The most shocking celeb scandals of 2011
Charlie Sheen goes off the edge
As the star of Two and a Half Men, Charlie Sheen was the highest-paid actor on television. He was also something of a wild card - but no one new just how wild until March, when CBS fired him. The actor responded with an epic public meltdown, defending his drug use, egomaniacal behavior and two-girlfriend lifestyle in a series of bizarre (but highly quotable!) interviews.
Determined to keep the momentum going, Sheen even went on the road with a live tour. But for someone who was 'winning,' he sure lost a lot: his job, his publicist, both girlfriends, his house, and custody of his sons. Eventually, Sheen's tiger blood stopped boiling long enough for him to develop a new show: the appropriately titled Anger Management.
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Kim Kardashian's marriage ends after 72 days
Kim Kardashian's wedding to NBA player Kris Humphries was one of the social events of the year. Months of anticipation and media coverage led up to the big event. But three weeks after the premiere of her four-hour E! wedding special, Kim filed for divorce.
Was the whole thing a publicity stunt? Kim emphatically denies it, telling Glamour that she just got carried away. 'I believe in love and the dream of having a perfect relationship, but my idea of it has changed,' she says of her 72-day marriage, which unraveled before the cameras on her E! reality show Kourtney & Kim Take New York. 'I think I need to not live in a fairy tale like that. I think I maybe need to just snap out of it and be a little more realistic.'
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Arnold Schwarzenegger's love child revealed
For 25 years, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver were a power couple. That all changed in an instant, when the former governor of California admitted that he'd fathered a child with the family's longtime housekeeper thirteen years earlier.
'Maria asked me directly if Joseph was Arnold's son, and I just broke down,' the boy's mother, Mildred Baena, told Hello! in June. 'I dropped to my knees and I was crying, saying that yes he was and I was so sorry.'
Shriver quietly filed for divorce as other alleged mistresses came forward, including Schwarzenegger's former costar Brigitte Nielsen.
'I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family,' Scharzenegger said in a statement. 'There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused.'
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Lindsay Lohan sentenced to house arrest for necklace theft
Lindsay Lohan kept sinking to new lows in 2011. But her most shocking scandal came right at the beginning of the year, when the actress was hauled before a judge for allegedly shoplifting a necklace. Charged with violating her probation, Lohan ultimately struck a plea deal and was sentenced to house arrest plus community service.
If only things had ended there: Her failure to take that community service seriously landed her another jail sentence, for a total of five before age 25. But despite missing her flight to promote her ill-advised Playboy spread, hopefully things are on the upswing for her in 2012. After all, she recently managed to get praise from a judge for completing part of her community service.
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Crystal Harris turns runaway bride on Hugh Hefner
Quintessential bachelor Hugh Hefner, 85, surprised the world when he proposed to Playboy Playmate Crystal Harris last Christmas. Turns out, she had an even bigger surprise in store for Hef. Harris, 25, left the Playboy mogul high and dry just days before their wedding in June.
To add insult to injury, she went on a media tour and made fun of her sex life with Hefner on Howard Stern's radio show. 'After all is said & done, staying single is probably for the best. I think I just missed a bullet,' Hefner wrote on Twitter. The octagenarian bounced back quickly, replacing Harris with two new girlfriends and slapping a 'Runaway Bride' sticker on her awkwardly timed Playboy cover.
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Cheating accusations lead to Ashton & Demi's demise
In 2010, Ashton Kutcher threatened to sue over tabloid rumors that he'd cheated on Demi Moore. In the following months, the couple seemed stronger than ever… until this September, when 22-year-old Sara Leal came forward with her story that she'd slept with Kutcher (twice) on the weekend of his sixth wedding anniversary. Beyond cryptic tweets, Moore and Kutcher didn't comment on Leal's story. But three months later, their relationship was over.
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Hugh Grant and The News of the World
It was one of the year's biggest scandals: The News of the World was shut down by owner Rupert Murdoch amid allegations of illegal phone hacking. In a nice bit of payback, one of the people who helped bring the publication to justice was one of its most prominent victims: actor Hugh Grant.
Having heard about the phone hacking from a former editor, Grant wore a wire, met the man for a drink and recorded his incriminating boasts (which included the revelation that the paper had been tapping the phones of ordinary people as well as celebs).
Grant recently testified against the tabloid in court, and has become an unofficial spokesperson for its victims. 'Most shocking is that this has been allowed to go on so long with no one putting their hand up and saying, 'Stop,' he told the court in November.
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Hacker leaks nude pics of Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson has always tried to keep her private life private. So it was big news when a hacker found his way into her cell phone, obtaining nude photos of her. After Johansson's photos leaked onto the Internet, she went onto CNN to declare that 'just because you're an actor or make films... doesn't mean you're not entitled to your own personal privacy.'
Two weeks later, the FBI arrested an unemployed Florida man named Christopher Chaney, who is accused of hacking the mobile devices and email accounts of Johansson, Mila Kunis and other celebs like Christina Aguilera. 'It started as curiosity and turned into just being addicted,' Chaney said in his apology.
