My biggest regret is letting other people down. And now I want to [music] prove to the world that I've changed. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at celebrities whose already negative reputation led to a cathartic comeuppance.
[music] Clearly, this is a blow for Prince Andrew. Um this is a a major fall from grace. Timothée Chalamet at the Oscars.
Not today, Chalamet. As a presumptive frontrunner for the best actor category for his titular role in Marty Supreme, Chalamet's already fairly [music] large ego had inflated throughout award season. His unbecoming attitude culminated in the now notorious Town Hall interview, in which he [music] dissed theater arts, a comment that rubbed many fans and fellow artists the wrong way.
I don't want to be working in ballet or opera or, you know, things where it's like, "Hey, keep this thing alive even though it's like no one cares about this anymore. " At the Oscars, [music] Conan made an early jab at Chalamet's anti-opera and ballet sentiments, clearly mocking the absurdity of his beliefs. Security is extremely tight tonight.
Just got to mention that, yeah. I'm told there's concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities. When he left the ceremony empty-handed, many felt he was knocked [music] down a few deserved pegs.
All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. Uh I just lost 14 cents in viewership. Humbling Hugh Grant.
The talent and charm of actor Hugh Grant were all the more impressive for his off-camera reputation during the '90s. I was under pressure or I was in over Todd or I was lonely or fell down the stairs when I was a child or whatever. I don't know.
But I am you know, I I think it would that would be uh bollocks really to to hide behind that. Behind the public image of a mild-mannered pretty boy [music] was a smug, short-tempered cynic. The wholesome facade humiliatingly collapsed during the press tour for 1995's Nine Months, when Grant was arrested with a sex worker in Los Angeles.
What the hell were you thinking? His relationship with Elizabeth Hurley intensified the tabloid scrutiny of this rom-com sweetheart. Since then, Grant has become more open about his disdain towards showbiz and the unflattering anecdotes about his character.
I think you know in life uh pretty much what's a good thing to do and what's a bad thing and um I did a bad thing and that that you have it. He's even boosted his on-screen [music] reputation by embracing more uncouth lead and villain roles. Perhaps he needed that humbling, though it reportedly didn't make him any nicer.
The second the movie came out and was a hit, the offers just kept pouring in. Yeah, well that's right. That seems to be the Hollywood way.
As long as you make money, they they don't care what you get up to. Lizzo's lawsuit. >> [music] >> The unapologetic attitude is what turned Lizzo from a pop sensation into an empowering icon.
It's reportedly [music] less inspiring to work with. The singer has been embroiled in a lot of public and legal [music] drama, including being sued by a Postmates courier she accused of stealing her food on social media. Two lawsuits filed in 2023 [music] by former employees hit particularly hard though, with allegations of workplace harassment and bigotry that painted [music] Lizzo as a hypocrite.
I know it's alarming to hear that Lizzo, a plus-size woman who who preaches body positivity, um would be fat-phobic essentially um but I want to um challenge people to understand that you know hurt people hurt people. She has denied these claims >> [music] >> and courted further controversy by attributing backlash to hypersensitivity in the public. Whether Lizzo has indeed pushed her diva brand too far, this scandal has made it harder to root for her.
I was completely surprised. >> Really? Um I was very deeply hurt.
Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin's Varsity Blues. [music] The actresses Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin were both beloved for their wholesome images until 2019. [music] Then, in a scandal that sounded more like Desperate Housewives than Full House, Operation Varsity Blues [music] implicated them in a conspiracy to bribe their daughters into the University of Southern California.
The massive trial exemplified public perceptions about [music] the hubris of social elites. In court, Huffman told the judge, her voice shaking, "I'm deeply sorry. I've inflicted more damage than I could ever imagine.
" She said her daughter told her, "I don't know who you are anymore. " Huffman didn't help her case with the court of public opinion when she claimed that the scheme was the best way to give her daughter a chance at a future. At least she pleaded guilty sooner than the inappropriately strong-willed Loughlin.
