Some of the brightest stars have committed the darkest crimes.
Other A-listers, however, have suffered a slap on the wrist for far less shady shenanigans.
These are Hollywood's petty offenders who got a short-lived taste of the hard-knock life.
In 2007, Khloé Kardashian was busted for driving while intoxicated.
However, she failed to honor taking part in an alcohol education course as part of her
punishment, per E! News.
As a result, the Good American co-founder received a 30-day sentence.
On mother Kris Jenner's part, the moment was a reminder of the O.J.
Simpson trial, during which her first husband, the late Robert Kardashian, was a defense attorney.
During a "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" confessional, she admitted that the aforementioned
trial was …
"One of the hardest things that I'll ever go through in my whole life."
Khloé ended up serving only three hours of a 30-day sentence.
According to TMZ, her short stint wasn't without its fair share of woes.
An unnamed source told the publication that Khloé allegedly experienced solitary confinement,
a prison lockdown, no clothing change, and cold conditions.
Afterwards, on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," she said:
"You don't wanna go there.
It's not fun.
Being in there for 30 days, I would have died."
When former "The View" host Sherri Shepherd was getting her career started in the '90s,
she accumulated $10,000 in traffic violations, which led to her being thrown in jail, per
Page Six.
On her show, "Sherri," Shepherd explained:
"The reason why it was $10,000, I feel very embarrassed, I was in this religion where
they taught me that the world was gonna end, so I never paid my bills."
When she was finally released after eight days, the short-run during Martin Luther King
Jr. weekend was enough for her to get back in focus, but it makes for a grim memory every
time the holiday comes around.
And while the star acknowledged that being in jail was by no means a good moment for
her, she's still able to find some positives from the experience.
In a conversation with Page Six, Shepherd said:
"Jail, that was a classroom ... it was a life lesson, and now I pay my bills on time."
Shepherd also made a lifelong friend in jail named Shelby who would often hype her cellmate
up to others, suggesting she'd become hugely successful outside of prison.
The pair kept in touch long after her release, and Shelby made it to the guest list during
Shepherd's 2001 and 2011 weddings.
As far as leaving jail early is concerned, "Fast X" star Michelle Rodriguez hit a lucky
streak during the early days of her career.
According to Entertainment Weekly, in 2004, she was handed three misdemeanor charges for
a hit and run, driving under the influence, and driving with a suspended license.
This resulted in, among other punishments, a 48-hour prison sentence.
A year later, she was booked for another DUI, this time in Hawaii while filming "Lost."
A police report from the incident accused Rodriguez of having behaved aggressively toward
the authorities, according to People.
Although she was handed a 60-day sentence for breaking the terms of her probation, she
ended up in custody for less than 24 hours instead.
Thankfully, the actor's hotheaded days seem to be a thing of the past.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2009, she suggested her newer look at life leaned toward maturity,
saying:
"I'm [so] glad to be over my 20s, man.
I used the excuse of adolescence to have enormous amounts of spontaneous fun.
I've avoided responsibility for the last 10 years, now it's time to get on it."
In 2007, Paris Hilton received a 45-day jail sentence for violating probation, after she
was caught driving after having had her license suspended just five weeks earlier, per Reuters.
However, as reported by The Guardian, the "The Simple Life" star was let go from jail
after three days and put under house arrest instead.
But soon after basking in the joy of being free again, the judge issued an order for
her to serve her full term.
The then-26-year-old was eventually released a few weeks later having served only 22 days,
according to Reuters.
During an interview with "Larry King Live," Hilton described what it was like to be detained.
"Just the whole idea of being in jail is really scary.
I hate to be alone, so that was really, you know, hard for me in the beginning."
The star added that she was haunted by constant nightmares of someone breaking into her cell
to hurt her.
Although she made a promise to reform, in 2010 Hilton pleaded guilty to drug possession
and obstructing an officer after a small bag of cocaine had fallen out of her purse, per
Los Angeles Daily News.
Long before Trevor Noah was a host of "The Daily Show," the comedian had a run-in with the law.
In his book, "Born a Crime," Noah recounted the details of an arrest that occurred when
he was in his teens.
He wrote:
"Abel [Noah's ex-stepdad] also had a stack of old number plates in the back of the garage.
I quickly learned I could just put one on an old car and hit the road."
In one instance, Noah's attempt at driving an unregistered vehicle caught up with him
and the adolescent was stopped by the cops.
He was tongue-tied upon interrogation and eventually wound up in a cell.
However, it wasn't the police that sent chills down his spine, his parents did.
Noah recalled:
"With my stepfather, I was thinking, 'He might actually kill me.'
In my mind that was an entirely realistic scenario.
With my mother I was thinking, 'She's going to make this worse.
She's not the character witness I want right now.
She won't help me.'"
Noah made a phone call to a cousin who came to his aid and would later realize that the
money to post bail had come from his mother.
Needless to say, there was a tongue-lashing.
However, the week-long jail experience was bittersweet — there was good food, books,
and magazines to be read, but it came at the expense of seeing sunlight and simple things
like having shoelaces.
"Well, well, well."
The late "Call Me Kat" star Leslie Jordan spent 27 days in LA Men's County Jail in 1997
after getting repeatedly booked for a series of DUIs.
