These celeb interviews likely did not go as planned. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining our picks for the most shocking times famous faces saw their careers take a drastic nosedive after an interview.
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00:00You know there are a lot of rumors out there right now,
00:02and you would like to address them head on, so I'll give it to you.
00:06I have to, yeah.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're examining the most shocking times
00:11famous faces saw their careers take a drastic nosedive after an interview.
00:16We'll explore what happened in the chat and the negative outcome on their jobs.
00:21If the attackers are never found, how will you be able to heal?
00:27Rachel Zegler
00:29You said you were bringing a modern edge to it on stage. What do you mean by that?
00:33I just mean that it's no longer 1937.
00:35It's not often that the far right and Disney fans find common ground.
00:40Unfortunately for Zegler, when they did, it was to unite against her.
00:44After coming on the scene with 2021's West Side Story,
00:48Zegler was cast as the lead in 2025's Snow White.
00:51However, when talking about the role with Variety at the D23 Expo,
00:56Zegler drew the ire of some.
00:58Many look back fondly on Disney's first ever animated feature,
01:02regardless of some problematic themes in the modern era.
01:05Zegler heavily criticized the original film,
01:08and also appeared to condemn the idea of women dreaming about love,
01:12instead choosing to promote female leadership.
01:15Zegler's words, mixed with other controversies,
01:18vastly damped excitement for the film.
01:20She's not going to be saved by the prince,
01:22and she's not going to be dreaming about true love.
01:24She's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.
01:27Vanilla Ice
01:28In 1990, he was everywhere after the success of Ice Ice Baby.
01:33But by the end of the decade, Ice's popularity had dwindled
01:36after a string of unsuccessful songs,
01:38and an incident where he threatened someone experiencing homelessness.
01:42That year, Vanilla Ice was invited to the MTV show 25 Lame.
01:48After heavily critiquing his work,
01:50Ice was asked to retire the music video for Ice Ice Baby
01:53by destroying the master tape with a baseball bat.
01:57He took one swing at it before destroying the set.
02:00At one point, it looked like Ice was going to strike Jon Stewart.
02:04The media turned on the rapper,
02:05taking shots at him for his performance and calling him washed up.
02:09Ice experienced a brief stint of popularity afterward,
02:13but soon faded back into obscurity.
02:17I don't like the beanbag.
02:19I think you're getting a feeling now of how important this was.
02:22Shia LaBeouf
02:23Name's Mutt, Mutt Williams.
02:26Mutt?
02:26Yeah.
02:27God, her name is...
02:29So when I picked, you got a problem with it?
02:31In 2008, he was set to garner great acclaim
02:34when he was cast in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
02:37However, when the film was critically panned,
02:40LaBeouf was asked about the experience.
02:42In an interview with the Los Angeles Times,
02:45he talked about his disappointment with the outcome
02:47and was upset about letting fans down.
02:49Years later, however, LaBeouf said he regretted his previous comments,
02:54as it caused a rift between him and Steven Spielberg.
02:57In 2016, in an interview with Variety, the actor changed track once more.
03:02He spoke about dreaming of working with Spielberg,
03:05but finding that, when the dream finally came to fruition,
03:08the experience was overall negative.
03:11The duo hasn't worked together since,
03:13and LaBeouf developed ill repute in the industry.
03:17Sean Connery
03:18Not the worst thing to slap a woman now and then.
03:20As I remember, you said you don't do it with a clenched fist,
03:23it's better to do it with an open hand.
03:25Yeah, remember that?
03:26Yeah.
03:26Seen by some as the best James Bond ever,
03:30Sean Connery has also been deemed incredibly problematic
03:33due to his comments about domestic violence towards women.
03:37After several interviews over the years
03:39where Connery admitted to being violent himself,
03:41in 1987, he sat down with Barbara Walters for ABC.
03:46She brought up his previous comments, and Connery stood by what he said.
03:50Later on, Connery would claim the interview was out of context.
03:54While he didn't see his career fall too much at the time,
03:57the incident returned to haunt him by the time he retired,
04:00and he had to cancel media appearances due to the backlash.
