My personal answer is fairly benign. I mean, I’m not a big Mel Gibson fan or anything…anyhoo, my answer is Alec Baldwin.
I don’t HATE the guy, but wow he has some serious rage issues, I’m not going to get my panties in a wad over a little banter like telling two men, “Why don’t you and your boyfriend get the hell out…”, but when “FAG” is your go-to insult, there’s a problem. That doesn’t even cover the way he talked to his daughter and the assaulting of paparazzi.
Maybe not so much the actor but the character Nelix on Star Trek Voyager has never put me off like he does just about everyone else who has ever watched that show.
OP picked my two. Alec Baldwin and Mel Gibson. I like both their bodies of work, including Mel’s dozens of films where his character is tortured. I dislike Mel’s drunken anti-Semitism. I dislike Alec’s public raging. He is an embarrassment to liberals. Not that we don’t all do embarrassing things. (Yelling at his daughter is a private matter.)
I’m not a sports guy at all, but years ago, when John Madden would pop up all the time on commercials and talk shows, I was always amazed that I didn’t detest him, because I tend to hate loud blustery fuckers like that.
Ben Affleck, I guess, after seeing what an ignorant putz he was when debating Bill Maher.
mmm
The elephant in the room, Ted Nugent great guitar player, horrible human being
Some mentioned:
Mel Gibson. I like his movies. Individually, they are good, but the common thread of self-torture gets to be a bit squicky in aggregate, plus the assholishness.
Ted Nugent: Stranglehold is an awesome song, though.
New one: Robert Downey Jr. I hate him for messing up his life and yet still getting so many second chances. I doubt anyone in private life would get so many chances to redeem themselves, so it bugs me because I don’t think it’s fair. But he does make great movies!
Ronald Reagan. I enjoy his movies and TV work, despite loathing him as a politician. It’s almost like mentally I try to make it that there were two Ronald Reagans…
Hate is a strong word. But I’d have to say McDonald’s hamburgers. Considering how much I like good hamburgers it’s beyond weird that I like them so much.
I went and saw Carrot Top in Las Vegas on a free ticket.
I laughed my ass off. He put on a great show.
Them burgers can act, though.
I thought Daniel Tosh was an annoying dick when I first saw him, and then came to grudgingly enjoy his TV show, despite the fact that he never really stopped being an annoying dick.
Guess I should feel guilty about Woody and Roman, too, eh?
I very rarely care about someone’s personal life when viewing their creative work. I enjoy Mel Gibson’s movies. I like a lot of Tom Cruise movies. I can even still enjoy the Police Squad movies despite the fact that a double murderer is in them. I think Woody is brilliant most of the time. But I can’t forgive Polanski for The Ninth Gate.
Bill Cosby. I love Bill Cosby the entertainer, he has done remarkable work. But Bill Cosby the man? So, so sordid and messy. The rape allegations, the payoffs, the womanizing, the vile temper. I don’t think old Bill is that great of a parent in real life, either.
Another vote for Alec Baldwin. I wouldn’t want to sit next to him on an airplane, but he was brilliant in 30 Rock.
Tom Cruise. I like a lot of his movies and I think he’s really good in them - but the Scientology thing, ewww.
Most of the prominent Scitologists give me the squicks despite their talent. Cruise, Kidman, Travolta, Corea, Mimi Rogers… I just can’t reconcile them with the bizarre, org-serving nonsense they profess to believe.
[**Boldness **added for emphasis.]
If it’s any consolation, I don’t think Kidman’s a Scientologist. I’m not sure but she either never actually joined or dropped out after divorcing Cruise.
As for the thread topic, aside from Woody Allen or Roman Polanski, the entertainers I hated myself for liking were those who did some good work early in their careers and seemed to have promising futures ahead of them but, due to poor career choices, ended up becoming the punchline for “has-been” and “no-talent” jokes. I know it’s just me, but when that happens, I can’t help but serioulsly doubt my taste, intelligence, and judgment.
I may get the gold on this one. I like (in small doses, at least) Andrew Dice Clay. Then he goes over the line, and I shut him out for another…oh, I don’t know, 20 years or so.
Loved him in “Making the Grade”