# Minor celebrities who've become more famous for a bad reason **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 5, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106 "2019-04-05T21:13:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/21 "2019-04-06T01:21:34Z")
Jamal Khashoggi is more famous now for his murder by Saudi Arabian and Turkish officials than his work as a journalist. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/22 "2019-04-06T01:53:40Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not at the peak of his entertainment career but far more well known than others mentioned in the thread so far. Yeah, this (OJ’s level of fame) was debated here not that long ago. Your take is pretty much spot on. He was doing movies, commercials, tv guest spots, NFL commentary, etc all In general, all this stuff is relative and people here take great pride in not knowing about entertainers and pop culture and even sports ball players to some degree. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/23 "2019-04-06T01:59:30Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I wonder how big a celebrity O.J. Simpson really was by early 1994? Maybe not quite as instantly well-known as he was in the 1970s, but he was still working regularly as a host on sports programming, and was still regularly acting in TV shows and movies (most notably the Naked Gun films). So, he was still a very recognizable name. Edit: yeah, I wound up just repeating what had already been said by several others. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/24 "2019-04-06T02:06:05Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Maybe not quite as instantly well-known as he was in the 1970s, but he was still working regularly as a host on sports programming, and was still regularly acting in TV shows and movies (most notably the Naked Gun films). So, he was still a very recognizable name. And there was almost [this](https://variety.com/2014/tv/columns/frogmen-the-o-j-simpson-pilot-the-public-never-saw-1201221957/) (which I’m reading about for the first time.) ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/25 "2019-04-06T02:39:24Z")
Wasn’t OJ also under consideration for the “Terminator” at one time or is that a bad joke inspired by, well, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/26 "2019-04-06T03:03:58Z")
Yep, [true](http://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2015/10/30/was-oj-simpson-originally-cast-as-the-terminator/). ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/27 "2019-04-06T03:18:20Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > A character in the OJ saga not mentioned yet: Kato Kaelin. Was Kato Kaelin a celebrity before the OJ trial? The OP specifies a minor celebrity who became more famous for a bad thing **without** it benefiting their career. If anything the publicity from the OJ trial **made** Kato’s career as a celebrity so I don’t think he qualifies for discussion here. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/28 "2019-04-06T03:26:17Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Would anybody today remember _Buddy Holly_ if he hadn’t been on Buddy Holly’s plane? I really don’t understand how someone could be this wrong about anything. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/29 "2019-04-06T03:28:05Z")
How about Alex Jones? The conspiracies he spread about the Sandy Hook school shooting have gotten him sued and have giving him a lot more publicity among the mainstream media than ever before. Social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube have banned him and his organizations from spreading his conspiratorial BS. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/30 "2019-04-06T05:16:04Z")
Michael Vick? ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/31 "2019-04-06T06:55:47Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > How about Alex Jones? The conspiracies he spread about the Sandy Hook school shooting have gotten him sued and have giving him a lot more publicity among the mainstream media than ever before. Social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube have banned him and his organizations from spreading his conspiratorial BS. Alex Jones was pretty damn popular back during the Bush years when he was seen as being one of the most vocal Anti-Bush critics and was even in a few movies at the time because of it. Alex Jones was a household name way before his Sandy Hook denialism. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/32 "2019-04-06T07:00:08Z")
Jon-Erik Hexum, a young up-and-coming actor who accidentally killed himself with a blank round from a gun while messing around on set. Fairly tragic as this was 6 episodes into his first major acting break playing the male lead in a series but now he’s basically the trivia item used about actors killed by blank bullets (including of course Brandon Lee) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/33 "2019-04-06T07:28:31Z")
Just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t necessarily mean they are minor. I never of Nipsey Hustle before his death but he was nominated for a Grammy and was well known within the rap community. Jussie Smollett was acting since he was like 6, was getting a lot of heat for his work on Empire, was hooked in politically. and was making a name for himself as an activist. He was pretty well known and his star appeared to be rising. Lori Loughlin’s daughter Olivia Jade was on the rise as a “social influencer” when her mom’s arrest for getting her into college brought her much wider attention. Too bad for her all the attention made her sponsors drop her. Nobody had thought of the kid who played Goldberg in The Mighty Ducks for years until his shocking mugshot appeared in the news. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/people.com/crime/mighty-ducks-shaun-weiss-arrested-for-drugs-mugshot/amp/](https://www.google.com/amp/s/people.com/crime/mighty-ducks-shaun-weiss-arrested-for-drugs-mugshot/amp/) This may be more local but around here Amy Locane became more famous for killing someone with her car than she was on Melrose Place. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.mycentraljersey.com/amp/2880111002](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.mycentraljersey.com/amp/2880111002) ---
**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:** [April 6, 2019, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/34 "2019-04-06T08:42:49Z")
GG Allin? His schtick was to threaten to kill himself onstage at the end of every show, but instead died from a heroin overdose at a buddy’s apartment after a New York nightclub cut the power to his final set. I could not, for the life of me, name a single song he ever recorded. Wiki lists 8 albums and an EP. None of them are on my iTunes. Gloria (“The Mexican Madonna”) Trevi, Bess Meyerson and Anita Bryant are all better-known for scandals and controversies than for their stage acts. Felicia ‘Snoop’ Pearson, from TV’s _The Wire._ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/35 "2019-04-06T11:20:35Z")
Mikey, when he ate those Pop Rocks and died. (Oh, that reminds me–Heather O’Rourke.) ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/36 "2019-04-06T12:15:57Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > _\_ Alex Jones was a household name way before his Sandy Hook denialism. Maybe in some households, but I’d never heard of him. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2019, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/37 "2019-04-06T12:16:10Z")
At the time, nobody ever heard of Virginia Rappe. She was just a minor starlet with a only a handful of roles, usually uncredited. Her death, and the accusations that major star Fatty Arbuckle caused it, made her a household word at the time, and film historians still discuss her. ---
**Author:** ![Wrenching\_Spanners](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecb155/32.png) [@Wrenching\_Spanners](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wrenching_Spanners)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/38 "2019-04-06T12:21:35Z")
Probably several actresses who got caught having an affair with a prominent married man come to mind. Donna Rice was a very minor celebrity before the Gary Hart scandal. Elizabeth Gracen was fairly well known for the Highlander TV series, but many people know about her from the Bill Clinton affair instead. Christine Keeler was a minor model and girl-about-town in London before the Profumo affair. I’m sure there are several more. There’s also the Paris Hilton sex tapes, but those probably helped her career. Same with the Stormy Daniels/Trump scandal. Conversely, the Trump/Billy Bush “grab 'em by the pussy” scandal got Bush international name recognition at the expense of his career. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/39 "2019-04-06T13:20:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Loach** : > > Just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t necessarily mean they are minor. If I personally haven’t heard of someone, that doesn’t mean much, because I’m not very plugged in to popular culture. But if most people on this board haven’t heard of someone, yeah, that pretty much does mean that they’re a minor celebrity. Of course the ardent aficionados of whatever field someone is in will have heard of them, but a lot of times, such a person that the aficionados have head of does or is involved in something bad, and then suddenly _everyone_ hears of them. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106/40 "2019-04-06T14:53:48Z")
No one has mentioned Traci Lords yet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/minor-celebrities-whove-become-more-famous-for-a-bad-reason/832106.md?page=3)