This is a list of celebrities who have destroyed either their career or their reputation through foolish actions – intentionally or unintentionally.
10. David Hasselhoff
The star of Bay Watch has recently been suffering with alcohol abuse and in 2007 his daughter released a video of him drunkenly trying to eat a Wendy’s burger whilst arguing with her on to the internet. The result was that Hasselhoff lost custody rights to his daughters temporarily and lost all respect. In 2006 he was refused access to a British Airways flight due to drunkenness though his publicists insisted that he was not drunk, but rather unwell from taking antibiotics. Yeah right.
9. Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Battle, one of the great operatic Sopranos of our time gained a reputation for being “difficult”. These difficulties and numerous complaints from fellow singers lead to her being fired from the New York Metropolitan Opera. Since the dismissal from the Met, Kathleen Battle has not appeared in opera performances. However Kathleen Battle continues to appear in concerts and recitals, as well as lending her voice to recordings and television appearances.
8. Boy George
Boy George (lead singer of Culture Club) destroyed his singing career (and caused his band to breakup) when he fell out with his lover (also a member of the band) Jon Moss causing him to slide in to a life of heroin binges. He has, since then, been in and out of trouble and while his career as a DJ is successful, his reputation was tarnished sufficiently to prevent him from ever returning to the idol status of the early days of the group.
7. Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) had a shining career as a children’s television presenter until 1991 when he was arrested in Sarasota, Florida for masturbating publicly in an adult theater. The news media went into a frenzy and the scandal marked the near-death of the character “Pee-wee Herman,” reducing both the actor and the persona to a ubiquitous punchline. Although the series Pee-wee’s Playhouse had already ended by that time, CBS reacted by dropping its reruns from their lineup. Reubens was arrested again in 2002 in connection with an investigation involving child pornography. These charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to a “misdemeanor obscenity” charge.
6. Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise, star of many blockbuster films lost all credibility when he began publicly campaigning for the Church of Scientology. His embarrassing behavior on an episode of Oprah has solidified his reputation as an idiot. He is most recently involved in a huge controversy over the CoS removing a video of him from the Internet which has lead to a cracking group (Anonymous) to attack the organization.
5. Britney Spears
Pop Singer Britney Spears who got her start on the New Mickey Mouse Club, destroyed all credibility when she began to appear in public with Paris Hilton. She has been caught numerous times on camera in various states of undress or drunkenness. She has been in and out of rehab centers. Possibly her lowest moment was when she broke up with her husband via text message as he was in the middle of being filmed for MuchMusic. Nice one Britney.
4. George Michael
George Michael was successful with the band Wham, and later pursued a solo career. He had always kept his sexuality a secret until April 7, 1998 when he was arrested for “engaging in a lewd act” in a public toilet in a park in Beverly Hills, California. He has also had problems with drugs, especially during 2006 when he was arrested for possession of Class C drugs, as well as a series of drug related traffic incidents which lead to the temporary loss of his licence, as well as community service.
3. Whitney Houston
After Houston married former R&B singer Bobby Brown at the height of her career, rumors of drug and spousal abuse started to affect her career. Whilst no one could confirm the allegations, Houston confessed to using recreational drugs during a TV interview, and later underwent two drug rehab programs in 2005 and 2006. After a successful second program in 2006, Houston divorced Brown and gained custody of their only daughter.
2. Jennifer Grey
Following the success of Dirty Dancing in 1987, the leading lady, Jennifer Grey decided to get a nose job to improve her looks for her future career as an A-lister in Hollywood. Unfortunately this changed her appearance so much that no one knew who she was. All of the celebrity-goodwill she earnt from Dirty Dancing was lost. Since then she has only played minor roles in television programs and b-grade movies. In a recent interview for Channel 5 in the UK, Grey said the nosejob was the biggest mistake of her life.
1. Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop” seriously damaged his reputation after stating on National Television that he shared his bed with young boys that visited. Having already been arrested on molestation charges (which were dropped) this was a big mistake. He has since been hounded by the media and will probably never be viewed by the public in the same light as he was during his early career.






























Ok now,Pee Wee touching himself in public is just plain wrong!! Imagine if Mr.Rogers had done something like that! Our childhood memories would be tarnished forever…Good list,I just don’t understand Britney anymore,can somebody spell psycho? she needs serious help,I actually thought she was going to be number one.That David Hasselhoff thing has shocked me,had heard about it,but I’d never actually seen it.Jennifer Grey’s story was really sad,she had such a promising future.Micheal Richards definately deserves to be here,I lost all respect for him after what happened.Actually there are a whole lot of celebrities missing out on this list,Jfrater,compile a second one please.Once again,great list.
is that picture of michael jackson real?
