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When celebrities fall from grace, their PR teams go into overdrive! Join us as we examine the most desperate attempts by famous faces to change the narrative after major scandals. From bizarre interviews to tone-deaf apologies, these damage control efforts often made things worse! Which celeb's spin attempt was the most cringe-worthy?
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00:00And he says it has encouraged him to do something he's never done before,
00:04publicly acknowledge that he is gay.
00:07Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're discussing times that celebrities try to manipulate the
00:11public's perception of them following a major controversy.
00:14I still felt it was important to come on here and defend myself a little and take accountability.
00:23Charlie Sheen.
00:24Since the 80s, Sheen has been a prolific comedy actor in Hollywood.
00:28From 2003 until 2011, he was the lead character on Two and a Half Men.
00:32Charlie.
00:34Yeah?
00:36I'm waiting.
00:38For what?
00:40Oh, right.
00:44Hang on.
00:45They terminated his contract on account of his erratic behavior.
00:48For instance, he insulted the series creator Chuck Lorre.
00:51Plus, he released a few incoherent rants.
00:53Sheen also got into trouble with the police multiple times during this era.
00:56Eventually, he decided to embrace his outrageous side, famously telling people he was simply
01:00winning.
01:01I'm bi-winning.
01:03I win here and I win there.
01:04Now what?
01:06If I'm bipolar, aren't there moments where a guy crashes in the corner like, oh my god,
01:10it's all my mom's fault?
01:11Shut up!
01:12It felt like he was trying to convince people it was an intentional self-parody when he
01:15was actually having a meltdown.
01:17Thankfully, he is much less erratic these days and has left that period behind him.
01:21Do you recognize yourself?
01:22I don't know who that is.
01:24And that's not a cop-out.
01:25Or I don't know what part of me that came from.
01:29It's weird.
01:29It's like there's a possession going on.
01:31Winona Ryder.
01:32Well, I read through that handbook for the recently deceased.
01:36It says, live people ignore the strange and unusual.
01:41Since the late 80s, Ryder has been a celebrated Hollywood actress.
01:44Her first major role was in Beetlejuice, while modern audiences know her best from Stranger
01:48things.
01:49She may have never landed the latter role since her career almost ended in 2001.
01:53No, it is not the electricity, Jonathan.
01:56Something is going on here.
01:58Yesterday, the wall.
02:00What?
02:00What about the wall?
02:01I don't know.
02:01First the lights, then the wall.
02:03I just know that Will is here.
02:05Ryder was arrested for shoplifting roughly $5,000 worth of clothes.
02:10When accused, Ryder said that she was simply rehearsing for a film.
02:13This didn't help save face, however, and she took a break from acting for almost four years.
02:17For her crime, the court gave her a three-year probation sentence, 480 hours community service
02:22and a fine.
02:23The Oscar-nominated actress, now a convicted felon, received no sympathy from the judge
02:28who chastised her for refusing to accept responsibility for stealing $6,000 worth of
02:33clothes one year ago.
02:34Tiger Woods.
02:35Even if you have zero interest in golf, you're probably familiar with golfer Tiger Woods.
02:40He's one of the most famous golfers who dominated during the 2000s.
02:44I owe a lot of people an apology.
02:46I hurt a lot of people, not just my wife, my friends, my colleagues, the public, kids
02:53who looked up to me.
02:54Well, in the late 2000s, his career took a setback after struggling with his marriage.
02:58It turns out he was far from a loyal husband.
03:00I was living a life of a lie.
03:03I really was.
03:03And I was doing a lot of things, as I said, that hurt a lot of people.
03:08And stripping away denial and rationalisation, you start coming to the truth of who you really
03:11are.
03:11And that can be very ugly.
03:14To help the situation, Woods publicly apologised and tried to come across as a rehabilitated
03:18family man.
03:19It didn't work, and he got divorced in 2010.
03:21A study from December 2009 calculated that the scandal cost shareholders somewhere between
03:26$5 and $12 billion.
03:28This is because of how many companies cut ties with Woods after the infidelities became public.
