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Celebs Who Flushed Their Careers Down The Toilet In Moments

Monica September 8, 2023

Joe Paterno

You’d think someone that’s called “JoePa” would be a nice, comforting, safe person to be around. But the sports figure lost his title when authorities discovered he was involved in a child sex scandal. Paterno witnessed his assistant head coach Jerry Sandusky sexually abuse young children and never said anything about it. He preferred to keep his partner’s reputation in good light instead of saving young children in need. He kept it covered up to not embarrass the Penn State football program. After the exposure, which took years to come to light, his 111 wins were removed from his record and his contract was terminated (via Washington Post).

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Martha Stewart

This successful businesswoman isn’t everything she’s made out to be. In 2003, authorities indicted her on security fraud and obstruction of justice. She didn’t fight the accusations and instead stepped down from her position as CEO. She’d made false statements to investigators, who eventually sentenced her to five months of house arrest. She described her incarceration as horrifying, saying, “No one — no one — should have to go through that kind of indignity, really, except for murderers, and there are a few other categories.” Her sketchy behavior negatively impacted her thriving career, and in a matter of moments, she was reduced to nothing (via Hollywood Life).

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Jerry Lee Lewis

Not only did Jerry Lee Lewis as a 23-year-old marry Myra Gale Brown a 13-year-old, but she was also related to him. Their marriage caused great controversy in rock n’ roll history and rightfully so. Lewis went from making thousands of dollars per performance to making less than $300. Their marriage survived more than a decade but completely ruined Lewis’s career. To make it worse, in 1970, Myra filed for divorce and accused Lewis of abuse and adultery (via NY Post).

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Chris Brown

It’s probably no surprise that Chris Brown made it on this list. We all know about the violent incident with Rihanna. He physically abused her and left her with a bruised face and a split lip. Brown recalled the night, saying, “Like I remember she tried to kick me, just like her beating sh*t, but then I hit her. With a closed fist, like I punched her, and it busted her lip, and when I saw it I was in shock, I was ‘fu*k, why did I hit her like that? So from there, she’s…spitting blood in my face, it raised me even more. It’s a real fight in the car, and we driving in the street.” Even though he was sentenced for his behavior, his entire reputation was tarnished in a matter of moments (via Grazia Magazine).

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O.J. Simpson

The list never ends with O.J. Simpson. He was once a star in the NFL world. But he shocked everyone and flushed his fame down the toilet in a mere matter of moments during a high-speed chase. This happened immediately after the mysterious murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her lover Ron Goldman. Even though he was somehow acquitted, he was again charged years later with criminal conspiracy and robbery. Investigators never solved the murders. Again, he was eventually released though he was sentenced to 33 years in prison. All of these accusations impacted his career and he was never viewed the same way again (via ABC News).

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Aziz Ansari

Another artist called out during the #MeToo movement was Aziz Ansari. Several women accused him of sexual misconduct and aggression, which contradicts what he claims he preaches. He’s supposedly an outspoken feminist but after the accusations, his fans questioned him. In an interview, he said, “There’s times I felt scared. There were times I felt humiliated. There were times I felt embarrassed. And ultimately, I just felt terrible. That this person felt this way.” He took a break from the spotlight before returning to stand-up comedy (via NBC News).

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Harvey Weinstein

Even though he was once a major film producer, the disgusting Weinstein wasn’t immune from acting like a bad person. He was once the facilitator of many top Hollywood moments and was seen as one of the most influential people in Hollywood. But he used this power for evil. If a woman said no to him, he punished and blacklisted them. It wasn’t until 2017 that women came forward to tell their stories about the misconduct regarding Harvey Weinstein. Eventually, more than 80 women made these allegations. Women felt relief when the truth finally came to light. Mira Sorvino, one of his victims, Tweeted, “Just seeing this after I awoke, I burst out crying. There it is, confirmation that Harvey Weinstein derailed my career, something I suspected but was unsure of. ” He spent two decades in prison and was blacklisted from Hollywood (via Vanity Fair).

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Giuliana Rancic

Even though E! Television’s Fashion Police can be a horrendous thing to watch sometimes, Giuliana Rancic took her brutal comments too far in 2015. During one of her outrageous moments on screen, she commented on Disney star Zendaya’s dreadlocks and made some nasty remarks about their potential smell. Zendaya responded by saying, “To say that an 18-year-old young woman with locks must smell of patchouli oil or ‘weed’ is not only a large stereotype but outrageously offensive.” She ruined her career in a mere matter of moments with the comment and lost tons of fans (via Nicki Swift).

