Celebrities slain by admirers and your everyday average folks
Early 2000s icon Nelly has been in the news for positive reasons as of late, mostly related to his reunion with ex-girlfriend Ashanti. However, the 'Hot in Here' rapper was arrested in St. Louis at 4:45 am on Wednesday, August 8, and allegedly found to be in possession of illegal drugs. The arrest occurred at the Hollywood Casino in St. Charles, Missouri, after law enforcement officers ran a background check on the star and found that he had an outstanding warrant for a minor traffic violation. This led to a search, and police reportedly found four ecstasy pills in the 49-year-old's possessions. This background check procedure is reportedly standard in Missouri casinos, but Nelly's lawyer says he was targeted by an "overzealous" officer and searched without probable cause. The timing of the scandal is far from ideal, as Nelly is newly married and expecting his first child with Ashanti. He was previously arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana in 2015.
There's no quicker way for us to lose the rose-tinted glasses for our favorite stars than to learn about all of the horrendous mistakes they've made, and all the times they've swerved onto the wrong side of the law. Lucky for you, we've compiled a list of the most troublesome stars who've been taken into custody, sometimes repeatedly.
Check out this gallery to see which stars were put in cuffs, and what surprising crimes they committed.
On August 3, the Harris County Sheriff's Office in Texas revealed that they had arrested 21-year-old 'Billions' actor Akili McDowell on charges of theft and murder. The arrest is in connection with the death of a 20-year-old named Cesar Peralta, who was shot and killed in a residential parking lot in Houston on July 20. Police said the suspect involved had fled the scene, but they picked up McDowell on August 1 and charged him not only with murder but also theft in relation to another crime. His bond has been set at US$400,000. McDowell was a rising young star who appeared in two episodes of the series 'Billions' and starred in the series 'David Makes Man' from the Oprah Winfrey Network. He also plays a starring role in the upcoming movie 'The Waterboyz.'
On the evening of Monday, June 17, Justin Timberlake was reportedly having dinner at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor. According to TMZ, Timberlake left the hotel and began to drive, although he was soon followed by police. Law enforcement sources say he was pulled over after he began swerving and was asked to perform a breathalyzer test, but refused. Officers performed a field sobriety test (which usually involves asking the suspect to stand on one leg or walk in a straight line) and decided to arrest him. Sources also said that several of his friends arrived on the scene and tried to convince the cops to cut him a break, but he was cuffed and brought to the police station for DWI (driving while intoxicated). He was released in the morning but had his license suspended at a hearing in August.
In 2023, Donald Trump made history as the first U.S. President to be faced with a federal criminal indictment. He was accused of mishandling classified documents, namely government records found at his Mar-a-Lago home which he took with him when he left office in 2021. He is also accused of obstructing the efforts of officials to regain possession of the documents. The former president was first indicted on June 8 and turned himself in on Tuesday, June 13. He was released again immediately after the arraignment. The charges are related to just one of four criminal trials Trump is facing in 2024.
Jonathan Majors was arrested in NYC on March 25, 2023, for an alleged assault on a woman who claimed that the 'Lovecraft Country' and 'Creed III' actor had physically attacked her during a domestic dispute. The woman was later identified as Majors' girlfriend, who allegedly told police they'd gotten into an argument on their way home from a Brooklyn bar when she saw Majors texting another woman. He was charged with misdemeanors—including two counts of assault in the third degree, attempted assault in the third degree, aggravated harassment in the second degree, and harassment in the second degree. He was found guilty at trial and sentenced to 52 weeks of a domestic violence intervention program and probation.
Sarah Ferguson, also known as Fergie or the Duchess of York, has done a number of sensational interviews over the decades since she joined the royal family. The ex-wife of the disgraced Prince Andrew appeared on 'The Kelly Clarkson Show' on March 14, 2023, and told a scandalous story about her bachelorette party in 1986. Princess Diana was already married to then-Prince Charles at the time and the two young women were close friends. To celebrate Fergie's upcoming nuptials, they decided to dress up as police officers and hit the club! Unfortunately, they were soon asked to leave the exclusive members club because of their costumes...
Back on the streets, the pair apparently forgot they were wearing police uniforms, and were swiftly arrested by real police officers for impersonation. They were put into the back of a police van, where Diana spotted a bag of “smoky bacon-flavored crisps” that belonged to one of the officers. She grabbed them and started to eat them, before being told off by the officers. When their true identities were finally discovered, the two mischievous royals were set free. “She and I, we laughed a lot. We got into trouble a lot,” Ferguson remembered of the late Princess.
Cage The Elephant's front man Matt Shultz was spotted handcuffed and being put inside the back of a police car in New York City on January 5, 2023, outside The Bowery Hotel in the East Village. According to TMZ, the Grammy-winning musician was arrested for criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a firearm, both of which are felonies. Apparently a hotel employee saw Shultz brandishing a handgun in a first-floor bathroom and reported it to a superior who called the NYPD. The police arrived and asked Shultz if he had a firearm, to which he replied, "two .45 caliber guns," though when asked if he still had them, he said he "may, but did not know," leading to his arrest. After getting a search warrant, cops recovered the two loaded weapons from inside his hotel room.
Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer and self-proclaimed misogynist who has gained notoriety for his extreme views in recent years, was arrested in Romania on Dec. 29, 2022. Tate, along with his brother and two other men, were arrested that night under suspicion of human trafficking, sexual assault, and forming an organized crime group. According to investigators, the four suspects "appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing, and exploiting women" by forcing them to create explicit content which was then to be posted to a website where viewers could pay to watch it. Prosecutors say they have identified six women who claim to have been exploited by them. They are pending trial for sex trafficking in Romania.