Kids at my school still make jokes about Michael Jackson, just shows how much he’s ruined his career.
Tom Cruise needs immediate Psychiatric help
Where is Mike Tyson?
Why isn’t OJ Simpson on this list? Talk about a tarnished reputation. Acquitted or no, his reputation is absolutely destroyed. Top that with his ‘almost’ book “If I Did It…”. The entirety is a debacle and he just keeps going.
Hugh Grant had a bit of a run in with the law too, I’d place him on here above Jennifer Grey. Though.. he has made a bit of a recovery.
Why is hoff there the dude had a night out got wasted and came home and ordered a burger ??who hasn;t been there done that???
What about:
Rob Lowe – he was sooo hotttt till that video appeared
R Kelly!!! anyone want to be peed on?
Bill Clinton – loves to leave stains on dresses
No Woody Allen?
hey?
where’s lindsay lohan?
I don’t know if this happened at the time of the creation of this list, but I’m pretty sure that Michael Richards ruined his career sufficiently enough to be on this list when he said the n-word in that comedy club.
lol to comment #22…
are you… INSANE?!?!?!?! “the hoff” is a lengend in his own mind. you must be german…
and damn it i love pee-wee, i used to crack up at him when i was 4!!! that being said, he should be higher on the list, haha!
nice photo of MJ
361 sue Mr Rogers was gay, too.
#69 Kniwn I vote for Woody Allen, too. Marries his “daughter”
I do agree OJ should be here somewhere.
Oh the list could go on and on. Can any one say “Cover your ass?”
I meant #61
what an ugly list… geeee
I would definitely include Gary Glitter.
I already predicted that MJ will be #1 (nice pic, by the way!). #6 and # 5 are quickly climbing the charts, though, what with all they’re doing nowadays.
Tom Cruise just gets weirder and weirder as years go by.
lol gabyvhenteciete, same here.Even before i read the list, i kind of knew that Michael Jackson would be first.Yeah, where is Gary Glitter?
Jennifer Grey doesn’t belong on this list. She may have rendered her famous face unrecognizable, but her reputation wasn’t wrecked by drugs, booze, arrests, etc.
Courtney love…
Britney Spears, interesting person. Downward spiral that was continually followed by the media.
O yea. I’ve been watching those “Anonymous” videos about Scientology lately. They’re almost creepy. It’s interesting. People should stand up for what they believe in more often. AND YES, Valerie! Courtney Love should be included on this list.
Let’s add the uber-pigs Sandra Bernhard, Lindsay Lohan, and Pam Anderson. Why ? Just give a listen next time they open their mouths…uh…to speak.
Well done.
gary gliter?
here’s the britney dumping k-fed via text video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4H5goRPFGrw
Jackson is still great in my heart so is Spear.
Great list, but I expected Mel Gibson to at least make an appearance.
Love the list.
Check out the trust index of Michael Jackson at http://www.trust-index.com. Have the recent news about his desease affected his reputation? Do you trust him?
Trust-index for Michael Jackson
You can add any item you want to be rated by people from all over the world. Express your trust, and check out what others think about.
ellen degeneres he/she is fugly!
Jennifer Grey wasn’t enough of a star to be included. One hit movie doesn’t cut it.
Mike Tyson
Mel Gibson
Michael Richards
Mickey Rourke (small comeback happening now)
Lindsey Lohan
R. Kelly (although some people don’t seem to mind his antics)
OJ Simpson
Demi Moore (striptease)
Dennis Rodman
Kate Moss
Katie Holmes (shouldn’t have married you know who)
Ike Turner
Madonna (acting career only)
Janet Jackson
William Shatner
Tom Sizemore
Michael Vick
Don Imus
Gary Busey
Dwight Gooden
Tatum O’Neal
Bobby Brown
Nick Nolte
Fatty Arbuckle ? He’s the King of screwed-up careers. And the 60′s singer who’s pants split on stage – can’t remember his name, though. Polanski, although no one seemed to care about him raping a child. Certainly not Harrison Ford, Johnny Depp, and other big-shots who has been more than willing to film in Europe. I’d like to include Katie Holmes – her association with the Weird Pixie cannot be a good thing in the long run.
