Top 30 Celebs Who Destroyed Their Careers With One Post

Cast as the lead in the multi-Oscar winning film Emilia Pérez, Gascón was breaking down barriers as an actor and transwoman. However, in the run-up to the 2025 Academy Awards, her historic and problematic social media history came to light. Gascón, using bigoted language, had seemingly criticized Islam, the Black Lives Matter Movement, International Womens Day, and several more groups and people. Amid backlash, she stepped away from promoting Emilia Pérez and apologized for her words. However, once the Oscars finished, Gascón took a vastly different approach. In interviews, she claimed she was a victim of cancel culture and that she was less racist than Mahatma Gandhi.

In 2017, after years in the industry, Sawyer finally got his big break when he was cast in the CWs TV show The Flash as Ralph Dibny, AKA the Elongated Man. His work left quite the impression, leading to him getting promoted to a main character of the series. However, in 2020, Sawyers Twitter past was discovered. From 2009 to 2014, the actor seemingly made several posts and comments filled with misogyny and racist language. While Sawyer issued an apology, using the excuse of humor for his posts, The Flash bosses werent too happy. So, they fired him. It even led star Grant Gustin to criticize his colleagues social media history. To date, Sawyer hasnt been in a screen production since.

In 2018, Iqbal debuted in the beloved UK soap opera Emmerdale as Aiesha Richards. For nearly a year, all was good for her, leading to her getting a permanent role on the show. However, a month after that confirmation, her past social media presence was unearthed in 2019. When she was a teenager at college, Iqbal posted homophobic insults and racial slurs on X, formerly Twitter. The outrage over the comments caused Emmerdale higher-ups not to renew Iqbals contract, and she was let go. After apologizing for the comments and deleting her X account, Iqbal spoke out against her firing, stating it was harsh due to her age when she made the controversial posts.

Crowned as Playmate of the Year in 2015 and a model for Playboy, the modeling world shouldve been at Matherss fingertips. But in 2016, she threw that potential away. Through her Snapchat, Mathers released an image of a nude woman in a gym changing room, complete with a mocking caption and a photo of herself in disbelief. Mathers apologized and stated she was meant to send it to a friend, not as a public message, as though that made it better(!) The backlash to the body shaming was massive. It got worse when Mathers was charged with invasion of privacy. In 2017, after changing her plea from not guilty to no contest, she was sentenced to three years probation and 30 hours of community work.

In 2012, Arthurs music career took off as he won the UK talent show, The X Factor. Yet shortly after releasing his debut album, his X comments wrecked his rise. After the discovery of homophobic lyrics in a song, Arthur got into an argument with rapper Mickey Worthless, resulting in the singer releasing a diss track with another slur. As several celebrities stood up to Arthur, such as Lucy Spraggan and Frankie Boyle, he responded by arguing with them on X. The backlash, and regularly making it worse for himself, made Arthur hand over control of his account to his management. In 2014, he was dropped by Syco. Since then, after brief success, Arthur has struggled to live up to his potential in the charts.

After her 7-match unbeaten record in MMA ended in 2009 at the hands of Cris Cyborg, Carano transitioned into an acting career. After success with Fast & Furious 6 and Deadpool, she was cast as Cara Dune in The Mandalorian. However, Caranos social media posts, which leaned into right-wing conspiracy theories, were her downfall. After criticizing mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic, trans rights, and comparing people with conservative beliefs to atrocities committed during World War II, she was fired from Disney and dropped by her talent agency. After struggling for mainstream acting work, Carano, with Elon Musks help, issued a lawsuit against Disney for wrongful dismissal. The trial date was slated for 2025.

Its rare for a positive social media post to snowball into tanking a celebritys career. Yet thats what happened to Michele. In 2020, she issued support for Black Lives Matter. This caused fellow Glee actor Samantha Marie Ware to accuse Michele of microaggressions against her. Several other former colleagues then stood up for Ware by accusing Michele of rude behavior and hostility to others on set. While she apologized, HelloFresh condemned racism as it dropped Michele as a partner. The fallout of the drama seemingly made it difficult for Michele to find screenwork. She self-released the album Forever, which didnt gain much traction in 2021. So, in 2022, Michele went back to Broadway.

