- 7/3/2025
From controversial celebrities to fallen icons, Family Guy has shown an uncanny ability to predict scandals before they became public knowledge. Join us as we explore how this animated series called out the questionable behavior of Hollywood's most notorious figures before their downfall.
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00:00Is Matt Damon coming?
00:01No, but he knows about all of us.
00:03He's very aware of what's going on here, you see.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:09And today we're exploring our picks for the most shocking times
00:12when Family Guy peered into a controversy crystal ball
00:15and seemingly hinted towards a famous face's true, awful behavior
00:19before it was publicly known.
00:21I always wanted to be an astronaut like Lance Armstrong.
00:24It's Neil Armstrong.
00:26He lied about his name, too?
00:27Mel Gibson.
00:30In 2005, Family Guy aired the episode North by North Quahog,
00:35which featured a character based on Gibson.
00:37The park Barrington is already attracting some big names,
00:41such as Christianity enthusiast Mel Gibson,
00:44who has his own room on permanent reserve.
00:47A room which he barely uses.
00:50To begin with, Peter and Lois discovered the trailer
00:52for the sequel to The Passion of the Christ,
00:54which the actor directed and soon stole the film.
00:58With a real-life sequel confirmed for a future release,
01:01that's not the only time art imitates life.
01:04Desperate to get the movie back,
01:06Gibson demonstrated unhinged behavior by using a firearm
01:09and employing priests to help kidnap Lois.
01:12What are you going to do to me?
01:14What are you going to do to me?
01:16As soon as your husband gives me what I want, you're free to go.
01:19In 2006, Gibson's real-life reputation unraveled
01:23when he was recorded uttering anti-Semitic phrases
01:26when he was arrested for a DUI.
01:28He continued his fall from grace by threatening his ex-partner,
01:32then pleading no contest to a battery charge against her.
01:35There's another audio recording which has now been made public,
01:38reportedly of him and his former girlfriend,
01:41and it is filled with threats of violence against her.
01:43Woody Allen.
01:44In the early days of Family Guy,
01:46the show liked to parody Allen's films and characters.
01:50Interestingly, however, I did run into Chris again.
01:52It was on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
01:55He was with another dad.
01:56I was with another son.
01:57But it was nice reminiscing about old times.
02:00For you kids watching, this is a reference to a Woody Allen movie.
02:03He also married one of his children.
02:04They would occasionally stretch the mockery to a more uncomfortable place
02:09when they regularly mentioned his marriage to Soon-Yi Previn,
02:12his former stepchild,
02:14who was adopted by Allen's ex-partner, Mia Farrow.
02:17Usually, it was a brief mention,
02:19such as referring to Previn as Allen's daughter-wife.
02:22Listen, me and the other playwrights are going out to have drinks
02:25with Woody Allen and his daughter-wife.
02:26You want to come?
02:28All right.
02:29We can just sit here for a while.
02:31While there had been accusations
02:33that Allen had assaulted Dylan Farrow
02:35and groomed Previn for years,
02:37it really came to light in 2016
02:39when Ronan Farrow released a column
02:41that compared Bill Cosby's allegations
02:43to Allen's alleged behavior against Dylan.
02:47While the multi-Oscar-winning director
02:48has denied the allegations,
02:50his reputation hasn't recovered.
02:52The drama first played out on tabloids in the early 90s,
02:55but ultimately, Woody Allen was never charged with a crime.
02:59Brett Ratner
03:00In 2012, Family Guy aired the episode
03:03Lego My Mago,
03:04which parodied Taken as Meg is kidnapped in Europe.
03:08Oh my god, Dad.
03:09Where are they gonna take me?
03:10I'm so scared.
03:12Meg?
03:14Meg?
03:14With Brian and Stewie on the case
03:16to get their sister back,
03:17the latter goes undercover
03:18as a young girl in an auction for human traffickers.
03:22As Stewie danced,
03:23the announcer stated that Ratner had bid $75,000.
03:26I have $75,000.
03:29Thank you, Brett Ratner.
03:31The joke was forgotten over time,
03:32but when 2017 came around,
03:35hindsight made it look vastly darker.
03:38That year, as part of the Me Too movement,
03:40the film director and producer
03:41was accused of assault by several different women,
03:44some working in Hollywood.
03:46Ratner also allegedly outed Elliot Page.
03:49Due to the scandal,
03:50Warner Brothers terminated its working relationship
03:53with Ratner and his production company.
03:55Warner Brothers and the filmmaker
03:57have now parted ways,
03:58and now Playboy Enterprises
04:00is suspending plans to team up with Ratner
04:02to make a movie on Hugh Hefner.
04:05O.J. Simpson.
04:07In 2009, The Juice is Loose came out.
04:10I, Peter Griffin,
04:11will be playing one free round of golf tomorrow
04:14with the one and only O.J. Simpson.
04:17What?
04:18Peter, you can't play golf with O.J. Simpson.
04:20He's a murderer.
04:21Yet the script was written years ago,
04:23long before Simpson found himself in further trouble.
