Biggest Fuckups In Entertainment History

Fatty Arbuckle.

Gretchen Mol.

Minnie Driver

Jan Michael Vincent

Michael Jackson was supposed to become this entertainment juggernaut: albums, movies, perfume, TV dinners, amusement parks...

After he went through his sizeable 1980s treasure chest he was damn near broke, living in a fan's barn in Ireland with his kids.

His behavior killed his career. His comeback killed him.

Christina Milian - Def Jam Records wanted to make her a star, but she argued with them over material. She didn't want to record 'Umbrella', so it was given to Rihanna instead.....and we know what happened there. Christina is now playing supporting roles in Lifetime Christmas movies.

What happened to Gretchen Mol? Was she really the next big thing? All I remember was Rounders

Lindsay Lohan. She was a good actress, attractive and had charm. Now she’s a coked out whore.

Judy Garland

Thread closed.

Hallo, everybody!

So sad, R7. I remember the hype around her during the time Mean Girls was released. She was set to take over Film & Music with all of those hit movies under her belt and the publicity buildup she was getting. Somehow she managed to fuck EVERYTHING up. But with parents like hers, it's a wonder she got as far as she did.

R8, she had three decades. That’s a solid career.

Macaulay Culkin. Slept with Michael Jackson (but denies it) and looks like a disgusting, drugged up, albino freak as an adult.

Garland did do it all and have it all. And the fact it was in a sequence interpolated by horror, mishap and cussedness doesn't really change it.

What would she have done in her 50s and 60s, anyway? Had her own production company? (HA!) Did a sitcom? (HAAA!!!!)

Charlie Sheen gets an honorable mention.

I will NOT be ignored!!!

Heather Graham. She was getting a HUGE buildup in the late 90s, around the time Austin Powers was released. And then....nothing. I'm not sure if she fucked things up but something went wrong.

Minnie Driver fell off with a dud too after a big buildup.

R12, I second Macaulay Culkin. He could have easily made the transition to an adult star. I'm thinking he was already rich and had greedy parents so he didn't give a shit about his career once he became a teenager.

R14, yes to Charlie Sheen. And he had chance after chance after chance after chance to get his shit together. No matter how many drugs or hookers he blew through, the press forgave him and he remained a contender. And then........

R16, I don't know, if someone looks like how Macaulay looks now (as an adult) I doubt they'd be able to transition to an "adult" actor. So many child actors end up ugly.

R18, he's an odd looking guy, but wouldn't have been hideous without the drugs. He would have been good in starring character roles.

Stacey Keach

Jackie Gleeson’s pretty, bitchy, unhappy son Jason

Grandson, #20. Here's Jackie's other grandson- Jason Patric's half-brother.

Jesse Jackson, Jr.. He could have been a contender politically because of his name, but he fucked that up.

...........................belushi

Chris Farley

Artie Lange

Norm Macdonald

Diff'rent Strokes owns this thread.

They definitely fucked up, but were any of them in a position to actually go far in show business though, R26? Or would we have just forgotten about them (like we did for the most part) once that sitcom went off the air?

GIRL YOU KNOW ITS TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE

Why have none of you bitches mentioned me yet?

Margot Kidder. Though she did have a genuine problem.

(ahem)

Oh yeah, R31.........damn.

Shelley Duvall

Kevin Spacey

Corey Monteith and Mark Saling and Naya Rivera

James Dean

Christopher Marlowe

Sinead O'Connor blowing through most of her fortune and ending up in a $70 a night Jersey motel.

But then again, she is crazy.

R1 Fatty Arbuckle didn’t fuck anything up. He was a victim.

R31 (forgot someone?)

Kathleen Kennedy being handed Star Wars and just demolishing it.

Neely O'Hara

Courtney Love. Will be remember for 2 broken careers that each had high points and showed talent.

Category is, talented by ruined and poorly managed Black stars: Toni Braxton, Sly Stone, M.C. HAMMER, and the list goes on and on.

Jamie Lynn Spears

R41, M.C. Hammer floated an entire economy with purpose. That was a case study in “best use for the common good”.

Papa John Phillips

no comment

R45 Striking how much that looks like a film still, I’d actually watch that show.

Cosby and Spacey had long successful careers, their predatory antics just caught up with them. They actually didn't deserve the success they did have.

R42, yeah Jamie Lynn Spears was in a position to ride her sister's coattails into a legitimate acting career that could have been quite successful. Pathetic.

Most people in entertainment have highs and lows. Most are popular for about 5 years and then don't do much after. It's a fickle business - always looking for the new younger star who invariably will be cheaper than known entities.

Meanwhile many who are past their peak in popularity hold out for the hope of a second renaissance, which can happen. Teri Hatcher is a prime example.

Robin Thicke fucked things up pretty good - although I don't know if he was ever going to be more than a one hit wonder.

Exactly how big IS Robin Thicke’s cock? It could make a difference.

Kat De Luna - pushed to be the next Mariah Carey - flopped. Normani - pushed to be the next Beyonce - flopped.

Ace of Base could have been the next ABBA, but Clive Davis ruined them. The blonde chick had a nervous breakdown and became a recluse.

R45, Lori Loughlin & hubby fucked up royally, but I think her career had already peaked. I'm sure they've lost future millions though. She's being punished for exposing the rich. We're told our whole lives that the reason we're not rich & successful is because we didn't work hard enough. And here's Lori & Hubby, caught doing with all the Rich & powerful do, CHEATING & BUYING a successful future for her ungrateful daughters.

Katherine Heigl or however you spell it

Mo'Nique

Some of these people just did well for a brief period because they were attractive, like Milli Vanilli and Robin Thicke. As soon as it was clear they didn't have much talent, it was the end.

Donald Trump. He should've just stuck to reality TV. It is what he was good at. All of this mess could've been avoided if he did.

R56, I'm trying to think of how long of a shelf life Milli Vanilli would've actually had. I can't see them being successful outside of the 1990s. Maybe they would have still been touring as an Oldies act.

I don’t know if a lot of these fucked up their careers as much as they just became has-beens. Or overdosed. I think of fuck ups being people like Roseanne who destroyed her comeback with a single tweet, or Mel Gibson who lost his Hollywood royalty over a racist and sexist rant.

How many times has TonT Braxton filed for bankruptcy now? Is it four or five? Didn't she once cry that they even took her Grammies away?

Britney doesn’t belong on this list. She had a comeback after her meltdown and remained relevant for about 5 years after.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Heather Graham was famous for being pretty. That was about it. Once she hit her 30's and 40's, she was lucky to get any roles at all. I'm not sure she really fucked up except by not taking acting lessons.

Charlie Sheen is a perfect example. He was charming, handsome, and really funny in the right role yet his personal life is more memorable than his film or TV career at this point. That's the trick - you want to be more famous for your work than for your own issues.

Milli Vanilli

I'm adding one from the sports sector....

Elliott Gould

Jon Voight

George Segal

Jan Michael Vincent

Mickey Rourke

Mel Gibson.

Ricky Schroder for expressing the misguided belief that non-gay white men deserve due process of law

R66&R67 exemplify actors who are allowed to fuck up with little consequence.

"Ricky Schroder for expressing the misguided belief that non-gay white men deserve due process of law"

You can support due process without bailing out an admitted killer. Nice try.

Stephen Collins

[quote] I think of fuck ups being people like Roseanne who destroyed her comeback with a single tweet, or Mel Gibson who lost his Hollywood royalty over a racist and sexist rant.

I think if either of them had not had prior histories of acting in offensive ways, or had apologized more believably and intelligently, they would have been forgiven.

Lots of celebrities have done really stupid things but have been able to gloss over it and be forgiven if they don't act like this all the time or apologize well: for example, Reese Witherspoon and her drunk driving arrest ("You're about to find out who I am"). The problem with Roseanne and Mel Gibson is that they had acted so badly for so long that Roseanne's Valerie Plame tweet or Gibson's "sugartits" arrest where he blamed everything on the Jews seemed the absolute last straw for both of them.

Winona Ryder. Had she apologized properly for the shoplifting, accepted that she had committed the crime, and then gone on Barbara walters to apologize she would have had a career after 2001; but she doubled down, and lost her career entirely for nearly 15 years, and has only made a sort of-comeback recently.

MICKEY ROONEY ...MIDGET

Zach Snyder and the DC Universe.

The fascist, dishonest, homophobic idiot at R68 needs a grease fire facial.

Suggesting that gay white males get some sort of preferential treatment while a poor murderer and lunatic needs R68's tongue up his ass is heinous.

And not in a CSI way.

And fuck the W&Ws. Get them.

I don’t know why but Robin Givens come to mind here.

