No one is immune from the law — not even America's dad or the former President of
the United States. These celebrity mugshots got people all around the world talking.
From Watergate to the Monica Lewinsky affair, there have been no shortage of scandals involving
Presidents in American history. Only one controversy, however, has resulted in the
arrest of a one-time commander-in-chief. Former President Donald Trump was booked at the Fulton
County Jail in Georgia after he was indicted for charges related to the 2020 election.
Trump's arrest took relatively little time: he was apparently in and out in under a
half-hour. In addition to getting a booking photo, he also had his fingerprints taken,
and he even had a crowd of supporters waiting at the jail for him.
Even though Trump's time at the jail was fleeting, his mugshot is forever. The picture
was displayed on virtually every major paper, news program, and late night comedy show. Trump
even posted the picture to X — the website formerly known as Twitter, once his social
media platform of choice. It was the first time he had used the site in over two years.
With his arrest, Trump joined a pretty horrendous list of former world leaders that were booked and
charged criminally after their terms ended, including infamous dictators Manuel Noriega
and Augusto Pinochet. Prosecutors charged Trump with 13 felonies, and he was one of
just 19 co-conspirators accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia.
"You should be able to challenge an election, I thought the election was a rigged election,
a stolen election, and I should have every right to do that."
A week later, Trump officially pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Widely known as the "Godfather of Soul," James Brown had a night he probably came to regret on
January 28, 2004. That evening, he found himself under arrest after an incident between him and
his wife, Tomi Rae Brown. James and Tomi Rae married in 2001 and reportedly separated in the
summer of 2003, but it seems that they were still living together. Their son,
James Joseph Brown II, was two and a half years old at the time.
The charges facing James were for domestic violence against Tomi Rae, as it was alleged
that he pushed her to the ground. James was 70 years old when the arrest occurred,
while Tomi Rae was less than half his age at 34. James' 2004 charges were not his first relating
to domestic violence, as he was previously arrested in 1988 after allegedly hitting his
former wife Adrienne Brown. However, she ended up recanting her accusations some time later.
While certainly not as troubling as the charges, James' appearance in his 2004 mugshot was quickly
mocked and ridiculed by the media. James later pleaded guilty, forfeiting over $1,000 in bond
but staying out of jail. Still, he claimed that he had not tried to hurt his wife.
When police took professional golfer Tiger Woods into custody for DUI back on May 29,
2017, it took barely a few hours before his mugshot was already headline news on major
websites. Woods was arrested at 3 AM that morning — and by 10 AM, news outlets were reporting the
details. Reports indicated that Woods was driving in Florida when he was stopped by the cops,
and he immediately blamed his predicament on the prescription medications he had been on.
"Do you know where you're at right now?"
"Uh, I really don't know."
Woods was cooperative with the police, and he immediately expressed remorse over the incident.
While Woods' reputation had by then already been diminished due to the
scandal over his extramarital affairs a few years earlier,
the mugshot and arrest were still shocking for the public. When the toxicology report came out,
it revealed that Woods was under the influence of Xanax, Zolpidem, Ambien, and marijuana.
Woods pleaded guilty to DUI a few months later in August. He managed to avoid jail time,
but he was still sentenced to community service and made to pay a $250 fine — pocket change for
the richest golfer in the world. Still, that didn't stop his mugshot from being widely
circulated to the masses, forever etching it in the minds of sports fans everywhere.
Vince Vaughn made a name for himself as the star of the comedy movie "Swingers," but no one was
laughing after he was arrested on the morning of April 12, 2001. Prior to his arrest, Vaughn
was shooting a movie with Steve Buscemi, and the pair decided to go out to a local bar in downtown
Wilmington, North Carolina with screenwriter Scott Rosenberg. At some point, Rosenberg and Vaughn got
into a violent altercation and were arrested — and Buscemi became the victim of multiple stab wounds.
The stabber, Timothy Fogerty, was placed under arrest and faced a charge of assault
with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He was later sentenced to two years in prison,
although most of it was suspended. According to reports, Fogerty was
threatening Buscemi with the knife before stabbing him. This led to Vaughn getting
into a physical altercation with one of Fogerty's friends, resulting in Vaughn's
arrest for misdemeanor assault. He was also apparently maced by police during the fight.
The news of Vaughn's arrest quickly made the news, and production of the movie — which was
ironically called "Domestic Disturbance" — was interrupted when Buscemi had to leave the state
to get plastic surgery. About two months later, Vaughn appeared in court on the assault charges.
He entered into an Alford plea — meaning he did not admit guilt — and he was banned from
going to any more downtown Wilmington bars for an unspecified length of time.
