- 5 months ago
Behind the glamour of Hollywood, not every celebrity is a joy to work with. In this countdown, we reveal 30 famous stars who have earned a reputation for being demanding, unprofessional, or just plain difficult on set.
From A-list actors to music legends, these behind-the-scenes stories show that fame doesn’t always mean friendly. Some are perfectionists, others divas, and a few have tempers that could rival their talent.
📌 A must-watch for movie fans, entertainment lovers, and anyone curious about Hollywood’s untold stories.
From A-list actors to music legends, these behind-the-scenes stories show that fame doesn’t always mean friendly. Some are perfectionists, others divas, and a few have tempers that could rival their talent.
📌 A must-watch for movie fans, entertainment lovers, and anyone curious about Hollywood’s untold stories.
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00:00four million more than you ever even dreamed of more than we ever ever did together welcome to
00:05watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most contentious celebs known for making
00:10collaboration way more challenging than it needs to be number 30 christian bale the dark knight
00:21star is often seen as a textbook example of a method actor although he denies it he goes to
00:26extreme lengths to bring his characters to life however in the process he is known to cross
00:31ethical lines he once snapped at the director of photography on the set of terminator salvation
00:36after being interrupted his american psycho co-star chloe sevigny was unnerved by his approach to
00:41acting and wished he had been more generous i think their undisputed masterpieces hip to be square
00:46song so catchy most people probably don't listen to the lyrics but they should because it's not just
00:52about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends it's also a personal
00:56statement about the band itself hey paul bale himself admitted to keeping his distance from
01:02his co-actors for the sake of his performance however in an interview with gq he shut down
01:07rumors of being difficult claiming he simply had high standards for his craft nuclear enough to level
01:13this place cover it number 29 jimmy fallon he's known for being one of the friendliest talk show
01:22hosts on tv but found himself at the center of a toxic workplace controversy in 2023 i just remember
01:29i liked you and he was like not now um i'm married now um but he was like oh well you can be i mean
01:38several staff members working on the tonight show alleged that he created a hostile environment
01:50on set it was apparently so extreme that it caused employees to tiptoe around him and they even
01:55struggled with their mental health because of it according to their claims jimmy was reportedly
02:00entitled unpredictable and even showed up to work appearing intoxicated the fact that he once wore
02:05blackface on snl did not help his image either fallon has since apologized for both issues it's
02:11embarrassing and i feel so bad number 28 jean simmons the demon from kiss has an unholy reputation
02:18to say the least when he's off the stage he's best known for his promiscuous nature unfiltered language
02:23and questionable political opinions he was accused of sexually assaulting two women including his bandmate
02:29ace fraley's wife i'm a powerful and attractive man and what i'm about to say is deadly serious
02:35men are jackasses from the time we're young we have testosterone not validating it or defending
02:41it he was also called quote obnoxious by npr journalist terry gross for his inappropriate remarks
02:47toward her the rocker even got banned from fox and friends after he allegedly acted indecently in
02:52front of fox news staff jean's wife shannon tweed tolerated his infidelity for years she once even
02:58walked out of an interview on the joy behar show because she was tired of him joking about his
03:02womanizing ways personally or professionally jean simmons doesn't seem to be great company
03:08it's a joke where are you going what are you doing she's done with you it's so rude for you to joke
03:14about it i was i was just joking because she's a comedian
03:18number 27 william shatner the canadian actor's feuds with his star trek co-stars are legendary he was
03:27allegedly envious of leonard nimoy's popularity and stole spock's lines to give his character captain
03:32kirk more importance the two actors had a hot and cold friendship for years michelle nichols who played
03:38ohura reportedly considered quitting the film series over his conduct but martin luther king jr
03:43inspired her to keep going he also clashed with george takei aka sulu for decades you'll arrest the
03:49husband because a denny crane wants you to however shatner's unsavory behavior apparently does not stop at
03:55one reddit user claimed he allegedly mocked a tall security guard for his height until he almost got
