• 3 weeks ago
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.

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