We all have a little insanity in us and can blow up if pushed to the extreme, but brace yourselves for this list of nine celebrities who lost it in public, because you’ll be shocked at what they did. Imagine going through a hard time, like infidelity in your marriage, a personal loss, substance abuse, or addiction, and then add hundreds of paparazzi and people around you, who are constantly tracking down your every move. Sounds pretty stressful right? Well, that’s the lucky life of a celebrity. Yet while some have learned to deal with the pressures of the showbiz world in a healthy way, others don’t cope so well.
From police run-ins, to public brawls and full-blown psychotic episodes, each celebrity on this list has lost it completely in public, making them the laughing stock of the public domain. In other cases there has been serious concern for the artist’s mental health, and their tantrums lead them straight to the psych ward or rehab. Either way, they all lost credibility and respect from the audience after their public debacles and never quite recovered from the incidents.
In the article about the 10 worst celebrity career moves ever, which we published last month, we mentioned a few terrible choices made by some of our “crazy” contenders, so now let’s see which celebrities truly lost it in public, and the reaction that followed.
9. Chris Brown
To anyone who even sporadically reads the tabloids, it will come as no surprise to see this name on our list of public freak-outs. In fact, Chris Brown has thrown so many violent temper tantrums in the past few years that I’m seriously questioning the ability of his anger management therapist. Let’s look beyond his lawsuit for physically abusing ex-girlfriend Rihanna and fast-forward to March 22, 2011, when the rapper had a raging outburst on the set of “Good Morning America”, trashing his dressing room and then storming out of the studio for being asked about the Rihanna incident. In 2013 he also had a steamy confrontation with Frank Ocean over a parking space, and broke a man’s nose in front of Washington D.C.’s W hotel for photobombing him.
Even that mile-long meltdown rap sheet only lands Chris Brown at number nine on our list. Check out the eight celebrities who lost it in public in an even bigger way, on the following pages.
8. Britney Spears
2007 was the year that everything went wrong in Britney Spears’ life. From sex tapes, to hard-core party accidents, and not to mention her media-spectacle divorce, the pop princess was all tabloids cared about. But the top of the cherry was her attempt to free herself from anxiety by shaving off her hair on camera, becoming the target for parodies and gossip queens for the following months. There were several other episodes that year, which put a dent in her career and made us question Miss Spears’ sanity.
7. Lamar Odom
It seems to be a given that Hollywood gossip reporters and paparazzi are easy targets for celebrity freak-outs. And in July of 2013 it was NBA star Lamar Odom’s turn to lose it in public. After being harassed by photographers outside of his car, Lamar freaked out: he took one paparazzo’s camera bag and emptied the equipment on the street, smashed another’s car with a metal bar and then left the scene with some of the photography gear in his trunk.
6. Mel Gibson
While this actor may have played some charming characters in his movies, I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side. In 2010, his child custody battle with Oksana Grigorieva took cussing and profanity to a whole other level. The phone conversations, which were taped and leaked to the press, recorded Mel threatening to burn Oksana’s house down and murder her. Needless to say, the actor lost a lot of credibility and respect, especially from his female fans.
5. Tom Cruise
Love can put you in a crazy state of mind sometimes, but Tom Cruise left us all flabbergasted when he declared his love for ex-wife Katie Holmes…by manically jumping up and down on Oprah Winfrey’s couch. This was back in May of 2005 and the many irrational events that followed put the Mission Impossible star in a safe spot on our list of celebrities that lost it in public.
4. Amanda Bynes
When Lindsay Lohan was breaking all gossip news sites with her constant drug-escapades, Amanda Bynes was still a tame Nickelodeon role model. However, in 2013 the actress took to Twitter and released a row of strangely mean and inappropriate statements. From posting pictures in her underwear, to piercing her cheeks, attacking other celebrities based on their beauty, and throwing a bong out of her Manhattan apartment window, Amanda definitely showed us her wild side. In her defense, she was sent to a rehab facility where psychiatrists declared her bipolar and is now receiving appropriate treatment.
3. David Hasselhoff
May 3, 2007 was a sad day for Baywatch fans, as a video titled “Hoff the wagon” went viral, showing David Hasselhoff in a terribly embarrassing state of drunkenness. The clip shows the actor lying on the floor, rambling incomprehensibly and eating a Wendy’s hamburger in the most unappetizing way. Since the video, Hasselhoff owned up to his issues with alcohol, stating that he is battling his demons.
2. Charlie Sheen
This actor’s taste for scandalous parties, drugs, alcohol, and escorts are nothing new to the public. But his role as Charlie in “Two and a Half Men” seems to have sent him over the edge. Last year, the actor was fired from the hit TV series and consequently appeared on a rooftop, where he opened a bottle of “Tiger Blood” with a machete. He also posted several confusing online rants where he describes himself as a “warlock”. As a result, Charlie lost custody over his two sons, Bod and Max.
1. Courtney Love
Kurt Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love is notorious for having public meltdowns and being extremely outspoken about them. While the continuum of crazy moments varies according to her current state of drug use, one of the most recent public humiliations took place in 2011, when the Hole singer spread her hate for Foo Fighters front man Dave Grohl, Nirvana lyricist Krist Novoselic, and writer Johnny Firecloud. Love’s rant was so intense that she swayed her audience to chant out “Foo Fighters are gay” before abandoning the gig. A round of applause for this classy lady.