Some found catharsis in these and other wealthy conspirators' disgrace, though the relatively meager fines and prison sentences hardly felt like justice. In a statement released after sentencing, Huffman said, "I accept the court's decision today without reservations. There are no excuses or justifications for my actions, period.
" Russell Brand's unsurprising warning. While comedy and an even wilder personal life have always made Russell Brand a divisive figure. After alienating one wing of the political spectrum by becoming a left-wing commentator, he began [music] shifting rhetoric more toward the right during the 2020s.
Finally, in '23, he tried to ingratiate the public by addressing both his dark [music] past and a conspiracy theory. The day before the release of an article in which five women accused him of abuse, Brand took to social media to preemptively deny [music] the allegations. Russell Brand, the comedian and actor, was charged with uh five counts in relation to four alleged victims.
It was really a reminder that many people have accused him of predatory behavior [music] for years. Whether he's truly guilty, Brand's already polarizing reputation had folded by the time criminal charges came [music] in 2025. There's no way I ain't getting laid after this show tonight.
T. J. Miller's arrest.
You guys live in my incubator, you got a network. That's why I brought you here. Uh I got us in here.
Javed over there is my ex-roommate. Yeah. But I drove.
It turned out comedian and [music] actor T. J. Miller's abrasive persona wasn't just an act.
In 2016, he got into a political argument with an Uber driver that ended with him being charged with assault. >> [music] >> This was just the first exposure of the open secret about Miller's difficulty, particularly on the set of HBO's Silicon Valley. His firing from the show a year later preceded revelations of onset [music] tension and an accusation of committing sexual assault in college.
Miller slammed Silicon Valley, called the allegation of an addictive lie, and attributed making a false bomb [music] report in 2021 to mental illness. T. J.
Miller is under arrest accused of calling in a fake bomb threat. With all these scandals and [music] no sign of accountability, Miller's smugness on the screen has gotten much less endearing. An organic sort of out arose.
They had a cliffhanger, and I thought it would be funny just to exit. Kanye West goes south. Being a titan of hip-hop evidently went to Kanye West's head.
He has gradually become very outspoken about topics ranging from politics to Beyoncé deserving a video music award over Taylor Swift. As his views gradually became [music] more outrageous, West boasted about his career being invincible. He finally went too far by peddling anti-Semitic [music] conspiracy theories and explicitly identifying as a Nazi in 2022.
He lost so many endorsements, representatives, [music] and fans that his net worth ultimately took a more than $1 billion hit. [music] As long as I breathe, I'm here for all of my artists, all of all of my peers, and all of people. West has since become more fickle in his statements, including on mental health issues that have been partly linked to his behavior.
There's still no excuse for certain ways he's used his dwindling [music] power. We're all worried about Kanye, but at this point we're all also angry and offended and hurt. James Corden [music] gets banned.
British comedic actor and singer James Corden made his name in America as a nice guy. A lot of people didn't buy it, especially with his sometimes abrasive antics as host of The Late Late Show. I really couldn't be more honored to be stood here talking to you now.
And believe me, however shocked you are that I am doing this job, you will never be as shocked as I am. Corden was able to sneak away from harassment allegations during a Reddit Q&A in 2019. Then the tabloids reported his ban from the New York restaurant Balthazar over abuse of a waiter in 2022.
[music] The restaurant manager and the server, they were lovely. They were lovely. They brought out four glasses of champagne as an apology.
But we were like, that's not necessary. We don't need it. We'd had a great time.
Even for me, it was too early to start drinking. Further stories of behind-the-scenes drama followed Corden's announcement [music] that he would be leaving his talk show in pursuit of other projects. But with those projects being limited by the controversy, not many [music] people were sad to see Corden go.
I've been walking around thinking that I hadn't done anything wrong. Kevin Spacey gets himself canceled. I have led a very long, very successful career avoiding this sort of intrigue with the press.