04:01assaulted for it although this is just a rumor it doesn't help his so-called difficult reputation
04:06number 26 tommy lee jones the oscar-winning actor is undoubtedly a hollywood icon however people in the
04:18industry do not seem to have the easiest time dealing with him jim carrey once famously revealed
04:22that jones refused to quote sanction his quote buffoonery while they were filming batman forever
04:27he went like to hug me and he said i hate you he is also known to be tough to interview since he has
04:35no interest in offering flowery answers however several of tommy's colleagues have defended him
04:40at times his men in black co-star will smith asserted that he thoroughly enjoyed working with
04:44him even josh brolin told entertainment weekly that tommy made the set quote uncomfortable but in an
04:49intriguing way similarly hillary swank and samuel l jackson can vouch for his sense of humor
04:54so is he difficult it depends on who you ask pellets slime in their veins instead of hot red blood
05:01you are more reptile than man george so low and flat that the foot of man is incapable of crushing
05:10number 25 katherine heigl stop it i mean it stop talking there is nothing to talk about do you
05:18understand me there is nothing to discuss the gray's anatomy star has a bad rep for being
05:24quote ungrateful and quote unprofessional in her own words however any fan who has followed the
05:30actress through the years knows that the industry vilified her for having strong opinions she called
05:35out knocked up for its sexism criticized grace for allegedly enforcing unsafe working hours and
05:40advocated for a raise on the show she was also misunderstood for years just because she didn't
05:45submit her work on the medical drama for consideration at the 2008 emmys a young heigl reacted by retreating
05:51from the public eye however now she's back and better than ever i think that's when i got really
05:56comfortable with my role as the villain you know it's really enjoyed it number 24 mariah carey i'm still
06:02always going to be a diva in certain ways and i don't mean that in the bad sense of the word the
06:06songbird supreme wears her diva title like a badge of honor being self-made she is proudly high
06:12maintenance however the people around her seemingly have a hard time keeping up tmz once reported that
06:17mariah was quote a nightmare on the set of american idol in another instance journalist amon holmes said
06:23he had to wait hours to interview her and was ultimately told she was too tired to proceed even more
06:28peculiar are the rules she said to implement on her personal assistants they allegedly can't date
06:33during their first year on the job and aren't allowed to shed tears in her office she has also
06:38been sued by her former staff members including assistants and her children's nannies reportedly
06:43over payments yikes can you say three nice things about nikki minaj
06:47can you number 23 russell crowe if you've given me the opportunity i'm extremely sorry for this
06:59whole incident and i regret um everything that took place and um you know i've apologized to
07:07my wife there's not many things that scare me in this world but i'm absolutely terrified of
07:10disappointing the gladiator actor is infamous for his anger and for a long time that was all he made the
07:16headlines for on the one hand his career was soaring on the other his image was deteriorating
07:21he regularly came under fire for allegedly getting into brawls once throwing a telephone at a hotel
07:27concierge and chiding a bbc producer for cutting his bafta acceptance speech in 2002 there were rumors
07:33of him being violent toward a photographer at one point but he denied them claiming he used some choice
07:38words to tear people down instead crowe's rampages became so common that even south park had to parody
07:44them he fights his directors and he fights his fans it's a problem no one understands if there's two
07:49things he loves it's fighting and fighting around the world the oscar winner now regrets his rash
07:55actions number 22 terry hatcher say you're sorry let me go the desperate housewife star reportedly
08:02didn't have much of a friendship with her co-stars in real life word on the street was that while
08:07actresses nicolette sheridan eva longoria marcia cross and felicity huffman were pals hatcher didn't mesh
08:13with them in fact when eva marcia and felicity gave farewell presents to the show's crew after it
08:17concluded they did so with vanessa williams who was only on two seasons terry was not involved her
08:23already damaged reputation took an even bigger hit when a staffer on the abc show patty lynn claimed
08:29that the writers avoided eye contact with her when she comes back here i'm gonna shove this picture in
08:34her perky little mug and when she's not me can see even her lois and clark co-star dean kane admitted
08:38to her being difficult at times although he emphasized that working with her was quote
