It's no secret that some celebrities seek longevity through publicity stunts, crafting
memorable moments just to create a buzz.
Whether it's a "secret" make-out sesh on a beach or a button-pushing tweet, many stars
know how to work an audience in both obvious and subtle ways.
However, despite the well-worn saying, "There's no such thing as bad publicity," we think
some stars would beg to differ.
The following publicity stunts only ended up hurting these celebrities' careers.
Kathy Griffin
Brash comedian Kathy Griffin essentially became famous by poking fun at her own struggling
celebrity status.
But her signature say-anything brand got her in an intense amount of trouble when a political
stunt totally backfired.
In May 2017, a photograph of Griffin holding a bloodied model of President Donald Trump's
head circulated online, and the backlash was severe.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Griffin claims that she received tons of violent
threats and was investigated for possible conspiracy to assassinate.
Many venues where she was scheduled to perform were forced to cancel due to threats of violence,
and she even lost her long-running New Year's Eve gig with Anderson Cooper.
Griffin issued an apology…
"I beg for your forgiveness.
I went too far, I made a mistake.
I was wrong."
...but later took it back.
"I am no longer sorry, the whole outrage was B.S.
The whole thing got so blown out of proportion and I lost everybody."
Needless to say, Griffin will be on damage control for a long time to come.
Morton Downey Jr.
When viewership of The Morton Downey Jr.
Show declined in the late '80s, Downey Jr. apparently took matters into his own hands.
According to the Los Angeles Times, news broke in 1989 that Downey was attacked by skinheads
in a San Francisco airport bathroom.
Downey claimed that three neo-Nazis held him down, cut his hair, and covered his face,
shirt, and pants in swastikas.
Authorities were suspicious, noting that the swastikas were backwards — as if someone
had been looking in a mirror when they drew them.
Scissors and a felt-tip marker were found in a toilet.
In other words, officials suspected Downey staged his victimization.
An airport spokesman said,
"Our preliminary investigation shows that this was self-inflicted for whatever reason
we don't know.
We can only assume it was for publicity."
The guy definitely generated publicity — enough to get his show canceled soon afterward.
Justin and Janet
The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show not only birthed the phrase "wardrobe malfunction"
— it also led to a pop star's undoing.
As Justin Timberlake was singing a "Rock Your Body" lyric about, well, removing clothes,
he just so happened to rip a breastplate from Janet Jackson top and expose her breast to
the world.
The performers claim it was an accident, but few believe that to be true.
The ripple-effect from the nipple-effect was enormous — for one of the performers, that
is.
According to Rolling Stone, Jackson was reportedly blacklisted from MTV, VH1, and all Viacom
radio stations.
Her invite to the Grammys was rescinded and her career went dark for years.
Meanwhile, Timberlake won 2 Grammys that year, his music continued to play across the country,
and he was invited back to headline another halftime show in 2018.
It would take a decade for the Federal Communications Commission to own up to its unequal treatment
following the publicity stunt.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell told ESPN in 2014,
"I personally thought that was really unfair.
It all turned into being about her.
In reality, if you slow the thing down, it's Justin ripping off her breastplate."
Ashanti
Leading up her 2008 album release, Ashanti wasn't the megastar she had once been.
Maybe that's why she felt like she needed to make a big noise with the album's promotion.
The plan was to use "gotcha-grams" as a promotional tool, enabling fans to send fake news stories
to unsuspecting friends that would lead them to believe their lives were in danger.
The violent ads led to anti-violence protests and Ashanti's album sales suffered, resulting
in her first album that failed to go platinum.
The singer was subsequently dropped by her label.
A CNN correspondent wrote at the time,
"That Ashanti would have to resort to lame PR stunts to sell records is as much an indictment
of her label as it is of the singer.
[...] Sullying her act in the hopes that it would translate into album sales didn't work.
Not all press is good press."
Dustin Diamond
You know him as Screech from Saved by the Bell, and therein lies Dustin Diamond's problem.
He can't shake his sitcom persona and struggled to find his footing after The New Class ended
in 2000.
But instead of putting in the work, he decided to make, well, a very racy tape.
According to Time magazine, Diamond hired a well-endowed body double and hoped the video
would make him some money.
Diamond's jewels generated a buzz, but not the big bucks.
He has since called that tape:
"...the thing that I am most embarrassed about."
A few years later, Diamond published a tell-all book called Behind the Bell that dished behind-the-scenes
dirt from the show.
He was ridiculed and ostracized by friends and fans alike, and later claimed the book
was written by a ghostwriter who went rogue.
Diamond is still trying to recover from his fall from grace, though he's come clean about
his shady stunts.
"I want to put the tomfoolery and malarkey behind me."
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