From trendy blood-letting rituals to abusing assistants,
these celebrities say the darndest things.
In 1999, many people were anxious about what the next century might bring. There
was an air of unpredictability and curiosity that took over and
everyone seemed to fear the end of days. Sometimes… things got weird.
"You take the red pill—you stay in wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."
These were also the days when Billy Bob Thornton and Angelina Jolie became a
couple. The two appeared together in the movie "Pushing Tin" and they married shortly after.
All eyes were on this unusual pairing, and it wasn't long before there were rumors of the
couple having some sort of dungeon in their home. In 2014, Thornton told the Hollywood
Reporter it was actually a recording studio. Paparazzi followed the couple everywhere and
eventually the press shared pictures that showed the two wearing matching necklaces. Turned out,
the charms around their necks were little vials filled with each other's blood.
"What."
In the same interview, Thornton disclosed the necklaces were
Jolie's idea and likened it to a mother wearing a locket with her baby's hair.
From the start of his celebrity status,
"MATT DAMON!"
seemed to portray the vibe of a regular guy,
much like the street-smart character from his Oscar-winning film "Good Will Hunting."
As the decades unfolded, Damon transformed into an A-List Hollywood actor, garnering roles in
blockbuster movies. He married Luciana Barroso in 2005, and the couple have four daughters.
In August 2021, Damon was interviewed by The Times to promote his movie "Stillwater." Part
of the conversation included how movies and movie-watching has changed and Damon added,
"The word that my daughter calls the 'f-slur for a homosexual' was
commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application."
The star went on to say he'd once made a joke and his daughter was so upset, she left the room
and returned having written a, quote, "very long, beautiful treatise" about the dangers of the word.
Twitter users wasted no time responding, saying,
"Everyone acting all surprised about Matt Damon
using a slur like they never heard about his early days in Boston."
Another wrote,
"The only thing that's truly surprising about the
Matt Damon slur thing is that he might have actually stopped using that word."
Others criticized Damon for his explanation in a follow-up interview in Variety,
in which he denied ever using the word. He went on to say that he was explaining to his daughter that
the slur had been used, quote, "constantly and casually," but not by him personally.
Of course, the trailblazing pop star Madonna is no stranger to pushing the envelope. But after four
decades in the spotlight, her no-limits philosophy might have hit a roadblock.
"Why should I stop here?"
In October of 2022, Madonna posted a series of four images on her Instagram stories,
each with a different word. When all four were put together, the sentence read,
"I was not circumsized."
The reaction to the bizarre post quickly spread throughout social media with
comments not just about what she wrote but also about her appearance. One tweeted,
"She won't go away if you keep covering her desperation to be relevant."
Madonna's critics might have been fueled by a bizarre post she had made less than two
weeks prior. That time, it was a TikTok on October 9th in which Madonna hinted
at being gay. The singer held a pair of pink underwear while the words on the screen read,
"If I miss, I'm gay."
She threw the panties, clearly with little effort, and missed.
"Ooo. Speaking of butch…"
Going through a divorce is exponentially more difficult when the whole world has a front row
seat. For Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner, that struggle lasted almost three years.
In 2018, Affleck shared on Facebook that he had completed alcohol addiction treatment.
"You cannot go back to your normal life after tonight."
It seemed admirable to be open and honest about his fight to overcome the addiction,
but Affleck didn't leave it at that. In December of 2021,
he appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" and shared his reasons for drinking
as well as his motivation to get sober. According to the Daily Mail, he explained,
"Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped. I was like,
'I can't leave because of my kids, but I'm not happy, what do I do?'"
Unfortunately, Affleck's admission set off a firestorm of social media
comments. One Twitter account posted,
"@JLo Hope Ben realizes his kids will see that interview!"
Affleck responded saying,
"I would never want my kids to think I would ever say a bad word about their mom."
Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence has been described as talented, beautiful, and engaging. However,
in 2016, while on "The Graham Norton Show," Lawrence shared a self-deprecating story of
an incident while filming "Hunger Games" in Hawaii. Apparently, there were some sacred
rocks where they were shooting, and you weren't supposed to sit on them. According to Lawrence
the reason was because, quote, "you're not supposed to expose your genitalia."
As she explained it, she was wearing a wetsuit and felt that was okay but unfortunately while
sitting there her bottom began to itch, and she realized that the rock provided the perfect tool
to relieve it. Her actions somehow jarred the boulder loose and it rolled toward a crewmember.
"All the Hawaiians were like 'Oh my God. It's the curse and I'm in the corner,
like, going, 'I'm your curse.'"
There were many who didn't feel her apology was genuine,
sparking a whole new thread about the actor. The post has since been deleted.
Liam Neeson might have a special skill set he uses in his films like "Taken"
and "The Marksman," but that doesn't give the actor a pass
on making potentially dangerous and racist comments. In February of 2019,
Neeson met with the Independent as part of the promotion for his current film, "Cold Pursuit."
He shared a story that someone in his life told him that she was raped, and Neeson asked her
for a description. The woman said they were black. Neeson then described that he hit the streets each
night looking for a fight. But, the chilling part of the story was the actor's mindset. He said,
"I did it for maybe a week, hoping some 'Black bastard' would come out of a pub
and have a go at me about something, you know, so that I could kill him."
"Grandpa, are you a good guy?"
"I want to be."
Shocked and angered, many took to social media to
condemn the actor. He bounced back in a "Good Morning America" interview.
"I'm not a racist."
Unfortunately, his apology didn't keep the premiere of "Cold Pursuit" from being canceled.
