Fat Tony admits he sold an original Banksy to pay off taxes

Fat Tony has opened up about his financial situation and how it has changed throughout his life in an exclusive interview with The Times.

The DJ admits that he has sold a piece of art by Banksy to pay his taxes, and now spends most of his money on either black cabs or on designer clothes.

He unveils the details of his favourite purchase, what his plans for retirement are, where he plans to buy property in London, and how much money he has spent on his teeth.

Read this next: Life Lessons with DJ Fat Tony

He also admits that he doesn’t use Uber and instead prefers the black cabs of London. “I won’t use Uber. It’s an art form to know those roads, and black cab drivers study their art. That’s why I respect them.”

While he was DJing, he got paid mostly in cash and didn’t create his first bank account until he became sober. He also currently does not own any property as he says that “renting’s always been an easy option because when I’m bored, I can move on.”

Fat Tony is frank about his mistakes and admits to not having paid his taxes for several years. He says how he wanted to come clean and sold a Banksy in order to pay his taxes.

“I wasn’t earning much then, but the tax was a lot. £1,000 would’ve been a lot, because I didn’t have it, but luckily, in a moment of pity, someone had given me a Banksy and a Mr Brainwash, which I sold to pay my tax.”

He also says that he “wasted £1 million on drugs”, and says that “it was never a boast. It’s nothing to celebrate. What a waste.”

Read this next: The 5 most controversial Banksy moments of the decade

The interview is centred around the topics he covered in his new book I Don’t Take Requests, which is out now.

We also caught up with Fat Tony and spoke to him about the lessons he has learnt throughout his life - read it here.

Read the full interview with The Times here.

Aneesa Ahmed is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter