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From triumphant returns to cautionary tales, some celebrities have managed to revive their careers against all odds, while others saw their legacies crumble beyond repair. Join us as we explore unforgettable moments when stars like Tiger Woods and Jennifer Coolidge soared back to the spotlight, contrasted with dramatic downfalls experienced by the likes of MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice. Which celebrity comeback or collapse surprised you the most?
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00:00Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today, we're counting down our picks for the most notable celebrity comeback stories that either
00:06restored their legacies or torched what was left of them.
00:10Augusta National erupted as Tiger Woods clinched his fifth Masters win and his first major since 2008.
00:19Number 5, Ended, MC Hammer.
00:22Yo, I told you, you can't touch this.
00:25Why you standing there, man? You can't touch this.
00:28Yo, sound the bells.
00:30School is in, sucker.
00:31Once one of hip-hop's biggest stars, MC Hammer watched his commercial fortunes collapse after the blockbuster success of You
00:38Can't Touch This and the expensive lifestyle that accompanied it.
00:41By 1996, dwindling album sales, unpaid loans, and a huge payroll had left him more than $13 million in debt,
00:50leading to bankruptcy.
00:51Everybody knew that I had 200 employees. It wasn't no secret. So what you think, I was paying them in
00:57hamburgers?
00:58So, you know, you know somebody was paying that payroll, and it wasn't falling in front. So I was doing
01:04that.
01:04Hemmer tried to re-enter the music scene with 2001's Active Duty, his first studio album since 1998, built around
01:12patriotic themes following the September 11th attacks.
01:15But the independent release failed to restore his chart stature.
01:19It ain't gonna be no stopping us. We're putting it down. It ain't gonna be no stopping us. We gotta
01:26get in there.
01:26The comeback was less a triumphant second act than a reminder of just how far the Hammer era had fallen.
01:40Number 5. Revived. Jennifer Coolidge.
01:57For years, Jennifer Coolidge was the instantly recognizable supporting player.
02:02She played Stifler's mom in American Pie, Paulette in Legally Blonde, and the spoiled Sophie on Two Broke Girls.
02:10The roles kept coming, but they often circled the same broad comic persona.
02:14Why have you not yet offered me cupcake? It's the least thing you can do after a horrible, horrible note.
02:20Oh, sure. Chocolate or vanilla?
02:22Yes.
02:22But along came Tanya McCoy in The White Lotus.
02:25Mike White's melancholy, eccentric heiress gave Coolidge room to be funny, vulnerable, and surprisingly heartbreaking.
02:32Greg is at the Kahuna bar, and he says he's waiting for me.
02:37Oh, I hate to do this to you. No, I really do. I really want to hear more. It's just,
02:43I don't know how long he's going to be in town.
02:45The performance earned her two Emmys in 2022 and 2023, and turned the so-called gennaissance into a genuine career
02:52surge.
02:53It didn't take long for producers to come calling, with major roles in projects like The Watcher and Shotgun Wedding
02:59following suit.
03:01Hollywood finally caught up to what she'd always been capable of.
03:04I just want to ask, and I hope it's okay, is that genetics? Or is it, like, Pilates?
03:13Oh, Mom, now's not the time.
03:14All right, but you know, we need to get you out of here. It's the night before your wedding, and
03:17you can't spend the night together.
03:19Number four, ended Paula Deen. She had built something genuinely impressive.
03:24Multiple Food Network shows, best-selling cookbooks, restaurant chains, and major retail partnerships.
03:30Paula Deen was the undisputed queen of southern comfort cooking.
03:34Oh, it's very quick and easy, and very tasty. This is good on one of those kind of cool fall
03:42nights.
03:42Then, in 2013, a deposition from a lawsuit revealed she had used a racial slur in the past, and the
03:49fallout was swift and severe.
03:51Food Network declined to renew her contract, and endorsement deals evaporated rapidly.
03:56Anyone out there that has never said something that they wish they could take back, if you're out there, please
04:10pick up that stone and throw it so hard in my head that it kills me.
04:15Deen attempted to rebuild through social media, personal appearances, and new restaurant ventures, including locations in Texas, but many shuttered
04:24not long after opening.
04:25Despite persistent efforts, she never reclaimed meaningful mainstream television presence, and her brand never recovered the cultural authority it once
04:34commanded.
04:34This is our second home. So, hope you enjoy. And if you get close, please come by and see us.
04:43We'll be here waiting on you. Loving best dishes, y'all.
04:47Number four, revived Tiger Woods.
04:50I was living a life of a lie. I really was. And I was doing a lot of things, as
04:55I said, that hurt a lot of people. And stripping away denial and rationalization, you start coming to the truth
05:00of who you really are. And that can be very ugly.
05:03By 2017, Tiger Woods was no longer the seemingly invincible golfer who had dominated the sport. His public image had
05:10been battered by the 2009 scandal surrounding his personal life.
05:14While repeated injuries and four back surgeries severely limited his playing career. After spinal fusion surgery, even Woods acknowledged serious
05:22doubts about returning to the highest level.
05:25I had come to a realization that I would never play competitive golf again. And I would never play golf
05:30again. I came to accept that. That was okay for me. I've had a great career. It was done. I
05:38would just like to have a normal life.
05:40Then came Augusta in 2019. Woods won the Masters by one stroke. Claiming his 15th major championship and first major
05:48in 11 years.
05:50Many doubted we'd ever see it. But here it is. The return to glory.
05:58At 43, he had climbed from 1,199th in the world rankings just two years earlier, back to the summit
06:05of golf's biggest stage.
06:07For sports fans everywhere, it remains one of the most stunning individual comeback achievements in modern athletic history.
06:14It's been 11 years since his last major win. And after countless surgeries, personal demons, and a run of poor
06:21form, Tiger is officially back.
06:24From comebacks to scandals, there's a lot more celebrity content awaiting you in the Miz Mojo 24-7 livestream.
06:31Scan the QR code on your screen to join.
06:34The strength that I feel now, I've never felt that type of strength.
06:37Number 3. Ended. Ja Rule.
06:40You never thought I'd make you smile while I was back in your ass and hitting you all while.
06:44We share something so rare, but who cares? You can.
06:48Once a dominant force in early 2000s hip-hop, Ja Rule saw his music career cool considerably as the decade
06:55progressed.
06:56He then pursued a different lane, co-founding Fire Media with entrepreneur Billy McFarland and becoming a public face of
07:03the Fire Festival.
07:04The 2017 Bahamas event was marketed as a luxury music experience, but attendees arrived to unfinished infrastructure, inadequate food, and
07:14chaotic conditions.
07:16A class action complaint sought $100 million from organizers, including Ja Rule, although he was later dismissed from that lawsuit.
07:24And what I'm looking to do right now, pushing forward, so I've carved out a little equity pool for all
07:31the investors that were involved with the festival.
07:35So shall I push forward with the festival? I'm going to make sure that all the investors get a...
07:41McFarland was convicted of fraud and sentenced to six years in prison.
07:45Rather than becoming Ja Rule's business breakthrough, Fire Festival became a spectacular cautionary tale about celebrity, hype, and disastrous execution.
07:55Do you believe it was more false advertising and not a fraud?
07:58Um, I believe now, after everything unraveled, it was a little of both.
08:06Number 3. Revived. Dave Chappelle.
08:09Walking away from a reported $50 million deal at the peak of Chappelle's show seemed baffling at the time.
08:15What you doing with Nick Cannon, boy?
08:17I'm living my life. I told you, Nick Cannon, it's hilarious. I'm done with you, Dad.
08:23I'm hilarious, too. Remember me? I'm a game, bitch. Remember me?
08:28For years after his 2005 departure, Dave Chappelle remained largely absent from mainstream entertainment.
08:35Then, in November 2016, four days after a deeply divisive presidential election,
08:40he hosted Saturday Night Live and delivered a monologue that resonated with a nation processing genuine uncertainty.
08:47All my black friends who have money said the same thing when Trump got elected.
08:51That's it, bro. I'm out. I'm leaving the country. You coming with us?
08:56Nah, I'm good, dawg. I'm gonna stay here and get this tax break to see how it works out.
08:59The response was enormous. Netflix quickly signed him to release multiple stand-up specials at approximately $20 million each.
09:07The special sparked significant controversy, with critics labeling certain material targeting transgender people as harmful.
09:14Now listen, women get mad at me. Gay people get mad at me. Lesbians get mad at me.
09:19But I'm gonna tell you right now, and it's true, these transgenders, these b****s want me dead.
09:29I've gone too far. I've said too much.
09:31The controversy became part of the conversation, but it did not prevent a remarkable return to the comedy mainstream.
09:38Number two ended Katy Perry.
09:40Last Friday night, yeah, we danced on tabletops.
09:44Now we took too many shots.
09:46Think we're kids, but I forgot.
09:48After years as one of pop's biggest hitmakers, Katy Perry's commercial dominance had cooled.
09:53She followed 2017's Witness with a stretch of lower-profile output while becoming a judge on American Idol.
10:00Her 2024 return was heavily scrutinized.
10:03It's a woman's world, and you're lucky to be living in it.
