For one reason or another, these celebrities were blacklisted from the silver screen. Whether it was a case of wrong place wrong time, or being canceled by pop culture, or a problematic connection, these stars won’t be on-screen anytime soon. Read on to find out why…
Banking On Banks
Azelia Banks is one of Hollywood’s worst right now. She has been called offensive, fatphobic, homophobic, ableist, and so much more. You can find her on Twitter, and nowhere else.
Canceling Quaid
Randy Quaid is likely best known for his role in Independence Day, a very successful film. His blacklist status doesn’t come from himself, but from his wife, who sent everyone in his Equity actors union a nude photo of herself holding guns. Weird…
Haven’t Heard From Him Vince…
Vince is said to be one of the most typecast actors in Hollywood, unable to vary his style. His goofy persona was a blessing to his career in the 90s, but since then has been a hindrance. Or should we say, a hinder-Vince!
Corey Is Cut
Corey Feldman was blacklisted after he publicly called attention to one of Hollywood’s biggest secrets. He referenced a pedophile ring which has since been confirmed. Blacklisted too soon…
Mira, Mira, On the Wall
Mira Sorvino was one of Weinstein’s sexual assault victims, but she thankfully overcame the tragic experience. After the allegations were confirmed, her blacklist status was lifted and she has been working ever since.
No More Bieber Fever
It’s been a few years since the then-tween sensation put out new music, and it might be because he was blacklisted due to bad behavior. He famously urinated in buckets, drove under the influence, and much worse. Hopefully, he’s calmed down since marriage.
Trumping Trumbo
Daniel Trumbo wasn’t part of the red scare, but he was certainly accused of such. He never recovered from the allegations, and he never worked in this town again.
Hitting New Lows, Lohan
Lindsey Lohan famously went off the rails in her teenage years and snapped in the spotlight. Nowadays, she’s pretty much banished from any serious acting opportunities.
Ashley Speaks Out
Another victim of Weinstein, Ashley Judd took the Hollywood mogul to court and reached a settlement of several million dollars. After the truth came to light, she was unblacklisted.
Farewell Farrah
Farrah Abraham was a star on Teen Mom, but once she started acting out, she was pretty much rejected by Hollywood. No party or show will have her appear now.
Falling Out of Love
Courtney Love, the widow of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, was both an actress and musician. After his death, however, she only participates in music. There are speculations of her involvement in his death, making directors wary to work with her…
Perez Plummets
Perez Hilton is the star of paparazzi reporters. He makes his money from celebrity gossips, so celebrities as a whole don’t really enjoy working with him. Can you blame them?
Tara’s End
Tara Subkoff had the unfortunate case of being one of Harvey Weinstein’s many victims. After being sexually assaulted by the evil villain of Hollywood, Tara hasn’t returned to acting.
Cee-You Later
Cee-Lo is a pop music icon, but after going on a very homophobic rant online, people found it hard to support him. It only got worse once he shared his problematic opinions on rape. And for those reasons, he’s out.
Kirk Needs Work
The star of Growing Pains, Kirk Cameron shared some shameful opinions against homosexuals and women. He claimed these as devout Christian beliefs, but needless to say, he hasn’t been able to find work since.
Barred From Hollywood
Roseanne Barr was once one of the most famous comedians in the game, even getting a reunion show for her former hit sitcom. After sharing some racist remarks online though, she lost the show and her reputation.
Taken for Granted
Lee Grant was wildly successful, but she’s not above being blacklisted. She was testifying against her husband to the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). Both were blacklisted but both were un-blacklisted later on, once confirmed innocent.
Permanent Holliday
When the Communist Red Scare took over, Judy Holliday was caught in the crossfire. Hollywood’s ditziest girl played dumb the whole time, though she actually was involved. Sneaky…
Raising Her Voice
Rose McGowan was one of the brave victims who first spoke out against Harvey Weinstein. His impact was so wide that he blacklisted many actresses like Rose, even though the two settled outside of court. She has not worked since.
Beyond Beyonce
If you’re in China, refrain from playing “Run the World” by the Queen B. The iconic song has been banned for being inappropriate by the Chinese government. Beyonce herself is banned from Malaysia for ignoring their dress code. Sorry, B!
Bullying Burgess
You might recognize this character as Joker from the 1950s version of Batman. He also acted in The Twilight Zone. Burgess Meredith was another actor suspected of communism in the red scare. He was acquitted after the evidence was determined to be insufficient.
Mo’nique
Best known for playing the abusive mother in Precious, Mo’nique won’t be seen on screen again for a while. She was unwilling to work with directors and execs when promoting Precious for an Oscar. She hasn’t worked since the famous film.
Mel’s Meltdown
In maybe one of the most famous blacklisting events in recent history, Mel Gibson went on an antisemitic rant to the press. A decade later, he has started to work again, stating that he wants to get back to the screen. Is Hollywood really ready to forgive him?
Winning!
Charlie Sheen has struggled with addiction throughout his life, but the Two and a Half Men star really lost public opinion when an interview with Good Morning America showed him unhinged and crazed. It was so bad, that he was taken off his hit show. Yikes…
Lost Dogg
So he’s not technically blacklisted from Hollywood, but Snoop Dogg is definitely blacklisted from a few countries. His pot-smoking has restricted him from ever visiting Norway again…
Brendan Banned
Brendan Fraser now lives outside of NYC raising kids and horses. He claims to have been sexually assaulted by the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Philip Burke. Since then, he has not acted.
Difficult to Work With
Have you noticed Katherine Heigl’s absence in recent roles? She’s apparently very annoying to work with, refusing to leave her trailer and constantly change her script, and berate lower-ranked employees. She also showed up in clothes wrong for the role. And just like that, Heigl is out.
