There’s no denying that being in the public eye each and every day would truly take its toll on any sane person, however, if you wish to live a lavish lifestyle filled with all the benefits of being a celebrity then it’s expected that you do what you have to do to deal with being in the spotlight.
There’s very much a right and a wrong way to go about dealing with the stress and pressures of celebrity life, in reality it should be dealt with in a healthy manner, that’s not to the detriment of themselves or others… You know, yoga, meditation and time spent with the family…
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out this way and celebrities lose their cool. Sometimes it’s over the most mundane of things, sometimes it’s fuelled by something more sinister, such as drugs and alcohol, and in some bizarre cases we’ll never truly understand why they acted out!
Kanye West – Imma let you finish but… MTV VMAs
It’d be rude not to start this article with a celeb that has a list of bizzare controversies as long as their arm, none other than Yeezy himself, Kanye West. There were plenty of moments we could have gone with, but we think his outburst at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards is his best.
Then teen sensation and hero to millions of girls around the world Taylor Swift had just won the award for Best Female Video, however as she began her acceptance speech Kanye came onto the stage, took the microphone from her hand and said, “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you. Imma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time!”
The audience immediately turned on Kanye, booing, he subsequently gave the crowd the finger and walked off. He was later chastised by President Barack Obama and former President Jimmy Carter, as well as a whole host of famous faces for his selfish actions.
Kanye eventually apologised via his blog and on national television as he appeared on popular talk show The Jay Leno Show. Of course, this did not prove to be the last of Kanye’s outbursts over the years with things only getting weirder and weirder in the subsequent years.
Britney Spears – Head shaving incident
In February 2007 Britney Spears was at her lowest point, having fled a drug rehabilitation facility on the Caribbean island of Antigua after spending just a single day there.
Within 24 hours of leaving, the star found herself back in Los Angeles, denied access to her children by ex-husband Kevin Federline, Britney sadly cracked. The star found herself in a nearby hair salon, demanding that the hairdresser shave her head.
After nervously trying to persuade her not to make such a rash decision, Britney grabbed the clippers herself and dramatically sheared her hair off whilst bodyguards attempted to keep over 70 paparazzi away from the salon windows, but to no avail.
After the incident the star wrote on her website: “I was preparing my character for a role in a movie where the husband never plays his part so they switch places accidentally.I take all my roles very seriously and got a little carried away. Unfortunately I didn’t get the part.”
Of course, this wasn’t the case at all, it was much more sinister than that, with Britney being in the midst of a very public mental breakdown fueled by the drugs, alcohol and the pressures of celebrity life. Britney’s low points were recently highlighted in a Hulu Documentary Framing Britney Spears, which the star herself said left her “crying for 2 straight weeks”.
Charlie Sheen – Tiger Blood
Another famous face blighted by drugs and alcohol is Charlie Sheen. In 2011 the Two and a Half Men star was the highest-paid TV actor in Hollywood. However, the good times came to an abrupt halt when production of the show was shut down after a very public spat between himself and creator Chuck Lorre. Sheen also found himself in rehab after a serious drug relapse.
Not long after, Sheen was fired from the show, with Warner Bros lawyers stating that the actor was “engaged in self-destructive conduct and appears to be very ill”. In response he spoke to ABC’s 20/20 about his addictions, the interview made for a very interesting viewing and will go down in history as one of the wildest moments in American television history.
The most famous soundbite from the interview was as follows: “I was bangin’ seven-gram rocks and finishing them because that’s how I roll, because I have one speed, one gear…I’m different. I have a different constitution, I have a different brain, I have a different heart. I got tiger blood, man. Dying’s for fools, dying’s for amateurs.”
Of course, he wasn’t done there, he later told NBC’s Today Show “I’m tired of pretending like I’m not special. I’m tired of pretending like I’m not bitching, a total fricking rockstar from Mars, and people can’t figure me out, they can’t process me. I don’t expect them to. You can’t process me with a normal brain.”
