When you live a life in the spotlight, it’s all too easy to make unintentional mistakes that, while seemingly harmless, have the potential to derail your entire career. These celebrities have had to learn the hard way about the ramifications of careless remarks and legal controversies…
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson’s career was on the decline by 2003, and he was more of a creepy recluse whose children wore veils in public and lived in a fantasy mansion than a mega pop star. Jackson’s popstar royalty reputation was tarnished when the first of many molestation charges against him was filed in December of 2003. He faced more than 20 years in prison if convicted of the charges against him before dying of an accidental overdose in 2009. He was eventually found not guilty, much to the public’s surprise.
Michael Jackson
R. Kelly
R. Kelly: Where to Begin… Kelly was charged with 21 counts of child pornography in 2002, as well as a sex tape showing him having sexual relations with a minor. Until they came back for him in 2018, he vehemently refuted the claims. With the help of hard evidence, he has been accused of kidnapping young girls and keeping them as sex slaves. He’s had almost every endorsement he’s ever had revoked.
R. Kelly
Chris Brown
Chris Brown rose through the ranks of R&B and pop music to become a household name by 2009. When his relationship with Rihanna was heating up, he received a lot of media attention. However, the couple got into a heated argument at a pre-Grammy party in 2009, during which Brown assaulted Rihanna. Her lip was split, her cheeks were bruised, and she had lesions on her forehead. Brown would never be the same after the incident.
Chris Brown
Mary J. Blige
When it comes to marketing her image, Mary J. Blige seems to thrive on pain and drama. When she stooped to sing for a Burger King commercial about fried chicken wraps, fans were outraged, claiming she was exploiting racial stereotypes.
Mary J. Blige
Boy George
Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in prison for handcuffing and assaulting a male escort in his hotel room. I couldn’t care less about how good “Karma Chameleon” was. He chained this guy and accused him of stealing his belongings. Bad move all around, George.
Boy George
Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Simpson’s demise can be attributed to a tragic Saturday Night Live performance in 2004. The backing track from her first song, “Pieces of Me,” began to play instead of “Autobiography,” and a flustered Simpson attempted to distract fans from the revelation that she’d completely lip-synced by dancing. SNL immediately cut to commercial, and Simpson attempted to blame the band for the mishap.
Ashlee Simpson
Jared Fogle
In 2015, Jared Fogle, the face of Subway’s weight-loss marketing campaign, was arrested on charges of child pornography and paying for sex with minors. He once had a net worth of $15 million, but now he is serving a minimum 13-year sentence in prison.
Jared Fogle
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey has made so many unforced errors and career pivots that any starlet would be doomed if it weren’t for her. She couldn’t hear the backing track when she closed out the 2016 New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show in Times Square, so she didn’t sing. The following song was primarily lip-synced. “It happens,” she said.
Mariah Carey
Michael Richards
During a stand-up set in 2006, the “Seinfeld” star went on a racial rant, angrily harassing a black man in the audience. That was the end of his career, and he admitted that he was completely embarrassed after the performance.
Michael Richards
Lil Wayne
Lil Wayne, on the other hand, should have known better. He drew a lot of flak for comparing Emmett Till’s assassination to modern-day sexagenarians. Future’s “Karate Chop” remix includes the line “beat that p***y like Emmett Till,” which refers to a young black man who was murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Why would he do such a thing? It’s a completely offensive line. He apologized profusely and promised not to perform the song again and remove it from the airwaves.
Lil Wayne
Miguel
Miguel’s year was 2013. His hit single “Adorn” went to number one on the charts, and his performance at the Billboard Music Awards that year was…unforgettable. Before making it to the second stage, the poor guy attempted to jump over the pit and crashed into fans. One girl was seriously injured, and she threatened to sue because she was never given proper medical treatment on the spot.
Miguel
Janet Jackson
Okay, so this was purely coincidental. Jackson has never been able to recover from a highly public wardrobe malfunction that occurred during her Super Bowl halftime performance in 2004. The incident, dubbed “Nipplegate” by fans, went something like this: Right at the end of the show, Justin Timberlake reaches across Michael Jackson’s bustier and rips off the top portion, a little too aggressively, and the entire world saw Jackson’s breast for 9/16ths of a second.
Janet Jackson
Jennifer Grey
Her iconic role as Baby in “Dirty Dancing” helped propel her career in the 1980s, but she attributes her success to her decision to have a nose job. Her nose was her most distinguishing feature, but if she was self-conscious about it, let her be!