Alicia Silverstone is best known for her 1995 role as Cher in "Clueless"
and she might be just as unique as the character she played. In 2011,
she gave birth to a son, Bear Blue, and she sparked controversy in a viral
video of herself feeding Bear from her mouth after chewing the food for him.
"What's wrong with me?"
In 2022, Silverstone revealed on "The Ellen Fisher Podcast"
that she and her son sleep together, saying,
"I'll be in trouble for saying that, but I don't really care."
And she was right, but the reaction wasn’t all negative. The hosts of "The View" passed
the idea around the table and Joy Behar said she had no problem with the concept.
Megan Fox and Machine Gun Kelly got engaged in January of 2022. They also
admittedly engaged in drinking each other's blood.
To announce their union, Fox and Kelly each posted on Instagram. Kelly posted
Fox's ring and Fox posted a video of Kelly proposing under a banyan tree. She wrote,
"And just as in every lifetime before this one, and as in every lifetime that will follow it,
I said yes. ...and then we drank each other's blood."
This declaration prompted comments that were more an opportunity for people to
showcase their comedic skills than being appalled at the practice. One user wrote,
"Blood ain't going to cut it, somebody give this dude a sandwich."
In April 2022, Fox took the opportunity during a Glamour UK interview to set the record straight.
"It's just a few drops, but yes,
we do consume each other's blood on occasion for ritual purposes."
Fox then added that Kelly would be more than happy to give more.
In March of 2019, an inflammatory Instagram Live of Cardi B resurfaced from three years
prior. The video prompted shock and outrage about her confession that she had sometimes drugged and
robbed men when she was working as a stripper. Shortly after the story broke, Cardi B tweeted,
"I have a past I can't change we all do."
In a Twitter explanation post, Cardi B wrote,
"I'm a part of a hip hop culture where you can talk about where you
come from talk about the wrong things you had to do to get where you are."
She then wrote,
"I always own my s---."
A fitting statement from the rapper, since in September 2022
she pleaded guilty to assault charges that stemmed from a 2018 altercation. Cardi B
admitted to two attacks on employees of the Angels nightclub in New York.
Neil Patrick Harris is arguably one of the most likable stars in Hollywood, but that doesn't
make him immune to public scrutiny. Harris, an award-winning actor, singer, and host,
often seems an open book, including about his relationship with David Burtka.
But the "How I Met Your Mother" star would soon learn that some pages should be left unread.
In 2015, Harris appeared on "The Wendy Williams Show" and revealed what many
felt was inappropriate feelings for an "underage" male — Nick Jonas,
to be precise. At the time, the guests were answering the question,
"Who's your celebrity crush?"
And while Harris' answer seemed innocent enough, he then added about Jonas,
"And he was really good-looking before it was kind of allowed
to think he was good-looking, which was a bit of a problem."
In 2022, the footage resurfaced and viewers did a double take. Many who responded on social
media said it was a double standard to call him out, referencing societal conversations
on very public platforms that objectified an underage Emma Watson as well as the Olsen twins.
In 2020, Sharon Osbourne appeared on the BBC comedy game show "Would I Lie to You?"
The program features celebrities telling elaborate, funny, or embarrassing stories
about themselves and the other participants have to decide if they're true or not.
"I once sacked a member of my staff because he showed
absolutely no sense of humor during a house fire."
When the other players questioned her, she recounted the details of the evening.
According to Osbourne, she and husband, Ozzy Osbourne, went to bed and left a giant candle
burning, which started a fire in the living room. When her assistant came into the room,
Sharon directed him to first get the dogs, then save all the paintings.
The assistant found the dogs but apparently drew the line at collecting the paintings.
Sharon said when she found him outside wearing an oxygen mask,
"And I took the mask, and I put it on my dog."
Later when the event was over, she said that she and Ozzy laughed about it. Her assistant didn't
think it was funny and instead of apologizing to him for hurt feelings, Osbourne said,
"'If you don't think that's funny,
do you think this is funny?' And he goes, 'What?' I said, 'You're fired.'"
Fans took to Twitter, calling Sharon a horrible person. One user said,
"That's some evil right there."
Another commented,
"No wonder Ozzy did drugs."
While Sharon had pressed the "truth" button on the show, she later said on The Talk that
she was kidding, however, she said that years later she did fire the assistant.
"I'm not trying to slide out of this one."
It's a wonderful world when people can come out publicly about themselves, share their truth,
and be applauded for it — unfortunately for Kevin Spacey, that wasn't the case.
His ill-timed coming out party came on the heels of sexual abuse accusations
from fellow actor Anthony Rapp, who was only 14 at the time of the incident with Spacey.
According to an interview with BuzzFeed News, Rapp said that he and Spacey were
both appearing on Broadway and went to some of the same celebrations. After one night out,
Rapp ended up at Spacey's apartment, wandered into his bedroom to watch TV, and at some point,
realized everyone had left. It was then he said that Spacey laid down on top of him.
Spacey took to Twitter for a public apology which turned into an admission:
"I choose now to live as a gay man."
"Never regret."
Not only did the actor catch heat for turning Rapp's traumatic experience
into something personal, Spacey would later face Rapp in court.
Many others came out publicly after Rapp filed a lawsuit against Spacey.
"You need to listen to me. We have been here before."
Even though in November 2022 Spacey was not found liable in the $40 million civil suit,
he was still charged to pay damages to the producer of the "House of Cards"
series that he starred in, as well as facing more sexual assault charges.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault,
help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).