Celebrity Apologia
Image Source: Maggie from Palm Springs, United States, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Use the table below to browse the archive. Click a column heading to sort the entries, or click a linked name to open the full case page.
| Accused | Accusation | Year of Apologia |
|---|---|---|
| Arnold Schwarzenegger | Groping women on movie sets | 2003 |
| Chris Brown | Domestic assault on Rihanna | 2009 |
| Christian Bale | Profane tirade on set of Terminator Salvation | 2009 |
| Christina Aguilera | Messing up the lyrics to the national anthem during the Super Bowl | 2011 |
| David Letterman | Comments about Sarah Palin's daughter being impregnated by the New York Yankees | 2009 |
| David Letterman | Sexual relations with Late Show interns | 2009 |
| The Dixie Chicks | Saying on stage in London that they were ashamed President Bush was from Texas | 2003 |
| Dr. Dre | Beating up TV personality Dee Barnes | 1991 |
| Hugh Grant | Cheating on his girlfriend with a prostitute | 1995 |
| Jane Fonda | Posing for pictures in Hanoi behind a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun | 1988 |
| Janet Jackson | Wardrobe malfunction incident at the Super Bowl | 2004 |
| Kanye West | Grabbing microphone from Taylor Swift at the video music awards | 2009 |
| Martha Stewart | Insider stock trading | 2004 |
| Mel Gibson | Anti-Semitic tirade on Malibu Highway | 2006 |
| Michael Jackson | Dangling baby off balcony | 2002 |
| Milli Vanilli | Lip syncing hit "Girl You Know it's True" on platinum album | 1990 |
| Richard Gere | Kissing Bollywood actress on the face at HIV/AIDS awareness event in India | 2007 |
| Steve Irwin | Feeding crocodile while holding his one month old baby | 2004 |
| Kathy Griffin | Posed in photo shoot with fake, bloody decapitated Donald Trump head | 2017 |
| Michael Richards | Racist rant at comedy club in Hollywood | 2006 |
| Paula Dean | Lawsuit claiming she frequently used the "N" word with employees at her restaurant | 2013 |
| Kevin Hart | Sexually suggestive video of him with a woman who was not his wife, which later was used to try and extort money from him | 2017 |
| Kevin Spacey | Sexual advances toward 14-year-old actor, Anthony Rapp | 2017 |
| Josh Homme | Kicking a photographer in the face while performing at concert. | 2017 |
| Brad Pitt | Homes he built after Hurricane Katrina deteriorating | 2018 |
| Shane Black | Casting his sex offender friend in The Predator. | 2018 |
| Norm MacDonald | Saying Louis C.K. and Roseanne Barr had experienced as much pain as victims of assault | 2018 |
| Laura Lee | Tweeting that Blacks should pull up their pants so they can run faster from the police. | 2018 |
| Michelle Rodriguez | Saying Liam Neeson can't be a racist because he kissed Viola Davis in the film Widows | 2019 |
| Seth Rogen | Production team on one of his films used makeup to darken the skin of a stand-in actor | 2018 |
| Justin Timberlake | Being treated differently than his female contemporaries two decades prior. | 2021 |
| Felicity Huffman | Cheating scandal to boost daughter's SAT score. | 2019 |
| Ryan Adams | Sexually exploiting aspiring female musicians. | 2020 |
| Ellen DeGeneres | Creating a toxic work environment | 2020 |
| Logan Paul | Filming a suicide victim's hanging body for his YouTube channel subscribers | 2019 |
| Chrissy Teigen | Cyberbullying TV Personality Courtney Stodden. | 2021 |
| Phylicia Rashad | Tweeting support for accused rapist Bill Cosby after his release on a technicality | 2021 |
| Drew Barrymore | Running her television show during the WGA writers strike. | 2023 |
| Lizzo | Body shaming, religious harassment, sexual harassment, and lewd behavior. | 2023 |
| Colleen Ballinger | Inappropriate communication with her younger fan base. | 2023 |
| Christina Aguilera | Using Ozempic to lose weight. | 2024 |
| Billie Eilish | Mouthing anti-Asian slur. | 2021 |
| Travis Scott | Encouraging rowdy behavior at concert led to crowd crush. | 2021 |
| Cierra Ortega | Used Asian slur in a social media post. | 2025 |
| Drake Bell | Pled guilty to child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. | 2021 |
| Kevin Spacey | Sexually assaulting teenager Anthony Rapp. | 2017 |
| Patrick Ta | Creating a new line of blush without crediting the original makeup artist. | 2026 |
| David Oyelowo | Claimed that the way he achieves a Black Southern accent is to slow down his own Nigerian accent and mix it with slavery and subservience. | 2026 |
| Paget Brewster | Telling a TV critic, "you suck" because she gave her show a bad review. | 2026 |
| Sydney Sweeney/American Eagle | Denim jeans ad suggesting Sydney Sweeney has "Great Jeans" alluding to White Supremacy. | 2025 |
| Jason Alexander | Inappropriate comedy sketch with 17-year-old. | 2026 |
| Kevin Hart | Homophobic tweets. | 2018 |
| Alec Baldwin | Screaming at daughter in voicemail | 2007 |
| Geno Segers | Made hateful comments about transgendered people. | 2026 |
| Will Smith | Going up on stage and slapping host Chris Rock at the Oscars for a joke Rock told about his wife. | 2022 |
| Pokimane (Imane Anys) | For selling a very overpriced brand of cookies that mirrored something very similar at Costco. | 2023 |
| Alicia Keys | Allowing tobacco companies to sponsor her concert in Jakarta. | 2008 |
| Dave Matthews Band | Tour bus emptied septic tank off of Chicago bridge on to people taking a river cruise below. | 2004 |
| Sean “Diddy” Combs | Physical and sexual abuse, sex trafficking, racketeering, drug abuse, and prostitution. | 2025 |
| Dani Mathers | Taking picture of a 70-year-old women showering at the gym without her permission and then posting it on social media with a body shaming comment. | 2016 |