Jennifer Grey
Robin Thicke
Do you recall the song “Blurred Lines”? Not only did the child-star-turned-pop-singer and Miley Cyrus, who performed a raunchy duet at the MTV Music Video Awards in 2013, show a new side to each other in 2013. Things got a little out of hand for the crowd, and Thicke attempted to blame Cyrus for the R-rated stunt. She held her own, claiming that he knew exactly what would happen on stage. Even though Thicke had released a follow-up album with her name as the title, his wife filed for divorce.
Robin Thicke
Natalia Kills
When judging a live talent show, it isn’t easy to keep your cool. Judges must entertain as well as evaluate, and Natalia Kills went a little too far on New Zealand’s version of “The X Factor”… In 2015, she went after contestant Joe Irvine, calling him a “laughing stock” and accusing him of plagiarizing his act and persona from Kills’ own husband, singer Willy Moon, who was also on the judging panel. Kills and Moon have fired from the show shortly after.
Natalia Kills
Natalie Maines
Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks learned the hard way that country music and politics are not compatible. She made some snide remarks about then-President George W. Bush, prompting radio stations to ask listeners if the Dixie Chicks should be banned from their streaming platforms. Maines, who is from Texas, should have known that most of her supporters are southern conservatives.
Natalie Maines
Mark Salling
Mark Salling rose to prominence after portraying Corey Monteith’s bully-turned-rockstar best friend on “Glee.” In 2015, he was charged with rape and several counts of child pornography, which landed him in legal trouble. Salling eventually committed suicide in 2018, so the story ends on a sad note.
Mark Salling
Sinead O’Connor
During a 1992 Saturday Night Live appearance, O’Connor stunned the audience. She changed the lyrics to Bob Marley’s “War” to reflect the widespread child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. She ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II live on camera at the end of her emotional performance.
Sinead O’Connor
Jeffrey Jones
The least likable character from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is an incredibly unlikeable person in real life! Jones was charged with child pornography in 2002 and given a 5-year probationary sentence and the requirement to register as a sex offender.
Jeffrey Jones
Jerry Lee Lewis
For the first time at the age of 23, Jerry Lee Lewis married his bride was his 13-year-old first cousin. They kept the marriage’s details hidden until a reporter discovered them and revealed the truth. His popularity plummeted, and his earnings dropped from $10,000 to $250 per night. They were married for 13 years and had two children together, but his image never recovered.
Jerry Lee Lewis
Charles Rocket
We try to avoid discussing the 1980-81 season of Saturday Night Live. The sketches were painfully unfunny, and new producer Jean Doumanian’s casting was a train wreck. In the 11th episode of the season, cast member Charles Rocket decided to use the F-word in the final moments, setting a new low. Regardless of how desperate the situation was, the studio was not pleased, and Rocket was quickly booted from the show. I suppose it was only a matter of time since SNL was in the process of purging all of its cast members.
Charles Rocket
Amanda Bynes
Bynes was arrested in 2012 for driving under the influence and hitting a police officer with her car. She then retired from acting, but being out of the spotlight doesn’t always mean you can do whatever you want, and Bynes ended up in handcuffs for a second DUI. She was also placed on a psychiatric hold for the time being. Amanda’s situation isn’t looking good.
Amanda Bynes
Jamie Kennedy
Alum scream Jamie Kennedy is the show’s fateful host for New Year’s Day. Our poor host is unsure if the cameras are even live or facing him as a procession of paid professionals falls flat on their faces. The profanity bleeper consistently missed his mark, the cameras never turned on in time, and there was a fistfight on stage. 2013 has started on a positive note.
Jamie Kennedy
Milli Vanilli
Milli Vanilli’s 1990 performance of “Girl You Know It’s True” for a live-to-tape segment for MTV, a la Ashlee Simpson. The song started skipping, revealing that Milli Vanilli wasn’t singing at all. Journalists and former fans attacked the duo like vultures, accusing them of being frauds. Suits have been filed. Fans demanded refunds. Their GRAMMY has been rescinded. After that, they basically vanished from the face of the Earth.
Milli Vanilli
Doug Williams
During Shaq’s All-Star Comedy Roast of football player Emmitt Smith, things took a turn for comedian Doug Williams. Following an introduction from host Jamie Foxx, Williams’ set begins slowly, but after about three jokes, Foxx starts sniping at the comic, mocking his punchlines and telling him to leave the stage. It was an unscripted jab, and Foxx later defended himself, calling his barrage “very dark” and “liquor-induced.”
Doug Williams
Ian Watkins
Before his arrest, Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins had released five studio albums with the band since 1997. Three counts of possessing, taking, or making indecent photos of children, as well as one image of extreme bestiality, were filed against him. Reading this makes me sick to my stomach. Nobody liked Lostprophets in the first place!