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Justin Bieber faces a paternity suit
'Baby, baby, baby no!' That's the tune that Beliebers were singing after 20-year-old Mariah Yeater filed a paternity lawsuit against Justin Bieber. Yeater, the mother of a now-five-month-old son, claimed that the pop star had got her pregnant after a backstage tryst.
Bieber, for his part, swore that he'd never even met Yeater. Though the 17-year-old singer went through with a paternity test, Yeater's case seemed to quickly fall apart; apparently, she'd told two other men that they were the baby's father.
The young mother dropped her lawsuit, but the shoe is now on the other foot: Bieber's lawyers have declared their intention to sue Yeater for her malicious claim, if and when the DNA test comes back negative.
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Nicolas Cage arrested in New Orleans
Nicolas Cage appeared to be channeling one of his own crazy movie characters this spring, when he was arrested in New Orleans on charges of public drunkenness, domestic abuse battery and disturbing the peace.
According to the police report, Cage grabbed his wife Alice Kim's arm during a fight over whether they were standing in front of the house they were renting. The angry actor then allegedly ran into the street, hitting cars and shouting, before police arrested him.
Cage was bailed out by Duane 'Dog the Bounty Hunter' Chapman, who refused to comment on the night's events. Although this was not Cage's first run-in with the New Orleans police, the District Attorney later agreed to drop all charges.
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John Galliano's anti-semitism caught on video
John Galliano was once known mainly for his gorgeous couture gowns, including the wedding dresses of stars like Gwen Stefani and Renee Zellweger. That changed in February, when the fashion designer was arrested for hurling racist insults at his fellow patrons in a Paris bar. (In France, hate speech is a prosecutable crime.)
A videotape soon emerged, which clearly showed Galliano attacking diners with anti-Semitic remarks and even declaring his love for Hitler. The designer was fired from his job at Christian Dior and condemned by celebs like Natalie Portman. Galliano went into rehab, blaming the incident on drugs and alcohol. In June, he was found guilty of 'public insults' but received a suspended fine in lieu of jail time.
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Chris Brown throws a serious tantrum
Chris Brown apparently doesn't understand the meaning of 'damage control.' The R&B singer lost countless fans (with good reason) after he beat up then-girlfriend Rihanna before the 2009 Grammys.
But Brown isn't doing himself any favours by going berserk whenever anyone brings up the incident. After a March interview on Good Morning America, Brown stormed into his dressing room, screaming, and smashing a chair through a window. 'I'm so over people bring this past s*** up!!! Yet we praise Charlie Sheen and other celebs for (their) bulls***,' he tweeted the next morning.
Two days later, the singer returned to GMA to apologise (sort of) for his violent outburst. 'I just let off steam in the back. I didn't physically hurt anyone. I didn't try to hurt anyone,' Brown said in his own defense.
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Celebrity super injunctions
One Super injunction in particular involving Imogen Thomas caught the public interest after her affair with a certain footballer was outed despite the gagging order. It was a big story not only in the press but within parliament, and it put into question whether it is right for people to be able to pay for their skeleton's in the cupboard.
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Doug Hutchison, 51, marries Courtney Stodden, 16
Before this June, you might have recognised Doug Hutchison, but we bet you didn't know his name. That changed when the former Lost actor married Courtney Stodden, a 16-year-old beauty pageant queen who met him when she was seeking acting lessons.
The couple played their controversial marriage for all the publicity it could get, doing a press tour to promote Stodden's 'singing career' and their undying (if really icky) love for one another. 'I always joke with Courtney that one of the reasons we worked is 'cause she's 16 going on 36, and I'm 51 going on 21,' Hutchison told Nightline.
The most shocking thing about Doug and Courtney's story? Six months later, they've yet to land their own reality show.
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Tracy morgan gets in trouble for homophobic routine
Tracy Morgan is hilarious on 30 Rock. Too bad he didn't have Tina Fey writing for him in June, when he unleashed a homophobic comedy routine that stunned his Nashville audience. A gay man in attendance posted portions of Morgan's rant (which included a line about stabbing his own son if he was gay) on Facebook, and the backlash began.
Morgan spent the following weeks apologising for his remarks, even returning to Nashville to make amends and meeting with gay teens to hear their stories. 'I totally feel that, in my heart, I really don’t care who you love, same-sex or not, as long as you have the ability to love,' Morgan told the press.
His costars stood behind his apology, including Fey, who said, 'the Tracy Morgan I know... is not a hateful man and is generally much too sleepy and self-centered to ever hurt another person.'
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Roger Ebert slams Ryan Dunn for drunk driving
The death of Jackass star Ryan Dunn in a car crash this June was a tragedy. However, Dunn, 34, could still be alive today if he hadn't been driving recklessly after drinking. That's what Roger Ebert was trying to say when he tweeted, just hours after the news broke, 'Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive.'