I thought Jennifer Grey was such a little teenie hottie in Dirty Dancing…I just knew she was destined to have a great career…then someone convinced her that she would do better with a nose job..what a shame…she really didn’t look like herself, or even recognizable as herself afterward…and the phone stopped ringing…Too bad…she was such a little dish as “Baby” …Everyone thought Patrick was so lucky to be playing house with her…How old was she when she did that film, anyway?
Nelson Mandela should be on the list. The U.S. fought for his release from prison for many years and ever since he was released, he’s bad mouthed the U.S. Ungrateful bastard. Hope he dies soon.
Where’s Metallica?
chris brown
haha Boy George got owned again recently didn’t he?
For handcuffing a man to his bed and beating him up…
All so true… but it should have been a longer list, there are alot of other celebrities that should be on it.
OJ was retired when the ***** went down so no he didn’t kill his career, he only killed his time available for golfing…
Lindsay Lohan should definitely be on here, also votes for Dennis Rodman, Michael Richards, Michael Vick, Mike Tyson (maybe if your name is Mike you may want to rethink the career thing). Another one is Dave Chappelle-he went off the deep end….
Kobe, Janet, R Kelly still have careers, y’know.
That image of Michal Jacksons nose falling off was really,REALLY DISTERBING!!!!!
VANILLA ICE …….. ?????????
will yall just leave my brother alone i mean this is harsh and cruel would you like it if someone did this to you i don’t think so this is so mean. LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE AND LET HIM REST IN PEACE PLEASE!!!!!
I am so freakin tired of yall *****ing around with these pics LEAVE MICHAEL ALONE OR TAKE IT UP WITH ME IF DECIDE NOT TO K!!!!!!!
LaToya, are you grumpy because he didn’t leave his nose for you in his will?
i agree with Mark on Metallica. I remember their bassist getting booed when he presented on MTV awards way back. after their fight against napster and on the concept on free mp3 downloads on the net. they lost a greatnumber of fans. and thats not counting that they sold-out to mtv the past decade, they loss credibility to the metal scene… well the writer probably dont dig heavy metal hehehe
Vera Lynn, I was fortunate enough to know Fred Rogers personally, and he was the most honest, kindest, and genuine men I have ever had the honor to know. Please don’t tarnish his memory with untruths.
wtf did MEl Gibson ever do that was so terrible?
@ LaToya: You sure you’re La Toya? No offense, since I’m a Jackson fan, and am also taking offense at the list.
Oh. Britney’s getting her career back on track, so you have to remove her and replace her with Lindsay Lohan. *sigh* To think, I have a “Get A Clue” DVD.
And by the way, William Shatner was on SNL, faketree! It was all in good fun!
Ashlee simpson? And the dude at 95. Nelson mandella? Are u *****ing serious? Go take a walk. Long one. Short pier. Idiot.
How about kanye west? Him and tom cruise are battling number one for world’s biggest jackass.
Anonymous? Check your facts. There is no hacker group called Anonymous. There’s just a bunch of kids on 4chan that do simplistic things in large numbers.
I think we can add cheetah, I mean tiger to this list
Kathleen Battle is a *****ing diva. Even a certain famous tenor known as none other than Placido Domingo himself said she was a *****.
4 out of 10 are homos. makes sense. their careers went into the can.
You can now add Whitney to the list TWICE.
Her world tour has pretty much been a disaster. People walking out in Australia and in Britain. Clips of her all over the net, missing notes, running out of breadth, acting like a pretentious diva (20 years ago she could get away with it… not now).
And she hasnt even landed in America yet.
I cant wait…
And Michael Richards should be there. Hasslehoff being drunk doesnt really destroy his reputation
Richards acting like a terribly unfunny racist comedian goes against the grain of his entire career.
I doubt anyone watch Hasslehoff and said “That’s it! No more Baywatch and Knight Rider for me!”
The photo of Michael Jackson was indeed disturbing. It was really a travesty to see him disintegrate as I liked many of the hits he had while a member of the Jackson Five. However, he went into serious artistic decline after “Thriller” and his subsequent bizarre antics overshadowed the impact of his music. And, while the loss of any human life is regrettable, I was appalled by the method in which the media painted him as being bigger than Elvis and the Beatles combined, which simply was not true.
Further, I agree with the posters who opined that O.J. should be on this list. He was a formidable idol during my high school years, but now his reputation is in the garbage. I can’t even watch the movies he was in anymore, such as “Towering Inferno” and the “Naked Gun” series.
Jennifer Grey shouldn't even be on the list.
She didn't destroy her reputation, just her career.
too much time on their hands with too much money
OMG, PLEASE tell me that MJ pic was Shopped and not a hallucination. D8