Twitter beefs are one thing, but sometimes celebs battle right out in the open.
Want to know which rock star fist fight resulted from jealousy over
a scene in Borat? Get your popcorn ready — these celeb fights happened in public!
Much has gone down at the Oscars over the years. And yet, somehow the slap of Chris
Rock by Will Smith may be the most heinous event that’s ever transpired on that stage.
Time will tell, but the incident was at the very least one of the biggest stories of 2022.
It all started when Rock took the stage to present the award for Best Documentary Feature.
The comedian made a bizarre joke about "G.I. Jane," a movie about a bald female protagonist
that's older than the funnyman's children. The joke was directed at the also-bald Jada Pinkett,
and Rock told her that he's looking forward to the “G.I. Jane” sequel.
A furious Smith responded by walking up on stage and giving the comedian a mighty slap to the face.
“I’ll be right back, man!”
As various outlets have pointed out, Rock has allegedly long had beef with the Smiths.
When the comic hosted the Oscars in 2016,
he likened Pinkett boycotting the ceremony to himself, saying:
"Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna's panties. I wasn’t invited!"
Anyone and everyone shared their two cents on the slap.
Comedians warned against the dangers of stifling free speech in stand-up comedy,
with Bill Maher telling TMZ that the incident was, quote, "cancel culture encapsulated."
Others defended Smith, arguing that they would do the same if a man ridiculed their partner.
In the end, Smith resigned from the Academy and received a ten year ban from the ceremony.
NFL quarterback Jim Everett had grown accustomed to talk show host Jim Rome trolling him,
but things reached a boiling point in 1994. Everett appeared on Rome's show,
"Talk2," where the host repeatedly called the quarterback "Chris" — a joking reference to
female tennis star Chris Evert. Everett reminded Rome that he'd been calling him "Chris" for years,
apparently using juvenile sexism to question the footballer's prowess on the field.
Explaining the rationale behind the name switch, Rome claimed that Everett's career
had faltered and he, quote, "ceased being Jim and [...] became Chris."
Everett gave the host a firm warning, cautioning that he would be in big
trouble if he taunted him one more time. But Rome was unrelenting in his antagonism,
maintaining a Cheshire Cat grin, before repeating the name.
Everett immediately flipped the table and threw a startled Rome to the floor.
ESPN, "Talk2's" network, condemned Rome, claiming that the fight was inevitable considering the
host's tactics. Everett apologized for his outburst, but said he had no regrets, saying:
"I really don't condone my actions, but I was put
in a position that I thought was going to be in a journalistic-type interview and,
instead, I was put into what I felt was a taunting attack. I don't regret what I did."
Years later, Rome appeared repentant in an interview with Beaver County Times,
lamenting that his antagonism got in the way of conducting an important interview.
Icelandic songstress Björk doesn't seem like the sort of person to throw a mean punch,
but all was not full of love when she initiated an attack on reporter Julie Kaufman. In 1996,
Björk’s plane had just landed in Thailand when Kaufman declared, simply, "Welcome to
Bangkok!" Seemingly out of the blue, the petite Icelander turned into an army of me. She lashed
out at the reporter before repeatedly hitting her and eventually pulling her to the ground.
Per Salon, the singer apologized for the assault, but it turned out that there was
more to the story; Kaufman had apparently been following Björk around for days,
harassing her and her 9-year-old son. Kaufman was adamant that the popster was in the wrong,
claiming that all she’d done is greet the star.
As reported by The Mirror, Kaufman ultimately decided not to take legal action, despite the
singer banging her head against concrete, citing a sincere phone apology from Björk.
Despite patching things up, Kaufman declined an invitation to attend one of Björk's concerts,
claiming not to be crazy about her music. Let's hope Björk didn't take that rejection to heart.
“Wrestling is not an extreme sport.” “You! I’ll show you extreme!”
