# Which celebrities do you loathe for their real personalities (as opposed to their media roles) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 27, 2009, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175 "2009-06-27T15:20:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/81 "2009-07-05T00:32:25Z")
> [@bigdfrombigd](#): > > Julia Roberts-America’s sweetheart???!!! Blechh. Arrogant a-hole. > Ditto Sean Penn. Just shut. Up. Weird as hell, too. [A Low Vera, anyone?](http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-16-2003-43034.asp) ---
**Author:** ![SweetLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@SweetLucy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SweetLucy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/82 "2009-07-05T00:42:42Z")
Josh Brolin, for being an abusive jerk towards his wife Diane Lane :mad: “Brangelina,” because they’re such attention whores even when they’re doing good and humanitarian actions; because I’m sick of hearing about their umpteen kids. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/83 "2009-07-05T01:54:40Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > So do I, but sometimes celebrities are invited to speak about issues I care about, or (worse) are trotted out as authorities/people I Should Pay Attention To, or they thrust themselves into issues that they clearly know nothing about (antivax). I would vastly prefer to hear nothing about them, but during the past several days, it seems that I can’t turn to any media and NOT hear about various aspects of Michael Jackson and how his life and death have affected the whole damn world. I didn’t care about him or his music when he was alive. I’m just not that into that genre. Now that he’s dead, I STILL don’t really care about him. But even a respected newspaper like the Dallas Morning News is running front page headlines and teasers about him. Upon reflection it occurs to me that my earlier post was a little holier-than-thou. I should have said that I try not to avoid finding out things about the personal lives of artists I like, because I don’t want to be disappointed. People I was neutral about to begin with–like Jenny McCarthy, who I hope is never murdered when I have no alibi as even I would wonder if I were involved–I feel contempt for. **SweetLucy** , when was Josh Brolin abusive to the goddess Diane, and why was I not informed of this so that I might murder him, his children, his friends, his friend’s children,and his children’s friends as a warning to others? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/84 "2009-07-05T01:59:59Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > Should they not? Regardless of whether you or I cared for him or his music, he was a figure with worldwide influence, and many others are reacting quite strongly to his death, which would seem to make it a major news story. I’d hardly consider that to make a newspaper non-respectworthy. I think that there definitely should be some coverage. However, I don’t think that we need a full week of Nothing But Michael Jackson news, with news about the tributes, and reactions from the fans, etc., etc., ad nauseum. I think that this sort of thing would be far more appropriate for fan forums. I’m sure that there’s other news stories that are just as interesting, and quite probably far more relevant. Look, I’ve had my idols die too. But I think that there’s a difference between acknowledging that these people were influential and acting like their death is a tragedy to outshine the latest news on whatever else happened during this past week. I think that the media is happy to put out articles and shows about MJ because there are plenty of pics and interviews and videos of him, and it’s so very easy to pull some together to make a “new” article, whereas putting together a new article on another subject (the police raid on the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth, for instance) would involve doing a little work. Frankly, I’m far more worried about the raid than I am interested in knowing just what drugs Michael was using. I mean, we all know that abusing prescription drugs is dangerous and can lead to serious complications, right? Anyone who doesn’t know this by now is so dim that NOTHING is gonna get through to him/her. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/85 "2009-07-05T03:24:37Z")
I’ll instantly hate the maker any “documentary” “movie” about an “issue” that leaves no time for any evidence to the contrary. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/86 "2009-07-05T04:52:08Z")
Put me down for not having much love for Uncle Ted. Great guitar player, class A asshole otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/87 "2009-07-05T06:36:57Z")
Sampiro, you’re made of awesome, but personally I would love nothing more than to kick Jenny McCarthy with her antivaccine weirdness and her fake tits into an orbit near Jupiter. I’m well aware that there are risks to vaccines but to not vaccinate at all is just too crazy to me. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/88 "2009-07-05T09:42:08Z")
Hulk Hogan. But apparently even in the “say your prayers, eat your vitamens” era he was known to be an egotish @$$hole. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/89 "2009-07-05T15:10:16Z")
Tom Cruise Mel Gibson John Travolta Oprah Jenny McCarthy Jim Carey Their weird anti-science and anti-common sense (and in the case of Mel Gibson, anti-any-shred-of-decency) stances rub me up the wrong way. Lady Gaga- for being beyond bleurgh. I actually feel sorry for Britney Spears and Linsday Lohan- they aren’t well (eating disorders, addictions, personality issues) and have been let down by their “friends” and families who have spectacularly failed to take care of them properly. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/90 "2009-07-05T15:51:40Z")
I love Warren Zevon’s music. Love love love it. A small charitable part of me feels sorry for his untreated OCD struggles and admires his ability to get and stay clean (at least until his terminal diagnosis), but overall I think he was an asshole who mistreated the people who loved him most and best. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2009, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/91 "2009-07-05T23:28:19Z")
