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Fame is fleeting, but failure can last forever... Join us as we count down celebrities whose careers crashed and never recovered from commercial, critical, and public disasters!
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00:08Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at once-prominent actors and musicians who were disgraced beyond a comeback by
00:14commercial, critical, and public flops.
00:16See, every time I wake up, I got to clear my head, but I clear it with my steps, cause
00:21it goes with my tension.
00:23Rachel Lee Cook, a unique Girl Next Door charm in the 1999 rom-com She's All That, turned Rachel Lee
00:29Cook into a teen idol overnight.
00:31I think you're afraid to let anything good happen to you. I mean, did it ever occur to you that
00:35maybe Zack really likes you?
00:37Trust me, he doesn't. I gotta go.
00:40Granted, she turned 20 that year.
00:42Cook resisted blockbuster projects like X-Men in favor of independent fare, which ultimately didn't fare much better with critics
00:48than it did at the box office.
00:50She thus returned to studio comedies with an adaptation of Josie and the Pussycats, but his failure ultimately just eliminated
00:55prospects of mainstream stardom.
00:57When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, and when the going gets tough, the tough bake lemonade!
01:04Right! Good rule on the same page.
01:06Cook has since received wide attention for supporting roles and philanthropy.
01:10Otherwise, she's found steady work with straight-to-video and TV films of various genres.
01:15That's not exactly more credible than X-Men, though, is it?
01:17Liz Phair. Music industry downfalls don't get much more ironic than Liz Phair's.
01:21She was a pop star as a 90s indie darling whose modestly produced albums propelled Matador Records.
01:35Fair herself scored two Grammy nominations for her second album, Whip Smart.
01:39But as she maintained a mostly niche fanbase, she entered the new millennium with what might have been a Whip
01:44Smart move.
01:44She left Matador to collaborate with Capitol Records' pop albums that aimed for a wider audience.
01:49They instead alienated said fanbase, while seeing diminished commercial returns amid scathing reviews.
01:54Phair thus stepped away from the spotlight until her quiet return to indie in the 2020s.
01:58This time tomorrow, you're gonna be so far away.
02:08While even the critics have warmed up to her pop era, selling out doesn't always sell.
02:12Uday Chopra.
02:13Filmmaker Yash Chopra has sired some of the biggest names in Bollywood.
02:17His son Uday was expected to achieve that status only after he stole the show as a supporter in the
02:21Doom trilogy.
02:35The stage was set for him to blow up as a leading man and filmmaker with Neil and Nikki and
02:40Pyar Impossible.
02:41Unfortunately, they bombed so much worse than Chopra's attempt at superstardom in the early 2000s that he simply disappeared.
02:46In 2023's The Romantics, a Netflix docu-series about the Chopra film dynasty,
02:51Uday freely admits to being the artistic black sheep.
02:54Of course, audiences have long recognized him as evidence that nepotism and vision aren't always enough in showbiz.
02:59The conversations that were happening about me weren't really great.
03:03People kept saying that I'm, you know, I'm not successful, I'm not a good actor.
03:08And even though, like, I've had successful movies, it doesn't matter because the perception started going down the path that
03:16he's just like, you know, the child of nepotism, as people say in Bollywood today.
03:22Taylor Lautner.
03:23The role of Jacob Black in the Twilight Saga matured prolific child actor Taylor Lautner into a matinee idol.
03:29I'm not really supposed to say anything about it.
03:33Hey, I can keep a secret.
03:35His high-profile romance with Taylor Swift further boosted media coverage.
03:39Well, that didn't exactly turn up for his 2011 lead vehicle, Abduction, which was so poorly received that Lautner received
03:45a Razzie nomination.
03:46After a few more personal bombs and lambastic collaborations with Happy Madison Productions, he's essentially fallen off of the public's
03:52radar.
03:53Lautner has become content with select projects, like the popular mental health podcast The Squeeze, which he hosts with his
03:59wife, also named Taylor.
04:00I can't believe we're actually doing this.
04:02You feel good?
04:03Yeah, I do. I'm curious what you're about to throw at me.
04:08He seems content as one of the 2010's cautionary tales for the perils of pressure in Hollywood.
04:12Misha Barton. Despite her renown as a child stage and film actress, Misha Barton's work on TV wasn't very grown
04:18up.
04:19She won particular acclaim and several teen choice awards as Marissa Cooper on Fox's The O.C.
04:24Here's a little bit of everything. Let your education begin.
04:28She then spent her 20s pigeonholed in teen roles, culminating in the 2009 CW drama The Beautiful Life.
04:34The show was so poorly received that it was canceled after just two episodes.