If there's one thing you never do to a wrestler, it's question the validity of their profession —
but reporter John Stossel didn't get the memo. In a 1984 segment for "20/20," Stossel exposed
the theatrical nature of the wrestling biz, namely that the results of fights are predetermined. But
there was one fight that even he couldn't predict. That's right, Stossel dared to ask: "Is wrestling
fake?" Not only that, but the person he asked was grizzled vet David Schultz. The wrestler reacted
with fury, asking "You think it's fake?" Schultz then punched Stossel in the face, knocking him to
the floor. He then punched Stossel again, though he dismissed the whack as an "open hand slap."
The reason why Stossel's question was sacrilege is due to kayfabe, the unwritten industry rule
that wrestling should always be presented as a legitimate fight. A lawsuit ensued,
with The New York Times reporting that the assault led to Stossel suffering from
potentially permanent ear damage. Ultimately, the case was settled out of court for $425,000.
The incident caused nationwide attention and has become the stuff of wrestling folklore.
In the 1980s, an era in which anti-Blackness and homophobia pervaded the media, singer and model
Grace Jones was a proudly queer and Black icon. Unfortunately, Jones' uncompromising nature led
to mistreatment from the British public, as the singer didn't adhere to mainstream sensibilities.
This became resoundingly clear during her now infamous interview on British talk
show The Russell Harty Show. Throughout the interview, the titular host demeaned Jones,
ridiculing her unique sense of style, questioning whether she could comprehend his questions,
and mocking her speech patterns. Jones put up with Harty's patronizing tactics
for a good while before reaching her breaking point. After Harty repeatedly turned his back
to Jones and referred to her in the third person, she snapped and began slapping him.
In her autobiography, I'll Never Write My Memoirs,
she explained what led to the heated confrontation. During the initial rehearsal,
Harty faced her throughout the interview as the guests all sat in a semicircle, so she
was surprised to see the seating arrangement had changed when they filmed the live show.
Jones said that she was utilized as an object of ridicule, arguing that the outburst was provoked.
Back in the mid 2000s, Paris Hilton, who was hot off the success of "The Simple Life," was
feuding with fellow reality star Shanna Moakler. According to reports, Moakler was irate after
discovering that the father of her kids, Blink 182's Travis Barker, was locking lips with Hilton.
Subsequently, Moakler lamented that she felt "betrayed" by Hilton and her former beau.
The conflict between the two stars erupted in a violent brawl at Hyde Lounge in 2006.
As reported by People, Hilton was vibing at the swanky venue with her billionaire
guy pals Paris Latsis and Stavros Niarchos, while Moakler was chilling with Cheryl Burke.
Once their eyes met, a quarrel ensued. Some onlookers claimed it was Hilton's ex,
Niarchos, who initiated the conflict, apparently throwing his cocktail on Moakler.
Meanwhile, Hilton had a very different recollection of the events, alleging
that Moakler assaulted her. Per Today, the socialite claimed that Moakler threw expletives
at her before punching her in the jaw. Both individuals filed police reports following the
heated confrontation, though it seems that justice was never served for either party.
Pamela Anderson hasn't been the luckiest in love,
and her quarreling ex-husbands are living proof of this. Famously, she was married to
the allegedly abusive Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. Then she set her sights on another musician,
2000s rap-rocker Kid Rock. The Detroit cowboy similarly mistreated Anderson,
reportedly becoming violently jealous due to her hilariously wild appearance in "Borat."
This history set the stage for the day Rock and Lee met at the VMAs in 2007. Tensions were high.
“Agreement not necessary….”
At the time, Rock and Anderson had recently called it quits after a brief marriage,
and Lee took the divorce as an opportunity to apparently send Rock offensive messages,
according to The Sun. As reported by Today, this culminated in Rock assaulting Lee at the
awards ceremony, with one onlooker claiming that Lee antagonized the rapper before the
argument came to blows. Rock defended himself after the encounter, saying:
"I never hit nobody for nothing before."