04:04Every so often, the Walters interview comes back into focus,
04:08and Connery's legacy becomes more tarnished.
04:11You think it's good to slap a woman?
04:12No, I don't think it's good.
04:14I don't think it's bad.
04:15I don't think it's that bad.
04:17I think that it depends entirely on the circumstances and if it merits it.
04:21Glenn Hoddle.
04:22They are stating that I've come out and said
04:24that people with disabled and handicapped are being punished for their sins.
04:29Being an English football manager is a huge opportunity.
04:32In 1996, former midfielder Glenn Hoddle was given the prestigious role.
04:38Yet in 1999, he destroyed everything during an interview with the Times
04:42when he defended his relationship with faith healer Eileen Drury and his beliefs.
04:48Hoddle implied that disabled people are, quote,
04:51being punished for sins in a former life.
04:54He was widely condemned, with the public overwhelmingly calling for his firing.
04:58And a few days later, Hoddle was sacked as England manager.
05:02While he had several other managerial jobs and punditry work after,
05:07he never reached quite the same level of prestige again.
05:10I've never said that.
05:11Or that their disability might have something to do
05:14with something they did in their previous lives.
05:15Well, I don't know about that.
05:17John Rocker.
05:18Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians
05:22and Spanish people and everything up there.
05:24How the hell do they get in this country?
05:27In 1999, he was living the high life as a relief pitcher for the MLB team, the Atlanta Braves.
05:33However, an interview with Sports Illustrated soon showed the world Rocker's true colors.
05:38On top of picking on colleague Randall Simon,
05:41as well as New York City and their baseball franchises,
05:44Rocker also took aim at foreigners and the LGBTQIA plus community with insults and slurs.
05:51It was a mess and a PR nightmare for the Braves and the MLB as a whole.
05:57As such, the baseball authority suspended the pitcher for a month and fined him.
06:01He was traded in 2001 and spent the next few years bouncing around teams
06:06and making more controversial statements before retiring.
06:10Ladies and gentlemen, the most hated man in New York City right now,
06:14I'm not speaking about myself, is definitely Atlanta Braves relief pitcher John Rocker.
06:21Julianna Rancic.
06:22I love Zendaya's style and I love when she has the little hair, she just had it.
06:26On top of co-anchoring E! News, Rancic was a major contributor to the show Fashion Police,
06:31which focused on celebrity fashion.
06:34Well, in 2015, Rancic took aim at Zendaya, who was 18 at the time.
06:39Rancic evaluated the actress' choice to wear dreadlocks to the Oscars,
06:44making some very heinous remarks we won't repeat here.
06:47They drew gasps from the crowd, and even Zendaya herself couldn't let Rancic go unchecked.
06:53She responded with a thoughtful and blistering critique,
06:56calling out the reporter for her ignorance and racism.
07:00Rancic apologized on social media, and in an interview with Access Hollywood,
07:05claimed her joke was taken out of context.
07:08The reporter was forced to step down from her E! News role before she returned briefly in 2018.
07:14Roy Keane.
07:15I had to do the game 4-1, what did they want me to say? The team played well.
07:21As captain of English footballing juggernauts Manchester United,
07:25and after leading them to many trophies, Keane seemingly had it all.
07:30But his hot-headedness led to his downfall.
07:33After his team lost a game, Keane was interviewed by the club's channel, MUTV.
07:38He was brutal, systematically tearing his teammates' performances apart.
07:44The criticism was so bad that MUTV was ordered to destroy all footage.
07:49This, alongside several other incidents, led to manager Alex Ferguson agreeing
07:54to terminate Keane's contract. Keane soon joined Scotland's Celtic,
07:59but only lasted six months before retiring.
08:02It was a startling fall from grace for one of United's greatest captains,
08:06one which left his relationship with Ferguson in shambles.
08:10For one reason or another, he decided to go and criticize his teammates,
08:13and so most of you have not seen that video, but he couldn't release it.
08:18Sarah Palin.
