Celebrities are no strangers to an outrageous scandal or two. Whether it’s controversial opinions on social media, alleged infidelities or running into trouble with the law, there’s always a celeb misbehaving in the press.
But who can truly be crowned the most mischievous of all time?
To find out, the team at Spin Genie UK have taken a deep dive into the lives of some of the world’s most famous faces, exploring factors such as country bans, arrests and social media bans.
Which celebs are the most badly behaved?
1. Lizzo - 14,050 controversial searches
Lizzo tops the list of the naughtiest celebs, with 14,050 Google searches being made for “Lizzo scandal” and “Lizzo controversy”. The singer, whose real name is Melissa Jefferson, came under fire last year after the alleged mistreatment of her former employees. Despite building her brand around body positivity, it’s claimed that Lizzo made comments about the weight gain of one of her backing dancers. Statements were also made about the singer putting her employees through gruelling rehearsals, which led to one dancer soiling herself.
Lizzo has, however, denied all of the claims. She also stated that they came from former employees, who had already publicly admitted to being told that their behaviour on tour was both inappropriate and unprofessional.
2. Jesse James - 12,270 controversial searches
In second place is the American entrepreneur and TV personality Jesse James. Almost 12,300 Google searches were made relating to the Monster Garage star’s controversial behaviour. Jesse has been accused of multiple counts of infidelity over the years, both while married to actress Sandra Bullock and engaged to Kat Von D, who is known for her tattoo work and makeup brand.
Jesse has also been at the forefront of an alleged racism scandal. In 2004, a picture was taken of Jesse giving a Nazi salute, with him claiming that it was meant as a joke and that he was not racist. However, former employees of Jesse’s uploaded further images to Facebook showing him alongside Nazi imagery.
3. Ariana Grande - 7,370 controversial searches
Despite being one of today's biggest stars, Ariana Grande has had her fair share of controversies since her career began. The first of these came in 2015 when the actress and singer was caught on video licking a tray of doughnuts in a bakery before saying, “I hate America”. Despite her various apologies, the bizarre incident cost Ariana gigs at the White House and the MLB All-Star Game.
Ariana has also been accused of infidelity and breaking up relationships multiple times throughout her career. This includes the engagement of late Glee star Naya Rivera and rapper Big Sean in 2014 and, most recently, the marriage of actor and fellow Wicked star Ethan Slater and his childhood sweetheart, Lilly Jay.
Celebs who have been banned from a country
Celebrities spend a lot of their time travelling around the world, whether performing on stage, shooting a new movie or attending a red carpet event. But did you know a few famous faces have been banned from entering certain countries?
In 2010, the R&B singer Akon was denied entry to Sri Lanka. The refusal was due to a Buddha statue being visible in the background of the music video for his song Sexy Chick with French DJ David Guetta. Despite the statue only being visible for mere seconds, its appearance caused violent protests in Sri Lanka’s capital, Colombo.
Actress, singer and Rare Beauty founder Selena Gomez has allegedly been banned from not one but two countries. In 2013, Selena was due to perform a string of shows in Russia but was denied a visa to get into the country. The refusal was due to the singer’s support of gay rights, which aren’t welcomed under the country’s anti-gay laws. Just a few years later, in 2016, a photograph of Selena and the Dalai Lama surfaced. This reportedly led to her also being banned from entering China.
Other celebrities who have landed themselves on the no-entry list for certain countries include Beyoncé, Elton John, Katy Perry, Lily Allen and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Celebs who have been banned from social media
While social media is a great way for celebs to interact with their fans and post updates, the use of these sites has managed to land some celebs in deep trouble. Whether it's voicing a controversial opinion, spreading fake news or posting an inappropriate photo, there are various actions that have led to celebs being banned from social media.
One of the celebs who is most well-known for their controversial use of social media is Azealia Banks. The rapper and singer has been banned from X (previously named Twitter) multiple times throughout her career.
Azealia’s first ban came in 2016 when she was suspended from the app following racially charged posts attacking former One Direction star, Zayn Malik. Since then, she has also been banned for her graphic comments on gay culture and gender reassignment surgery.
Back in 2020, media personality and journalist Katie Hopkins was banned from X for violating the platform’s hateful conduct policy. Throughout her career, she has come under fire countless times for her controversial views on social media. This includes comments about the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, the Black Lives Matter movement and Marcus Rashford’s free school meals campaign.
Other celebrities who have been banned from social media include Madonna, Rob Kardashian, Adele, Rihanna and 50 Cent.
Celebs who have been arrested
Despite being some of the wealthiest people in the world, celebrities have been known to occasionally land themselves in handcuffs or behind bars. Whether it’s for drug possession, DUIs or fraud, there are a whole host of reasons for celebrity arrests.
Back in 2019, actor and singer Jussie Smollett was involved in a hoax hate crime. Jussie, who is most well-known for his role as Jamal Lyon in the show Empire, claimed to have been attacked by two masked men, which was fuelled by racist and homophobic views. However, after weeks of investigation by the police, the attack was found to be a hoax, and Jussie was charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report, as well as no longer appearing in Empire. In 2022, three years after the incident, Jussie was sentenced to 150 days of jail time, 30 months of probation, and ordered to pay a fine of $145,000.
One of the biggest celebrity controversies of recent years is the college admissions scandal in 2019, which involved various celebs. Fuller House actress Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli were two of the famous faces to be involved, as well as Desperate Housewives actress Felicity Huffman.
The scandal involved multiple wealthy parents funnelling bribe money through a fake charity to get their children into top schools. The prison sentences given to those who pleaded in the case ranged from two weeks to nine months.
Other celebrities who have found themselves on the wrong side of the law include Conor McGregor, Ezra Miller, Lindsay Lohan, Matthew McConaughey and Shailene Woodley.
Methodology
To determine the most badly behaved celebrities, we created a seed list of those who have been involved in scandals and controversies by using sites such as Buzzfeed and Cosmopolitan. We then used Google Keyword Planner to search for each celebrity's name followed by “scandal” and “controversy”. We then combined the number of searches to get an overall number.
Next, we used Bristol Post to discover which celebrities had been banned from entering certain countries.
We used sites such as Cafe Mom and Stars Insider to find out which celebrities have been banned from social media.
Finally, we used sites such as Ranker and List 25 to gather a list of celebrities who have been arrested.
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