Gone Missing - These Celebrities Vanished for No Reason

Jim Sullivan was all set for the biggest gig of his life. Being a songwriter as well as a guitarist, the rockstar had released two main albums before he went MIA. He was a man of talent and surely would have made it to the big leagues, but alas, fate had something else in store for him. In 1975, Sullivan was headed to perform in Nashville, Tennessee.

The 6’2” singer’s Volkswagen was found empty in Santa Rosa, New Mexico. All of his stuff including his guitar that he loved so dearly was found in his tidy motel room. With no sign of the man himself, the world was left baffled about what had happened to Sully. Rumors suggest that he just chose to leave the singing life, but his close ones believe he still would not have left without his guitar.

If you’re a fan of old-school rock bands, you might have heard about Loverboy. The band was at its peak in the early ‘80s. Their popular albums such as “Working for the Weekend” are still loved by many to this date. One of the band’s earliest members, Scott Smith, stuck tightly with the crew until his strange disappearance in 2000.

Scott was sailing his boat around San Francisco’s coast when a huge wave reportedly turned his boat over. Despite a thorough search being executed over the area, no sign of Scott was found. He was then presumed dead.

Connie Converse was a musician in the 1950s. Her music and lyrics did not make it to even the furthest range of prominence. Deeply filled with regret and sadness, the unlucky musician decided to put an end to her career in 1961. However, Connie could not keep up with the load of her failure even after 13 years.

The then-underrated musician packed her bags and placed them in her car. She told her loved ones that she was set to begin a new life. That was the last time the world heard from Connie Converse. She might have ended her life afterward, but it can also be said that she might have made a name for herself in her new life as a musician. Regardless, today she is remembered as an iconic songwriter.

Glenn Miller was a popular musician who lived around the time of WWII. Although he wasn’t fit to be drafted due to his age, the talented singer joined a band that would perform for troopers to motivate them for missions. This was a normal practice in the days of the war.

Miller was on his way to France for a performance in December 1944. However, this journey proved to be his last as the plane disappeared above the English Channel. Many believed for a long time that the plane was mistakenly attacked by the Allied planes but recent evidence suggested otherwise. The most likely scenario was that the fuel intake was blocked, which caused the plane to land in the water.

We all know that important people can go missing too, but Australia’s prime minister set the bar way too high. Back in December of 1967, Harold Holt, the 17th prime minister of Australia, was last seen having a good time at the beach. After his disappearance, locals said that the waves were too high around that time and the prime minister might have gone a bit too far in the water.

This statement did not stop the conspiracy theorists from spreading absurd rumors about how Harold Holt was assassinated by the CIA or that he was always a Chinese agent and faked his own demise. Harold Holt’s body was never found, but the Australian people did open a swimming resort to honor his name. Hopefully, they employ some safeguards there.

Daniel Lind was a Swedish movie director, producer, and writer who was just 42 years old in 2011 when tragedy struck. He was exploring potential shooting areas for his upcoming film “The Fjallbacka Murders.” Though he was accompanied by a few friends, he parted ways to cover more ground and was alone around the cliffs of Tjurpannans Nature Preserve.

The most likely scenario that happened was that Daniel fell victim to the unforgiving waves around the shore. His feet might have slipped over the wet rocky surface that possibly resulted in him being pulled toward the water. His friends were not around to be eye-witnesses for this incident. Nonetheless, the announcement of his passing was made official.

Errol Flynn’s son, Sean Flynn, spent his life under the wing of his father who was a Hollywood superstar. Sean’s acting career did not last long as most of his performances did not make it to anywhere near the big screen. However, he found a new line of work in the Vietnam War. His job was to be a photojournalist, which involved capturing graphic photos of the war and boosting the anti-war movement’s motives.

His career came to an end on the 6th of April 1970 when he was sent to a Viet Cong checkpoint with Dana Stone (another photojournalist) to capture photos. Since then, the world has never heard from both of these individuals. Although their passing were never confirmed, it’s clear what might have happened to the photojournalists.

British actor Julian Sands, known for his work in films such as “A Room With a View” and “Warlock,” had been missing since Friday, January 13th. He had been hiking in the Baldy Bowl area of Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. After an initial search by ground crews, a second search had to be pulled due to avalanche risks and trail conditions.

Since then, authorities conducted intermittent searches by helicopter and drone, hoping to find any signs of the 65-year-old actor. His friends and family were devastated by his disappearance and had expressed their prayers for his safe return. As the search continued, authorities kept cautioning prospective hikers to stay out of the area due to the hazardous conditions. After 5 months of intensive search, local authorities have verified that human remains were discovered in the California mountains and they belonged to the actor. Sands was last sighted on Mt. Baldy, an area that experienced severe snowfall and windstorms during an unusually wet winter. Although an autopsy has been performed, additional test outcomes are required to ascertain the cause of his death, according to officials.

Ylenia Maria Sole Carrisi was an Italian actress and the first daughter of popular Italian celebrities Albano Carrisi and Romina Power. She went missing in 1994 during a trip around New Orleans. Upon investigation, a security guard claimed that he witnessed an odd event near the Mississippi River.

He said that he saw a lady yelling “I belong in the water” before jumping in the water and swimming until he lost track of her when she swam below the bridge. When questioned about her appearance, the guard described the lady as having somewhat of a similar look to Yleania Carrisi. Although they never came across her lifeless body, in 2014, Yleania was officially ruled as not being part of the living upon request of her father.

Bison Dele was formerly known as Brian Williams, the NBA star. The basketball player adopted a change of personality and became one of those retired rich athletes who love traveling the world. Dele’s passion for traveling was at its peak in 2002 when he bought a boat for himself and named it Hakuna Matata.

Dele planned on traveling at sea from Tahiti to Hawaii with his girlfriend, brother, and a captain to lead the way. Unfortunately, the boat never reached its destination, nor did the crew. Two months later, Dele’s brother Miles was caught in Phoenix purchasing gold with his brother’s money. This event pretty much sums up what happened, but the assassin of Dele was never really precisely identified. Dele’s brother went into a coma and died shortly after being arrested. Even though it is not official, Miles Dabord is widely believed to be the assassin.

Fan Bingbing is remembered for her role in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014). She is one of those few Chinese actresses who made a name for themselves on an international level. However, Fan Bingbing got into legal trouble after the Chinese government found out that she hadn’t been paying her taxes.

On the 1st of July 2018, Fan Bingbing disappeared. To this date, we haven’t heard from her. Don’t lose all hope though. The Chinese government is known for teaching lessons to celebrities. Ai Weiwei is an example worth mentioning; the artist spent a total of three months in a harsh environment to pay for his controversial views against the government. So, who knows if we’ll see Bingbing again or not? We believe time will tell.

Jimmy Robinson was the last-minute replacement in 1961 as the opponent of legendary boxer Muhammad Ali. Very little is known about the boxing history of Jimmy Robinson, let alone his personal life. The media did their absolute best in tracking the trail of Robinson after his fight with Ali. Unfortunately, no luck was in store for them.

Robinson had no official record in his own hometown of Miami. No numbers, no records, no birthday, no family, no nothing. As a matter of fact, Michael Brennan of Sports Illustrated investigated for six years to find Robinson. Despite these many efforts, the guy was almost like a ghost who could never be found.

Barbara Newhall Follett was known to be a child prodigy novelist. Her first novel was published when she was just 13 years old. The novel got serious praise from the public and Barbara was set to start her career as an author. However, things took a wild turn when her father left the family. The talented writer became a typist at the age of 16 to support her family.

Things worked well and Barbara went on to get married, too. In 1939, the young lady quarreled with her husband and walked out on him. Her husband did not do much in finding her, and the police did not find out about her absence until 1966. Barbara’s body was never located, but one can also assume that she went on to pursue her dream career under a new identity.

