These interviews aged uncomfortably, yet surprisingly well. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the times that interviews ominously predicted the imprisonment of celebrities.
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00:00You're going to hear about my party, they're going to be shutting them down,
00:02they're going to probably be arresting me, doing all types of crazy things,
00:05just because we want to have a good time.
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the times
00:11that interviews ominously predicted the imprisonment of celebrities.
00:15How do you survive that?
00:17Because I'm me. Because I'm me, I'm different.
00:22Number 10. Joaquin El Chapo Guzman.
00:25When your public enemy number one, speaking to the press, is rarely a smart move.
00:30But this notorious criminal seemed to think the opportunity to boast was worth the risk.
00:35Sean Penn met the fugitive El Chapo for an interview that he hoped would reopen
00:40a dialogue about drugs in America. He came away with something very different.
00:45After his 2015 prison escape, El Chapo secretly met with Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn,
00:50who was writing a piece for Rolling Stone.
00:53Sean Penn had no idea what he was walking into.
00:56There was no way he could know what kind of temperament El Chapo could have.
01:00El Chapo did not hold back, proudly proclaiming his status as the world's biggest drug trafficker.
01:06His bold confession, his desire to control his public image,
01:10and his plans to make a film about himself,
01:12ultimately helped authorities track him down and re-arrest him.
01:16Sometimes, it pays to be modest.
01:19We had a contact upon which we were able to facilitate an invitation.
01:23Number 9. Sergei Polonsky
01:26A 2011 showdown between Russian oligarchs led to major legal trouble,
01:30particularly for this real estate mogul.
01:32During a televised economic debate, Polonsky angered former KGB spy Alexander Lebedev.
01:38I didn't know who the guy was. I was listening for 90 minutes,
01:42which I don't think was depicted by Sky, of aggression and insults,
01:47which actually ended with direct aggression against me,
01:51with actually a threatening move, and I don't think I had any big chance.
01:55The situation escalated quickly when Lebedev punched Polonsky so hard he fell from his chair.
02:01When Lebedev received community service for the attack, it was Polonsky who eventually served time.
02:06Polonsky left Russia in 2012 to live on his private island in Cambodia.
02:11He had already been detained in Cambodia in November 2013.
02:16Just a year after their altercation,
02:18Polonsky landed in a Cambodian jail for allegedly assaulting sailing crew members.
02:22Later, he faced embezzlement charges and was placed on Interpol's Most Wanted list,
02:27solidifying his fall from grace.
02:29The billionaire was charged in absentia as part of a criminal case involving the embezzlement of
02:35over $175 million in a residential construction project in central Moscow.
02:43Number 8. Mike Tyson
02:45Despite being considered one of the world's best boxers,
02:48Mike Tyson is no stranger to legal trouble.
02:50The satellite trucks beamed the news. Ticket scalpers were very much in evidence,
02:55and Don King was there for Mike Tyson's most important fight,
02:59not in the ring, but in Judge Patricia Giffords' courtroom.
03:03By 1999, he had already served three years for sexual assault,
03:07in addition to his history of juvenile delinquency.
03:10Just before his fight with Francois Botta,
03:12Tyson had a conversation with sports anchor Russ Salzberg that was so profane and hostile,
03:17Salzberg had to cut it short.
03:19Mike, why do you have to talk like that?
03:21Well, I'm talking to you the way I want to talk to you.
03:24Do you have a problem? Turn off your station.
03:27You know what? I think we'll end the discussion right now.
03:30Unsurprisingly, Tyson's legal issues didn't end with that friendly chat.
03:34Just a month later, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail for a prior road rage incident,
03:39and he'd face a plethora of additional charges in years to come.
03:42I feel that 100%, but I don't hold that to no bitterness. That's just something,
03:47that's just, it occurred, it happened. A moment in time, it's a wrap, it's over.
03:53I'm doing this stuff now. I can't get that time back. This is what I'm doing now.
03:58Number 7. Danny Masterson
04:01Masterson is best known for two things,
04:03his sitcom roles and his alarming record of sexual misdeeds.
04:07Years before the truth about his actions came to light,
04:09Masterson appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien to promote That 70s Show.
04:13Look at you, you're all...
04:14Hello, sir.