04:38All of this intensified a level of celebrity pressure that the star claimed resulted in PTSD.
04:43With scandals and a thin adult brand by the time she entered her 30s, Barton now does largely low-profile
04:48parts.
04:49Is this okay?
04:51Yeah, yeah, sure.
04:54Don't listen to them, because I think you're a badass.
04:57At least she enjoys greater control of her entrepreneurial brand and activism against exploitation of young celebrities.
05:02Stuart Townsend.
05:03Renowned as a leading man in Ireland was enough to set actor Stuart Townsend on the Hollywood fast track.
05:08After being replaced by Viggo Mortensen for The Lord of the Rings at the last minute,
05:12he replaced Tom Cruise for the 2002 sequel to Interview with the Vampire.
05:16Whether it was that first meal or the hundred years of rest, I'm not sure.
05:20But suddenly I was feeling better than ever.
05:24But Queen of the Damned commercially underperformed and earned harsh reviews, including for the lead actor's performance.
05:29As this trend continued with the likes of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Townsend's hype ended as quickly as it
05:34began.
05:35His most prominent work since then has been guest stints on TV and leading the short-lived 13, the series.
05:40Why do you want to help me?
05:42Why do you want to return?
05:45A small favor.
05:47So much for Hollywood turning him into an immoral rock star.
05:49Dane Cook.
05:50Launching his career on MySpace and edgy observations, Dane Cook was one of the defining stand-up comics of the
05:562000s.
05:56They're loving it right now. They're loving it.
05:58He was also one of the most polarizing based on his bombastic style and critically panned movies.
06:03Allegations of stealing jokes further riled up the haters.
06:06Cook was still a hot commodity until the end of the decade when he lost both of his parents
06:10and discovered that his manager half-brother embezzled roughly $12 million.
06:14These tragedies prompted him to go on hiatus from touring while he focused more on lower-profile dramatic roles.
06:20The respectable pivot ultimately just left Cook in the dust, a representative of Y2K fads as much as the decade
06:25itself.
06:26I love it. I love the sound of laughter.
06:28Well, you know what? Almost all the sounds.
06:30Kevin Federline.
06:31Hardly anyone had heard of dancer Kevin Federline before he started dating pop star Britney Spears in 2004.
06:37Just three months later, they became one of the most talked-about married couples in Hollywood.
06:41Married or not, I just, I love being with her.
06:44I mean, she's fun.
06:45You know, she's very sweet.
06:48K-Fed then wrote his newfound status in the tabloids and reality TV to launch his own career in hip
06:54-hop.
06:54The 2006 album, Playing With Fire, was far from a chart-topper, but received attention mostly for abysmal word of
07:00mouth.
07:00This didn't help harsh accusations that Federline was exploiting his marriage to Spears,
07:05nor did his sudden drop in profile following the 2007 divorce.
07:08He remains a tabloid hot topic, but will never escape questions of whether he could have claimed fame on his
07:13own merits.
07:13Nobody can prepare you for anything like what I've been through.
07:18Elizabeth Berkley.
07:19Families fell in love with girl-next-door Jesse Spano across four seasons of Saved by the Bell.
07:24How come you're not working out?
07:25Oh, I want to review my notes for your test tomorrow.
07:28There's not going to be any.
07:29Zach's doing away with tests. He wants learning to be fun.
07:32Oh, get real, Kelly.
07:34After the show, actress Elizabeth Berkley was eager to break that wholesome image
07:38with an NC-17 Paul Verhoeven film about exotic dancers.
07:41Showgirls was ultimately not just a box office bomb, but was dubbed one of the worst films ever made.
07:46Berkley herself claimed the Golden Raspberry Award for worst actress,
07:50and that wholesome demographic sure wasn't going to take her back.
07:52Thus, Berkley has favored edgier projects with little attention and a generally solid reception.
07:57Even Showgirls has been embraced as a cult classic.
08:00This goes to show that you never know in life how something might be received one way at a certain
08:05time,
08:06and then things find their way and transform.
08:09It's just that Berkley's gambling on keeping her rebrand to the main stage didn't pay off.
08:14Imran Khan.
08:15This American Bollywood actor was once dubbed the king of urban romance.
08:19Imran Khan's magnetism as a versatile romantic lead won a massive fan base,
08:23as well as a Filmfare Award for best male debut.
08:26His career was just starting to heat up when all three of his movies in 2013 bombed at the box
08:30office.
08:31So too did his 2015 passion project, Catty Batty.
08:34Overwhelmed by an industry that no longer considered him a bankable star,
08:37Khan went on a hiatus that lasted a decade.