Ian Watkins
Charlie Sheen
In 2015, I believe the final straw in Charlie Sheen’s ridiculous antics was when he revealed that he is HIV-positive on live television. Of course, this did not go unnoticed, as up to ten of his previous sexual partners sued him for not telling the truth. He claimed that he told all 200+ (ugh) women he’d slept with that he was positive, but many of them rebuked.
Charlie Sheen
Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan has never come across as racist, but we’re not surprised to hear this. Hogan’s racist remarks surfaced while he was filming a sex tape, and he’s recorded making obscene comments about a black man his daughter was dating. He openly admits to being a racist, “to a point,” before hurling various slurs. He was banned from all WWE events and given a notice of termination. Hulk, I guess you shouldn’t be racist.
AFL Rd 5 Carlton V Collingwood
Howard Dean
The presidential elections of 2004 were a whirlwind of activity. Remember when Democratic leaders had a chance to challenge Republican incumbent George W. Bush in a presidential election? So, there you have it. Until…one pivotal moment, Vermont governor Howard Dean had a commanding lead over opponents Dennis Kucinich and John Kerry. He was all fired up, promising to “TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE,” when he just screamed. Just writing this has given me secondhand embarrassment.
Howard Dean
Stephen Collins
Stephen Collins revealed that he has pedophilic tendencies after appearing on “7th Heaven.” He had acted inappropriately with a 10-year-old girl, and when his wife filed for divorce, she stated that he had previously admitted to sexual contact with three minor girls. Well, you’ll never be able to work on another television show, especially one that revolves around family.
Stephen Collins
Belle Gibson
The disgraced health blogger was caught in a serious, immoral lie after making a name for herself with a clean eating app and companion cookbook. She’d been pretending to have brain cancer, a disease on which she’d built her entire career. She appeared on the Australian version of 60 Minutes, where she was chastised for her deception.
Belle Gibson
CeeLo Green
The entire Internet has seen and understood CeeLo Green’s rape opinion. In 2014, he decided to send out a tweet that read, “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!!… If someone is passed out, they’re not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent.” Green’s TBS show The Good Life was immediately canceled, and he was dropped from concerts left and right.
CeeLo Green
Jackie Mason
Jackie Mason managed to annoy host Ed Sullivan when he appeared on the iconic nighttime talk show in 1964 when things should have been at their most acceptable. Mason’s recurring spot on The Ed Sullivan Show was revoked after he became too loose with his hand gestures and gave both the live and studio audiences the finger. Mason’s career was never the same after that.
Jackie Mason
Michael Vick
Michael Vick’s involvement in dogfighting in 2006 will almost certainly go down in history. Even though he was one of the best players in the league at the time, he went to prison, returned, and had a mildly successful football career; many people believe he does not deserve forgiveness. He was involved in the organization of dogfighting rings and dog executions. I don’t think so… He should never be allowed to own pets, in my opinion…
Michael Vick
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried, best known for his voice work as the Aflac duck, found himself in hot water after tweeting about the Tsunami that killed thousands of people in Japan. “Japan is really advanced,” he wrote. They don’t go to the beach; they go to the beach.” He was fired QUICKLY from his job as the duck, which is ironic given that much of Aflac’s business is conducted in…JAPAN.
Gilbert Gottfried
Paula Deen
With this one, Paula Deen really put her foot in her mouth. According to reports, the home cook mogul fosters an environment in her “violent, sexist, and racist.” THEN revealed that Deen had “of course” used racial slurs against black people throughout her life. Rather than apologizing, she deflected all criticism with shock and disbelief that what she’d said had actually offended anyone.
Paula Deen
Tila Tequila
I’m pretty sure Tila Tequila’s job title is “professional Internet Troll.” In 2013, she did, however, release a rant with the title “Why I Sympathize With Hitler: Part 1.” PART ONE. You’re saying there’ll be a PART 2? In 2016, she took to Twitter to post a photo of herself dressed as a Nazi. Is it possible to cancel 1 Tila Tequila?
Tila Tequila
Josh Duggar
19 Kids and Counting needs to end for real. Josh Duggar, the oldest of the Duggar siblings, recently revealed that when he was around 14 years old, he molested four of his younger sisters. “He was just curious about girls, and he had gone in and just basically touched them under their clothes while they were sleeping,” his parents defended his actions. They had no idea he had done it.” I just… I’m at a loss for words. People will go to any length to keep their TV spot.
Josh Duggar
A.J. Clemente
This newscaster had a lot of nerves on his first day of work. He couldn’t have handled going live on air for the first time any more badly than he did. The world’s first taste of Bismark local news was a barrage of “f**king s**t” into the microphone. Van Tieu’s face is priceless in the live take as she realizes the f**king s**tstorm he’s just unleashed. He continues the news nervously, hoping to have gotten away with it, but that would have been far too easy. He was fired quickly and now works as a bartender.