04:26The episode even opened with a disclaimer
04:28that it took place in March 2007.
04:31The plot revolved around the former NFL star
04:33being treated like a victim of false accusations
04:36for the 1994 murders of Nicole Brown Simpson
04:39and Ronald Goldman.
04:40That's been chasing me for 13 years.
04:43And here I was looking forward to a nice day of golf
04:46away from all those people who have demonized me
04:49and made me out to be some kind of boogeyman,
04:51even though I was found innocent by a jury of my peers.
04:55After making a heartfelt speech,
04:56bringing an angry crowd and the audience to his side,
05:00Simpson kills multiple characters before running away.
05:03In September 2007,
05:05Simpson took part in a real-life armed robbery
05:07of a hotel casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
05:09In 2008, he was sentenced to 33 years in jail.
05:13Simpson was paroled in 2017
05:15and fully released in 2021.
05:19Simpson's speaking out for the first time tonight.
05:21You see it there since his top secret exit
05:23from the Lovelock Correctional Center.
05:25Charlie Rose.
05:26In his heyday,
05:28Rose was one of the U.S.'s biggest news anchors,
05:31earning him multiple shows on CBS and PBS.
05:34I am pleased to have another conversation
05:36with my friend Warren Buffett.
05:38Welcome.
05:39Good to see you, Charlie.
05:39In 2016, Family Guy aired
05:42The New Adventures of Old Tom,
05:44where Tom Tucker struggled to stay relevant
05:46as hotshot presenter Dallas Portland
05:49takes Quahog women by storm.
05:51After some ill-advised encouragement by Peter
05:53caused Tom to ruin his reputation,
05:56the Griffin patriarch mentioned Tom
05:58had fallen even further than Charlie Rose,
06:01before going to a cutaway gag of the host.
06:04Today on CBS This Morning,
06:05we'll be talking about how much sleep you need
06:07to not be drunk from the night before.
06:10That's not what we're talking about.
06:11That's what I'm talking about.
06:13A year later,
06:14this joke would become more layered
06:16as Rose was accused of sexual misconduct
06:18against several women
06:19who worked or hoped to work alongside him.
06:22After numerous women came forward,
06:24CBS and PBS fired him.
06:27Charlie does not get a pass here.
06:29He doesn't get a pass from anyone in this room.
06:31We are all deeply affected.
06:32We are all rocked by this.
06:33Kanye West, a slow burn of a fall from grace.
06:38West's reputation has been crumbling for a while
06:40due to his even more disturbing behavior.
06:43With so much to work with,
06:45Family Guy has taken several shots at the rapper.
06:47Okay, I'll put the Kanye canes in the stockings.
06:50You know, it's just like,
06:52you know, music and fashion, all that.
06:54You know, I can't be stopped.
06:56Whatever I do, you know,
06:58I just want to be the best
06:59because the best is never enough.
07:01Yet the most telling was in 2018's
07:04Married with Cancer.
07:05Quagmire sets up a cutaway
07:07by stating that Brian's bachelor party
07:09will be crazier than whatever West is up to.
07:12I want to throw you
07:13the wildest bachelor party of all time.
07:15It's going to be crazier
07:16than whatever Kanye West is doing
07:17at this particular moment.
07:19We then see the disgraced musician
07:21massaging a lasagna
07:22and announcing his intention
07:23to join an extremist group.
07:25In the years since,
07:27West has descended
07:27into a far-right rabbit hole,
07:29making anti-Semitic statements
07:31and supporting the legacy
07:32of the evil dictator Adolf Hitler.
07:35We got to a point
07:36where something needed to happen.
07:37Something needed to be said.
07:39Somebody needed to say something.
07:40Jimmy Saville.
07:41For decades,
07:42Saville had a reputation in the UK
07:44as a beloved children's TV presenter,
07:47mostly with the BBC.
07:49We've got it all happening tonight,
07:51ladies and gentlemen.
07:51Everybody's around.
07:53We're going to start
07:54with our guests from America.
07:55However,
07:56a year after he died,
07:58in 2012,
07:59we discovered
08:00that he used his reputation
08:01to abuse hundreds of people,
08:03often using his charity work
08:05as a cover to target victims.
08:07In 2002,
08:08Road to Europe dropped.
08:10It involved Brian and Stewie
08:11traveling to the UK
08:12to visit the baby's favorite BBC TV show,
08:15Jolly Farm Review.
08:17There it is.
08:18The BBC.
08:19While the episode
08:21doesn't feature Saville directly,
08:23it seemingly hints
08:24at his horrible exploits.
08:26When Stewie discovered
08:27it was a set,
08:28he went to speak
08:29to one of the characters,
08:30only to realize
08:31he's creepily looking
08:32at dirty drawings
08:33without an ounce of shame.
08:35What is it you've drawn here?
08:36Oh, that's Oswald Owl
08:37slamming Mother Maggie
08:38in one of them Chinese baskets.
08:41Ryan Singer.
