When you live a life in the spotlight, it’s very easy to accidentally slip up and make comments that seem innocent enough, but have the power to end your whole career. These celebrities have had to learn the consequences of thoughtless comments and legal scandals the hard way…

Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson’s career was hitting a steady decline by 2003, and he was less of a mega pop star and more of a creepy recluse whose children wore veils in public and lived in a fantasy mansion. When the first of many molestation charges were filed against Jackson in December of 2003, Jackson’s popstar royalty reputation was tarnished. Before his death of an accidental overdose in 2009, he faced more than 20 years in prison if found guilty of the charges against him. He was ultimately deemed not guilty, much to public disbelief.

R. Kelly

Where to BEGIN with R. Kelly… In 2002, Kelly was indicted on 21 counts of child pornography, along with a sex tape depicting him having relations with a minor. He fiercely rebuked the claims until they came back for him in 2018. His has been accused with the help of hard evidence of entrapping young girls and keeping them as sex slaves. He’s lost nearly every endorsement he’s ever had.

Chris Brown

By 2009, Chris Brown had risen through the ranks of R&B and pop music and quickly became a household name. He’d received lots of media attention when his relationship with Rihanna was heating up. However, at a pre-Grammy party in 2009, the couple got in a hellish argument and Brown assaulted Rihanna. She suffered from a split lip, bruised cheeks, and lesions on her forehead. Brown would never live down the incident.

Mary J. Blige

Miss Mary J. Blige seems to thrive on pain and drama whenever it comes to marketing her image. Fans really had a problem with her when she stooped to sing for a Burger King commercial about fried chicken wraps, claiming she was playing up racial stereotypes.

Boy George

Remember that one time Boy George was sentenced to 15 months in jail for handcuffing and beating a male escort in his hotel room? I don’t care how good “Karma Chameleon” was. He whipped this guy with a chain and accused him of stealing his stuff. Bad move all around, George.

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson can credit her own undoing to a tragic Saturday Nigh Live performance in 2004. While starting off the second song of her set, “Autobiography,” the backing track from her first song, “Pieces of Me” began to play instead, and a flustered Simpson attempted to distract fans from the revelation that she’d totally lip-synced by dancing. SNL cut to commercial IMMEDIATELY, and Simpson tried to blame the band for the whole mishap.

Jared Fogle

The face of Subway’s weight loss marketing campaign, Jared Fogle, was arrested in 2015 on counts of child pornography and paying for sex with minors. He once had a net worth of $15 million, but now currently sits in jail with a sentence of minimum 13 years.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey has made so many unforced errors and career left-turns that they would surely be the undoing of any starlet if they weren’t her. When she closed out the 2016 New Year’s Rockin’ Eve show in Times Square, she apparently couldn’t hear the backing track, so she just didn’t sing. The next song was mostly lip synced. Her response: “It happens.”

Michael Richards

Kramer, Kramer, Kramer… In 2006, the “Seinfeld” star went on a heated racist rant during a stand-up set when he began angrily harassing a black man in the crowd. That was the end of his career, and he said that he broke down immediately after the performance, completely ashamed.

Lil Wayne

Lil Wayne should have known better. He compared the murder of Emmett Till to some present day sexcapades and caught major heat for it. The line “beat that p***y like Emmett Till” from Future’s “Karate Chop” remix references a young black man who was murdered in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman. Um. WHY. Why would he do that? It’s a completely tasteless line. He issued a lengthy apology and promised not to perform the song and have it removed from airwaves. Yeesh.

Miguel

2013 was Miguel’s YEAR. His hit “Adorn” gained him some chart-topping success, and his performance at the Billboard Music Awards that year was…unforgettable. Poor guy tried to jump over the pit and ended up accidentally crash landing on fans before making it to the second stage. He severely injured one girl who threatened to sue because she never received proper medial treatment on sight.

Janet Jackson

Okay so this one was truly just an accident. Jackson has never been able to live down a very public wardrobe malfunction that happened during her performance during 2004’s Super Bowl halftime show. The incident, now affectionately known as “Nipplegate,” went something like this: Right at the end of the show, Justin Timberlake reaches across Jackson’s bustier and rips off the top portion, a little too aggressively, and the whole world saw Jackson’s breast for 9/16ths of a second.

Jennifer Grey

Her iconic role as Baby in “Dirty Dancing” skyrocketed her career in the 1980’s, but when she decided to go under the knife for a nose job, she credits that as the undoing of her success. Her nose was her biggest identifying feature, but if she felt insecure about it, let her do what she wants!

Robin Thicke

Y’all remember “Blurred Lines”? Us too. 2013 revealed a whole new side to not only the child-star-turned-pop-singer and Miley Cyrus, who performed a raunchy duet at the MTV Music Video Awards. Things got a little too out of control for the crowd and Thicke tried to blame Cyrus for the R-rated stunt. She held her own, saying he knew exactly what was going to happen onstage. In the end, Thicke’s wife ultimately filed for divorce even though he’d released a follow-up album using her name as the title. Ouch!

Natalia Kills

It’s difficult to maintain composure when judging a live talent show. Judges have to entertain as well as evaluate, and on New Zealand’s version of “The X Factor,” Natalia Kills took it a little too far… she absolutely dug into contestant Joe Irvine in 2015, calling him a “laughing stock,” and essentially accused him of copying his act and persona from Kills’ own husband, singer Willy Moon, who was also on the panel of judges. Kills and Moon were soon dropped from the show.