It is not uncommon for celebrities to think they are invincible. They often believe they can do anything they want without repercussions. Most of the time this mindset comes back to haunt them. Here are a few examples of celebrities that ended their career in a matter of minutes.
One of the most recent examples of a celebrity ruining their career is comedian and television personality Kathy Griffin. Griffin got her start by doing standup comedy but broke out as a TV personality in the late 90s and early 2000s. She has made appearances on successful shows like The View and hosted a number of award shows. She never became an A-list star (she refers to herself as a D-list celebrity and even made a show about it) but found enough success in Hollywood to have a steady career. However, all of this came crashing down in 2017 after a controversial photoshoot involving Donald Trump.
Griffin is no stranger to controversy. She has been banned from multiple talk shows and comedy clubs. She even fell into hot water during her Emmy Award speech when see poked fun of Jesus and the Christian religion. All of this is nothing compared to her 2017 photoshoot where she poses with the decapitated head of Donald Trump. After posting a few pictures to her social media accounts, she received major backlash resulting in her being blacklisted by Hollywood.
Kathy Griffin was stripped from hosting the CNN New Year’s Eve broadcast after the photos were released. She was also forced to cancel what was left of her standup tour due to the venues refusing to host the events. Griffin has apologized for the photoshoot, but many people felt that it was insincere. She now struggles to find acting jobs and blames the Trump family for ruining her career. She is now more well known for her twitter post than being a TV personality/comedian.
Some of you may remember the hype that surrounded Ashlee Simpson in the early 2000s. Her sister, Jessica Simpson, had already found fame with her music career and hit reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. Since Jessica Simpson was at the height of her career, Ashlee thought it was the perfect time for her to break into the spotlight. She marketed herself as a more edgy version of her sister and released her debut album titled Autobiography. The album did very well and even hit #1 on the pop charts. Her success would be short-lived with it all coming spiraling down after a career-changing incident on Saturday Night Live.
In October of 2004, Ashlee Simpson went on SNL to promote her album Autobiography. She was the musical guest that night and planned on singing 2 of the more popular songs on the album. She first performed her hit song “Pieces of Me” which went as planned. During Ashlee’s second performance, she was exposed lip-syncing after “Pieces of Me” started playing again instead of the song she planned on performing. As the track continued to play, the pop star broke out into an awkward hoedown like dance before running off stage.
At the end of the broadcast, Ashlee blamed her band for playing the wrong song even though it was obvious her vocals were prerecorded. She later told Fox News that she was told not to sing by a doctor due to acid reflux. She tried to forget about the incident and continued touring but her music career was already tainted. She was booed off stage during her performance at the 2005 Orange Bowl and her second album failed to live up to expectations. Ashlee Simpson’s career never recovered and she has faded into obscurity.
Kevin Spacey has been Hollywood royalty for quite some time. He has won numerous awards including an Academy Award. His movies such as American Beauty and The Usual Suspects established him as an acting powerhouse. He has also found success in television shows like House of Cards. Everything seemed to be going well for Spacey until everything came crashing down in 2017
On October 29, 2019 Anthony Rapp accused Space of sexual misconduct. He explained that Spacey explicitly came on to him after drinking too much back in 1986. Rapp was only 14 while Spacey was 26. After Rapp came out about the incident, many other people came out saying Spacey sexually assaulted or acted very inappropriate with them.
During all the sexual assault allegations, Spacey decided to come out as a gay man. This did not go over well because many people believed he was only doing this to diminish his alleged crimes. Many people also thought he was putting the gay community in a bad light since he seemed to blame his actions on his sexual orientation.
As you might have guessed, all this negative publicity took its toll on Spacey’s career. He was removed from the hit show House of Cards and was stripped of his executive producer role. Netflix also canceled Spacey’s new movie titled Gore and his appearance in the film All the Money in the World were edited out. On top of this, the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences decided not to give Spacey the 2017 International Emmy Founders Award which he was supposed to receive. Nowadays, Kevin Spacey is blacklisted from Hollywood with many studios refusing to work with him. It doesn’t look like Spacey’s career will ever recover from the sexual assault allegations any time soon.
Most people know Michael Richards as the goofy character Cosmo Kramer from 1990s sitcom Seinfeld. He might not be as well known today but he was one of the biggest sitcom actors during the 90s. He won 3 Emmys for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series for his work on Seinfeld which was more than any other cast member. He was also given his own TV show in 2000 but it was canceled soon after due to poor ratings. Regardless of his failed television show, Richard was still riding the wave of success until an incident in 2006 changed his life forever.
On November 17, 2006, Richards was performing his standup routine at the Laugh Factory. During his performance, a group of African Americans started heckling him. Richards became livid and began insulting the group by calling them racial slurs. The tirade grew worse as he ranted about lynching and Jim Crow laws. This verbal attack caused the audience to boo Richards off the stage permanently tainting his career.
Richards apologized shortly after the incident on the Late Show with David Letterman. The crowd mocked him by laughing at what they believed to be an insincere apology. Ever since the incident took place, Richards has failed to revive his career. He has been out of the spotlight for many years and has retired from stand-up comedy.
Jared Fogle might not be as famous as some of the other celebrities on this list, but is still worth talking about. Better known as the Subway guy, Jared Fogle’s rise to fame came from the many commercials he did for Subway in the early 2000s. The commercials consisted of Jared praising Subway and crediting them for his drastic weight loss. This caused the restaurant to soar to new heights as a healthy alternative to fast food. Fogle became an overnight sensation and was at one point believed to be worth around $15 million!
Fogle’s newly found fame would be short-lived. In 2015 he was arrested for child pornography and the intent to travel and solicit sex from a minor. Subway immediately dropped Fogle as their spokesperson and denounced his actions. He was sentenced to 15 years and 8 months in prison for his crimes. He won’t be eligible for parole until he has served at least 13 years of hard time.
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