Top 20 Worst Celebrity Apologies Ever
#20: Jimmy Fallon
Host of “The Tonight Show,” Jimmy Fallon came under fire in September 2023 following a bombshell article by Rolling Stone. The piece detailed allegations of a toxic work environment by both former and current employees. Shortly after, Fallon held a Zoom call with staffers to extend an apology. The comedian reportedly stated that he was embarrassed by the report and conveyed his regret if he had embarrassed them too. However, this plea was widely criticized online for its perceived lack of accountability, with one commenter noting that it sounded like “it was spoken by a toddler”. Others took issue with the apology being made virtually and not in person, suggesting that he only said sorry because he was publicly called out.
#19: Shia LaBeouf
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For many celebrities, a public apology is a necessary step to make a PR nightmare disappear. But in the case of controversial actor Shia LaBeouf, it only made his problems worse. LaBeouf released a short film in 2012 titled “Howard Cantour.com”, which initially received critical acclaim. However, it soon emerged that he had extensively plagiarized material from Dan Clowes’ comic “Justin M. Damiano”. In response, the actor issued an apology on social media, only for fans to discover that he had copied those words from a Yahoo! Answers post. This led to a barrage of plagiarized apologies, each more cringeworthy than the last. Needless to say, LaBeouf’s attempts at saying sorry contained a 404 error: sincerity not found.
#18: DaBaby
Hip-hop artist DaBaby was a star on the rise with multiple chart-topping albums and Grammy nominations. Then came the 2021 Rolling Loud festival. During his set at the Miami show, DaBaby unleashed a series of offensive remarks about gay men and people living with HIV. Instead of issuing a genuine apology right away, the rapper doubled down on his stance and attacked those who called him out. Then, after being dropped from multiple music festivals and losing business deals, his tune began to change. DaBaby eventually took to Instagram to apologize to the LGBTQ+ community, but not before first taking his critics to task. Unfortunately, his statement came across as insincere and hardly anyone was persuaded by it.
#17: Mel Gibson
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Mel Gibson has been dogged by allegations of anti-Semitism since the release of his 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ”. Those claims would resurface two years later after Gibson was arrested by an LA County Sheriff’s Deputy for driving under the influence. The arrest report, which was leaked by TMZ, revealed that the actor and filmmaker had allegedly uttered several anti-Semitic remarks at the deputy. Gibson first published a statement following the leak, which failed to directly address the incident, only describing his remarks as “despicable”. This response did little to quell the controversy, leading to a much more heartfelt apology a few days later. However, by this time, many deemed it a day late and a dollar short.
#16: Chrissy Teigen
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TV personality Courtney Stodden rose to fame in 2011 after their marriage to actor Doug Hutchison as a teenager. In 2021, Stodden disclosed that during that period, they were repeatedly harassed by Chrissy Teigen, who allegedly went as far as urging them to take their own life. This revelation prompted significant backlash against Teigen, resulting in the termination of multiple business partnerships. In response, Teigen publicly apologized to Stodden, claiming to have reached out to them in private. Although they accepted the apology, Stodden remained skeptical of its sincerity, believing it was only induced by the loss of her business deals. Stodden also stated that they remained blocked by Teigen and hadn’t been contacted by her.
#15: Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis
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Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis both rose to prominence on the Fox sitcom “That ‘70s Show”. In May 2023, their former co-star Danny Masterson was convicted of sexually assaulting two women. Before his sentencing, Kutcher and Kunis wrote letters of support to the judge, lauding Masterson as a “role model” and “exceptional” individual. These letters eventually became public and sparked outrage among fans. Shortly after, the couple released a videotaped apology, which only exacerbated the backlash as it was deemed “performative and insincere”. The criticism was particularly directed at Kutcher, seeing as he co-founded an NGO to combat human trafficking. In the face of mounting pressure, Kutcher relinquished his role on the board of the NGO.
#14: Alec Baldwin
Rendering public apologies seemingly became just another part of the job at one point in Alec Baldwin’s career. Perhaps the most infamous one came in 2007 after the “30 Rock” actor left a voicemail in which he yelled insults at his daughter Ireland for missing a scheduled call. Certainly not the most appropriate parental behavior. But when Baldwin was rightfully called out after the tapes leaked, he failed to acknowledge responsibility for his words, instead blaming them on the custody dispute with his ex-wife Kim Basinger. Even more, he seemed to echo these same sentiments when he appeared on “The View” afterwards. More than a decade later, Ireland got her opportunity to fire back at Baldwin’s 2019 Comedy Central Roast.