I can't see any advantage in starting that. >> Is there any disadvantage? Perhaps being hailed as one of the greatest actors in Hollywood should have afforded Kevin Spacey some ego, but that should have been humbled in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp came forward with accusations of sexual misconduct [music] when he was a minor.
In a responding statement, Spacey came out as gay. Spacey made sexual advances toward him after a party when they were both on Broadway. Spacey was 26.
This would be triumphant breakthrough was condemned as an offensive deflection of the allegation. As several more quickly followed, Spacey was fired from all of his projects >> [music] >> and effectively blacklisted. The occasional bizarre statement or interview in his defense has been the most we've seen of him since.
Though Spacey has never been convicted, his flippancy on the matter is alienating enough. After that, my guess is you'll never hear from him again. Ellen DeGeneres retires.
For almost 20 years, comedian and talk show host Ellen DeGeneres was thought to be the nicest person on daytime TV. Apparently, nobody thought to ask her staff before Kevin T. Porter requested negative [music] stories on Twitter in 2020.
The ensuing comment thread presented DeGeneres as a tyrant [music] who abused her employees and enabled a toxic work environment. As a host, she's amazing as a host, but as a boss and someone who's behind the scenes running the show, she's a different person. She's not the person people see in front of the camera.
She accepted responsibility amid a formal studio investigation that aimed to [music] change the culture of the Ellen DeGeneres Show. The host instead announced that the 2021 to 2022 season would be the last. Since this disappointing end to a seemingly uplifting program, [music] DeGeneres has usually gotten media attention for exemplifying elitism at its most unlikable.
Oh, yeah. I got kicked out of show business. Ryan Lochte's robbery hoax.
Heavy is the head that wears 12 Olympic medals under its chin. Champion swimmer Ryan Lochte's affable personality [music] was often overshadowed by his lavish lifestyle. After winning gold at the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016, he reported being humbled when [music] fake police officers robbed him at gunpoint.
Uh I was with a couple swimmers. Uh we were coming back from the training center and we got pulled over in our taxi. However, it was soon revealed that he actually paid off security [music] guards after vandalizing a gas station during a night of partying.
Now, two of the quartet of swimmers in this now infamous video blaming Lochte for inflaming a standoff that had them hauled into two police stations in Rio. Lochte-gate, as the scandal was called, jeopardized the reputation of both Brazil and American tourists. >> [music] >> It certainly destroyed Lochte's reputation as sponsors fled the sinking ship of charm to his bumbling public image.
He ended his stellar athletic career a few years later with little fanfare. Lochte had released his own tepid apology on Friday for, quote, "not being more careful and candid in how I described the events. " Fan Bingbing's taxes.
Once China's highest paid celebrity, [music] actress Fan Bingbing was renowned by most as an icon of fashion and glamour. For some though, her luxurious image merely represented elitism with no self-awareness. Fan's rude awakening came in 2018 when it was revealed that she and her company owed the equivalent [music] of 129 million US dollars in evaded taxes.
Fan has been missing since July 1st and today China's State Administration of Taxation has fined the celebrity 129 million dollars for tax evasion. She paid off her debt, but her career in the Chinese entertainment industry was effectively finished. Her corruption was considered a gross betrayal of the nation's socialist ideals, [music] sparking public scrutiny of whether celebrity culture in general undermined it.
Fan's success in the international film industry surely pales in comparison to the gaudy career she tarnished back home. Today I'm facing enormous fears and worries over the mistakes I made. I have failed the country, society's support and trust, and the love of my devoted fans.
I beg for everyone's forgiveness. Ezra Miller's trial by social media. You don't look happy.
However, the intensity with which Ezra Miller portrayed dark characters won consistent acclaim. Their own dark character received a different reception as disturbing statements and incidents circulated social media in the early 2020s. This peaked in '22 with an on-camera assault, other criminal charges, >> [music] >> and claims of divinity.
