It shouldn’t be hard to keep a successful, unproblematic career going… To these celebs, it’s not. A lot of these celebrities learned the hard way that maybe they should have kept to themselves more…
Natalia Kills
Singer Natalia Kills had one of the most cringey public downfalls… She was a judge on the show X Factor in 2015 when she shamelessly bullied a contestant. She insulted the contestant on stage and tried to shame him for “copying” her husband, Willy Moon.
She’s Canceled
Naturally, people came to the defense of the contestant and quickly canceled barely-relevant Natalia Kills and her not-famous husband. The two are still facing backlash for the 2015 incident. The internet never forgets.
Dani Mathers
Dani Mathers was a popular Playboy model and even became Playmate of the year. Things took a turn for her when she took a Snapchat video of a naked woman taking a shower at the gym. She captioned it, “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either.”
Consequences
Dani, being stupid, didn’t realize that this was a criminal offense. She got a misdemeanor and was sentenced to 30 days of community service and three years of probation. She apologized for it, but no one really cared. What’s done is done!
Ashlee Simpson
Every now and then, the 2004 video of Ashlee Simpson pathetically dancing on Saturday Night Live will resurface as a hilarious ‘remember when?’ It’s easy to overlook that this night was the night that her career totally crashed and burned.
Where Is She Now?
Her music career was decimated, but she’s still going strong with other business endeavors. She’s also a mother, which takes up a lot of her time. She tried to make a music comeback but it… Didn’t work.
Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Hernandez was making a pretty great name for himself as a tight end for the New England Patriots. In 2013, he was arrested in connection to the murder of Odin Lloyd. He was charged with first-degree murder and was sentenced to jail.
That’s Not All
He was later indicted on a double homicide involving Daniel de Abreu and Sofiro Furtado. Hernandez was facing a long time in jail. He committed suicide on April 19th, 2017.
Gilbert Gottfried
Gottfried is best known for his comedic humor and distinctive voice. For some reason, after a horrific Tsunami that hit Japan and killed thousands of people, he decided to hop and twitter to make a joke. “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them.”
No Association
Because of that, he was fired from his job as the Aflac duck. Naturally, because who wants to be associated with that? Also, Aflac is a business that is mainly based in Japan… Obviously, they weren’t going to like that.
Josh Duggar
The eldest son of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting was found to be guilty of sexually assaulting multiple women, including four of his sisters. His parents claimed that he was just a curious young boy and touched them under their clothes when they were sleeping.
Problematic Man
He was also found to be cheating on his wife with women on an online adultering site called AshleyMadison.com. He is still with his wife and they are still having children.
B.o.B
The “Airplanes” rapper had a bizarre downfall… All in the name of the Flat Earth theory. In 2016, B.o.B tweeted that if the Earth were round, it would be obvious by looking at the horizon. At first, no one believed that he was serious, but then he even tried debating Neil deGrasse Tyson…
Closeted Conspiracy Theorist
B.o.B then went on to say that the moon landing was fake and the government knows how to clone humans. So, yeah, everyone kind of let him fade out.
Tila Tequila
It’s kind of unclear as to why Tila Tequila is famous, but here we are. She always knows how to get headlines written about her by saying controversial things. Her final straw came in 2013 when she basically came out as antisemitic.
You’re Done
She claimed to sympathize with Hitler and said that he “did what he had to do.” In 2016, she posted a photo of herself doing a Nazi salute. She was fired from Celebrity Big Brother.
Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte was an Olympic athlete who was slotted to bring home a lot of gold medals. When he and his teammates were in Rio de Janeiro, he said that they were robbed and held at gunpoint. People were immediately up in arms about how dangerous and unsafe Brazil was until the truth hit…
Big Lies
Lochte admitted that he over-exaggerated and was very drunk at the time. His lie caused a lot of issues and debates that divided a lot of people within the Olympics community. He ended up losing $2.3 million in endorsements because of his lie.
Giuliana Rancic
Giuliana is a co-reporter with E! News and was a popular voice on Fashion Police with Joan Rivers. During an episode of that show, Rancic made a comment about Zendaya’s dreadlocks, saying they “smelled of patchouli oil and weed.”