#13: Lea Michele
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Lea Michele garnered praise and an Emmy nomination for her role as Rachel Berry on “Glee”. But behind the scenes, it seems her behavior wasn’t exactly award-worthy. In June 2020, actress Samantha Marie Ware accused Michele of subjecting her to “traumatic microaggressions” and other toxic behaviors on set. These claims were supported by other actors who appeared on the show. Michele responded with a lengthy apology on Instagram, where she suggested that it was her privileged position that caused her to be “perceived as insensitive or inappropriate at times”. Many took issue with Michele’s use of the word “perceived,” which appeared to shift responsibility for her actions, as well as her failure to apologize directly to Ware.
#12: Will Smith
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The 2022 Oscars will always be remembered, not necessarily for the history-making awards, but for a slap. During the ceremony, Chris Rock made an insensitive joke about actress Jada Pinkett Smith, prompting her husband Will Smith to walk up and smack him in the face. Smith seemed to realize the weight of his actions quickly and apologized when he received the Best Actor award less than an hour later. In his speech, Smith offered a plea to just about everyone who witnessed the incident, except the one person on the receiving end: Chris Rock. After being criticized heavily for this, he issued a direct apology on social media, acknowledging his behavior as “unacceptable and inexcusable”.
#11: Paula Deen
This popular Southern chef found herself in boiling water when a former employee of hers detailed allegations of a hostile work environment and racial discrimination. In a subsequent deposition, Deen admitted that she had used derogatory slurs in the past. This revelation brought with it heavy backlash and multiple financial repercussions, including a dismissal from her home channel, the Food Network. So how did Deen respond? Well, she first released a series of bizarre YouTube apology videos that didn’t seem to do her any favors. Then, she appeared on the “Today” show, where she essentially pushed the blame onto everyone else but herself. Overall, Deen’s attempts at apologizing left a bad taste in the public’s mouth.
#10: Justin Timberlake
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The Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show is a piece of television history. Quick recap: Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing the halftime show when Timberlake accidentally exposed Jackson’s breast in an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction. Although the incident was a freak accident, that didn’t stop the outrage from pouring in. Jackson was essentially blacklisted, and Timberlake—who faced comparatively less backlash, did barely anything to defend her. But his “apology” at that year’s Grammy Awards was almost worse than silence. Timberlake’s remorseful words consisted of nothing more than the classic “I apologize if you guys were offended” line. No, literally, that’s exactly what he said.
#9: Bryan Adams
The COVID pandemic and resulting lockdowns put a lot of plans on indefinite hold. It was certainly frustrating, and because of that, some people were prone to public venting. Bryan Adams was one of those people. He was scheduled to perform at London’s Royal Albert Hall in May 2020, but the concerts were canceled on account of COVID. Adams vented on Instagram with a series of misinformed and xenophobic comments. His rant faced some backlash for perpetuating hateful and unverified rumors about the virus. Adams apologized to those who “took offense” and went on to explain that he wanted to highlight animal mistreatment in certain markets as a “possible source of the virus.”
#8: Hannah Brown
Serving as a contestant on season 23 of “The Bachelor” and the lead on season 15 of “The Bachelorette,” Hannah Brown has many fans who watch her Instagram Live feeds. In one particular feed that took place in May of 2020, Brown mindlessly said an offensive word while singing along to DaBaby’s “Rockstar.” When Brown was called out by fans and the media, she jokingly dismissed the incident and even claimed that she didn’t say it. The event ticked some people off, including the first African American Bachelorette, Rachel Lindsay. Brown apologized through a written statement on Instagram Stories. However, that statement also caused some offense. Brown’s fellow Bachelor Nation member Nick Viall called her remarks “a really, really terrible apology” that “doesn’t read as sincere.” So much so that Brown subsequently issued a second apology.
