Top 10 Times Actors Ruined Their Own Lives

  • 9 months ago
These celebrities have no one to blame but themselves. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at once-respected actors who made decisions that ruined their careers, reputations, and personal lives (sometimes in one fell swoop).

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00:00 Tonight, Bill Cosby is spending his first night behind bars.
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at once respected actors
00:08 who made decisions that ruined their careers, reputations, and personal lives,
00:12 sometimes in one fell swoop.
00:13 In the wake of the 2021 scandal,
00:15 Armie was dropped by his agency and fired from several upcoming projects.
00:19 Number 10, James Woods.
00:23 You're really crazy.
00:24 Don't you ever say that to me.
00:28 Don't you ever say that to me again!
00:30 Whether in front of the camera or behind a microphone,
00:32 James Woods stood out as one of Hollywood's most charismatic actors for decades.
00:36 His stature would likely still be intact if only he stayed off social media.
00:41 On X, or Twitter, as the old guard still calls it,
00:43 Woods has served as one of the loudest cheerleaders for former President Donald Trump.
00:48 I'm about to rearrange the cosmos.
00:52 And the one shmeel who can last it up
00:56 is waltzing around in a wire.
01:00 Supporting controversial politicians aside,
01:02 Woods has come under fire for making homophobic and other insensitive comments.
01:06 In 2018, Woods' talent agency dropped him as a client,
01:10 while Family Guy cut ties with the fan-favorite guest star.
01:13 Woods has vowed to sue the Democratic National Committee,
01:16 claiming that his career has been destroyed by these very people,
01:19 although his actions are his own.
01:21 Alright, Quahog, are you ready to see your new sign?
01:24 [Cheering]
01:27 Oh, are we going that way?
01:29 I don't know, Joanna. What direction are we going?
01:32 [Suspenseful music]
01:35 Number 9, Felicity Huffman.
01:38 With nepotism being all the rage,
01:40 this Oscar-nominated actress probably could have gotten her daughter Sophia
01:44 into a good college through name recognition,
01:46 or by making a sizable donation.
01:48 The bust is called Operation Varsity Blues,
01:51 and the accusations range from paying thousands of dollars for higher SAT scores
01:55 to presenting students as top athletes in sports they never even played.
02:00 Apparently, that wouldn't have come off as privileged enough.
02:02 Pursuing a more illegal path,
02:04 Huffman was accused of paying someone to take her daughter's SAT in 2019.
02:08 The prosecutor said, "There is no excuse for what she did.
02:12 Parenthood does not make you a felon or a cheat."
02:15 She was one of several implicated in the Varsity Blues conspiracy,
02:19 which included Lori Loughlin.
02:21 Just as Loughlin and her husband had a brief stay in prison following guilty pleas,
02:25 Huffman served two weeks in addition to paying a $30,000 fine
02:29 and receiving 250 community service hours.
02:31 Some may say she got off easy, but Huffman's career has yet to recover.
02:35 We wonder how Mr. Macy feels about this.
02:37 Why hasn't William H. Macy been charged?
02:40 I expect this was the source of much debate among federal prosecutors behind doors.
02:46 Number 8, Charlie Sheen.
02:48 By 2010, Two and a Half Men was the highest-rated sitcom in primetime,
02:52 and Charlie Sheen was TV's most handsomely paid star,
02:55 making just under $2 million per episode.
02:57 Uncle Charlie had it made,
02:59 but his issues behind the scenes soon engulfed his career like a mushroom cloud.
03:03 I'm bi-winning.
03:05 I win here and I win there.
03:06 Given how well the show was performing,
03:08 Sheen still felt he wasn't making enough,
03:10 all while bad-mouthing creator Chuck Lorre.
03:12 Between Sheen's legal troubles and showing little improvement after multiple trips to rehab,
03:17 Warner Bros. finally decided enough was enough,
03:19 replacing the star with Ashton Kutcher.
03:21 Release the dogs.
03:23 The series, Anger Management, capitalized on his notoriety,
03:28 but Sheen has since become better known for his bizarre interviews.
03:31 Too bad Sheen couldn't monetize all of the winning memes he inspired.
03:34 You may think I'm losing, but I'm not.
03:37 I'm... Anyway, you get the idea.