10:08Woman's world, the lead single from 143, promised to reconnect Perry with the maximalist pop of her teenage dream era.
10:16Instead, it debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly disappeared from the chart.
10:24Celebrate!
10:30The album itself opened at number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100, but stayed there for only two weeks.
10:36Rather than restoring her old chart dominance, 143 raised questions about whether Perry could ever return to that level of
10:43success.
10:43I know you feel it. Can you believe it? I'm gonna love it to the end and then repeat it.
10:51Number 2. Revived Betty White.
10:54I'm gonna go to my room and write down my achievements.
10:57You know, it doesn't matter whether I win. I mean, just being nominated is enough.
11:02That's a good attitude, Rose.
11:03It's also a crock of bull. I want that sucker bad.
11:06By the late 2000s, Betty White was hardly unknown, but her seven-decade career was no longer dominating pop culture.
11:14Then, a Snickers commercial changed everything.
11:16The 2010 Super Bowl ad, built around the campaign slogan,
11:20You're not you when you're hungry, featured White getting tackled on a football field with perfect comedic commitment.
11:26Mike, what is your deal, man?
11:27Oh, come on, man. You've been riding me all day.
11:29Mike, you're playing like Betty White out there.
11:31That's not what your girlfriend said.
11:32The ad turned White into an internet sensation, and a grassroots Facebook campaign demanding that she host Saturday Night Live
11:40quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of supporters.
11:43White hosted SNL in May 2010 and won an Emmy for the appearance.
11:47When I was younger, I was so concerned with how my muffin looked.
11:53But as I got older, I started to think, to heck with it.
11:57This is my muffin and I don't care how it looks.
12:01I'm just gonna let it all hang out.
12:04Soon after, she became one of the stars of Hot in Cleveland, which ran for six seasons and earned her
12:09another Emmy nomination.
12:10I'm on fire.
12:13I could roast marshmallows over here.
12:17What are we gonna do about it?
12:19Everything.
12:22Damn you, you bald, ancient Adonis.
12:29Ice Ice Baby made Robert Van Winkle a household name virtually overnight in 1990.
12:34But it didn't take long for questions to start popping up.
12:37If there was a problem, yo, I'll solve it.
12:39Check out the hook while my DJ revolves it.
12:42Ice Ice Baby.
12:45About his backstory, his credibility, his authenticity.
12:49Public perception curdled, and his pop rap stardom collapsed almost as quickly as it had arrived.
12:55His reinvention attempt came with 1998's Hard to Swallow, a new metal album produced by Ross Robinson, who had worked
13:03with Korn and Limp Bizkit.
13:05The pivot was jarring and unconvincing to critics and fans alike.
13:09Rather than repositioning him as artistically credible, the album was largely dismissed and poorly received.
13:22Trying to trade parachute pants for a distorted guitar without genuine artistic groundwork rarely lands.
13:29And this case was no exception.
13:31Ice Ice Baby.
13:34Your hand in the air, let me know you're on there.
13:36Ice Ice Baby.
13:38Number 1.
13:39Revived.
13:40Martha Stewart.
13:41And I guarantee you've never tasted corn quite so good.
13:48Mmm.
13:49Really excellent.
13:50Corn grilled slowly like this, with a natural husk, corn holders, and flavored butter.
13:56It's a very good thing.
13:57Martha Stewart had built one of America's most recognizable lifestyle empires, before a federal conviction for obstruction, conspiracy, and making
14:06false statements sent her to prison in 2004.
14:09After serving five months, she returned to work with a carefully planned comeback, bringing new television projects and business ventures.
14:16Well, I think you didn't really invest a tremendous amount of creativity in this venture.
14:23Alexis told me the shop looked cute, but it stopped there.
14:27The Apprentice, Martha Stewart, was short-lived, but her broader brand survived and evolved.
14:32Years later, an unlikely friendship with Snoop Dogg produced Martha and Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, earning the pair an Emmy
14:39nomination for hosting in 2017.
14:41Well, I want to make the perfect birthday drink.
14:44It's something that I make.
14:44My birthday's in the summertime, so we always have outdoor parties and sangria, white sangria.
14:51You gave me that before, didn't you?
14:52No.
14:53Stewart also became a major social media personality and cultural fixture beyond her original domestic diva persona.
15:00Her comeback didn't simply restore the old Martha, it created a durable second act.
15:05And to be on the cover at my age was a challenge.
15:10And I think I met the challenge.
15:13In what way?
15:13Well, I didn't starve myself, but I didn't eat any bread or pasta for a couple months.
15:20I went to Pilates every other day, and that was great.
15:24Did we miss any spectacular comebacks?
15:26Tell us about it in the comments below.