20 Celebs Who Admitted to TERRIBLE Things

20 Celebs Who Admitted to TERRIBLE Things

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at instances where celebrities openly acknowledged that they did something terrible, whether or not they were remorseful about it.

Tiger Woods

Still widely considered the GOAT of the golf course, Tiger Woods’ reputation was squeaky clean until 2009, when rumors of an extramarital affair started circulating. The plot thickened days later when Woods was involved in a car accident, leading more to speculate if there was trouble at home. Woods released multiple statements tiptoeing around the elephant in the room. As more women claimed to have been involved with Woods, he eventually made another statement. Woods admitted that he had been unfaithful, apologizing to his wife, children, and others he had “disappointed.” Woods announced he’d be seeking therapy and taking a break from golf. While Woods would make a professional comeback in the years that followed, his marriage to Elin Nordegren ended in 2010.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

RFK Jr. admitting that he once dumped a bear cub carcass in Central Park wasn’t on our bingo sheet for 2024. In retrospect, though, maybe it should’ve been. Based on Kennedy’s account, the incident occurred a decade earlier when another driver struck the bear. Rather than call animal control, Kennedy loaded the carcass into his car, planning to skin it and refrigerate the meat. Kennedy changed his mind about halfway through, instead deciding to leave the bear’s remains in Central Park, arranging the body to make it seem like a biker hit it. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation deemed that Kennedy’s possession and disposal of the bear was illegal. Since the statute of limitations had passed, though, he avoided the $250 fine.

Sharon Osbourne

Appearing on the game show “Would I Lie To You?,” the Osbourne family matriarch recalled a house fire that occurred around Christmas. Ozzy was set ablaze, but Sharon managed to get him into a fountain. Sharon proceeded to fetch their assistant from the guest house, telling him to get their paintings and dogs out of the burning building. Osbourne then gloated about firing the assistant. This story was true, although Osbourne later clarified that she actually fired the assistant years after the incident. Osbourne acted as if this made things better, but she still prioritized her dogs over a human life. At one point, Osborune even said she took the assistant’s mask while he was receiving oxygen, putting it on her dog instead.

Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis

Many struggle to rewatch “That '70s Show.” Not only because Danny Masterson was found guilty on two counts of sexual assault, but because some of his former co-stars supported him during the trial. Amid Masterson’s sentencing, it was revealed that Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis had written character references, describing him as a “role model” and “brother figure.” The two didn’t deny writing the letters, although they acted as if their privacy had been invaded. Kutcher noted that “they were intended for the judge,” failing to acknowledge that writing the letters in the first place was misguided. While Kunis said that they “support victims,” many felt the damage had been done. The couple didn’t make matters better with their so-called “apology.”

Matthew Broderick

Vacationing in Northern Ireland with his then-girlfriend and “Ferris Bueller” co-star Jennifer Grey, Matthew Broderick was behind the wheel when they struck another vehicle. Broderick was in the wrong lane, a mistake that cost a mother and daughter their lives. The actor faced a dangerous driving charge that could’ve resulted in a five-year sentence, although this was adjusted to a more lenient careless driving charge. While Broderick had endured memory loss, he entered a guilty plea. Despite his admission, Broderick only had to pay a $175 fine. Martin Doherty, the son and brother of the victims, forgave Broderick years after the 1987 crash. Broderick said that it was “extremely difficult coming to grips with what happened,” but time and therapy helped.

Felicity Huffman & Lori Loughlin

During the 2019 Varsity Blues scandal, two names stood out among the accused: Lori Loughlin of “Full House” fame and Emmy winner Felicity Huffman. Loughlin, along with husband Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Huffman also accepted a plea deal, admitting that she conspired to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. While Loughlin and Giannulli got two and five months, respectively, Huffman’s sentence was just two weeks. She’d get out two days early, although Huffman would still have to pay $30,000 and commit to 250 community service hours. Loughlin was fined five times more than Huffman, although she only received 100 hours of community service. You don’t need a college degree to know cheating is wrong.