08:43amazing number 21 marlon brando this legend was an eccentric genius always known for playing by his
08:49own rules his classmate entertainment executive alan shane once said that he was quote impossible to
08:55work with and his apocalypse now co-star dennis hopper revealed brando didn't want to be on set with him
09:00how did things ever get so far i don't know
09:04we're so unfortunate francis ford coppola explained that marlon was just different however
09:13his excellence did not justify his behavior he allegedly turned up half-dressed on the set of
09:18the score and degraded director frank oz he also reportedly refused to learn his lines for the island
09:23of dr moreau the most ridiculed of his supposed antics was rejecting interviews using his dog's name dr tim
09:30you might think it was him being funny but there's no denying that it was deeply offensive
09:34this is the most outrageous spectacle i have ever witnessed look at yourself i understand that i
09:42must be shocking to you number 20 tyra banks kenya hill denny evans brooke burke what do these
09:50people have in common they've all worked with tyra banks and they've all said that working with her
09:55was difficult for you how dare you learn something from this a number of words have been used to
10:01describe banks including queen bee and diva and one former contestant on america's next top model
10:06called working with her quote psychological warfare yeah i have nothing but love for my girls
10:12another source who worked on dancing with the stars verified these claims telling the sun that she
10:17was a quote nightmare who quote made wild demands and was quote disrespectful to the crew
10:23turning the general work environment quote toxic banks left the show after only three seasons
10:29i think it's time to graduate from the dance floor to the stock market floor number 19 hugh grant
10:36we know hugh grant is everyone's favorite british heartthrob but if the rumors are to be believed
10:41it's actually kind of a dink make sure you massage his cloven hoof girls i'm suddenly feeling a pain in my
10:47grant is notoriously misanthropic and refuses to talk about his personal life making him a very
10:53difficult subject to interview what are you wearing tonight then just my suit but that is nothing
10:59compared to what his co-workers endure director mike newell claims that quote his tongue is maybe too
11:05clever for its own good and many co-stars have reported that grant is a perfectionist often demanding
11:10countless retakes to get a scene exactly right and some stars have literally called him a pain in the you
11:16know what including jerry seinfeld and john stewart who labeled grant the worst guest in his show's
11:22history did you have a clip with you what what do you mean a clip number 18 noel and liam gallagher
11:28there are few people as hated in the music industry as the gallagher brothers at least professionally
11:33today is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you both have terrible reputations
11:40known far and wide for their confrontational personalities and general disdain for humanity
11:45noel gallagher has arguably got it worse publicly feuding with the likes of damon albarn jay-z and
11:51phil collins but no one hates the brothers more than they do each other don't like each other the two
11:57have a painfully tumultuous relationship and it's a wonder they managed to write and record music
12:02together arguments were very frequent and some eventually led to physical violence including head
12:08butts and thrown chairs it was no surprise when the band eventually split and oasis has not released a
12:14studio album since 2008 however they did announce plans in 2024 to reunite the next year for a world
12:26tour number 17 jared leto jared leto has turned in some unforgettable performances from the spectacular
12:33as a die-hard method actor he's endured a lot to do his job and so of his co-stars as a method actor
12:45he's insisted on some sets that his fellow cast only address him by his character's name and he's often
12:51refused to break that character to an unreasonable extent most famously he embodied suicide squad's
12:58twisted joker role by allegedly sending co-workers nasty gifts in the mail i don't want no beef you
13:04want no beef you don't want no beef you don't want no beef he's both lost and gained weight for films
13:10with his part as mark david chapman in chapter 27 eventually requiring him to move around by wheelchair
13:16his dedication might be admirable but the friction it's caused among his colleagues makes him one tough
13:22collaborator would you die for me yes that's too easy would you
13:31would you live for me meanwhile the fact that the actor and musician faced several sexual misconduct
13:40allegations in 2025 doesn't help his rep number 16 madonna madonna certainly has accolades and dollars
13:47to spare but it seems like many people have a bone to pick with her
