- 7/1/2025
Some scandals shake Hollywood to its core, others get buried by the 24/7 news cycle. Join us as we revisit celebrity PR disasters that somehow slipped from public memory! From Julia Roberts' passive-aggressive fashion choices to Christian Bale's explosive on-set meltdown, these moments had the potential to end careers but were eventually overshadowed by newer controversies.
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00:00It was like a downpour, I'd say. A downpour.
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the craziest
00:07and potentially career-ending tabloid scandals that got lost to time and the endless news cycle.
00:14We now need some time, space, and privacy while I complete my treatment.
00:21Number 10. Aloe Vera.
00:23Being an actor, it is my dream come true, but it is not my only dream come true.
00:28What are the other dreams?
00:30The life that I've built with my husband.
00:33Julia Roberts' personal life has been a consistent fixture of the entertainment news industry.
00:39Her romance with Daniel Moda, a married cinematographer, set the gossip mill on fire.
00:45And frankly, Roberts did her best to stoke the flames.
00:48Moda's wife, Vera Steinberg, refused to grant him a divorce.
00:52Hence the Aloe Vera t-shirt Roberts wore in 2002.
00:56A pun on Aloe Vera.
00:58The shirt was a clear message to her lover's wife.
01:01She refused to confirm the shirt's meaning in interviews,
01:04but given how not subtle the wordplay is, it's not exactly a mystery.
01:08Baby, you're overreacting, okay?
01:10Oh, no, no, don't do that!
01:12Don't you do that!
01:13Don't diminish my knee!
01:15Despite the low blow, Roberts, her career, and the relationship survived the drama.
01:20Roberts and Moda have been married since 2002.
01:23You've been married now 13 years, is it?
01:25Yes.
01:25That's awesome.
01:26That's like 50 years in Chicago.
01:28Number 9.
01:29David Letterman's Blackmailer
01:31In 2009, the late night host went on air to describe how Joe Holderman, a 48 hours producer,
01:38tried to blackmail him.
01:39The creepy stuff was that I have had sex with women who work for me on this show.
01:47The man had learned of David Letterman's numerous affairs with women who worked for him.
01:51The host's marriage, career, and show were all on the line.
01:55There was the potential for a complete flame-out here.
01:57Rather than give him the millions he asked for, Letterman opted instead to get Holderman arrested and confess his many affairs with women who worked on his show.
02:06But what you don't want is a guy saying, oh, I know you had sex with women, so I would like $2 million, or I'm going to make trouble for you.
02:15He used his time slot to come clean to the world.
02:17While his damage control ultimately worked, blackmail like this had the potential to be devastating.
02:23Halderman also warned that he was going to keep copies of everything he had on Letterman for protection.
02:29The only way to be sure I never talk to anybody is for somebody to kill me.
02:33Well, you know, I don't want that to happen.
02:36Number 8. Matthew McConaughey's arrest
02:38It's probably one of the least surprising scandals of all time.
02:42But it's easy to forget there was a time when getting caught with a certain illicit substance would be a career-ender.
02:49Say, man, you got a joint?
02:53Uh, no, not on me, man.
02:58It'd be a lot cooler if you did.
03:01Matthew McConaughey's 1999 arrest was initially the result of a noise complaint.
03:06Police arrived to find the dazed and confused actor nude and playing some bongos.
03:11Well, not everybody loves bongo music.
03:14You know, some do, some don't.
03:16That's kind of subjective. And to me, it sounded good.
03:18It sounded good, yeah.
03:19And you were naked? Is that also part of the deal?
03:22I was buck naked, yeah.
03:24Officers entered McConaughey's home after seeing paraphernalia, and he fought them off.
03:29Resisting police, transportation could be a hard one to come back from.
03:33Luckily, a judge dismissed the charges, and McConaughey pled guilty to the noise complaint.
03:38Did you learn anything from this experience?
03:40Yes. Shut those damn windows to the neighbors that you don't know, you know?
