Top 20 Stars Who Destroyed Their Careers on Live TV

[Music] welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 stars who destroyed their careers on live tv the first runner up is colombia it is my mistake still a great night please don't hold it against the ladies for this list we'll be looking at the most memorable public figures who ruined their careers with a controversial remark or appearance on live television we'll also be including stars who made a comeback following their disastrous showing do you remember watching any of these live let us know in the comments number 20 iggy azalea now we're not saying that this event was the sole reason for iggy azalea's downfall but it certainly didn't help azalea was all the rage in 2014 and people everywhere were singing along to hits like fancy and problem to celebrate her newfound success dancing with the stars invited her to perform fancy on the live finale i'm so sorry but there's something wrong with my ears unfortunately the potential disasters of live tv struck and azalea bungled the start of the performance according to her there was an issue with the playback in her earpiece unfortunately this incident tarnished an otherwise great year furthermore unrelated problems with her record label caused azalea's career to slow she's currently on an extended hiatus i'm no expert but i was looking very closely there's nothing wrong with her ear oh no number 19. jamie kennedy nothing screams the 90s quite like jamie kennedy he enjoyed success throughout the late 90s and early 2000s notably starring in three scream films romeo and juliet and the jamie kennedy experiment and then came first night 2013 with jamie kennedy where's our where's our stage manager now the comedian's career was mostly over by then anyway but this was the final nail in the coffin it was easily one of the worst new year's eve specials of all time are we back are we back the broadcast was an epic disaster plagued with embarrassing technical issues a bizarrely confrontational kennedy and an on-stage brawl god bless you and we'll see you in 2024 good night bye there's a fight it's ending with a fight there was even a mistimed countdown that brought in the new year too late they couldn't even get that right what's your resolution for 2013 um to um just get rid of all my haters number 18. steven seagal saturday night live has a real propensity for ending careers he kept saying i've never seen your show i don't know what you do here like really you've never seen saturday night live steven seagal was an up-and-coming action star in the early 90s having starred in a string of hit movies to capitalize on his newfound success he hosted saturday night live on the night of april 20th 1991. it's great to be here in new york and it's great to be opening up saturday night live most of you probably know me from my action-adventure films unfortunately his appearance was anything but good before you make this vast decision you know perhaps you should see what you're up against yeah yeah take a gander stephen according to certain snl employees including david spade seagal was uncooperative and you know they want to fight him hey we'll take you on he goes if i do it i have to beat them up some have even regarded him as the show's worst host of all time he enters the banquet room and starts beating it's live and he's beating them up and throwing them around the room and it goes on for like eight minutes a few more hits followed seagal's snl appearance but he was soon relegated to cheap direct-to-video action films that no one watched maybe nobody wanted to work with him after this then at the very end he turns the camera and says this is what happens when you pollute the planets and the audience is mystified number 17. aj clemente maybe he wasn't a huge star at the time but news anchor aj clemente has since become an internet sensation were you aware that you were on the air i i had no clue maybe you don't know his name but you certainly know this clip clemente was a new co-anchor at kfyrtv a news channel based out of north dakota [ __ ] good evening i'm van tu you may have seen our newest aj on in c north dakota news during his debut broadcast on april 21st 2013 he let a string of nasty swear words fly just as the opening titles were coming to an end so his career as an anchor was effectively over before it even began thanks man i'm very excited i graduated from west virginia university and i'm used to you know from being from the east coast clemente was promptly suspended and let go the next day the incident made him a national celebrity and he even appeared on late show with david letterman after the host mocked him in a top 10 list i'm trying to get you the job back in bismarck forget about espn that ain't gonna happen number 16. janet jackson this is arguably the biggest career-ending controversy in live tv history you all know the story jackson and justin timberlake were performing at super bowl 38 when justin ripped away her costume and revealed her breasts this was certainly not jackson's fault but everyone acted like it was there could have been ways that i could have gone about it and handled it better hollywood all but disowned her and pretended that she never existed and her subsequent album and singles were blacklisted from radio even mega conglomerates got in on the boycott with an executive at viacom