13:51fashion music tv you name the industry and someone in it has a problem with madonna let's give some
14:04examples fashion giorgio armani has called her quote very difficult music both share and rufus
14:10wainwright have labeled the pop legend quote rude tv the hosts of the view called her quote disrespectful
14:16and he said you know what you're just too caught up in yourself why don't you do something for other
14:21people um that has nothing to do with what you're going to get out of it so i mean no one ever suggested
14:27that to me before no the reasons for this reputation are many including a generally mean demeanor
14:33often acting spoiled and entitled ignoring people at events and having a fierce penchant for being late
14:40so you know take your pick
14:42number 15 axl rose bandmates managers the fans if you want to count them as co-workers any and all
14:52have had run-ins with axl rose the guns and roses singer has long been famous for his bad boy image
15:00known for wild mood swings and violent confrontations
15:03he was once sued by an audience member he physically attacked and he's been sued by band
15:12members slash and duff mckagan over songwriting credits basically it was just that i you know
15:17i'm done i think that was who said that i did he was later sued by another band member chris pitman
15:22over unpaid wages oh yes he was also sued by a former band manager who took rose to court over
15:29nearly two million dollars in unpaid fees we're starting to see a pattern here
15:33number 14 joss whedon despite a long and very successful career in hollywood joss whedon's
15:46reputation took a major hit in july of 2020 the revelation of joss whedon's alleged bad behavior
15:52continues to surface as former talents come forth about their accounts of harassment
15:56and the creation of a toxic work environment all at the hands of one of hollywood's most
16:02sought-after directors this is when he was accused of workplace harassment by ray fisher
16:06who played cyborg in justice league fisher accused whedon of quote gross abusive unprofessional and
16:13completely unacceptable behavior and his statements were backed up by jason momoa who claimed that quote
16:18serious stuff went down on the set you really are out of your mind this opened the floodgates and
16:24numerous co-workers admitted that they had a poor time with whedon he is reportedly very mean has
16:30made numerous co-workers cry with nasty comments and tormented buffy actress charisma carpenter
16:35making fun of her religion and even asking if she was going to keep her baby you must just look back
16:40on that and cringe number 13 alfred hitchcock he may have been a legendary director but he was an absolute
16:47pain to work under good evening and thank you for being so prompt i detest being kept waiting by all
16:56accounts hitchcock was notoriously terrible to his actors despite drawing from them some amazing
17:01performances he once famously said that quote actors should be treated like cattle and james mason who
17:07starred in north by northwest said that he treated actors like quote animated props has anyone ever told you
17:14that you overplay your various roles rather severely mr captain hitchcock fiercely prohibited performers
17:20from improvising or giving him creative suggestions saying that they should stick to acting and not be
17:25involved in the writing and directing processes and that is not even mentioning his abusive and
17:30borderline obsessive relationship with tippy hedron who eventually stopped working with hitchcock after
17:36marnie having found him too creepy he told me he'd ruin my career i said do what you have to do i don't
17:43care i'm out number 12 ellen degenerous how the mighty have fallen i'm happy to to see you i'm happy
17:51you're here i'm happy you're in a good mood ellen degenerous was once an icon a very popular talk show host
17:56and a trailblazer for lgbtqia plus acceptance in mainstream media now degenerous is widely known for being a
18:03tyrant it all started in july 2020 when former employees of the ellen degenerous show accused the
18:09host of creating a toxic workplace environment toxic phony hypocrite liar that's what she is the reports
18:16were many including instances of quote racist microaggressions ignoring employee accusations of
18:22sexual harassment and firing people for taking bereavement leave and setting up gofundmes for
18:27medical bills some have even accused degenerous of letting people go simply for looking her in the eyes
18:33comedian kevin t porter called degenerous quote one of the meanest people alive welcome to our very
18:39last show number 11 kanye west even ignoring yay's countless controversies outside of the music industry
18:46he's still an incredibly difficult man to work with you've been putting up with much it's just way too
18:52long in 2024 yay was sued by a security guard who claimed that the rapper often screamed at him