Blatant Racism
Not only was this a subtly racist remark, but it was also extremely hurtful to say about someone like Zendaya who is known as an unproblematic and happy person. People did not take kindly to her remark and have since begun to ignore her existence.
Ingrid Bergman
This one is quite interesting. At the time, this was the biggest scandal and a huge black mark on Bergman’s record. While she was married to Peter Lindstrom, she began having an affair with director Roberto Rossellini. She got pregnant with his child, left her husband, and went to live with Rossellini. The fact that she was a woman doing this is what scarred her reputation and career.
Robert Blake
After his stint in Little Rascals, he had a pretty successful career. His last role was as The Mystery Man in Lost Highway. In 2001, he shot his wife in the head. He claimed that he left his wife in a car outside of a restaurant they were at to retrieve his gun that he left in the booth. Obviously, it was his “missing gun” that was used to kill her. He was arrested a year later, and the three years later, was acquitted through a civil court claim.
Bill Cosby
Everyone should know this by now, but if you don’t, Bill Cosby met his downfall by being a secret predator over the past 30 years. Many women came forward to say that Cosby drugged and assaulted them. This was a huge controversy as many people didn’t believe the victims. Cosby was eventually found guilty in the case of former Temple University employee Andrea Constand when he assaulted her in in 2005. The 82-year-old will face 10 years in prison.
Jennifer Grey
This actress was at the top of her career when she starred in Dirty Dancing and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. In the early 90s, she got a nose job that literally ended her career. She was unrecognizable and no one wanted to book her. She underwent a second surgery to “fix” it, but it made it worse. Her career was over.
Paula Deen
Who doesn’t remember Paula Deen’s racist rampage? Lisa Jackson is a white woman who worked under Deen as a general manager for her restaurant, Uncle Bubba’s Seafood and Oyster House. Jackson said that Deen wanted to have a “true Southern plantation-style” themed wedding for her brother’s wedding. She wanted black servers to “play” as slaves. Her consistent, casual use of the N-word also got out into the public. Deen tried to apologize and claim she wasn’t racist, but no one bought it.
Billy Bush
Many people don’t realize this, but Billy Bush’s career went up in flames after the disgusting Trump tapes leaked to the public. Apparently, Bush’s coworkers found the footage of Trump saying about women, “you know I’m automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them.” Bush agreed but didn’t really get into the banter. Nonetheless, Bush felt the heat from the 11-year-old footage and resigned from Today.
Brian Williams
Journalists are supposed to be the gatekeepers between the government and the public. Some can even say they’re the fourth branch of the government. So, when they’re caught in a lie, all trust goes out the window. Brian Williams lied about heading into Iraq in 2003 under fire. There was a helicopter that was under fire and had to make an emergency landing, but Williams was not on it. The soldiers on the flight exposed him for his lie. He was suspended from NBC for six months but returned to his post.
Michael Richards
Kramer was one of Seinfeld‘s most lovable characters due to his eccentric behaviors. After the show ended, Michael Richards still had a career in stand-up and other smaller shows. In 2006, he was doing a set at The Laugh Factory when he went off on a Black audience member who was heckling him. It quickly turned into a racist rant with heavy use of the N-word and “jokes” about lynching. He tried to apologize, but the public wasn’t having it.
Azaelia Banks
It didn’t take Azaelia Banks very long to show the world her true colors. She had an intense history of homophobic and racist tweets, as well as trying to start fights with people like Perez Hilton and even teenager Skai Jackson. The straw that broke the camels back was a series of tweets to Zayn Malik, saying that he was stealing her ideas. She called him “hairy,” “curry scented,” “Punjab,” and “dirty.” Despite people calling her out, she continued to tweet horrible things and still does. The difference is now that no one likes her or cares anymore.
Meek Mill
The beef between Meek Mill and Drake was a doozy… Mainly because Drake kept decimating Meek in tracks. Meek tried to hold his ground but eventually had to give it up. After he and Nicki Minaj split, many believe his career of “riding her coattails” was over. After a stint in jail, Meek is now focused on prison reform. So, technically, his music career is a little quiet right now, but he’s become a very passionate activist.