Jim Thompson was that American businessman who revived Thailand’s silk industry in the mid-20th century. Furthermore, Thompson also had a history of working for the OSS, which we know as the CIA today. By 1967, he had made a fortune by introducing the world to the wonders of Thai silk. However, 1967 was also the year when Thompson went on a biking adventure and never came back.

A businessman this rich could have gone through kidnapping or even assassination. Not to mention his history with the CIA, which opens even more doors to potentially grievous outcomes. Everyone knows that Jim Thompson did not just let the wild consume his body since he was trained to survive outdoors. Surely, there must be an explanation behind Jim Thompson’s strange end.

Richard John Bingham, also known as Lord Lucan, was a British gambler. Back in the golden days of Hollywood, he was also a considerable pick for playing James Bond. In 1974, Bingham was frustrated from the war he was battling with his wife. Yes, you guessed it right; the winner was to get custody of their three kids.

Long story short, Bingham’s sinister side kicked in and he decided to assassinate his wife. He chose to do this in the dark basement of her house. The problem is that when you assassinate someone in the dark, you can’t see the victim. Such was the case with Bingham when he mistakenly assassinated his kids’ babysitter Sandra Rivett instead of his wife. Of course, the guy vanished after this and there are dozens of theories out there about where he went, but nobody truly knows what happened to him.

Jean Spangler was set to become a celebrity when she mysteriously disappeared in 1949. She told her sister-in-law that she was on her way to meet with her ex-husband and then shoot a scene. After that, nobody heard from her. Her torn purse was found with a note inside that said: “Can’t wait any longer. Going to see Dr. Scott. It will work best this way while mother is away.”

This note was directed toward a man named Kirk. Which Kirk? Nobody knows. The most likely person was Kirk Douglas with whom Spangler had worked in her last film. However, Kirk denied it was him and called the police to remove him from the list of suspects. Sounds a bit fishy but later on, a friend of Spangler stated that she was on her way to get an abortion. There’s a chance that the abortion didn’t go as planned but this is an assumption at its best.

Detectives from the LAPD faced a distinctive challenge in the case of Ms. Spangler's disappearance: an abundance of leads, all of which proved to be weak.

Additionally, certain newspapers speculated that she might be another victim of the Black Dahlia murderer, who had committed a series of crimes a year prior.

Joe Pichler was a young actor who starred in the Beethoven movies. There’s no denying that the kid would have accomplished much in his acting career. Pichler put a temporary stop to his acting to first finish his studies and planned to move to LA where he would land more acting gigs. One morning, a friend of Pichler received a call from him at 4 am in which Pichler told him that he was “inconsolable.” The phone call ended with a lamenting Pichler saying that he would call again in an hour, but he didn’t.

When his car was found empty besides a bridge, the police came across a suicide note. In his last message, Pichler wished he was a better and stronger brother. He also gave the ownership of his belongings to his younger brother. Even though it was apparent that Pichler committed suicide, his body was never found.

Son of the infamous governor of New York, Michael Rockefeller was on a mission to gather historical remains when he mysteriously disappeared. Around 12 miles away from the beach, the investigation team found his boat floating with no sign of Rockefeller himself. Judging on what seemed plausible, the cause of his demise was officially stated as drowning.

Fast forward to 2014, when Carl Hoffman’s book “Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art” made its way to the public. In his work, Hoffman claims to have researched about the tribes of Asmat, the surrounding land where Rockefeller vanished. The book shows inconclusive evidence that the cannibalistic savages of the land had eaten Michael Rockefeller. Due to the absence of clear proof for this statement, the official ruling on Rockefeller was not altered.

Amelia Earhart was the first-ever female pilot to make it solo through the Atlantic Ocean in a plane. Her disappearance occurred in 1937 when she took off for her world tour adventure. Contrary to the popular rumor, her plane did not just vanish into thin air. Instead, ships around the Pacific reportedly received signals from her crashed plane. When the signals were tracked, an uninhabited island was identified as the source.

The US Navy carried out an air-search operation around the island but no sign of Amelia was found. However, when you connect the pieces of the puzzle, the most sensible explanation is that Amelia’s fuel ran out at the island and the plane likely became a new home for the fishes. As for Amelia, she probably became food for the coconut crabs on the island. In fact, coconut crabs are huge creatures that can devour entire animals.

The Mexican-American activist, lawyer, and politician, was depicted in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” by Benicio Del Toro. Similar to his portrayal in the film, Oscar was a wealthy man who loved partying and traveling. Just like many of the boat-lovers out there, he spent most of his time on vacation and riding the waves.

Acosta was last contacted by his son and told him that he was all set to board a boat while traveling in Sinaloa, Mexico. After that, no one ever heard from him again. Acosta’s son believed that his father probably got ambushed by some rivals and got assassinated. This speculation is known to be quite close to what happened in reality.

Rico Harris was an excellent basketball player and part of the popular club Harlem Globetrotters. Rico had the potential to have a worthy basketball career, but his life fell apart after alcohol took the most of him. He faced the hardest times of his life due to his drinking problem. Overwhelmed with grief, he packed his bags to move to his girlfriend’s house after being released from his job as a security guard.

Surprisingly, he never reached her place as his car and belongings were found unattended around Sacramento. Following the days of his disappearance, locals reported sightings of a man with an above-average height walking around the roads. The sightings ceased but Rico was never found.

We’ve all heard of “Le Petit Prince,” one of the most popular children’s books. The writer of the book, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, was more than just an author. Antoine was also a stuntman, aviator, poet, journalist, and a man loyal to his homeland. He was even on the front line to fight for France in WWII. Despite being a man of several talents, Antoine did not exactly do a good job in his career as a pilot.

He was considered to be one of the top aviators in France, but alas, destiny catches us all. On the 31st of July 1994, Antoine met an accident when he crashed his plane in the Mediterranean sea. The wreckage of his plane wasn’t found until 2000. However, Antoine’s body still remains lost to this date.

Richey Edwards was known to be a part of the punk band Street Preachers back in the early ‘90s. The hardcore musician was never hesitant in proving how “real” he was when it came to being the guitarist and lyricist of the group. He even once went on to carve “4 REAL” on his arm with a blade when he was asked in an interview about how legit his character was.

However, following his mysterious disappearance in 1995, many were led to assume that Edwards was just pulling off another publicity stunt. After his absence was taken seriously and questions were raised, his family made a statement that suicide was just not something he would go for. However, Richey Edwards’ parked car near a bridge famous for suicides led everyone to speculate that the punk musician had most likely taken his own life.

Back in the day, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr sang the “Dear Theodosia” lullaby for their newborn babies Theodosia and Philip. Later on in the play, Philip, the son of Hamilton passes away after a duel. What most people do not know is that Aaron Burr’s daughter Theodosia also had a similar ending.

Theodosia was accused of having an incestual bond with her father Aaron Burr. This accusation was made by none other than Alexander Hamilton himself. Her role took another bump when she supported her father while he was a criminal accused of treachery. In 1813, Theodosia was last seen boarding a boat at Georgetown’s bay. Since then, the world has never heard from her.

Dorothy Arnold’s disappearance in New York was quite popular in 1910. The rich socialite was just 25 years old when she went out to buy herself a new gown and never returned. She was last confronted by a friend to whom she said that she was on her way for a walk in Central Park. After she was confirmed missing, Dorothy’s family paid discrete investigators to look for her due to their fear of receiving negative feedback from the public.

