- 15 hours ago
Some stars were judged harshly, treated cruelly, and never received the apology they deserved. Join us as we count down the celebrities the world owes a serious "I'm sorry" to! Our list includes Britney Spears, Monica Lewinsky, Janet Jackson, Sinéad O'Connor, Brendan Fraser, and more! Which celebrity do you personally owe an apology to? Let us know in the comments!
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00:00It's so easy, it's so much fun to take a celebrity who's a young, beautiful, talented girl and rip her
00:09to shred.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 stars the world judged harshly, treated
00:16cruelly, and never apologized to.
00:18I wouldn't be who I am today if I hadn't gone through certain things, and everything happens for a reason,
00:22good or bad.
00:23Number 10, Princess Diana.
00:25Famously called the People's Princess, Diana captivated the world with a rare mix of charm and compassion.
00:31She wasn't just royalty, she felt relatable.
00:34She was the jewel in the crown, one of the royal family's greatest assets.
00:39From the moment she entered the royal family at 19, there was a relentless spotlight on her.
00:43The media treated her life like a 24-7 spectacle.
00:47Every struggle, every heartbreak, every personal battle splashed across headlines.
00:51Yet Diana never let the chaos define her.
00:54She was never free from harassment.
00:56Here, attempting to take a Caribbean holiday with a female friend, Diana found they were surrounded by photographers.
01:03Watch her reactions.
01:04Come on, get lost.
01:06She used her platform to comfort AIDS patients and campaign against landmines when few others would.
01:11Tragically, in 1997, her life was cut short after a car crash in Paris as paparazzi pursued her vehicle.
01:17The world mourned loudly, but wasn't it too late?
01:21For someone we claimed to love, Diana deserved far better than she got.
01:25It is a point to remember that of all the ironies about Diana, perhaps the greatest was this.
01:31A girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted person of
01:38the modern age.
01:39Number 9, Rebecca Black.
01:40In 2011, Rebecca Black did what millions of American teenagers dream about.
01:46She recorded a pop song.
01:47Her track Friday went viral almost immediately, but not in the way she had hoped.
01:527 a.m., waking up in the morning.
01:54Gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs.
01:56Instead of constructive criticism, the internet unleashed a storm of ridicule, memes, and even death threats.
02:03Celebrities, late-night hosts, and the internet at large seemed to take personal offense at a teenager daring to sing
02:09about, well, Friday.
02:10It's Friday, Friday.
02:13Gotta get down on Friday.
02:15Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend.
02:19The song was harmless and completely teen-friendly, but the backlash was anything but.
02:24Black even later opened up about her struggles following the scrutiny.
02:27However, she leaned into the absurdity with humor, and even turned it into art.
02:32Still, going through that as a minor, totally unfair.
02:35And the world owes her a real apology.
02:38Friday, Friday.
02:40Getting down on Friday.
02:42Everybody's looking forward to the weekend.
02:46Number 8, Pamela Anderson.
02:48From her breakout role on Baywatch,
02:50Pamela Anderson became one of the most recognizable faces on TV.
02:54But almost as fast as the fame arrived,
02:56the industry that built her up began treating her like a commodity.
03:00Remember, you're not a lifeguard yet, so no heroics.
03:03According to her, she endured harassment and exploitation from the powers that be.
03:07What's worse?
03:08In 1995, her intimate video with Tommy Lee was stolen and distributed to millions.
03:13As if the devastating public exposure wasn't enough, the world mocked her.
03:18We saw it all over the tabloids and newspapers.
03:20The tape is out.
03:21For years, her wit, intelligence, and activism were overshadowed by the persona Hollywood forced on her.
03:27Pamela handled it all with grace.
03:30Her 2023 memoir and documentary explained things from her side.
03:34She truly deserved better.
03:36I just feel like it's just...
03:39Just ignore them.
03:41Number 7, Lindsay Lohan.
03:42The fact that Lindsay Lohan's turbulent years made bigger headlines than her movies says a lot more about us than
03:48it does about her.
03:49As a kid, she was the real deal.
03:51Lighting up screens in The Parent Trap and Mean Girls with talent far beyond her age.
03:56Why don't I know you?
03:58I'm new.
03:58I just moved here from Africa.
04:00Hollywood loved her while she was winning.
04:02But when her early 20s brought struggles with substance use and personal turmoil,
04:06the spotlight didn't show any mercy.
04:08If anything, it got harsher.
04:09Court dates, rehab stints, public mistakes, all of it became headlines.
04:14But I think that everyone goes through things in life and I like to learn from my mistakes.
04:21Looking back, would just an apology suffice?
04:24It's hard not to feel like we all watched a promising star unravel for entertainment.
04:28But Lohan's resilient comeback has been inspiring.
04:31You signed on to do Freaky Friday sequel, Freakier Friday.
04:38Dude, that's...
04:39That's real.
04:41That was amazing.
04:42Number 6.
04:43Brendan Fraser
04:44At some point, we all wondered why Brendan Fraser just disappeared from Hollywood.
04:49For years, everyone assumed it was personal decline.
04:51But the truth is far sadder.
04:54Back in the late 90s, Fraser was everywhere.
04:56The Mummy made him a global action hero and George of the Jungle showed off his comic genius.
05:01Watch out for that dream!
05:07Then, all of a sudden, he quietly vanished.
05:10In a 2018 interview, he alleged he'd been indecently assaulted in 2003 by a powerful Hollywood figure.
05:17After that, the industry that once celebrated him closed its doors.
05:21Did we just watch his career fade and do nothing?
05:24That's on us.
05:25Indeed, Fraser's 2023 Oscar win was triumphant.
05:29But no amount of applause can give him back the decades he missed.
05:32I'm aware that the whale could bring us to the finish line.