18:59treated him poorly for being black and forced him to cut his dreadlocks even though they're a part of
19:04his muslim fate frequent collaborator big sean has also admitted that yay is a nightmare telling the
19:09million dollars worth of game podcast that he is quote very hard to work with and demands perfection
19:15even nike executives have gotten in on the action having warned adidas that doing business with him
19:25was an arduous and punishing task oh baby i gotta plan run away fast as you can number 10 bill murray
19:35is this some radical new therapy you see bill murray has had a long career making great comedies
19:41and managed to segue into dramatic roles as well unfortunately over that long career he's also
19:47managed to accumulate a long list of people with unpleasant stories about what it's like to work with him
19:52gina davis has written about murray forcing a massage device on her and yelling derogatory things
19:57at her on set richard dreyfus said that a drunk murray threw an ashtray at him while filming what
20:02about bob and a producer on that film has talked about murray throwing her in a lake following a
20:07disagreement lucy lu has also talked publicly about the quote inexcusable and unacceptable language
20:13murray directed at her on the set of charlie's angels
20:16Alex you okay she's having trouble with her secret identity pause
20:19aren't we all scoot
20:21number nine shia labeouf
20:25no no no no no no
20:28though he got his start in hollywood and kids shows and blockbusters shia labeouf's growth into an artist
20:33and filmmaker surprised many over the years he's made more than a few controversial remarks engaged in what
20:39some would call publicity stunts and according to some he can also transform into a bit of a jerk
20:45okay here's the dream your b minus dream gone
20:48shia is notorious for his temper and belligerent attitude even leaving the broadway production of
20:54orphans he was slated to star in due to constant bickering and fights with his co-stars especially
20:59alec baldwin now baldwin just recently responded via the new york times stating he was very disappointed
21:05and regarding of what people feel about the events that happen you expect communications to be private
21:10because everyone wants this process to be as collegial as possible
21:14according to some however labeouf was just straight up fired
21:18no sacrifice
21:19no victory
21:21number eight edward norton
21:23edward norton is one of the finest actors in the industry
21:26so it comes as no surprise that he takes his craft extremely seriously
21:30quit your crying i can't understand a goddamn word you're saying
21:34you little sissy you make me sick
21:36we repeat extremely seriously
21:39in fact norton has a reputation for shadow directing
21:42if you come near danny again
21:44he sat in on the editing for american history x because he didn't trust tony k
21:48and often clashed with the studio during the incredible hulk over creative differences
21:52while the people behind the film said the dispute was blown out of proportion in the media
22:02and a promo tour was planned for the movie norton didn't do any promotion following its release
22:06so yes by all accounts he is that one employee who tells everyone else how to do his or her jobs
22:12you look at me when i'm talking to you
22:14number seven jennifer lopez
22:16why don't you just get yourself straight and we can put this whole thing behind us
22:21while 2019's hustlers was very well received lopez's earlier work didn't do wonders for her reputation
22:27although she's known as a very hard worker
22:34jenny from the block has been called out in the past for so-called diva behavior
22:39you did not just poke me don't you touch me you too bad tramp
22:43she's been said to often make ridiculous demands
22:47like numerous five-star hotel rooms to stay in
22:50and her own private plane so she can travel in true diva style
22:53all on someone else's dime of course
22:55she was supposed to be going to india to perform
22:57but she asked for a private plane
23:00she also asked for an exorbitant amount
23:02that's what they're saying of hotel rooms for her huge entourage
23:05in the kicker she refuses to perform if her demands are not met
23:09we guess it's too bad her demands were met in the case of Gigli
23:12what?
23:15number six steven seagal
23:17the police are looking for you
23:19but i'm gonna have to kill you first
23:21it seems increasingly difficult for seagal to find credible work these days
23:25lord knows it's been a long hard minute since the last time he had a box office hit
23:30that may have something to do with the fact that he's supposedly a nightmare on set
23:35not only is seagal cited as being highly critical of others
23:38he's also been known to physically intimidate cast members
23:41and he a-kido'd me against a brick wall
23:44pow!
23:45knocked all the air out of me
23:47i was like
23:48what?
23:49what?
