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Justin Timberlake -

The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show gave us one of the most notorious moments in TV history. While performing a duet, Justin Timberlake ripped off part of Janet Jackson’s outfit and accidentally exposed one of her breasts on live TV.

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Justin Timberlake -

The backlash was harsh and Janet Jackson was practically blacklisted. She was widely criticized while Timberlake escaped the incident relatively unscathed. He addressed the incident when he won an award at the Grammys later that year, but it was your typical “I’m sorry if you were offended” apology. Years later in 2021, he apologized again, as well as to Britney Spears, following backlash from the 'Framing Britney Spears' documentary.

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Ellen DeGeneres -

Ellen DeGeneres experienced an unexpected fall from grace during the summer of 2020. The beloved TV host was accused by numerous employees of creating a hostile work environment on her show that included bullying and racism.

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Ellen DeGeneres -

DeGeneres started her season 18 premiere with an apology. It included self-deprecating jokes with laughter from a virtual studio audience. Many felt that the crowd noise made her apology seem disingenuous.

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Bryan Adams -

Bryan Adams was scheduled to perform in London in May 2020, but the concert was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. He was seemingly frustrated by the situation and vented his feelings on social media in a xenophobic rant that contained a great deal of false information about the virus.

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Bryan Adams -

Adams made an apology afterwards. Like Justin Timberlake, he addressed it to those who “took offence,” implying his comments weren’t inherently offensive. He claimed that his rant was intended to highlight animal cruelty in certain countries and promote veganism.

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Lea Michele - Lea Michele was called out by 'Glee' co-stars in 2020 after she expressed her solidarity with the Black Lives Matter protests. Samantha Marie Ware called her a hypocrite and accused Michele of making her life on set a living hell.

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Lea Michele -

Several other cast members came forward to confirm Ware's claims and Michele issued an apology on Twitter a few days later, but only acknowledged how her behavior was perceived. This turned it into a bit of a non-apology.

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Kevin Spacey - Of all the celebrities who were accused during the height of the Me Too movement, Kevin Spacey was perhaps the one who shocked people the most. The actor was disgraced after numerous accusations were made against him. An accusation made by actor Anthony Rapp was particularly troubling, as he said that Spacey had been inappropriate with him when he was only 14 years old.

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Kevin Spacey -

Kevin Spacey was canceled, hard. In his apology, he claimed not to remember the incident, blamed his behavior on intoxication, and came out as gay. The apology was criticized for being tone-deaf and trying to distract from the incident by opening up about his sexuality. In addition to that written apology, he released a video called ‘Let Me Be Frank’ where he apologized again while acting as Frank Underwood, his famous ‘House of Cards’ character. It was the final nail in his coffin.

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Louis C.K. - Louis C.K. was one of the most popular comedians in the world thanks to his highly successful stand-up shows and F.X. comedy series ‘Louis.’ This all changed when he faced allegations of sexual misconduct in 2017. After multiple women came forward, he admitted to his actions.

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Louis C.K. - His long apology letter was widely criticized because it contained unnecessarily graphic statements about the incidents and didn’t offer a direct apology.

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Johnny Depp and Amber Heard -

Before Johnny Depp and Amber Heard were making headlines due their divorce and defamation trial, they got in trouble for smuggling dogs into Australia. They brought their two pet dogs into the country without going through customs and Heard admitted to creating a fake customs document.

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Johnny Depp and Amber Heard -

Heard got off lightly for defying Australia’s biosecurity laws, but the couple made an apology video that was widely mocked. They were both extremely serious while addressing their minor offense and said “protecting Australia is important” as if it was an issue of national security.

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John Mayer -

In 2010, John Mayer gave one of the most controversial and ridiculed interviews of all time to Playboy magazine. He used racial slurs and joked that a certain intimate part of his body was a "white supremacist" because he wasn't sexually attracted to Black women.

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John Mayer -

He faced serious backlash after the interview was released and tried to apologize in the middle of a concert in Nashville. He broke down in tears and expressed his regret but reiterated a previous statement that it wasn't worth being "clever" so he was quitting the media game. It's hard to pinpoint what part of the interview he thought was clever...

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Chris Brown -

Chris Brown’s reputation was ruined in 2009 when the story of his assault on Rihanna broke. He turned himself in to the police hours later and made a public apology in a two minute video in the following months.

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Chris Brown - The apology was widely criticized, possibly because it was simply not enough to compensate for his crimes. Although his career has had a comeback in recent years, he still faces backlash and criticism.

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Alec Baldwin -

In 2007, a voicemail made by Alec Baldwin was leaked to the press. The voicemail was left for his 11-year-old daughter and he was heard viciously berating her and calling her a "rude, thoughtless little pig.”

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Alec Baldwin -

Baldwin was going through a difficult divorce from Kim Basinger at the time. His apology to his daughter seemed sincere, but he also said that his anger came from “deep and seemingly endless frustration” with someone else. He never mentioned Basinger by name, but viewers felt he was trying to put some of the blame on his ex-wife.

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Winona Ryder - Winona Ryder went through a difficult time in the early 2000s, which culminated in a shoplifting spree at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. Ryder was caught stealing US$5,000 worth of merchandise from the store.

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Winona Ryder - During the trial, the security chief of Saks shared that Ryder had apologized and said she was instructed to shoplift by her director to prepare for a role.

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Paula Deen -

Paula Deen’s downfall came in 2013 when a long list of incidents revealed her racial insensitivities, and much more. She was accused of using racist and homophobic slurs against her staff, publicly sympathized with her slave-owning ancestors, and used brown paint on her son’s face for a Ricky Ricardo costume.

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Paula Deen -

Deen appeared on the ‘Today’ show and shed tears while making her apology, although she made the claim “I am not a racist.” Many viewers felt that she was sorry for what she had lost but didn’t understand the wrong she had done.

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Hannah Brown -

Hannah Brown was the lead in season 15 of 'The Bachelorette' and was a winner on ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ Brown has a huge following on social media. During one live stream, however, she dropped the n-word while singing along to DaBaby's ‘Rockstar.’ Viewers called it out, but she dismissed the incident.

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Hannah Brown -

She posted an apology to her Instagram story after the incident gained traction in the media, but many felt it was shallow and not genuine. Brown made a second apology in a video to try to make up for it.

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Mario Batali -

Mario Batali is a celebrity chef with a chain of restaurants around the world. In 2017, he was accused of harassment and misconduct by several women. He lost partnerships and was dropped by TV networks.

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Mario Batali -

Batali made a heartfelt apology online, but he absolutely chunked it at the end. He finished the apology by advertising a recipe from his website: “P.S. In case you’re searching for a holiday-inspired breakfast, these Pizza Dough Cinnamon Rolls are a fan favorite.” Wow...

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Logan Paul -

Logan Paul was one of the most popular YouTubers in the world. In 2017, he virtually ruined his career by uploading a video of his visit to Aokigahara, a forest in Japan where many people kill themselves every year. During the video, Paul and his companions found the body of a victim and continued to film and even make jokes. When he uploaded the video to YouTube, he included footage of the victim’s body with the face blurred out.

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Logan Paul -

Obviously it’s pretty hard to come back from something like that. In one of his apologies, he claimed that his heartless behavior was a coping mechanism and that he uploaded the video to raise awareness about the topic. His fans weren’t buying it.

Sources: (YouTube) (CNN) (Livingly) (Delish) 

See also: Controversial celebrity scandals that shocked the world

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