R69 There are only real consequences for persons who are no longer making money for the studios and its shareholders. Mel Gibson is a cash cow, he's not going anywhere.

[quote] Mel Gibson is a cash cow, he's not going anywhere.

???

He hasn't had a good high-profile acting job in years. he's still allowed to direct, but that's because he's behind the lens.

Mel Gibson isn't a cash cow anymore

Can’t forget Lance Armstrong!

Fuck up extraordinaire!

So many people... You have to be a good business person, aggressive and work on your talent to last.

Dane Cook - he was everywhere for a hot minute then poof.

Katherine Heigl

Little Edie. Max Gordon, who discovered Judy Holiday, was just about to give Little Edie her big break, but Big Edie made her leave the Barbazon and come home to Grey Gardens to be her slave. SHE WAS JUST ABOUT TO GET IT!!

***Some of you don't comprehend the assignment.

Alicia Silverstone. After Clueless she was given a multi million $ contract and either made bad choices, was ill-advised or came off as new age weird.

Lisa Bonet Liza Brett Butler Delta Burke Nicolette Sheridan

Keri Russell cutting her cowardly lion's mane of hair mid-Felicity.

R86 yeah, that was a really tragic one. She made Excess Baggage which was stupid and then she made Batman and Robin which put her in that terribly unflattering costume. Can’t remember what else she did.

Nobody could have foreseen Brittany Murphy would end up being the most successful person from Clueless.... not that didn’t have the talent, but she didn’t have the “look.”

R88 Second wind when she landed “The Americans,” which was arguably an even more iconic role for her than Felicity. She also had a new iconic hairstyle in that when it was always parted on one side.

R62, Jack Nicholson is the one who fucked Lara Flynn Boyle up, correct?

R90, I missed that entire show somehow, but I'm glad to hear she got a second wind! Always liked her.

Mike Nichols wanted Doris Day for Mrs. Robinson in The Graduate. Could have extended and revitalized a moribund movie career. She just didn’t think it was good for image.

Instead she went on to a successful 5 year sitcom that dug her out of the financial hellhole her husband had plunged her into.

She made "Love's Labours Lost," Silverstone did. And I said " Well, excuse me while I play the grand piano. "

The weird Chris Gaines alto ego thing for Garth Brooks.

R66 only those last two really.

Jon Voight works an amazing amount considering 1) his age and 2) his batshit politics.

Elliot Gould and George Segal — who have both worked steadily over the decades btw — I think are just cases of actors who were considered desirable as “off beat Jewish leading men” for the few years that was considered a thing, but then things changed. Not sure how they “destroyed” their careers.

Surely, Lori Loughlin must own a good chunk of this thread.

The person who gave Julia Roberts a career.

The person who gave Julia Roberts a career.

This has shifted into "bad career choices" or "how long careers ended".

The correct answer is Lindsay Lohan. Amazing example of self sabotage as she was on the rise.

Chaplin marrying the teenager; Lee Tracey drunkenly urinating; Laird Cregar’s drastic weight loss; Ingrid Bergman’s über-European decision to have a public affair; Pernell Roberts/David Caruso/Shelley Long going for movie careers too soon; Jon-Erik Hexum’s playfully handling a gun.

[quote] Macaulay Culkin

Absolutely. Utterly bitter and vile. The sad thing is, he’s got a large following on social media amongst the fucked up and idle.

On Oscar night when a certain actor scored the win for Best Actor, he tweeted “X eats babies”. Twitter still hasn’t taken it down. The worst part is, some of his deranged followers believed him!

Sean Young Daryl Hannah

Rami Malek does eat babies.

Judy Tenuta

Ken Wahl

Pee Wee Herman

R101, The careers of Charlie Chaplin and Ingrid Bergman thoroughly rebounded.

Florence Ballard

Michael Alig

Braindead OP, I see what you tried to do there, and all I can say is, you fucking TRIED it.

Pete Best

How did we get this far down without mentioning MISS DUNAWAY?

She was a hot actress but her fabulously camp performance in Mommie Dearest sent her career straight down the shitter! And then, her bat-shit craziness started to show.

Brad Renfro unfortunately.

howard the duck, george lucas' illustrious succesor to stah wars.....he a phat goomba?

R5 That makes me respect her so much more for not wanting to record that utter piece of shit song. R42 and R48 Jamie Lynn Spears in not attractive or appealing in any way. She looks like every Crystal from every trailer park.

Terence Howard. The guy could've made a lot of money from Marvel long term if he hadn't got greedy with the second Iron Man and criticized RDJ. Now he's some crazed actor who was in a prime time soap and makes up his own version of math.

R117, if only he had left his penis a mystery...

Did Sean Young completely fuckup her career with the whole Catwoman fiasco or was she already on the decline because of her batshit craziness?

R119, There was also the James Woods incident.

During the filming of "Wall Street", didn’t Charlie Sheen attach a sign to her back that read "Cunt"?

Mary Wells leaving Motown in 1964 - right after "My Guy" had become a smash hit. Not a good idea to fuck with Berry Gordy, who had the Supremes in the wings. Wells career never recovered, and she bounced from and several labels with a string of flop records.

During her most successful year (1964) , Wells was having problems with Motown over her original recording contract, which she had signed at the age of 17. She was also reportedly angry that the money made from "My Guy" was being used to promote The Supremes, who had found success with "Where Did Our Love Go", just as "My Guy" was promoted, using the profits from another, earlier hit Motown song. Though Gordy reportedly attempted to renegotiate with Wells, the singer still asked to be freed from her contract with Motown.

A pending lawsuit kept Wells away from the studio for several months, as she and Gordy brokered the contract details, with Wells fighting to gain a larger share of the royalties she had earned during her tenure with Motown. Finally, Wells invoked a clause that allowed her to leave the label, advising the court that her original contract was invalid, as she had signed while she was still a minor. Wells won her lawsuit and was awarded a settlement, leaving Motown officially in early 1965, whereupon she accepted a lucrative ($200,000) contract with 20th Century Fox Records.

Part of the terms of the agreement of her release was that she could not receive any royalties from her past works with the label, including use of her likeness to promote herself.

A weary Wells worked on material for her new record label while dealing with other issues, including being bedridden for weeks suffering from tuberculosis. Wells's eponymous first 20th Century Fox release included the first single "Ain't It The Truth", its B-side "Stop Taking Me for Granted", the lone top 40 hit, "Use Your Head" and "Never, Never Leave Me". However, the album flopped, as did the Beatles tribute album she released not too long afterwards. Rumors have hinted Motown may have threatened to sue radio stations for playing Wells's post-Motown music during this time. After a stressful period in which Wells and the label battled over various issues after her records failed to chart successfully, the singer asked to be let go in 1965 and left with a small settlement.

In 1966, Wells signed with Atlantic Records' subsidiary Atco. Working with producer Carl Davis, she scored her final Top 10 R&B hit with "Dear Lover", which also became a modestly successful pop hit, peaking at number 51. However, much like her tenure with 20th Century Fox, the singer struggled to come up with a follow-up hit, and in 1968, she left the label for Jubilee Records, where she scored her final pop hit, "The Doctor", a song she co-wrote with then-husband Cecil Womack. (Meanwhile, she had attempted a film career, but only managed a guest starring role in 1967's "Catalina Caper".) In 1970, Wells left Jubilee for a short-lived deal with Warner Music subsidiary Reprise Records and released two Bobby Womack-produced singles. In 1972, Wells scored a UK hit with a re-issue of "My Guy", which was released on the Tamla-Motown label and climbed to number 14. Though a re-issue, Wells promoted the single heavily and appeared on the British TV show Top of the Pops for the first time. Despite this mini-revival, she decided to retire from music in 1974 to raise her family.

In 1977, Wells divorced Cecil Womack and returned to performing. She was spotted by CBS Urban president Larkin Arnold in 1978 and offered a contract with the CBS subsidiary Epic Records, which released In and Out of Love in October 1981. The album, which had been recorded in 1979, yielded Wells's biggest hit in years, the funky disco single, "Gigolo".

"Gigolo" became a smash at dance clubs across the country. A six-minute mix hit number 13 on Billboard's Hot Dance/Club Singles chart and number 2 on the Hot Disco Songs chart. A four-minute radio version released to R&B stations in January 1982 achieved a modest showing at number 69. It turned out to be Wells's final chart single.

After the parent album failed to chart or produce successful follow-ups, the Motown-styled These Arms was released, but it flopped and was quickly withdrawn, and Wells's Epic contract fizzled. The album's failure may have been due to light promotion. She still had one more album in her CBS contract, and in 1982, released an album of cover songs, Easy Touch, which aimed for the adult contemporary radio format.

