Being in the public eye means that if you take one wrong turn, you could be left reeling. These celebrity careers ruined overnight are proof of that. It only takes one major scandal to make your career as a celebrity end and leave your life in tatters. It’s a terrifying thought to consider when you see these stars who fell from grace how quickly they had their lives changed. Many stars have learned this the hard way through the years. Some of the biggest names in all of entertainment have had their reputations permanently tarnished. Some of them deserved the hate they got (Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, Bill O'Reilly), while others maybe didn’t (James Gunn, Aziz Ansari). If you want a cautionary tale or two about quick falls from grace, then this list is for you. If you remember all these scandals, be sure to SHARE them with your friends on social media! Editor's Note: This article was originally published in October 2017. It has been updated throughout.

In 2003, Brian Williams, one of America’s most notable newsmen of the time (and the father of Girls actress Allison), was caught deliberately fabricating stories for his newscast about his experiences in Iraq. He claimed that his helicopter there was under fire, but those who were in the helicopter that was actually being attacked quickly disproved him. Williams was suspended from Nightly News and reassigned to the less popular MSNBC.

Our bet is that Ashlee wasn’t going to go down in music history anyway, but she sure had her pop-singing career cut shorter than it had to be. As a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, Simpson was busted for lip syncing her performance after the vocals for “Piece of Me” began before she started singing. The most cringeworthy part, though, was when she tried to redeem herself by doing an impromptu hoedown, which even Family Guy has parodied. Just get off the stage, Ashlee.

Rancic made quite a blunder on E! Television’s Fashion Police while on a panel discussing fashion from the 2015 Oscars. She was discussing Disney star Zendaya’s dreadlocks when she commented that she probably smelled of “patchouli oil or weed.” The backlash was huge, as many interpreted the remark as racial stereotyping. Zendaya hit back with a lengthy response, while fellow Fashion Police hosts Kelly Osbourne and Kathy Griffin quit the show shortly after.

Jerry Lee Lewis should have anticipated that marrying 13-year-old Myra Gale Brown at 23 would not be a career booster, but rather one of the most controversial rock ‘n’ roll romances of all time. After the incident, he reportedly went from earning $10,000 a night to $250. The marriage (his third) lasted for 13 years. The nail in the coffin was the discovery that Myra was Lewis’ cousin once removed.

Hulk Hogan was illegally recorded during some pillow talk that was packed with offensive slurs, so Hogan was swiftly fired from WWE, removed from its Hall of Fame and axed from the company’s YouTube channel. Hogan sued Gawker for $100 million — he won — arguing that the publication of the video represented an invasion of the privacy of Terry Bollea (his real name), and not his wrestling alter ego. Gawker championed free speech in the suit.

It’s hard to whittle down his career-altering moments to a single one, but since we have to choose it would be a toss up between the following: melting down on live TV, calling himself a “warlock” on “tiger blood”, or saying he’s “winning” at life. He also posted videos to YouTube showing himself smoking cigarettes through his nose and cursing out his former employers for underpaying him. This is an unwell man and, frankly, his health is more important than his career. We hope he gets better.

In a bizarre Twitter rant, the glamour model and reality TV star called the leader of the Nazi party her “boo” and also claimed to be the reincarnation of him. Something tells us that this little diva was just desperate to stretch her 15 minutes of fame a little longer. She is also adamant that the Earth is flat. It was trolling of the highest order.

You may not have even heard of this pair, which makes this debacle even more ridiculous. While judging on The X Factor (New Zealand) panel, the husband and wife duo tore a contestant to shreds on stage for what they believed was unoriginal style and appearance. Kills launched into an unnecessarily harsh attack on the contestant’s similarity to her husband’s look, and then Moon jumped on the belittling wagon. Watch it for yourself here, and you’ll see why the bullies were promptly fired.

Following in the footsteps of the far-reaching Harvey Weinstein Hollywood scandal, Kevin Spacey was accused by actor Anthony Rapp of inappropriate advances when Rapp was just 14. Since the initial report, several more men came forward with similar allegations and Spacey was swiftly fired from his leading role on Netflix’s House of Cards. Spacey made the initial accusation worse by attempting to distract from Rapp’s allegations by coming out as gay. Spacey took immense social media heat for his attempted deflection.

For some of her fanbase, this meant the end of their support for her as an artist, while others were proud of Sinead’s courage to stand up against the child-abuse scandals that rocked the Catholic Church at the time (particularly as more and more began to surface about cover-ups). Without telling Saturday Night Live producers of her plans, she tore a photo of the Pope in half after a performance of Bob Marley’s “War.” Stubborn as a mule, O’Connor still says that she has no regrets, but it was undoubtedly a nearly fatal blow to her career. Turns out, she was right…

For much of his life, Paterno was one of the most beloved figures in sports. The Penn State football coach was a national treasure, but his life ended miserably following the scandal involving his assistant, Jerry Sandusky.