When the police found out months later, it was too late. In the list of rumors that spread following her disappearance, some believed that she had committed suicide, had a failed abortion, or was assassinated by her boyfriend. However, all of these rumors were simply weightless assumptions. The truth is that Dorothy’s disappearance is one of the most mysterious of all time.

Many celebrities assume that they are untouchable. But, they are constantly under public scrutiny and the public has the power to make or break a celebrity's career. When fans feel let down, they can quickly impact a star’s career. It is not enough to be talented - you also need to be organized, gracious, polite, adaptable, and unlikely to create issues while working. The stars in this list have all displayed bad judgment, confusion, or inability to cope when things don’t go their way. Prepare yourself for some of the most cringe-worthy moments that changed these stars' careers for(worse)ever.

Television host and comedian, Ellen Degeneres, has been pivotal in paving the way for LGBTQ acceptance and concludes each episode of her show by reminding people to be kind to one another so why is she the sudden target of social justice warriors? Well, it turns out that she doesn’t follow her own advice.

Though she seems pleasant enough on the show, behind the scenes she has many disgruntled employees who have been revealing the toxic environment in which they work. Employees have complained that the producers show favoritism towards certain people, reserving the promotions and perks solely for them. They have also commented that Ellen is very difficult to work with due to her high demands and mean spirit. With the secrets revealed, Ellen announced that the show will not continue.

Where do we start with O.J. Simpson? Once a star running back in the NFL as well as a beloved on-screen personality, Simpson shocked the world during his high-speed chase in the white bronco after the gruesome murder of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. In the trial of the century, Simpson was acquitted, even so, he was found liable in civil court.

Even though he walked away with his freedom, Simpson just couldn’t clean up his act. In 2007, he was taken into custody once again, this time being charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, assault, robbery, and the use of a deadly weapon. The former Buffalo Bills star was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison, however, in October 2017 he was released.

Kevin Spacey was on the Hollywood A-list with a career that was uber-successful. In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein Hollywood scandal and the subsequent #MeToo movement, actor Anthony Rapp came forward and accused Spacey of inappropriate advances when he was just 14-years-old. This accusation inspired 15 other young men to come forward with similar grievances and allegations. Amidst the controversy, Spacey was quickly fired from his leading role on Netflix’s House of Cards.

Directly after Rapp’s accusation, Spacey made things worse for himself by blaming his behavior on a drunken stupor and deflecting from the severity of the accusation with his announcement that he is gay. The backlash regarding the allegations, his apology, and his deflection has severely harmed his Hollywood career.

While younger generations may be unaware of Fatty Arbuckle, he was quite arguably one of the most popular and beloved comedians of the 1910s and 1920s. Working and mentoring alongside the great Charlie Chaplin, Arbuckle became one of the most popular silent film stars and the highest-paid actor in Hollywood.

His popularity came to a screeching halt after he was accused of raping and killing aspiring actress, Virginia Rappe, in 1921. Rappe had become ill at a party hosted by Arbuckle at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco and mysteriously died four days later. Though her friend testified that Arbuckle had assaulted Rappe and was the cause for her death, he was acquitted of all charges. Because of the enormity of the scandal, his career never recovered.

Once considered an inspirational true American hero, cyclist Lance Armstrong disappointed fans around the world when rumors surfaced that the seven-time Tour de France winner and testicular cancer survivor had been doping.

Armstrong faced persistent allegations of doping throughout his entire career, though for years he adamantly denied the accusations. By 2012, enough evidence had been gathered to convict him of long-term steroid use as well as the trafficking of enhancement drugs. Following the conviction, the Olympic committee banned the fallen hero for life and stripped him of his seven Tour de France titles. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013, Armstrong finally admitted his guilt.

The worldwide famous American rapper and producer, also well-known for marrying and divorcing social media mogul Kim Kardashian, has been involved in countless controversies throughout his career. However, this specific one, as opposed to all the others, has highly contributed to his downfall instead of earning him more success and money.

In October 2022, West posted an explicit tweet accusing Jews of controlling the world and destroying everyone who would go against their plans. This tweet first resulted in his Twitter and Instagram accounts being suspended, and then in him losing over $1 billion in deals after companies like Adidas, GAP, and Balenciaga decided to terminate their contracts with the rapper.

Iconic rock-n-roller, Jerry Lee Lewis, should have known that his inappropriate relationship with Myra Gale Brown would have a negative effect on his once illustrious career. Not only was he a 23-year-old marrying a 13-year-old, but Myra was also his cousin once removed.

There is no doubt that their marriage is one of the biggest controversies in rock-n-roll history. When the backlash hit, Lewis, who was once one of the most sought-after musicians, went from making $10,000 per performance to $250. While the marriage did last for 13 years, Lewis’s career never recovered.

Amanda Bynes was well on her way to having an incredibly successful career in the entertainment industry. With The Amanda Show and her appearances on All That, she became one of the first child superstars under Nickelodeon's umbrella. Though her career was a success, her personal life began to spiral out of control in 2012.

The first sign of trouble was when Bynes was pulled over by police and attempted to flee the scene resulting in a DUI. Upon her release from jail, she was arrested once more for possession of marijuana which then seemed to lead to a psychotic break of sorts. After intentionally setting a fire in a neighborhood and being diagnosed as bipolar, Bynes's parents applied for conservatorship of her estate and sought out professional help for their daughter.

Once known as “America’s favorite dad”, Bill Cosby was a well-respected actor and comedian in the entertainment industry. Because of his role on The Cosby Show, he was also considered one of the most trustworthy and reputable people in the business. All of that changed when Hannibal Buress’s stand-up routine focused on Cosby and his bad habit of drugging and raping women.

Buress had been doing this stand-up routine for six months with little to no response, however, on this occasion, he was performing in Cosby’s hometown of Philadelphia. A local magazine picked up the story and women began coming forward in droves with similar allegations. Because of the statute of limitations laws, most charges could not be tried criminally, even so, Cosby was found guilty of three counts in 2018 and has been blacklisted from Hollywood.

Once considered one of Hollywood’s top actors and the sexiest man alive, Mel Gibson has had a few scandalous controversies that have shown his fans and colleagues his true colors. The first of which occurred in 2006 when the obviously intoxicated actor was pulled over and charged with a DUI. Instead of realizing his serious error in judgment, Gibson became belligerent and started spewing an anti-semitic rant that was leaked through TMZ.

In 2010, Gibson was once again in trouble with the law after his ex-wife recorded him threatening her and, once again, using racial slurs. The Los Angeles sheriff’s department issued a domestic violence restraining order against him and launched an investigation. Gibson was blacklisted in Hollywood for almost a decade. Because of his legal and personal issues, he now only works behind the camera instead of being in the spotlight.

Best known for his role on Arrested Development, Jeffrey Tambor received critical praise as well as a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy for his portrayal of a transgender woman in the Amazon series Transparent. Though his transformative role has won him many accolades, in November 2017, two members of the cast and crew reported Tambor for sexual misconduct. Just days later, a makeup artist from another project also accused him of sexual improprieties.

Tambor addressed the allegations by saying, "I am deeply sorry if any action of mine was ever misinterpreted by anyone as being sexually aggressive or if I ever offended or hurt anyone. But the fact is, for all my flaws, I am not a predator and the idea that someone might see me in that way is more distressing than I can express." Two weeks later he announced that he was leaving the show.

Louis C.K. fueled by his sarcastic wit quickly became one the most popular and most successful comedians in the industry. Though his attitude came across as gruff, he managed to win over millions of fans and create a reputation for himself as being one of the brightest minds in the comedy world.

The #MeToo movement prompted several female comedians to come forward and expose their inappropriate interactions with him behind closed doors. Though he never technically broke the law, Louis C.K. did acknowledge that his actions were wrong. Even so, the backlash was strong. His movie, I Love You Daddy, was pulled from distribution prior to its release and his upcoming contracts and roles were all terminated.