#7: Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
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The controversial relationship between Depp and Heard has been the focus of a lot of drama. While the news surrounding their court proceedings throughout 2020 was certainly grim, they faced a considerable amount of backlash back in 2016 when they smuggled dogs into Australia. Heard admitted to creating a fake customs document in order to transport their Yorkshire terriers into the country. She did so in blatant ignorance of Australia’s biosecurity laws, which could’ve sent Heard to prison for ten years. Heard was instead given a one-month good behavior bond. The subsequent apology video was widely mocked and considered insincere. Even Australia’s deputy Prime Minister criticized the apology, saying he didn’t think it’s something they would have “willingly wanted to do.”
#6: Mario Batali
Celebrity chef Mario Batali is known for his numerous restaurants around the world and repeated appearances on various Food Network programs. In December 2017, Batali was accused of misconduct by a number of women. He lost various business partnerships and was fired from the ABC program “The Chew.” Batali offered an apology through an email newsletter, saying, “My behavior was wrong and there are no excuses. I take full responsibility.” At least he owned up to it… wait, what’s this about cinnamon rolls? For some reason, Batali decided to add a postscript in which he linked a recipe to pizza dough cinnamon rolls. His extremely tone-deaf decision to include a recipe to this apology was widely mocked.
#5: Chris Brown
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While his career has seen somewhat of a comeback recently, Chris Brown’s reputation was severely tarnished after he was convicted of felony assault of Rihanna in 2009. A few hours after the incident, Brown later turned himself in to the police. He canceled imminent public appearances while the media stopped playing his music and showing productions that he was in. While awaiting sentencing, Brown issued a public apology in the months that followed through a two-minute video that was posted online. The apology was heavily criticized while his public image tanked. In the years after his criminal act, he still faced considerable backlash and criticism.
#4: Louis C.K.
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Louis C.K. was arguably one of the most beloved comedians of his time. He earned enormous popularity and widespread critical acclaim for his stand-up comedy and surreal FX comedy-drama “Louie.” However, everything changed when misconduct allegations emerged against him in 2017. After claims emerged from multiple women, Louis admitted to his actions in a public statement by simply saying, “These stories are true.” However, his subsequent “apology” was peppered with inappropriately graphic language. Louise also made bafflingly tone-deaf statements like “I said to myself that what I did was okay.” The apology didn’t seem to help much. Not only did he lose favor in the public eye, but he’s also estimated to have lost $35 million in potential income after the allegations emerged.
#3: Ellen DeGeneres
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Throughout the summer of 2020, Ellen DeGeneres faced some significant backlash when she was publicly called out for allegedly creating or at least allowing for a toxic workplace to exist behind the scenes. Staff was reportedly on the receiving end of racist comments and various aggressive behavior. An investigation ensued, while Ellen apologized to staff in a letter. Ellen then tried to bury the hatchet for good by addressing the accusations in her show’s season eighteen premiere. During her statement, DeGeneres made jokes and we heard a virtual audience laugh and applaud. Hearing crowd noise during this supposedly serious moment made her apology seem disingenuous. But fortunately, or unfortunately in her case, the monologue wasn’t well watched. The season premiere ratings were down 38% compared to the previous year.
#2: Logan Paul
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On December 31, 2017, Logan Paul uploaded a video where he toured Japan’s Aokigahara forest. This site sadly became infamous because of all the people who have taken their own lives there. During his video, Paul included an image of one of these people that he saw for himself. His reaction to the person and the fact that he even uploaded the video in the first place were both largely criticized. This was also an especially bad move considering Paul’s young audience. He issued various apologies in the aftermath. In one apology, he excused his heartless behavior as a “coping mechanism.” He also claimed that he uploaded the video not to get views, but to “raise awareness.” But we doubt many people believe that.
#1: Kevin Spacey
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Few celebrities have been canceled as hard as Kevin Spacey was. This man went from one of the most beloved actors in movie history to a disgraced has-been due to a slew of accusations. In one claim, actor Anthony Rapp reported that when he was a teenager, an adult Spacey behaved inappropriately towards him. In the wake of these claims, Spacey unleashed what may be the most confusing and horrendous apology known to humankind. He claimed not to remember what happened, blamed intoxication for his behavior, and came out as gay. The apology was fiercely criticized for being tone-deaf and for its feeble attempt to distract attention from his alleged crimes with his sexuality. Though he was ultimately cleared on all counts in 2023, there’s no denying his baffling attempt to make amends completely ruined Spacey’s reputation. Which of these tasteless apologies made you cringe the most? Let us know in the comments!
