20 Career Finishing Scandals
#20: Milli Vanilli
For a short period in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, German-French duo Milli Vanilli were one of the biggest acts in pop music. They toured the world on the back of their hit debut album, released in the U.S. as “Girl You Know It's True,” and won the Grammy for Best New Artist. But their newfound fame vanished almost as quickly as it emerged when it was revealed that the two didn’t sing on any of their album’s tracks. Instead, their producer Frank Farian had hired other vocalists to perform the songs, while Milli Vanilli only lip-synced. As a result, the duo were forced to return their Grammy to the Recording Academy, and were dropped by their label, Arista Records.
#19: Jeffrey Jones
With roles in iconic ‘80s movies like “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” and “Beetlejuice,” Jeffrey Jones became one of the most revered character actors in Hollywood. His career continued to blossom throughout the ‘90s, but came to a screeching halt in 2002 when he made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Jones had been indicted for possession of explicit photographs involving a minor and pleaded no contest to the charges. Although he received no jail time, he was sentenced to five years probation and made to register as a sex offender. Since then, Jones has managed a few film and TV appearances, but his career has never remained the same.
#18: Pete Rose
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As a Major League Baseball player, Pete Rose was outstanding. Among his plethora of accolades, Rose won Rookie of the Year, MVP and three World Series rings. Following a phenomenal career as a player, Rose began managing the Cincinnati Reds, the same team with which he got his professional start. In 1988, evidence surfaced showing that Rose had bet on baseball games, including those of his own team, the Reds. Although he initially denied the claims, Rose agreed to a lifetime ban from the sport, eventually ruling himself ineligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. After years of repeated denials, Rose published an autobiography in 2004, in which he publicly admitted to the gambling allegations.
#17: Anthony Weiner
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Former New York congressman Anthony Weiner earned national attention in 2010 after giving an impassioned speech on the House floor. About a year later, he found himself in the headlines again, this time for sending lewd photos of himself to a woman on Twitter, who was not his wife. The ensuing controversy resulted in him resigning from Congress in June of 2011. Following an absence from the spotlight, Weiner resurfaced in 2013, announcing a bid for Mayor of New York City. But yet again, allegations of even more sexting ran his campaign to the ground. In 2017, Weiner faced criminal charges after it was revealed that he had exchanged explicit material with a minor. He was sentenced to 21 months in prison.
#16: Michael Richards
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As Cosmo Kramer on “Seinfeld,” Michael Richards was beloved by millions of fans who, for years, closely associated him with the eccentric but lovable character. In 2006, that perception changed drastically when a recording of Richards’ set at the Laugh Factory was released by TMZ. In the clip, Richards bursts into an expletive-riddled racist rant after he is heckled by some members of the audience. Days later, Richards made a virtual appearance on the “Late Show with David Letterman” in which he publicly apologized for his remarks. Many, including one of the affected audience members, were unconvinced by this apology. In 2007, Richards announced he was dropping his mic and retiring from stand-up comedy.
#15: Mark Salling<.h4> Mark Salling rose to prominence playing football star and bad boy Noah Puckerman on the Fox musical series “Glee.” Salling lost significant favor in December 2015, when he was arrested based on the suspicion that he possessed thousands of explicit pictures and videos involving minors. This suspicion was later confirmed after police discovered the unsavory material on his computer and flash drives. He was brought up on criminal charges the following May and eventually pleaded guilty to the crime. In light of the scandal, the actor was fired from an upcoming project with filmmaker Adi Shankar. While awaiting sentencing, Salling took his own life in January of 2018.
#14: Paula Deen
The one celebrity chef famous for her traditional, Southern recipes, Paula Deen led a successful cooking empire, with multiple restaurants and TV shows. This empire began to crumble, however, when a former employee sued Deen for discrimination. The lawsuit brought with it a deposition, during which Deen admitted to having used racial slurs in the past. Once the transcript found its way to the public in 2013, Deen released multiple tearful apologies, pleading for forgiveness. That did little to stop her from losing several sponsors, and her contract with the Food Network. Since then, the Georgia chef has attempted a comeback, opening even more restaurants and launching her own online food channel. However, she is yet to attain the same level of success.