Milli Vanilli

Speaking of cheaters, there’s no Grammy for Best Lip Syncing. That would’ve been a more fitting category for R&B duo Milli Vanilli, who won Best New Artist in 1990. Members Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus were stripped of this honor as it came to light that they didn’t provide their own vocals for the album “Girl You Know It’s True.” Although Morvan and Pilatus were capable of carrying a note, they confirmed that it wasn’t them on the album. As such, they didn’t fight to keep their award. A day after their Grammy-winning status was rescinded, Morvan and Pilatus gave a press conference supporting the Recording Academy’s decision. As the duo saw it, they “made a deal with the devil.”

Liam Neeson

This Irish actor is known for playing badasses who take justice into their own hands. This real-life incident was far from heroic, however. Doing press for the revenge movie “Cold Pursuit,” Neeson recalled how a female friend had been sexually assaulted years earlier. Little was known about her attacker other than that he was a Black man. Neeson spent a week roaming the streets, hoping a Black person would pick a fight so he “could kill him.” The way Neeson worded the story made it sound like he wanted to take his anger out on any Black man. Looking back, Neeson felt ashamed about his actions. He had never told anyone up until this interview. Even Neeson seemed uncertain why he was confessing this now.

Lena Dunham

Through the comedy “Girls,” Lena Dunham was praised for presenting a brutally honest look at being a young woman in this day and age. Dunham got a little too honest in her memoir, though, chronicling a disturbing childhood incident with her sibling, Cyrus. Dunham wrote about inappropriately touching her sibling, opening a debate on whether she had committed sexual assault. Some argued that Dunham was young, curious, and didn’t know any better. Others felt she crossed a serious boundary and then made light of it with passages like, “anything a sexual predator might do to woo a small suburban girl, I was trying.” Dunham acknowledged that her word choice was poor, but however you phrase it, this was TMI.

Sean Penn

This two-time Oscar winner has a reputation for erratic behavior, but that didn’t make this revelation any less shocking. Okay, maybe a little. Dropping by John Mulaney’s talk show, the host asked Penn to talk about his teen years. Growing up in Malibu, Penn and his friends felt compelled to protect their surf turf from outsiders. He did so by torching a guy’s van with a Molotov cocktail on one occasion. Penn and his pals were able to get away with crimes like arson since they had family in the sheriff’s department. Reflecting on his youth, Penn conceded that their actions might’ve been “kind of reckless.” Why do we get the sense that Penn was just like the surfer gang in that Nic Cage movie?

Kristi Noem

Remember when Barack Obama swatting a fly was considered “controversial?” Now, Washington has an authority figure who didn’t just kill a dog. She bragged about it in a book for the whole world to read. Before becoming Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem took her family dog, Cricket, on a hunting trip. Although Cricket was just over a year old (still technically puppy age), Noem concluded that she couldn’t be trained. Cricket chased the birds instead of hunting them, although she did attack some chickens. After Cricket bit Noem, she decided it was Old Yeller time. Oh, and then she killed a goat. Some might describe this as an irrefutable act of animal cruelty. Of course, Noem isn’t above human cruelty either.

Paula Deen

To say this celebrity chef landed in hot water would be an understatement. It was more like a boiling pot of butter that just kept overflowing. Deen and her brother Earl “Bubba” Hiers stood accused of sexual and racial discrimination in the workplace. While the lawsuit wasn’t a good look, there was a possibility that Deen could move past this chapter as long as she was careful with her words. Everything collapsed when Deen was questioned about whether she’d ever used a particular racial slur. Her response? “Yes, of course.” Deen also confirmed that she had considered arranging a Southern plantation-themed wedding with Black male servers. The Food Network ultimately terminated their ties to Deen, whose attempts at apologizing came off as disingenuous.

Steven Tyler

In 2022, Julia Misley, aka Julia Holcomb, took out a lawsuit against the Aerosmith frontman, claiming that he sexually abused her and made her terminate a pregnancy. The relationship allegedly started when Misley was a teenager and Tyler was several years older. The so-called smoking gun? Tyler’s memoir, which was published over a decade beforehand. While Tyler had a different perspective, he did open up about gaining guardianship of Misley, writing, “With my bad self being twenty-six and she barely old enough to drive and sexy as hell, I just fell madly in love with her.” Tyler also described her as his “partner in crimes of passion,” presenting the relationship as consensual. Whether or not it was, Misley still would’ve been underage.