08:19It's funny that a comment like that was kind of made to, I don't know, you know, reporters.
08:27Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word.
08:29At one point, she was a rising star in the Republican Party, so much so that John McCain
08:34selected Palin as his vice presidential candidate in the 2008 election. However,
08:39when she met Katie Couric for CBS Evening News, it all came apart. In a series of interviews
08:45released over a couple of days, Palin looked worse and worse. She stumbled over her responses,
08:51uttered some that made little sense, and seemed ignorant. For example, when she was asked what
08:57newspapers or magazines she read, the VP hopeful stated, quote, most of them. The baffling series
09:03drew further mockery when Saturday Night Live parodied the incident. With her poll numbers
09:08dropping, some Republicans called for Palin's resignation, but she stayed and the party lost
09:14the election. What was the dynamic after? Well, on a human level, I felt bad for her because she
09:19was clearly struggling. Jimmy the Greek Snyder. Hey, we need to get more black coaches.
09:24Oh, it's all right with me. I'm sure that they'll take over that pretty soon, too.
09:28Coming to fame as a bookmaker, Snyder joined the NFL Today in 1976 as a regular contributor,
09:34who often alluded to betting. In 1988, he was interviewed by WRC-TV in celebration of Martin
09:41Luther King Jr.'s birthday. However, it soon went off the rails when Snyder made some abhorrent,
09:48racist comments about African-American athletes. People were outraged, to say the least, and CBS
09:54swiftly fired Snyder from the NFL Today. Subsequently, Snyder sued the broadcaster for
10:00wrongful dismissal, citing age discrimination, defamation, and breach of contract, but ultimately
10:06lost the case. While we deplore the incident this weekend, we are saddened that our 12-year
10:11association with Jimmy had to end this way. Joaquin Phoenix. Today, Joaquin Phoenix is a
10:18multi-time Oscar nominee and winner, but in 2009, his career was in a very different realm after
10:25appearing on The Late Show with David Letterman. Is there something wrong? I can't be the first
10:29one to make you feel weird about it. No, I guess not. Wearing sunglasses and a big, bushy beard,
10:37Phoenix mumbled awkwardly through the discussion, causing the host to take verbal shots at him.
10:43What, uh, well, can you tell us about your days with the Unabomber? While this turned out to be
10:47a spoof for his mockumentary, I'm Still Here, the media genuinely believed Phoenix was having a
10:53breakdown, and producers stayed away from him. But you, you are, you're not gonna act anymore?
11:00No. Oh, why is that?
11:04Mmm, I don't know. The actor admitted in a later interview that the quality of script sent to
11:11entice him had vastly dropped after the stunt. It took several critically acclaimed projects to put
11:17Phoenix's career back on track. Thank you for letting me come on the show. Yes, well, we've
11:22been dying to have you back a year and a half. Belle Gibson. Are you prepared to tell the truth
11:27today? The whole truth? Absolutely. Truths, no gobbledygook. No, I've been really transparent.
11:34In 2013, Australian Belle Gibson was one of the hottest new wellness influencers on the market
11:41after launching her mobile app, The Whole Pantry. After releasing various cookbooks,
11:46life seemed to be going great for her. But then, Gibson told the world she had contracted several
11:52cancers, but was managing the progression with her healthy lifestyle. And you've just admitted
11:57that you didn't say it was at your home, and it wasn't with a real doctor, because you thought
12:02people would be disappointed in you. No, I believed he was a real doctor. Yet in 2015,
12:07rumors emerged that Gibson was lying about having the disease and her donations to charity. I've
12:13been openly conveying and speaking about what was my reality, and what is my reality today.
12:21And will you accept that your reality does not actually match reality? With the pressure mounting,
12:26she spoke with the magazine, The Australian Women's Weekly, where she admitted she'd been
12:31lying and blamed her behavior on her upbringing. This tanked her career in an instant. In 2017,
12:38Gibson was fined $410,000 for her deceptions. Despite being given a four-month deadline,
12:47you're still alive? Yeah.
