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From lip-synching disasters to shocking outbursts, some stars have seen their careers implode right before our eyes! Join us as we count down the most catastrophic celebrity meltdowns and career-ending moments that happened with cameras rolling. When fame meets live television, the results can be spectacularly disastrous!
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 30 times that a
00:09celebrity destroyed their career on live television. We will also be including those
00:14whose careers eventually recuperated after the initial downfall.
00:18First runner-up is Columbia. It is my mistake. Still a great night.
00:24Please don't hold it against the ladies.
00:26Number 30, O.J. Simpson.
00:31Again, all this is presumption now. It's apparent that the police believe it.
00:36Well, it's not great.
00:37And that is Cowling's car, and that Simpson is in the driver's seat. We've received a report of a gun in the car.
00:42The car is heading north, which would be toward Los Angeles.
00:45The country was left flabbergasted on June 17th, 1994, when the LAPD issued an all-points bulletin
00:53for the arrest of football legend O.J. Simpson. What followed was the media event of the 20th century.
00:59Simpson's legacy was certainly hurt by the murder charge, but it could have recovered should he be found innocent.
01:05But it was ruined forever throughout the preceding live criminal trial, as it became increasingly clear that,
01:11yeah, he probably did it. And while he was indeed found not guilty by the jury,
01:16the greater collective jury of the country disagreed and shunned Simpson for the rest of his life.
01:22He was widely known as the celebrity who got away with murder, and remained as such until his death in 2024.
01:29If O.J. can get away with murder, why can't Sonny have his kid?
01:35This guy knows what I'm talking about.
01:39No more questions.
01:41Number 29. Fear.
01:43They're really nice people, you know.
01:46They look very frightening, but they're really very nice.
01:50A little-known American punk band, Fear largely sabotaged their future prospects following a disastrous appearance on Saturday Night Live on October 31st, 1981.
02:02Being a personal fan, John Belushi helped them get a gig on the show, but their performance was absolute bedlam.
02:09We don't know what they were expecting.
02:10A mosh pit broke out, the band shouted obscenities, and damage was caused to the set from the general ruckus.
02:17Producers were understandably furious, and Fear was largely blacklisted from mainstream television.
02:24Though punk fans celebrated the appearance as an act of rebellion, it tarnished the band's reputation beyond the underground scene.
02:30And their major label prospects vanished, literally overnight.
02:35Good or bad, like, those kind of moments are great.
02:37And I think that's what's great about Saturday Night Live.
02:39I mean, we're still talking about that moment right now, you know.
02:43There's been a thousand bans on other TV shows that we're not talking about.
02:46So, that meant something to a lot of people.
02:48Number 28, Kelly Osbourne.
02:51And if you, if you kick every Latino out of this country, then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?
02:57Oh, that's, in the sense that, you know what I mean?
03:00Back in August of 2015, TV personality Kelly Osbourne was guest-starring on The View, with the topic of the day being Donald Trump's immigration policies.
03:09It's then that Osbourne made one of the most openly racist remarks ever heard on live TV.
03:15The comment was immediately met with backlash, with Osbourne's co-hosts reacting in shock and disbelief.
03:21Osbourne thought she cooked with this one, but she immediately started backpedaling after witnessing the horrified reactions,
03:28which only added to the unbearable embarrassment.
03:30She later told Rolling Stone that this was, quote, the most cringe moment of her entire life.
03:36Fair enough.
03:37Her career was certainly hurt by it, we'll tell you that.
03:40And as for that jaw-dropping remark of Kelly Osbourne, she apologized on Facebook,
03:44saying what she said was a poor choice of words, admitting she really messed up, but she expressed it a different way.
03:51Number 27, Michael Richards.
03:53Hi, Michael. Welcome to the show.
03:55Hello. Hi.
03:56How are you doing?
03:57Hello. I'm not doing too good.
04:00To be fair, Michael Richards was done for before his appearance on Letterman.
04:04You just don't come back from a super racist tirade like that, no matter how many times you apologize.
04:10But if that rant was the death blow to Richards' career, his Letterman apology was the dirt that covered the coffin.
04:16Many people consider this to be one of the most unintentionally hilarious moments on live TV,
04:21with Richards making further questionable remarks, the crowd giggling throughout,
04:25and Jerry Seinfeld telling the audience to stop laughing.
04:29Needless to say, the so-called apology did not land.
