# Incidents which caused celebrities to lose all credibility and become jokes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2006, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329 "2006-10-13T17:20:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2006, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/61 "2006-10-15T18:18:53Z")
Does Anne Heche changing her sexual orientation to jumpstart her career qualify? I’m still surprised that she got a TV show. Joan Rivers had a decent career as a comedian before all the plastic surgery. Her self-deprecating guest shot on Nip/Tuck redeemed her a little bit. As for politicians, I wonder if people have forgotten Joe Biden’s plagiarism scandal. I suppose if he decides to run for president, someone will remember. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/62 "2006-10-16T12:49:43Z")
Morton Downey Jr.'s hoax [Nazi attack incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Downey%2C_Jr.) pretty much killed his career. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/63 "2006-10-16T13:02:13Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Morton Downey Jr.'s hoax [Nazi attack incident](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Downey%2C_Jr.) pretty much killed his career. [/QUOTE] I thought his career was already dead at that point. Did he still have a career when that happened? ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/64 "2006-10-16T13:45:07Z")
Kevin “I got mugged in the park while looking for some young meat” Spacey. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/65 "2006-10-16T14:05:06Z")
New York WABC weatherman Tex Antoine made an on-air joke about rape (in the context that they were going to get bad weather, and they iought “to just lie back and enjoy it”) that gor him bounced from the air permanently. Orson Welles did a very elaborate magic trick on “The Tonight Show” that didn’t work. Ever after that people wouldn’t take his magic seriously, and made constant jokes about it. Gerald Ford took a big hit when he declared that Poland and other Eastern European countries weren’t under Soviet domination. ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/66 "2006-10-16T18:24:00Z")
Ashlee Simpson’s lip synching revealed on Saturday Night Live. Not that she had a lot of rock credibility anyway, but that gaffe eliminated whatever chance she had of ever being taken seriously as a singer/musician. The nosejob cemented her image as “just another blonde party girl.” ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/67 "2006-10-16T18:42:56Z")
Not that he was ever much of a celebrity-but he did have a successful run on TV (“CHIPS”). The last i saw of him-he’s huckstering ‘retirement’ land/properties, somewhere out West. Of course, the guy might be broke and hard up… ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/68 "2006-10-16T20:46:27Z")
Out west? I thought it was in Alabama? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/69 "2006-10-16T21:09:43Z")
Corey Haim first killed his career, and then he pretty much killed any hope at a comeback with this: > **[Corey Haim - Close to Incomprehensible](http://www.poetv.com/video.php?vid=4127)** > > Corey Haim is funny when he's high. Corey Haim - Close to Incomprehensible I don’t think I could make myself that screwed up on drugs or alcohol or whatever it is even if I tried. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/70 "2006-10-17T18:58:14Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] Not that he was ever much of a celebrity-but he did have a successful run on TV (“CHIPS”). The last i saw of him-he’s huckstering ‘retirement’ land/properties, somewhere out West. Of course, the guy might be broke and hard up… [/QUOTE] Is that because of any particular “incident,” or just ordinary hard luck? ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/71 "2006-10-17T20:00:12Z")
“Lost **all** credibility” is a pretty high threshold. That said, the examples that come to mind are Geraldo’s unveiling of Al Capone’s vault and Dick Morris’ toe-sucking peccadillo. ---
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2006, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/72 "2006-10-17T21:28:52Z")
Rob Lowe, sex with underaged girls. R Kelly same. Am I revealing too much of myself? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/73 "2006-10-18T01:25:12Z")
Carman Electra and Dennis Rodman Except who lost the most his career was over hers plods along ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/74 "2006-10-18T01:48:14Z")
The scuttlebutt around the office figured Elizabeth wasn’t puttin’ out. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/75 "2006-10-18T01:57:23Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] The scuttlebutt around the office figured Elizabeth wasn’t puttin’ out. 😉 [/QUOTE] That was in reference to Hugh Grant. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/76 "2006-10-18T03:34:19Z")
[QUOTE=gonzomax] Carman Electra and Dennis Rodman Except who lost the most his career was over hers plods along [/QUOTE] Punctuation is your friend. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/77 "2006-10-18T13:36:14Z")
[QUOTE=Unintentionally Blank] That was in reference to Hugh Grant. :dubious: [/QUOTE] No, Prince Charles. Those Royals get weirder every generation. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/78 "2006-10-18T13:56:21Z")
Is is too soon to mention Dustin Diamond and the “Dirty Sanchez” video? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/79 "2006-10-18T14:20:44Z")
Does OJ Simpson qualify for nomination? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329/80 "2006-10-18T15:25:49Z")
[QUOTE=Enright3] Did any of the Gabor sisters really have any credibilty? Green Acres alone would ruin someone’s credibility. [/QUOTE] No – it actually enhanced hers. **Green Acres** was a great TV show, and the Gabor sisters were generally more famous for being famous than for their acting. Eva was quite good in **Green Acres** and showed she was more than just a punchline and had some acting talent. [quote=zeno] Rob Lowe, sex with underaged girls.He’s headlined three TV shows since then, most notably **The West Wing**. It was a speed bump, but it’s been forgotten. [quote=Sonia Montdore] Andy Kaufman wrestling women.Are you kidding? He was on a roll after that. He was hurt more by the **Friday’s** incident. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/incidents-which-caused-celebrities-to-lose-all-credibility-and-become-jokes/376329.md?page=5)