#13: Jared Fogle
Beginning in the early 2000s, Jared Fogle became a spokesman for Subway restaurants after claiming that their meals played a part in his rapid weight loss. Fogle began appearing in a series of commercials for the company and reportedly contributed to significant growth in Subway’s sales. Things took a shocking turn in 2015, however, when Fogle’s home was raided and he was arrested as a result of a lengthy FBI investigation. Apparently, Fogle had engaged in inappropriate relationships with minors and distributed obscene material involving children. He pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges and was sentenced to more than 15 years in prison.
#12: Stephen Collins
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For more than a decade, Stephen Collins led the TV series “7th Heaven,” starring as Protestant minister Eric Camden. He made a number of appearances in films and TV shows afterwards, only to completely disappear from the screen in 2014. Collins had been embroiled in controversy that year when a tape recording leaked featuring a man, who sounded like the actor, admitting to assaulting a minor in the past. He eventually confessed to the crime, disclosing that he had engaged in “inappropriate sexual conduct with three female minors” in 1973, 1982 and 1994. Although he evaded prosecution reportedly due to the statute of limitations, Collins was fired from multiple Hollywood projects and has stayed away from the spotlight ever since.
#11: Lance Armstrong
Once widely regarded as one of the greatest cyclists of all time, Lance Armstrong brought global attention to the sport. Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France titles, a feat made more impressive by the fact that he had beat cancer a few years prior. Despite all of that acclaim, Armstrong faced allegations of doping for years, which he continuously denied. It all came to a head in 2012, when the United States Anti-Doping Agency found him guilty of not only taking enhancement drugs, but also of running a doping syndicate. Armstrong was stripped of all his titles and received a lifetime ban from all sports under the World Anti-Doping Code.
#10: Armie Hammer
This actor was on the rise throughout the 2010s, starring in “The Lone Ranger” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” before earning critical acclaim as Oliver in “Call Me by Your Name.” But everything collapsed in January of 2021. It was then that text messages that revealed Hammer’s violent fantasies were made public. Other women also came forward with allegations of abuse, and the woman who leaked the original texts accused Hammer of sexually assaulting her in 2017. The actor dropped out or was fired from a string of projects and moved to the Cayman Islands, where he reportedly worked as a timeshare salesman.
#9: Charlie Sheen
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This actor enjoyed decades of success, with his mainstream popularity spanning back to the late 80s. However, he underwent a very public downfall throughout the 2010s, owing mainly to his problems with substance abuse. Following a stint in rehab, Sheen was fired from “Two and a Half Men” for making offensive comments about his boss, Chuck Lorre. The termination resulted in a lot of publicity for the actor, as did his increasingly erratic behavior. He rode this publicity and found consistent work, including an FX sitcom called “Anger Management” that ran for 100 episodes. However, Sheen’s star has undeniably faded, and he hasn’t worked in TV or film since 2017.
#8: Matt Lauer
One of the most prominent American newsmen, Matt Lauer found great success co-hosting the NBC program “Today.” He lasted 20 years on the show, with his tenure spanning from 1997 to 2017. It was in that year that a fellow NBC employee reported that Lauer had repeatedly harassed her. Many other allegations were reported throughout the following years, and according to journalist Ronan Farrow, NBC was fully aware of Lauer’s predatory behavior. They only acted following the public accusation and fired Lauer in November 2017. Lauer and his wife divorced in 2019, and Lauer has reportedly spent his time writing a tell-all book.
#7: Roseanne Barr
There once was a time when Roseanne Barr was the hottest name in television. Her eponymous sitcom was a huge success throughout the late 80s and 90s, running for ten seasons and earning Barr an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy. The show was revived in 2018, but it only lasted one season before Barr’s controversial actions got it canceled. On May 29 of that year, Barr wrote a racist tweet aimed at a government official Valerie Jarrett. The reaction was swift and severe, with ABC canceling the show that very same day. A spin-off titled “The Conners” was made without Barr, and she disappeared from the television landscape.