Film producer, Harvey Weinstein, has been considered for decades one of the most powerful and influential men in Hollywood. Because of this, he had the power to make or break the careers of anyone who crossed his path in the entertainment industry. As with the producers of Old Hollywood, Weinstein used this power to coerce women into sex. If they said no, they were blacklisted or even worse, raped.

In October 2017, women began coming forward and telling their stories regarding Weinstein’s abuse of power and sexual misconduct. By the end of the month, over 80 women made allegations sparking the #MeToo movement. Weinstein was fired and found guilty of two of five felonies. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison and has been blacklisted in Hollywood.

From a young age, Lindsay Lohan has found success as an actress, singer, and model, becoming a full-fledged movie star by the time she was 18-years-old. At the same time, her parent’s marriage was crumbling and Lohan found herself right in the middle, unable to cope with the pressure of keeping both mom and dad happy.

Between the family pressure and the career pressure, Lohan began to spiral out of control. Her multiple legal issues became a feeding frenzy for the paparazzi, only fueling the erratic and irresponsible behavior. With multiple DUIs, misdemeanors, probation violations, and visits to rehab, studios revoked several movie deals. Though she has her act together now, relaunching her career has been difficult.

Comedian, Aziz Ansari, was another artist in Hollywood who was called out in the #MeToo movement. In January 2018, an anonymous woman accused him of sexual misconduct while the two were on a date. Because Ansari is an outspoken feminist and the author of an interpersonal communication book, many of his fans questioned his true character.

What made matters worse was that the anonymous woman also said that she expressed her discomfort to him after the fact and he replied with an apology, indicating an admission of guilt. Since the story broke, an open debate has taken place regarding the grey area that exists in the #MeToo movement. Some say that the accuser was experiencing regret in lieu of an actual assault while others maintain that if a woman feels coerced, she is a victim. Ansari took a brief hiatus and then returned to stand-up.

R. Kelly….oof, where do we even begin? The I Believe I Can Fly singer had a successful and promising career, however, his secret obsession took over and, quite frankly, ruined his life and the lives of countless others. The saga began in 2002 when Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography and having sex with a minor.

Kelly refuted the claims until 2018 when authorities produced hard evidence that he had entrapped young girls and used them as sex slaves. His label dropped him immediately and the feds charged him with sex crimes, human trafficking, child pornography, racketeering, and obstruction of justice. As of January 2021, he faces 22 federal counts and is incarcerated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

Martha Stewart proved herself to be a savvy and successful businesswoman, author, and television personality until she was indicted in 2003 on charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice. During the trial, she opted to step down as the CEO and chairwoman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the company she founded in 1997.

After being found guilty of obstruction of agency proceedings, conspiracy, and making false statements to federal investigators in 2004, she was sentenced to five months in prison, five months of house arrest (not too shabby in a home like hers), and probation for two years after her release.

By 2009, R&B singer, Chris Brown, was rising up the ranks in the music world due to his talent, the popularity of his music, and his relationship with Rihanna. Fans and the paparazzi had fallen in love with the superstar couple, however, their vested interest would prove to be devastating to his career.

In February 2009, at a pre-Grammy party, Brown, and Rihanna got into an argument that escalated into a violent altercation. Brown lost his cool and physically hit Rihanna leaving her with a split lip, bruised cheeks, and lacerations to her forehead. The pop star was arrested and charged with felony assault. He accepted a plea deal of community labor, five years probation, and domestic violence counseling. The incident has remained a stain on his reputation.

Jim and Tammy Bakker hit the airwaves as a televangelist couple with high moral fiber and a direct line to God himself. While on their pedestal, they preached about God and called out sinners all while aggressively suggesting that donations would give their followers the forgiveness they needed. This worked until 1987 when the couple’s true intentions were exposed.

Jim Bakker’s personal secretary came forward with allegations that he had drugged and raped her. Because of the enormity of the accusations, the church cut ties, and Bakker resigned. With all of the media coverage, the IRS took notice of the couple’s enormous wealth and after a review of their finances, jailed them both for fraud. Televangelist, Jerry Falwell, was happy to take their place publicly shaming them by saying they were “the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity”.

Reality star, Tila Tequila, has posted some questionable content on her social media dating back to 2013. She began by posting photos of herself dressed in a scantily clad Nazi uniform in front of a photo of Auschwitz. After being banned from Celebrity Big Brother for the racist photos, Tequila claimed that her actions were due to drug addiction and depression.

Well, her Hitler obsession began rearing its ugly head again in 2016 with multiple anti-semitic rants on Twitter. In her tweets, she has called for the deaths of Jewish stars, called the leader of the Neo-Nazi party her “boo”, and she has claimed to be the reincarnation of Hitler himself. Not only has she wrecked her career, but she has also gone to the dark side.

Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno, endearingly known as “JoePa”, was once considered a national treasure. The beloved sports figure fell from grace, however, after authorities discovered that his former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, was involved in a child sex abuse scandal.

Following the investigation into Sandusky, former FBI director, Louis Freeh, determined that Paterno was not only aware of the egregious behavior of his counterpart, but also prevented university officials from exposing it to authorities for nearly a decade. After coaching for 61 years, Paterno’s contract was terminated and his 111 wins were vacated from his record. Though a court case in 2015 ruled to restore the wins to Penn State, Paterno’s career was over.

Granted E! Television’s Fashion Police can get pretty brutal at times, even so, Giuliana Rancic took her comments a bit too far while on a panel discussing the 2015 Oscars. While commenting on Disney star Zendaya’s ensemble, Rancic began talking about her dreadlocks saying they probably smelled of “patchouli oil or weed”.

The backlash was astounding. Fans of the show were appalled, many of which interpreted her commentary as racial stereotyping. Zendaya was also offended, making her feelings known in a lengthy response to Rancic. Not wanting to be associated with the controversy, fellow Fashion Police hosts Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Griffin both quit the show.

Record producer, Lou Pearlman, became a giant in the music industry by managing incredibly popular boy bands such as NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys amongst others. Apparently, the millions he made in the record biz were not enough for this shyster as he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraudulent behavior.

Similar to Bernie Madoff, Pearlman ran a long-standing Ponzi scheme that left over $300 million in debts. In 2008, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy hearing. He was sent to prison on a 25-year sentence but only served eight as he died from cardiac arrest in 2016.

Guardians of the Galaxy writer and director, James Gunn, was making a name for himself in Hollywood until he had the audacity to criticize Donald Trump in 2018. In an attempt to ruin him due to his criticisms, alt-right commentator, Mike Cernovich, combed through his Twitter feed and exposed Gunn for inappropriate jokes he had made ten years prior.

Disney’s knee-jerk reaction was to fire Gunn from the franchise, however, fans and colleagues came to his defense and demanded he be reinstated. With the enormous pressure and the realization that the jokes had been blown out of proportion, Warner Bros. offered Gunn the opportunity to write and direct the new Suicide Squad movie. Disney caved as well, reinstating his contract to write and direct the third Guardians of the Galaxy film.

Roseanne Barr has never been one to watch what she says, that is what America loved about her sitcom. Her snarky comments and relatable family life made the show a hit during the 1990s. Though people loved her stand-up, it was her down-to-earth attitude and easy-going personality that stuck with fans for decades after the show went off the air.

That all changed when she began tweeting in 2014. By then she had become more and more political, often calling out and insulting others in the limelight for their character, political agenda, or who they aligned themselves with. When she attacked former President Obama’s advisor by calling her an “ape” fans and the network had had enough. Her revival was instantly canceled and Barr was quickly blacklisted from the entertainment industry.

