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A movie quote that resonates with a lot of internet users is Harvey Dent’s line from 2008’s ‘The Dark Knight’ that, “You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” The idea is that no matter how good of a person you might seem to be, eventually, you’ll fall from grace and end up going against your own supposed principles. The people you respect and adore one day might be whom you detest the next because you learn what they’ve done.
And though life’s certainly not a movie and the quote doesn’t hold true for everyone, it does highlight the fact that dramatic falls from grace really do happen, especially to stars. Suddenly, the scales fall from the adoring crowd’s eyes and they see the person for who they are now… or who they really were deep inside, all along. A villain, definitely not a hero.
The crowd over on r/AskReddit shared their thoughts about the very worst real-life examples of heroes turning out to be villains. Scroll down to read which celebrities and public figures they named and shamed, Pandas. And if you know of any similar examples, you can share them in the comments.
Entertainment and pop culture expert Mike Sington, aka Hollywood's Ultimate Insider, shared his thoughts with Bored Panda about public figures and stars letting their fans down, as well as whether or not we can definitively tell if someone well-known is being genuine. "You can never tell that a celebrity or public figure is 100% genuine. You just can’t, because you don’t really know that celebrity or public figure. You think you do because they’re famous, but you don’t. In all likelihood, you’ve never even met the person," he told us.
"In my experience, someone may be hiding who they are if you only see a glossy side of them." Scroll down for our full interview with Mike.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Dr. Oz is the perfect example. He started out a legitimate talented accomplished cardiac surgeon. Then he started with his snake-oil peddling on TV and has now completely devolved into a pandering narcissistic Trump-loving politician.
LA-based celebrity expert Mike told Bored Panda how we can tell if a public figure or a celebrity may be hiding something.
"If their life seems overly curated, only focusing on the good and positive of what they present to the public, then they may be hiding something. You can usually sense when someone has genuinely let you into their life, and when they haven’t. That applies not just to celebrities, but to the real people in your life as well," he said.
"We usually look up to celebrities and public figures, but it’s important to remember, despite their accomplishments, they are people just like you and me," Mike said.
RELATED:
#2
Rudy Giuliani. Dude was “America’s mayor” just 20 years ago. A brilliant, ballsy prosecutor who took down the mob then shepherded NY through 9/11. Now he’s just thought of as the increasingly unhinged trump lackey that sweat hair dye in front of a landscaping company that shoulda been a hotel.
Jrog 2 years ago
Apparently, Giuliani spent his time as prosecutor taking down the mobs *he had no business with*, while providing jobs and protecting other mobsters that were his associates. Among those associates, there were Bronx families (who benefited from government contracts and from prosecution of their competitors) and the Russian mob, who later was an important part of his political parabola with Trump. https://publicintegrity.org/politics/elections/fbi-tracked-alleged-russian-mob-ties-of-giuliani-campaign-supporter/ https://apnews.com/article/bde5137666480600ace2e9db264dcbb5 https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/educational-magazines/mob-was-citys-watchdog-during-giuliani-cleanup
#3
Ellen Degeneres
It’s a shame it took so long. There were stories out there for years about what a horrible person she is. Just now coming main stream.
"Anyone, celebrity or not, is susceptible to making mistakes and doing bad things. When a celebrity does something bad, it’s amplified exponentially because they are in the public eye, and are being watched so closely by so many people. So when a celebrity does bad things, it’s important to keep perspective in mind.
According to entertainment and pop culture expert Mike, the expectations from fans that celebrities ought to be 'perfect' is a pressure that fans put on themselves.
"Don’t for a second worry about putting that pressure on stars. They know the pitfalls of being famous, and are very able to step out of the celebrity spotlight if the pressure to be perfect is too much," he noted.
#4
Bill Cosby was once nominated for a Nobel peace prize.
EDIT: Also the EMMYs gave him a humanitarian award. Also the President medal of freedom.
RafCo (he/him) 2 years ago
Donald Trump was "nominated" for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination itself is meaningless.
#5
Baby boomers that used to be hippies but are now Capitalist thralls who can’t tell freedom from fascism.
Aunt Riarch 2 years ago
As a boomer, I have to agree. We honestly thought we would have the better world that we were fighting for. I'm sorry. I hope you will do better, and I'll do what I can to help
#6
Conor McGregor. He had the whole country behind him here in Ireland at one point bar people who thought combat sport is grotesque. He was witty, original, backing himself up and having a Hollywood like rise to stardom. Now he's some coke head who the whole country is ashamed of, goes punching old men, clearly sleeps around on his wife while she's at home with the kids, numerous allegations against him for sexual assault, just a walking caricature of himself. He didn't listen to his own advice. Get in. Get rich. Get out.
"I worry more about the disappointment fans experience when a celebrity lets them down, it can be absolutely crushing to the point of affecting one’s mental health. That’s when it’s important to disassociate yourself from the celebrity with the realization that you never really knew the person after all," Mike warned.
"There are a few steps stars can take to deal with the pressure of fame better. First, know that it’s part of your job description, and realize the perks of fame almost always far outweigh the negative aspects of it. Second, turn to your family and friends as a support system and to keep you grounded. Third, get off social media completely. And fourth, limit or stop public appearances. Just focus on your work, and let your work speak for itself."
#7
Probably Elon Musk. I used to think “Well, the government is doing f**k-all to advance manned space exploration, so if private investors have to do it, I guess that’s how it has to be.” He seemed like he was genuinely invested in that, too. There was a lot of good will toward him in the public eye.