08:42We have no idea
08:43what Fox's X-Men franchise
08:45had in the water,
08:46but after Ratner,
08:48another director-producer
08:49was alleged to have
08:50committed terrible acts.
08:52You know,
08:52you know it's going to get
08:53some reaction to that,
08:54but at the same time,
08:55it's my way of saying
08:57the third one's always the hardest.
08:59After allegations
09:00had been coming out for years,
09:02it really took off in 2017,
09:04when Singer was issued
09:05a lawsuit for assaulting a teenager.
09:08The destruction of his career
09:09saw him fired
09:10from Bohemian Rhapsody
09:11and Dark Phoenix.
09:12In 2016,
09:14the episode
09:14The Peanut Butter Kid aired,
09:16which had Stewie
09:17explored the murky world
09:18of child celebrity.
09:20Stewie actually got a call
09:21for another commercial tomorrow.
09:23Who knows?
09:24This could be the beginning
09:25of a nice career for him.
09:26You sure about this, Lois?
09:28I mean, the world of child acting
09:29can be a pretty bad environment
09:31for a kid.
09:32Struggling to keep up
09:33with his parents' demands,
09:34Brian spoke to Stewie.
09:36He pointed out
09:37that plenty of actors
09:38had been destroyed
09:38by parental greed
09:40or perverted Hollywood directors,
09:42giving Stewie a chance
09:43to name-drop Singer.
09:44Oh, like Bryan Singer.
09:46Exactly.
09:47Bill Cosby.
09:48From America's dad,
09:50Cosby had the admiration
09:51of many.
09:52No, I was not rambling,
09:55and I think it's a very good way
09:57to tell that particular part of life.
09:59I mean, it worked on you.
10:00But then,
10:01in 2014,
10:03the allegations
10:04that he wasn't as wholesome
10:05as everyone believed
10:06emerged.
10:07The actor was accused
10:08of sedating women
10:09and then assaulting them.
10:11This led to Cosby being jailed
10:13for three to ten years
10:14in 2018.
10:15However,
10:16the sentence was later overturned
10:18on a technicality.
10:19In 2001,
10:20the episode
10:21Brian Does Hollywood dropped.
10:23A big, stupid doo-doo hat!
10:29Honestly,
10:30the things these children
10:31come up with.
10:32Stewie had the plan
10:33of mind-controlling viewers
10:34on Kids Say the Darnedest Things,
10:37hosted by Cosby.
10:38However,
10:39the device was taken by Cosby,
10:41who then used it on Stewie,
10:43making him docile.
10:44In 2008's
10:45The Man With Two Brains,
10:47there's a joke
10:48about Brian's video compilation
10:49involving Cosby
10:50attacking someone,
10:52somehow hinting
10:53at the actor's
10:54hidden violence.
10:55It's freaking brutal
10:56for no reason.
10:57You know?
10:58Poor little guy's
10:58just sitting there
10:59eating his snack pack.
11:00Bill Cosby just runs in
11:01out of nowhere
11:02and just starts wailing on him.
11:03Before we continue,
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11:19Kevin Spacey
11:20According to Family Guy
11:22creator Seth MacFarlane,
11:23this was a complete coincidence.
11:25However,
11:26that won't stop people
11:27from wondering
11:28if the industry knew
11:29things about Spacey
11:30behind the scenes.
11:31Ten bucks.
11:32Five bucks.
11:32Eight bucks and I'll do it.
11:33Fine.
11:34In 2005,
11:36Don't Make Me Over Air,
11:37it featured Stewie
11:38streaking through a mall
11:39for a dare,
11:40yelling that he'd escaped
11:42from Spacey's basement.
11:43In 2017,
11:45several actors and crew
11:46came forward
11:47with allegations
11:48that Spacey had assaulted
11:49and harassed them.
11:50So in 2017,
11:51when everything happened
11:52and I lost everything,
11:53I remember I said to Evan,
11:55I don't know who I am
11:57without my work.
11:59I don't know.
12:00I don't know.
12:01Acting is all
12:02I've ever, ever known.
12:04This caused the actor
12:05to be fired
12:05from House of Cards
12:06as well as other projects.
12:09Upon the allegations
12:10coming to light,
12:11Spacey infamously
12:12denied the claims
12:13while also admitting
12:14he was gay,
12:16drawing severe criticism.
12:18Since then,
12:19the once-respected performer
12:20has struggled
12:21for the mainstream work
12:22he was used to.
12:23I accept my accountability.
12:26I think it's
12:28incredibly important.
12:28I am not going to
12:30be accountable
12:32for things I didn't do
12:33or that were exaggerated
12:34or greatly changed.
12:35But I absolutely believe
12:37that my role in it
12:38was my role in it.
12:40Which celebrity
12:41was most brutally
12:42roasted by the
12:43Family Guy team
12:44for a scandal
12:45they were involved in?
12:46Let us know
12:46in the comments.
12:48Are you saying
12:49we do fraud?
12:50No, no, no.
12:51It's not fraud
12:52because the machine
12:52works in my head.
12:55If I think it works,
12:56then it works.
12:57That's the Silicon Valley motto.
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