On January 23, 2014, Justin Bieber made headlines for his actions in Miami Beach,
but they had little to do with his music career. Just 19 years old at the time,
Bieber found himself under arrest for multiple charges, including DUI and resisting arrest.
According to police, Bieber and another accomplice were racing their luxury cars when
a police officer spotted them and pulled them over. Bieber was not exactly cooperative with
police when they started questioning him, using profanities and becoming somewhat belligerent.
"The officer at that time did place Mr. Bieber under
arrest for resisting without— without violence."
Bieber failed a roadside sobriety test before being taken into custody along with the other
driver, Khalil Sharieff. Bieber was allegedly going nearly double the 30 mile per hour speed
limit when he was pulled over, and was released on bond later that day after seeing a judge. At the
time, Bieber seemed relatively unbothered by the fact that he was in custody, as evidenced by his
carefree expression in his mugshot. He turned out to be under the influence of marijuana,
Xanax, and alcohol at the time, none of which were legal due to his young age.
Prosecutors later reduced the charges against Bieber after he pleaded guilty,
but the arrest and mugshot still haunted him for years. In 2021,
on the seven-year anniversary of the incident, Bieber posted to his personal Instagram account,
reflecting on how far he had come since that night and expressing remorse over his behavior.
As a beloved children's star, Paul Reubens' 1991 arrest on exposure charges was one of
the most shocking in Hollywood history. For years, Reubens had made a name for himself
as the zany host of the kid's show "Pee-wee's Playhouse" — but just as the show was ending,
Reubens' infamous arrest put a pretty big damper on his career.
The police claimed that Reubens was engaged in a sexual act while visiting an adult movie
theater in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida. He was charged with indecent exposure. Although
he denied the allegations, Reubens was booked and photographed — and his mugshot was quick
to make the news. There was some commotion over Reubens' appearance: with long hair,
a goatee, and thick glasses, he looked like a completely different person compared to the
straight-laced and makeup-covered Herman that fans were used to seeing on TV.
Reubens wasn't the only person that police arrested that day at the theater,
but he was the only one with fame. A few months later,
he pleaded no contest and received a small fine. Reubens always maintained his innocence,
but his career never fully recovered. Tragically, Reubens died in July 2023 at the age of 70.
Looking at Robert Downey Jr.'s incredible success today, it's easy to forget that he was once most
famous for being incredibly troubled. The actor dealt with drug problems during a difficult period
in his life, and one of his lowest points was his time as an inmate in a California state prison.
The saga began in 1996, when police arrested Downey for having narcotics and
an unloaded handgun in his car. Already in a bad predicament, the actor continued to abuse drugs,
and he found himself arrested once again a few weeks later. He also repeatedly failed to comply
with the terms of his probation, which is what landed him a three-year prison sentence in 1999.
While Downey is shown smiling in his mugshot for prison, it was a pretty stark contrast
from his behavior in court, where he pleaded with the judge not to sentence him to the big
house. In the end, Downey only served 15 months — and after a few more years,
he was able to resurrect his acting career and become bigger than ever before. While
some people credit prison with helping them turn their lives around, Downey referred to his time
there as the worst period of his life during an appearance on the "Armchair Expert" podcast.
On Christmas Eve 2015, Downey was lucky enough to receive a pardon for his arrest and prison
sentence from then-Governor of California Jerry Brown. He's certainly turned his life around,
but the mugshot still pops up from time to time — a sad reminder of his past.
While not a celebrity in the traditional sense, John Gotti was one of the most
infamous mobsters and criminals in New York history. With nicknames like the
"Dapper Don" and the "Teflon Don," Gotti was known for his ability to evade justice,
despite his many arrests. There were even exposés written on him in newspapers that
highlighted his so-called celebrity status and apparent popularity among the public.
All of that changed on December 11, 1990, when federal agents arrested Gotti while
he was eating at a restaurant in Little Italy. The next day,
Gotti's name and picture were all over the front page of The New York Times
once again. His official mugshot showed him smiling, looking supremely confident
that he would once again beat the charges levied against him. That would never happen.
"The Teflon is gone. The Don is covered with Velcro, and every charge in the indictment stuck."
December 11th ended up being the last time that Gotti was ever arrested. He
was convicted less than two years later on charges including murder and racketeering,
and he ended up being sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
It was a life sentence indeed, as Gotti died in 2002 of cancer while still incarcerated.
Mel Gibson probably hopes that his legacy will be that of a beloved movie star and talented
director, but most people will probably end up remembering him for his actions on July 28,
2006. On that day, Gibson found himself stopped by police under suspicion of DUI.
Upon realizing that he was about to be booked for drinking and driving,
Gibson started to act unruly and belligerent. He directed copious amounts of profanity toward
the arresting officer, making bizarre anti-Semitic remarks in the process.