The O’Reilly Factor was one of Fox News Network’s most popular shows due mostly in part to the star, Bill O’Reilly, who considered himself an expert in the political arena. Though it was apparent that O’Reilly had a temper and considered himself superior to those around him, in Fox’s eyes he could do no wrong. That is until his scandalous secret was revealed.

O’Reilly was pushed off his pedestal in 2017 when the New York Times exposed that he had paid six women nearly $50 million to settle their sexual misconduct lawsuits out of court. When it was revealed that Fox assisted O’Reilly in the payouts, they terminated his contract in an effort to distance themselves. Because of the scandal, O’Reilly was also dropped by the United Talent Agency and is currently working as a podcaster.

The King of Pop began performing when he was just six years old alongside his brothers in the Jackson 5. His illustrious career outshined any other performer making him the most significant cultural figure of the 20th century. However, the megastar’s career took a nosedive in 2003 when the first of many molestation charges were filed against him.

Aside from his eccentric lifestyle, Neverland mansion, and veiled children hanging out of hotel windows, the allegations brought forth regarding Jackson’s inappropriate behavior with children in his care heavily tarnished his royal reputation. Prior to his death from an accidental overdose in 2009, Jackson had been charged with seven counts of child molestation and two counts of intoxicating a minor. Though much of the public agreed the pop-star was guilty, he was acquitted of all charges.

Anyone who grew up in the 1980s knows how popular Boy George and Culture Club were. What they may not know is that Boy George was battling drug addiction throughout his career that often led to some very poor choices. In April 2007, the pop star and a Norwegian model/escort met at a photography session. George then invited the model to an apartment where he chained him to a wall fixture and beat him with a metal chain.

After his arrest, George’s defense team claimed that his long-term drug use led to their client’s suspicion that the victim had stolen from him. The judge didn’t care about excuses and sentenced the Karma Chameleon singer to 15 months in jail.

Jared Fogle’s life before crime could only be described as a success. After an incredible weight loss journey, he became the face of the international chain, Subway, earning him a net worth of $15 million. After 15 years as their spokesperson, Subway cut all ties with Fogle in 2015 when they discovered that the FBI was investigating him for paying for sex with minors and receiving child pornography.

The long-running investigation began in 2007 and by 2015, the authorities had enough evidence to convict. Fogle pleaded guilty to traveling to pay for sex with minors and owning child pornography. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Television audiences fell in love with Michael Richards because of his hilarious portrayal of the kooky next-door neighbor, Kramer, on the hit sitcom, Seinfeld. His performance on the show earned him more Emmys than any other cast member. When the show wrapped in 1998, Richards took on smaller projects and returned to the stage to also do stand-up.

In 2006, while performing at The Laugh Factory in Hollywood, California, Richards became perturbed by some audience members who came in late. He made some unkind comments to the small party who then began to lightly heckle the comedian in return. This set Richards off. He broke out into a heated racist rant calling the group of black men the N-Word. Of course, the entire rant was filmed on a smartphone and when it was released to the public, the backlash was insane. Richard’s career has never recovered.

There is no doubt that Lil Wayne has endured his fair share of controversies, however, his arrests and drug use have had little effect on his career and reputation. He has received some serious backlash to his own lyrics though, lyrics which are so insensitive to today’s race issues, he should have known better.

In a remix of Future’s "Karate Chop", Lil Wayne compared the tragic murder of Emmett Till to modern-day sex. His line “beat that p***y like Emmett Till” references a young black man who was viciously beaten to death in 1955 for simply whistling at a white woman who was walking by. Obviously disrespectful and without taste, fans were disgusted and made their feelings known to the rapper who immediately issued an apology and had the remix removed from the airwaves.

Robin Thicke made a name for himself in the music industry by collaborating with numerous performers such as Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, and Mary J. Blige. In 2013, he made a name for himself internationally with his single "Blurred Lines" which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

While the song was undeniably a hit, criticism began to brew after the release of the music video. Many considered the single misogynistic saying that it promoted rape culture, stating that the lyrics were “creepy” and the song itself was “rapey”. Thicke’s performance with Miley Cyrus at the MTV Video Music Awards didn’t help matters either. Critics were sure to point out that the “raunchy” routine promoted sexism, racism, slut-shaming, and cultural appropriation. Thicke attempted to blame Cyrus for the routine, however, she fired back saying that he knew exactly what it entailed.

If there is one thing that you can say about Dixie Chicks’ frontwoman, Natalie Maines, it is that she stands up for what she believes. It is this characteristic, however, that got her in trouble with the American public. While being a celebrity does give you a larger platform to address social injustices, the political opinions of Natalie Maines didn’t sit well with the majority of country music fans.

In 2003, just nine days before the United States planned to go into Iraq, Maines told her audience that the band did not support the invasion and that she was “ashamed” that President George W. Bush was from Texas. Her remark triggered a backlash from those listeners who supported the war. Thousands of country music stations blacklisted their albums and the members of the Dixie Chicks began to receive death threats.

After playing bit parts, Mark Salling was on his way to fame in Hollywood playing the recurring character, Puck, on the musical drama, Glee. Though his career was on the right path, his personal life was not. After a stint in court over an accusation that he had raped his ex-girlfriend, Salling was able to settle by paying her $2.7 million.

Two years later, after police received a tip from one of his exes, Salling was arrested for possession of child pornography. After obtaining a search warrant, authorities found over 50,000 images of child porn on his computer and USB drives. Salling pleaded guilty in court and was due to receive up to seven years in prison. Just prior to his sentencing hearing, Salling was found dead near his home. He had committed suicide by hanging.

When it comes to the movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, most people can agree on two things: the movie is a classic, and Edward Rooney, played by Jeffrey Jones, was a tool. Well, it turns out that Jones himself isn't the most likable character in real life either.

In 2002, the actor was arrested for possession of child pornography after a 17-year-old boy told police that Jones had asked him to pose nude for photographs when he was just 14. Jones did plead no contest to the solicitation charges, however, the child pornography possession charges were dropped. The judge sentenced him to five years probation and required that he register as a sex offender. Jones was arrested two additional times for failing to update his sex offender status.

It’s safe to say that the 1980-1981 season of Saturday Night Live was one of its worst. The remaining members of the show’s original cast had departed as had Lorne Michaels. The new executive producer, Jean Doumanian, had some big shoes to fill so she cast Charles Rocket hoping he would fill the void of both Bill Murray and Chevy Chase.

Rocket was given plenty of air time. He replaced Chevy Chase in the Weekend Update sketch and was featured in the majority of other sketches during the season. Though he did his best, Rocket was simply not comparable to the original cast members. Teetering towards the chopping block, he sealed his fate at the end of the 11th episode when he accidentally used the F-word in the closing comments. Management quickly released him from his contract.

After releasing five studio albums as the lead singer of the Lostprophets, authorities discovered the depraved mind that existed in Ian Watkins. In 2012, authorities arrested Watkins and charged him with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a one-year-old baby girl, possession and distribution of child pornography, and extreme animal pornography. Also arrested were two women, the mothers of his victims.

While Watkins put on an act of regret in front of the courts, behind closed doors, he was recorded referring to his sex offenses as “Mega LOLz” while conversing with a female fan on the telephone. When convicted, the judge sentenced him to 29 years in prison.

Soundcloud rapper, Tekashi 6IX9NINE, gained popularity and street cred in the underground rap scene with his eccentric hair, lavish lifestyle, and his so-called Bloods gang affiliation. He did have a relationship with the Nine Trey Bloods of New York City, however, it wasn’t a good one. They saw him as a poser, and after being linked to several crimes, being kidnapped, and threatened, Tekashi came clean.