12:49Was that an indicator to you that you didn't have brain cancer?
12:53It wasn't an indicator.
12:54Alex Pettifer
12:55If you're a blossoming actor in Hollywood, it's not a great idea to slam the city where you make
13:01a living. But that's what England's Alex Pettifer did in 2011. After making his name in I Am Number
13:074 and Stormbreaker, the actor's career appeared to be going swell. Then, Pettifer spoke to V-Man
13:14for an article. Within it, he slated Los Angeles in an expletive-filled interview. Among many,
13:21many insults, he called the city a, quote, insidious pool and socially, quote, disgusting,
13:28slated the women living there, and described an acting career like being in prison. Yikes.
13:33This, on top of a reputation as being difficult to work with,
13:37caused Pettifer's career to stagnate as big-budget productions looked elsewhere for talent.
13:43Tom Cruise
13:442005 was a dark mark in the career of Tom Cruise. Firstly,
13:49there was his bizarre behavior on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
13:59Cruise followed that by publicly criticizing Brooke Shields for admitting she used
14:04antidepressants after developing postpartum depression. The actor then went on to the
14:09Today program to speak with Matt Lauer about his opinions. And it was rough.
14:21An erratic Cruise doubled down on his anti-psychiatry views, calling it a, quote,
14:27pseudoscience. His very patronizing approach did Cruise no favors,
14:38as he combated Lauer's questions. With all the scandal, Paramount Pictures cut ties with the
14:44actor in 2006 after 14 years. But eventually, that relationship recovered. Steven Spielberg
14:51also denounced Cruise's actions in 2005. However, the duo reconciled in 2023.
14:57We've never seen you behave this way before. I know. Have you ever felt this way before?
15:04Piers Morgan
15:05By 2014, thanks to poor ratings, Piers Morgan's reign on CNN was ending. In his final days,
15:12he interviewed comedian Chelsea Handler. And she wrecked him. Handler slated his lack of
15:18attention and called him a, quote, terrible interviewer. I mean, you can't even pay
15:23attention for 60 seconds. You're a terrible interviewer. Well, you just weren't keeping
15:27my attention. That's more of an issue for you than me. That's not my problem.
15:30While Morgan attempted to save face by claiming the guest had to be interesting,
15:34Handler pointed out that it was his job to do that.
15:37This is your show. You have to pay attention to the guests that you invited on your show.
15:40If they're interesting enough. Yeah, they are. Listen, it doesn't matter
15:43how interesting I am. You signed up for this job. Of course it does.
15:46Well, maybe that's why your job is coming to an end.
15:48With his U.S. reputation in shambles, Morgan returned to the U.K. and joined Good Morning
15:53Britain. This is a two-hour trash-a-thon of our royal family.
15:58But after he went off on a rant about Meghan Markle disclosing her mental health struggles,
16:03he was called out by fellow presenter Alex Beresford, causing Morgan to walk off.
16:08Yet you continue to trash her. Okay, I'm done with this.
16:11No, no, no. Sorry.
16:12No. Sorry.
16:13Do you know what? That's pathetic. You can trash me, but not my own daughter.
16:15No, no, no. See you later.
16:16Later, he resigned from the show and has struggled for relevance since.
16:20Absolutely diabolical behavior.
16:23Liam Neeson
16:24This interview had social media bursting at the seams with comments for and against the
16:29Irish actor. While promoting one of his movies, Neeson opened up in an interview about the time
16:34one of his close friends was sexually assaulted by a black man.
16:38To get rid of this. I'm not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago. But because I was brought
16:47up in – maybe I'm rabbiting on wrong, so forgive me. I was brought up in the north of Ireland and
16:52brought up in the Troubles.
16:54He said that after finding out, he walked the streets looking for trouble,
16:57hoping to kill a black man, before realizing that what he was doing was wrong,
17:01and feeling ashamed of himself. Many branded him a racist, while others defended his honesty,
17:07including celebrities such as Trevor Noah and Whoopi Goldberg.
17:10Because I believe that Liam Neeson deserves a medal, and I'll tell you why.