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Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker

These two scandalous Hollywood stars lit their career on fire. They told their followers that all sinners would receive forgiveness from God if they donated to them. It wasn’t until 1987 that the public revealed their scandal. Lo and behold, donating to them didn’t give anyone forgiveness from God, it was a scam. It also came out that Jim Bakker drugged his secretary and they were wanted for fraud (via ABC News).

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Melissa Rauch

If you’re a fan of The Big Bang Theory, then you’ll know Melissa Rauch from her moments on screen. She maintained a low profile throughout her career, though one controversy negatively impacted her fame. This included her “hobbit hands,” when she didn’t get the job for a commercial because the director didn’t like her hands. She said, “When I was first auditioning and going out for commercials, my hands stood in the way. I was in the running for a [TGI] Friday’s commercial, to play a waitress, and I was down to the wire on it… I was in the callback, and they said, ‘Okay, great, so glad you’re available next week. One more thing, can we just see your hands, to the camera? Show them back and front.’ I did that, and I heard the director from behind the camera go, ‘Jesus Christ!'” Because of the body shaming, she didn’t get the job, though this probably helped her more than hindered her (via Yahoo).

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Amanda Bynes

There was one point in time when many of us wanted to hang out in the Girl’s Room with Amanda Bynes. She was once loved by millions of people, especially thanks to her appearance on All That. She had a successful career that eventually dwindled. Bynes was pulled over by the police, where she attempted to flee the scene. Police charged her with a DUI, and then, later on, charged her with the possession of marijuana. Eventually, she suffered some sort of psychotic break and supposedly lived out in the streets for several days before people found her. This contributed to her complete downfall (via Complex).

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Kevin Spacey

You’d think that with an incredibly successful career, someone as well-loved as Spacey wouldn’t have taken it for granted. But after the Harvey Weinstein and #MeToo movement, it came out that Kevin Spacey made inappropriate advances on young boys. Netflix fired Spacey, and Spacey took to alcohol to blame for his actions. Spacey claims not to remember and even goes so far as to say, “If I did behave then as he describes. I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior, and I am sorry for the feelings he describes having carried with him all these years.” He was never able to revive his Hollywood career (via The Cut).

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Bill Cosby

He was once known as “America’s favorite dad,” loved by millions of people around the world for his fatherly compassion. People respected Cosby as an actor and comedian. But his reputation took a complete turn for the worse. He went from having a trusting, honorable reputation to being a dishonest criminal. Horrendous sexual allegations against Cosby came out one by one from over 60 women, which forced Hollywood to blacklist him (via NBC News).

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Lou Pearlman

By managing popular boy bands like the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, Pearlman made his way up the ladder of fame. But that was all thrown down the toilet when he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraudulent behavior. Federal prosecutor Roger Handberg said he did this through “bank fraud money that he needed to use to pay off an investor, he would do. If he had a problem where he had to pay a bank some money, he would use the investor money. All the money was co-mingled– and it was used however it would benefit him.” He ran a long-standing Ponzi scheme that left over $300 million in debt. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy and money laundering. His fate was chosen for him when he died from cardiac arrest eight years later (via ABC News).

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Tila Tequila

Tila Tequila’s downfall started when she announced her love for Hitler and proceeded to post photos of herself in a Nazi uniform in front of a photo of Auschwitz. To try and redeem herself, she blamed addiction and depression. But it didn’t stop there, years later, she went on several anti-semitic rants on Twitter and claimed to be the reincarnation of Hitler himself. She defended herself, saying, “It is about Hitler and his side of the story that was never told since he was not the victor. However, those of you with a closed mind can think I am being anti-Semite [sic] all you want because I already told you that I am not, nor will I repeat myself.” Her mental health deteriorated in what seemed like a matter of moments, completely ruining her career (via Hollywood Reporter).

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Lindsay Lohan

As a successful actress from a young age, Lindsay Lohan seemed to have it all. She was incredibly successful by the time she turned 18, and though she had it all, she couldn’t keep it. Her parent’s marriage crumbled, which affected her behavior. With the inability to cope, she turned to partying, drug use, and alcohol abuse. She owned up to it, saying, “And from then on, the press were on me all the time,” Lohan said. “It was the first time I’d taken drugs. I was out in a club with people I shouldn’t have been with, and took cocaine, and got in the car. It was so stupid.” She got herself into a series of DUI’s, probation violations, and rehab. Relaunching her career to the success it once was has proved to be nearly impossible. Her partying impacted her career and she hasn’t been able to get back up on the same foot ever since (via CNN).

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