During an appearance on "The Kevin & Bean Show,”,
Rock explained that there had been bad blood between the pair for years, so a blowout was
just waiting to happen. Meanwhile, Lee said he hardly felt a thing when Rock hit him,
declaring that he was "b**** slapped" and branding the musician a "wuss" in a blog post.
Of all the public celeb altercations, Solange Knowles attacking Jay-Z is among the most
infamous — and memeworthy. In 2014, Queen B attended the Met Gala with her husband
and little sister. All appeared to be going smoothly until the trio hit an afterparty.
In footage published by TMZ, Solange ferociously attacked her big sister's hubby in an elevator.
Solange can be seen confronting her brother-in-law before launching a full-scale assault on him.
At first she repeatedly slapped the rapper. Then, when a bodyguard pulled her away,
she threw a few kicks in his direction too.
Alas, a lack of audio in the CCTV recordings means that whatever words Solange hurled at Jay
will forever remain a mystery. Beyoncé mostly stood idly by during the assault, but amid the
chaos and tumbling stilettos, one thing was for certain: Bey's little sis had her back.
The altercation spawned many a meme and a deluge of conspiracy theories,
including the unverified claim that Solange was infuriated after discovering,
according to Hollywood Life, that Rachel Roy is Becky with the good hair. During an
appearance on the Rap Radar podcast, Jay-Z claimed that the fight was an anomaly,
the first and only disagreement he and Solange, whom he referred to as his "sister," ever had.
Cardi B and Nicki Minaj took their online beef to the streets in 2018. As reported by TMZ,
the feud between the pair boiled over during a fight at a New York Fashion Week party.
Apparently, it was Cardi who launched an assault on Minaj: footage shows the "WAP"
singer being restrained by several people as she attempted to throw more punches at Minaj.
The brawl erupted after Minaj apparently made comments about Cardi's ability to
care for her children. Cardi’s reply was recorded as follows:
"I've let a lot of s*** slide! I let you sneak diss me, I let you lie on me.
But when you mention my child. Make comments about my abilities
to take care of my daughter is when all bets are f***in off!!"
That’s when a designer shoe went flying at Minaj.
It appears that this wasn't the first time Cardi launched a stiletto attack
on her enemies. She once threw her shoe at her Love and Hip Hop co-star Asia Davies
after the latter was accused of gossiping about Cardi's love life behind her back.
“AHHH HA HA HAAAAAA!!!! I know you mad! I know you mad!”
Cardi and Minaj's feud didn't end there, with the former's sister chiming in to allege that
Minaj leaked her phone number. Minaj then boasted that her friend Rah Ali had joined
in with beating up Cardi during the Fashion Week scuffle. No love lost between these two.
What happens when two glam rock giants end up in the same room? Blows are exchanged and glitter and
cigarettes go flying. When Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil attended the MTV Awards in 1989,
he sought to settle his beef with Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Neil and Stradlin had a heated exchange backstage, which
was apparently initiated by Neil. A fight ensued, and a statement from Geffen Records revealed that:
"Stradlin's lip was cut by Neil's rings but he was otherwise unhurt. Neil,
on the other hand, found himself on his back; he scrambled and ran for his limo."
The fight was the pinnacle of a long beef between the pair, which was precipitated by Stradlin
apparently assaulting Neil's wife at a rock club, according to Ultimate Classic Rock. In response,
Neil felt he had no choice but to resort to violence, writing in his autobiography:
"I was waiting for him. 'You f***ing hit my wife!'
'So f***ing what?' he spat. All my blood rushed into my fist,
and I decked him. I decked him good, right in the face. He fell to the ground like a tipped cow."
When movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was exposed as a violent sexual predator,
there was no shortage of horror stories relating to his horrific treatment of women. While Brad
Pitt reportedly threatened to kill Weinstein after he discovered that the Miramax founder
harassed his then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow, one actor took those threats to the next level.