04:32In fact, it crashed and burned in magnificent manner.
04:36And suffice to say, Richards has never returned to the spotlight.
04:40And, uh, uh, said some pretty, uh, nasty things to some Afro-Americans, a lot of trash talk, and, uh...
04:53Stop laughing. It's not funny.
04:55Number 26, Don Imus.
04:58Girls from Rutgers, man, they got tattoos and some hardcore hoes.
05:03Nothing, nothing.
05:04A known shock jock, Don Imus ran the nationally syndicated radio show, Imus in the Morning,
05:10which was also simulcast on MSNBC.
05:13But that all came crashing down on April 4th, 2007.
05:17Imus was discussing the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game
05:21when he made a racist and sexist remark towards the players.
05:24The comment aired without immediate incident,
05:27but it was soon picked up and circulated widely on the internet,
05:30leading to enormous controversy.
05:32Major sponsors pulled out, MSNBC canceled the simulcast,
05:37and CBS Radio eventually fired Imus and canceled the show altogether.
05:42He returned to radio in late 2007 and later moved to other platforms.
05:47But his influence was significantly reduced,
05:49and he never regained the mainstream support he once had.
05:52I thought it was important that I apologize
05:55to these young women and to that coach and to their parents and to you.
05:59Number 25, Don Cherry.
06:01You people love, you, they come here, whatever it is,
06:05you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey,
06:08at least you can pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that.
06:12Once a successful hockey coach,
06:14Don Cherry is widely known for hosting Coach's Corner on Hockey Night in Canada
06:18between 1986 and 2019.
06:21With his gruff voice, flamboyant suits, and colorful personality,
06:25Cherry was a Canadian icon for decades.
06:27But on November 9th, 2019, he made some controversial statements regarding Canadian immigrants.
06:33Specifically, he referred to them as, quote,
06:36you people, and criticized them for not wearing poppies on Remembrance Day.
06:40A number of different organizations, including poppy distributor, the Royal Canadian Legion,
06:45condemned the remarks as hurtful and racist.
06:48Public outrage was also swift and massive, and Cherry was ultimately fired.
06:53He then refused to apologize, saying, quote,
06:56I know what I said, and I meant it.
06:58I'll tell you, it was really funny to wake up not employed.
07:01It's the first time in 38 years that I've been, since I've been unemployed, as they say.
07:08But that's the way the cookie crumbles.
07:10Sometimes you're high, as you know, in this business.
07:12Sometimes you're high, sometimes you're low.
07:14Number 24, Don Lemon.
07:16Our third Don in a row is Don Lemon, a renowned journalist who worked for NBC and CNN.
07:32In 2023, Lemon made a series of controversial remarks,
07:36the first of which occurred on February 16th,
07:38when he said that presidential candidate Nikki Haley was, quote,
07:41past her prime.
07:43He then dug in further, arguing that women were only in their prime in their 20s and 30s.
07:48Just two months later, Lemon got into a heated argument with GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy,
07:54with issues of race appearing.
07:56CNN leaders were already exasperated,
07:59but a Variety expose released that same month revealed that Lemon had long engaged
08:03in misogynistic and sexist behavior off camera.
08:07This was the final straw, and he was ultimately fired on April 24th.
08:11And another shakeup in national news.
08:13CNN and Don Lemon have announced they are parting ways.
08:17This move comes months after Lemon apologized for his on-air comments
08:21about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley.
08:25So far, neither party has commented on the decision.
08:28Number 23, Carmen.
08:31I, I, I, is it time?
08:33Green light, egotistic battle cry.
08:35I was right, you was wrong, called you out, finished strong.
08:38This duo Saturday Night Live appearance on February 11th, 2012 was a pivotal moment in their career,
08:44but not in the way they'd hoped.
08:46Carmen started as a novelty act on YouTube before signing with Epic Records and landing SNL.
08:52While their performance wasn't a disaster in the way that Fears was,
08:55it still received widespread backlash,
08:58with many criticizing Amy Heidemann's overly rehearsed and theatrical delivery.
09:03The exaggerated facial expressions and performance style that worked on YouTube
09:07felt wildly out of place, almost embarrassing on live TV.
09:12And people hated it.
09:14The performance marked the beginning of a credibility and reputation problem
09:17that they never quite recovered from.
09:19Their debut album underperformed,
09:21and Carmen eventually disbanded in 2017 after failing to take off.