17:13It may not have destroyed his career, but it certainly put a fork in the road of his likability.
17:18John Mayer
17:20At one point, John Mayer had the reputation of a quality musician who was seemingly going to reach
17:25legendary status one day. But then, he spoke to Playboy magazine in 2010 and destroyed that
17:31possibility.
17:32He is giving this interview to Playboy magazine. He wants to be provocative,
17:36and he tried a little too hard.
17:38On top of being gross about his past relationships with Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston,
17:43Sexually, it was crazy.
17:45Mayer compared, quote,
17:46Little John to white supremacist David Duke, and threw in racial slurs a couple of times.
17:53Yikes.
17:54While Mayer apologized on social media, in other interviews, and at gigs,
17:58he never reached those lofty heights again.
18:01None of his released singles have reached the top 25 on the U.S. Billboard chart since
18:052010's Half of My Heart with Taylor Swift.
18:15Chris Harrison
18:17For 19 years, Chris Harrison was an American icon with his work on The Bachelor and its
18:22spinoff The Bachelorette and many more. But then, in 2021, he was interviewed by Rachel Lindsay,
18:29a former Bachelorette, for Extra. This is when his career fell off.
18:34Harrison discussed the actions of alumni Rachel Kirkconnell after photos of her at college
18:39attending a plantation-themed party came out and liked racial posts on social media.
18:45Is it a good look in 2018 or is it not a good look in 2021?
18:48It's not a good look ever.
18:51It's hard to defend that. But Harrison did his best,
18:54even throwing in the term woke police and saying people shouldn't judge.
18:59Ew.
18:59The public backlash was massive. Lindsay quit the franchise due to her disgust at Harrison.
19:05He was suspended and later fired by The Bachelor.
19:08Antebellum parties are not okay. Past, present, future.
19:15Paula Deen
19:16I'm so happy to be showing y'all my new stoneware.
19:19Specializing in Southern cooking, Paula Deen seemed like a nice and kind person during her
19:24cooking show Paula's Best Dishes. But when a lawsuit came her way in 2013, her deposition
19:30threw that assumption in the bin when she stated she used racial slurs several times
19:35and had considered a plantation-themed wedding. Yikes.
19:39As the backlash grew, Deen was interviewed on The Today Show to discuss the controversy.
19:44And it was weird.
19:45If there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back.
19:57Painting herself as a victim of slander,
19:59she stated she wouldn't have fired herself for the fallout. But most notable was the
20:04lack of sorry from Deen, except for referring to an apology video she'd made.
20:09Afterward, more companies cut ties with Deen as she fell into obscurity.
20:14Michael Jackson
20:15Interviewed by Martin Bashir for a year and broadcast to the world in 2003,
20:20the documentary Living with Michael Jackson shocked viewers with a couple of
20:24massive revelations from the singer.
20:26These we bought. And these. This table. These. These.
20:35Firstly, Jackson spoke about the abuse he sustained at his father's hands when he grew up.
20:40But then, the thriller performer stated that he had had sleepovers with children in his bedroom.
20:46But he emphasized that nothing untoward happened.
20:49When Gavin was there, he talked about the fact that he shares your bedroom.
20:52Yes. Can you understand why people would worry about that?
20:57Because they're ignorant.
20:59The backlash was massive from the public. This brought to life the infamous trial of
21:04The People vs. Jackson in 2005. While Jackson was acquitted on all counts,
21:09the damage done to his reputation was permanent. On top of that,
21:12he faced bankruptcy from other lawsuits before he passed away in 2009.
21:18Black people were called colored people because we come in all colors.
21:22From very white, as white as my hand, to very dark.
21:26Lance Armstrong
21:27Seen as a hero for facing cancer and becoming a dominant force in professional cycling,
21:32Lance Armstrong was beloved and one of the best athletes ever. But then,
21:37the rumors that he had had all his success on the back of doping began to emerge. In 2012,
21:43the United States Anti-Doping Agency stripped him of all his wins since 1998. While he denied it,
21:50Armstrong was then interviewed by Oprah Winfrey in 2013.