03:33The man we all thought Tiger Woods was on Thanksgiving Day, will we ever see him again, or is that
03:39guy gone forever?
03:40Paula Deen.
03:41Our next entry is a celebrity chef and TV personality who used to host the long-running series Paula's
03:47Home Cooking.
03:47What I'm fixing to do now is make that succulent shrimp and crab casserole from canned seafood
03:56meats.
03:56Can you believe it?
03:57Public opinion of her collapsed in 2013 after she was sued by Lisa Jackson for racial and
04:03sexual discrimination.
04:04Jackson alleged Dean wanted a wedding with a southern plantation-style theme.
04:09Things got worse when Dean said, of course, she has used a certain slur before.
04:14Dean has asked, quote, have you ever used the N-word yourself?
04:18Yes, of course, she said.
04:19And then later, I'm sure I have, but it's been a very long time.
04:23Dean then tried to repair things by making apologies on YouTube, begging for forgiveness.
04:27Tons of brands cut ties with her because of it, but her cookbooks ended up selling massively,
04:31and Jimmy Carter even stepped in to defend her.
04:34If there's anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take
04:45back, if you're out there, please pick up that stone and throw it so hard in my head
04:52that it kills me.
04:53Justin Baldoni
04:54The 2024 movie It Ends With Us was directed by Baldoni and featured him alongside Blake
05:00Lively.
05:01And I continue to be very sorry, but at some point you're going to have to forgive me.
05:05I will wear you down.
05:05My wife will wear you down.
05:07Not possible.
05:08I don't think you should ever forgive her.
05:10Just say it.
05:10Okay, that's enough of that.
05:11It was far from a pleasant filming experience as both actors have filed lawsuits about the
05:15toxic production.
05:17Lively complained about Baldoni, accusing him of harassment and intimidation.
05:21To keep people on his side, Baldoni decided to sue the New York Times for libel for supposedly
05:26being biased towards Lively.
05:28Baldoni's lawsuit calling the article rife with inaccuracies, misrepresentations and
05:33omissions, relying on Lively's quote, self-serving narrative.
05:37Baldoni didn't stop there.
05:38He went even further and decided to sue Lively, her husband and their publicist, accusing them
05:44of making fake claims to decimate his reputation.
05:47The situation is now a complete mess and Baldoni hasn't been particularly successful at coming
05:52out on top.
05:53Even if Justin Baldoni's right on the facts, as a matter of law, on each and one of these
05:59counts, he can't win.
06:01There is no case to bring to a jury as a legal matter, and so the case must be dismissed.
06:06Miranda Sings.
06:07This character was created by Colleen Ballinger, who became so famous that she even got a Netflix
06:13series in 2016.
06:14Are you threatening me?
06:16She created the character in 2008, but hasn't kept it through the 2020s.
06:27This was because multiple teenagers accused her of being inappropriate towards them.
06:31A ton of evidence was released, and Ballinger ended up in the midst of a major scandal.
06:34The unverified group text was named Colleenies Weenies, with the performer allegedly asking
06:40her fans their, quote, favorite position during one conversation.
06:45To repair her reputation, she decided to write an abysmal song, then perform it on a
06:49ukulele for YouTube.
06:51Her lyrics claim the allegations were a toxic gossip train, but she did admit to making a
06:56few mistakes.
06:57The only thing I've ever groomed is my two Persian cats.
07:01I'm not a groomer.
07:02I'm just a loser.
07:03If you didn't understand, I shouldn't respond to fans.
07:07And I'm not a predator, even though a lot of you think so.
07:09It was one of the worst apologies in YouTube history, and she's not recovered since.
07:14Ellen DeGeneres
07:15The Ellen DeGeneres show ran for almost 20 years, becoming one of America's favorite
07:28talk shows.
07:29This was largely due to DeGeneres' friendly and kind personality, which turned out
07:33to be entirely false.
07:35In 2020, 10 of the show's ex-employees claimed that she created a toxic workplace.
07:40One makeup artist was quoted as saying that when he tried to make small talk with Ellen,
07:45she supposedly said, who do you think you are?