A.J. Clemente
Jenny Slate
Jenny Slate, a newcomer to Saturday Night Live in 2009, landed a coveted writer-performer role for a sketch she wrote called “Biker Chick Chat.” However, during the live performance, she misread “friggin’” in the script for its mature counterpart. The audience awkwardly laughed through the incident, but Slate left after her first season and has stated that she never watched that episode.
Jenny Slate
Aaron Hernandez
Aaron Hernandez, a tight end for the New England Patriots, was arrested in 2013 for the murder of Odin Lloyd. Later, he was charged with the crime and sentenced to a painfully close prison to his home, Gillette Stadium. Hernandez committed suicide while in prison after being linked to a series of other crimes.
Aaron Hernandez
Montana Fishburne
Montana Fishburne, the daughter of “Morpheus” from The Matrix series, aspired to follow her father’s footsteps in Hollywood. Montana Fishburne: Makes Her XXX Debut” not only didn’t pay her, but it also caused a major (understandable) rift between her and her father with the release of the film. She was clearly attempting to emulate young Kim K and dip her toes into the world of pornography, but sweetie, that is a BAD IDEA.
Montana Fishburne
Karmin
Karmin had to follow Lana Del Rey’s SNL performance from 2012, which was cruel. You simply cannot. Karmin failed miserably in her attempt to outdo the sad E-Girl dream queen. Despite being accused of appearing “lost” onstage, Del Rey’s career soared. Karmin, on the other hand, was a complete disaster. After that, they quickly faded into obscurity.
Karmin
Dani Mathers
For body-shaming a woman at the gym, this former Playmate was sentenced to 45 days in prison and 30 days of community service. It may appear harmless on the surface, but Mathers took it to the next level, filming this 71-year-old woman in the shower with the caption, “If I can’t unsee this, then you can’t either.” How vain and thoughtless do you have to be? She should be ashamed of herself.
Dani Mathers
Zoe Sugg
When YouTube beauty guru Zoe Sugg (or Zoella, as her brand states) released her 2017 makeup advent calendar 2017, fans were not pleased with the high prices. Fans quickly trolled her social media and unearthed some nasty tweets she’d posted years ago, proving that where there’s a spark, there’s a flame. There were fat-shaming and hurtful gay slurs exposed. She apologized and explained that the remarks were taken out of context and never say anything like that today.
Zoe Sugg
Ryan Lochte
Ryan Lochte had racked up $2.3 million in endorsements heading into the 2012 Olympic Games. Who could forget, of course, “Lochtegate”? After the exaggerated story about him and his teammates being held at gunpoint while attending the games in Rio de Janeiro. He later admitted he was drunk at the time and was incredibly apologetic.
Ryan Lochte
Felix Kjellberg
After using anti-Semitic language and Nazi propaganda in one of his posts, YouTuber Felix Kjellberg (aka PewDiePie) was on thin ice, and fans were enraged when he slipped and used the N-word in one of his live streams in 2017. He quickly issued a formal apology, claiming that he said it “in the heat of the moment” and that it was “one of the worst things” he could have thought of. “I’m not going to make any excuses as to why I did it because there are no excuses for it.”
Felix Kjellberg
Veronica Rose & Jason Sampson
When these YouTubers posted photos of their new dyed hair and dreads, they were accused of cultural appropriation, even though they explicitly stated they were doing so. The caption reads, “2 years of Cultural Appropriating,” implying that they didn’t give a damn about who they offended. Users on social media retaliated, claiming that black people are still stigmatized for wearing dreadlocks and accusing the duo of being racist and insensitive. They also refused to apologize outright.
Veronica Rose & Jason Sampson
Logan Paul
Logan Paul’s demise resulted from a lengthy vlog of his trip to Japan, where he visited the tourist trap “suicide forest,” Aokigahara Forest. A dead body is seen hanging from a tree in the vlog, and Paul is seen cracking jokes and acting completely insensitive. Following EXTREME criticism, Paul issued an apology and stated that he was only attempting to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention, but many people found that hard to believe.
YouTube temporarily halted his ad revenue, one of the most important sources of revenue for a YouTuber.
Logan Paul
Anthony Fantano
Fantano is a pioneering music critic on YouTube, thanks to his channel The Needle Drop, where he reviews new music from our favorite artists. However, in 2017, The Fader published an article revealing Fantano was also the brains behind the alt-right channel thatistheplan. It’s basically a cringe 4Chan-Esque content with rants against SJWs and feminists. Fantano eventually accepted his defeat and deleted the channel. In the process, he also lost 400,000 subscribers.
Anthony Fantano