09:25I told you so, don't wanna play,
09:29but you already know, you already know.
09:32Number 22, Andrew Dice Clay.
09:35Why?
09:37That's about all I could say tonight, you know what I'm saying?
09:40This stand-up comedian saw both the peak and the nadir of his career in 1990.
09:45In February, he became the first comedian to sell out two nights at Madison Square Garden.
09:50And in May, he hurt his mainstream success by appearing on SNL.
09:54His very presence on the show caused enormous controversy.
09:58Cast member Nora Dunn refused to appear,
10:01publicly showcasing Clay's industry alienation.
10:04And the event highlighted the deep divisions in how audiences perceived him,
10:08either as a subversive truth-teller,
10:10or as a symbol of everything wrong with early 90s comedy.
10:14The SNL controversy tarnished his image in the mainstream,
10:17and he soon found it harder to book major gigs or TV appearances,
10:21with cautious networks not wanting to associate with him.
10:25Why's this happening to me?
10:27All this fuss over one stinking show, I never meant to hurt nobody.
10:31Number 21, Kanye West.
10:34And the moon man for best female video goes to...
10:38Taylor Swift.
10:41We're not saying the infamous VMA incident destroyed Yee's career entirely,
10:46but you could certainly argue that it marked the beginning of the end.
10:49As everyone knows,
10:50West interrupted Taylor Swift while she was accepting her award,
10:53and famously declared that Beyonce should have won,
10:56much to the horror of the audience and Beyonce herself.
10:59Following the enormous backlash,
11:01he was even called a jackass by Obama,
11:04Kanye strategically retreated from the public eye.
11:06It also forced a significant shift in his brand's perception.
11:10With this,
11:11Yee's arrogance began to overshadow his artistry in the public eye,
11:14and he became a deeply polarizing figure,
11:17a reputation that continues well into the modern day.
11:20Yo, Taylor.
11:22I'm really happy for you.
11:24I'm gonna let you finish.
11:25But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.
11:28Number 20, Iggy Azalea.
11:31Now, we're not saying that this event was the sole reason for Iggy Azalea's downfall,
11:35but it certainly didn't help.
11:37Azalea was all the rage in 2014,
11:39and people everywhere were singing along to hits like Fancy and Problem.
11:44To celebrate her newfound success,
11:46Dancing with the Stars invited her to perform Fancy on the live finale.
11:50I'm so sorry, but there's something wrong in my ears.
11:55Unfortunately, the potential disasters of live TV struck,
11:58and Azalea bungled the start of the performance.
12:01According to her,
12:02there was an issue with the playback in her earpiece.
12:04Unfortunately, this incident tarnished an otherwise great year.
12:13Furthermore, unrelated problems with her record label caused Azalea's career to slow.
12:19She went on hiatus in 2021 and attempted to release another album.
12:24But delays and other creative projects led her to announce her retirement in 2024.
12:30I'm no expert, but I was looking very closely.
12:33There's nothing wrong with her ear.
12:34Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no.
12:36That's a fine ear right there.
12:37Number 19.
12:38Jamie Kennedy
12:39Nothing screams the 90s quite like Jamie Kennedy.
12:42He enjoyed success throughout the late 90s and early 2000s,
12:46notably starring in three Scream films,
12:48Romeo and Juliet,
12:49and The Jamie Kennedy Experiment.
12:51And then came First Night 2013 with Jamie Kennedy.
12:55Where's our stage manager?
12:58Jamie, don't talk into the mic.
12:59Now, the comedian's career was mostly over by then anyway,
13:04but this was the final nail in the coffin.
13:06It was easily one of the worst New Year's Eve specials of all time.
13:10Are we back?
13:13Are we back?
13:14The broadcast was an epic disaster plagued with embarrassing technical issues,
13:19a bizarrely confrontational Kennedy,
13:21and an onstage brawl.
13:23God bless you and we'll see you in 2024.
13:27Good night.
13:27Bye.
13:29There's a fight.
13:30It's ending with a fight.
13:31There was even a mistimed countdown that brought in the new year too late.
13:35They couldn't even get that right.
13:37What's your resolution for 2013?
13:39I'm to just get rid of all my haters.
13:43Number 18.
13:44Steven Seagal.
13:45Saturday Night Live has a real propensity for ending careers.
13:49He kept saying,
13:51I've never seen your show.
13:52I don't know what you do here.
13:54Like, really?