> [@ashman165](#): > > Well, I’m glad to see you’re keeping up. I still don’t understand why I was the one that was called out ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2009, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/92 "2009-07-06T01:25:52Z")
> [@Gorgonzola](#): > > I love Warren Zevon’s music. Love love love it. A small charitable part of me feels sorry for his untreated OCD struggles and admires his ability to get and stay clean (at least until his terminal diagnosis), but overall I think he was an asshole who mistreated the people who loved him most and best. I feel the same way about Klaus Kinski and his acting. _Brilliant_ actor, but yeesh, what a fucking head case! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/93 "2009-07-07T11:10:34Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I still don’t understand why I was the one that was called out I would assume because **Ashman** likes Oprah, or at least, respects her “religion”. It’s much easier to notice that sort of thing when it’s against someone you like. But **Ashman** could come in and prove me wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/94 "2009-07-11T10:10:58Z")
Just want to say that I’m one of the people who dislike Oprah,I remember once when she was going to SING on T.V. and made a big performance of being really scared and nervous about doing it. I mean she’s a proffessional T.V. performer and we’re supposed to feel sorry for her because she’s so sceeeered. Sorry girl no sympathy here and I’m not interested in your personal problems either,theres plenty that have had the same problems that you’ve had but don’t have the solace of wealth to help them get over it. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/95 "2009-07-11T12:45:32Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > At least among _famous_ comedians, he certainly is. I don’t think people realize just how many of his jokes are stolen or how despised he is for it. > > But he’s a terrifically gifted actor all the same. The time I met Robin Williams in 1985 downstairs from a Bo Diddley concert, he was a really nice guy. we played pinball together (i’m pretty good, he sucks and joked about how bad he was). Then he very happily and graciously did a radio station ID for college station KDVS. He knew it was Davis, and said iirc “this is Robin Williams and you are listening to KDVS, and I bet you have many friends of the 4 legged pursuasion baaaaaaaaaah.” Note: UC Davis was originally founded as an agricultural college, and still carries the reputation. ---
**Author:** ![ashman165](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@ashman165](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashman165)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/96 "2009-07-11T13:11:56Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > \*Executive \*transvestite. And an _action_ transvestite as well. Don’t forget that! I think Michael J. Fox is the one celebrity who annoys me most. And I used to hang out with him all the time. But after a while, i realized how superficial he is. All he wanted to do all day long is sit around shaking hands. (there’s a special place in hell for me, I’m sure). ---
**Author:** ![ashman165](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@ashman165](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashman165)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/97 "2009-07-11T13:28:08Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I still don’t understand why I was the one that was called out Because you seem to have no objection to people whose views you support having power at least equal to Oprah’s. And let’s be clear here, she has no actual power. She only has power insofar as she’s popular and people frequently think, “Say, Brittney Spears loves Pepsi, so it must be good.” Her power goes only as far that she has some influence among certain people. Government officials have actual power. You don’t seem to be against some particular person having the power to actually, well, you know, starts wars and shit. So, it isn’t that she power that you object to; it’s that she has this power and doesn’t support your agenda. **BigT** , Thank you for all of your assumptions, which I shall take in turn: I don’t like Oprah. That said, I don’t dislike her either. She simply doesn’t factor into my life in any way. She exists and does stuff and makes money and has a popular face and name. Great for her. I’m not aware what, if any, religion Oprah has. She quite frankly doesn’t even show up on my RaDAR. She might be Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, or Atheist and I would be none the wiser. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/98 "2009-07-11T16:08:10Z")
Oprah has no power? A simple endorsement from her can push whatever it is through the stratosphere. There was an article in Newsweek a month or so ago about how she endorses all these wacky alternate medicines or fads and such with no opposing views or even concerns about safety. Right now she’s on the Jenny McCarthy bandwagon about the immunizations. I can’t stand her. She outright stole Phil Donahue’s format and debased it for the lowest common denominator, which opened the door for the even lower imitations like Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, Maury, etc. People forget that her show was just as bad in the beginning. And then there was that incident in Paris a few years ago where she tried to force a designer purse store to let her in 15 minutes after they had closed so she could buy a watch for Tina Turner, “because she was Oprah Winfrey,” and then tried to claim it was racism. She then was able to get the store to kiss her ass on her show. > [@](#): > > “I would like to say we’re really sorry,” said Robert Chavez, the chief executive officer of Hermes USA, who was a guest on Winfrey’s show. “You did meet up with one very, very rigid staff person.” > > “Rigid or rude?” Winfrey challenged. > > “Rigid and rude, I’m sure,” Chavez replied. ---