Cardi B

Cardi B might not be proud of her past, although that doesn’t mean she feels all that bad about it. Foreshadowing her future role in the movie “Hustlers,” the rapper used to be a stripper. While there’s certainly nothing wrong with that, it wasn’t Cardi B’s only source of income. She also used substances on men and took their money. Cardi B first talked about her former life of crime in 2016, just as she was starting to make a name for herself. The artist went on to explain that her options were limited and she was just trying to survive. She recognized that her actions shouldn’t be glorified, but if Cardi could do it all over again, she likely wouldn’t change a thing.

James Frey

The life of James Frey is an unbelievable story… it just isn’t the one that he sold to Oprah and the countless others who read his book, “A Million Little Pieces.” Presented as a memoir, it covered Frey’s history with substance use, criminal activity, and recovery. As the book began to dominate the bestseller list, investigators found that not everything added up. Although aspects of Frey’s story were true, many of them were grossly embellished. Some might even call a few details straight-up lies. Frey initially tried to downplay the fictional nature of his book. When Oprah brought him on her show in 2006, though, Frey relented that he wasn’t in jail for 87 days as the book claimed. It was only a few hours.

Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong was once the definition of inspirational. To his credit, Armstrong did overcome some major obstacles, such as cancer. Unfortunately, Armstrong’s legacy is largely defined by his deceit in the world of sports. Between 1999 and 2005, the cyclist won the Tour de France seven straight times. While there was speculation of doping going as far back as his first victory, Armstrong consistently denied this. Fans generally believed him until 2012, when the United States Anti-Doping Agency concluded that the rumors were true. Once again, it was Oprah who interviewed the accused. Although Armstrong claimed that some allegations were false, he admitted that not all of his Tour titles were achieved honestly. By then, Armstrong’s honors had been taken away.

Mark Wahlberg

You could say that Mark Wahlberg came from humble beginnings, going from an ordinary Boston kid, to singer, to actor. Just because Wahlberg didn’t grow up rich doesn’t mean his upbringing was without privilege… white privilege. During his teen years, Wahlberg and his friends physically and verbally attacked multiple people of color. In 1988, he assaulted two Vietnamese men, Thanh Lam and Hoa Trinh. Wahlberg pleaded guilty, serving 45 days of a three-month sentence. He expressed regret about his mistakes in 2006, with Trinh ultimately forgiving Wahlberg. At the same time, Wahlberg tried to have his crimes removed from the record, another choice he’d regret.

Victor Salva

This director is known for his work on the first three “Jeepers Creepers” movies. Salva’s actions behind the scenes are far more horrifying, however. In 1988, a year before his feature debut “Clownhouse” came out, Salva was at the center of a sexual abuse case against a minor, Nathan Forrest Winters. Salva also stood accused of possessing inappropriate imagery of children. He pleaded guilty to several charges, serving 15 months of a three-year sentence. While his incarceration was relatively short, you’d think that his confession and conviction would’ve been career-ending. Even after Salva’s crimes gained more traction in 2006, he continued to find work. His most recent directorial credit was in 2017, although Winters has remained vocal about what Salva did to him.

Chris Brown

To some, Chris Brown is better known for his toxic relationship with Rihanna than his music. Although Brown is still consistently releasing new albums, his reputation has never been able to shake his 2009 domestic violence arrest. The case against Brown was as evident as the marks on his then-girlfriend’s face. Brown decided to turn himself in, releasing an apology. Even so, Brown initially delivered a not guilty plea when presented with felony assault charges. It wasn’t long until Brown accepted the plea deal, however. While it didn’t entail jail time, Brown got five years’ probation, a year of mandatory counseling, and six months of community labor. Years later, Brown reflected on the experience, which made him feel like a “monster.”

Jared Fogle

Before 2015, the public assumed that the worst thing the former Subway spokesperson could do was eat a Big Mac. There was a far more menacing side of Jared Fogel that wouldn’t become general knowledge until he was arrested for various sex crimes involving children. Subway wasn’t going to bail Jared out. Fogel entered a guilty plea, being sentenced to more than 15 years in federal prison. Outside of an apology around the time of his sentencing, Fogel remained mostly silent until 2021, when he released a hand-written letter from prison. Fogel stated, “I really royally screwed up to wind up where I am.” Jared might not be incarcerated forever, but it’s hard to imagine him ever coming back from this.

Can you think of any other celebrities who confessed to terrible things? Let us know in the comments.