Leaving CBS in 1983, she continued recording for smaller labels, gaining new success as a touring performer.

On the April 21, 1984 edition of American Top 40, Casey Kasem reported that Wells was attempting to establish a hot dog chain.

In 1989, Wells was celebrated with a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation during its inaugural year.

In 1990, Wells recorded an album for Ian Levine's Motorcity Records, but her voice began to fail, causing the singer to visit a local hospital. Doctors diagnosed Wells with laryngeal cancer. Treatments for the disease ravaged her voice, forcing her to quit her music career. Since she had no health insurance, her illness wiped out her finances, forcing her to sell her home. As she struggled to continue treatment, old Motown friends, including Diana Ross, Mary Wilson, members of the Temptations and Martha Reeves, made donations to support her, along with the help of admirers such as Dionne Warwick, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin and Bonnie Raitt. That same year, a benefit concert was held by fellow fan and Detroit R&B singer Anita Baker. Wells was also given a tribute by friends such as Stevie Wonder and Little Richard on The Joan Rivers Show.

In 1991, Wells brought a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Motown for royalties she felt she had not received upon leaving Motown Records in 1964 and for loss of royalties for not promoting her songs as the company should have. Motown eventually settled the lawsuit by giving her a six-figure sum. That same year, she testified before the United States Congress to encourage government funding for cancer research:

Wells married twice: first, in 1960, to Detroit singer Herman Griffin. The marriage of the teenage couple was troubled from the start due to their age and Griffin's unhealthy control of Wells; they divorced in 1963. Despite rumors, she never dated fellow Motown singer Marvin Gaye, who would go on to have successful duet partnerships with Kim Weston, Tammi Terrell and Diana Ross after Wells had left Motown.

In 1966, Wells married singer-songwriter Cecil Womack, formerly of the Valentinos, and the younger brother of musician Bobby Womack. The marriage lasted until 1977 and produced three children. Wells began an affair with another Womack brother, Curtis, during her marriage to Cecil. Her relationship with Curtis Womack was reportedly abusive. Wells was a notorious chain smoker and went through bouts of depression during her marriages. After separating from Cecil, she attempted suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills when word had leaked of her affair with Curtis who was married. After the failed suicide attempt, Wells sought other methods of what she called "meditating," including using cocaine. Over time, she developed a heroin habit. Her drug habit ceased after she became pregnant with Curtis' child. After splitting from Curtis in 1990, Wells focused on raising her youngest daughter Sugar (b.1986) until her cancer appeared.

Wells had four children: Cecil, Jr., Harry, Stacy (with Cecil Womack), and Sugar (with Curtis Womack).

In the summer of 1992, Wells's cancer returned and she was rushed to the Kenneth Norris Jr. Cancer Hospital in Los Angeles with pneumonia. With the effects of her unsuccessful treatments and a weakened immune system, Wells died on July 26, 1992, at the age of 49. After her funeral, which included a eulogy given by her old friend and former collaborator, Smokey Robinson, Wells was cremated, and her ashes were laid to rest in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park, in a Womack family crypt. Family friend Sam Cooke is buried in The Garden of Honor, about 850 feet (260 m) to the west.

Though Wells has been eligible for induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, being nominated twice in 1986 and 1987, she has yet to achieve it.

And the sad part about the Mary Wells incident is that she recorded some EXCELLENT material for all of her post Motown labels. For some reason nothing hit in a big way.

Kim Westen & Martha Reeves also recorded some great stuff post-Motown but nothing hit.

MARY WILSON!!!

Fucked up a CLEAN $5MM payday from the "Return To Love" tour for 26 shows and working 3-4 hours each show

-She didn't have to pay for costumes.

-She didn't have to pay for arrangements.

-She didn't have to pay for sets.

-She didn't have to pay for food, lodging, or transportation

All she had to do was show up and sing an "OO-OO," "AH-AH" and a "BABY-BABY" here and there... for a couple of hours.

BUT, I stood... err... Miss Ross, stood to possibly make $20-25MM from the tour and that bitch therefore thought that she deserved more...

Ryan O'Neal Whitney Ashley Judd

Personally, I respect Mary Wilson for that, R128. She felt she had been mistreated for decades and didn't want to be simply a stage prop. Things would have worked out different had Diana called Mary to heal some old wounds first. But I'm sure Mary wishes she would have taken that 5 Million dollar paycheck now.

Dominic Dunne- "....when a fat girl falls in love.."

Brett Butler

It’s easy to forget on these long marinating threads, but Aaron Carter hopefully was mentioned and four starred.

Barrymore's pool party killed a successful UK TV career, also a young man.

^ Yep, Michael Barrymore is a good one

Chris Brown majorly fucked up when he gave Rihanna that infamous beating. Up until that time Chris was being promoted as a teen heartthrob. He had endorsement deals with the Milk farmers of America & Wrigley's Gum. They quickly dropped him after the scandal.

I remember pointing out on a message board in 2009 that the only way he could save his career was to market himself as a Bad Boy. He did just that and has continued having hits over the last 10 plus years. So, surprisingly he didn't completely fuck up.

Stacy Keach? Stage actor and screen character actor who worked constantly. How has he fucked his career?

I forgot to attach this pic of "Clean Cut Teen Heartthrob" Chris Brown in a Got Milk ad at R136.

R137, Stacy K. had some drug problems for awhile in the 70s and 80s. I'm not sure of how much it affected his career though?

Edgar Bronfman

R136 I personally feel the Rihanna incident probably saved him, as strange as that sounds. I feel it was a wake-up call to stay out of trouble. Sure, he's always been a piece of shit, but I bet he'd have gone on to commit worse crimes with worse consequences (not excluding death).

Meg Ryan's lips and Jennifer Grey's nose.

^ And Melanie Griffith's entire face

R136, His leaked dick pic enhanced his bad boy image.

Tatum and Ryan O'Neal.

Richard Dreyfuss. Or maybe he just got too old.

Ann Dvorak. Warners promoted her as the next big thing, but the she married her first husband, they left for a YEAR LONG HONEYMOON without informing her bosses. When she returned, Warmers stuck her in 'B' films until she left the studio, She barely worked i nHollywood after that.

Peggy Dow was another one who left a promising career to get married (She played opposite Jimmy Stewart in Harvey). Her husband was rich, though, and the marriage was a happy one, so I don't think she had too many regrets.

R146, so that's what happened! I always wondered why Ann Dvorak wasn't a bigger star. She was FANTASTIC in "Three On A Match" (1933) & "A Life Of Her How Own" (1950). Wiped the floor with Lana Turner in the latter. When Ann's character dies, the movie becomes uninteresting.

David Caruso. Success went to his head during NPD BLUE (1993-94) , his ego went out of contro, he became impossible to work with ad the cast hated him. He made a few bomb feature films, then surprisingly got TWO network series after that: "Michael Hayes" (1993-4) and CSI MIAMI, where he had steady work from 2002 - 2012. He must have had a personality transplant . But he has not worked since 2012, and probably does't have to.

Linda Fiorentino: She became impossible after her breakout role in "The Last Seduction:" in 1994, bitched that she should have bee nominated for a Oscar, and her career afterwards was one long fizzle She hasn't appeared in anything since 2002 and officially retired in 2009.

I meant to say "A Life Of Her Own" at R148.

Edward Furlong fucked up too, didn't he? He was just a kid who wasn't a professional actor and got chosen to be in "Terminator 2". Then he fucked it all up with drugs. Someone let me know if I'm off the mark.

Karen Carpenter. Are burgers really that bad?!

Lauryn Hill fucked up what could have been an illustrious career. She had the Fugees success and the success of her first album. She could have quickly followed that up with even more successes but she decided to get married, have a ton of kids, go nuts and create a reputation for herself as someone erratic, unprofessional and undependable. Sad.

R153. didn't her record company also do some shit to her?

R154, maybe? I'm not sure what the backstory is? It seems as if she just stopped caring about her career to focus on her family & being crazy.

R153's post reminded me of Liz Phair. Liz and Lauryn probably released the two best albums by women in the 90s. Liz just proved she was a fluke the more her career went on. She actually wanted to be a star like Madonna but whereas Madonna always had a plan and direction, Liz had none of that. After her debut, she clearly had no plan of what she wanted to do or what kind of music she wanted to make. That doesn't work out when your debut is filled with so much proimise. And unlike Madonna, she had zero understanding of what her audience wanted or why she appealed to them. She tried to write off her debut as "shit". Oh well, we will always have her debut and demos.

No Armie Hammer?

Tippi Hedren, but who can blame her? She says she didn't want to go to bed with disgusting Alfred Hitchcock, so he ruined her career. It makes sense because she should have been in several movies throughout the 60s, after her Hitchcock successes.

