Top 10 Celebrity Headlines That Left Us Speechless

(2020) As the world struggled through the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were celebrities trying to help by making things a little brighter. But Vanessa Hudgens going nihilistic didn’t exactly cheer anyone up. In March 2020, the actor and singer spoke on Instagram Live, essentially saying we should accept that some won’t survive the event. After she was criticized for her insensitive statement, Hudgens first claimed the comment was taken out of context before apologizing for how inappropriate it was. That was generally a rough time for relations between the public and celebs as, around the same time, famous folk released their ill-fated cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine."

(2012) During the height of their popularity, One Direction seemed unstoppable, and had the fan base to prove it. Their appeal was so strong that even the possibility that some members might’ve contracted a sexually transmitted disease didn’t dent it too much. In 2012, the boy band toured Australia and stopped to see some cute, cuddly koalas. However, fun fact, many of the fuzzy creatures have chlamydia. As the lads interacted with Kat the koala, Liam Payne and Harry Styles both reportedly got peed on by the animal, thus sparking concern they’d been infected with the disease. When the incident was brought up in 2017 on “The Graham Norton Show,” Styles denied that he got the disease from Kat, but it’s still a wild story.

(2021) Sometimes, a story will leak that exposes a celebrity’s iffy behavior. But rarely does the famous face provide a damaging exposé without any real prompting. Yet that’s what Matt Damon did in 2021. Promoting his film “Stillwater” with an interview with The Sunday Times, the actor confessed that he uttered a homophobic slur during a joke at his family table only a few months prior. His daughter then left to pen what he called a “treatise” explaining why this grim word is terrible. As such, Damon said he “retire[d]” the slur. He also came out and claimed he didn’t ever actually use the term in his “personal life,” and that his talk with his kid was about “contextualiz[ing] […] progress.”

(2015) In 2012, wrestling fans were stunned when an explicit tape featuring Hulk Hogan was leaked. On top of that, further details released in 2015 revealed that Hogan had gone on a racist rant when speaking about a Black man that his daughter, Brooke, was involved with at the time. In the aftermath, Brooke defended her father by publishing a poem. But it was her claims about experiencing racism that really raised eyebrows. Brooke stated that someone told her that “white people smell like bologna.” She said she laughed the comment off and wasn’t upset by it, but many pointed out that this was not remotely similar to what Hulk Hogan said.

(2016) Ah, the lives of the famous, who go to parties with royalty and host mock-knightings. Well, that’s what happened in 2016 during a soiree featuring Princess Beatrice at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, England. During the merriment, James Blunt reportedly joked that he wanted to be a Sir. So, Beatrice grabbed a sword to do an unofficial ceremony. However, she seemingly didn’t look behind her as she lifted the sharp weapon and struck Ed Sheeran in the face, sending him to the hospital for care! A few months after the story leaked, Blunt claimed it was made up, as Sheeran was intoxicated and messed around. Yet in 2020, Sheeran’s manager confirmed the original story was true!

#5: Really Young Love

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(2016) Sometimes, really bizarre coincidences occur in celebrity relationships that probably don’t happen to us normal folk. Take the late singer Tony Bennett and his marriage with Susan Crow. After dating in the ‘80s, the two married in 2007. They had a significant, roughly 40-year age gap between them. And Bennett’s memoir revealed in 2016 that he met her before she was even in the world — well, sort of. After performing a show in 1966, Marion and Dayl Crow met the famous singer backstage and took a photo with him. These two happened to be Susan’s parents, and at that time, Marion was pregnant with Bennett’s future wife.

(2008 & 2020) First reportedly revealed in a 2008 book by Kay McConaughey, the mother of Matthew, and later confirmed by the actor in 2020 on Marc Maron’s podcast, this story made waves. As it goes, in 1992, as McConaughey was filming his role in “Dazed and Confused,” his mom told him that his father had sadly passed away. Turns out it happened when Kay and her husband James were being intimate. He had apparently predicted to his sons this was the way he was going out. But when the paramedics arrived, Kay allegedly kept removing the sheet covering James’s modesty, because she wanted people to know why he was nicknamed “Big Jim.”

#3: Inappropriate Belieber

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(2013) The story of Anne Frank is sad. She and her family left Germany for Amsterdam in the ‘30s. In 1942, they began hiding from Nazi officials in an attic during World War II. During this time, she wrote her diary before being captured in 1944 and dying in a concentration camp the following year. In 2013, Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank House and wrote a message in the museum's guestbook. He started with something nice, confirming the visit was “truly inspiring.” But then, the Canadian singer finished by hoping Frank “would have been a belieber,” a name for his fans. Bieber received plenty of backlash, though the museum defended him, affirming he was there for an hour. Still, they did admit the statement “wasn’t very sensible.”

(2012) In 2012, Kesha appeared on Ryan Seacrest’s KIIS-FM radio show to promote her album “Warrior” and spoke about a time she got frisky with a ghost. But she said she didn’t get his name since he was a phantom. Not long after, she was asked about this tale on “Conan” and confirmed “a sexy time” happened, but also said they didn’t go all the way. In 2022, as the musician was promoting her paranormal TV show “Conjuring Kesha,” she claimed the story didn’t unfold the way she initially said. Instead, the ghost was apparently a woman's spirit who woke her up in a “sensual way,” but things didn’t get more intimate than that.

(2019) In 2019, Coleen Rooney, wife of soccer star Wayne, dropped a bombshell on social media. The sleuth had set up a trap to prove that Rebekah Vardy, wife of soccer player (and Wayne’s former England teammate) Jamie, had been leaking stories about her to the press. Once her intricate plan concluded, it confirmed her suspicions. This sparked the term Wagatha Christie, a mix between mystery author Agatha Christie and the term WAG, a nickname for “wives and girlfriends” of pro players. The British public was hooked on this gripping scandal. This drama and the fallout caused Vardy to sue Rooney for libel, which she lost in 2022. Regardless, TV shows and even a play were made about this fascinating tale.