13:55You've never seen Saturday Night Live?
13:57Steven Seagal was an up-and-coming action star in the early 90s,
14:01having starred in a string of hit movies.
14:04To capitalize on his newfound success,
14:06he hosted Saturday Night Live on the night of April 20th, 1991.
14:10It's great to be here in New York,
14:12and it's great to be opening up Saturday Night Live.
14:14Most of you probably know me from my action-adventure films.
14:17Unfortunately, his appearance was anything but good.
14:20Before you make this last decision,
14:22Demo, perhaps you should see what you're up against.
14:24Yeah, yeah.
14:24Take a gander, Steven.
14:26According to certain SNL employees, including David Spade,
14:30Seagal was uncooperative.
14:31And they, you know, they want to fight him.
14:33Hey, we'll take you on.
14:36He goes, if I do it, I have to beat them up.
14:39Some have even regarded him as the show's worst host of all time.
14:43He enters the banquet room and starts beating.
14:47It's live.
14:48And he's beating them up and throwing them around the room.
14:52And it goes on for like eight minutes.
14:54A few more hits followed Seagal's SNL appearance,
14:57but he was soon relegated to cheap,
14:59direct-to-video action films that no one watched.
15:01Maybe nobody wanted to work with him after this?
15:04Then, at the very end,
15:06he turns to camera and says,
15:08This is what happens when you pollute the planets.
15:11Maybe he wasn't a huge star at the time,
15:19but news anchor AJ Clemente
15:21has since become an internet sensation.
15:23Were you aware that you were on the air?
15:25I had no clue.
15:27I had no...
15:28Maybe you don't know his name,
15:31but you certainly know this clip.
15:33Clemente was a new co-anchor at KFYR-TV,
15:36a news channel based out of North Dakota.
15:39Gay, f***ing s***.
15:41Good evening, I'm Van Tew.
15:43You may have seen our news from AJ
15:45and seen North Dakota News.
15:47During his debut broadcast on April 21st, 2013,
15:51he let a string of nasty swear words fly
15:54just as the opening titles were coming to an end.
15:56So his career as an anchor was effectively over
15:59before it even began.
16:00Thanks, Van.
16:01I'm very excited.
16:02I graduated from West Virginia University
16:03and I'm used to, you know,
16:05from being from the East Coast.
16:07Clemente was promptly suspended
16:09and let go the next day.
16:11The incident made him a national celebrity
16:14and he even appeared on Late Show with David Letterman
16:16after the host mocked him in a top 10 list.
16:19I'm trying to get you the job back in Bismarck.
16:21Forget about ESPN.
16:23That ain't gonna happen.
16:24Number 16, Janet Jackson.
16:26This is arguably the biggest career-ending controversy
16:30in live TV history.
16:31You all know the story.
16:32Jackson and Justin Timberlake were performing
16:35at Super Bowl XXXVIII
16:36when Justin ripped away her costume
16:38and revealed her breast.
16:44This was certainly not Jackson's fault,
16:47but everyone acted like it was.
16:48There could have been ways that
16:50I could have gone about it
16:51and handled it better.
16:55Hollywood all but disowned her
16:57and pretended that she never existed,
16:59and her subsequent album and singles
17:01were blacklisted from radio.
17:03Even mega conglomerates got in on the boycott
17:05with an executive at Viacom stating
17:07that the higher-ups are still pissed at her.
17:10The FCC received more than 500,000 complaints
17:14about that broadcast.
17:15CBS was fined $550,000
17:19and then the NFL was asked to refund
17:22the $10 million that they had been given
17:25to the halftime show sponsor.
17:26Luckily, the heat has since died down
17:29and Jackson was inducted
17:30into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019.
17:33I'm here tonight to induct
17:35the legendary queen of black girl magic
17:42into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,
17:46Miss Janet Demita Jo Jackson.
17:49Number 15, Jenny Slate.
17:51This comedian first came to national attention
17:54while starring as a cast member on Saturday Night Live.
17:57Slate made her debut in the 35th season,
17:59which began in September of 2009.
18:02Welcome to Biker Chik Chat.
18:03I'm Don.
18:04I do me.
18:05Unfortunately, she committed the cardinal sin of live TV
18:08and accidentally dropped the F-bomb
18:10during her very first episode.
18:12You stood up for yourself,
18:14and I f***ing love you for that.
18:16You're in my heart, babe.
18:17You're in my heart.
