Actors, musicians, YouTube stars, comedians, plenty of high-profile celebrities destroyed
their careers in 2018 for a wide variety of reasons.
Between serious allegations, big beefs, and tempestuous tweets, these stars have wreaked
lasting havoc on their futures in the entertainment industry.
Gunn fired
James Gunn faced a lot of fallout for old tweets in 2018.
The Guardians of the Galaxy director and writer was fired from the hit Marvel franchise for
offensive tweets dating back nearly a decade.
The posts featured jokes about subjects as dark as the Holocaust and pedophilia.
Gunn responded in July 2018 via a series of since-deleted tweets:
"Many people who have followed my career know when I started, I viewed myself as a provocateur,
making movies and telling jokes that were outrageous and taboo.
[…] I am very, very different than I was a few years ago.
[…] My days saying something just because it's shocking and trying to get a reaction
are over."
Unfortunately for Gunn, it was too little too late for Disney, and they parted ways
with the writer-director after the Tweets resurfaced in July.
Even after petitions and protests from the Guardians cast, particularly from Dave Bautista,
Gunn's career with Disney is over.
However, DC did hire him for the sequel to 2016's Suicide Squad, so perhaps he'll salvage
some standing in the industry.
"Sweet Christmas"
Luke Cage star Mike Colter was looking forward to a third season of the Marvel Netflix series
when he made a really inappropriate joke about a pastor at Aretha Franklin's funeral allegedly
groping pop star Ariana Grande.
In a since-deleted tweet, Colter wrote, alongside laughing face emojis,
"Now this is how you shoot your shot.
No f—-s."
The internet did not like this, especially considering the trauma themes in Luke Cage's
sister series, Jessica Jones.
Colter apologized in another since-deleted tweet, writing,
"Hello all.
I apologize about my tweet earlier.
In no way do I condone any such behavior.
It was intended to point out the absurdity of the act itself.
Complete and biting sarcasm.
I realized quickly that it was not taken as such."
About a month later, Netflix announced that Luke Cage wouldn't be renewed for a third
season.
It's pretty unclear if the ax had anything to do with Colter's remarks...but the timing
seems uncanny.
"Sweet Christmas."
Cheaters never win
Evan Felker, frontman of the Turnpike Troubadours, got the chance of a lifetime when Miranda
Lambert handpicked his band to open for her on tour.
However, when the pair got romantically involved, allegedly while he was married and while she
was still dating Anderson East, things got complicated.
A source told People that Felker ghosted his wife Staci when he went on tour, then blindsided
her with divorce papers.
Unfortunately for Felker, Lambert's flame for him apparently burned out very fast.
By August 2018, they'd split, with Lambert announcing that she was single and ready to
mingle.
Days later, Felker quit Lambert's tour, allegedly because of kidney stones.
He later issued a statement on his band's Instagram,
"We are working through some family and medical issues that have made it impossible for us
to be on tour."
Family issues, huh?
The Fall of Minaj
Let's be clear: Nicki Minaj will go down in history as one of the most successful rap
artists of all time.
That said, she spent the bulk of 2018 tarnishing her legacy with pointless feuds that hurt
her bottom line.
In July 2018, Minaj got an intern at an entertainment blog fired for tweeting about the direction
of Minaj's music, writing:
"You know how dope it would be if Nicki put out mature content?
[...] She's touching 40 soon, a new direction is needed."
Minaj harassed the writer, even targeting her 4-year-old daughter and telling the blogger
to kill herself.
Minaj also lashed out at rapper Travis Scott on social media for selling his Astroworld
album with bundles that included clothing and concert tickets, beating her Queen album
for the top spot on the Billboard 200 in August 2018.
She blamed a Nicki Hate Train for her album's lackluster reception and postponed her tour.
Sources told Page Six ticket sales were abysmal.
And then there's her ongoing feud with rapper Cardi B, who is clearly battling Minaj for
her kingdom...and winning.
Mo'Nique can't negotiate
Comedian and actress Mo'Nique may have curtailed her stand-up career after criticizing Netflix
for allegedly low-balling her in contract negotiations.
She called for a boycott of the service based on what she claimed.
She compared her $500,000 offer with the tens of millions offered to Dave Chappelle, Chris
Rock, and Amy Schumer, specifically calling out Schumer's bankability after her movie
Snatched flopped.
That, of course, ignored the fact that Schumer's Netflix contract was signed when she'd sold
out Madison Square Garden and was still riding a career high from Trainwreck.
Perhaps what put the final nail in Mo'Nique's career coffin was comparing her salary negotiations
to being ravaged while speaking to Sway Calloway on his radio show Sway's Universe.
"Did you ask any of the white women to apologize?
When they said they were violated?
By Harvey Weinstein?"
"Hm"
"Did you ask any of them to be humble?"
Mo'Nique previously accused heavy-hitters like Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry of blackballing
her from the industry after she refused to promote Precious, the film that earned Mo'Nique
an Academy Award.
Whoopi Goldberg even slammed Mo'Nique's conduct to her face on The View.
"When you make a movie regardless of who you sign the deal with"
"Yes"
"Your job"
"Mmhmm"
"is to go and promote said movie"
Though Netflix has not responded publicly to Mo'Nique's remarks, she has no specials
lined up to date.
"Repellent and stupid"
Sean Penn is an Oscar-winning actor, but it's not his onscreen skills that are dead in the
water.
It's his budding career as a novelist.
The notoriously temperamental star released his debut book, Bob Honey Who Just Do Stuff,
in which he attempts to satirize American culture and even mocks the #MeToo movement.
The book hasn't sold well, and critics have not been kind.
"Well that sure made us LOL"
"Laugh out loud?"
"No, lose our lunch!"
"Ahahaha mmmm"
The Guardian called Penn's debut novel,
"[...] repellent and stupid."
The New York Times labeled it,
"[...] plotless [as well as] conspicuously un-fun [...]"
The Washington Post wondered what the heck Penn was thinking, and Huffington Post called
it a,
"[...] garbage novel […]"
We're not saying Penn should necessarily stick to acting and leave the novel-writing to someone
else.
We're just saying it sounds like as a writer, Penn's a really good actor.
T.J. Miller isn't making friends
Comedian and actor T.J. Miller seemed to hurt his career in 2017 when he left HBO's Silicon
Valley, but it wasn't until 2018 that Miller's conduct on the set was revealed.
Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Miller frequently fell asleep during filming and
often showed up late and unprepared, causing delays.
Some insiders hinted that Miller may have had issues with self-medicating and alleged
his temper could flare.
Miller pushed back.
He told THR,
"I'm not high when I work because it gets in the way of the comedy.
I also am not a guy who's blackout-drunk, bumping into things on set.
[...] What was occurring was I was out doing stand-up all the time, even if it meant I
only got three hours of sleep.
So, the thing I have a problem with?
It's pushing myself to do too much."
Then in July 2018, former Silicon Valley actress Alice Wetterlund accused Miller of bullying
her on set, which he also denied.
But regardless of what Miller did or didn't do while filming Silicon Valley, something
much more disturbing happened a few months before Wetterlund's accusations.
Miller was arrested in April 2018 for allegedly reporting a fake bomb threat on an Amtrak
train, causing massive delays.
The Blast reported in September 2018 that Miller may be pursuing a plea bargain in the
case.
"Something Special" from Fergie
At the NBA All-Star Game in February 2018, Fergie decided to, quote, "try something special"
during the national anthem.
It was special all right.
Her weird vocal runs, jazz inflections, and bizarre gestures made her performance of "The
Star Spangled Banner" go viral...for all the wrong reasons.
(cringeworthy moment here)
A lot of viewers were less than impressed with Fergie's rendition.
The singer responded by telling TMZ,
"I'm a risk taker artistically, but clearly this rendition didn't strike the intended
tone.
I love this country and honestly tried my best."
But some sources say she wasn't apologetic at all.
An insider told US Weekly,
"Neither Fergie nor her team thought anything was wrong with her national anthem rendition.
That's the way she sings a lot of her songs.
She loves adding a little and being different with her riffs.
It was meant to be jazz-inspired.
She wanted to stand out."
Yes, because what a song about war and patriotism needs is a little more.
A beef with a beefcake
Tyrese Gibson did his career no favors in 2017, when he repeatedly and publicly slammed
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson for starring in a Fast & The Furious spin-off with Jason Statham
called Hobbs and Shaw.
However, it wasn't until 2018 that Gibson apparently realized he'd hit rock bottom.
Gibson acknowledged as much during Van Lathan's Red Pill podcast in July 2018,
"Everything about ya know going at the Rock publicly, psych meds…"
"I have yet to talk to the Rock to this day."
Though it sounds like Gibson wants to make amends, he may be motivated by a need for
cash rather than friendship.
The actor's ex-wife claimed in court documents that he's suffering financially, in part,
because he foolishly picked a fight with The Rock.
Woody may finally be out
Acclaimed director Woody Allen was accused of abusing his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow,
more than 20 years ago.
The Los Angeles Times reported that abuse experts and police investigated the allegations,
but prosecutors and Dylan's mother, actress Mia Farrow, didn't want to pursue charges
against Allen for fear of traumatizing then-7-year-old Dylan.
A judge in the case said Allen's behavior toward Dylan was "grossly inappropriate."
Allen has denied the allegations repeatedly.
All of that, in addition to Allen's controversial marriage to Mia's adopted daughter, Soon-Yi
Previn, hasn't been enough to stop Allen's success in the industry, but an incredibly
tone-deaf interview he conducted in June 2018 might do just that.
While being interviewed for the Argentinian news program Periodismo Para Todos, Allen
called himself a, quote, "[...] poster boy for the #MeToo movement."
Allen went on to say,
"I have worked in movies for 50 years.
I've worked with hundreds of actresses and not a single one […] ever suggested any
kind of impropriety at all.
I've always had a wonderful record with them."
"Do you treat all the girls you desire this way?"
"Yes oh yes I undress them and tie them up yes I learned that in the boyscouts"
"Lovely"
Allen's claims of a spotless record aren't entirely true: Mariel Hemingway, who starred
in 1979's Manhattan, alleged in her memoir Out Came the Sun that Allen attempted to seduce
her when she turned 18, and he was 44.
In 2018, numerous stars of past Allen films renounced working with him ever again.
Sources told Page Six in August 2018 that Allen's latest film A Rainy Day in New York
may never see the light of day.
Tweeting away a career
Roseanne Barr had the No. 1 sitcom on TV with her reboot of Roseanne, but in May 2018, she
threw it all away with a racist tweet: Barr took to social media to compare former Barack
Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett's looks to the characters on Planet of the Apes.
The tweet directly led to the show's cancellation, after which Barr tweeted,
"I apologize to Valerie Jarrett and to all Americans.
I am truly sorry for making a bad joke about her politics and her looks.
I should have known better."
In spite of her apology, the comic couldn't get her job back.
Insiders called said there was no way her career would survive her tirade.
The rest of the cast was eventually rehired for The Conners, a spin-off of Roseanne that
killed her character off after an opioid overdose.
Since then, Barr has reportedly lost contact with everyone she worked with on the series.
Barr told Vice News Tonight that she is no longer in contact with anyone from Roseanne,
"I don't keep in touch with anyone on the show.
I've been removed from the process of my life's work.
It's like, the worst thing they could have possibly done to me was to fire me from my
own show and let other people write my life story.
I'm not going to watch it and I'm not going to condemn it or say anything bad about it
either.
I'm just moving on from it."