21:54Yes or no, did you ever take banned substances to enhance your cycling performance?
21:59Yes.
21:59Here, the former legend told the truth and admitted his cheating but denied
22:04allegations he had forced teammates to dope and bribed officials to hide his test results.
22:10Did you ever blood dope or use blood transfusions to enhance your cycling performance?
22:15Yes.
22:15Afterward, brands such as Nike cancelled contracts with him,
22:19reportedly costing Armstrong millions of dollars.
22:23Did you ever use any other banned substances like testosterone,
22:27cortisone, or human growth hormone?
22:30Yes.
22:30Billy Bush
22:32While not an official interview per se, we're going to allow this Access Hollywood footage
22:37due to how notorious and career-ruining it became. It was actually captured before
22:43presenter Billy Bush and Donald Trump were able to cruise into a TV studio to do some filming,
22:49and while they were unaware that their microphones were on.
22:52I moved on her, actually. You know, she was down on Palm Beach. I moved on her and I failed.
22:56I'll admit it. I did try and f*** her. She was married.
22:59It's huge news, Sarah.
23:00While on the bus, they riff about Trump's sexual escapades, which include groping women,
23:05and discuss how power can give you free reign to do whatever you want.
23:08I gotta use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her.
23:12You know, I'm automatically attracted to beautiful women. I just start kissing them.
23:15It's like a magnet. I just kiss them. I don't even wait. And when you're a star,
23:19they let you do it. You can do anything.
23:21Whatever you want.
23:22Grab them by the d***.
23:23We even hear them talking about how attractive they think Days of Our Lives actress Ariane
23:27Zucker is before meeting her when they get off the bus.
23:30Bush was suspended from his job on The Today Show following a ratings drop,
23:34and subsequently resigned. He's since had to repeatedly defend himself in interviews.
23:38The moment that is on that tape, I understand people's reaction. I agree. I also felt that way.
23:49If you're a band, being interviewed by Rolling Stone magazine is a big,
23:53big deal. So much so that it can be easy to get carried away with trying to sound
23:58overtly rock and roll. And that's exactly what happened with the band 5 Seconds of Summer.
24:02In a 2015 interview, the band did everything from compare themselves to the Beatles,
24:07to dismissing or insulting the American Music Awards, Justin Bieber, and their female fanbase,
24:13also known as most of their fanbase. They were criticized for their comments and for
24:17generally sounding like narcissistic prima donnas. It probably didn't help that they
24:22appeared naked on the front cover either. Paula Abdul
24:37You know when you're under the influence, but you don't think you sound like you are?
24:42Well, there's a good chance that Paula Abdul knows what that feels like, at least in hindsight.
24:46In this 2007 interview, she's promoting the latest series of American Idol,
24:51while she would later dismiss the idea as lies, many viewers wondered if she'd had a few drinks,
24:56or partaken in another type of stimuli. Delayed responses, bouts of laughter, this one has it all.
25:14The interview went viral, becoming an inescapable part of Abdul's career.
25:18Two years later, she left American Idol as a judge due to a dispute over wages,
25:22and dropped out of the public eye for a while.
25:27Next up, we have another misguided attempt at sounding hardcore in a magazine interview,
25:32this time courtesy of the musical duo The Chainsmokers, who let it all hang out with Billboard.
25:37When asked about their manic musical romps, they were all too eager to brag about their
25:51wild frat boy image, and penchant for sleeping with as many girls as possible, even though they
25:57both had girlfriends. The two were heavily criticized, and briefly became the talk of
26:01the musical world for all the wrong reasons, but we shouldn't hate on them too much, right?
26:06Like they said, quote, we're just frat bro dudes, you know what I mean?
26:09Loving ladies and stuff. That's an actual quote, word for word.