In 2012, an investigation by former FBI director Louis Freeh determined that “JoePa” had at least some knowledge of Sandusky’s behavior and didn’t take proper steps to stop it. It also was determined that Paterno may have prevented university officials from reporting Sandusky to authorities more than a decade earlier.

Paterno, who coached at PSU from 1950-2011, had his contract unceremoniously terminated and all of the program’s wins from 1998-2011 were vacated. (They were later restored.) The school removed a statue of him on July 22, 2012.

Branded an inspiration and an American hero, cyclist Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France races after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

After years of persistent rumors, though, he was convicted of long-term doping offenses. In 2012, he was banned for life from sanctioned Olympic sports, and his seven Tour de France titles were stripped. In 2013, Armstrong admitted that some of the allegations against him were true.

The actress, singer, and model went from child star to movie star, but her demons sent her career and reputation spiraling downward. Lohan had a litany of legal problems — multiple DUIs, misdemeanors, and probation violations. Her multiple trips to rehab cost her several movie deals. She has made attempts at a comeback in recent years, but so far none of these roles have helped relaunch her career.

A giant in the music business, Lou Pearlman was a record producer who managed the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, among other boy bands, in the 1990s. He also happened to be a fraudster.

Pearlman, like Bernie Madoff, ran a long-standing Ponzi scheme and pled guilty to conspiracy, money laundering, and making false statements during a bankruptcy hearing. He was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. Pearlman, who died of cardiac arrest while in custody in 2016, also was accused of molesting some of the young musicians that he managed, though he was never charged.

The businesswoman, writer, and television personality was disgraced in 2003 when she was indicted on charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice. She stepped down as CEO and chairwoman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, the company she founded, and was found guilty in 2004 of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators.

She served five months in prison, five months of house arrest, and was on probation for two years after her release.

In arguably the trial of the century, Simpson — a star running back in the NFL and an actor — was acquitted after being charged with the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ron Goldman. “The Juice” was found liable for their deaths in a civil trial, however.

Given a second chance, the former first overall pick of the Buffalo Bills couldn’t stay out of trouble. In 2007, he was arrested again and charged with armed robbery and kidnapping. This time he was convicted and sentenced to 33 years in prison. In October 2017, the former running back was released.

The celebrity chef and TV host came under fire in 2013 when she was accused of discrimination in the workplace. She admitted to using derogatory language and was sued by Lisa Jackson, who worked at a restaurant that was co-owned by Deen.

As the lawsuit dragged on, many of Deen’s publishing deals and endorsement contracts were terminated. The suit was eventually dismissed.

This is a name that most younger generations might not recognize, but older generations definitely will. Fatty Arbuckle was one of the most beloved comedians of the 1910s and early 1920s. He was in many ways the actor who no one could see in a negative light.

That came to an end when he became a primary suspect in the murder of aspiring actress Virginia Rappe in 1921. Arbuckle was acquitted of all charges, but his career never recovered. As a result, his name faded into obscurity.

As the writer and director of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, James Gunn had a lot of reason to believe his future was bright. However, alt-right media guru Mike Cernovich wanted to take him down. Cernovich went so far as to expose Gunn for Twitter jokes he made years earlier.

Gunn was fired from the franchise by Disney, but the decision was met with pushback. Fans and cast members alike rallied for him to be reinstated. Once the fervor died down and every rational person realized Gunn was joking in his tweets, Warner Bros. offered him a chance to write and direct a new Suicide Squad movie. Later, Disney reinstated Gunn to write and direct his planned third Guardians of the Galaxy movie.

One of the first real televangelist couples to hit the airwaves were the Bakkers. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker were known for preaching about God, asking for donations, and also telling others that they were sinners who needed to repent. They were generally regarded as people with moral fiber, but that all came to an end in 1987.

Jim Bakker’s secretary came out in the open to accuse Bakker of drugging and raping her. That alone was enough to upend his church career, but it got worse after Bakker resigned from his church. The IRS took a look at the Bakkers’ sports cars and jailed them for fraud. At the time of the Bakkers’ downfall, replacement Jerry Falwell called them “the greatest scab and cancer on the face of Christianity in 2,000 years of church history.” Ouch!