Personally I think Miss Hedren is only telling half the truth. Me thinks that Hitchcock was smart enough to get his sexual favors from her BEFORE he ever offered her a contract & starring roles. It probably went on for some time and then (after her movie success) Miss Hedren (understandably) stopped the favors and wanted to work on a strictly professional basis. And Hitchcock being the disgusting scumbag he was, said no. And then went about ruining her career. Just my theory.

A lot of these people also got gaslit by the dirty Hollywood machine. It is truly just a step above organized crime with clever accountant$.

Pee Wee Herman

[quote]Personally, I respect Mary Wilson for that, [R128]. She felt she had been mistreated for decades and didn't want to be simply a stage prop. Things would have worked out different had Diana called Mary to heal some old wounds first.

WHAT?

R158 I blame Tippi’s downfall on the lion.

I prefer to say 'tragic mistake' or 'horrific accident', but Jon-Erik Hexum would have had it all.

I didn't see COVER UP lasting more than a year the scripts were bad, but either Spelling would have approached him again for a series or he would have tried films even though the Bear wasn't a hit.

The man could do it all -- action, drama, comedy. Years after he died, producer Glen Larson said he was would have been big.

By all accounts, he seemed charming and humble and kind.

All that and gorgeous.

What a loss.

Over 160 replies and no one mentions Bryan Singer? That's surely one of the all-time most fascinating cases of someone shooting themselves in the foot.

To think he reportedly still got paid $40 million for Bohemian Rhapsody despite allegedly not turning up some days, certainly puts Hollywood entitlement in perspective for those slaving away 9 to 5 in their cubes. Or for other directors and actors just desperately aching to be given a break.

And it's sad because he could be a quite passable director, and despite having all the money in the world, and never needing to work again, directing was his thing.

I don’t remember, was JEH gay, or did we just want him to be?

Elizabeth Berkeley. I'm not one of those people who thinks Showgirls is one of the worst movies ever made (worse movies are released every week) but the fact that she thought it would launch her into stardom is pretty silly. Fun fact: the director considered Drew Barrymore and Madonna for the roles of Nomi and Crystal 😂

Can we include John Wilkes Booth on this list? Especially in contrast to his brother who still has a statue in Gramercy Park garden?

I was watching old reruns of "Mannix" and was sorry to read about what happened to Gail Fisher. Drugs'll do it.

Ashlee Simpson. That lip syncing incident on Saturday Night Live destroyed her. She was a laughing stock afterwards and her career went completely down the drain.

Good one r169. The problem is that tricked her into actually singing which was even more painful than the lip sync/hoedown.

Jayne Mansfield's career went down the shitter after the 1950s.

She had made a few decent films and starred in a Broadway hit play, but by the 1960s she was doing soft porn films and staging outrageous public appearances for publicity.

R171, I'm in the minority, but I consider Mansfield at her peak more attractive than Monroe.

Flo Ballard.

R156, I can’t think about Liz Phair’s 2003 self-titled album/career reinvention without remembering her histrionic response to New York Times critic Megan O’Rourke. O’Rourke felt that Phair’s pop-influenced album and sexed-up marketing campaign were a desperate attempt to remain relevant by imitating Avril Lavigne. Phair wrote a deranged letter in protest, which the Times printed.

I don't know if I would consider Flo Ballard a fuck up, R173. I do believe that she's in the top ten of tragic stories of the entertainment industry. She was just a victim of circumstances.

Matt Lauer Charlie Rose Bill O'reilly Louis CK

all about the dick...

Louis CK is a good one.

Stuttering John Melendez

R171, I think what did Mansfield in were the endless publicity stunts. It was probably amusing at first but I can imagine the public getting tired of her antics. A prime example is the Mansfield-Sophia Loren Incident. I do know that at some point in the late 50s or early 60s Jayne tried to tone down her look (with darker hair & more conservative clothes) and study acting but it was too little too late. I think she would have been fabulous on a TV sitcom.

R172, I agree with your assessment that Mansfield at her peak was even more beautiful that Marilyn. That's not to say that MM wasn't pretty but Mansfield was even more gorgeous. With that said, Mamie Van Doren at her peak was easily the most beautiful of the "3 Ms". She was stunning!

Flo Wilson absolutely did Fuck herself when she parted from the Supremes. They were second only after the Beatles. HUGE success, and when they'd finally reached that pinnacle, Flo somehow decides that everything is so unfair and she can't go on. Sqeaky wheel that everyone got tired of greasing. And then they called her bluff and replaced her. Oops!

R180, I think that Berry & Diana had been needling & gaslighting Flo for so long that she wasn't thinking clearly. She just could never get over the fact that the group dynamic had completely sifted. And she obviously didn't have the right people in her corner advising her. Mary claimed that she told Flo to hang in there and just hold out until Diana left to start her solo career, but Flo didn't listen unfortunately. I personally get the impression that Mary played both sides of the fence. Kissed Diana & Barry's ass publicly and only supported Flo secretly. Such is life.

In a perfect world, I would have liked to had seen Flo hang in there until Diana left, and then took over the lead singer spot. She sure as hell could have done a better job than Jean Terrell, who's vocals never registered with me for some reason.

R179, Many believed this 1962 incident was staged for publicity.

NASSAU, Bahamas (UPI) A search party scoured the sea off Rose Island for nearly an hour today but found no sign of actress Jayne Mansfield, whose overturned boat was found in the area by a fisherman. Miss Mansfield, 28. was missing along with her weight-lifter husband, Mickey Hargitay, and hotel promotion man Jack Drury. They had not been seen since before noon Wednesday when they set out for an afternoon of sightseeing and water skiing in a 17-ft boat with a 40-horsepower motor.

NASSAU, Bahamas (UPI) Actress Jayne Mansfield, missing overnight with her husband and a friend after their small boat overturned, was found safe today on a small island off this British resort colony.

R165, he worked in TV rom 1982-84 -- AIDS was pretty much in full swing then...if he were gay, he'd have stayed closeted for professional reasons.

We'll never really know.

Pee-Wee Herman didn't actually do anything wrong, he was just minding his own business. They destroyed his career for no good reason at all.

R184 = Fred Willard

Flo this Flo that. They did the same thing to David Ruffin - replaced his ads when he got too difficult to deal with, and he was the first lead! At the end of it all, Motown was still a business and the artists were under contract and expected to deliver. Berry Gordy was the boss and if you refused to do your job, then he had the right to vote them all and replace them with others who would!

"Linda Fiorentino: She became impossible after her breakout role in "The Last Seduction:" in 1994, bitched that she should have bee nominated for a Oscar ...."

DIdn't they WANT to nominate her for an Oscar, but since The Last Seduction was released on HBO or something first, they couldn't? I remember all the praise and all the "too bad she can't be nominated" hand wringing. I still love her in that role - she completely commits to it, Bridget is a complete sociopathic bitch from the beginning, there's no lesson learned and no comeuppance suffered, and the bad girl wins. That's rare for an American film; at least it was.

Pas de la Huerta. Extra points for sleaze factor and crashing Louis Theroux Scientology doc

Harvey Weinstein, Brett Ratner

Roger Ailes & Bill O'Reilly. It takes a lot for The Right to turn on it's own. You have to ROYALLY fuck up!

I don’t see how one can be labeled a fuck up if they have a majorly successful career behind them.

For example, Bill Cosby.

That's a good point. I mean, Bill Cosby IS a major fuck up obviously, but the gist of the thread seems to be fucked-up-ness that craters or derails a successful career when it still had a lot of potential.

Michael Pitt

Emile Hirsch

Shia LeBeouf

Barbara Payton

^ And her better half, Tom Neal

Kathy Griffin

John Boehner and Paul Ryan

R198, Dennis Hastert completes the set

Freddie Mercury spending the early 80s at all-male orgies.

Pray tell, R192 et. al., what could POSSIBLY be more fucked up than becoming "America's Dad," earning trillions of dollars, having a TV series that would've earned you big bucks in residuals for at least several decades, drugging and molesting scads of women, getting caught, getting convicted, and then dying in prison because of it all?

R201 fails to understand the point of this thread.

Pity.

Rock Hudson having tons of unprotected sex in the 80s

R201: ???

Terence Trent D'Arby

He was a huge star in music when he released his debut album. He was a critics' darling, and he had two huge back-to-back hits. He seemed to have the ability to create music that was quirky and original, yet still commercially appealing.

Then he apparently lost his mind and released his second album, which was a pretentious, self-indulgent mess that contained nothing that even came close to resembling a hit song. It deservedly bombed, and that was the end of him, at least in the U.S. He managed to still have some success in the UK, but in America he became a cautionary tale of ego-run-amok.