18:18This is a major no-no on Saturday Night Live,
18:21and though it reportedly wasn't the main reason
18:24for her firing,
18:25she didn't return the following season.
18:27It looked like Slate had blown her major chance
18:29at becoming a comedy star.
18:31Luckily, she proceeded to land major roles
18:33on Bob's Burgers and Parks and Recreation,
18:36both of which have allowed her to become a household name.
18:39On the day that I got fired,
18:40I ordered like four pizzas and like ripped into a bong
18:43and was just like, well, I don't know, man.
18:46Number 14, John Travolta.
18:48Suddenly, a page, an assistant to you,
18:51grabbed me out of the scene and said,
18:53you're on in a minute and 15 seconds or something.
18:55He said, really?
18:56I said, what happened to 15 minutes?
18:57When the 86th Academy Awards rolled around,
19:00we were all excited to hear Idina Menzel sing Let It Go.
19:04After all, the Frozen song had a grip on pretty much everyone,
19:07but the performance ended up being memorable
19:09for something that happened before she even opened her mouth.
19:12They said, oh, by the way,
19:13we've changed Idina's name to phonetic spelling.
19:16But what do you mean?
19:18Go!
19:19John Travolta was in charge of her introduction,
19:21but the name that came out of his mouth
19:23was one nobody had ever heard before.
19:26Please welcome the wickedly talented,
19:28one and only Adel Dazeem.
19:31The mispronunciation was humiliating to say the least,
19:34and Travolta was relentlessly mocked online.
19:37He subsequently apologized,
19:39and it's been said that Menzel harbors
19:40no ill will toward him for the incident.
19:43Wickedly talented, Idina Menzel.
19:45You got it!
19:46Yes!
19:47Is that right?
19:50Travolta's career recovered,
19:51but he certainly heard about Adel Dazeem
19:53for quite some time.
19:55Sound like it's gonna follow me around
19:56for the rest of my life, right?
19:58Yeah, tell me about it.
20:01Number 13.
20:02Steve Harvey
20:03For a while there,
20:04Steve Harvey was the biggest laughingstock in America.
20:07It was the most gut-wrenching walk
20:09I've ever had in my life.
20:11But you know how social media is.
20:13We all chuckled for a while and then promptly moved on.
20:16So did Harvey.
20:17These women have been working for this moment their entire lives.
20:21And now it's time to find out our winner.
20:25One of the busiest TV hosts of our time,
20:27he was hired to emcee Miss Universe 2015 in Las Vegas.
20:31In a moment that lives in infamy,
20:33Harvey accidentally crowned Miss Columbia the winner.
20:36Columbia!
20:36In reality, she was the first runner-up,
20:41a mistake that he corrected
20:43after awkwardly sauntering back on stage amid the celebrations.
20:46I have to apologize.
20:49To his credit, Harvey owned the mistake with class.
20:53I will take responsibility for this.
20:56It was my mistake.
20:58Regardless, the incident was relentlessly mocked on social media,
21:01and the host's reputation was briefly sullied.
21:04And the guy said,
21:05we'll straighten it out in the media tomorrow.
21:09And I said, nah, man, I'm gonna go do it now.
21:11Luckily, he weathered the storm
21:13and continues to enjoy a successful career.
21:16Number 12.
21:17Robin Thicke
21:18This musical artist had been in the industry for years,
21:21but he didn't become a household name
21:22until Blurred Lines in 2013.
21:24And that's why I'm gonna make you good girls.
21:29I know you want it.
21:31Somewhat paradoxically,
21:33the song that made Vic's career
21:34was also the one that ended it.
21:36The track received a good amount of criticism
21:38for its questionable lyrics and racy music video.
21:41But things really flew off the rails
21:43when he performed it with Miley Cyrus
21:45at the MTV Video Music Awards.
21:47This performance is legendary,
21:49just not in a good way.
21:51It immediately became an internet sensation
21:52and was widely criticized
21:54for being way too crass and raunchy.
21:57For a while, it effectively killed Vic's career.
22:00However, he has since enjoyed a resurgence
22:02by appearing as a judge on The Masked Singer.
22:05Number 11.
22:06Fergie
22:07By 2018, Fergie was already on her way
22:10out of the mainstream limelight.
22:12The Black Eyed Peas were in the midst of an extended hiatus,
22:15and Fergie hasn't had a top 20 single
22:17as a solo artist since 2007.