Miller's most embarrassing episode was leaked police body cam footage of their arrest for a [music] bar fight in Hawaii. The grandiose babbling throughout the video exemplified this worrying, [music] violent decline. I claim my 9th Amendment rights to not be unlawfully persecuted for a crime of no designation.
Disorderly conduct being something I am un-guilty of. Miller subsequently put out a statement saying that they're seeking treatment for complex mental health issues. Whether Miller stepped or was forced out of the limelight, it may be the best thing for them at this point.
[music] I want to apologize to everyone that I have alarmed and upset with my past behavior. I am committed to doing the necessary work to get back to a healthy, safe, and productive stage in my life. Chevy Chase [music] gets chased away.
Don't shoot me. Great. Now shoot him.
Sure, shoot me. You'd certainly be doing Jeff Winger a big favor. It was never a secret that one of the most beloved comedic actors of his time wasn't much fun to work with.
>> [music] >> Chevy Chase's long history of hostility toward colleagues and fans was tolerated up to a gradual career dip in the 2000s. [music] The acclaimed NBC sitcom Community was meant to be his big comeback, but Chase didn't just draw on his past to play the mean and politically incorrect Pierce [music] Hawthorne. He was fired after season 3 over onset misconduct that allegedly involved a racial slur.
This prompted [music] Chase to issue an all too rare apology to the cast and crew. I'm also a Toastmasters, so perhaps I should do the introduction. >> Definitely.
>> Right. You already know Brittles? Brittles?
Abed Abed the Arab. Is that inappropriate? >> Sure.
Otherwise, he refuses to apologize for his ego, no matter the impact on his career and legacy. Lance Armstrong runs out of juice. The historic accolades [music] of pro cyclist Lance Armstrong made it hard to criticize his inflated persona.
When his winning streak at the Tour de France did receive criticism, his response was, "I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. " But [snorts] uh It's nice to win. But a 2012 investigation [music] found that his triumph was part miracle, part performance-enhancing substances.
There was even evidence of his involvement in a full-on ring. Armstrong's claim that he stopped doping after 2005 and that he did it by himself was also [music] disputed. Yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance?
Yes. Even in this most humbling moment, the public perceived him as playing the victim with no true remorse for violating the integrity of his sport. Armstrong was subsequently stripped of his honors and endorsements [music] and retired in disgrace.
The disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong has been stripped of all seven of his Tour de France titles and banned from cycling for life. Conor McGregor's legal battles. Where I come from and where I grew up, you had to be aware.
You had to be able to defend yourselves. Outside of the octagon, mixed martial arts icon Conor McGregor's brutishness is much less impressive. He's long been criticized for his inflammatory comments, antics, [music] and lifestyle, as well as condemned for hostilities that regularly get violent and bigoted.
Never mind the series of high-profile assault charges going back to [music] his 2018 attack on a busload of fellow fighters. Conor McGregor Particularly infamous were the lawsuits for sexual assault in Dublin and Miami. The American case was dropped, but the Irish High Court ordered him to pay almost 250,000 euros in damages in 2024.
As McGregor's public and professional brands then fell apart, he offered no half-hearted apologies this time. He instead announced that he'd be going into politics. If that bull star had have opened, this man would be dead right now.
He would be in a box and I would be in a cell and we would not have this great fight ahead of us. Burning Sun sets on Seungri. Lee Seung-hyun was always the bad boy of Big Bang under the stage name Seungri.
As charming as it was when he was a teen idol, the brand [music] took a darker turn with other ventures. The so-called Great Gatsby of K-pop emphasized materialism in his solo career and entrepreneurship, which included nightlife investments. Among them was the Burning Sun club of Burning Sun, [music] where a patient was reportedly attacked by staff for disrupting a sexual assault in 2018.
An investigation [music] the following year implicated Seungri in arranging sex workers, cover-ups, and embezzlement. The scandal not only ensnared many powerful people, but sparked public discussion about misogyny and corruption in South Korea's entertainment industry. Seungri [music] was released from prison in 2023 as a national disgrace.