03:38 Number 7, Jussie Smollett.
03:40 Hate crimes remain a serious issue.
03:43 When somebody fakes such a heinous offense,
03:45 it not only takes attention away from those in need,
03:47 but it slows progress that already isn't moving fast enough.
03:50 Early Tuesday morning, Smollett says he was approached by two men
03:54 yelling out racial and homophobic slurs.
03:57 While staging a crime like this is unacceptable under any circumstance,
04:00 getting a grasp on Jussie Smollett's motivations is especially mind-numbing.
04:04 The former child star achieved a breakout role as Jamal Vayan
04:08 on the raiding juggernaut, Empire.
04:10 ♪ Malcolm's probably turning in his grave ♪
04:17 ♪ Every shade was beautifully made ♪
04:23 Fans were heartbroken when they heard Smollett was attacked
04:25 outside his apartment complex.
04:27 That was until news broke that Smollett staged the incident,
04:30 paying two brothers.
04:31 Reportedly, Smollett's actions stemmed from being dissatisfied with his salary.
04:35 Jamal was noticeably absent from the final season of Empire,
04:38 as Smollett faced a storm of ongoing legal battles.
04:41 Somebody help us! Somebody!
04:44 Number 6, Michael Richards.
04:46 This Emmy-winning comedian rose to icon status as Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld.
04:51 Following the failure of the Michael Richards show,
04:53 he disappeared from the limelight for nearly six years.
04:56 Just need a nose job.
04:57 [laughter]
05:04 - Kramer! - What? What?
05:06 How can you say something like that?
05:09 What? What do you mean?
05:10 When Richards resurfaced, it wasn't a comeback,
05:12 but rather a final nail in his career.
05:15 Anyone who had never heard of TMZ or The Laugh Factory
05:18 became familiar with both after footage of Richards'
05:21 racist on-stage tirade made the rounds.
05:23 You can talk! You can talk! You can talk!
05:26 Richards' attempts to apologize backfired,
05:28 contacting Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton
05:30 when many felt he should have been reaching out
05:32 to the audience members he yelled at.
05:34 Richards has never been able to live down the incident,
05:36 only landing a handful of roles since.
05:38 I'm really busted up over this, and I'm very, very sorry.
05:42 This includes him playing himself
05:44 in a meta "curb your enthusiasm" story arc.
05:46 Number 5, Roseanne Barr.
05:49 From her infamous Star Spangled Banner performance
05:51 to dressing up as the Führer for a magazine shoot,
05:54 Roseanne Barr is no stranger to controversy.
05:56 Roseanne Barr, I'm sorry!
05:59 I'm so sorry!
06:02 2018 provided a clean slate.
06:04 Her hit sitcom was back on the air,
06:06 assembling longtime fans while gaining new ones.
06:08 All she had to do was not say anything reprehensible.
06:11 That said, Disney knew that they were taking a risk on Roseanne.
06:15 You're acting like a crazy psychopath.
06:16 Well, the voices in my head disagree.
06:19 Amid the show's resurgence,
06:20 Bob Iger recalled having lunch with Barr,
06:22 telling her, "You've got to stay off Twitter.
06:24 You've got a great thing going here. Don't blow it."
06:27 So what did Roseanne do?
06:29 She went on Twitter, made some racist comments
06:31 about Valerie Jarrett of the Obama administration,
06:34 and blew it.
06:35 The Conner family's return on March 27th
06:38 was the highest-rated comedy episode
06:40 on any network in almost four years.
06:43 Number four, Armie Hammer.
06:45 Armie Hammer was seemingly on the verge of superstardom,
06:48 especially with his acclaimed performance
06:50 in Call Me By Your Name.
06:51 The House of Hammer, as some have called it,
06:53 came crashing down in early 2021
06:56 when a series of concerning texts
06:57 between the actor and several women surfaced.
07:00 I had lost my entire sense of self.
07:04 Your head's completely.
07:07 While the legitimacy of the text was called into question,
07:09 further allegations painted a disturbing pattern
07:12 of behavior on Hammer's part.
07:13 It wasn't long until Hammer found himself
07:15 dropping out of roles across film, TV, and theater,
07:18 not to mention losing his talent agency.
07:20 These assertions about Mr. Hammer are patently untrue.
