle modifications themselves could take six to seven months of real time, while only appearing to take a few weeks within the episode. The contestants were actually forced to drive a rental car the entire time their car was in the shop, which Seth Martino says he had to pay for out of pocket before he was reimbursed by the show. What's more, Huffington Post claims that the beginning of the show (in which Xzibit would go to a contestant's home and "surprise" them with a pimped ride) was always staged. The houses themselves were actually rented by MTV, and the contestants were simply told to wait inside until somebody rang the doorbell.

The report also states that MTV would push the contestants for the most exciting, ridiculous reactions possible after seeing their new car. "I guess I didn't show enough enthusiasm," said Season 6 star Justin Dearinger, recalling how the director had encouraged him to "jump around and scream" during the next take. These behind-the scenes stories certainly paint a messy picture of what being on "Pimp my Ride" was actually like, and reveal how much of the show was faked for the audience's entertainment.

Despite the fact that "Pimp my Ride" was one of the most popular and recognizable MTV shows of its era, the series came to a sudden end in 2007, having produced six total seasons over the course of just three years. It's still unclear exactly why the show was canceled, though some sources suggest its demise was due to declining ratings and viewership, or perhaps due to the general economic downturn that rocked the country in 2007.

The show's abrupt cancellation not only put an end to one of the most iconic programs in MTV's history, but also had devastating consequences for series host Xzibit. Public records secured by The Detroit News in 2010 showed that Xzibit earned around $497,000 during his final season on "Pimp my Ride," which dramatically fell down to just $67,000 by 2008. What's more, the rapper apparently owed more than $959,000 dollars in delinquent Federal taxes around the time the show was canceled, which caused the IRS to place liens against his properties in New Mexico and Los Angeles. 

The end of "Pimp my Ride" and the looming threat of unpaid Federal taxes forced Xzibit to declare for bankruptcy twice between 2009 and 2010, and during that time he also sold his 7,650-square foot home in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. On top of this immense loss of income, Xzibit has since claimed that Viacom actually cut him out of syndication and refused to compensate him for his likeness and music. He subsequently threatened the company with legal action in 2022, though as of right now no such action has been taken.

While it's clear that the abrupt cancellation of "Pimp my Ride" was catastrophic for Xzibit's financial situation, the rapper actually kept himself quite busy with work after the show's demise.

By the time "Pimp my Ride" was canceled, Xzibit had already made quite a name for himself as an actor — starring in films like "8 Mile," "Gridiron Gang," and even providing a voice role for the animated feature "Hoodwinked!" Xzibit continued his transition to acting after the show's end, and has since appeared in shows like "Hawaii Five-0," "Empire," and "American Dad!," while his film performances include "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" and "American Violet." After the end of "Pimp my Ride," Xzibit underwent a brief hiatus from music until the release of the 2012 album "Napalm." While "Napalm" remains his last solo project as of 2023, Xzibit continues to release music to this day as a member of the rap group "Serial Killers."

Outside of acting and music, Xzibit has also established his own personal cannabis brand, titled Napalm after his aforementioned album of the same name. Despite the immense financial devastation that Xzibit endured after "Pimp my Ride" was canceled, it's clear that he kept himself very busy in the years that followed – working as a business owner, musician, and actor right up to the present day.