As a Hollywood power couple, Kunis and Kutcher were well respected, even more so due to the duo working with anti-child abuse foundation Thorn, which Kutcher co-founded. However, when former That 70s Show colleague Danny Masterson was found guilty of assault, it soon emerged Kunis and Kutcher had sent a letter to the judge asking for leniency in sentencing. After the backlash, with many pointing out the hypocrisy of promoting Thorn and supporting a convicted abuser, the couple released a video online to defend themselves. And, boy, it backfired massively. On top of the duo mentioning the letter wasnt meant to be public, the apology came across as insincere to many viewers. This additional backlash forced Kutcher and Kunis to resign from Thorn.

At one point, no YouTuber was more famous than Felix Kjellberg, AKA PewDiePie. Mostly focused on Lets Plays, he took the platform by storm, raking in millions of views. However, Kjellberg then began pushing his content too far. In 2017, he uploaded a video that featured paid workers on Fiverr holding up an antisemitic sign. The backlash was severe. Not only were fans angry, but so were companies that worked with Kjellberg. Disney, which has partnered with him at Maker Studios, dropped the streamer from the network. Google also cut him from the Google Preferred advertising program as YouTube canceled his YouTube Red series. This, followed by uttering a racial slur on a stream months later, meant Kjellberg hasnt had mainstream success since.

After years of antisemitic remarks, West really stepped it up a horrifying notch in 2022 on his social media accounts. As well as issuing a death threat to Jewish people, the rapper also claimed he couldnt be antisemitic as Black people are also Jewish. Right. In response, X and Instagram locked Wests accounts. As West continued uttering antisemitic statements to get attention, several companies cut ties with him, including Adidas and Gap, which worked with his fashion brand, Yeezy. This mass exodus of business saw West lose his billionaire status. Even other musicians, such as Ozzy Osbourne, refused Wests request to sample their music. The rapper then began legal proceedings against Adidas. In 2024, the two parties agreed to end legal pursuits without exchanging money.

Throughout the years, the British author behind the best-selling book series in history hasnt shied away from making her views on various topics known. In June 2020, J. K. Rowling got fans, critics, activists and celebrities talking again when she appeared to take issue with a websites reference to people who menstruate. Her Twitter comment and a followup statement had many people labelling her transphobic. Though she claimed that she meant no harm, Rowlings status as the writer behind such a beloved property means that her opinions will continue to be under scrutiny. While her legacy certainly hasnt been without controversy, she definitely didnt make things any better for herself this time around.

Vanessa Hudgens acquired national fame after playing Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series. Since then, she has appeared in numerous musicals - including the live Fox productions of Grease and Rent - and has launched into more mature roles by acting in Powerless and Bad Boys for Life. But much of that came crumbling down in March 2020. Hudgens may have been one of the first celebrities to publicly trivialize the pandemic, stating death asinevitable in a video posted online. In another post, she wished her followers a happy St. Patricks Day and subtly criticized the worldwide lockdown, saying with a sly giggle, I wish we were in a pub, but were not. So were not all in this together, then? Hudgens later apologized for dismissing the severity of the coronavirus disease.

Stauffer is a lifestyle YouTube vlogger who posts videos about her family, cooking, decluttering, home organization - all that fun stuff. In May 2020, her most popular video was an update on our family, which reached over five million views in two weeks. In this now-removed video, Stauffer and her husband James explain that they had rehomed their adopted Chinese son, who Stauffer claims to be profoundly developmentally delayed. According to them, they were never notified of the extent of the childs developmental disorder. The family had documented the entire adoption process throughout 2017, leading many viewers to declare that the Stauffer family had exploited the child for popularity and views. Others saw it as the family giving up on a human being and giving him away like a problematic dog.

Hannah Brown has enjoyed a prosperous life, winning Miss Alabama USA 2018, competing in season 23 of The Bachelor, leading season 15 of The Bachelorette, and winning Dancing with the Stars in November 2019. However, her blossoming career was placed in jeopardy in May 2020 when she repeatedly uttered the n-word while singing along to DaBabys Rockstar on Instagram Live. Her comment section was immediately bombarded with irate fans, some of whom announced that they would be unfollowing her account. This was similar to an incident in May 2018, when a white woman rapped the n-word while on stage with Kendrick Lamar.