Soundcloud rapper Tekashi 6IX9NINE was once one of the most popular underground rappers. Known for his rainbow-colored hair, excessive lifestyle, and alleged Bloods gang affiliation, he had (what appeared to be) genuine street cred. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. His relationship with the Nine Trey Bloods of New York City soured, and he quickly found himself in trouble with the law after evidence linked him to several crimes. At one point, he was kidnapped by attackers who threatened his life.

Eventually, he confessed to paying the Bloods for gang affiliation and was later arraigned on crimes he committed while in their presence. The rapper quickly lost all respect after having a meltdown, telling police that random names were gang members, and that he knew who the Zodiac Killer was in a bid to reduce his prison time. After his mini-meltdown, he yelled at the court, “I am not stupid!” The laughable testimony was dismissed, as was his career.

Amanda Bynes was one of the first child superstars to be under Nickelodeon’s umbrella. Those who grew up in the 90s remember The Amanda Show as well as Bynes’s time on All That. But, something went wrong along the way.

She started off as a fairly popular actress and fashion designer. After being arrested for possession of marijuana, Bynes had a psychotic break that involved her setting a fire near a random person’s house. Bynes has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and her parents applied for conservatorship of her estate. Though she’s doing better, her career hasn’t been able to recover.

Once known as “America’s Dad,” Bill Cosby was considered to be one of the most trustworthy faces in showbiz. Everyone loved him and had faith in his uniquely all-American paternal vibes. He was a part of just about everyone’s childhood.

Everything seemed great for him until comedian Hannibal Burress reminded the world that he was known for drugging and raping women. Women started to come forth and he eventually faced a full blacklisting from Hollywood. He is now facing jail time for his crimes.

Aziz Ansari was yet another major name in Hollywood to get muddled by the #MeToo movement. The comedian was known for being an outspoken feminist, which made the published firsthand account on Babe.net accusing him of assault all the more awkward.

Ansari struggled and tried to maintain his reputation, but he was not able to keep it together. Since news broke out about his gaffe, there has been an open debate about whether his actions were as negative as initially believed.

Jeffrey Tambor isn’t a name most people know, but can definitely recognize. He appeared on Arrested Development, Transparent, as well as all three movies in The Hangover trilogy. His career quickly took a nosedive after reports of misconduct surfaced.

Though Tambor still made appearances on Arrested Development, word has it that the actor has been all but blackballed by most casting agents.

Once considered to be the most attractive man alive, Passion of the Christ director Mel Gibson really had a serious fall from grace in 2006. After being arrested for a serious DUI charge, Gibson went on an incredibly aggressive anti-semitic rant blaming the Jews for just about everything.

Though he has (kind of) been able to recover, the highly-respected actor never quite had the vocal fandom he once had. As far as leading roles go, one of his most recent films, The Beaver, ended up being overshadowed by legal and personal problems. As a result of all the scandal, he switched to directing full-time and staying out of the camera’s spotlight.

During the 1990s, Roseanne Barr was known for being the snarky Midwestern mom who everyone kind of related to. She wasn’t fit, she wasn’t glam, she was just a woman trying to make ends meet with a snarky comment here and there. She was cool like that.

For decades after Roseanne aired, people still associated her with that uniquely warm down-home vibe of her sitcom. Well, up until recently. After a series of racist jokes involving calling former President Barack Obama’s advisor an “ape,” things went south fast. Her show’s revival was canceled, her fans turned their collective backs to her, and no one really hears about her anymore.

For decades, Harvey Weinstein (left) was considered to be one of the most powerful men in Hollywood. Who he favored made or destroyed careers. As you can imagine, that gave him an unsettling amount of power over young models and actresses. The sheer size of his network alone made him a force to reckon with – and no one dared speak out against him when he scarred those women behind the scenes. Models were, for the most part, silent out of fear of what it could do to their career.

The #MeToo movement was what got women to start speaking up. His name was trashed overnight and he’s currently facing accusations by over 80 women. It’s safe to say no one will see him as a nice guy ever again.

Fox’s The O’Reilly Factor was one of the network’s top conservative pundit shows. Star Bill O’Reilly created an image of himself that involved moral superiority and a little bit of an untouchable air. Unfortunately, O’Reilly was harboring a secret. News broke out that he paid over $50 million in hush money in order to silence women who were victimized by his behavior. His show lost half its advertisers in a week, he was fired from the network, and now is working on a struggling podcast.

For the longest time, Louis C.K. was viewed as one of the “golden guys” of comedy. His acerbic wit won over millions of fans and gave him millions of dollars as well. Though he was known for being an angry-ish guy, the comedian still maintained a fairly respectable reputation.