He confessed that he had paid the gang to be affiliated with him to gain street cred. Because he was with certain gang members while crimes were committed, he was arraigned as an accessory. He became known as a snitch after revealing the names of the members of Nine Trey Bloods and then became known as crazy after attempting to convince police that he knew who the Zodiac killer was in a bid to reduce his sentence.

As Reverend Eric Camden, Stephen Collins played one of the most wholesome roles to date on the series, 7th Heaven. However, after the show went off the air, the actor revealed that he has pedophilic tendencies.

The New York City Police Department began investigating Collins in 2014 after an audiotape was leaked admitting to sexual abuse of a minor under the age of 14. Though the authorities believed the voice to be that of Collins, they had no solid evidence to substantiate their suspicions. In December of the same year, Collins admitted in an interview with People magazine that he had “inappropriate sexual conduct with three female minors”, once in 1973, again in 1982, and the third in 1994. Upon his admission, his wife divorced him.

While CeeLo Green is beloved for his music and television appearances, he is one teddy bear who gets himself into trouble on Twitter by making insensitive posts. In 2011, he responded to a negative review of one of his performances by tweeting “I’m guessing ur gay? And my masculinity offended u? Well f**k you!” This obviously did not sit well with his fans in the gay community so he quickly tried to explain himself.

In 2014, Green was highly criticized for his tweets surrounding his sexual battery court case. His tweets regarding his opinion on rape really had people fuming. He wrote 'People who have been raped REMEMBER!!!!’ and ‘If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you consciously! So WITH implies consent.’ After receiving the backlash, Green released an apology.

Even though Michael Vick is known as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, he gained his notoriety from his cruel history of torturing and executing dogs. In April 2007, authorities executed a search warrant for Vick’s property in Virginia. While the warrant was part of a drug investigation into the activity of Vick’s cousin, what authorities found had them in shock.

The more they searched, the more gruesome details they uncovered. Evidence of extensive torture, abuse, and the execution of underperforming dogs uncovered one of the largest dog-fighting rings in the United States. After pleading guilty, Vick only received 21 months in jail. Once released, Vick was offered a contract with the Philadelphia Eagles and played for an additional five years.

Comedian, Gilbert Gottfried, was best known for his voice-over work and his controversial sense of humor. He landed a steady gig in 2000 as the voice of the Aflac duck, however, in 2011, his insensitive tweets regarding the tsunami that killed thousands of innocent Japanese people led to his prompt dismissal.

Gottfried tweeted, ‘Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach, the beach comes to them’. Aflac, who does 75% of their business in Japan, immediately fired Gottfried due to his insensitive remarks. The company then replaced him with Daniel McKeague who read the lines in the voice of Gilbert Gottfried.

Reality TV personality, Josh Duggar, was the eldest son of Jim Bob and Michelle on the show, 19 Kids and Counting. While the members of the family presented themselves as very religious and morally superior, behind the scenes Josh Duggar was abusing his position as the eldest to prey on his younger siblings.

In 2015, Duggar revealed that he had molested four of his younger sisters when he was 14-years-old. When the story went public, his parents defended his behavior by saying, “He was just curious about girls and he had gone in and just basically touched them under their clothes while they were sleeping. They didn’t even know he had done it.” Though the family members affected did not press charges, Duggar was arrested in 2021 on federal charges of possessing child pornography.

At one time, Aaron Hernandez had a bright future. All-American at the University of Florida, he was selected as the fourth-round draft choice as the new tight-end of the New England Patriots. Three years into his professional football career, Hernandez was arrested and charged for the murder of Odin Lloyd.

Immediately following his 2013 arrest, the All-American tight-end was released from his NFL contract. To add insult to injury, he was also found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. While awaiting sentencing for the Odin Lloyd murder, Hernandez was also indicted in connection to the 2012 double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, however, he was acquitted of those charges. Five days after the acquittal he committed suicide by hanging in his cell.

While Montana Fishburne is not a household name, her father, Laurence, is well known for his portrayals of Morpheus in The Matrix and Furious in Boyz in the Hood. With acting in her blood, Montana decided at the age of 18 that she wanted to follow in the footsteps of Kim Kardashian as opposed to her award-winning actor father.

Because Kim Kardashian’s sex tape launched her fame, Montana contacted Vivid Entertainment and convinced them to assist her in making her own. The release of Montana Fishburne: Makes Her XXX Debut was not only a failure financially but it also caused a major rift between the aspiring porn star and her famous father. After a brief stint as an exotic dancer, Montana has completed a rehab treatment and is now working as a legal assistant. Hopefully, she and her good old dad have patched things up.

Playboy’s 2015 Playmate of the Year, Dani Mathers, may be in great shape physically but her actions make one question her mental abilities. While at the gym, Mathers took body shaming to a whole new level when she filmed a 71-year-old woman in the shower on Snapchat and posted it online with a caption that read, “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either”.

Not only did Mathers receive widespread criticism and backlash for her insensitive stunt, but she also got in trouble with the law. The LAPD began investigating the incident after receiving a report of illegal distribution. Mathers was charged with misdemeanor invasion of privacy and was sentenced to 45 days in jail or 30 days of community service.

Zoe Sugg, better known by her brand name Zoella, has become quite the beauty guru on YouTube, even so, when she released her 2017 advent calendar at a sales price of £50 fans were not impressed. Critics pointed out that behind the doors of the calendar were worthless gifts such as confetti, stickers, and cookie cutters that were nowhere near worth the price.

As per usual in this day and age, the angered fans then took to trolling Sugg’s social media accounts and found some pretty ugly tweets she had posted years prior. They then exposed the fat-shaming comments and hurtful gay slurs forcing Sugg to extend an apology and explain her reasoning.

Olympic athlete, Ryan Lochte, was swimming in endorsements after winning 12 medals in the 2012 summer games. Then came Lochtegate. In 2016, while in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the summer games, he and three other American swimmers claimed that they had been pulled over and robbed by armed men posing as police officers.

What began as an international embarrassment for Brazil turned into a humiliating embarrassment for Lochte when he finally revealed the true details of the incident. It turned out that the “armed bandits” were actually security guards at a gas station who reprimanded Lochte and his cohorts after they had illegally urinated on the exterior wall of a gas station. With the truth revealed, Lochte was suspended for 10 months by the U.S. Olympic Committee and he lost endorsements from both Speedo and Ralph Lauren.

Although Felix Kjellberg’s YouTube channel under his pseudonym, PewDiePie, is one of the most successful with over one million followers, much of his content has been met with backlash. Known as a host that doesn’t hide his opinions or mince words, PewDiePie caused a controversy when he submitted a post with anti-semitic language and Nazi propaganda.

Around the same time, he also included the N-Word in one of his live streams which had critics pondering if he was, in fact, a racist. Though Kjellberg attempted to explain that he was simply trying to show his audience just how crazy the internet can be, he also offered a formal apology stating that the slip up was ”in the heat of the moment and one of the worst things” he could have done.

During a 2004 broadcast on SNL, singer-songwriter Jessica Simpson’s younger sister Ashlee was performing live. However, it quickly became abundantly clear that she was lip-syncing the whole performance.

Viewers were already aware of this issue when the situation got worse. By the end of the show, she was awkwardly dancing and singing her punk-rock ballad completely out of step with the beat. This unfortunate mishap turned out to be the defining moment of the young musician's career. Undoubtedly considered talentless by the media, she was never invited to feature as a performer on TV again and has since let her music career go dormant.

Comedian Steve Harvey was playing host at the 2015 Miss Universe, a great gig that was easy enough to pull off smoothly...you would think. However, the scene was set for what is potentially one of the worst mistakes to have occurred on live TV up until that point or since.