Known for her vocal opposition against what she views as unethical practices, Teigen found herself on the other side of a scandal in 2021 when Courtney Stodden came forward after Teigen announced she was leaving Twitter. Stodden, whos non-binary, released social media posts and DMs that Teigen had sent them that encouraged the reality star to harm themself in 2011. After her first apology failed to land with Stodden, Teigen released another one where she admitted to online harassment. This sparked more celebrities to publish their own harassment experiences from Teigen, as several other problematic posts came to light. As a result, with her reputation in tatters, several companies cut ties with Teigen and her cooking line, Cravings.

Katie Hopkins is a very contentious English media personality and newspaper columnist. After appearing as a contestant on The Apprentice, Hopkins wrote columns for The Sun and the Daily Mails MailOnline. Her outspoken opinions have often generated scrutiny and controversy, including the Manchester Arena bombing fiasco. On the morning after the bombing, Hopkins wrote on Twitter that we need a final solution - a term that the Nazis used when referencing the Holocaust. She claims to have not meant it in that way, but rather as a lasting solution. Regardless, she was widely condemned by the media and her professional relationship with the talk radio station LBC was terminated. Following the London Bridge attack a few weeks later, Hopkins advocated for the use of internment camps.

During the height of her Fancy fame, Iggy Azalea came under attack for past tweets that many found to be both racist and homophobic. The offensive and hurtful tweets did some irreparable damage to her career and reputation. She dropped out of a gay pride event in Pittsburgh and canceled her Great Escape Tour. Of course, the latter was officially cancelled due to Iggy needing a break, but most thought it was a combination of the Twitter backlash and poor ticket sales. Iggys second studio album, released in July 2019, only reached #52 in her native Australia.

Hilton is certainly a controversial figure, but he crossed a line in June of 2010, when his personal Twitter account supposedly linked to an upskirt photo of Miley Cyrus. While the pic was quickly taken down, witnesses claim that it showed the 17-year-old Cyrus climbing out of a car without any underwear. Hilton faced immediate backlash, and many people questioned if he would be brought up on charges. According to criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Douglas, All you have to do is knowingly distribute the photograph. Hilton later defended himself, claiming that Cyrus was wearing underwear and that the controversy was fake. No matter. The damage to Hiltons reputation had been done.

In the early 2010s, Jason Biggs made a bit of a post-American Pie comeback with roles in Orange Is the New Black and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. However, a series of offensive tweets got him fired from the latter, after Nickelodeon featured his Twitter feed. Lo and behold, during the 2012 Republican National Convention, Biggs made an explicit tweet about Paul Ryan's wife. Both Biggs and Nickelodeon were targeted by parental groups, and Nickelodeon reportedly told Biggs to knock it off. He didnt listen and continued tweeting offensive things, which included digs at Malaysian Airlines and dead Bachelorette contestant Eric Hill. The continued controversy was too much for Nickelodeon, and they fired Biggs in 2014.

Hulk Hogans prime is certainly behind him, but its never too late for a career resurgence. Hogan was attempting just that via his fourth return to the WWE in 2014. However, he received intense media scrutiny following the publication of a leaked sex tape. On the tape, Hogan can be reportedly heard calling himself racist, to a point and repeatedly using the n-word and homophobic slurs. Following that, it was like Hogan never existed. The WWE scrubbed him from their records, his merchandise and action figures were pulled from stores, and he was fired from the wrestling reality series Tough Enough. However, he was eventually reinstated into the WWE Hall of Fame, and he made his fifth return to the network in 2018.

This legendary comedian and actor is known primarily for his signature grating voice, which has been used to great effect as Iago in Aladdin and the classic Aflac Duck. Unfortunately, he lost the latter commercial role after tweeting one, and then an extended series of very insensitive jokes following the Japanese earthquake and tsunami of 2011. The massive earthquake and resulting tsunami killed nearly 16,000 people and injured a further 6,157. People werent really in a laughing mood. And seeing as how Aflac does a huge proportion of its business in Japan, Gottfried was quickly and firmly dismissed by the company. So ended a decade-long iconic job, and a reputation.

At this point, Azealia Banks is more famous for her social media presence than her music! In March of 2016, her second mixtape, titled Slay-Z, was released to the public. Just two months later, she found herself in hot water after aiming racist and homophobic tweets at Zayn Malik. This included calling him the ultra-derogatory f-word and a curry-scented bitch. Many called for comeuppance, and Twitter answered by blocking Bankss account. She was also dropped by her UK booking agency. It significantly hurt her relatively young career, but it hasnt stopped her from being provocative.

