Top 10 Celebrities Who Ruined Their Careers in 2022 so far
#10: Matthew Morrison
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Tony-nominated actor Matthew Morrison is well-known for his role as high school teacher and club director Will Schuester on the Fox musical series “Glee.” In 2022, Morrison was added to the judging panel for the seventeenth season of the competition series “So You Think You Can Dance.” His stint on the show lasted only about two months before the actor was fired for failing to “follow competition production protocols.” It was later revealed that that was all fancy speak for inappropriate conduct. According to reports, Morrison allegedly sent flirty text messages to one of the contestants, who took it up with the show’s producers, resulting in his dismissal.
#9: Benjamin Mendy
French football player Benjamin Mendy had played as a left-back for the English Premier League club Manchester City since 2017. Mendy has won three Premier League championships, as part of the Manchester City team, and one World Cup title, playing for his home country of France. In 2021, Mendy received multiple assault charges stemming from encounters he had with two adult women and a minor. The footballer was denied bail and held in jail until January 2022, when his trial date was originally set. Mendy pleaded not guilty to all the charges brought up against him and is set to stand trial in August. He was suspended by his club pending the outcome of the trial.
#8: Fred Savage
As a child actor, Fred Savage gained recognition for playing Kevin Arnold on the hit ABC comedy drama “The Wonder Years.” He returned to the show when it was rebooted in 2021, but this time, as a director and executive producer. By May 2022, allegations of inappropriate conduct by the actor/director came to light, and an investigation was launched by the network. It wouldn’t be Savage’s first time facing such claims. Back in 2018, he was accused of harassment by a costume designer on the Fox comedy “The Grinder.” While no offenses were ultimately found in that case, Savage was fired by ABC executives after their investigation was completed this time.
#7: Kurt Zouma
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French footballer Kurt Zouma found himself in boiling hot water when a clip of him and his pet cats surfaced online in February 2022. The footage showed Zouma severely abusing the animals while his brother filmed. This caused a heavy backlash from fans, as well as the eventual strong criticism from Zouma’s club West Ham United, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Although they condemned the actions, West Ham still went along with playing Zouma in their Watford match shortly after the footage went public. The incident resulted in two of the club’s sponsors pulling out, and Zouma’s endorsement deal with Adidas being terminated. Zouma was charged with animal cruelty and sentenced to 180 hours of community service.
#6: Cuba Gooding Jr.
The assault claims leveled against Cuba Gooding Jr. have been pending since 2019. The Oscar-winning actor was first accused of groping a woman in a bar in June of that year. Over the next few months, he faced accusations from around thirty women who claimed to have been touched inappropriately by him. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, his trial, which was scheduled for April 2020, had to be postponed. In April 2022, Gooding Jr. pleaded guilty to the charge of forcible touching, while owning up to two other allegations of unwanted contact. This comes as a heavy blow to the career of an actor who has long struggled to return to his glory days.
#5: Mason Greenwood
As a young football player, Mason Greenwood showed great potential and quickly rose through the ranks of Manchester United’s academy. At the age of 17, he became the youngest player to ever score for the club in the European Football League. In January 2022, a young woman posted audio and video clips on social media that appeared to show that Greenwood had physically assaulted her. On the same day, he was suspended by his club and picked up by police for questioning on the claims. Since then, Greenwood has been dropped from his deal with Nike and completely erased by EA Sports from their FIFA video game franchise.
#4: Boris Johnson
The resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in July 2022 was the culmination of a series of high-profile scandals. First, it was revealed that Johnson had violated his own COVID-19 lockdown regulations when he organized parties at 10 Downing Street in 2020. The scandal came to be known as Partygate, and was the first block in the line of dominos. Next, some information about Conservative Party Deputy Chief Whip Chris Pincher surfaced. Turns out Johnson had appointed Pincher to the position even though he was well aware of the multiple misconduct allegations surrounding him. All of these led to the resignations of several key figures in Johnson’s government and eventually resulted in him stepping down as Leader of the Conservative Party.
#3: Amber Heard
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Coming as a result of her 2018 op-ed piece where she referred to herself as “a public figure representing domestic abuse,” the livestreamed defamation trial between Amber Heard and Johnny Depp captured everyone’s attention - and everyone had an opinion. Throughout the trial, Heard received the brunt of the social media backlash, and ultimately ended up losing most of the claims to her ex-husband. To some, this was all simple celebrity gossip; others viewed it as a litmus test on where society stands in the post #MeToo era. All that’s for certain is that Depp has several jobs lined up, while many Hollywood insiders say Heard’s career in Hollywood blockbusters is effectively over.
#2: Will Smith
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The 2022 Academy Awards will go down in history, not for the exceptional films that were honored that night, but for the controversy involving Will Smith and Chris Rock. While presenting the award for Best Documentary Feature, Rock made an off-color joke about Jada Pinkett Smith. In response, Will Smith rose from his seat, hit Rock across the face and shouted profanities at him. The incident immediately lit an online firestorm, with a majority of people calling Smith’s actions unacceptable. Following an investigation by the Academy of Motion Pictures, the actor was banned from attending any Academy event for the next ten years. Some of his upcoming projects were also put on hold after the incident.
#1: Ezra Miller
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Since the start of 2022, promising Hollywood star Ezra Miller has been the subject of multiple legal disputes. They were arrested twice in Hawaii; first for a physical altercation at a karaoke bar, and then for injuring a woman after they threw a chair at her. It was also alleged that Miller had groomed Native American activist Tokata Iron Eyes, starting when she was 12 and they were 23. Several more incidents have sprung up since then. From reportedly harassing a woman and her preteen, to housing another woman and her three children in their gun-riddled Vermont farm. Miller’s controversies have left WB in limbo over the status of their leading role in the upcoming movie “The Flash.” On August 16th, Miller released an apology, acknowledging that they were suffering mental health issues and had begun treatment.