'Trap Queen' rapper Fetty Wap was arrested in October 2021 and charged with "conspiring to distribute and possess controlled substances" after he and five others allegedly transported and distributed drugs, including cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, in Long Island, according to the indictment. Fetty was released in November on US$500,000 bail, until he was arrested again in Newark, New Jersey on August 8. He was indicted in federal court after prosecutors obtained a video recording of a FaceTime call from December 2021 in which Fetty wielded a gun and repeatedly threatened to kill someone (whom he referred to as "a rat") over the phone, ET reports. With this second arrest, a judge revoked Fetty's bail from the first. The rapper has since pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to possess and distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, CNN reports.
The charge Fetty Wap pleaded guilty to in connection with his October 2021 arrest reportedly carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, but has a sentencing range of between 87 and 108 months.
On August 15, A$AP Rocky was charged with two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm in connection with a November 2021 shooting in California, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. On August 17, 2022, he appeared in court and pleaded not guilty to both charges. His trial date has been set for October 21, 2024.
This isn't the first time the rapper has been arrested for a violent crime. In 2019, he was arrested and convicted of assault resulting in visible bodily harm while in Sweden. He spent a month in jail while awaiting trial and was then given a suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay US$1,270 to the victim.
The 'ZEZE' rapper was arrested by highway patrol in Florida on July 15, 2022, after they pulled him over and found 31 Oxycodone tablets and more than US$70,000 in cash in his car. He was charged with felony drug possession and trafficking, and was released on bail the next day.
At 25, he already had a criminal history. He was arrested on weapons charges in 2019 and sentenced to three years in prison. However, former President Donald Trump commuted his sentence on his last day in office, allowing the young rapper to be released after serving less than half of his prison time.
Ezra Miller, who stars in the DC film 'The Flash,' was arrested in Hawaii on the early morning of April 19, 2022, on suspicion of second-degree assault—just weeks after the actor was arrested for another incident. According to the Hawaii Island Police Department, Miller was taken into custody after an incident at a get-together in a private residence in Pāhoa on the Big Island, when the actor "became irate after being asked to leave and reportedly threw a chair, striking a 26-year-old female on the forehead, resulting in an approximate half-inch cut," as per The Hollywood Reporter. Miller was arrested soon after, but was released "pending further investigation."
Just weeks earlier, Miller was arrested in Hawaii on March 28 and charged with disorderly conduct and harassment. The incident began at a bar on the night of March 27, according to a post by the Hawai’i County Police Department. South Hilo officers were investigating a report of a disorderly patron, later identified as Miller, who had become agitated while patrons at the bar were singing karaoke. Miller started "yelling obscenities and at one point grabbed the microphone from a 23-year-old woman singing karaoke (disorderly conduct offense) and later lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts (harassment offense)." The actor would not calm down, and was soon arrested and charged on both offenses, with total bail set at US$500. Miller provided the bail and was subsequently released. On August 15, they made a statement of apology and confirmed that they are struggling with "complex mental health issues."
This is not the only incident that the actor was involved in. He was also maced and arrested in 2001 by North Carolina cops, charged with fighting in public after being involved in a bar brawl alongside Steve Buscemi, who was hospitalized after being stabbed four times, ABC News reports.
Apparently, Miller drove into a power pole in San Fernando Valley, then fled the scene on foot. The bail was reportedly set at US$15,000.
The rapper has previously spent time in prison, but his release saw a changed man who devoted more time to activism and music. However on May 16, 2018, he was arrested outside his gated community in Henry County, Georgia.
The Kardashian was arrested in 2007 for driving while intoxicated, and she served less than three hours in jail due to overcrowding. Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner allegedly keep framed photos of her mugshot in their homes, because that's what family is for.
In 2006, the actor was stopped for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway, then arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence—after allegedly making anti-Semitic remarks to the officers.
The R&B singer was arrested in 2007 after being spotted driving with a suspended license. A few forgotten traffic tickets can come back to haunt you at any moment, no matter how famous you are!
See also: Celebs who've been sued for posting photos of themselves
Shocking celebrity arrests
Nelly arrested for alleged drug possession at St. Louis casino
CELEBRITY Arrest
Early 2000s icon Nelly has been in the news for positive reasons as of late, mostly related to his reunion with ex-girlfriend Ashanti. However, the 'Hot in Here' rapper was arrested in St. Louis at 4:45 am on Wednesday, August 8, and allegedly found to be in possession of illegal drugs. The arrest occurred at the Hollywood Casino in St. Charles, Missouri, after law enforcement officers ran a background check on the star and found that he had an outstanding warrant for a minor traffic violation. This led to a search, and police reportedly found four ecstasy pills in the 49-year-old's possessions. This background check procedure is reportedly standard in Missouri casinos, but Nelly's lawyer says he was targeted by an "overzealous" officer and searched without probable cause. The timing of the scandal is far from ideal, as Nelly is newly married and expecting his first child with Ashanti. He was previously arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana in 2015.
There's no quicker way for us to lose the rose-tinted glasses for our favorite stars than to learn about all of the horrendous mistakes they've made, and all the times they've swerved onto the wrong side of the law. Lucky for you, we've compiled a list of the most troublesome stars who've been taken into custody, sometimes repeatedly.
Check out this gallery to see which stars were put in cuffs, and what surprising crimes they committed.