What happened? Well, the climax of the show had arrived and the new Miss Universe was ready to be named. However, Harvey had clearly not been paying attention closely enough as, with the crowd waiting with bated breath, he read the wrong name and crowned Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutierrez, as the overall winner. He was quick to correct his mistake and crown Miss Philippines as the true winner but the damage was done and he would never live down his mistake.

Pop sensation Mariah Carey has had some terrible moments on stage. Despite being such a well-known singer with hordes of adoring fans that know all the words to her songs, Mariah had a famous incident in 2017 that showed that the fans may not have been enough for her.

During the New Year's Eve countdown, Carey was unable to remember the lyrics of her song ‘Emotions’. It appeared that the singer's...emotions...had got the better of her and she completely froze. But rather than doing the gracious thing and admitting her mistake, she started to blame the tech crew, threw a childish fit, and walked off stage.

It wasn’t his ardent belief in Scientology that would ruin this short-statured action movie star’s career - although that did a good job of ending what was left of it. No, Cruise’s first mistake was a strange admission on the couch of Oprah’s widely-viewed talk show.

It appeared that Cruise had fallen in love with fellow thespian Katie Holmes. This wasn't mere puppy love - he was deeply besotted with the actress. So, in some outrageous form of adoration, he decided to reveal his feelings to the whole world through his conversation with Oprah. Needless to say that rather than coming across as a passionate romantic, the picture he painted was more of a passionate madman and his career has been on a steep nosedive ever since.

When interviewing Senator Ben Sasse, Bill Maher, who was hosting his own live TV show, made a terrible lapse of judgment. Most would assume experienced hosts like him would have no trouble avoiding inappropriate, offensive language.

So it shocked everyone when Bill Maher accidentally, or so he said, let out the ‘N’ word live on TV. The incident occurred when the senator told him a story: ‘We’d love to have you work in the fields with us,” to which a Maher shockingly replied with the word, thinking that he was making a hilarious joke. We are not sure in what circles Maher’s ‘joke’ would have landed, but he certainly let down many adoring fans that day and the mistake has certainly cost him his career.

Drinking on the job is a luxury nearly everyone will enjoy at some point. However, when you are mixing your drinks with your live performance, mistakes can be made. For this, Kathie Lee Gifford's appearance on the Today Show in 2012 will forever be remembered for all the wrong reasons. Actor Martin Short joined Gifford as a host on the show to talk about his recent movie.

Short had been married to Nancy Dolman for years. But two years earlier, Dolman had tragically passed away after a battle with cancer. "You and Nancy have one of the greatest marriages of anybody in show business," Gifford began. Then she went on to ask personal questions about the couple's love life. She continued her drunken rant until she was politely asked to shut up by a co-host.

Long before his appearances in light-hearted comedies like The Hangover movies, Mike Tyson was in an intense rivalry with heavy-weight boxing champion Evander Holyfield. The pair had had their scraps in the past and were known to be two of the best boxers on earth.

The day of their final fight came in 1997. Previously a shame-faced Tyson had been pummeled by Holyfield for eleven straight rounds, so he had a lot of anger and resentment on his side when he entered the ring. This is perhaps why he did what has to be the most outrageous move ever seen in a live fight, and bit the ear clean off his rival. Somehow, Tyson's disgusting move did not disqualify him and he actually went on to bite the man’s remaining ear off in the third round.

In 2004, America was in turmoil amidst the war in Iraq. However, the nation was still able to find the energy to attend the 38th Super Bowl. But this was far from a break from the nation's troubles, as it would essentially end the career of a legendary performer and expose a double-standard in the collective conscience of society.

During their halftime show performance, at the moment Timberlake went to sing the line, "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song," he pulled off a part of Jackson's top, except...it wasn't just part of the top but rather an entire part of it that left her exposed. The scandal resulted in Jackson - Jackson, not Timberlake - being blacklisted from the industry for many years after, exposing sexism in the industry as Timberlake's career continued on the up.

Actor Charlie Sheen, best known for the sitcom Two and a Half Men, has to be the only man to lose his career while repeating the word ‘Winning!’. More than strange, Sheen’s actions were downright bizarre.

During an interview, Sheen started out on an addled rant. Clearly, the years preceding the end of Two and a Half Men had been unkind to the actor and he had become a strange and confusing individual with a bad attitude and an even worse drug habit. Nowadays, Charlie seems to have made steps towards recovery, but his career is one thing that he will never recover.

In the 2000s, Christina and Britney ruled the roost as teen pop stars. Britney had her fair amount of bad press but it is Christina whose blunder remains on the mind. The incident occurred during her performance of the American National Anthem at the 2011 Super Bowl.

Any American will tell you that American history is a serious subject in school and, starting very young in second grade, all American children learn the national anthem. So Aguilera shocked everyone when she forgot the lyrics live on stage in front of thousands of fans. Her performance was so lousy that her reputation was tarnished forever.

Yet another award-show mishap, this time from star actor and household name John Travolta. We all make mistakes, but when you make one during a live Academy Award show, you can very quickly and irreversibly damage your reputation. To this day, Travolta is no longer asked to help present at award shows.

The mishap occurred when Travolta was supposed to introduce Frozen star and Broadway actor Idina Menzel. Instead, Travolta said, "Please welcome the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Dazeem." What?? An honest mistake, we're sure, but one that Travolta has struggled with, telling the press, "I’ve been beating myself up all day! Then I thought… what would Idina Menzel say? She’d say, ‘Let it go, let it go!’" Oy.

Many film and TV stars get used to having several chances to get something right, but this can become an issue when it comes to performing live. This was certainly the case for rapper Iggy Azalea when she was featured in Dancing With The Stars in 2014.

Azalea’s blunder began when her earpiece malfunctioned. For most performers, this would not have been much of an issue. After all, Azalea could have completed her dance without the need for external communication. Instead, she awkwardly left the stage in a rage and her backing dancers were left standing uncomfortably until the organizers could get things back on track. Since this outrageous episode, Azalea’s career has been remarkably stunted with few invitations to perform live.

Many assume models to have little between the ears and Jenner is one who has proved this theory correct. Her biggest live blunder came at the 2014 Billboard Award show. Jenner was tasked with handing out the music awards, a task that should not have presented much of a challenge.

However, Jenner managed to make a huge error due, perhaps, to a lack of knowledge of the biggest pop stars of the time. "I am the worst reader!" she laughed when she accidentally introduced teen heartthrobs One Direction when she was supposed to be welcoming their rivals, 5 Seconds of Summer, to the stage. This blunder, coupled with her unprofessional response has ultimately cut the model's performing career short.

Love him or hate him, Kanye West is a force to be reckoned with and must have one of the biggest egos in show business. The man is a world-class rapper with a huge, dedicated fan base - but his personality clearly has its pitfalls as this blunder illustrates…

In 2009’s MTV Video Music Awards, West did something so rude that he must have ostracised many. Taylor Swift had just accepted the award for Best Female Video when West took to the stage and grabbed the award off the musician. His thinking process was that Beyoncé deserved the award more for her ‘Single Ladies’ music video. A moment that has gone down in infamy, for sure. It continues to cause drama between the stars to this day.

R&B and dance-pop duo Milli Vanilli rose to fame in the late-'80s with hits like ‘Blame it on the Rain’ and ‘Girl You Know It's True.’ But when the time came to perform live, it soon became clear that the German group was not as talented as they appeared in their pre-produced music.

After a live performance on MTV, it became obvious that the group had opted for a poorly veiled lip sync rather than to sing the songs live. Firstly, when live, the pair’s voices sounded nothing like their music. Then they really came into trouble when the recording skipped and they were quickly outed as lip-syncers and shunned by fans and the media alike.