Skrillex was the hottest thing in music in the early 2010s, earning five Grammy nominations in 2011 alone and ushering in the (brief) age of dubstep. But that same year, Skrillex tweeted that he wish[ed] he was aloud to use the n word sometimes (in a non racist way of course). The tweet didnt immediately gain traction, but as Skrillex grew more and more popular, so too did the tweet. It was eventually taken down, but not before it was widely propagated throughout the internet. Now were not saying this tweet caused Skrillexs downfall, but it certainly didnt help his reputation or his public image - and he certainly hasnt come close to duplicating the popularity he once had.

Popular YouTuber Jack Maynard found himself in a whirlwind of trouble in late 2017. The Sun uncovered offensive tweets that Maynard had made as a teenager, including instances of racist and homophobic language. He was also dropped from (or left, depending on the source) the reality series Im a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! when it was revealed that he asked a fourteen year old girl for provocative pictures when he was seventeen. Maynard claims that he wasnt aware of her age, and the girl called the interaction harmless. Regardless, Maynard faced backlash for the incident, which allegedly included him calling the girl a bore and an ugly freak when she refused.

Lana Del Rey is arguably one of the leading figures of dream pop in todays musical landscape. However, she is not without her controversies, and some big ones were unleashed in May 2020. The first came when she was defending her lyrical themes from critics and noting the love for artists like Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé as a double standard in the industry. After being criticized for singling out women of color, Rey was forced to claim that she is definitely not racist. Just a few days later, she again posted to Instagram, but this time it was a video of looters. Del Rey had exposed the looters identities, and some criticized the act of publishing the violent video through her social media.

When it comes to actors, few have been so thoroughly and systematically dismantled as Kevin Spacey. His house of cards came crumbling down in October 2017 when Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of making advances on him when he was just fourteen years old. The accusation was damaging enough. But just one day later, Spacey released a statement through Twitter in which he infamously used the opportunity to come out as gay. Some saw it as a thinly-veiled attempt at deflection, while others thought that his apology was grossly insincere. While its clearly the accusations themselves that brought him down, the post was still tremendously derided. Spaceys reputation was tarnished and his career completely cancelled. Now hes seemingly only doing creepy YouTube videos that come out on Christmas Eve.

The Gnarls Barkley crooner was on top of the world in early 2010s. Forget You was a massive worldwide hit, and he was serving as a judge on the enormously popular singing competition The Voice. And then he tweeted about sexual assault. He was accused of giving a woman ecstasy before sex, raising issues of consent. She claimed to have no memory of the night and resulting events, while CeeLo argued that victims of the violent crime would remember what happened. Needless to say, that specific tweet (and its equally bizarre accompaniments) caused an enormous amount of controversy, and CeeLo was effectively canceled, at least for awhile. He subsequently made appearances on Lip Sync Battle and The Masked Singer.

Weiner wasnt an entertainment celebrity in the traditional sense, but he was a well-known public figure who had been in politics for many years. That career came crashing down in the summer of 2011 when Weiner found himself at the center of a highly publicized sexting debacle. On May 27, 2011, he accidentally posted an explicit photograph of himself to his public Twitter account. The photo was obviously meant for a specific person, and Weiner was soon embroiled in a controversy that ended in him resigning from Congress. But it didnt end there. In 2016 it was reported that Weiner had been sexting a 15-year-old girl, a fact that eventually put him in prison for fifteen months.

Barr probably holds the record for the quickest collapse after a comeback in television history. Roseanne was monumentally popular throughout its run from 1988 to 1997, and it was famously revived in the spring of 2018. The first episode of the revival aired on March 27, 2018. And just over two months later to the day, Roseanne made a post about Obamas senior advisor Valerie Jarrett. This incredibly insensitive and racist tweet was widely condemned, and Roseanne was canned the same day. Her career and reputation will never be the same again.

Many people dont like Donald Trump. But many people also thought that Kathy Griffin went too far by holding his mock-decapitated head. On May 30, 2017, Griffin posted a highly controversial photo of her holding a bloody mask meant to represent Trumps severed head. While She claimed it was meant as an edgy artistic piece, some people interpreted it as an inappropriate threat of violence against Trump. Griffin was fired from numerous gigs, including CNN's annual New Year's Eve program, all of her tour dates were cancelled, and she was even placed under investigation by the Justice Department. The photo was widely lambasted and Griffins reputation was ravaged.

Are there any other celebrities who ruined their careers or reputations with their social media? Let us know below!