08:40His initial success was still great enough for him to be considered an influential figure in modern Bollywood branding.
08:45Whether that will be enough to secure Khan a comeback remains to be seen.
08:48Ja Rule.
08:49Many forget about the period between Ja Rule's breakout in the 2000s and downfall in the 2010s.
08:54After his first three albums saw stellar sales and Grammy nominations,
08:57the rapper experienced backlash for pivoting toward a more mainstream sound with mixed profits.
09:07His acting career had also been reduced to a few straight-to-video duds.
09:11In an attempt to revitalize his brand following legal issues,
09:14Ja Rule teamed up with entrepreneur Billy McFarlane to organize a high-end music festival in the Bahamas.
09:19The 2017 Fyre Festival turned out to be an elaborate scam that fell well short of its promises of luxury.
09:25McFarlane may have masterminded this hustle, but the scandal and legal drama have permanently stained Ja Rule's legacy.
09:31I'm just looking forward to getting out there and touching the people and having a good time.
09:35Judge Reinhold.
09:36After Detective Rosewood in Beverly Hills Cop,
09:38the recognizable character actor Judge Reinhold was groomed to become a superstar.
09:42What do we do now?
09:44We wait.
09:45His deep voice, imposing figure, and lovable comic style won over critics in 1986,
09:50with offbeat and ruthless people.
09:52But even they abandoned him as some of his more ambitious vehicles crashed.
09:56Hollywood could no longer justify employing the massive ego that Reinhold now admits to developing.
10:01He told the LA Times that after the failure of Vice Versa, the phone stopped ringing.
10:05You know, I wish I could change places with you.
10:08Yeah?
10:09Well, I wish I could too.
10:11That's a bit of an exaggeration, as he has been staying busy with small projects.
10:15The fact that he didn't have a hit until 2024's Beverly Hills Axel F is nothing to laugh about.
10:19Pauly Shore.
10:20Playing the long game seemed to pay off fast for stand-up comedian Pauly Shore.
10:24His reputation on the stage and as an MTV presenter landed him the 1992 hit Encino Man.
10:30We're going on to bigger and better things, buddy.
10:32Stoney, I am on to bigger and better things.
10:35The future cult classic didn't exactly serve his reputation with film critics, though.
10:39He continued to head lowbrow farces,
10:41until bad word of mouth led to financial ruin for the likes of Jury Duty and Biodome.
10:45His 15 minutes of fame effectively shifted to infamy, with the cancellation of the Fox sitcom Pauly after five episodes.
10:51Now see what you've done?
10:53I am sick and tired of you embarrassing me like this, Pauly.
10:56You don't need my help.
10:57Shore became such a pariah that some of his more notable recent work has involved self-deprecation.
11:02Nostalgia alone still isn't enough to truly endear his old fans at this point.
11:06Billy Squire.
11:07Classic rock enthusiasts may be reluctant to say that Billy Squire faded into obscurity.
11:19But how many songs can they name after the 1982 album Emotions in Motion?
11:24Perhaps the first one that comes to mind is Rock Me Tonight,
11:27mostly for how its music video destroyed one of the era's hottest hard rockers.
11:30The image of Squire exaggeratedly dancing around a bedroom,
11:34reduced into just more 80s pop cheesiness.
11:36The single itself was a commercial success, as was the album Signs of Life.
11:40Take me in your arms, blow me through the night.
11:46Still, the mixed reviews and media backlash basically left Squire's reputation dead on arrival.
11:51He released five more underrated and underheard albums,
11:54before resting on the glory of his earlier work.
11:57Taylor Kitsch.
11:58NBC's acclaimed teen drama Friday Night Lights turned Taylor Kitsch into a household name.
12:17He thus ended the show on the Hollywood fast track, until it went off the rails.
12:222012 was poised to be the actor's big break,
12:24with leading roles in Disney's John Carter, Universal's Battleship, and Oliver Stone's Savages.
12:29All three films wound up being commercial and critical disasters.
12:32Kitsch suddenly found himself at the center of public discussions
12:35about Hollywood's methods for manufacturing movie stars.
12:38He continues to win praise for taking risks as a supporting actor in film,
12:42and leading man on television.
12:43Listen up.
12:45No one do anything stupid.
12:46I'm gonna go out there, talk to them, work this out, alright? Go on.
12:49Nonetheless, it may take a long time before major studios will take another risk with Kitsch.
12:53Terrence Trent Darby.
12:54It was hard to argue against this multi-instrumentalist ego after his 1987 debut.
13:06Introducing the hardline, according to Terrence Trent Darby,
13:09cracked top ten charts around the world and won a Grammy.