26:15Deemed a car crash by many, this interview ultimately resulted in Prince Andrew stepping
26:20down from public duties for the royal family. When BBC's Emily Maitlis questioned him about
26:32his close ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the prince's answer raised
26:37many an eyebrow. For starters, Prince Andrew straight up denied ever meeting his accuser,
26:42Virginia Roberts, despite photographic evidence to the contrary. There were other shocking answers
26:52allitered throughout, like saying he didn't regret his friendship with Epstein, as it
26:56presented him with useful opportunities. The interviewer is clearly unimpressed with his
27:00answers, much like pretty much everyone else who watched it.
27:14Heigl has long had a reputation for being difficult to work with, but a 2008 interview
27:19with Vanity Fair proved particularly damning when she criticized the movie Knocked Up,
27:23which she'd just starred in. She branded the movie, quote, a little sexist, and critiqued
27:28the way in which it portrays women, which frustrated people, considering that she'd
27:32decided to be in the movie. A year later, she starred in the movie The Ugly Truth,
27:36which was widely panned as misogynistic. As a result of the entire episode, already hesitant
27:51directors were given yet another reason to be cautious about working with her.
27:59I don't have to think about it. I'm not a rude person. I'm not an unkind or mean person.
28:03Jesse Smollett
28:04There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back, and then it just stopped.
28:13In 2019, the Empire actor stated he was a victim of a hate crime. Two men accosted
28:19Smollett with slurs before physically attacking him. Everyone was horrified at the details.
28:24But then, Smollett sat down with ABC's Robin Roberts for Good Morning America for an interview,
28:30and something seemed off. He refused to give law enforcement his phone. Days later,
28:36the apparent attackers came forward with accusations that Smollett had paid them to
28:40stage the attack. Turns out they were actually extras on Empire, a show in which Smollett starred.
28:47In 2022, the actor was sentenced to 150 days in prison,
28:52and ordered to pay over $100,000 in restitution for the hoax.
28:56We are coming back with breaking news here in the trial of Jesse Smollett. You know we've been
29:01covering it. The jury has reached a verdict, and it is, at least for most of the counts,
29:06guilty for Smollett.
29:07Megan Fox
29:08As a general rule, it's probably not a good idea to compare the director you're working with
29:13to Hitler. But that's what Transformers star Megan Fox did in an interview with British magazine
29:18Wonderland. Talking about Michael Bay's conduct on set, Fox compared the director to the Nazi leader,
29:23which was soon all over the media. It ultimately resulted in her being fired from the Transformers
29:35franchise, but not by Bay. According to Bay, it was the franchise's executive producer,
29:40a certain Steven Spielberg, who insisted she be fired.
29:44She's since worked with Bay again on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles films,
29:48which the latter produced, but Fox's notable roles have otherwise been few and far between
29:52since giving this interview.
30:04This guy has said and done some seriously shocking and controversial things in his career,
30:09but the reason he's on today's list may surprise you. The interview in question is his 2015
30:14appearance on The Today Show, where he announced that he was HIV positive. While some praised his
30:32bravery, many criticized the fact that it had taken him four years to go public with it, stating that
30:38it could have endangered his sexual partners. People also took aim at Sheen's surprisingly calm
30:56demeanor as he told of his diagnosis and battle with people blackmailing him. For some, the
31:01interview humanized Sheen more than ever before. For others, it further solidified his reputation
31:06as being reckless, particularly with the lives of others. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe
31:26to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to
31:31be notified for occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go
31:36into your settings and switch on notifications. R. Kelly
31:48After years of rumors, a shocking video was released in 2002 showing the R&B singer abusing
31:54a minor. Even though he claimed it wasn't him, the case eventually went to court in 2008.
32:00Shockingly, Kelly was acquitted. Shortly after, he was interviewed by BET, and things quickly went
32:06south. While he tried to maintain he wasn't interested in anyone illegal, the damage was done.
32:13Another dire interview with Gayle King in 2019 after further allegations sealed Kelly's fate
32:18with his dramatic acting. After two trials, he was sentenced to a combined 31 years in jail.
32:25Most of this 20-year sentence will be served at the same time, as Kelly is currently serving
32:31a 30-year sentence for the New York federal conviction for sex trafficking and racketeering.