10 Times the Internet Turned on Celebrities (& Why)

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at once-beloved celebrities who the Internet decided they hated almost overnight.

David Harbour

Lily Allen’s 2025 album included some devastatingly brutal takedowns of her cheating ex. Considering she had just divorced “Stranger Things” star David Harbour, it didn’t take the Internet long to connect the dots. Timed almost perfectly with the rollout of the Netflix show’s final season, the Internet was alight with speculation, jokes, and downright vitriol toward Harbour. Users began compiling evidence of Harbour’s potential mistreatment of Allen. Within weeks, allegations arose that Harbour’s co-star, Millie Bobby Brown, had filed a complaint against him for bullying. It only added fuel to the fire.

Anna Gunn

We’re supposed to learn pretty young that the actors aren’t the people they play on TV. But for years, “Breaking Bad” star Anna Gunn was dogged by legitimate hatred over her character, Skyler White. The wife of secret drug kingpin, Walter White, Skyler, got a lot more hate for character traits than her dangerous, sociopathic husband ever did. Gunn ended up on the receiving end of some truly heinous and intolerable cruelty from online users. In 2013, the online abuse and death threats she endured compelled her to detail her experience in an op-ed for the New York Times.

John Mulaney

The standup comedian’s friendly, self-aware persona came back to bite him in 2020. John Mulaney’s struggles with substance use disorder, his divorce, and his new relationship with actress Olivia Munn seemed to hit the headlines almost all. Audiences felt betrayed, particularly because much of his comedy had revolved around his marriage. The whole event inspired a new round of thinkpieces about parasocial relationships and social media’s obsession with people’s personal lives. Mulaney and Munn have since had two children together, and he has launched a successful and experimental Netflix talk show, “Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney.”

Rachel Zegler

It’s common for fans to have strong feelings about casting. But this went way too far. Ever since she was announced as the live-action Snow White, Rachel Zegler has been a magnet for Internet abuse. Zegler’s criticism of the original animated feature left her open to backlash. The fact that she’s Latina was enough to make some fans irate about her being cast. It was reminiscent of criticism lobbed toward Halle Bailey when she was cast as “The Little Mermaid” two years before. For some, “Snow White’s” disastrous critical reception was laid at Zegler’s door, even though the movie had a lot of things going against it.

Brie Larson

Breaking barriers doesn’t always make everyone happy. Brie Larson’s casting as Captain Marvel in the 2019 movie made her the first woman to lead an MCU film. The announcement saw the Oscar winner hit with a wave of hate from superhero fans. Larson’s feminist statements, calls for a more diverse pool of press tour interviewers, and valid criticism of Marvel itself for its lack of diversity at the time made her a target for abuse. The movie itself became the victim of review bombing on Rotten Tomatoes both before and after it was released.

Pedro Pascal

On the Internet, one day you’re everyone’s husband. The next day, millions of people are filing for divorce. Video footage of Pedro Pascal rubbing co-star Vanessa Kirby’s arm touched off an unexpected maelstrom of harassment and allegations of inappropriate behavior. Users unearthed every possible piece of footage of him interacting with his female co-stars in order to smear him. Ultimately, the smear campaign has largely been attributed to a British anti-trans activist whose problem with the actor seems to stem from Pascal’s support of the trans community. Pascal’s response was far more classy and dignified than it had to be.

Jennifer Lawrence

Skyrocketing to fame and critical acclaim as the headliner of a major franchise, Jennifer Lawrence is not your average movie star. “The Hunger Games” star brought a refreshing authenticity to her public persona that the Internet loved… until they didn’t. While doing press for “Die My Love,” she even confessed that she understands why people began to turn on her. Overexposure and her insistence that she wasn’t like other Hollywood actresses made what was once seen as relatability come across as fake. Lawrence says she knew the public perception had turned a corner when Ariana Grande parodied her on “Saturday Night Live.”

Kendall Jenner

The Kardashian-Jenner clan are magnets for envy and criticism. They are often seen as the epitome of out-of-touch wealthy people who are famous for being famous. In 2017, Kendall Jenner starred in an embarrassingly wrongheaded ad, showing her ending a tense standoff between protesters and police by offering the cops a Pepsi. The Internet reaction was so swift and brutal that the ad was removed the very next day. Jenner’s lack of social activism and lack of sensitivity in starring in the ad was a one-two punch of cringe that social media just couldn’t resist.

Blake Lively

The behind the scenes of “It Ends with Us” has more twists than the movie itself. Legal battles between executive producer-star Blake Lively and director-star Justin Baldoni have been ongoing since before its release. Videos of Lively’s less-than-kind behavior in a series of interviews went viral. Was she on her best behavior? No. But was the timing suspicious? Very much so. Lively and her legal team thought so, too. She alleged that the bad press and sudden downturn in public opinion was the result of a calculated smear campaign carried out by Baldoni’s team. Whether the sudden hatred was a genuine phenomenon or the result of public relations magic is hard to parse, but the timing was questionable.

Anne Hathaway

When the star of “Les Misérables” won her Oscar, it was like the opposite side of the same coin. Anne Hathaway’s professional success seemed matched only by the hate she was receiving on social media on a daily basis. Hathaway muddled through a co-hosting gig at the 2011 Oscars with James Franco, who effectively blamed her for the weird chemistry. Then, the Internet began to see her as inauthentic, trying too hard to be likable. Of all the terrible things people in Hollywood could do, it’s interesting that this became such a focus. Reflecting on it years later, Hathaway said the online hate actually threatened to make her unhirable.

What celebrity do you think got a bad rap for no reason? Tell us in the comments.