stating that the higher ups are still pissed at her the fcc received more than 500 000 complaints about that broadcast cbs was fined 550 000 and then the nfl was asked to refund the 10 million dollars that they had been given to the halftime show sponsor luckily the heat has since died down and jackson was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2019. i'm here tonight to induct the legendary queen of black girl magic into the rock and roll hall of fame number 15. jenny slate this comedian first came to national attention while starring as a cast member on saturday night live slate made her debut in the 35th season which began in september of 2009 welcome to biker chick chat i'm dawn i do me unfortunately she committed the cardinal sin of live tv and accidentally dropped the f-bomb during her very first episode you stood up for yourself and i love you for that you're in my heart babe you're in my heart this is a major no-no on saturday night live and though it reportedly wasn't the main reason for her firing she didn't return the following season it looked like slate had blown her major chance at becoming a comedy star luckily she proceeded to land major roles on bob's burgers and parks and recreation both of which have allowed her to become a household name on the day that i got fired i ordered like four pizzas and like ripped into a bong and was just like well i don't know man number 14. john travolta suddenly a page an assistant to you grabbed me out of the scene said you're on in a minute and 15 seconds or something he said really i said what happened to 15 minutes when the 86th academy awards rolled around we were all excited to hear adina menzel sing let it go after all the frozen song had a grip on pretty much everyone but the performance ended up being memorable for something that happened before she even opened her mouth they said oh by the way we've changed the uh adina's name to phonetic spelling but what what do you mean go john travolta was in charge of her introduction but the name that came out of his mouth was one nobody had ever heard before please welcome the wickedly talented one and only adele dazzin the mispronunciation was humiliating to say the least and travolta was relentlessly mocked online he subsequently apologized and it's been said that menzel harbors no ill will toward him for the incident we could be talented adina menzel is that right travolta's career recovered but he certainly heard about adele dezeme for quite some time it's not like it's going to follow me around for the rest of my life right yeah tell me about it number 13. steve harvey for a while there steve harvey was the biggest laughingstock in america it was the most gut-wrenching walk i've ever had in my life but you know how social media is we all chuckled for a while and then promptly moved on so did harvey these women have been working for this moment their entire lives and now it's time to find out our winner one of the busiest tv hosts of our time he was hired to m.c miss universe 2015 in las vegas in a moment that lives in infamy harvey accidentally crowned miss colombia the winner columbia in reality she was the first runner-up a mistake that he corrected after awkwardly sauntering back on stage amid the celebrations i have to apologize to his credit harvey owned the mistake with class i would take responsibility for this it was my mistake regardless the incident was relentlessly mocked on social media and the host's reputation was briefly sullied and the guy said we'll straighten it out in the media tomorrow and i said nah man i'm gonna go do it now luckily he weathered the storm and continues to enjoy a successful career number 12. robin thicke this musical artist had been in the industry for years but he didn't become a household name until blurred lines in 2013 [Music] somewhat paradoxically the song that made fix career was also the one that ended it the track received a good amount of criticism for its questionable lyrics and racy music video but things really flew off the rails when he performed it with miley cyrus at the mtv video music awards this performance is legendary just not in a good way it immediately became an internet sensation and was widely criticized for being way too crass and raunchy for a while it effectively killed fick's career however he has since enjoyed a resurgence by appearing as a judge on the masked singer number 11. fergie by 2018 fergie was already on her way out of the mainstream limelight the black eyed peas were in the midst of an extended hiatus and fergie hasn't had a top 20 single as a solo artist since 2007. [Music] make them boys go crazy they always claim they know me coming to me [Music] despite this she was chosen to sing the national anthem at the 2018 nba all-star game unfortunately her performance was a little shaky and inappropriately sensual and many people in attendance could barely contain their laughter by the dawn's early light what's so proud lay [Music] naturally it also made the rounds online and fergie became a viral national laughingstock [Music] we watched it served as the final nail in fergie's coffin and she hasn't been heard from since number 10 mariah carey it's hard to end a legend like mariah carey but her appearance on dick clark's new year's rock and eve in 2016 nearly did it this was a monumental disaster of a performance like iggy azalea