22:19Fergie
22:20Despite this, she was chosen to sing the national anthem
22:37at the 2018 NBA All-Star Game.
22:40Unfortunately, her performance was a little shaky
22:43and inappropriately sensual,
22:45and many people in attendance could barely contain their laughter.
22:48Oh, say, can you see
22:54By the dawn's early light
23:01What so proudly we hailed
23:08At the twilight's last gleaming
23:15Naturally, it also made the rounds online
23:18and Fergie became a viral national laughingstock.
23:21Oh, the ramparts we watched
23:27It served as the final nail in Fergie's coffin
23:31and she's basically been on a musical hiatus ever since.
23:35And I'm gonna miss you
23:37Like Chavez said, like, yeah
23:40But I've got to get a move on with my life
23:43Number 10.
23:44Mariah Carey
23:45It's hard to end a legend like Mariah Carey,
23:48but her appearance on Dick Clark's
23:50New Year's Rockin' Eve in 2016 nearly did it.
23:53This was a monumental disaster of a performance.
23:56Just rock me down.
23:58Like Iggy Azalea,
24:00Carey's earpiece began to malfunction,
24:02causing her to go out of sync with the backing track.
24:04So she not only could not hear herself,
24:08she couldn't hear the music.
24:10Unlike Azalea,
24:11Carey didn't exactly handle it in a professional manner.
24:14I'm trying to be a good sport here.
24:17She simply walked around the stage
24:19while passive-aggressively making excuses
24:21and complaining about the lack of a soundcheck.
24:23To make matters even more hilarious,
24:25the dancers soldiered on
24:27and continued their choreographed routine
24:29while the singer pouted.
24:31We're missing some of this logo,
24:32but it is worse.
24:33The moment definitely tarnished her reputation,
24:36though we're not sure that anything could ever break it for good.
24:39I just don't get any better.
24:419. Charles Rockett
24:43Charles Rockett had a budding career
24:45on Saturday Night Live in the early 80s.
24:48Hey, how's it going?
24:49Oh, it's just great.
24:50Let's see, you're the one...
24:53Go kind of a cross between Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.
24:56He was one of the major players in the 1980-81 season,
25:00and he became popular for his impressions,
25:02his recurring character Phil Lively,
25:04and a regular segment called The Rocket Report.
25:07Good evening.
25:08I'm Charles Rockett with Weekend Update.
25:11Unfortunately, Rockett dropped an F-bomb
25:14during the February 21st, 1981 episode,
25:17breaking strict broadcast standards.
25:23This, along with the season's negative reputation
25:26and critical reception,
25:27resulted in Rockett's termination.
25:30And while he found some success playing comic foils
25:32in various 90s movies,
25:34he never quite rose above his status as that guy.
25:37What can we say?
25:38Hollywood takes swearing and nudity very seriously.
25:41Aren't you gonna invite me in?
25:44Number 8. Paula Deen
25:46Beloved Southern chef Paula Deen
25:48found herself in hot water in 2013
25:50when former employee Lisa Jackson
25:53sued her for racial and sexual discrimination.
25:56Paula's deposition is quite appalling, to say the least.
25:59Under oath, she was asked,
26:01Have you ever used the N-word yourself?
26:03Yes, of course!
26:05It seems so matter-of-fact to her.
26:07According to Jackson,
26:08Dean was often derogatory towards African-Americans
26:12and even wanted to host a plantation-style wedding
26:15for her brother, complete with black servants.
26:18During the deposition,
26:19Paula admitted to using the N-word in the past,
26:22further hurting her reputation.
26:24Well then, when did you use it?
26:26Probably in telling my husband.
26:28When you say,
26:29Oh yeah, I said the N-word
26:30in the privacy of my own home
26:31and retelling the story to my husband.
26:33I'm sorry, that's racist.
26:34She then appeared on Today to smooth things over,
26:37but only made the situation worse
26:38by playing the victim.
26:40If you're out there,
26:41please pick up that stone
26:43and throw it so hard in my head
26:46that it kills me.
26:47When the whole ordeal was said and done,
26:49Paula's best dishes had been cancelled
26:51and Dean had lost numerous lucrative partnerships,
26:54as all the major corporations
26:56had severed their ties.
26:58Everyone should be treated equal,
27:01and that's the way I was raised,
27:03and that's the way I live my life.