The #MeToo movement revealed a different side to the comedian. Women began to come forth with stories about him. His career flatlined almost immediately, with his I Love You Daddy movie pulled from shelves, his pending contract for The Cops animated series canceled, and his pending role in The Secret Life of Pets terminated.

Ellen was the most recent target of social justice warriors after the outcry of disgruntled former employees to Buzzfeed. These reports detail how executive producers on the show were prejudiced and played favorites by withholding promotions from people they didn’t like and gave swag away to those they did. Now, there is speculation that Ellen herself is the root of mean spirited behavior on set despite always preaching “be kind”. Will her show be the next victim of “cancel culture”?

There was a time when Randy Quaid was best known for his scene-stealing comedic turns as Cousin Eddie in the National Lampoon’s Vacation franchise and Russell Casse in Independence Day. However, he flushed a majority of that good beginning in the early 2010s. First, Quaid and his wife skipped out on a $10,000 hotel bill, They they turned up in Canada, claiming that they were on the run from the “Hollywood Star Wackers” a group they claimed had “taken out” deceased actors including Heath Ledger. Believe it or not, things have only gotten more disturbing since thanks to Quaid’s unhinged conspiratorial policies ranting online.

Jennifer Grey didn’t “ruin” her career the way most of our entries on this last did, but she did inadvertently sabotage herself throng plastic surgery. Grey, who shot to superstardom in the 1980s thanks to Rad Daw, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, and biggest of all Dirty Dancing, decided to get a nose job done in the early 1990s. As she would recount years later, ” “It was the nose job from hell. I’ll always be this once-famous actress nobody ­recognizes because of a nose job.”

There was a period in the 1990s and 2000s when Wesley Snipes is was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood thanks to roles in White Men Can’t Jump, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar and the Blade trilogy among other films. However, Snipes ran afoul of the government for not paying his taxes. Snipes ended up spending 23 months in prison for his crimes before being released in 2013. The actor’s career is only now beginning to recover.

Thanks to his performance as Cosmo Kramer in the era-defining smash Seinfeld, Michael Richards was one of the most famous, beloved – and richest – comedians in the world by the early 2000s. However, he threw it all away in 2006 when he went on a racist tirade against an audience member, including through around the “n-word” several times. Video of the incident caused outrage, and despite an apology on David Letterman’s show, Richards’ career hasn’t recovered.

Jeffrey Jones built a career for himself as a character actor, appearing in everything from film to television to Disney theme park attractions, most notably as the principal in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. However, in 2002 he was busted for possession of child pornography. He plead no contest, received five years’ probation, and had to register as a sex offender. He eventually found some work on the television series Deadwood, though he found himself in hot water again for failing to re-register as a sex offender in 2010.

Mark Salling broke out as one of the stars of Fox’s musical hit Glee, playing the tortured jock Noah Puckerman, However, his role as “Puck” hit the devastating truth that Salling hordes of child porn on his computers. Eventually he was busted and arrested, leading to the miniseries “Adi Shankar’s Gods and Secrets,” dropping him the statement, “The innocence of our planet’s children is something that must be protected at all costs.” Salling agreed to a plea deal, but took his own life prior to serving any jail time.

Stephen Collins made a name for himself with a costarring role in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, before starring on the faith-based WB hit 7th Heaven for ten seasons. However in 2014 the actor’ career imploded when secret recordings of therapy sessions leaked which revealed Collins admitting to sexually assaulting several underage girls. Eventually Collins admitted to the wrongdoing and then retreated into private life, allegedly after remarrying to a so-called super-fan.

Ingrid Bergman’s career “ruining” actions may seem incredibly tame by modern standards. The Casablanca actress began a relationship with director Roberto Rossellini while she was married to another man. After becoming pregnant, Bergman left her husband for Rossellini. The response at the time was swift, with US Senator Edwin C. Johnson going s far as to propose a bill that would require movies to be “approved not just based on the moral content of the film itself but the moral character of the people involved in filmmaking” and that Bergman “had perpetrated an assault upon the institution of marriage” and was “a powerful influence for evil.” The actress stayed out of America for the next 8 years.

There was a time where the name Robert Blake conjured up images of a 70 year career including a sting with the original Little Rascals, starring in the television series Baretta, and an acclaimed turn in the film Lost Highway. However that all changed in 2002, when Blake was accused of murdering his wife Bonnie Lee Bakley in cold blood just after the couple enjoyed a dinner together. He was acquitted, but his career never recovered.