**Author:** ![ashman165](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@ashman165](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashman165)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/99 "2009-07-11T16:25:26Z")
> [@caligulathegod](#): > > Oprah has no power? A simple endorsement from her can push whatever it is through the stratosphere. There was an article in Newsweek a month or so ago about how she endorses all these wacky alternate medicines or fads and such with no opposing views or even concerns about safety. Right now she’s on the Jenny McCarthy bandwagon about the immunizations. Which ties into what I said about what power she has: it’s essentially over buying product. I didn’t mention the Brittney Spears example for no reason. I’m not exactly seeing the Oprah momentum improving our schools, counseling people to alter their financial habits to save the economy, changing the way people raise their children, changing voting laws, and, well, anything. She has tremendous power in marketing. Otherwise, no. Her power, as I said, is to influence people. But her alleged power stops precisely where you’d think one with power would actually be useful. > [@](#): > > And then there was that incident in Paris a few years ago where she tried to force a designer purse store to let her in 15 minutes after they had closed so she could buy a watch for Tina Turner, “because she was Oprah Winfrey,” and then tried to claim it was racism. She then was able to get the store to kiss her ass on her show. That’s not an Oprah power; that’s a power any minority can play and get what they want. That she happens to also be black in addition to being Oprah just means she has in common with every Tom, Dick and Harry on the planet who’s a member of some class of people who’ve been historically discriminated against is only related to that. She just happens to have ready access to a show to talk from. Again, you’re discussing the ability to move product. The power of advertising stops right where important life shit begins. When Oprah forces congress to legalize drugs, gay marriage, revamp the school system, get affordable healthcare for people, or really to do anything they didn’t want to do but for Oprah making them, get back to me. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175/100 "2009-07-11T18:14:43Z")
I don’t think it’s fair to completely dismiss media and its influence on the everyday lives of people. No, it isn’t filling potholes, but it is the center of our culture. Her influence is so many levels above regular celeb endorsers. It’s not that she can get you to buy Coke over Pepsi. Her imprimatur is worth millions to the recipient. She got an author and editor of a book she had endorsed to come on her show so she could rip them new assholes for “deceiving” her. Whether or not they deserved it is beside the point. No one enjoys being pilloried in public in front of millions of people. Would they have shown up on any other show and taken their lumps? No. She got to act out her fantasy and give a nationally televised ass whipping because if they had refused she would have withdrawn her support for any books by Random House (one of the world’s largest publishers) costing them millions. Back to her support of quackery, I was just reading an article on the [dangers](http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/06/03/oprah-and-the-power-to-persuade/) of how she does things. When she has her quacks or cranks on, they are up on the pedestal with her and the experts (if she has them) are just sitting in the audience. This is a _subtle_ suggestion on which person is important to believe. From the article: > [@](#): > > ``` > ...She didn’t make it clear on the show what form of the disease she had, or what her doctors believed brought it on. She shared with her audience that she took thyroid medication and spent a month relaxing in Hawaii, where she ate fresh foods and drank soy milk. Northrup advises that in addition to conventional thyroid medication, women should consider taking iodine supplements. > > That is just what they shouldn’t do, says Dr. David Cooper, a professor of endocrinology at Johns Hopkins medical school who specializes in thyroid disease. “She is mixing truth with fantasy here,” he says. First, “thyroid disease has nothing to do with women being downtrodden. She makes it sound like these women brought it on themselves.” Cooper agrees that thyroid patients should seek thyroid hormone treatment to bring the symptoms under control. But, he says, Oprah should have stayed clear of soy milk. “If you’re hypothyroid and you’re taking thyroid medication, you do not want to be taking soy. It will block your body’s ability to absorb the medication.” > > Iodine, he says, can be even riskier. “[Northrop] says iodine deficiency is more common in women, when in reality it’s not very common in women at all. This is a myth.” The thyroid gland, he says, is extremely sensitive to iodine. “If you have mild hypothyroidism, taking iodine will make it worse.” > > ``` I seem to remember her doing this back with her first well publicized weight loss back in 1988, when she lost 67 pounds in 4 months on a liquid diet that she later regretted. How many people did she injure by following her example? This isn’t idiot kids imitating Steve-O and setting their scrotums on fire. She commands a certain amount of respect and her mistakes are magnified by her legions of followers. Is it the power to decide who lives and who dies? No, of course not. It’s still an incredible amount of power, such as it is, for any person to have. She gets whatever she wants. If it isn’t through her celeb status, it is through her billionaire media mogul status, or if all else fails, she can play the race card. That’s all this thread required. What celebs do you hate because of their real personalities. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrities-do-you-loathe-for-their-real-personalities-as-opposed-to-their-media-roles/501175.md?page=6)