SANTA ANA, Calif. — “Octomom” Nadya Suleman has filed for bankruptcy, saying in a court filing that she has as much as $1 million in debt.

Suleman wants a fresh start, and said in a written statement that filing for bankruptcy Monday is what’s best for her children, according to the Orange County Register. “I have had to make some very difficult decisions this year, and filing Chapter 7 was one of them,” Suleman said.

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Nadya Suleman of La Habra, Calif., who has 14 kids and no job, has filed for bankruptcy, saying in a court filing that she has as much as $1 million in debt. The Associated Press

Olivia Harrison The Associated Press

The La Habra mother of 14 reports up to $50,000 in assets in federal court filings, which means she owes more than 20 times her net worth.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy means a court-appointed trustee would liquidate Suleman’s assets to pay off creditors before she is discharged from most of her debts.

Among others, Suleman owes money to her father, the city’s water department, DirecTV and Whittier Christian School, where at least some of her children are students. Suleman also owes more than $30,000 in rent payments on her four-bedroom house.

The home’s owner, Amer Haddadin, says his own credit has suffered as he allowed the home to go into foreclosure proceedings by not making the mortgage payments. A foreclosure auction that was scheduled for Monday has been postponed for a week.

Suleman was in financial dire straits before the January 2009 birth of her octuplets brought her notoriety. She lived with her mother in a three-bedroom house in Whittier that was in foreclosure proceedings at the time of the octuplets’ birth.

The unemployed single mother had been supporting her six other children with the aid of food stamps and Social Security disability payments – sources of income that she continues to rely on.

Since the birth, she has cut deals with media outlets and posed in tabloid photo spreads to get by, touting a book and exercise videos that never materialized. She earned $5,000 for promoting spaying and neutering for an animal rights group and was paid to take a beating in celebrity boxing matches.

In 2009, Suleman declined a million-dollar offer to appear in pornography.

Last month, semi-nude photos of Suleman ran alongside a paid interview in a British publication – a photo spread she defended in the tabloids, saying she wasn’t ashamed of it.

All of Suleman’s children were conceived through in vitro fertility treatments. Her octuplets are the world’s longest-surviving set.

Widow’s e-book adds Harrison details

NEW YORK — George Harrison’s widow, Olivia, hopes to add more perspective on the reticent Beatle with her new digital book, and to fill in the blanks left by Martin Scorsese’s recent documentary.

Based on Scorsese’s “George Harrison: Living in the Material World,” the multi-touch book of the same name is now available on iBookstore. It includes audio, video material from the film, and personal photographs, letters and memorabilia never seen by the public (a traditional print edition of the book has been in stores).

Along with the multi-touch book, the DVD of the documentary also came out Tuesday.

Thirty shows nominated for Tony Awards

NEW YORK — There was something for virtually everyone to smile about Tuesday on Broadway after 30 of 37 shows this season got at least one Tony Award nomination. The folks at “Once” had the most reason to celebrate, maybe at their working bar on stage.

The musical based on the low-budget 2006 film about an unlikely romance between a Czech flower seller and an Irish street musician in Dublin earned a leading 11 nominations, including nods for best musical, for both its lead actors, its book, lighting, sound, choreography and its set, which offers the audience real drinks before the show in a replica pub.

“‘Once’ constantly surprises me. I think it’s the power of the music and the storytelling that people connect with,” said John Tiffany, who was nominated for best director of a musical.

Two musicals using George and Ira Gershwin songs – “The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess” and “Nice Work If You Can Get It” – each got 10 nominations. And “Peter and the Starcatcher,” a play about the origins of Peter Pan that was co-produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, earned nine nominations, while Disney’s energetic song-and-dance musical “Newsies” got eight.

This summer, “Once,” “Nice Work If You Can Get It” and “Newsies” will compete for the title of best new musical with a surprise entry – “Leap of Faith,” which was ravaged by critics.

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