His comment was too callous for Dunn's fans and friends, who ripped into the respected film critic. 'I just lost my best friend, I have been crying hysterical for a full day and piece of s*** roger ebert has the gall to put in his 2 cents,' Dunn's costar Bam Margera tweeted.
Ebert, 69, apologised for the hurt feelings, but stuck to his guns. 'Nobody has any business driving on a public highway at 110 mph,' Ebert later blogged. 'That is true in any event. It is especially true if the driver has had three shots and three beers. Two people were killed. What if the car had crashed into another car?' A subsequent investigation confirmed that Dunn was both drunk and driving over 100 mph.
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Cheryl gets dumped
Cole's career looked like it was going global when she was asked by the music mogul Simon Cowell to be a judge on the new US version of the X Factor. But it all fell apart before it had even properly begun. Cheryl was unceremoniously dumped by the X Factor after the early auditions and flew back home.
It was much to the dismay of Cheryl's fans and even critics in America, The New York Times said: 'She just kind of disappears mid-show without much explanation and suddenly Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls is in her chair. It's a downgrade.' Never mind though, Cheryl is back in our hearts and minds with the release of her new shoe range, you just can't keep a good girl down.
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Andy Grey also gets dumped
Andy Grey first came to our attention after making sexist comments about female referee Sian Massey's ability to master the off side rule because of her sex. But as if he hadn't had enough bad media attention he ended his career as a Sky Sports football presenter when some footage appeared of Andy asking Charlotte Jackson, his co-presenter, to tuck in his shirt. He was later seen giggling to himself as he asked her to help him attach his microphone. Sky Sports though it best to quickly terminate Grey's contract. And not minute too soon.
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Brad disses Jen - sort of
It's been seven years since Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston split amid allegations that his feelings for Angelina Jolie were to blame. But the public is still clamoring for details from the tight-lipped alleged love triangle.
So when Pitt told Parade that his life in the '90s was 'pathetic' and 'uninteresting,' and that he was 'trying to pretend the marriage was something it wasn't,' it re-ignited the fervor of Team Jen.
Pitt immediately backtracked, issuing a statement that called Aniston 'an incredibly giving, loving, and hilarious woman who remains my friend.' The whole thing took us back to 2005, when Aniston told Vanity Fair that her ex had 'a sensitivity chip missing.'
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Gerard Depardieu pees on a plane
True, there's nothing scandalous about a movie star peeing on a plane… as long as they do it in the loo! In August, the Associated Press reported that French actor Gerard Depardieu, stuck on a delayed flight and too impatient to wait for the toilet, unzipped his trousers in front of the entire cabin and urinated on the carpet. One witness said Depardieu, 62, was obviously drunk, though his travelling companion blamed the incident on a prostate problem.
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Jesse James Cheats on Kat Von D 19 times
You can't ask a leopard to change his spots - or Jesse James to be faithful. Mere months after a cheating scandal ended his marriage to Sandra Bullock in 2010, the former Monster Garage host began a relationship with L.A. Ink star Kat Von D. The couple became engaged this past January, and Von D expressed her devotion by tattooing James' fifth-grade portrait under her arm.
But things got rocky this summer, and after they split for good in September, the truth came out. 'Today I encountered the 19th girl to add to the list of people Jesse cheated on me with during this last year,' Von D wrote on Facebook. 'I know I deserve a big fat 'I told you so' from everyone, and wish I didn't have to say, 'You all were more right than you'll ever know,' but you were.'
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Christina Aguilera arrested for public drunkenness
In the months following her divorce, Christina Aguilera didn't seem to be doing so well. She took a tumble onstage at the Grammys, flubbed the National Anthem at the Super Bowl in America and, worst of all, was arrested for public intoxication alongside her boyfriend Matt Rutler.
Police who pulled her over reported that Aguilera, 30, was 'driving erratically' and 'unable to take care of herself.' The singer, however, says that she was framed, as proven by the fact her case was dropped. 'I don't mean to martyr myself, but I think I was a victim of celebrity,' she told W magazine. 'I don't drive, I wasn't driving and I committed no crimes, but they put me in jail... I think they were bored that night.'
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Amy Winehouse dies
Around the world people were shocked and saddened on hearing about the death of Amy Winehouse. After years of Amy's dwindling physical and mental health Amy died on July 23rd 2011, at the young age of 27, just as many thought she was on the road to recovery.
The singer will be remembered by her fans for her music and also for her turbulent lifestyle. There was much speculation about her death afterwards but a coroner's report concluded that it was 'misadventure' after finding that Amy was more than five times the legal drink driving limit, the unintended consequences of these fatal levels resulted in the singer's death.
Winehouse's record label, Universal Republic, released a statement that read, 'We are deeply saddened at the sudden loss of such a gifted musician, artist and performer.'
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Next Up: Pregnant celebs
Blimey! As if their schedules weren't hectic enough, these celebrities have found time to make babies.