07:48Don't look at me.
07:49In response, she tried to present herself and the network in a positive light.
07:53This included a public apology to her staff and a pledge to fix things.
07:57DeGeneres saying she wasn't perfect and realized that some leaders were not as sensitive to
08:01human beings as they should have been, adding that reading disturbing allegations about the
08:06atmosphere on the show was heartbreaking.
08:09An investigation was launched, resulting in three executives being fired and another
08:13apology from DeGeneres.
08:14Even now, she insists she's not mean, as a mean person wouldn't dance up steps, at least
08:20according to her.
08:21My intention is to always be the best person I can be.
08:25And if I've ever let someone down, if I've ever hurt their feelings, I am so sorry for
08:29that.
08:29If that's ever the case, I have let myself down and I've hurt myself as well.
08:33Shia LaBeouf.
08:34There's rarely a time when Shia LaBeouf isn't doing something controversial, who began a downward
08:38spiral in the 2010s and hasn't really recovered since.
08:41He took the disguise, he posted a picture on his Twitter account, Shia LaBeouf did, and
08:47he showed, he says, I am sorry, Daniel Close.
08:50In 2013, he released a movie called howardcounter.com.
08:54It was so similar to a 2007 comic that LaBeouf was accused of plagiarism.
08:58But what's more, LaBeouf's various subsequent Twitter apologies, and yes, there were several,
09:04sent to close, were apparently inspired by different people.
09:08This then revealed his history of plagiarism, which turned into a PR nightmare.
09:12LaBeouf decided to defend himself.
09:14He had to convince people it was performance art.
09:16This involved him marathoning all of his movies and live streaming his reactions, having erratic
09:21interviews, and also putting a paper bag on his head for a film premiere.
09:26Kevin Spacey.
09:27Can you blame me if I find it difficult to trust you right now?
09:29Trust me or not, but I'm about to be confirmed as the Vice President, and our relationship
09:35extends to the Oval Office now.
09:37From the 90s until 2017, it was more controversial to dislike actor Kevin Spacey than to like him.
09:42He was considered one of Hollywood's most talented faces, starring in a ton of acclaimed pictures.
09:48In 2017, numerous individuals accused him of assault and harassment, ruining his reputation.
09:53After the party ended sometime past midnight, Rap alleges Spacey entered the room seeming drunk.
09:58He then picked up Rap, placed him on Spacey's bed, climbed on top of him, and tried to seduce him.
10:04In response to the backlash, he decided to come out as a gay man.
10:07This attempt to change the subject was widely criticized for how insensitive it was.
10:11Coming out as gay is completely separate from addressing allegations of being a sexual predator.
10:17You could argue that coming out as gay in this particular moment might deflect attention
10:22away from the allegations against him.
10:25Many were offended at how it felt like he was linking homosexuality to being a child predator,
10:30as if it excused it.
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10:48Prince Andrew
10:49Few celebrities have done as catastrophically bad a job at defending themselves as Prince Andrew did in 2019.
10:56Just for the record, you've been on his private plane?
10:59Yes.
11:00You've been to stay on his private island?
11:03Yes.
11:04You've stayed at his home in Palm Beach?
11:07Yes.
11:08In 2014, Virginia Dufresne claimed that during her teenage years,
11:12Jeffrey Epstein and Andrew had trafficked and abused her.
11:16To bring the public back on his side, he appeared on Newsnight and was interviewed about his friendship with Epstein.
11:22But you were staying at the house of a convicted sex offender?
11:24It was a convenient place to stay.
11:28I mean, I've gone through this in my mind so many times.
11:32Andrew was pleased with the interview, but no one shared his opinion.
11:36It was so catastrophically poor that it made everyone think that Andrew was guilty of something.
11:41As such, he stepped down from public duties and has rarely been seen in public since.
11:45He stepped down by mutual agreement, we're told, from that position and from roles in nearly a dozen other regiments.
11:53He's also giving up roles in the Royal Navy and the RAF.
11:57Which celebrity do you think did the worst job at damage control following a scandal?
12:01Let us know in the comments section.
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