27:04One of the headlines I read, Paula,
27:06said that there, you know,
27:08said millions of dollars at stake
27:10for Paula Deen in today's show interview.
27:13So are you here to express what you just said,
27:16or are you here to stop the financial bleeding?
27:197. Brian Williams
27:21From 1993 to 1999,
27:24Brian Williams served as the weekend news anchor
27:26on NBC Nightly News
27:28before being promoted to head anchor in 2004.
27:31The story actually started with a terrible moment
27:33a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq
27:36when the helicopter we were traveling in
27:38was forced down after being hit by an RPG.
27:41He held this position until 2015
27:43when he was brought under fire
27:45for lying about an event that occurred to him
27:47during the Iraq War.
27:48Two of our four helicopters were hit
27:50by ground fire, including the one I was in.
27:53No kidding.
27:53RPG and AK-47.
27:55The question, of course,
27:57is what exactly happened in those 10 years
27:59to make Williams change his story?
28:01According to Williams,
28:02a helicopter that he was riding in
28:04was taken down by an RPG.
28:06Numerous soldiers came forward
28:08and claimed that Williams was never part of this group
28:11and was in fact 30 minutes behind.
28:13They were left insulted by Williams' false story
28:16and he was suspended for six months.
28:18I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago.
28:22I want to apologize.
28:23I said I was traveling in an aircraft
28:25that was hit by RPG fire.
28:28I was instead in a following aircraft.
28:31We all landed after the ground fire incident
28:34and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm.
28:37Following this, he was demoted to chief anchor at MSNBC
28:41and his professional credibility was permanently stained.
28:44I hope they know they have my greatest respect
28:47and also now my apology.
28:50Number six, Howard Dean.
28:52It's amazing how far politics has come since 2004
28:55when a simple scream was all it took
28:57to ruin a career forever.
29:01If Howard Dean were running for the 2016 elections
29:05and he would have done that exact same speech,
29:08the exact same way, under the exact same conditions,
29:11I don't think anybody would have paid any attention to it.
29:14After coming in third in the Iowa Democratic caucuses,
29:18Dean made an impassioned and un-presidential speech
29:21that ended with him pumping his fist and screaming,
29:24yeah.
29:25This speech effectively ended his presidential campaign
29:27and the speech and the scream were relentlessly mocked
29:30by the media and late night talk show hosts.
29:33And then we're going to Washington DC
29:34to take back the White House.
29:36It soon became known as the Dean scream
29:40and some believe that the endless coverage
29:42was a product of media bias against the politician.
29:46While Dean later became the chair
29:47of the Democratic National Committee,
29:49his dreams of becoming president
29:51were crushed forever on that fateful day.
29:53And it's going to be one in Colorado
29:56and in Iowa and North Carolina
29:58and Michigan and Florida and Pennsylvania
30:01and then we're going to the White House.
30:05Number 5.
30:06Sinead O'Connor
30:07Sinead O'Connor's career was positively blowing up
30:10in the late 80s and early 90s.
30:12In that time, she released her double platinum album,
30:15I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got,
30:17and her single, Nothing Compares to You,
30:19peaked at number one in 17 countries.
30:22It's been seven hours and 15 days
30:27since you took your love away.
30:33However, that all came crumbling down
30:35on October 3rd, 1992,
30:37when O'Connor appeared on SNL.
30:39While performing,
30:40she ripped a photo of Pope John Paul II
30:42to protest mistreatment of children
30:44within the Catholic Church,
30:46and soon she became a public enemy.
30:48In the victory of good over evil.
31:02Fight the real enemy.
31:05Nothing Compares to You would be her last number one,
31:08though she continued to make music
31:10and perform up until her 2023 death.
31:14Meanwhile, widespread opinion of her would change
31:16following the public acknowledgement
31:18of the church's cover-up.
31:20Cause nothing compares,
31:24nothing compares to you.
31:29Number four, Will Smith.
31:31No one really cared about the outcomes
31:33of the 94th Academy Awards.
31:35All they cared about was that Will Smith
31:36casually strolled on stage
31:38and slapped Chris Rock directly in the face.
31:41Uh-oh, Richard!
31:46Oh, wow!
31:48Rock had made a joke
31:49at the expense of Smith's wife,
31:51Jada Pinkett Smith.
31:52Smith initially laughed,
31:53but proceeded to slap Rock for the comment.
31:56The audience seemingly believed
31:57that it was a scripted bit at first,
31:59as they casually laughed at the attack.