Terry West Derby shagged Paula Yates, he chose his own doom. r205

Terence Trent D'Arby.

His debut album landed him at the top of the music industry. He was a critical darling, and he seemingly had the ability to create music that was quirky and original, yet still commercially appealing.

The beginning of the end was when he started revealing his massive ego in interviews, claiming himself superior to both Michael Jackson and Prince. I don't think that would be as big of a deal today, but back then, artists were still expected to behave with a certain amount of decorum. These proclamations in and of themselves didn't end his career, but they didn't endear him to the public.

What killed his career was his second album: a pretentious, self-indulgent mess that didn't contain anything even remotely resembling a hit song. Even the title was profoundly unappealing: "Neither Fish Nor Flesh". It deservedly bombed, and his career never recovered, at least in the U.S. He apparently continued to have some success in the UK, but here in America he became a cautionary tale of ego-run-amok.

Neither Liz Phair nor Ashley Simpson could sing, but that didn't stop Britney either.

R205, Terence Trent D'Arby also created problems for himself when he supposedly made some arrogant remarks about Prince. It was a slap in the face & a little too ironic hearing him badmouth someone who had obviously greatly influenced his artistry.

Errol Flynn. The self-destructive behavior was legendary. Even though he was acquitted of statutory rape, his post 1943 career never returned to its prewar glamour. His heavy drinking and promiscuity resulted in some nasty health problems. His subsequent divorces ruined him financially and by the time he died at fifty, his looks and money were all but gone.

Halle Berry. I hate to say it, but she made crap movie choices after the Oscar. And her personal life was always a disaster. And she set her ex up to get that beat down from her then FB Olivier Martinez. Cunt.

R128, the "Return To Love" incident actually says more about Diana Ross than it does Mary Wilson. Miss Ross botched a great opportunity to rewrite her legacy as (rightfully) someone who sleep with the boss and frequently used her power to pull rank over other artists, including her own band-mates. Before any negotiations began, she should have had a real heart to heart with both Mary & Cindy Birdsong to cry it out and wipe the slate clean. And then worked with them to get them more money. Even if it meant giving them a very small percentage of the show. Something to ensure their participation. So what if it would have somewhat cut into her bottom line. It would have been a classy gesture that removed some of the tarnish from her legacy.

With that said, Mary Wilson may be so bitter by this point that NOTHING could have made her happy.

yes hexum was gay, shared an apt with 2 buddys, guys....was bottom

duh, kathy griffin jus sold one house for millions and bought a new one for even more millions. girl doin fine...has lots of followers on social media. many applaud her lefty views !!!!

Jackie the jokeman Martling - wins this thread. He had a cushy job writing for Stern - decided he wanted more money and said he would walk - so they let him walk. Now he sells comedy tapes out of the back of a pinto.

R215, was Howard paying his staff well back in the day? When he made the Sirus move and got filthy rich, did he make sure that Robin, Gary & the other long time staff members got a cut?

Gibson, Weinstein and Cosby for the wins.

Watch and weep, R212

People need to get over this "whatever" that Ross is successful simply because she slept with Berry Gordy. The woman is 76 now! She's collecting social security and has one foot in the grave. My goodness! Ross has a career that spans over 50 years long. She is an INTERNATIONAL star that is still a hot ticket and sells out venues consistently. People believe that she's attained all of this and longevity because slept with Berry Gordy! DAMN! She must have been one helluva a lay!

And, one more thing....

Mary has been whining and crying, (rightfully so), ever since, because she was a total ass and let that CLEAN $5,000,000 slip through her hands.

That $5,000,000 would be worth $7,634,402.85 today!

FYI and reference;

That bitch's... err... Mary Wilson interview

I love how some are comparing those who are living comfortable, un-harassed lives out of the spotlight with convicted, jailed felons and true social pariahs. I hardly think Terence Trent Darby’s “fall” compares to Harvey Weinstein’s.

R221, you're missing the point of this topic. It isn't a comparison of how catastrophic the fuckups were. It's about how particular individuals needlessly fucked up their own future successes/millions/billions.

No one's suggesting that TTD is an animal like Harvey Weinstein or Bill Cosby.

[R222] Fair enough, but it’s semantics really. I think my interpretation is possible based on the OP headline, if less so the blurb following. Either way, have at ‘er!

r216 Howard does not pay his staff - back in the day KROQ did and now Sirisu XM do. That was Jackie's complaint he wanted more moeny from KROQ and the station would not give it too him.

But 224, did Howard see to it during the Sirius XM negotiations that his longtime staff members were taken care of? Jackie left prior to the Sirius XM deal, correct?

R224

R191 but it’s truly a Shakespearean level fall. I think it counts.

Howard Stern was supposed to bring millions of listeners to Sirius XM, but he didn't.

I received a free 6 month subscription when I purchased a new car, but refused to officially subscribe.

Stern's show pales in comparison to how cutting edge it was in the 1990s and the Broadway channel is repetitive and boring.

Sirius XM was free to all in late November and now they're practically giving it away in December.

Big mistake in renewing him for so much $$$.

R228, I watched some recent clips of Stern on YouTube and couldn't believe what I was watching. It was like something from NPR. Everything's so mellow and safe and completely unrecognizable from the days of Mark Harris, E!, Franken Beauty Contests, Porn Starlets, the Kathie Lee Gifford insults, Crackhead Bob, Artie Lange, etc. The only saving Grace is that Howard always was an excellent, thoughtful interviewer (when he wanted to be) and that hasn't changed. But the edge is all gone. It's sad.

One thing I will say in Howard's defense, is that SJW heads would EXPLODE if he still said one tenth of the fucked up shit he used to back in the day! LOL

r228 Stern brought the listeners. Trust me if they lost him they would lose half their subscribers.

"One thing I will say in Howard's defense, is that SJW heads would EXPLODE if he still said one tenth of the fucked up shit he used to back in the day! LOL"

Yawn, Rush Limbaugh says horrible things all the time and still has a job. But whine about "SJWs" if it makes you feel better

Who is Michael Barrymore?

R232, British TV host whose career went straight down the shitter when a guy who was partying at his house was found raped and murdered

Mamie Van Doren was far prettier than Jayne Mansfield. Mansfield had a coarse, broad face and "peasant" look. Part of Marilyn's appeal as her childish naivete. Out of the three, Mansfield was by far the homeliest.

DId anyone mention little Frannie Gumm?

Anyone remember Michelle Shocked?

Name is familiar R236. Singer? What happened to her?

Some of these aren't so much as "fuck ups" but chose to go another path. Gretchen Mol has stayed busy. I think she refused Weinstein and got blackballed. I remember her being the next "it" girl. Same with Blake Lively. Some actors stay busy but lead relatively quiet lives.

Ioan Gruffud was predicted to be the next big thing but that petered due to no fault of his own. Rumor is Weinstein hit on his wife, was rebuffed, and Weinstein retaliated by saying "see how far your husband's career gets now" or something.

Koan could have capitalized on his success in TITANIC. The only thing that I saw him in of note was another disaster flick with Dwayne Johnson.

Ioan, not Koan. Autocorrect, drat!

Did I somehow miss him on this list?--Johnny Depp, I mean. How do you blow through $650 million and turn yourself into a loathsome vampire when you were once The King of Cool? He is HISTORIC in the fuckup Hall of Fame.

LIZSHA

Watched Easy A for the zillionth time, it’s my favorite escapist feel good go to movie and Amanda Bynes is just sooooo lovely and funny as she also is in Hairspray: The Musical! Such a great comic actress, she really could have been a new Lucy, and so pretty on top of that. It’s sad how her life crumbled under her feet and it pains me to hear about all the developments as she fights to stay sane, but continually back slides. I’m not even sure what became of that hysterical pregnancy and escapist wedding situation. It breaks my heart and I really feel bad for her in ways that I don’t for many on this list.

Michelle Shocked contracted a case of evangelicalism and got infected with a severe case of public homophobia. Her modest singer/songwriter career died as a result.

[quote]Michelle Shocked contracted a case of evangelicalism and got infected with a severe case of public homophobia. Her modest singer/songwriter career died as a result.

R243, I always wondered what happened to her. I knew some friends in California who loved her music. I'm not into folk, but I knew that she was somewhat popular. Wow. What a dumb cunt she is; she also sounds confused. She has every right to be honest and the public has every right to react to her honesty. Like Paula Deen, she was only concerned when she realized that the $$$$$ were drying up quicker than a nun's snatch.

Meredith Brooks won't stop whining about liberals and black people on twitter.

R245, She's a Bitch! But she's also a Lover, a Child, a Mother, a Sinner and a Saint. And she does not feel ashamed.