Belle Gibson will forever be remembered as the fool who lied about having and surviving cancer. Gibson first rose to prominence as an entrepreneur promoting healthy living and wellness, her credibility coming mainly from her own battle with the disease.

But it seems that her entrepreneurial ambition led her astray, as she had been less than truthful about her past in a way that is far worse than a few lies on a resume. During an interview for an Australian news magazine, the conversation took an unexpected turn when the interview probed her for some easy details that led to Gibson being outed as...not a cancer survivor. Since then, nobody has requested further interviews with Gibson, who has quickly vanished from the scene.

Being a live TV judge for a show like The X-Factor is a clear sign of a blossoming career for many celebrities. Fans of the show may have come to expect a bit of verbal abuse when an act is particularly weak. But, what Kills said on the New Zealand version in 2015 will go down in X Factor’s history.

Maybe it was the dazzling lights or her own nerves about performing live and unscripted, but clearly, Kills took it a step too far. Her hail of abuse left the audience in stunned silence. Apparently, she felt the act was too close to a copy of her husband, singer-songwriter Willy Moon. It remains uncertain what Moon thought of the performance, but what is certain is that Kills will never work as a live judge again.

Mason had made a name for himself as a talented comedian and was welcomed on to the late-night Ed Sullivan Show as a regular bit. He was one of the most popular comedians of the '60s and had been participating on the show for over 22 years, taking home a paycheck equivalent to $350k today for six short appearances.

Unfortunately for Mason, this easy money-spinner was soon to come to an end. Through some remarkable foolishness or big-headedness, the comedian took it upon himself to flip the world the bird multiple times during one of his bits. "Here's a finger for you and a finger for you and a finger for you" as he worked his way around each camera. Needless to say, this performance was his last on CBS.

Irish singer Sinead O'Connor made an unusual political statement during her Saturday Night Live performance in 1992. The risky endeavor was targeting the religious leader, Pope John Paul II.

What exactly did this statement involve? Well during her performance, O’Connor took out a picture of the Pope and began ripping it to shreds while shrieking ‘fight the real enemy.’ Since then the singer has not been invited back for many live performances and the verdict is still out as to whether she is allowed to enter a church should she seek to repent.

Much-loved anchor and journalist Brian Williams was a firm fan-favorite. Despite having the adoration of millions, his apparent habit of stretching the truth would create the biggest issue for him.

In 2015, Williams told a fascinating story about covering the Iraq war in 2003. But, it was soon proved that this story was mostly made up and greatly exaggerated at the very least. This spurred a complete investigation in which three more of the anchor's stories were found to be embellishments. Years later and WIliam’s career has made no recovery.

Star of The Blue Lagoon Brooke Shields is well-known for her outrageous eyebrows and provocative persona. As her career developed, her appeal didn’t dwindle, playing the role of the hot mum in many highly-rated sitcoms as well as starring in several glasses commercials.

However, in 2011 during the Tony Awards, Shields made an embarrassing blunder. Host Neil Patrick Harris opened the show with a performance with reference to The Addam’s Family, Shield's breakthrough Broadway role. However, when Harris playfully asked Shields to sing a small verse of one of her songs, she had some embarrassing failed attempts before admitting "I don’t know what I’m doing! Oh my God!". And with that sentence, her live career was over.

When comedian Doug Williams took up the opportunity to appear on Shaq's All-Star Comedy, he did not expect to end up in the hot seat. The plan was for Williams and fellow comedians to team and tear football player Emmitt Smith in a classic, light-hearted roasting.

But when presenter Jamie Foxx invited Williams to the stage, the comedian was slow to start. Then, just three jokes in, Foxx chimed in, booing Williams and telling him to get off stage in an unchoreographed move that brought the surprised audience to their knees with laughter. Although this broadcast wasn’t live, there was no second chance for Williams and, despite Foxx later apologizing and blaming his outburst on liquor, the comedian's career was pushed into a rapid downward spiral.

There is a time and a place for swearing on TV and your first day as a news anchor is not one of them. When young AJ Clemente began his first performance at Bismarck's local news, his nerves had obviously gotten the better of him as he started with a sharp inhale followed by ‘fking st.’

His outburst was met with what must have been a tense silence as Clemente’s co-anchor froze in expectation of the storm of rage and complaints that was inevitably about to fall. Clemente was quickly fired from and has not returned to broadcasting, Instead, he now teaches and tends bar, hopeful in environments where his foul mouth will be less of an issue.

Comedian Jenny Slate began her career as a writer-performer on SNL. Then in 2009, she made her first live appearance on the show, performing a sketch that she had written herself. Like many on this list, her mistake was swearing. In the sketch, she replaced ‘frigging’ with the ruder version that starts with the same sound.

Funnier than the comedian's understandable mess up was her response to realizing what she had done only seconds too late. Blowing out her cheeks like a pufferfish, she tried to swallow the word that she had just said amidst the roar of the audience's awkward laughter. Although she is no longer appearing on SNL, Slate is still a successful comedian and actress, regularly performing live stand-up to this day.

Restaurant owner Paula Deen shocked everyone when she was outed as creating an environment unfit for her workers. Her ex-employee accused her of exhibiting ‘violent, sexist, and racist behavior’ and even expressing a desire to have a Southern ‘plantation-style wedding with only black waiters.

Deen was found to be guilty during the trial, even admitting to using racial slurs throughout her lifetime. But that wasn’t all, she followed this up with a well-remembered appearance on the Today Show where she tried to paint herself as the victim. Needless to say, her reputation has never recovered.

Saturday Night Live is responsible for making or breaking many performer’s careers, and if this list is anything to go by, the latter is far more likely. When the band Karmin took to the stage in 2012 alongside Lana Del Rey, both artists' careers were just kicking off.

Del Rey is still a popular performer to this day, but for the electronic duo Karmin, this was the beginning of the end. So where did they go wrong? Well, in short, they played a terrible set that was described as derivative and lacking stage presence by the politer members of the audience and ‘mild auditory distress’ by the more critical.

The 2012 Los Angeles-based KDOC-TV’s New Year’s Eve broadcast was remembered for all the wrong reasons. It didn’t often draw a large audience, however, this show in 2012 was so terribly executed it has attracted more and more views ever since.

What exactly happened is hard to describe. But it includes: actors accidentally faceplanting and searching for the right camera during every angle change, huge sections of dead air, and - of course - the host Jamie Kennedy looking completely lost on stage for the duration of the show. He's yet to recover.

By 2021 everyone - especially celebrities - should know that everything they say can and likely will be used against them at some point. For Hulk Hogan, he never thought that day would come. Hogan was illegally recorded in some locker room banter using offensive language, so he was immediately fired from WWE and removed from the Hall of Fame.

Hogan sued the person who recorded him for a sum of $100 million and won the lawsuit on the basis that the recording was an invasion of privacy. Though legally Hogan came out with a clean bill from the law, his career was already unfixably tarnished.

There is no doubt that presidential campaigns can get a little crazy, some candidates revert to childlike behavior, slinging insults, throwing tantrums, even sulking in a corner. Then there are guys like Howard Dean. At the beginning of the 2004 campaign, the Vermont Governor had an impressive lead until rivals, John Kerry and John Edwards, pushed him into third place during the Iowa Democratic caucuses.

In a speech that same night, Dean was obviously fired up. He was going on and on about taking back each state, followed up by saying he was going to “TAKE BACK THE WHITE HOUSE” and then he just screamed “YEAH!!!!!!”. We are not talking just a short outburst, we are talking about a lose your s**t scream. Needless to say, his constituents found his behavior a bit unstable.