# Career-killing SCANDALS!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007 "2004-09-03T19:44:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/41 "2004-09-04T20:34:26Z")
Gee, I hope she wasn’t slapped around before confessing she was both. **Gary Hart** dared the media to find dirt on him while he was running for president in 1984. They didn’t find dirt, but they did find Donna Rice happily sitting on his lap on the boat _Monkey Business_. She wasn’t Gary’s wife. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/42 "2004-09-04T20:38:35Z")
Can’t believe nobody has mentioned **Oscar Wilde!** ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/43 "2004-09-04T20:41:38Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > I’m wondering if we could include Keanu Reeves here. He was one of the biggest young stars around in the early-mid 90s and was touted as the next big action star. Then he was photographed kissing another man somewhere or other and a ‘scandal’ erupted over his sexual orientation. He basically went from the biggest action star in Hollywood after “Speed” to everything he did tanking for the next 5 years until “The Matrix” picked his career up again. It’s hard to say whether the gay scandal was what caused is career to tank or whether it just happened to coincide with everyone realising that he can’t act at all. I doubt that the world is ready for an openly gay action start just yet. You’ve got it backwards. It’s Keanu who has incriminating photos of various Hollywood directors. How else can he manage to get cast in so many big movies, despite a total and complete lack of acting ability 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/44 "2004-09-04T20:52:29Z")
Then there’s **Michael Jackson** – no wait, he still **has** a career! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/45 "2004-09-04T21:08:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Then there’s **Michael Jackson** – no wait, he still **has** a career! :eek: Does he? I thought his last couple albums tanked big time. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/46 "2004-09-04T21:33:56Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Does he? I thought his last couple albums tanked big time. I was basing that on the fact that, when he went to be arraigned in L.A. on child-molestation charges, there were pro-Jackson mass demonstrations in Mexico City, Moscow and Tokyo. How does he do it? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/47 "2004-09-04T22:31:05Z")
He’s a nutjob, and obviously still has his share of nutjob fans. As a musician, he seems to be through and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/48 "2004-09-04T22:38:28Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That’s an uninspiring career arc, perhaps, but I don’t see any actual scandals in it. An arts figure has basically three career prongs to worry about: Public perception. critical perception and peer perception. Breathed lost the critics by being a Trudeau tracer (In other fields, this is known as “plagiarism.” In cartooning, it’s just damn sloppy) and lost the respect of his peers by nominating himself for an undeserved award and winning it, giving the real editorial cartoonists a rather public spanking. And by stopping, re-starting, and re-stopping his strip multiple times, I think he’s overtaxed the public’s perception of him as well. It’s not up there with marrying your thirteen-year-old cousin or killing your ex-wife and the nearest waiter, but among cartoonists this is pretty punk behavior. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/49 "2004-09-04T22:38:32Z")
**Rob Lowe** , although he’s finally making a comeback after many years, but mostly on television. [**Jeffrey Jones** ,](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000470/) not a huge star but he’s one of those actors that you’ve seen in lots of movies and recognize him but don’t know his name. Probably best remembered for _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_. He’s involved in a big child porn scandal. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/50 "2004-09-04T22:42:31Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Ooooh, how about Pee Wee Herman? Got caught exposing himself at a porno theater, no more Pee Wee’s Playhouse (which was a damn cool show) “I know you are, but what is this?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/51 "2004-09-04T22:46:05Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Newt Gingrich- went from Speaker of the House to occasional news-channel policy analyst by adulterously ending second marriage in the wake of his pursuit to impeach Clinton. > > If it wasn’t for that, he could well be on his way to the Republican Presidential nomination for 2008. Actually, it wasn’t so much that as his being bested by Clinton in the government shutdown of 1995 and–especially–the GOP’s disappointing showing in the congressional elections of 1998. Granted, the divorce didn’t help things but, by that point, it was pretty well icing on the cake. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Erroll Flynn: Career tanked after his statutory-rape trial, even though he was acquitted. Flynn continued to be a top star even after the scandal. The decline in his career was due more to the health problems related to his rampant alcoholism (and other overindulgences). Flynn built his career playing physically-demanding roles in swashbucklers like **Captain Blood** and **The Adventures of Robin Hood**. Unfortunately, by the time he was 40, the years of excessive drinking had so prematurely aged him that he was unable to play the types of roles that made him famous. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/52 "2004-09-04T22:49:24Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > Breathed lost the critics by being a Trudeau tracer (In other fields, this is known as “plagiarism.” In cartooning, it’s just damn sloppy) and lost the respect of his peers by nominating himself for an undeserved award and winning it, giving the real editorial cartoonists a rather public spanking. 😕 The artistic style of “Bloom County” and “Outland” are nothing like “Doonesbury.” And I don’t see why Breathed’s Pulitzer for editorial cartooning was “undeserved” – his 'toon had real political content even if it didn’t run on the Op-Ed page. [hijack] BTW – how come Charles Brooks’ annual _Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year_ collection ([http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1589802004/qid=1094337965/sr=ka-1/ref=pd\_ka\_1/104-7211968-1416726](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1589802004/qid=1094337965/sr=ka-1/ref=pd_ka_1/104-7211968-1416726)) never includes anything from Ruben Bolling’s “Tom the Dancing Bug” or Tom Tomorrow’s “This Modern World”? They don’t run on op-ed pages either (they run in alternative weeklies – just like “The Straight Dope”!), but they’re better than most cartoons that do, and they’re definitely political! [/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/53 "2004-09-04T22:54:24Z")
We haven’t heard much of former **Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders** since 1994 – she attended a UN conference on AIDS and said teenagers should be encouraged to practice masturbation as an alternative to sex. Controversy flared and Clinton asked for her resignation. To this day I still don’t understand what anybody found objectionable about her remarks. It’s a plain fact that teenagers are going to fuck, masturbate, or both. The idea that they can be persuaded to do neither is preposterous. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/54 "2004-09-04T23:59:13Z")
Paula Poundstone is a recent scandal victim. The accusations of child abuse made against her were almost certainly false but they pretty much derailed her career. She was on the verge of being a major star five years ago, now she’s back doing small clubs and college shows. ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/55 "2004-09-05T00:45:59Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Paula Poundstone is a recent scandal victim. The accusations of child abuse made against her were almost certainly false but they pretty much derailed her career. She was on the verge of being a major star five years ago, now she’s back doing small clubs and college shows. She was recently on the Letterman show. The two of them hugged in a ‘that’s what friends are for’ moment. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/56 "2004-09-05T00:51:22Z")
Due to drugs, \*\*Mackenzie Phillips \*\* totally destroyed her acting and nascent signing career and burned all her bridges – and triumphantly rehabilitated herself after 8 years. But for those 8 years she was unhirable (great E True Hollywood Story so very true to the formula). ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/57 "2004-09-05T05:57:44Z")
> [@Tiramisu](#): > > **Rob Lowe** , although he’s finally making a comeback after many years, but mostly on television. And he’s probably shot his career or comeback in the foot by pricing himself out of The West Wing. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/58 "2004-09-05T06:25:23Z")
Academic and author mis-behavior Wasn’t there that famous historian Stephen Ambrose who plagarized lots of stuff form fellow historians and Alex Haley of “Roots” fame who kinda sorta plagarized lots of “Roots” passages (and settled out of court) and > [@](#): > > Senator Joseph Biden was forced to withdraw from the 1988 Democratic Presidential nominations when it was revealed he had failed a course in law school due to plagiarism. It was also shown that he had plagiarised several campaign speeches, notably those of British Labour leader Neil Kinnock and Senator Robert F. Kennedy. and famous feminist studies/psychology researcher Carol Gilligan’s missing data in support of her most famous studies and assertions. Oh and and the cold fusion guys ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/59 "2004-09-05T07:14:35Z")
> [@](#): > > She was recently on the Letterman show. The two of them hugged in a ‘that’s what friends are for’ moment. Like I said, she didn’t vanish. But five years ago she was a regular on Letterman and Leno and other talk shows. She did running commentaries and was a frequent guest host. She was doing major tours and annual HBO specials. She hosted award shows, appeared on game shows, wrote magazine columns, and was offered deals for books and movies and TV series. All of which is gone. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007/60 "2004-09-05T07:20:58Z")
Joe Biden remains one of the more respected Democrats in the Senate and was even considered a dark-horse possibility to be John Kerry’s running mate, so I don’t think his career has been killed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/career-killing-scandals/263007.md?page=4)