The life of a celebrity may look glamorous to those of us living 'normal lives.'
But the reality of living under a microscope can massively backfire. If you imagine your worst mistakes being made publicly, inside the fishbowl of public scrutiny, then it's not hard to see how miserable a celebrity could feel.
It doesn't take a long walk down the history of celebrities to see that the public has a fickle relationship with the famous. One day, someone is a shiny magical genius that can do no wrong, and the next they're the person we've all decided to hate.
The arc of a 'celebrity downfall' can come from a lot of places. Sometimes, they're doing really horrible abusive things and deserve to face consequences. Other times, they're betrayed by family, colleagues, or greedy managers.
In a popular Ask Reddit thread, people shared the celebrities who experienced the 'worst downfall of all time.'
In this list, a lot of them had it coming.
1. From shytboxhonda:
Amanda Bynes went from Nickelodeon star to movie star to a nail tech. So there's that.
2. From bob_bobington1234:
Kevin Spacey pissed me off. He was literally one of my favorite actors then it comes out he is a f**king molester. Then he comes out as gay right after like anyone gives a s*t.
Congratulations a**hole, you're still a molester which is the only thing people care about.
3. From Nuwbody:
Bill Cosby was once America's Dad, and then 20 years after relevance, his name is close to a swear word on TV now. I mean, if we're talking about legacy...his will never be restored.
4. From seamustheseagull:
Gary Glitter.
Popular 1970s glam rock musician who enjoyed frequent 'special guest' appearances on talk shows and game shows, not to mention the inevitable Christmas gigs having one of the most successful Christmas songs of all time.
He gets arrested on child p*rn charges and ends up in a Vietnamese prison for five years, with his music and recorded appearances all pulled and burned from rotation.
I bet nobody under 25 has even heard any of his songs, and have no idea that at the peak of his fame he gave Bowie and Jagger a run for their money.
He went to prison again later because it turned out he'd been r*ping and abusing people since the 1970s and was protected by politicians and cops. Like Saville. But at that stagem his name was already sh*t.
5. From BuckNutley:
OJ Simpson. People that weren't alive when he was famous don't understand how big of a star he was.
6. From Alitsonk:
Jeffrey Jones: Best known for Mr. Rooney in Ferris Bueller and Mr. Deets in Beetlejuice.
He has had numerous problems with profession of child p*rnography, solicitation of child p*rnography, problems with registering as a s*x offender, and updating his s*x offender registration.
And finally, problems with his employers where people were invited to be on set but parents and visitors were up in arms when they were not formally notified he was a s*x offender and on set.
7. From RedWestern:
Oscar Pistorius.
I honestly can’t believe that the guy that I once thought of as a hero and someone who became a world-class Olympic sprinter with NO GODDAMN LEGS is now a convicted m*rderer.
And what’s more, knowing what an abusive person he was to Reeva before he m*rdered her was just soul-crushing. Also, I can’t believe I have to make this clear, but no, I don’t buy the whole “thought she was an intruder BS.”
And yes, I’m South African and yes, I know how dangerous the country is. From my perspective, the text messages speak for themselves.
8. From cmd_iii:
Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle. A comedic superstar of the silent film era, he found himself embroiled in controversy after an aspiring actress fell seriously ill in his hotel room.
After she died, her friend accused Arbuckle of r*ping and killing her. Arbuckle was arrested and charged in fairly short order. His first two trials ended in hung juries, but he was acquitted in a third trial.
Sadly, this did nothing to quell the rumors that he committed these crimes. As a result, his acting career was basically over. He wrote some screenplays, and directed a few films, mostly under a pseudonym. But that was about it.
He died about 10 years later, never given a decent chance to clear his name or resurrect his career.
9. From darrylthedudeWayne:
Armie Hammer. The dude legit lost everything just because he had too be into a 'Kink' (cannabalism) that shouldn't be considered a 'Kink' to begin with, due too how evil that said 'Kink' is.
10. From Repulsive-Car4316:
Lance Armstrong, when the truth about his doping and cheating came out it was a serious downward spiral. He went from being America’s hero, to being mocked by The Rock on WWE.
11. From jmsmorris:
John Wilkes Booth is a really good one. Because he's only remembered today for killing Lincoln, people don't realize just how famous he was at the time.
He was considered one of America's best actors and most handsome men during the 1850s and 60s. It would be like if Brad Pitt killed Joe Biden today.
12. From bwa_ha_ha_ha_ha:
Aaron Hernandez. He went from having a multi-million dollar contract with the Patriots, to committing suicide while serving life without parole.
13. From anonymoususerxo:
Brendan Fraser, he was SA’d and opened up about it and was blacklisted from Hollywood for years. I’m so glad he’s making a comeback, he deserves the world.
14. From TheDukeOfWyld420:
Shelley Duvall for sure. Poor woman fell the f**k apart.
15. From JayBringStone:
Robert Downey Jr but he also had the greatest comeback of all time too.
Some may be too young to know this but he was the GOAT of fucking up. The public couldn't go a week without hearing about that guy getting arrested on the news or tabloids.
He was a f**king mess! Hollywood, the press and even his fans wrote him off and then once he was released from prison, he cleaned his life up and came back the beast he is now.
If I'm going to focus on someone falling from grace, I'd rather focus on someone who was despised and lost it all and then put in the work to come back stronger and become one of the most loved actors of all time.
It's going to take many decades (if ever) before anyone will ever accept another actor playing Iron Man and no actor will ever get away with playing Kirk Lazarus as Sgt. Lincoln Osiris in blackface - if there's ever a remake of Tropic Thunder.
“I know who I am! I’m a dude playing the dude, disguised as another dude! — Robert Downey Jr as Kirk Lazarus as Sgt. Lincoln Osiris.