When you’re a celebrity it seems that your whole life is lived in public. Cleaning your teeth? Paparazzi will be there. Walking your dog? Your poop-scooping abilities will be judged by fans all over the world. And so it makes sense that when celebrities have their inevitable nervous breakdown it would be viewed by the world at large. Which is why there are so many examples of celebrities having embarassing meltdowns in front of the cameras. Whether it’s committing political hari-kari or jumping on the sofa, you’ll find them all in our Top 10 Public Meltdowns.
10. Britney Spears
Britney melted down in such a dramatic fashion that it’s set a precedent for all those who have followed her (take note, Miley Cyrus). Looking to shake off her Disney-clean image, she first pushed the boundaries of just how raunchy a video could be and then she lost it completely. She shaved her head, on camera, and allegedly took an overdose of amphetamines. Apparently, the two were linked, as Spears was paranoid that traces of drugs would be found in her hair and her children would be taken away from her. Rehab swiftly followed, along with whirlwind romances and patchy chart success, but she has since calmed down, with a stint as a judge on the “X Factor” and a new album coming out soon.
9. Tom Cruise
Tom loved Katie Holmes. Really loved her. So much so that he felt the need to jump up and down on a sofa while declaring his love for her. The scene was Oprah’s show, the year was 2005 and Tom Cruise was a man so in love with his new, younger wife that he couldn’t sit still. Kneeling on the floor, yes. Jumping up and down on the sofa, yes. But sitting down and answering Oprah’s questions? No. At one point he ran off to get her, and can be seen pursuing her through the backstage area before getting her into a wrestling grip and hauling her onto the set. Rumors that he’s a bit controlling in his relationships are, apparently, unfounded.
Spin on to 2013 and the couple have split up and Cruise now regrets his behavior on Oprah. Rumors that the whole relationship was a sham to cover up his homosexuality are, like the last rumor discussed, apparently unfounded….
8. Todd Akin
With all the advisers and spin doctors that politicians have access to, you’d think they would choose their words carefully. But no. From Bill Clinton’s blatant lies to George W.Bush’s frequent confusions, politicians seem to speak first and only think later once their words are plastered all over the newspapers. But no-one in recent memory has imploded quite like Todd Akin. In just one ridiculous speech, he managed to make enemies of the female half of the human race, as well as alienating anyone with half a brain.
His topic was the ever-controversial subject of abortion. His thesis was that women’s bodies “shut down” while being raped, so that getting pregnant from a “legitimate rape” is impossible. He was wrong in so many ways. He was roundly condemned by the President, members of his own party and, of course, the press. He resolved to stay in the Senate race, but lost in spectacular fashion. All because he “used the wrong words in the wrong way”. It’s hard to feel too sorry for him!
7. Mel Gibson
Now, where to start with Mel Gibson? In the past, he has insulted everyone he can think of, with sentiments ranging from misogynistic to anti-Semitic. But in 2010 the the brunt of his wrath was borne by his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva, when tapes were released of the Hollywood star screaming abuse at her, saying she looked like a “pig on heat” and warning her that she would get “raped by a pack of n***ers” if she went out in the outfit she had on. Unsurprisingly, she split up with him soon afterwards and a court case followed, with allegations of domestic violence. He appears unrepentant about the abuse – verbal or otherwise – and many people have continued to avoid his movies on the grounds that he just seems to be a fairly unpleasant person. Not even he could argue with that.
6. Mike Tyson
All’s fair in love and boxing, according to Mike Tyson. Or at least, that’s the impression he gave in 1997, when he fought Evander Holyfield. Holyfield seemed to have the upper hand throughout the fight, headbutting Tyson but not being reprimanded for it (the referee, Mills Lane, ruled that the headbutts were unintentional). So, Tyson took the initiative and bit a hole in Holyfield’s right ear. Astoundingly, that was not the end of the fight – Holyfield wanted to carry on, despite the bleeding, and so the referee ruled that Tyson would lose two points and the fight would continue. It was only after Tyson bit his opponent’s other ear that he was finally disqualified. A shocking fall from grace into a pit of bad manners for a former champion.
5. Lindsay Lohan
With some celebrities it’s hard to pinpoint just one meltdown and Lindsay Lohan is a sad example of that. Her frequent visits to rehab, her chaotic love life and her reliance on drugs have all become far more of the LiLo identity than the films that originally made her famous. If you had to pick two words to associate with her in 2013, it wouldn’t be “Mean Girls”. It would probably be “arrested again”. But back in 2006, she still had a fairly pure image and her career trajectory was on the up. Then came her hospitalization for “exhaustion”, which prompted studio executive James G.Robinson to blast her hard-partying habits in an open letter, claiming that her drinking was the real cause of her exhaustion. After that it all collapsed for Lohan, with arrests for drink-driving the following year (see above) and then many, many failed alcohol and drug tests, rehab stints and court appearances. A meltdown in spectacular style that has never really stopped.
4. David Hasselhoff
Around the same time that Lindsay was receiving her first court summons, a video emerged of another star who was in serious danger of total meltdown. David Hasselhoff’s career had been on the slide for a long time, since the peaks of “Knight Rider” and “Baywatch” in the 80s and early 90s. So, as many failing actors do, he turned to drink. The 2007 videotape was made by his 16-year-old daughter Taylor Ann and features a shirtless and very drunk Hasselhoff trying -and failing – to eat a cheeseburger. Apparently she made and released it deliberately to show him just how badly he behaved when drunk, and it did seem to work as a wake-up call. Subsequently, he had his own reality show, which chronicled his attempts to revive his career, but he has not yet regained the popularity of his golden years.
3. Christian Bale
Christian Bale is what you might call a “method actor”. That means he really gets into character. When he played Batman, he bulked up especially and when he starred in “American Psycho” it’s quite likely that he went on a murder spree or two, to really get inside Patrick Bateman’s head. So, he’s not an actor to mess with, as one hapless Director of Photography found out on the set of “Terminator:Salvation”. Wandering through the set to check the light, he found himself the subject of a massive rant by Bale, blaming him for ruining the scene and containing more expletives than you could possibly count. The most bizarre thing about the meltdown – which was captured on film and released to the general public – is that Welsh Bale delivers it all in an American accent. As I said, he really gets into character!
2. John McEnroe
In a time before the internet, it was easier for celebrity meltdowns to go unnoticed. What happened on a film set would stay on a film set, and when embarrassing pictures were taken, the lack of “instant upload” gave publicists some time to intervene and stop them escaping onto the open market. But SuperBrat John McEnroe managed to meltdown in an utterly public way during Wimbledon 1981 when an umpire’s decisions pushed him over the edge. “You cannot be serious!” he yelled at umpire Edward James “The ball was in…you’re the pits of the world”. A stand-out moment in the history of tennis and one of the most famous meltdowns of all time.
1. Charlie Sheen
But then there’s Charlie Sheen. Not so much a single meltdown as a lifetime spent in meltdown. With his hard-partying ways, his co-habiting “goddesses” and his bizarre rants about “tiger blood”, Charlie Sheen has taken to the public arena to exhibit his fragile mental state on more occasions than anyone can remember. Most detox-ing celebrities are banned from drinking – Charlie should be banned from webcams. One of his defining moments was an hour-long webcast where he and his goddesses rambled incoherently at the camera about anything and everything. When asked later whether he was bi-polar, he said “I’m not bi-polar, I’m bi-winning“. And that just about sums Charlie Sheen up…
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