CeeLo Green
In 2012, CeeLo Green plead no contest to slipping a pill into a woman’s drink. People don’t take kindly to sexual predators, so his career tanked pretty quickly after that. To make it worse, Green tweeted, “If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you! The WITH implies consent.” So, not only does he not regret sexually assaulting the woman, but he also did not learn from the trial and still doesn’t care to learn what consent really means.
Kathy Griffin
Kathy Griffin made her career about being a bit over the top and edgy with her jokes, but one joke went way too far. She took a photo holding a fake head of Donald Trump covered in fake blood. People were immediately in outcry, even those who oppose Trump. Griffin released a statement and said, “I made a mistake and I was wrong.” She ended up losing her spot on CNN’s New Year’s Eve and many endorsement deals. She’s still trying to recover.
Anthony Weiner
Anthony Weiner was trying to climb the political ladder when he was caught in a bizarre sex scandal. He accidentally uploaded a private photo to Twitter. He had to come clean and say that he was trying to send it to a woman, which then led to his confession of cheating on his wife with six other women. Needless to say, he was over.
Brandy
Brandy was a successful musician in the 90s and even had a pretty decent acting career after that. That came to a halt when she caused a fatal car accident because she was driving recklessly.
Ciara
Ciara and Beyoncé were always at ends with each other in the music world. People loved to pit them against each other. In an interview, she claimed that Beyoncé copied her album cover and then went on to call her petty. That type of accusation did not sit well with Beyoncé fans and Ciara was quickly written off.
Bill O’Reilly
Bill O’Reilly is a republican journalist who got his fame for his in-your-face opinions. The New York Times ended up publishing a story saying that he paid $13 million in settlements to five women over sexual harassment claims, which brought his career to a grinding halt. As it turned out to hold some truth, although O’Reilly never said it was or wasn’t, he was fired from Fox News. He still tweets pretty dumb things, but they have much less of an impact now.
John Edwards
John Edwards is a former Senator from North Carolina and was the Democratic Party vice-presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008. Edwards had an affair with Rielle Hunter and got her pregnant while he was married to his wife who was fighting terminal cancer. He was also found to be misusing campaign funds to keep his mistress quiet. His wife died on December 7th, 2010. He continued his relationship with the mistress until 2015. Obviously, the public learned to distrust Edwards.
Iggy Azalea
Iggy Azalea loved to pick fights and “speak her mind.” Eventually, her fans got sick of her constant drama and decided to call it quits. She picked fights with Nicki Minaj, Macklemore, and has had an ongoing feud with other canceled rapper Azaelia Banks. Another problem people have with Iggy is that she’s a White woman who appropriates Black culture to get famous, but is also famously silent on Black issues. Not classy!
Milo Yiannopoulos
Everyone knows that everything that comes out of his guy’s mouth is supposed to get you mad, but one thing that he said and stuck by is actually disgusting. In 2016, Yiannopoulos said that 13-year-olds aren’t children and that the idea of consent is “arbitrary and oppressive” while talking about child abuse. Yuck.
Elliot Spitzer
Spitzer was living his life as New York’s Governor until he was caught cheating on his wife… With a prostitute. Naturally, he tried lying about it, but he was still caught. His political career was over.
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan was originally known for being a wonderful child actor and teen star, but that quickly changed in 2007 when her drug addictions and alcoholism got the best of her. She was convicted for DUI’s twice and cocaine possession. She went to rehab three times and to jail three times. She was found stealing jewelry from people and never showed up to her court-ordered weekly alcohol education classes. She’s still struggling to keep her relevancy but is now living in Dubai.
Kevin Spacey
Actor Anthony Rapp accused Kevin Spacey of sexually harassing him when he was 14. Spacey admitted to it and apologize, but also came out as gay in that same apology. Many people believed he was trying to hide behind his sexuality and use it as an excuse, which made the LGBTQ community look predatory. He was fired from his current role on House of Cards and has been in hiding ever since.