The beloved comedian had been in for 12 days when he felt his brain and body starting to
hit their limit.
In his description of the incident on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," Jordan revealed that
he tried to talk a guard into giving him a little break.
While he innocently asked a guard if he could take a walk on account of a panic attack that
he was experiencing, his plea fell on deaf ears.
On the very last day of his sentence, Jordan had an encounter with "Iron Man" actor Robert Downey Jr.
Thanks to overcrowding, the pair were cellmates for a number of hours.
In an interview with The Guardian, he explained:
"They came to me and said, 'We don't have any room for him, he's downstairs waiting,
but we can't let you out until 2 am.'
It's a rule in California, that you can't let a drunk out until after the bars close."
In 2001, the two met each other again on the set of "Ally McBeal" and Downey Jr. couldn't
quite recognize his one-time cellmate.
Jordan explained:
"He said, 'Didn't we?
Are you?' and I said, 'Yep, 152, pod A, cell 13, you was top [bunk], I was bottom.'"
In 2007, Nicole Richie was given a four-day sentence for reckless driving while under
the influence of marijuana and pain medication.
According to The Guardian, the "Great News" actor was speeding on the wrong side of a
freeway when she was discovered by cops.
She was released from prison after 82 minutes.
During an appearance on "20/20" with her now-husband Joel Madden, a four-months-pregnant Nicole
was certain that the offense would never repeat itself since her daughter, Harlow, was on
the way.
She admitted:
"I never took it seriously before.
As horrible as that sounds, I'm in a completely different place right now.
I owe the baby my life and I have a responsibility now."
Her sentiments were echoed by her famous father, Lionel Richie, who was impressed that she
handled herself with grace in spite of the attention she received from the press.
Most importantly, she held herself accountable for her mistakes.
According to Us Weekly, Lionel said, in 2007:
"My father taught me to stand straight and take whatever punishment or hardships were
the result of my actions and I am proud that I was able to hand that philosophy down to
my daughter."
In 1970, Jane Fonda was starting a nationwide speaking tour about the Winter Soldier Investigation,
sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War.
"The military heads who are responsible for our policy in Southeast Asia are war criminals.”
The hearing's aim was to highlight alleged war crimes and other atrocities purportedly
committed by the United States Armed Forces and its allies in Vietnam, based on testimonies
from the veterans who committed said acts.
According to an essay written by Fonda that was posted on her official website, after
delivering her first speech in Canada, her luggage was seized upon re-entering the U.S.
There, a box of vitamins was mistaken for illegal drugs and investigated alongside a
book of contacts.
Fonda explained:
"I told them what they were but they said they were getting orders from ... the Nixon
White House.
I think they hoped this 'scandal' would cause the college speeches to be canceled and ruin
my respectability."
She was arrested and placed in jail for 20 hours in Cleveland.
The resulting mugshot, in which Fonda can be seen raising her fist, sparked a movement.
Subsequently, her nationwide college speeches recorded attendance in the thousands.
There have been more activism-related arrests since, but Fonda hasn't wavered in her quest
for awareness.
During a 2020 appearance on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," she copped to receiving privileged
treatment from the police, stating:
"I'm white, so I was given prefe— and famous …"
"You eat bologna sandwiches and then you get let out."
In 1999, Matthew McConaughey was arrested for enjoying a very loud and super naked bongo session.
Law enforcement officers made a surprise visit to McConaughey's high-end Texas residence
following a local call.
He explained in an interview with David Letterman:
"I think I left a couple of windows open in the backyard.
And I had a couple of new neighbors that I didn't get to know yet."
The actor was detained at the Travis County Jail on the grounds of cannabis possession,
ownership of drug-related equipment, and being resistant to arrest.
He was formally indicted for the third felony.
Speaking to David Letterman, he claimed the officers didn't knock on his door, but simply
barged straight in.
McConaughey got out after a $1,000 personal recognizance bond was set.
Jail apparently made for a decent temporary shelter.
According to Associated Press, the "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" actor joked about his
10-hour jail cell stint:
"I don't want to rent a place there, but it was a nice stay for a night.″
Although jail authorities hardly knew who they were dealing with at first, they soon
found out when McConaughey's wallet gave away his star status.
Paul McCartney likes to go with the narrative that he was framed for marijuana possession
in Tokyo back in the early '80s.
But, in his own words, quote, "I think I was just stupid.
And I paid the penalty."
According to the legendary musician's "Wingspan" documentary, it made no sense that he didn't
conceal the drug when he traveled to the East Asian country, even after being forewarned
that the punishment for being found with marijuana was seven years of hard labor.
"For some reason that I still can't explain, I took some in, and rather a large amount."
Memories of what led to his decision were still a blur, but the former Beatles band
member clearly gave airport authorities an easy time in spotting the illegal drug.
"And I can see the guy opening my suitcase, and right on the top, is this big bag of grass."
McCartney spent nine days in custody and was ultimately deported.
A planned concert was canceled, and his band, Wings, dissolved.
As he divulged in the documentary, his experience in jail was brutal.
Besides the consolation of a game he played with other detainees and a daily smoking break,
he could barely get any sleep, experienced nightmares, wasn't given a change of clothing,
and struggled with the language barrier.