04:15You clean up real nice. You look great.
04:17Thanks. My mom picked it out for me.
04:18That's very nice.
04:19During the segment, he made a sexual joke during an anecdote,
04:23to which Conan quipped that he had heard about him and suspected he'd be caught soon.
04:27So why are you asking people to do that? That's the more important question.
04:30I mean, you got them.
04:31Yeah, right, right.
04:32You know what I mean?
04:33Accent aside, that's the more important thing.
04:35Exactly.
04:37I've heard about you, and you'll be caught soon. I know you will.
04:41I will.
04:42While it's unclear exactly what Conan had heard, his remark proved frighteningly accurate.
04:47Almost two decades later, Masterson was not only caught, but convicted.
04:51This moment serves as a stark reminder that
04:54sometimes jokes hit closer to reality than we realize.
04:57The former actor, and now convicted felon, brought to justice Masterson's two victims,
05:03who have not been publicly identified, termed Jane Doe 1 and 2,
05:07saw their attacker in court sentenced to 30 years to life.
05:14This ex-film producer's misconduct was so extensive that it inspired the term
05:18The Weinstein Effect, which helped ignite the Me Too movement in October 2017.
05:23Prosecutors say they want to file a motion to consolidate
05:26the new indictment with the retrial.
05:29So it's hard to believe that just months earlier,
05:32Weinstein was at the top of Hollywood's hierarchy, as seen in this interview with CNN.
05:36To me, I'm still the underdog. I felt that way when I was young,
05:40and sometimes I still feel that way.
05:42Speaking with an air of false humility, he referred to himself as a, quote,
05:46underdog who was, quote, working his dream.
05:49Watching it after Weinstein's downfall and knowing what was going on behind the scenes,
05:53the video feels steeped in arrogance and hypocrisy.
05:56His disingenuousness creates a creepy undertone that's hard to miss.
06:01It takes its toll on you, the work, and you wish you could be, you know, me in particular.
06:06Love to be less temperamental. Each year I get less and less, but I started so high.
06:12You remember the chipping away at that now.
06:17Once beloved for his role as Jamal on Empire,
06:20Smollett came under fire in 2019 after claiming to be the victim of a hate crime,
06:24only for it to be revealed that he had fabricated and staged the entire thing.
06:29What is it that has you so angry? Is it the attackers?
06:34It's the attackers, but it's also the attacks. It's like, you know, at first,
06:40it was a thing of like, listen, if I tell the truth, then that's it, because it's the truth.
06:47Just weeks after the supposed attack,
06:50Smollett sat down with ABC's Robin Roberts to recount the details,
06:53claiming he was jumped by two men and bombarded with racist and homophobic slurs.
06:58Then I look down and I see that there's a rope around my neck, which I hadn't...
07:02You hadn't noticed it before?
07:03No, because it was so fast, you know what I'm saying? It was so fast.
07:06How long did this all...
07:07It felt like minutes, but it probably was like 30 seconds.
07:10Throughout the conversation, he appeared emotional and resolute,
07:14standing by his story while criticizing those who doubted him.
07:17However, his detractors were proven right, and Smollett was soon convicted
07:21of felony disorderly conduct for making false police reports.
07:25A defiant Smollett shouting as he was let out of the courtroom
07:29after being sentenced to 30 months probation with the first 150 days
07:34to be served at Chicago's notorious Cook County Jail.
07:38Number four, R. Kelly.
07:40It wasn't until 2021 that R. Kelly, the R&B singer with a notorious history
07:45of sexually abusing minors, was finally brought to justice.
07:49He got 20 years in prison today. He will serve all but one of those years simultaneously.
07:55However, many years earlier, in 2008, Kelly showed a talent for dodging tough questions
08:00when he was asked about his troubling behavior. During a BET interview with journalist Ture,
08:05he was asked whether he liked teenage girls.
08:07When you say teenage, how are we talking?
08:11Girls who are teenagers.
08:1419?
08:1619 and younger.
08:17While the question was straightforward, Kelly's evasive response raised serious concerns.
08:23His reluctance to give a clear answer hinted at the dark reality that would later surface.
08:28In hindsight, this exchange feels like an ominous warning of the long-overdue
08:32legal reckoning that awaited the singer.