Colby, porn sta, Trumper...

Johnnie Ray

Sharon Bryant of the R&B group Atlantic Starr was handed the album which later became known as “Control” by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It was to be her first solo record, but she objected to the sexual overtones. Jam and Lewis the. offered it to Janet Jackson, who took co-writing credit on the tracks and the rest is history.

WOW R249! I never knew or heard that! I had no use for Atlantic Starr without Miss Bryant's wonderful vocals and it's always irked me that she didn't have a huge solo career. Now I see that some of that may have been because of her own doing.

With that said, there's no guarantee that "Control" recorded by Sharon Bryant would have been a hit without the Jackson name & connection. Not to mention Janet's youth, dancing talent & creativity as far as music videos were concerned. I can think of at least 10 80s R&B Ladies (Cheryl Lynn, Meli'sa Morgan, Cherrelle, Pennye Ford, Val Young, Jean Carn, Stephanie Mills, Melba Moore, Angela Winbush & so many more) that released BRILLIANT albums back then, but they never made it past the R&B charts. What was considered "The Full Package" for Pop success during that period, just wasn't there.

Yeah, because having the "Jackson" name alone absolutely guaranteed huge success across the board.

Noah Galvin. Rising star with his own TV show. Does that infamous interview where he outs Garrett Clayton and how Bryan Singer is a huge pedo (DUH!). His show gets cancelled and now he's barely getting any work aside from a small recurring role on The Good Doctor.

R251 Her 80's music is actually very decent! It's the stuff she released in the 90's aside from the Moulin Rouge album that sucks.

[quote][R251] Her 80's music is actually very decent!

Such as what? Examples, please...

"Yeah, because having the "Jackson" name alone absolutely guaranteed huge success across the board."

LOL. I didn't say that R251. LOL.

"Such as what? Examples, please... "

R253, I'm not the poster at R252, but I know LaToya's 80s material and a lot of it was good. Examples:

On her 1981 album "My Special Love" she had 2 excellent R&B/Sleaze numbers, 'Camp Kuchi Kaiai' (written & performed by LaToya & Janet) and a Candi Staton remake called ' Summertime With You'. Both numbers are classics on the UK Rare Groove scene.

LaToya's best overall album & her most successful was her 1984 "Heart Don't Lie" project . Most of the numbers on the whole album were excellent 80s R&B-Pop. 'Twink Twice', ' Bet'cha Gonna Need My Lovin' (an R&B hit of the day), 'Private Joy' (a great Prince remake) & 'I Like Everything You're Doin' all kicked ass!

And then the downward spiral began. After "Heart Don't Lie", LaToya fired her father as manager/executive producer and brought her sleazy future husband on board. He encouraged her to record shitty material, to get the excessive plastic surgeries and eventually turned her into an industry joke. The only thing I cared for on her 1985 project "Imagination" were the self-penned sleaze number 'Love Talk' and 'He's A Pretender' (also recorded by High Inergy & Jennifer Holliday).

On her 1988 LP "La Toya", she got 2 or 3 good numbers from the production team who produced Rick Astley; Stock, Aitken & Waterman. My personal favorite '(Ain't Nobody Loves You) Like I Do' was a single. The rest of that album's material was produced by Full Force and it's garbage. (Example at R251)

After that (like everyone else) I lost interest in LaToya's music career. She became more known for her offstage antics & stunts than for her music. She did rebound in 2003 with the single 'Just Wanna Dance', which was Dance Music BRILLIANCE that went to #1 on the Billboard Dance Charts! It was played at every Gay Club & Circuit Party that year and still kicks ass.

Bottom line, she wasn't always a joke musically.

Mamie and Jayne looked harsh, they look like they'd be game for a rough fuck. MM didn't have that, she was shy and dreamy, fragile, not what a person who looked like that would normally be - confident, vain, arrogant.

Speaking of Mamie, she could have been so much more. Instead she did nothing but obscure b movies with her last film role in 2002. She's almost 90 and in amazing shape for her age. One of the last surviving stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Though with the roles she chose, she might be more adjacent to that era.

I've shared this before about Mamie, but I sent her a 5x7 pic to autograph a few years ago. I confirmed the address, included a nice note, and included the return envelope with postage...I never got it back. I've gotten autographs back from Sela Ward, Liz Taylor, and Joan Collins, but Mamie is apparently too good to return one.

R202 fails to understand grade-school English, and part of what OP originally posted. Which was:

"Or they were already on top, fucked up and lost it all."

Pity.

R255, In her autobiography, Mamie described once having had sex with Rock Hudson on her kitchen floor.

R258, We can only wonder why it took R201 seven days to respond.

Pity.

Jared Fogle aka Subway Jared.

Because not everyone lives virtually their entire life on DL, R260?

But fear not. You, as all women do, will have the last word.

Alex Pettyfer, but I think that I understand his reasons why.

[quote]I watched some recent clips of Stern on YouTube and couldn't believe what I was watching. It was like something from NPR. Everything's so mellow and safe and completely unrecognizable from the days of Mark Harris, E!, Franken Beauty Contests, Porn Starlets, the Kathie Lee Gifford insults, Crackhead Bob, Artie Lange, etc.

Don't forget the celebrity audio books!

I can't believe no one has mentioned Jan Michael Vincent yet. He was good looking and a had a promising career in film and television. But got caught up in drugs and alcohol etc. He lost everything, his career, money and his looks.

His life is truly a cautionary tale for anyone starting out in showbiz. Lindsay Lohan is squeaky clean compared to the mess his life was. Alcohol can really fuck everything up, that's why I've never had a drink in life.

He didn't last year in his 70s.

He died last year in his 70s, I meant.

Some of these don’t make sense! Shelley Duval? She was huge in the 80s!

Indie rock group Pwr Bttm. They were the next big indie band but the non-binary dudelike person sexually assaulted queer women.

Ken Wahl...based on the things that I've read about him, he sounds pretty ignorant and dug his own grave with his big mouth.

R255. Mamie didn't always look harsh. I stand by statement that for a time, she was the most beautiful of the "3 M's". Check her out in this 1957 TV appearance and please show me when Marilyn ever pulled off this level of beauty/glamour without the aid of studio magic. By no means am I saying that Marilyn & Mansfield were dogs, but Mamie was the easiest on the eyes IMO.

R267 True. Some of the people mentioned in this thread are hasbeens or faded as opposed to neverweres or fizzled shortly before or after they began.

[R234] Wow are you ever the lucky one! Anyone that can use the word “homelier” to refer to Jayne Mansfield, must travel in rarified circles of beautiful people indeed!

Liza....with a Z

Ray Sharkey

Unfortunately, he took quite a few women down with him by infecting them with HIV.

Mamie was gorgeous R270!

[quote] Tippi Hedren, but who can blame her? She says she didn't want to go to bed with disgusting Alfred Hitchcock, so he ruined her career.

What career? She was an underwear model. He gave her an acting career in two major movies after seeing her in an ad.

Hitchcock was gay or transgender. There's no account of him having sex with anyone but his wife. And they only had one kid, so there probably wasn't much of that either.

R276, with her looks and after the success of Hitchcock's "The Birds" & "Marnie", she definitely could have had a film career. The fact that she didn't makes me think she was somehow sabotaged.

R278, Charlie Chaplin cast Tippi in "A Countess from Hong Kong", a supporting role to Brando and Loren.

Has Billie Holiday been mentioned yet?

Isaiah Washington, he's now a crazy Trump supporter. I don't know what happened to him, but I still like him through.

I just wanna suck his dick is what I really mean, LOL.

Chrisette Michele!

We told her. We said;

"Girlfriend, you DO NOT want to do this!"

Oh, well... "And, Jesus wept."

God id good all of the time...

Here's the one that listened. WE WERE NOT PLAYIN'!

Trump trying to get entertainment for his inauguration was a Fucking disaster. He couldn't get any major A-listers to do anything for him.

Trump is just pathetic.

[quote] with her looks and after the success of Hitchcock's "The Birds" & "Marnie", she definitely could have had a film career.

She couldn’t act.

Her acting was like a modeling shoot

Interesting how Tippi Hedren, daughter Melanie Griffith, and granddaughter Dakota Johnson are all pretty ladies with some talent who all made a splash and peaked early, better remembered for that splash (and for each other) than for any body of work to follow.

Tippi was stunning to behold in her prime, and charming, but merely competent acting in the Hitchcock films. (Those films didn't require much more of her.) Melanie was, I think, an underrated comic actress with both warmth and sex appeal (she lacked Tippi's hauteur) who made poor film choices. She never bested WORKING GIRL, IMHO. I've only seen Dakota in a foreign art film but I was impressed: I did not recognize her from those dire Shades of Gray movies. (Dakota can do "dryly intelligent," which Melanie cannot.) But I'm not expecting her to set world cinema on fire, either.