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson was extremely successful and popular with his acting career, but that all changed when he exploded with a sexist and antisemitic rant. His anger issues became extremely problematic and prevalent. In 2017, he was in a film that was popular, but still, no one is really interested in having Mel Gibson back in action.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods had been a golf prodigy for all of his life. He was extremely lovable and popular. He was then outed as a serial cheater with a “sex addiction.” He lost his wife, family, and all of his endorsements. Now, he seems to be back at the spot as he was before the cheating came out… The golf community must be pretty forgiving.
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Jones played the dean in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Charles Deetz in Beetlejuice. In 2002, he was charged with child pornography and soliciting a 14-year-old boy to pose nude. Since then, he hasn’t been really heard from.
Amanda Bynes
The downfall of Amanda Bynes might have been one of the saddest of all of the child actors. She was caught driving under the influence multiple times, got involved with multiple hit-and-runs, and was tweeting some extremely bizarre things. It was eventually revealed that she had to be placed on a psychiatric hold and hospitalization. She is now allegedly schizophrenic. As of right now, she is in retirement and is focused on staying healthy.
Hulk Hogan
Hogan had a sex tape released, but that wasn’t the controversy. In the tape, he spoke about his daughter, Brooke, dating a Black man. He called the man the N-word multiple times. He was removed from all WWE events and their Hall of Fame.
Charlie Sheen
Charlie Sheen was another victim of a public meltdown. After Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men, he started ranting about how he was “winning” in life. He did bizarre things like show interviewers that he can smoke cigarettes through his nose and consistently called himself a warlock. In 2015, he revealed that he was HIV positive. He claimed to have told all 200+ (another weird brag), but one girlfriend said that she was never informed. Up to 10 women sued him for not telling them.
Michael Vick
Michael Vick was the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles when it came to light that he was running a dogfighting ring. He was also found guilty of executing dogs. He retired in 2016.
Montana Fishburne
Unfortunately, Laurence Fishburne’s daughter did not live up to her father’s legacy. Instead of becoming a Hollywood actor, she decided to go the XXX route. After her debut film, Montana Fishburne: Makes her XXX Debut, she basically ruined her chances of being an actual actor and put stress on her and her father’s reputation. In an interview, she said that it was a horrible decision and for other people to not follow in her footsteps.
Gary Busey
Gary Busey was a hugely successful actor in the 70s and 80s. Unfortunately, in 1988, he was in a horrible motorcycle accident without wearing a helmet. He was in a coma for 33 days but survived… A psychiatrist said that he suffered severe brain damage, and since then, he’s had some bizarre outbursts and interviews in the public eye.
Jerry Lee
When Jerry Lewis was 23, it was found out that he married his wife when she was 13-years-old and he was 22. She was also his cousin. His career was never the same after that, but he and his wife were married for 13 years and had two kids together.
Jared Fogle
The Subway spokesman was found guilty of possessing child pornography and the intent to travel and solicit sex from a minor. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Subway instantly dropped him from the brand.
Mark Salling
Mark Salling was a popular face in the show Glee. He played Noah “Puck” Puckerman, the obvious teen heartthrob. In December 2015, he was arrested in connection to a child porn ring.
Guilty
Upon investigation, officers found thousands of photos of under-aged girls on his computer. He was sentenced to say 100 feet away from schools and parks. He committed suicide on January 30th, 2018.
Ian Watkins
Not many may know the name, but his actions were gruesome. Ian Watkins was the frontman for the band Lostprophets, who were popular in the alt-rock world and even toured on Vans Warped Tour. He was found guilty of attempted rape and sexual assault on children.
Gone To Jail
He pled guilty to possessing child porn, taking or making child porn, and possessing one image of extreme bestiality. He tried grooming a woman to give him her baby son. He is serving 29 years in jail.
Stephen Collins
The 7th Heaven actor was caught on tape saying that he engaged in pedophilic actions. In lieu of this news, a woman who was 10 at the time reported that Collins would expose himself to her.
Not The First Time
His ex-wife filed for divorce, and states “In the presence of his therapist, Stephen admitted that he has engaged in a long-term pattern of sexually abusing minor children.”