Mel Gibson – Anti-semetic rant
Famous for his role in Braveheart, American-born Australian actor turned filmmaker Mel Gibson hit the headlines in 2006 when he was arrested for driving his Lexus along the Pacific Coast under the influence of alcohol (a half empty bottle of tequila was found on the floor of the car).
However, it wasn’t the drink driving that necessarily made the news, it was the way he spoke to the Los Angeles police officer that was questioning him. Firstly, Gibson asked him “Are you a Jew?” and then upon getting an answer he followed this up angrily stating that “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world”.
Whilst he has since apologised to the Jewish community for his anti-semetism, he has since downplayed the number of people killed in the Holocaust, stating that the number of people that died during this horrific period in history has shrunk year on year.
If that wasn’t quite enough the actor was engaged in a deep personal battle with Jewish actress Winona Ryder in 2020 after Gibson referred to her as an “oven dodger”, a claim which Gibson’s representatives say is 100% untrue.
Christian Bale – Bale loses his cool on Terminator set
In February 2009 an audio recording of Christian Bale losing his cool on the set of Terminator Salvation surfaced publically, and it did the distinguished actor no favours whatsoever.
The rant began when Shane Hurlbut, the Director of Photography on the movie walked onto set during the middle of a scene to adjust the lighting on one of his rigs, reportedly for the second or third time, which was clearly one time too many for Bale who well and truly lost his rag.
The recording was clear for all to hear: “Am I going to walk around and rip your f****** lights down, in the middle of a scene? Then why the f*** are you walking right through? Ah-da-da-dah, like this in the background. What the f*** is it with you?
“What don’t you f****** understand? You got any f****** idea about, hey, it’s f****** distracting having somebody walking up behind Bryce in the middle of the f****** scene? Give me a f****** answer! What don’t you get about it?”
This is not even half of the angry tirade, with Bale later threatening to kick Hulbut’s ass. In defence of Bale, he did apologise profusely after the incident went public, stating he was a ‘punk’ and acted inexcusably, however, whether he truly meant it remains to be seen.
Tom Cruise – Actor loses it on Oprah
On a more light-hearted note, there are some meltdowns that are actually rather heart-warming, if not just a little bit weird… Tom Cruise’s 2005 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show is most certainly one of those moments.
The wildly popular Hollywood star was meant to be on the world-famous talk show to discuss the upcoming Steven Spielberg movie War of the Worlds that he was starring in, but instead he decided to go off-script and profess his love for brand new girlfriend Katie Holmes.
As Cruise poured his heart out to millions around the world Oprah seemed dumbstruck with his gushing admiration, stating “He’s gone, he’s gone… The boy is gone!”.
Not content with just words, Cruise leapt from the sofa he was sharing with Oprah and began bouncing on the cushions, spinning around in sheer ecstasy as he exclaimed how he’d never felt this way about anyone before. It made for truly strange viewing, albeit, oddly sweet!
Honourable mentions
Honestly, this list could have quite easily been 100 of the most shocking public meltdowns, so regularly do celebs lose their cool for one reason or another, but you haven’t got all day to read that (and quite frankly we haven’t got all week to write it!), but we have decided to list just a handful of honourable mentions that didn’t quite make our top six!
Firstly, we have the very curious case of Ken Strauss, a player taking part in the 2019 World Series of Poker… During the Main Event at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino is Las Vegas Strauss decided to go all-in blind (cause for concern on its own in the poker world), after this he stepped up from the table, dropped his trousers and exposed himself to the table and the crowd before removing his shoes and throwing them at another player.
Sadly this story only gets darker as not long after Strauss attempted to kidnap and 8 year old, threatened suicide on the casino floor and later tweeted that he’ll destroy casinos that have banned him in… The poker player was eventually arrested on domestic terrorism charges.
Elsewhere we have Madonna stopping halfway through a set on the New Zealand leg of her Rebel Heart Tour in 2016, breaking down on stage over a custody battle with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie. Justin Bieber announcing on Instagram that he was cancelling all meet and greets with fans due to feeling depressed afterwards, due to ‘too much of other people’s spiritual energy’ and finally, oddball singer Icelandic singer Björk attacking a helpless reporter attempting to interview her at the airport in Thailand.