13:12There were even whispers of the next prince.
13:14But Terrence Trent Darby himself didn't whisper it.
13:17His boastful public image inevitably inspired backlash from critics,
13:20who said that it bled into neither fish nor flesh.
13:23If I could stay, I'd better be strong.
13:29This experimental album bombed so hard that Columbia Records wouldn't renew Darby's contract after two more albums.
13:35He has since legally changed his name to Sananda Maitreya,
13:38and earned a co-following with independently produced albums.
13:41But he'll be the first to tell you that the titan that was Terrence Trent Darby is dead.
13:45Vanilla Ice.
13:45It seems like one of the first big names in hip-hop would have permanent cred.
13:49Unfortunately, Vanilla Ice faced immediate backlash from serious genre fans.
13:53When I play a dope melody, anything less than the best is a felony.
13:57The music industry promoting this white suburbanite and a fabricated gritty backstory
14:02undermined hip-hop's roots in working-class black culture.
14:05Moreover, a lawsuit confirmed that his breakout hit, Ice Ice Baby,
14:09sampled Queen and David Bowie's Under Pressure Without Authorization.
14:12After his sophomore album Mind Blow and flopped with critics and audiences in 1994,
14:17Ice was on Thin Ice.
14:18The breath of ice is ice.
14:20His stardom finally fell through amid a series of scandals raging from substance use to domestic violence.
14:26Ice has since regained some respect on nostalgia and for cleaning up his personal act,
14:29but his musical act has long melted down.
14:31Michael Cimino.
14:32It feels strange now to call a filmmaker a celebrity, especially for a bleak war epic.
14:37But at the height of the new Hollywood movement of the 1970s,
14:40the deer hunter turned Michael Cimino into a major name.
14:43What are you, crazy?
14:44Thank you, it's the only way.
14:45He took full advantage of that to push every boundary in the making of a would-be epic western masterpiece.
14:51After so many production setbacks and behind-the-scenes controversies,
14:55Heaven's Gate was released in 1980 to abysmal reviews and receipts.
14:59Jim.
15:01I don't think you want to finish that, George.
15:05I haven't had my coffee yet.
15:07This was directly linked to the downfall of the production studio, United Artists,
15:11as well as New Hollywood.
15:12Heaven's Gate has since been reappraised by many as a triumph.
15:15Sadly, that assessment came decades after Cimino was driven into exile as a reckless visionary.
15:20MC Hammer.
15:21It really did seem as though MC Hammer was untouchable by the early 1990s.
15:25The dancer-turned-rapper had become one of the first superstars of the genre.
15:28Yo, sound the bell.
15:30School's in, sucker.
15:31Can't touch this.
15:32And as an astute businessman, he helped promote it by working with many important acts.
15:36Hammer also went way overkill on a luxurious lifestyle,
15:39as the monotony of and backlash against his later albums resulted in a downturn in sales.
15:44In 1996, he famously filed for bankruptcy.
15:47I'm not ever concerned about generating money, but I got caught up in my humanity.
15:52His reputation in every field suddenly plummeted,
15:54as nostalgia became the once-respected icon's greatest asset.
15:58Hammer's setback may not have hurt his early work's pop culture relevancy,
16:01but everything after is a warning about getting too big for your parachute pants.
16:11Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Adia, Songs from Iran,
16:17reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
16:21Check out the full track and album below.
16:38John Gilbert
16:39The advent of sound and film was not kind to Hollywood's early idols.
16:43Not even Mary Pickford's iconic status held up with the new format long-term.
16:46The ugliest downfall still has to be John Gilbert,
16:49a seminal heartthrob whose voice was seemingly less masculine than fans expected.
16:54We were all engaged in a spiritual struggle
17:00quite beyond your comprehension.
17:05A struggle between anguish and peace.
17:10Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer allegedly forced him out of his contract
17:12by giving him doomed projects and tampering with their audio.
17:16The disgrace drove Gilbert into depression and alcohol abuse,
17:19leading to a fatal heart attack in 1936.
17:21This tragedy would be the inspiration for the film,
17:24A Star is Born, the following year.
17:26The fickle beast of the entertainment industry was finally exposed,
17:29but sadly hasn't changed much since a botched rebrand
17:32cost Gilbert more than just popularity.
17:34But you know that I've been there for two hours,
17:36waiting, waiting, waiting.
17:38I couldn't come before.
17:39Who are some other would-be stars who bring you bittersweet memories?
17:42Revive their brand in the comments.
17:49you know Mattjek the other year it is over.
17:49You have to have to live by,εNa,
17:49You
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