Not only did the news about Gibson's arrest and mugshot quickly make the headlines,
but his outrageous comments were media fodder. Various outlets accused him of
being racist and anti-Semitic, and the seemingly nonchalant expression
in his mugshot drew further anger. He later apologized for the incident and his comments,
but they were met with a tepid reaction among most of his fellow Hollywood stars. Gibson pleaded no
contest and was fined when he returned to court, but he avoided serving jail time.
In an interview with Variety in 2016, Gibson called his vilification in the press unfair
and blamed the police officer for allegedly illegally recording him. He also denied that
he was anti-Semitic and claimed that he had moved on from the incident — even if the press hadn't.
In the '80s and '90s, most people never could have imagined that one of America's
favorite TV dads was actually a monster — but Bill Cosby shocked the nation when
his crimes made headline news. In 2014, multiple women came forward to reveal that
the star of "The Cosby Show" had sexually assaulted them, forever casting a shadow
over the once-beloved sitcom. Allegations surrounding Cosby first surfaced in 2005,
but it wasn't until nearly a decade later that most people came to know him as a predator.
When the news went viral, Cosby's reputation was immediately shattered. To anyone who
was still in denial about the comedian's crimes, his now-infamous mugshot cemented
the reality that '80s nostalgia would never be the same. Cosby was convicted in 2018,
and he was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison.
"I dreamt of this day for thirty-two years."
However, in 2021, the verdict was thrown out upon appeal due to a previous agreement
Cosby had made with a prior prosecutor. As a result, Cosby remains free as of 2023. In all,
more than five dozen women have made allegations against him.
Widely known today as one of the greatest rappers of all time,
Snoop Dogg's career almost never got off the ground — and he has his 1993 mugshot to prove
it. On August 25 of that year, a young Ethiopian immigrant named Philip Woldemariam was shot to
death in Los Angeles. While Snoop, who was still going by Snoop Doggy Dogg at the time,
was not alleged to have killed Woldemariam himself, he was driving the car that the shots
were fired from. This caused the police to file murder charges against Snoop,
in addition to the shooter and one other person. The rapper turned himself in a few days later.
At the time, Snoop was just barely beginning his rap career: he released his debut album
"Doggystyle" later that year after his arrest. One of the tracks was appropriately titled
"Murder Was the Case," which told the story of a young man in prison facing murder charges.
Snoop later claimed that he wrote that song before the real-life death had taken place.
The Woldemariam case would not be resolved for another two and a half years after Snoop's arrest,
when he was acquitted on both murder and accessory to murder charges. A mistrial
was also declared when the jury could not agree on a manslaughter charge.
Snoop would later pay Woldemariam's family an out-of-court settlement after they filed
a lawsuit against him, but he was never convicted of any criminal wrongdoing.
In the summer of 2012, legendary country music singer Randy Travis found himself in serious
trouble with the law. Earlier in the year, Travis had run into legal problems when he was arrested
for public intoxication in Sanger, Texas, and he was still serving his 90-day deferred sentence
when he was again put behind bars on August 7, 2012. Not only was Travis under the influence
of alcohol when officers found him, but he did not take well to being put into custody.
Officers were called to investigate someone lying in a roadway when they found Travis, who had just
crashed his car. For some inexplicable reason, Travis was completely naked when police arrived
at the scene — and by the time his mugshot was taken, he was also suffering from several cuts
and a black eye. In addition to being charged with driving while intoxicated, he was also charged
with felony retaliation against the arresting officers after he made threatening remarks.
"At some point after they made contact with him, he threatened to kill two of the troopers."
The entire arrest was captured on a police dash cam, which was later released in 2017.
Travis unsuccessfully tried to keep it from becoming public — and understandably so,
as it showed him praying for the arresting officers to get cancer. Travis pleaded guilty
to DWI, receiving a suspended jail sentence and two years of probation.
How do you go from smuggling drugs to hosting "Tool Time"? Just ask Tim Allen. Years before
"Home Improvement," Allen found himself facing life in prison for trying to smuggle half a
kilogram of cocaine in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Rather than spend the rest of his days behind bars,
Allen flipped on his distributors and got a reduced sentence. He was freed in June 1981.
Looking relatively young in his booking photo,
drug smuggler Allen is a far cry from the version of the man who would later
become the star of a long-running sitcom and a trilogy of family friendly holiday flicks.
Allen began his acting career years after his release in 1988 and never looked back.
In 2021, Allen talked about the incident on "WTF with Marc Maron." He revealed that the
passing of his father played a role in his succumbing to a criminal lifestyle,
but also noted that he was 23 years sober from drugs and alcohol at the time. Thankfully,
Allen has put his smuggling days behind him — even though his mugshot still occasionally crops up.