Ultimately they're not a joke like the Gabors, but they're not the Barrymores, either. (And I suspect they're okay with that.)

I have a new appreciation for Dakota since her role in exposing Ellen.

She tore off Ellen's clothes?

R286 I never found Melanie Griffith appealing and couldn’t understand her success in the 80s. Pudgy, dykey dyed orange hairstyle, a not especially pretty face and that awful baby voice, yet straight men seemed to love her.

Griffith at height of “hotness.”

Dakota doesn’t look like either parent (or Tippi for that matter). I wonder whose looks she inherited.

R289 I think she played the underdog every woman in Working Girl which endeared her to many people. Maybe straight men liked her because she seemed very ehm attainable. As someone says in the movie “who died and made you Grace Kelly?” It’s very true she was not a Grace Kelly which worked in her favour and made her more vulnerable and therefore likeable.

Oh, I disagree R291. I looked at that image and immediately saw resemblances of Don Johnson.

Errol Flynn seems ta have been pretty self destructive with his penchant for women and booze and who knows what else. I wonder what could have been if he’d taken better care of himself.

Roman Polanski comes to mind. He’s an incredible director as proven by Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown but is pretty much cancelled now because me of his murky doings

R294, Errol was a self-admitted, limited actor whose film career far surpassed his talent.

r296 Sometimes we pay for the sizzle rather than the steak.

Stephen Collins

Kevin Spacey

Scott Bairstow. In May 2003 was charged in Everett, Washington with second-degree child rape for allegedly sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl, who is related to Bairstow's former wife, and later asking her to keep quiet about it. In December 2003, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge—second-degree assault. Bairstow entered an Alford plea, under which he maintained his innocence but conceded that he would likely be convicted by a jury if the case went to trial. He was sentenced to four months in jail, one year's community supervision, and was required to undergo a sexual deviancy evaluation. He was also ordered to have no contact with the girl for 10 years and to pay for any counseling she required.

Not necessarily entertainment, but, John Galliano.

Catherine Oxenberg, she refused to show up for work until given a pay rise and was blacklisted by Aaron Spelling ever after. Who knows what roles from her we have been deprived of!

R302 None were necessary when she had mother warrior savior as her ultimate role on the horizon.

John Galliano is a good one. He ended a very successful career in international fashion with his anti-Semitic outbursts.

Dakota has a very generic face, why is she considered leading lady material is beyond me. It’s not like her acting is able to overcome bland, supermarket checkout girl type of face. Not particularly charismatic either.

Lindsay Lohan fucked up a potential A-list career. She went from working with Robert Altman and Meryl Streep to being out of the industry almost completely. Now she lives off of shady Middle Eastern and Russian businessmen. Sad because she had some charisma and talent. But I guess when the talent doesn’t match a basic level of EQ/ IQ needed to navigate the industry then it becomes a waste of talent.

R73 is full of shit.

Winona Ryder and Robert Downey Jr. are examples of stars who cleaned themselves up and went on to smashing success.

Winona wouldn’t have her high school sweetheart roles these days even if she hadn’t shoplifted 20 years ago.

And gaining lead roles on massively popular franchises like Star Trek and Stranger Things — the biggest show in the world — isn’t a “sort of comeback.” It’s where every actor wants to be.

Ryder is winning awards and making money with steady work again and can’t be considered a failure.

On r114’s note, Eddie Furlong and River Phoenix.

Who else is ready to murder the Mary Wells Troll?

Anyone have his address?

*ahem*

R308, there's a Mary Wells Troll? I mentioned Mary Wells briefly earlier in this thread, but I can't ever recall doing so before in the 20 plus years I've been posting here!

R308, I see what you mean know. The guy pretty much copy & pasted her whole biography here over 5 or 6 different posts.

In terms of fashion wouldn’t Alexander McQueen or Isaac Mizrahi fit the bill?

Isaac Mizrahi pretty much fucked the business side of his high-fashion house, but he's done very well in the HSN (or it it QVC?) frau market. So he's not hurting financially.

I wouldn't call Alexander McQueen's tragic suicide a "fuck up." His label outlasted him.

I think Marc Jacobs is a far bigger fuck up than both of them. But frankly, in 2020, no one gives a shit about high fashion anyway.

Isn’t Bleeker Street lined with like five Marc Jacobs shops? How can that be if he’s a fuck up?

Not since 2017, R314.

High fashion is out. People are spending disposable income on interior decoration, travel, and good food. No one except the most pretentious twits are walking around in expensive labels like in the late 90s-2010. Thank god.

How did Isaac Mizrahi go from High Fashion to designing fanny packs for Family Dollar?

R317, Was his career harmed by this 2006 incident?

"His outlandish pre-show interviews for the E! cable channel at the Globes in January -- during which he groped Scarlett Johansson's breast, asked Eva Longoria about her pubic hair and peeked down Teri Hatcher's dress -- drew as much buzz as the awards themselves.

The openly gay fashion designer strongly defended his behavior.

"The thing is, I am very connected to popular culture, I am," he said. "And I watch 'Will & Grace' and I watch 'My Name is Earl' and I watch prime-time television a lot and every other joke is about pubic hair ... So I don't feel it's wrong to talk about that on the red carpet," Mizrahi said.

E! did not receive any official complaints from any of the actresses involved in Mizrahi's Golden Globes escapades, it says, and issued no apologies. But the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation complained to E! about Mizrahi's comment to Charlize Theron about her Oscar-winning role as a "scary dyke with no teeth" in 2004's"

^2004's "Monster."

Mizrahi has always, always overestimated his own charm and likeability. He's not Andy Cohen, but he's come perilously close.

Regarding all the fashion designers... 2020 has got to be hitting the fashion industry as hard as the movie theater industry. Tons of people have lost work and disposable income, and nobody has any reason to dress up because there's no place to go, not even the office for a lot of us. What could anyone do with designer duds in 2020, wear them to the grocery store?

I mean, the high-end fashion industry has been fading out of popular culture for the last decade anyway, regular people wear gray cheap crap to the office and "athletic" crap in their time off. The only people who pay any attention to fashion trends are the idiots who want to be "influencers", or the bigger idiots who let themselves be influenced that way.

Funny enough, r321, cosmetics are as strong as ever. There’s a ton of variety at all price levels.

Fashion will be back, eventually. Post-vaccine, people are going to especially enjoy making a social display of themselves.

I was already pretty burnt out by the NYC fashion scene about 5 years ago. Not a lot of fun or spontaneity to go around.

Really, R322? Because most of the women I know are complaining that they have no reason to wear makeup, or haven't worn lipstick in months because of the masks.

But then, most of the women I know work in healthcare or allied professions.

It’s really odd, r324. But cosmetics companies and stores like Ulta and Sephora are doing well.

More politics than entertainment, but may I be the first to mention Milo Yiannopoulos. The stupid horse-faced cunt is quoted saying that pederasty can be an okay way for gay boys to learn about sexuality; loses his $600K book deal; represents himself in the lawsuit against his publisher, which he loses because he is too stupid a cunt to do five minutes of research into how American law works and thinks he can demand the other side's info; loses his job at Breitbart; his Twitter, Facebook and YouTube accounts; and slides into the shitter of poverty and utter irrelevance. Currently weeping away on Parler with various other butthurt losers.

Second place and in some ways even funnier - Steve Bannon. The fat millionaire fuck rides a groundswell of populism, sleazes into Trump's good graces and into a position of vast power at the White House itself - only to be branded "Sloppy Steve" and fired out the window after Bannon calls Ivanka a cunt to her face in front of her old man. Spends the next two years desperately lapping at Trump's asshole, with Trump either ignoring him or complaining that he thinks Bannon's antics "make me look bad" (which is actually accurate and no mean feat). Embezzles funds from a grifting "Build Trump's Wall" non-profit and is looking at a tidy number of years in the pokey unless Trump pardons him, which may not be possible, as his trial is set for this May, long after Trump will have left the White House. And that's assuming Trump gives a shit whether Bannon lives or dies. NARRATOR: he doesn't. I was always amazed this pile of rotting shit was held up as some sort of political genius. Page one of my book "How to be a Political Genius" totally lacks the helpful hint: "Make a life-long enemy of your boss' daughter by calling her the C-word right in front of the boss."

/bump

Shoes and especially bags are not (and I don’t think ever will be. Everyone just wants Bottega now (and I’m taking bets on how long that will last before they go onto something else). And that often after selling a bunch of shit on postmark. However, I know almost no one who spends real money on clothes anymore.