#6: Bill O’Reilly
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One of the most popular conservative commentators, Bill O'Reilly was known for hosting “The O'Reilly Factor” on Fox News. It ran for 21 seasons between 1996 and 2017. While the program was an enormous success in the ratings, it came to a sudden end once settlements against O’Reilly were made known. The New York Times broke a story and revealed that O’Reilly had been the target of five sexual harassment lawsuits. Both he and Fox News paid millions in settlements. Advertisers dropped their support for “The O'Reilly Factor” once the news was made public, and Fox fired their most popular host. He then started hosting a podcast called “No Spin News.”
#5: Jussie Smollett
Beginning in 2015, ex-child star Jussie Smollett began starring as Jamal Lyon on Fox’s “Empire.” The show was an immediate success, garnering several Emmy nominations and being named one of the ten best shows of the year by the American Film Institute. In January 2019, Smollett fabricated a fake hate crime and was later sued by the city of Chicago. They filed a lawsuit hoping to reclaim over $130,000 that they had spent fruitlessly investigating Smollett’s tall tale. He was also fired from “Empire” and hasn’t appeared on TV since. In December of 2021, Smollett was found guilty of five felony counts of disorderly conduct and sentenced to 150 days in county jail.
#4: Kanye West
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Ever since making his debut as a recording artist in the early 2000s, Kanye West became one of the most influential figures of the 21st century, in hip-hop and fashion. Throughout his career, West has been at the center of controversy more than just a handful of times, but perhaps the most consequential came in 2022. The rapper was first criticized for wearing a “White Lives Matter” T-shirt at the Paris Fashion Week. Soon after, he tweeted anti-Semitic remarks when he was locked out of his Instagram account. West faced immediate backlash, resulting in the loss of his billionaire status and multiple business partnerships with companies like Balenciaga, Gap and Adidas. Safe to say, his career will likely never remain the same.
#3: R. Kelly
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A huge star of the ‘90s, R. Kelly is a multi-Grammy winner who has sold over 75 million records. However, he was also repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct and abuse for decades. He managed to evade consequences for this behavior for decades, until the release of the 2019 Lifetime documentary “Surviving R. Kelly,” which chronicles his history of allegations. Following its release, Kelly was dropped by RCA Records and charged with new crimes. He was found guilty of racketeering and of violating the Mann Act, which concerns the transportation of women for illicit activities. He was subsequently sentenced to 30 years in prison, and faces another trial in 2023.
#2: Harvey Weinstein
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This man was once a powerful figure in Hollywood. The co-founder of both Miramax and The Weinstein Company, Harvey Weinstein is the Oscar and Tony-winning producer behind works like “Pulp Fiction,” “Good Will Hunting,” and “Shakespeare in Love.” However, behind the scenes, he used his power and influence to sexually harass and assault women. Things came to a head in October of 2017, when The New York Times and The New Yorker reported over a dozen allegations against him, sparking the #MeToo movement. In total, over 80 women came forth accusing Weinstein of harassment and/or assault, including popular actress Rose McGowan. Weinstein was charged and found guilty of two felonies, and sentenced to 23 years in prison.
#1: Bill Cosby
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While he had been a successful comedian since the ‘60s, Bill Cosby is mostly remembered for starring as Cliff Huxtable in the enormously popular “The Cosby Show.” While he was known as “America's Dad” throughout the 1980s, this changed dramatically in the 2010s. After comedian Hannibal Buress drew attention to allegations against Cosby in 2014, numerous women came forward with further accusations of sexual assault, dating all the way back to the mid ‘60s. On September 25, 2018, Cosby was sentenced to prison for aggravated indecent assault. He remained behind bars for nearly three years, but his conviction was overturned on June 30, 2021. While Cosby was released from prison, his career is effectively over.