I Hate Lucy
The I Love Lucy star, Lucille Ball, was asked to testify in front of HUAC during 1953. Lucky for Lucy, she had a fan interview her, so she wasn’t arrested.
Against Albert
Eddie Albert was looked at as a communist during the red scare era. Luckily, he was overlooked by the government because of his World War II involvement.
Ireland’s Finest
When John Ireland was blacklisted, he was completely heartbroken. He sued the authorities for defamation and slander against his name. He acted after getting a cash settlement.
Hiken Hires
Nat Hiken is the perfect example of why people don’t hire blacklisted actors. He himself got blacklisted when he hired a blacklisted actor for the 1955 film, Car 54.
Keeping Kelton
After being accused of communist ties in her first movie, Pert Kelton was cut out of Hollywood casting. She only had the one role, and never acted again.
Hughes Who?
Communists were big Langston Hughes fans, so his poetry was often used in their papers. It was without his permission, but that was enough to get blacklisted.
All Is Not Welles
Citizen Kane is considered one of the most important movies ever made, but Orson Welles got canceled because of it. It was taken so literally that the FBI tried desperately to connect him with communism.
Hepburn Gets Burned
Katherine Hepburn was arrested and held captive by the HUAC. The organization tried to dissuade anyone from hiring her again, but no one would dare blacklist the famous Hepburn.
Chasing Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin is one of the most famous movie makers of all time. He traveled a lot and supported charities internationally, which the FBI did not like. He was banned from the US for that and only based on assumptions.
Will or Won’t
Will Geer fell off when he was under suspicion by the HUAC. His career fizzled out until he just wasn’t on screen anymore.
Pete Imprisoned
Pete Seeger was sn active and out member of the American Communist Party. He was imprisoned and cut from casting because of it but was later released.
Gypsy Rose, Gypsy Falls
Gypsy Rose Lee was another out and proud communist as well as a burlesque dancer. She was later imprisoned for this, but furthermore, was blacklisted.
Leaving Leonard
Another day, another suspected communist blacklisted. Leonard Bernstein was never confirmed to be a communist, but he was cut off anyway.
Tippi Point
Tippi Hedren starred in 2 Alfred Hitchcock films, where he made many sexual advances to Tippi. When she refused, he blacklisted her. She returned to acting several years later, but eventually dropped off again to pursue animal rights activism.
Washed Up Washington
Isaiah Washington called a gay coworker an offensive slur. This has been a repeat problem, so he finally got blacklisted and cut from the cast of Grey’s Anatomy.
Birch Watching
Thora Birch was a child star and reliant on her parents. However, it was her dad who blacklisted her when he assaulted one of her co-stars. Her career fizzled after that, and she never reached the same celeb status as she had as a child…
Locked Out
Clint Eastwood’s former girlfriend, Sondra Locke, was expelled from Hollywood once she and Clint split. It’s rumored that Clint Eastwood barred people from hiring her, and it took years for her career to get back off the ground…
Dashing Away
Stacey Dash was a talk show host, actress, and activist. She became a racist and conservative during the 2010 election, so anti-progressive that she was fired from the conservative Fox News network. She has not lightened up and remains blocked.
Dorothy Destroyed
Alfred Hitchcock’s most trusted screenwriter, Dorothy Parker, was tied to communism. As you might have guessed, not great for one’s career at the time. She received a letter of 1,000 words detailing reasons for the suspicions.
Cancel Caviezel
Jim Caviezel played Jesus Christ in the hit film, The Passion of the Christ. For no reason other than the overdramatic performance, Jim hasn’t been able to get a role since the film. Sad…
Communism Conspiracy
John Garfield was suspected by many to be tied to the communist party. He never named names and claimed to not be involved at all. His career died from this, and John eventually died by suicide.
Investigating Ives
The folk singer was looked at for communism ties, mostly due to his impact on American labor unions. However, he was eventually cleared of the allegations and continued working.
Uta Associated
Uta Hagen associated with Paul Robeson. When Paul went down and got blacklisted, his affiliates like Uta went down with him.
Seeking Shaw
Shaw was a famous musician, known for playing the clarinet and leading the band. He got blacklisted for, you guessed it, communist ties.
Hammett Imprisoned
Dashiell Hammett was a proud communist, and when questioned about his involvement, did not deny it all. He was imprisoned for several months because of it.
Vanessa Speaks Out
Vanessa Marquez claims to have been blacklisted by George Clooney, though this has been denied. She suffered from mental illness and was shot in her LA home by police.
Justice for Vanessa
Vanessa Williams, the Miss America of 1983 star took nude photos several years prior to her win, but the discovery ended her career. She lost her title and was banished from the entertainment industry.
Martin Lawrence
Martin Lawrence is not a friend of Saturday Night Live. He once stopped the show the preach about his opinions on feminine hygiene. Not the time nor the place. He’s also been creepy to women and made homophobic jokes. Still, he might appear on a few shows every now and then.
Blowing the Horne
Lena Horne was another star involved in the Red Scare during 1950. She had very socialist and liberal views during a conservative era. She was blacklisted but was still successful regardless.
Maines Event
The Dixie Chicks singer, Natalie Maines, spoke out against invading Iraq and President Bush. She was viewed as unpatriotic and problematic but wasn’t canceled officially.
Burning Bridges
Lloyd Bridges was blacklisted for communist ties but was eventually cleared of the accusation. He went on to star in Airplane, now a known classic!
Bye Bye Baker
The originator of the “banana skirt dance” was Josephine Baker, French-American actress, and rumored communist. She was banished to France, had 12 children, and never returned to the States.
Arthur’s End
The release of “The Crucible” compared witch hunts to the film industry. He confessed to intending to criticize Congress in the movie and never named names. Arthur Miller joined the ranks of the blacklisted…