Jewelry, however, is alive and well and that industry has done quite well during the pandemic. It’s seen as a worthwhile investment (and short of perhaps ring size, immune from “quarantine weight” issues).

Shit POSHMARK!!!!!!

R149 She got stuck with the "difficult to work with" label, then she was involved in the Anthony Pellicano case. She dated him. Then she apparently though she was a character from one of her 90s thrillers, because started dating an FBI agent, whom she told she wanted to write a screenplay about it, when she was actually trying to get info to help Pellicano. He gave her files that she subsequently gave to Pellicano's lawyers. I'm serious.

R151 No, you're right. He also "dated" a woman who was nearly 40 while still underage. The press acted like it was cute, when she groomed and molested him. In one of the gossip threads, someone said he now pimps out his current girlfriend for drugs.

Orlando Brown (That’s So Raven)

Tanya Roberts publicist

Adam Lambert.

Here's one only the eldest of the elder gays will remember . . .

Robert Goulet forgetting the lyrics to The Star Spangled Banner at a nationally broadcast championship boxing match in 1964.

I guess it remains to be seen but I'd say Taylor Dayne. See R282 for reference.

John Lloyd Young.

He parlayed his 2006 Tony, Drama Desk, Theater World, Outer Critics Circle, and Grammy Awards into....bupkis.

R336, He was the only OBC member to recreate his role in the film, unfortunately no one saw it.

Christian Hoff didn't fare that much better. His Jersey Boys Tony win got him the lead in Pal Joey, but Stockard Channing had him replaced.

The movie version of JERSEY BOYS is just awful and deservedly forgotten.

regarding Taylor Dwayne, I wouldn’t say it remains to be seen anymore. At this point in her life no one is going to buy anything from her. The time for a big comeback would have been in the early aughts.

Taylor missed her window of opportunity. In the right hands, she could have pulled a Dusty Springfield as recently as 5-10 years ago.

Dayne was never Dusty, or close to her talent, but she had a pleasantly raspy, gutsy sound. She still had a small but loyal following of (mostly gay) fans from back in the day. Had she been lucky or enterprising enough to hook up with some younger, more contemporary songwriters/producers (much like Dusty and The Pet Shop Boys in the 80s), she could have reinvented herself for new and old audiences.

[quote]I don’t see how one can be labeled a fuck up if they have a majorly successful career behind them. For example, Bill Cosby.

[quote]I mean, Bill Cosby IS a major fuck up obviously, but the gist of the thread seems to be fucked-up-ness that craters or derails a successful career when it still had a lot of potential.

R191 and R192, perhaps you should check back with the OP's parameters. Since you both have obvious problems with reading comprehension, I'll help you out by capitalizing the relevant section:

[quote]They were in a position to take over the Film, Music & Entertainment Industries....and then fucked it all up. OR THEY WERE ALREADY ON TOP, FUCKED UP AND LOST IT ALL. BE IT PERSONAL PROBLEMS, SCANDAL, BAD MANAGEMENT, POOR CAREER DECISIONS OR WHATEVER, THEY COMPLETELY FUCKED IT ALL UP!

Okay?

R341, Blow it out your shit crusted ass.

R342, that response is worthy of your level of intellect and maturity. It must be very difficult for you to try to make your way in the world when you can't fucking read.

R343, I'd rather be illiterate than have to live with a shit crusted ass.

[quote]I'd rather be illiterate than have to live with a shit crusted ass

Of course you would. Lucky for me, I can read AND I'm also clean down there :-)

Moving on from the POS quoted above, I would name Amanda Plummer as one of the biggest fuck-ups in entertainment history. Although, like Faye Dunaway, Amanda would seem to be a case of outright mental illness. So I'm not sure if either of them count, because they're arguably not responsible for their actions.

Stacey Dash

Just clueless...

Some could make a very credible argument that she is/was a "never was." But, she was somewhat famous and making a name for herself. Then she made mistake, after mistake, after mistake, until she has reached a point of irrelevance.

It is interesting to ponder what Garlands career would looked like if she was not an addict- sooo much talent and she died with a thoroughly trashed voice at age 47 when most great singers are at their peak. Can say the same for Whitney only she never consistently turned out work as good as Judy’s, mostly run of the mill pop, mediocre movies and occasional flashes of brilliance when the material matched the talent enough to become art. Judy was a genius to her fingertips.

Dusty Springfield. She was huge in the UK and many other countries, had her own TV show, and was widely considered the best of the 60s UK female singers. She had great admiration for black American music, and often performed soul and R+B songs, which was unheard of for white artists

She was celebrated for pressuring TV producers to give Motown artists on tour in the UK their own special, and it launched them in the UK.

She was emotionally fragile, and her private life was complicated. It was pretty well known in showbusiness circles that she was lesbian, and obviously on the gay scene, but she was protected because of her huge popularity. The press circled her for years, always waiting for an opportunity.

She had an absolute terror of being outed and losing her career. Then out of nowhere, she gave an interview acknowledging that she had a sexual attraction to women. There was an uproar. She fled to the USA and spent many years in a haze of alcohol and drugs, and enduring violent relationships. One partner knocked her front teeth out. She was hospitalised on one occasion after a suicide attempt, using her real name, Mary O’Brien. When she told a nurse that she was Dusty Springfield they thought she was psychotic. She eventually moved to Amsterdam, and then back to the UK.

The Pet Shop Boys offered her a way back, and it was successful. Sadly she developed breast cancer and a true career resurgence was denied her. She was awarded the OBE when she was dying. She was too ill to receive it an an investiture, so it was presented to her in hospital.

R347, Sans her addictions and other personal problems, Judy Garland would have been just another talented MGM bore, a la Jane Powell, Kathryn Grayson, etc.

R349, she had one of the great voices of all time and more or less dominated any screen- she was magic. You’re blind, and deaf perhaps- which if so I hardly hold against you.

[quote]It is interesting to ponder what Garlands career would looked like if she was not an addict- sooo much talent and she died with a thoroughly trashed voice at age 47 when most great singers are at their peak.

Oh... and here we go. There's nothing to wonder about R347. Regardless of her talent, Judy Garland was self-destructive. Had she lived, she would have been in direct competition with her very own daughter. Or, Liza would have never reached the level that she attained because of that competition with her mother. Her (Judy's) recording career would have been lackluster or non-existent. I mean... who were buying Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, etc in the 70's and 80's? She would have done the sure money-making tour of "Frank, Dino, (invited performer)" ... I believe Liza did one of these tours when her career was in a slump and I know that Sammy Davis, Jr definitely did the tour (I saw that myself at Radio City Music Hall--WHAT A PERFORMER THAT SAMMY DAVIS WAS!) and it would have been a VERY successful run except that Judy was and always has been an unreliable performer. Frank Sinatra would have never put up with that for long. Therefore, I believe... that she still would have drank and drugged herself to death.

Zac Efron. There is no one currently working in Hollywood who has had more messes cleaned up for him. CAA has a special Zac Efron fixer on payroll.

^ what was up with that stuff about Zac getting beaten up on skid row?

[quote]Sharon Bryant of the R&B group Atlantic Starr was handed the album which later became known as “Control” by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. It was to be her first solo record, but she objected to the sexual overtones. Jam and Lewis the. offered it to Janet Jackson, who took co-writing credit on the tracks and the rest is history.

SOME of the songs. Janet's history and life experiences were what birthed the songs Control, Nasty, ...Lately, etc.

"It is interesting to ponder what Garlands career would looked like if she was not an addict"

Sadly, if the addiction hadn't ruined her life and killed her, her mental health issues may still have ruined her life and contributed to an early death. She may have had bipolar disorder, she may have had a personality disorder, certainly she was emotionally unstable, she was uneducated, and was so out of touch with the demands of real life that she'd always have had horrible trouble coping with the loss of the regimented life of a studio contract actor.

Face it, she was fucked up so many different ways that you could take the addiction out of the picture without changing it a lot.

R350, Please read R355, twice.

Beverly Garland R355? Was she an addict?

R357, She was one smart cookie.

Is that an age appropriate couple?

Increasingly, Armie Hammer.

355, you’ve got a point- but keep in mind she was taking amphetamine and barbiturates when she was 12. The cumulative effects of that over time starting so young.... dunno. I just think of that fat rich throbbing and huge voice without the physical effects of alcohol and a several pack a day smoking habit, never mind the drugs.

R349, Are MAD?! Judy Garland had an extraordinary voice!

Whatever stupid celebrity is bout to go on the record supporting Trump.

R354 = Jabba

mr efron done made his 20 million $$$$. he dont gotta don nothin dear....