03:46Number 7. Kendall Jenner's Badly Timed Pepsi
03:49Pepsi's 2017 Live For Now short, featuring the model and reality star of Keeping Up With The Kardashians fame,
03:57was supposed to be a call for peace.
03:59Unfortunately, the internet was quick to point out that imagery of protesters and police
04:04were reminiscent of recent Black Lives Matter protests.
04:07Pepsi pulled the ad within 24 hours and released a statement admitting they missed the mark
04:13and apologized for putting Kendall Jenner in that position.
04:16Jenner's proximity to one of the most famous families in entertainment didn't help matters.
04:22The ad's message that a soda could cure such intense social strife was hailed as inauthentic at best,
04:29tone-deaf and offensive at worst.
04:31After I saw the reaction and I read what people had to say about it, I most definitely saw what went wrong.
04:43It was pulled, costing Pepsi millions, and Jenner became a laughingstock.
04:47Number 6. Ariana Grande's Donut Fiasco
04:51You visit a donut shop with your squad.
04:53You spot the big tray full of fattening and delicious donuts.
04:56Then, you're caught licking one of the display donuts on a security camera and saying you hate America?
05:03I hate America.
05:05I hate America.
05:07That's disgusting.
05:08We've all been there, right?
05:10In 2015, Ariana Grande's antics were caught on camera for all to see.
05:15She managed to offend a lot of people, drumming up the fury of many who love America
05:19and many who simply think licking food that's on display in public places is gross.
05:25Yes, I think she should be shocked.
05:26I never had a B. I don't like the B rating.
05:29He's not happy about the inspection, but he's hopeful.
05:32There was even a local police investigation into the incident.
05:36In her apology, Grande said what she was actually critiquing was not America, but obesity rates.
05:41I was so disgusted with myself.
05:43I wanted, I like shoved my face in a pillow and wanted to disappear.
05:47But instead of that, I'm going to come forward and on up to what I did and take responsibility.
05:53This explanation only required a second apology.
05:56Number 5.
05:57Reese Witherspoon's arrest.
05:59The Atlanta cop who pulled over a car drifting out of its line
06:03probably had no idea he was about to meet a movie star.
06:06And Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon was more than willing to let him know.
06:10Do you know my name, sir?
06:11Don't need to know her.
06:12You don't need to know my name?
06:13Not quite yet.
06:14Oh, really?
06:15Okay.
06:16You're about to find out who I am.
06:18She and husband Jim Toth were pulled over in 2013.
06:22Toth, who was driving, was arrested for driving under the influence.
06:25Witherspoon was arrested for disorderly conduct after carrying on,
06:29disobeying police orders to stay in the car,
06:32and declaring her rights as an American citizen.
06:34You better not arrest me.
06:36Yes, ma'am.
06:36Are you kidding me?
06:37No, I told you.
06:38I'm an American citizen.
06:39Clearly, the two were in the wrong.
06:42Luckily, she was quick to apologize and take responsibility
06:44before any real damage could be done to her career.
06:48I'm expressing your justice.
06:50Yep.
06:50Really?
06:51Yep.
06:51I'm being anti-American.
06:53Yep.
06:53Go sit down.
06:54Wow.
06:55Number four, Justin Bieber at the Anne Frank House.
06:59A few years into his career,
07:00Justin Bieber was making more headlines for his behavior than his music.
07:04Justin Bieber was in Amsterdam recently visiting Anne Frank House,
07:08and he decided to enter something into the guest book,
07:11but what he entered is getting a lot of attention.
07:15A dust-up with Orlando Bloom,
07:17a misadventure with a mop bucket,
07:19and a random dig at former President Clinton,
07:22and even a few street races marred his public image.
07:25But he made the ultimate gaffe when visiting Amsterdam's Anne Frank House in 2013.
07:31Here's what he wrote, and I quote,
07:32truly inspiring to be able to come here.
07:35Anne was a great girl.
07:36Hopefully, she would have been a believer.