23:50he purportedly slammed comedian john leguizamo against a wall simply for laughing at him
23:55because you know comedians aren't allowed to be funny
23:58we'll put it this way
23:59henry rollins has stated he'd rather drink latex paint than work with seagal
24:04if you thought you could save the world
24:07but nobody would know it and you might have to give your life in doing it
24:12would you do it?
24:13number five leah michelle
24:15what can you do when you're good isn't good enough
24:21don't sit there and assume the cast of glee reflected its show's name when the cameras were not rolling
24:30rather leah michelle who played one of the singing stars rachel berry apparently took on the cutthroat
24:35mentality of a real high school diva when it came to her behavior on set
24:38don't use the fact that jesse and i once had feelings for each other as an excuse for my inevitable win
24:43according to reports michelle was rude to all involved with production making the cast and crew
24:48stand around and wait extensively until she was ready to begin shooting crew members also claim
24:53michelle refused to speak to junior members of the glee staff on top of that in 2020 glee co-star
24:59samantha ware said michelle made her first television gig quote living hell and described
25:04repeated instances of traumatic microaggressions towards the black actress she got better press
25:09in her recent broadway appearance but was that a real change or just damage control
25:13number four sean penn sean penn you rude dumb rude and full of farts you stanky sean real-time
25:28stanker when it came out in early 2016 that infamous mexican drug lord el chapo met and
25:34interviewed with actor sean penn the most reasonable question asked by the public was why what
25:40qualifications does penn have forget about blame we're gonna put all our focus all our energy all
25:47our billions of dollars on the bad guy well if he were to respond to that question we probably
25:52wouldn't be able to publish it due to explicit language and its overall awful message though known
25:57as a great actor he is also famous for allegedly being incredibly rude and an overall jerk well i'm not
26:04gonna do that and although they are indeed serious we won't even discuss the allegations of
26:09domestic abuse lobbied against him and instead we're just gonna focus on his very real identity
26:14as a nightmare to work with my own little daughter and i can't even cry for it allegedly hostile and
26:20intimidating he's not someone you want to share the screen with number three mike myers
26:30pick your jaw up off the floor we weren't expecting it either but apparently this funny
26:35man is not nearly as fun as his characters the austin power star has been constantly called
26:44quote moody and temperamental and many complain about the degree of control mike myers feels he
26:49should be able to exhibit over the cast and crew right now we've got freedom many executives in the
26:55industry have simply refused to work with him and rumor has it he even had a crew member fired for
27:00looking him in the eyes on a particularly bad day not groovy baby well that's where i see things just
27:05a little differently contractor no i will not bow to any sponsor number two klaus kinski listen
27:15the children of the night make their music even the most difficult of actors tends to make a few
27:20friends in the industry and even if they don't sometimes you can put up with the worst of the worst if
27:26they're simply that damn talented and then sometimes you have people like klaus kinski who
27:31was reportedly so difficult that nobody gave him a second chance though not a household name the
27:41german actor appeared in over a hundred films throughout his long career despite that extensive list
27:46kinski only ever worked with one director on multiple occasions all the others refused to deal with him
27:52again to put it bluntly kinski has been described as insane prone to frequent blow-ups there really is
28:00no comparison to his madness before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to
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28:26number one chevy chase
28:32who hasn't chevy chase pissed off kindly regarded as perhaps the biggest grump in hollywood chase has been
28:39described as an indefensible cruelly vicious put-down artist put yourself down now as early as his snl days
28:47chase was burning bridges with the likes of john belushi bill murray and the writers he's talked
28:53serious smack about most big names in the industry some notables include will farrell howard stern kevin
28:59smith and bill maher more recently chase destroyed the one good thing he had going with the cult classic
29:04show community chevy how are you feeling about the dan harman stuff the what dan harman who's that he
29:11heavily criticized the series and showrunner while he was still a cast member and was known to have
29:17extremely offensive on-set tirades we can't imagine chase has many friends left every man should be
29:23punched in the face it's a rite of passage do you think any of these stars are actually misunderstood
29:28share your thoughts in the comments i think that's when i got really comfortable with my role as the
29:33villain you know it's really enjoyed it you
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