32:01It wasn't until Smith yelled and cursed at Rock
32:04that everyone realized he was dead serious.
32:06The resulting silence was painful.
32:09No matter what Smith does from here on out,
32:11he'll forever be known as the guy
32:13who slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars.
32:15Number three, Kathy Lee Gifford.
32:17This event didn't completely kill Gifford's career
32:20as a television presenter,
32:21as she continued hosting Today until 2019.
32:24However, it did seriously tarnish her reputation
32:27and caused her great public embarrassment.
32:29In 2012, comedian Martin Short appeared on Gifford's show
32:33to promote Madagascar 3.
32:34During the interview,
32:36Gifford praised Short's marriage to Nancy Dolman,
32:39unaware that Dolman had passed away from cancer
32:41about two years earlier.
32:43How many years now for you guys?
32:45We married 36 years.
32:47But you're still like in love.
32:49Madly in love.
32:50Madly in love.
32:50Wow.
32:51Short didn't expose the mistake,
32:53but it was obvious that the topic of conversation
32:55was causing him pain.
32:56Why?
32:58Cute.
32:58I'm cute.
32:59Yes, that is true.
33:00And you make each other laugh.
33:01He informed Gifford of Dolman's passing
33:04during the commercial break
33:05and later publicly forgave her.
33:07It was a fantastic look for Short
33:09and a not-so-fantastic one for Gifford.
33:11Number 2.
33:12Milli Vanilli
33:13In 1989, R&B duo Milli Vanilli
33:16released Girl You Know It's True,
33:18an album that reached number one
33:20and was certified six times platinum.
33:22They also received five straight top five singles
33:25in the United States,
33:26three of which topped the chart.
33:28However, a huge hiccup occurred on July 21st, 1989,
33:32when a live performance for MTV
33:34suffered a technical malfunction.
33:36The track began to skip,
33:38revealing that singer Rob Pilates was lip-syncing.
33:41While this prompted doubts regarding the duo's authenticity,
33:44I'm a love girl.
33:46I'm so in love, girl.
33:48I'm so in love, girl.
33:51This is true.
33:52Girl, you know it's true.
33:54It wasn't until their album was released in America
33:57that singer Charles Shaw revealed
33:59that his work was being credited
34:00to Pilates and Fab Morvin.
34:03Brad Howell and Sean Davies are the real singers
34:05and I think they should get this credit.
34:08With this, the duo admitted to being frauds
34:11and Milli Vanilli was no more.
34:13We signed a recording contract
34:14which we thought was, you know,
34:16to be singing on the record.
34:17Yeah, but he had a bad reputation for it.
34:19He had a bad reputation for money.
34:21You didn't know it?
34:22No.
34:22I was 18 years old, coming from France.
34:25I signed a recording contract that was in German.
34:27Before we continue,
34:28be sure to subscribe to our channel
34:30and ring the bell to get notified
34:32about our latest videos.
34:33You have the option to be notified
34:35for occasional videos or all of them.
34:38If you're on your phone,
34:39make sure you go into your settings
34:40and switch on notifications.
34:43No. 1.
34:44Ashley Simpson
34:45This was arguably the biggest gaffe
34:47in live television history
34:49and the blame pretty clearly fell on Simpson.
34:52While performing on SNL in 2004,
34:54she accidentally revealed
34:55that she was lip-syncing
34:56when the vocals of Pieces of Me
34:58began to play
34:59in place of those from Autobiography.
35:01Once again, Ashley Simpson.
35:03Not knowing what to do,
35:23she awkwardly danced offstage
35:25and later blamed the band
35:26for playing the wrong song.
35:28So not only was she lip-syncing on SNL,
35:35which in itself is a big no-no,
35:37she proceeded to throw her band under the bus.
35:40Except no one bought this
35:41and Simpson's career was left in tatters.
35:43There's so many other things
35:46when it comes to doing her album.
35:47There's writing, there's recording,
35:49there's marketing, there's styling,
35:50there's all these photo shoots.
35:52It's such an exciting time in my life.
35:54I can't wait to see what happens next.
35:56And that, dear viewers,
35:57is why you never lip-sync.
35:59Do you think the hate and backlash was deserved?
36:02Let us know in the comments.
36:03Don Lemon can suck a lemon
36:05when he wades into waters like this.
36:06Let us know in the comments.
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