07:38While visiting the former home-turned-museum dedicated to the famed diarist,
07:43Bieber wrote in the museum's guest book that he hoped she would have been a believer.
07:47He might have been making reference to Frank's love of pop culture,
07:52evidenced in her famous diaries.
07:53Given the circumstances of Frank's death during the Holocaust,
07:56it reads as tone-deaf and self-centered.
07:59It's just not the most sensitive thing when you're in a museum
08:03about something so sort of solemn and sacred as Anne Frank.
08:09Number 3.
08:10Christian Bale's on-set rant
08:12A big-budget film set is a stressful environment.
08:15Apparently, the stress got to star Christian Bale on the set of Terminator Salvation.
08:21He openly berated director of photography Shane Hurlbutt in the middle of a take.
08:25What don't you get about it?
08:28I was looking at the light.
08:30Oh, good for you!
08:32And how was it?
08:34The DP's adjusting of lights during a pivotal scene led the actor to lose it,
08:38launching into a rant that was threatening and deeply unprofessional.
08:42But a bad situation became worse when audio of Bale's rant hit the internet.
08:47Um, I think I wouldn't want to...
08:50Christian Bale is not the kind of guy you want to piss off.
08:55Suddenly, everyone was weighing in on a workplace dispute
08:59that Bale and Hurlbutt had privately settled months before.
09:03Other actors came to his defense,
09:05but the controversy probably did more hurt to the film than help it.
09:09I know it sounds ridiculous, but I, too, have gone off on people
09:13because if you're professional, you know what you're not supposed to do.
09:17Number 2. Dave Matthews Band and the Chicago River
09:20The events of August 8, 2004 have since passed into Chicago legend.
09:26But the Dave Matthews Band became the subject of a truly wild and truly disgusting PR crisis.
09:32There's even a sticker on the bridge as a reminder of that infamous brown, well, shower of sorts.
09:41The rock group, known for hits like Crash Into Me, was touring in Chicago at the time.
09:47Their tour bus reportedly drove over a bridge
09:50and dumped hundreds of pounds of human waste into the Chicago River below.
09:54They were doused from head to toe.
09:57Their hair was soaking wet, literally covered in urine and feces.
10:03Clearly, whoever did the dumping did not see the tourist boat sailing under the bridge at the time.
10:08The passengers of the boat were soaked.
10:10The band themselves were not on the bus at the time,
10:13but they were sued by the state of Illinois and fined for the driver's actions.
10:18You know, our biggest, though, concern right now is our customer, you know, safety and satisfaction.
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10:39Number 1. Kate Gate, 2024
10:42The Princess of Wales' disappearance from public life at the start of 2024
10:47became an instant topic of speculation and coverage.
10:50The royal family's attempt to make her withdrawal less conspicuous only drew more attention,
10:55especially after it was reported she had had surgery.
10:59With no details about what's wrong, the palace saying that's private,
11:04there's been rampant speculation about Kate's health.
11:07Things reached a fever pitch when a Mother's Day photo of the princess with her children appeared to be edited.
11:13Meant to reassure the public of her good health,
11:15this obvious attempt to fool them just made the speculation worse.
11:19I don't care about those things.
11:21But the question to me is why did Kate apparently care enough to experiment with photo editing?
11:25What is exactly being cleaned up here?
11:27Kate's own explanation that she was just experimenting with photo editing was not credible.
11:33Eventually increasing salacious gossip forced her to finally admit
11:36her scarce public profile was a result of treatment for cancer.
11:40It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family,
11:44but I've had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I'm so grateful.
11:50Did you remember these PR disasters? Tell us in the comments.
11:53The apology that I posted, I kind of missed my opportunity to actually sincerely apologise
11:59and express how I was feeling because I was too busy preaching about my issues with the food industry.
12:04We'll see you next time.
12:06Bye-bye.
12:06Bye-bye.
12:07Bye-bye.
12:08Bye-bye.
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12:31Bye-bye.
12:32Bye-bye.
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