Steven Seagal sued for discrimination. Early in Steven Seagal's acting career, the public knew him [music] as an enigmatic and charismatic action star. His colleagues felt that the public didn't want to know much more than that.
I know the what. I know all that stuff myself. Yeah, that's what I hear.
Usually from you, but that's what I hear. As difficult as Seagal has always been to work [music] with, Cheryl Shuman sued him in 1995 over a hostile work environment that included quid pro quos for women. A settlement out of court didn't stop audiences from re-evaluating previous harassment allegations and payoffs.
Several other women have accused Seagal of inappropriate behavior, including Julianna Margulies, Jenny McCarthy, Portia de Rossi, and Inside Edition's Lisa Guerrero when she was an aspiring actress. And after this contributed to a string of box office disappointments, Seagal became largely relegated to straight-to-video [music] work in the 2000s. Still, he continued to face serious complaints that he refused to accept responsibility for.
Now the public mostly associates Seagal's imposing persona with behind-the-scenes cruelty. Prince Andrew dethroned. The former Prince Andrew, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has this morning been arrested on the Sandringham estate where he was living after having been removed, of course, from the home he was living in Windsor.
For as long as there's been royalty, there's been dire consequences for their hubris. The largely inconsequential duties of the modern British Crown include representing dignity and decency as the highest celebrities. His Majesty the King has today initiated a formal process to remove the style, titles, and honors of Prince Andrew.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York, was a mildly scandalous outsider [music] until the 2019 revelation that his American friend, Jeffrey Epstein, [music] ran a human trafficking ring. Did you trust him? Uh yes, I think I probably did, but again um I mean I don't go into um a friendship looking for the wrong thing.
When Newsnight interviewed Andrew about his photo with accuser Virginia Giuffre, >> [music] >> the public condemned his callousness and heavily disputed story. At the time there was no indication to me or anybody else that that was what he was doing. He was then stripped of his duties and honors over the next several years.
Then, in 2026, he was charged with misconduct in public office. Andrew's downfall thus raises concerns about monarchy's relations to modern [music] laws and whether conducting themselves as untouchable just makes matters worse. Prince Andrew will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
His lease on Royal Lodge has to date provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease, and he will move to alternative private accommodation. Sean Combs's comeuppance.
Music mogul Sean Diddy Combs facing more time behind bars. His release date pushed back to June of 2028 instead of May of that same year. The news coming after reports of Combs drinking in prison, something he denies, after he was accepted into a rehab program in prison that could have reduced his sentence by up to a year.
From Puff Daddy to Diddy, Sean Combs's brand has evolved alongside modern hip-hop. So, too, has his reputation as a cocky rapper who became a powerhouse [music] mogul with a notorious god complex. Sean Combs's celebrity parties were legendary, lavish affairs.
Glamorous spectacles for the elite, which for this billionaire music mogul had also served as window dressing to his allegedly dark, sinister world until the veil was lifted. His untouchable image was fed by him surviving many allegations ranging from exploitative business practices to severe abuse. [music] This is the case.
It's the hotel invoices, the travel arrangements, the the the receipts for damages paid to the hotel rooms, the arranging of of of male escorts and and booking them with Cowboys for Angels. All of these things that it took to arrange these sexual performances. >> [music] >> Finally, in 2024, a Homeland Security raid led to multiple criminal charges and lawsuits.
[music] The Bad Boy Records head was accused of not only being a brutal tyrant, but a serial abuser [music] and predator. He was ultimately sentenced to 4 years in prison in 2025. Though Combs is accused of much more than transporting sex [music] workers, the death of his career shows how even the biggest celebrity egos can be deflated.
Sean "Diddy" Combs was just sentenced to more than 4 years in prison. The 55-year-old was convicted back in July on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Combs had pleaded not guilty to all charges and was acquitted of two more serious charges, sex trafficking and racketeering, which would have led to a potential life sentence.
Who are some other stars who experienced a just downfall? Vent about it in the comments below.