08:34They've said that they're concerned that you like underage girls.
08:39Let me put it to you this way, man, you know,
08:42unfortunately, the people that don't work for me,
08:47says that the people that do work for me, don't say that.
08:52Number three, Charlie Sheen.
08:55After personal issues led to his dismissal from Two and a Half Men,
08:58this disgraced actor spoke to several media outlets.
09:01Choices I was making were not leading to the results that I wanted.
09:05So I woke up and said, dude, you're 45 with five kids. Let's,
09:08let's do something different because this thing is boring.
09:11But far from clearing his name,
09:13Sheen's attempts to explain himself only left the public more confused,
09:17not to mention a little alarmed.
09:19Man, they don't know me.
09:20And the same people talking about those incidents weren't there,
09:22so how much can they really discuss a situation they were not involved with?
09:26You know, at that point, it's all just judgment and opinion and just the gibberish of fools.
09:30In appearances on ABC, NBC, TMZ, and more,
09:35Sheen hinted at his chaotic lifestyle and used bizarre phrases like
09:39tiger blood and Adonis DNA, whatever that means.
09:43Sheen's cavalier attitude made it clear that his tumultuous life
09:46was on a collision course with the law.
09:48You can't process me with a normal brain.
09:50No lies detected.
09:51The LAPD descended on Charlie Sheen's home.
09:55They were searching for guns, which would be a violation of his restraining order.
09:59Number two, Bill Cosby.
10:02For much of the late 20th century, Cosby was celebrated as America's dad,
10:06entertaining viewers of all ages on stage and screen.
10:09Now, we've gone around here about 800 times.
10:11Don't you think it's time for you to ride this without my hand on the back of the seat?
10:16I might fall.
10:17You're not going to fall. I will catch you.
10:19No, you won't.
10:21This made it all the more devastating for his fans and supporters when, in 2014,
10:25it was revealed that he had spent pretty much his entire career
10:29committing horrific sexual assaults.
10:31After the world learned of his crimes,
10:33a comment he made to Larry King in 1991 took on an especially chilling tone.
10:37Spanish fly was the thing that all boys from age 11 on up to death,
10:46we will still be searching for Spanish fly.
10:50Cosby's offhand joke about Spanish fly,
10:53a substance he claimed would make women more compliant,
10:55was initially dismissed as a humorous anecdote.
10:58However, in hindsight, it reveals a troubling reference
11:01to the heinous accusations that would ultimately lead to Cosby's conviction.
11:05Bill Cosby found guilty.
11:07The actor and comedian, once known as America's dad,
11:10found guilty on all charges today.
11:12His head down, taking deep breaths after the verdict.
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11:31Number 1.
11:33Sean Diddy Combs
11:34Unless you live under a rock, inside a cave, on a faraway planet,
11:38you're likely aware that this popular rapper has been the subject of major controversy.
11:43Not just once, but over and over again.
11:46This morning, watch how federal agents took Sean Diddy Combs into custody.
11:49He's seen in this video entering the Park Hyatt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan with others
11:54when agents from Homeland Security Investigations approach and separate him.
11:58They place Combs under arrest and lead him out the front door in handcuffs.
12:02Among the worst of Combs' alleged offenses occurred at what he called his parties,
12:06events which may have included significant unsavory acts.
12:10Disturbingly, a comment Combs made in 1999
12:13suggests he realized his actions were reprehensible even then.
12:17Your parties are the hottest ticket around.
12:20They won't even give me a permit for the parties, man.
12:22They don't want me to throw the parties no more.
12:24Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, Combs, known back then as Puff Daddy,
12:28mentioned that his parties were becoming legendary
12:30and surmised they'd eventually land him in jail.
12:32Though the comment came across as a joke, if not a twisted flex,
12:36it now seems quite prophetic in light of Combs' later legal troubles.
12:40A lot of people out there that feel intimidated by it.
12:43It ain't nothing but break it down racial barriers, break it down generation barriers.
12:48Which of these celebrity arrests could you see coming a mile away?
12:51Let us know in the comments.
12:53Got in a lot of trouble, of course, you know, because I was violent when I came out.
12:57I think I was real bitter when I came out. That's the reason I went that way.
13:00Do you agree with our picks?
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