carrie's earpiece began to malfunction causing her to go out of sync with the backing track so she not only could not hear herself she couldn't hear the music unlike azalea carrie didn't exactly handle it in a professional manner i'm trying to be a good sport she simply walked around the stage while passive-aggressively making excuses and complaining about the lack of a sound check to make matters even more hilarious the dancers soldered on and continued their choreographed routine while the singer pouted we're missing some of this the moment definitely tarnished her reputation that we're not sure that anything could ever break it for good you just don't get any better number 9. charles rocket charles rocket had a budding career on saturday night live in the early 80s hey how's it going oh it's just great let's see you're you're the one well kind of a cross between chevy chase and bill murray he was one of the major players in the 1980-81 season and he became popular for his impressions his recurring character phil lively and a regular segment called the rocket report good evening i'm charles rocket with weekend update unfortunately rocket dropped an f-bomb during the february 21st 1981 episode breaking strict broadcast standards oh man it's the first time i've been shot in my life i'd like to know this along with the season's negative reputation and critical reception resulted in rocket's termination and while he found some success playing comic foils in various 90s movies he never quite rose above his status as that guy what can we say hollywood takes swearing and nudity very seriously aren't you gonna invite me in number eight paula deen beloved southern chef paula deen found herself in hot water in 2013 when former employee lisa jackson sued her for racial and sexual discrimination paula's deposition is quite appalling to say the least underwrote she was asked have you ever used the n-word yourself yes of course it seems so matter-of-fact to her according to jackson dean was often derogatory towards african-americans and even wanted to host a plantation style wedding for her brother complete with black servants during the deposition paula admitted to using the n-word in the past further hurting her reputation well then when did you use it probably i'm telling my husband when you say oh yeah i said the n word in the privacy of my own home and retelling the story to my husband i'm sorry that's racist she then appeared on today to smooth things over but only made the situation worse by playing the victim if you're out there please pick up that stone and throw it so hard in my head that it kills me when the whole ordeal was said and done paula's best dishes had been canceled and dean had lost numerous lucrative partnerships as all the major corporations had severed their ties everyone should be treated equal and that's the way i was raised and that's the way i live my life one of the headlines i read paula said that there you know they said millions of dollars at stake for paula dean in today's show interview so are you here to express what you just said or are you here to stop the financial bleeding number 7. brian williams from 1993 to 1999 brian williams served as the weekend news anchor on nbc nightly news before being promoted to head anchor in 2004. the story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of iraq when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an rpg he held this position until 2015 when he was brought under fire for lying about an event that occurred to him during the iraq war two of our four helicopters were hit by ground fire including the one i was in rpg and ak-47 the question of course is what exactly happened in those ten years to make williams change his story according to williams a helicopter that he was riding in was taken down by an rpg numerous soldiers came forward and claimed that williams was never part of this group and was in fact 30 minutes behind they were left insulted by william's false story and he was suspended for six months i made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago i want to apologize i said i was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by rpg fire i was instead in a following aircraft we all landed after the ground fire incident and spent two harrowing nights in a sandstorm following this he was demoted to chief anchor at msnbc and his professional credibility was permanently stained i hope they know they have my greatest respect and also now my apology number six howard dean it's amazing how far politics has come since 2004 when a simple scream was all it took to ruin a career forever if howard dean were running for the 2016 elections and he would have done that exact same speech the exact same way under the exact same conditions i don't think anybody would have paid any attention to it after coming in third in the iowa democratic caucuses dean made an impassioned and unpresidential speech that ended with him pumping his fist and screaming yeah this speech effectively ended his presidential campaign and the speech and the scream were relentlessly mocked by the media and late night talk show host and then we're going to washington dc to take back the white house [Applause] it soon became known as the dean scream and some believe that the endless coverage was a product of media bias against the politician while dean later became