05:37And I'm excited for that prospect.
05:39Number 5.
05:40Courtney Stodden
05:40There haven't been many clearer examples of everyone pointing fingers at the wrong person than Courtney Stodden's story.
05:47In 2011, as a teenager, they married 50-year-old actor Doug Hutchison.
05:52The world was stunned.
05:53But here's the thing.
05:54Instead of asking the hard questions about the grown man, the media and public aimed their outrage at Stodden.
06:00They insist they're just a typical newlywed couple.
06:03But their relationship has many people outraged.
06:07Suddenly, every post and every move they made was fair game.
06:10Talk shows joked, tabloid sneered, and even celebrities like Chrissy Teigen piled on with relentless online attacks.
06:17We looked at each other afterwards and we said, we knew this was going to happen.
06:21We knew we were going to have to weather the repercussion.
06:26Meanwhile, the uncomfortable truth that this was grooming was ignored.
06:30Stodden's adolescence was stolen and turned into a public spectacle.
06:33Today, Stodden speaks openly with courage about survival and manipulation.
06:37In hindsight, it is painfully clear.
06:40We got this one horribly wrong.
06:42Do you feel like you were groomed?
06:44Absolutely, yes.
06:45Exploited, groomed.
06:46Number 4.
06:47Sinead O'Connor.
06:48How dare you speak your truth?
06:50That is basically what the world seemed to yell at Sinead O'Connor in October 1992.
06:55During a live performance on Saturday Night Live, she finished singing Bob Marley's War,
06:59then held up and tore apart a photo of Pope John Paul II.
07:07That protest was to call attention to the abuse of minors within the church.
07:11Her message was met with instant and brutal backlash.
07:14Radio stations dropped her, celebrities mocked her, and she was effectively blacklisted from SNL.
07:19It was funny because after the first song, there was loads of people around and they all came into the
07:23dressing room and everything.
07:24But then after that, there was nobody around.
07:25There was silence.
07:26For about half an hour, there was nobody around.
07:27But O'Connor wasn't chasing controversy.
07:30She was sounding the alarm.
07:32Years later, investigations confirmed the systemic cover-ups she warned about.
07:36Turns out, she wasn't the problem.
07:38And everyone who tried to silence her owes her more than belated praise.
07:42And we can't heal ourselves unless we fight the right enemy.
07:45The right cause is no good just dealing with the symptoms.
07:47Number 3.
07:48Janet Jackson.
07:49It sounds unbelievable, but a split-second wardrobe mishap nearly derailed Janet Jackson's career.
07:57During the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Justin Timberlake tore part of her costume,
08:03accidentally exposing her to approximately 140 million viewers in a flash.
08:07It wasn't planned, and the entire world lost its mind.
08:11What followed was a cultural meltdown.
08:13Radio stations dropped her music, MTV pulled her videos, and she was even uninvited from the Grammys.
08:19Not only is it sort of a crass and sophomoric demonstration, it may be an illegal one.
08:24Meanwhile, Timberlake's career barely took a hit.
08:27In the blink of an eye, decades of Jackson's groundbreaking work were overshadowed,
08:32even after she clearly apologized.
08:34If you think about it, it's hard not to feel uncomfortable.
08:37We watched her take the fall for a moment she didn't create.
08:40A sincere apology is long overdue.
08:43Do you think people were too hard on you?
08:49I think they were.
08:50I think they did put all the emphasis on me.
08:53Number 2.
08:54Monica Lewinsky.
08:55We can't help but wonder how 24-year-old Monica Lewinsky felt when the whole world turned on her.
09:00In 1998, the White House intern became the center of a global firestorm after her romance with Bill Clinton was
09:06revealed.
09:06The relationship itself was consensual, but what followed wasn't fair.
09:25During the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, intimate details of her private life were broadcast to the world.
09:31Late night shows and comedians mocked her, headlines shredded her reputation, and her name became synonymous with humiliation.
09:37She was just a young kid, just a young girl, and I'm sure it was horrific.
09:45Lewinsky was left carrying the stigma alone while the most powerful man in the world survived politically.
09:50Today, she has reclaimed her voice, but the truth remains.
09:53She deserved far better.
09:55And the least the world can do is admit it.
09:57I've been incredibly lucky the last six or seven years to really be able to reclaim my narrative.
10:12Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Adia, Songs from Iran, reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock,
10:20metal, and pop songs.
10:21Check out the full track and album below.
10:23A cradle of hearts where stars align
10:28Together we stand in your sacred light
10:32Against all darkness we rise and fight
10:38Number 1. Britney Spears
10:40Did we really watch the princess of pop get trapped in a nightmare right in front of our eyes?
10:45From teen pop sensation to global icon, Britney Spears gave the world hit after hit, but fame came with a
10:51hidden cost.
10:57By 2007, her meltdowns, private struggles, and stumbles were captured, amplified, and sold for clicks.
11:04Then came the conservatorship in 2008, over a decade controlling her body, her career, her life, and her money.
11:11She's saying essentially with no air, I quit.
11:13Fans fought for her freedom, the media slowly acknowledged the truth, and the conservatorship finally ended in 2021.
11:20Britney finally reclaimed her life, but should she have had to fight that battle at all?
11:25For all the love we claimed for her, we should have been kinder.
11:29Good God, I love my fans so much it's crazy.
11:31I think I'm gonna cry the rest of the day.
11:33Best day ever. Praise the Lord. Can I get an amen?
11:37Which celebrity do you personally owe an apology to?
11:39Let us know in the comments section.
11:41Best day ever.
11:42Best day ever.
11:43Best day ever.
11:45Best day ever.
11:46Best day ever.
11:46Best day ever.
11:47Best day ever.
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