| R. Kelly | Women living with him had to ask permission before leaving, communicating with people, and other rules governing their clothing, food, sleep, bathing, and sexual activity. | 2017 |
| Stephen Collins | Inappropriate sexual conduct involving three female minors in incidents spanning from 1973 to 1994. | 2014 |
| Lady Gaga | Appearing at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles wearing an outfit made from raw meat. | 2010 |
| Ricky Gervais | Telling controversial jokes during his monologue at the Goldens Awards cemeony. | 2011 |
| Gypsy Rose Blanchard | Recordings of telephone conversations from her time in prison resurfaced online where she could be heard using racist language, including repeated use of the N-word. | 2026 |
| Tom Cruise | Publicly attacking psychiatry and the use of antidepressant medication while discussing actress Brooke Shields during an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show. | 2008 |
| Oliver Stone | After his film JFK was released, he was accused of blurring documented history with speculation and elaborate conspiracy theories that audiences might mistake for established historical fact. | 1991 |
| Ezra Miller | A series of reported confrontations, arrests, criminal charges, protective-order proceedings, and other allegations of troubling conduct, including grooming young children. | 2022 |
| Justin Timberlake | Arrested in New York for driving while intoxicated. | 2024 |
| Sinéad O’Connor | Altered portions of her performance on SNL and tore up a picture of the pope to address child abuse. | 1992 |
| Isaiah Washington | Using an anti-gay slur during a behind-the-scenes dispute involving members of the cast of ABC's Grey's Anatomy. | 2006 |
| Lindsay Lohan | Criminal charges arising from two incidents involving alcohol, cocaine and driving under the influence. | 2007 |
| Ashlee Simpson | Technical failure during her October 23, 2004 appearance as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live revealed that prerecorded vocals were being used during her performances. | 2004 |
| Ted Danson | Appeared in blackface while serving as toastmaster at a 1993 Friars Club roast honoring actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg. | 2026 |
| Paul Reubens aka Pee-Wee Herman | Masterbation and indecent exposure inside a Florida adult movie theater. | 1991 |
| Bill Cosby | Accused publicly by more than 20 women of rape, sexual assault, or other sexual misconduct, with many alleging that he had drugged them before the encounters. | 2014 |
| Woody Allen | Accused of sexually abusing his adopted daughter Dylan Farrow in August 1992, when she was seven years old. | 2021 |
| O.J. Simpson | Accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman after they were found stabbed to death outside Brown Simpson’s condominium in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1994. | 1994 |
| Winona Ryder | Detained at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, California after leaving the store with thousands of dollars in designer clothing and accessories for which she had not paid and of removing security sensors from merchandise. | 2001 |
| Ariana Grande | Surveillance footage showed her licking doughnuts that had been left on an open display and making disparaging remarks about the United States. | 2015 |
| Mel Gibson – Mocking ASL Interpreter | Appearance at FanExpo Canada in Toronto in which he walked onstage while making exaggerated hand movements that appeared to imitate the ASL interpreter. | 2026 |
| Mel Gibson – Racist Rant Toward Girlfriend | In recordings of arguments with his former girlfriend, he used racist and sexist language, berated her over her appearance, said she would be responsible if she were raped, and made threatening and profane remarks. | 2010 |
| Joe Rogan | Video compilation released of him using the N-word during podcast conversations spanning many years. | 2022 |
| Matthew Perry | His memoir made two disparaging references to fellow actor Keanu Reeves. | 2022 |
| Jonah Hill | Directed a homophobic slur at a paparazzo who had been following him in Los Angeles. | 2014 |
| Mark Wahlberg | Racially motivated harassment and violence he committed as a teenager in Boston. | 1993 |
| Bono, U2 | Partnered with Apple to distribute its new album, Songs of Innocence, to more than half a billion iTunes customers without their consent. | 2014 |
| Haley Joel Osment | Police body-camera footage from his arrest at Mammoth Mountain ski resort in California showed him directing antisemitic language at a law-enforcement officer. | 2025 |
| Matthew McConaughey | Resisted arrest after police came to his house following a complaint of him laying a bongo drum in the nude while smoking marijuana. | 1999 |
| Marilyn Manson | His music was blamed in the aftermath of the April 20, 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado. | 1999 |
| Demi Lovato | Hospitalized following a drug overdose at her Los Angeles home. | 2018 |
| Roseanne Barr | Posted a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a former senior adviser to President Barack Obama. | 2018 |
| Armie Hammer | Private messages attributed to him described graphic sexual interests and fantasies involving domination, blood, violence, and cannibalism. | 2024 |
| Wesley Snipes | Participated with tax advisers Eddie Ray Kahn and Douglas P. Rosile in efforts to challenge his federal income-tax obligations. | 2008 |
| Jussie Smollett | Chicago police accused him of staging and falsely reporting a racist and homophobic attack against himself. | 2019 |
| Jim Thornton | Photographs surfaced from an American Airlines flight that appeared to show him using an online chatroom intended for people experiencing pedophilic thoughts. | 2026 |