Eileen Bowman likely thought she’d gotten her big break when she was cast as Snow White in the massive choreographed opening number of the 1989 Academy Awards, which also involved Rob Lowe, Merv Griffin, other celebrities, and several musical numbers. The entirety of the opening was panned across the board, to the point that Bowman fled Hollywood for months. Eventually she returned, but was never able to recover any semblance of a Hollywood career.

Scream actor-turned-90s-prank-show-host Jamie Kennedy’s career was arguably already on a downturn when he hosted a local Los Angeles New Year’s Eve broadcast. Kennedy made several racially-tinged jokes and even missed the countdown to New Year’s by 10 seconds. He later claimed that the show was supposed to be a train wreck. “It was totally supposed to be like that. We wanted to make almost an anti-New Year’s Eve show.”

For decades, Warren Beatty has been one of Hollywood’s biggest acting and directing legends. However, the first line in his obituary will now likely first reference the gaffe he was involved in at the 2017 Academy Awards. That year Beatty and his classic Bonnie & Clyde co-star Faye Dunaway were presenting the Oscar for Best Picture. Initially, a confused Beatty announced La La Land as the winner. However, as would become apparent, he was given the wrong envelope, and within moments an Academy official had to come out and announce that Moonlight had actually won. While Beatty was nowhere near at fault, he was he public face of the debacle.

In the late 2000s, Megan Fox was one of Hollywood’s biggest up-and-coming stars thanks to roles in films like the hit Transformers series. However, during an interview, Fox was asked about Transformers director Michael Bay. She responded that he was like… “Napoleon and he wants to create this insane, infamous mad man reputation. He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is.” Fox was dropped from the next Transformers film, allegedly thanks to producer Steven Spielberg, and while she still works regularly, her career has never truly recovered.

Minnie Driver, best known for her role in Good Will Hunting, gave some controversy comments about British actress Judy Dench in 2022. Driver said, “In England, with all due respect, we have some of the plainest actresses in the entire world as our greatest. Maybe it is because theatre is the great love of England, but you can have Judi Dench, a very small, round, middle-aged, lovely, mothering type, playing Cleopatra.” She added that she thought in the U.S., Dench “would melt into the crowd in a second.” Suffice to say the comments did not over well, and Driver still struggles to get work in the U.K.

Gilbert Gottfried had a long career as a standup comedian, punctuated by successful turns as Iago in the Disney Aladdin films and as the mascot of AFLAC instance company. However, in 2011 Gottfried went too far, cracking jokes about a Tsunami that struck Japan, including Tweeting out “Japan is really advanced. They don’t go to the beach. The beach comes to them.” Twitter users were not amused, and neither was AFLAC. The company cut the comedian immediately, and released a statement saying, “There is no place for anything but compassion and concern during these difficult times.”

Circa 2011, Alex Pettyfer look like he was about to become one of Hollywood’s breakout stars thanks to his turn in Magic Mike. However, after a salary dispute, an article critical of his attitude and behavior on the set of the film I Am Number Four. Instead of apologizing or denying the accusations, Pettyfer instead doubled down. He called Los Angeles “an insidious pool where nearly everyone lives in fear” and called acting a prison sentence, saying “You go, you serve your time, you try to replicate Johnny Depp’s career — and then you move to Paris,”

During the 1980/81 televisions season, many thought that Charles Rocket was going to be the next breakout star of Saturday Night Live. In fact he was popular that an episode hosted by Dallas actress Charlene Tilton was built around Rocket with a bit where he was shot spoofing the popular “Who Shot J.R.?” storyline from Dallas. At the end of he show, Rocket said to Tilton “Aw, man. It’s the first time I’ve ever been shot in my life. I’d like to know who the f*** did it.” The “F-Bomb” ended all of Rocket’s SNL momentum and he was fired several weeks later.

On October 18, 1964, comedian Jackie Mason appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. During his set, Sullivan signaled to him that his time was being cut for a speech from President Johnson. Mason responded with a finger gesture that Sullivan thought was a middle finger. Backstage, despite Mason denying he made any gesture, Sullivan angrily terminated Mason’s contract. The incident hurt Mason’s career, despite Sullivan publicly apologizing two years later and having Mason back on the show. He said years later, “It destroyed my career for at least 10, 15 years. Because in those days, you were wiped out if you had an image of a filthy person. Today, you become a sensation if you have an image as a filthy person.”

In 2013 former Miss Korea and aspiring actress Sung Hyun-Ah saw her career derailed by allegations that she had engaged in prostitution, specifically she was found guilty of taking $44,000 from the businessman in exchange for three instances of sexual intercourse. She appealed the decision, and two years later the country’s Supreme Court reversed the decision, and proclaimed her innocent. However the damage was done, and her acting career was over.