07:24 The authorities chose not to seek charges
07:26 due to limited evidence.
07:27 With the allegations changing how many perceive Hammer, though,
07:30 it'll be much harder for him to find a job in this town.
07:33 I don't want you to regret anything.
07:35 And I hate the thought that maybe I may have messed you up.
07:40 I don't want either of us to pay for this.
07:42 Number three, Danny Masterson.
07:44 A fixture of the late '90s and early 2000s,
07:47 ironically thanks to a program called That '70s Show,
07:49 Danny Masterson was instantly recognizable as Stephen Hyde.
07:52 I'm a joker.
07:54 I'm a smoker.
07:55 I'm a midnight talker.
07:58 While he never played another character quite as popular,
08:00 Masterson still found steady employment
08:02 through Men at Work and The Ranch.
08:04 He became unhirable after multiple women
08:07 accused him of assault. From 2018 onward,
08:09 Masterson saw no new acting gigs,
08:12 but his court appearances kept him in the public eye
08:14 for the worst reasons.
08:15 The jury deadlocked on her case in the retrial,
08:18 but found Masterson guilty.
08:20 The controversy climaxed in 2023,
08:22 when Masterson received a sentence
08:24 ranging from 30 years to life.
08:26 If successfully paroled after 25.5 years,
08:29 Masterson would be roughly 72 when released.
08:31 As shocked as fans were, the evidence against Masterson
08:34 might have been hiding in plain sight.
08:36 Um, I've heard about you.
08:37 Uh, and you'll be caught soon.
08:40 Number two, Kevin Spacey.
08:42 Winning two Oscars and helping to put Netflix
08:44 on the map as Frank Underwood,
08:46 Kevin Spacey's career appeared invincible.
08:48 Linda Vasquez, Walker's chief of staff.
08:51 I got her high.
08:52 She's a woman, check, and a Latina, check,
08:54 but more importantly than that,
08:56 she's as tough as a $2 stick.
08:58 Check, check, check.
08:59 In reality, Spacey's career was as sturdy
09:01 as a house of cards.
09:03 It finally collapsed in 2017,
09:05 when actor Anthony Rapp came forward
09:07 in what would be the first of numerous
09:08 high-profile allegations against Spacey.
09:11 Netflix promptly fired Spacey,
09:12 while Ridley Scott reshot his scenes
09:14 in "All the Money in the World."
09:16 Although Spacey has been cleared of the charges against him,
09:19 the court of public opinion's verdict
09:20 remains generally unfavorable, to say the least.
09:22 But I'm enormously grateful to the jury
09:26 for having taken the time
09:27 to examine all of the evidence and all of the facts.
09:32 Spacey nonetheless seems determined to make a comeback.
09:35 Even if he finds work here and there,
09:37 it's hard to imagine Spacey ever regaining his standing
09:39 as a bankable star.
09:40 How are you?
09:41 That has been a long time since anybody asked me that.
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10:08 Number one, Bill Cosby.
10:10 Cliff Huxtable, Alexander Scott, America's Dad,
10:14 these are just some of the names
10:15 that seem destined to define Bill Cosby's legendary career.
10:18 That was all wiped out when Cosby's history
10:21 of assault allegations entered the mainstream consciousness.
10:24 - Today, the 81-year-old Cosby handcuffed.
10:26 - While rumors about Cosby have been circulating for years,
10:29 many assume they were exaggerated or baseless.
10:32 It wasn't until more women spoke up in 2014
10:34 that the public began to seriously question
10:36 the comedy icon's innocence.
10:38 Cosby would be proven guilty in 2018,
10:40 only to be released on a technicality after three years.
10:43 - Cameras captured Cosby returning to his home
10:45 outside Philadelphia just hours after the ruling came out.
10:49 - Despite being a free man for now,
10:51 there's no question that Cosby ruined his life.
10:53 He ruined numerous others in the process,
10:55 while also letting down a generation that once idolized him.
10:58 - Elvin, we're married now.
10:59 You can call him Dad.
11:01 - May I? - No.
11:02 - Which acting fall from grace shocked you the most?
11:05 Let us know in the comments.
11:06 - You can't fire me.
11:07 I quit.
11:08 (upbeat music)
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