Beverly Hills, 90210 star Jason Priestley revealed that he once punched Weinstein
at a party in 1995. Replying to a tweet by his friend Tara Strong,
who was horrified by Mira Sorvino's revelation that Weinstein blacklisted her from the industry,
Priestley revealed that he, too, may have felt the wrath of the producer.
“It really didn’t help my future film career any.”
Speaking with Us Weekly, Priestley discussed the incident in depth.
He explained that he was sitting at the party when another celeb came in, demanding to have his seat.
He describes a scene when a belligerent Weinstein, then unknown to Priestly,
bullied the actor and a friend. When Weinstein grabbed Priestly, Priestly fought back.
"He asked me to step outside, and I thought it was better to just have it out right there."
Pretty boy actor Orlando Bloom seems like the kind of guy who would invite you to his
mom's house for tea and cake, not the guy who starts bar fights. But even British heartthrobs
have their breaking points. For Bloom, it was Justin Bieber who really riled him up.
In 2014, Bloom and Bieber were vacationing separately in Ibiza when they ran into each
other at a bar. As reported by TMZ, there are differing accounts of what exactly went down
between the two, but the consensus seems to be that the pop star said something unpleasant
about the Pirates of the Caribbean star's ex-wife, Miranda Kerr, with whom Bieber had reportedly been
partying a couple of years earlier. Sources claim that Bieber said he had sex with Bloom's wife,
which led to an exchange of blows. In footage posted by the outlet,
Bieber can be seen muttering something to Bloom, who then punched him.
An onlooker spoke to The Mirror about the incident, claiming that numerous celeb attendees,
including Leonardo DiCaprio and Lindsay Lohan, looked on in horror as the superstars brawled.
Drake has long been salty about his break-up with Rihanna — by all accounts, the pair only
briefly dated — and he has frequently alluded to her being the one who got away. So, if Drake
gets into a club brawl with another man, it's pretty safe to bet they're fighting over RiRi.
“We have a lot of genuine energy between us, so… (laughing)”
In 2012, Drake and Rihanna's ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown, reportedly got into a fight
at a nightclub. According to The New York Post, Drake yelled out,
"I'm f****** the love of your life, deal with it,"
He proceeded to punch Brown, and the musicians’ respective entourages reportedly became involved
before a bottle was finally thrown. Then, apparently, all hell broke loose.
Brown later tweeted — and then deleted — a photo of a bloody gash on his face, claiming
that the perp was, quote, "throwing bottles like girls." It should be noted that Brown himself
has a long history of violence, having severely beaten Rihanna three years earlier. Meanwhile,
innocent bystanders were reportedly harmed during the altercation. As reported by TMZ,
Drake insisted that he wasn't the one responsible for Brown's gory injuries,
and that Meek Mill may have been the bottle-throwing perp. Still,
eyewitness testimony shows that Drake was likely the one who initiated the fight.
In 2022, Hayden Panettiere was at a Sunset Strip bar with her beau, Brian Hickerson,
when a brawl broke out. As reported by TMZ, things kicked off when the couple began arguing with a
group of people, leading to Hickerson throwing punches before a major fight ensued. Onlookers
told the outlet that Panettiere attempted to pull her boyfriend away from the chaos,
warning him that he would land back in jail if he continued brawling.
Following the altercation, a rep assured People Magazine that Panettiere was doing
alright, and that the scuffle began when Panettiere and Hickerson were roughed up.
The outlet reported that Hickerson has a long history of violence,
so dealing with the aftermath of the epic public blowout certainly can't be easy for Panettiere.
Although the couple has now reconciled, Panettiere previously called the police on Hickerson
after he allegedly beat her on multiple occasions. He was arrested and charged with assault in 2020,
with the "Nashville" star telling People that she was relieved to have survived the abuse.
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse,
you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233.
You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.