Another Top 10 Career Finishing Scandals

It’s always the child and teen idols who fall the hardest. Lindsay Lohan was once a cute and hugely successful movie star, appearing in many critical and commercial successes throughout the early 2000s, including “Freaky Friday” and “Mean Girls”.” However, that part of her career was abruptly ended in 2007 when she was arrested on a DUI and lost the role in her upcoming movie. She was arrested again for another DUI barely two weeks after leaving rehab, along with being charged for cocaine possession. While she would appear in various movies and plays throughout the following years, this was the beginning of the end for Lohan.

Author and actor Stephen Collins hit it big with his role as Eric Camden on The WB’s “7th Heaven,” which ended in 2007. Seven years later (there’s that number again…), Collins was investigated for sexual harassment against a minor after an audio clip leaked of a man, who sounded like Collins, admitting to the crime. Collins soon confessed to “inappropriate sexual conduct with minors” in 1973, 1982, and 1994. His last appearance in film OR television was in 2013, so it’s safe to say that his career is pretty much done.

Manny Pacquiao has been a big deal both in his home country and worldwide. He’s considered one of the greatest boxers of our era, has dabbled in acting and music, is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Philippine Army reserve and is a Senator of the country. However, he has been harshly criticized and shunned for the homophobic remark, “If we approve male on male, female on female [marriage], then man is worse than animal.” While he clarified that he was condemning the act of gay marriage, not gay people themselves, he still found himself in hot water, as Nike ended their years-long partnership with the boxer.

No matter how bad you think your President is, you probably shouldn’t post a photo of yourself holding a model of his decapitated head. That’s what coemdian Kathy Griffin did in May 2017, posting the photo to her social media accounts. The bloody pic caused an enormous amount of controversy, and she was dropped as Squatty Potty’s spokesperson, fired from CNN’s New Year’s Eve broadcast, and her upcoming tour dates were canceled. According to her, she was even investigated by the Justice Department and placed on both the No Fly and Interpol lists. Her career prospects aren’t looking too great.

In June 2011, journalist Andrea Swensson gave a negative review of Green’s concert, causing him to ask on Twitter, “I’m guessing ur gay? And my masculinity offended you?” Well, she wasn’t offended, but his fans sure were. A bigger firestorm ensued a few years later when he was cleared of sexual battery allegations, but pleaded no contest to the felony of furnishing ecstasy to a woman, and defended himself on Twitter by saying, “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!” That was pretty much the nail in the coffin, as he really hasn’t done anything of significance since.

Mark Salling once captured hearts and turned heads as bad boy heartthrob Noah Puckerman on “Glee.” This might be pretty much the only showbiz thing he is known for, because his life took a sharp 180 in December 2015. He was arrested under the suspicion that he had thousands of photos and videos of child pornography in his possession. He was officially charged the following May and was immediately fired from his upcoming projects. He is now registered as a sex offender, and as of 2017, may face up to seven years in prison.

There was once a time when Lance Armstrong was considered to be the greatest cyclist ever. He won seven consecutive Tours de France, and was the recipient of many cycling accolades. Allegations of using performance-enhancing substances followed him throughout his career, but were never proven, until he was officially found guilty of doping in 2012 by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, who called it, “the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” The bell tolled for Armstrong, as he was stripped of his titles and received a lifetime ban from sports that fall under the World Anti-Doping Code . . . which is, you know, most of them.

With all the masturbation jokes Louis C.K. makes, perhaps we should have seen these revelations approaching. C.K. had been the subject of rumors for years. But the sexual misconduct and harassment scandal only truly broke in November 2017 when the New York Times reported multiple incidents of C.K. masturbating in front of female comedians. After the allegations, The Orchard, TBS, HBO, FX, and Netflix all cut ties with the him, either by cancelling upcoming projects or removing his work from their services. While there may be an attempted comeback somewhere down the road, it’s looking pretty grim.

Mega-producer Harvey Weinstein has certainly left a trail of devastation in his wake, and his career has undoubted been ruined forever. It all started in October 2017, when both the New Yorker and the New York Times reported that over a dozen women had accused Weinstein of sexual harassment. The consequences were swift and brutal – his own production company fired him, he was expelled from the Academy, he was suspended from the British Academy, and his wife filed for divorce. As of November 2017, the LAPD are investigating the rape allegations, which could potentially land him in prison.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions.
- Jared Fogle
Convicted of distribution and receipt of child pornography, traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor

- Jeffrey Jones
Guilty of felony for paying a 14-year-old boy to pose for explicit photos

- Tonya Harding
Guilty conspiring to hinder prosecution of the attackers of Nancy Kerrigan

Spacey was one of the biggest stars in the world, and now his reputation and career are destroyed. His downfall began in October 2017, when actor Anthony Rapp claimed that Spacey made a sexual advance on him when he was only 14. Spacey has now been accused of sexual misconduct by eight employees on the set of “House of Cards” and twenty more incidents at London’s Old Vic theater, where Spacey was the artistic director for years. What’s more, Netflix has completely severed ties with him, and – abut a month before its release – he was completely edited out of “All the Money in the World” and replaced by Christopher Plummer.