the chair of the democratic national committee his dreams of becoming president were crushed forever on that fateful day and it's going to be one in colorado and in iowa and north carolina and michigan and florida and pennsylvania and then we're going to the white house number five sinead o'connor sinead o'connor's career was positively blowing up in the late 80s and early 90s in that time she released her double platinum album i do not want what i haven't got and her single nothing compares to you peaked at number one in 17 countries [Music] however that all came crumbling down on october 3rd 1992 when o'connor appeared on snl while performing she ripped a photo of pope john paul ii to protest mistreatment of children within the catholic church and soon she became a public enemy in the victory of god over evil fight the real enemy nothing compares to you would be her last number one and while she continues to release music she has not had a top five single in her native ireland since 1994 [Music] number four will smith no one really cared about the outcomes of the 94th academy awards all they cared about was that will smith casually strolled on stage and slapped chris rock directly in the face oh richard [Laughter] wow rock had made a joke at the expense of smith's wife jada pinkett smith smith initially laughed but proceeded to slap rock for the comment the audience seemingly believed that it was a scripted bit at first as they casually laughed at the attack it wasn't until smith yelled and cursed at rock that everyone realized he was dead serious the resulting silence was painful no matter what smith does from here on out he'll forever be known as the guy who slapped chris rock at the oscars number 3. kathy lee gifford this event didn't completely kill gifford's career as a television presenter as she continued hosting today until 2019. however it did seriously tarnish her reputation and caused her great public embarrassment in 2012 comedian martin short appeared on gifford's show to promote madagascar 3 during the interview gifford praised short's marriage to nancy doleman unaware that dolman had passed away from cancer about two years earlier how many years now for you guys we uh married 36 years but you're still like in love madly enough wow short didn't expose the mistake but it was obvious that the topic of conversation was causing him pain why cute i'm cute can you make each other laugh he informed gifford of dolmen's passing during the commercial break and later publicly forgave her it was a fantastic look for short and a not so fantastic one for gifford number 2. millie vanilli in 1989 r b duo millie vanilli released girl you know it's true an album that reached number one and was certified six times platinum they also received five straight top five singles in the united states three of which topped the chart however a huge hiccup occurred on july 21 1989 when a live performance for mtv suffered a technical malfunction the track began to skip revealing that singer rob pilatus was lip-syncing while this prompted doubts regarding the duo's authenticity [Music] it wasn't until their album was released in america that singer charles shaw revealed that his work was being credited to pilatus and fab morvin brad howell and sean dave are the real singers and i think they should get special great descriptions with this the duo admitted to being frauds and millie vanilli was no more we signed a recording contract which we thought was you know to be singing on the record yeah but he had a bad reputation for it he had a bad reputation you didn't know him no i was 18 years old coming from france i signed a recording contract that was in german before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you'll have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number 1. ashley simpson this was arguably the biggest gaffe in live television history and the blame pretty clearly fell on simpson while performing on snl in 2004 she accidentally revealed that she was lip-syncing when the vocals of pieces of me began to play in place of those from autobiography once again ashley simpson [Applause] [Music] [Music] not knowing what to do she awkwardly danced off stage and later blamed the band for playing the wrong song [Music] so not only was she lip-syncing on snl which in itself is a big no-no she proceeded to throw her band under the bus except no one bought this and simpson's career was left in tatters there is so many other things when it comes to doing your album there's writing there's recording there's marketing there's styling there's all these photo shoots it's such an exciting time in my life i can't wait to see what happens next and that dear viewers is why you never lip-sync do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos [Music]

Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 2,566,733

Keywords: Celebrity, Hollywood, aj clemente, ashlee simpson, brian williams, celebrities who destroyed their careers on live tv, charles rocket, fergie, howard dean, iggy azalea, jamie kennedy, janet jackson, jenny slate, john travolta, kathie lee gifford, list, mariah carey, milli vanilli, mojo, paula deen, robin thicke, sinead o'connor, steve harvey, steven seagal, top 10, watch mojo, watchmojo, will smith

Id: ZfkDNfGPunY

Length: 25min 13sec (1513 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 14 2022