Then he found Twitter, and everything went to s**t pretty quickly. Now he’s just that weirdo who pushes crypto scams and pays his employees to shut up about the kids he had with them.
Alexandru Bucur 2 years ago (edited)
I mean, he still is interested in spaceflight, that's not an act. The problem is, you know, all the rest. I don't know where I heard it from but I've always repeated it that Elon Musk is like "the souls of a 14 year old 4chan edgelord and a 1900s steel conglomerate tycoon crammed together into the same body".
#8
Amazon, for sure. About 22 years ago, it was a little known place where you could buy books online for cheaper than brick-and-mortar retail. To watch it gradually grow and transform into an economic power that makes Omni Consumer Products seem less like satire and more like a prediction... It's been interesting, to say the least. Can't say I don't love the convenience, though.
#9
Harry Harlow. He began his career as a young and unconventional scientist who wanted to prove that humans cannot survive without love and affection. To do so, he needed an animal that was sufficiently humanlike and easy to manage. He settled on rhesus monkeys.
Harlow's research went in a really dark direction as scholar after scholar refused to acknowledge its validity. While his first wife died a slow, painful demise from cancer, he became depressed and an alcoholic. He decided to deliberately raise monkeys from birth with as little love and affection as possible to see if they could ever recover.
They could not. Clinging to towels with wooden faces (which served as surrogate mothers), the monkeys couldn't learn about their culture or social skills. Some came out of their shells when introduced to new monkeys to befriend. To "fix" that, he invented the "pit of despair," an inverted pyramid the monkeys could not climb out of. They were depressed and pretty much became empty shells of living animals.
There's a lot of stuff I don't cover here. Some of it I just don't want to mention, but for a fairly clearheaded summary of Harlow's work, [here is a link.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEEEu1HEtU0)
Many fans put certain public figures and beloved celebrities on a pedestal. They expect them to be absolutely ‘perfect’ in everything that they do. Whenever they make a mistake or show that they’re human, some pounce on them, taking pleasure in the fact that they messed up. However, simple mistakes are nowhere near the level of stuff that the people in this list did. ‘Evil’ is a word that might spring to mind when you start learning more about them. Fame doesn’t make individuals immune from hurting others.
Though we don’t agree that heroes necessarily ‘have to’ lose their way, the Reddit thread does draw attention to the fact that it’s dangerous to idolize anyone to a huge extent. It’s incredibly difficult to tell a person’s inner thoughts, feelings, and motivations when you only know about them from the media. It’s hard to see how ‘heroic’ or ‘villainous’ they might actually be without having met them in person.
And even then, many family members and friends could still be shocked to discover how the celebs change, seemingly, overnight. Though these changes rarely happen that quickly: it’s just that, suddenly, everyone learns the truth. Their reputation quickly crumbles and fans are left with the dizzying realization that they’d been loving and praising somebody who wasn’t worthy of that love and praise. It hurts. It feels like a betrayal.
#10
Erdogan is the perfect example. Believe it or not, when he was the mayor of Istanbul in the late 90s to early 2000s we was actually pretty progressive and had the general support of the people. Then his election to prime minister happened, he became power hungry, his policies became much more right wing and less secular and everyone hates him now.
#11
I'm a full-on atheist but: Protestantism. It was intended as a reaction to the Catholic Church's excesses and corruption, contributed to people having access to their religion's central text in a language they ubderstood and wrested power from the clergy.
Now there are American mega churches and rich televangelists making money hand over fist from the gullible masses, Amish and Jehovah's Witnesses shielding sexual abusers among their ranks and blaming and shunning the victims much like paedophile catholic priests are shielded by the church.
This is in addition to the many attempts at theocratic states and horribly abusive societies birthed by the reformation. It was intended to be a cure for corruption and the gross accumulation of temporal power and ended up just as corrupted and power hungry.
To be clear, in my opinion, all religions are dangerous and an abuser's wet dream but this is a very obvious example of a full-circle revolution.
Tracy Wallick 2 years ago
Religions themselves aren't dangerous; the problem is when shitty people use religion as a tool to enrich themselves, prosecute others, and force their beliefs on others. And I say this as someone who has been a life-long atheist, but adopted atheistic Buddhism in my late 20s.
#12
Joe Paterno
JoePa was the shining beacon of what it meant to be a college coach when I was getting inducted into college football. And then...wow.
For those that don't know.. he knowingly allowed and covered up for Jerry Sandusky. He saw with his owns eyes Sandusky molesting a 10 year old boy in the Penn State shower facilities and did nothing
RafCo (he/him) 2 years ago
I live in Pennsylvania. He is still very much loved by a certain demographic here. But that demographic is willing to forgive anything, if you win American Football matches. The Philadelphia Eagles hired Michael Vick when he was untouchable (he was arrested for running dog fights at his home in Virginia). The only truly unforgivable act in the United States for a footballer is to kneel during the anthem, everything else if fair game. Torturing dogs, beating your wife, killing someone, and molesting children are all fine. Just don't kneel during the anthem while being black. As a Brazilian, I can say we treat our footballers the same way, except we don't care about the anthem.
But one way or another, the truth is that quite a lot of people enjoy learning about the dark side of humanity. That’s the reason why the true crime genre is so popular. Psychologist Lee Chambers explained to Bored Panda during an earlier interview that “in today's safe and often sanitized world, we are rarely threatened significantly, and the ability to explore evil, frightening and gruesome entertainment is one of the few ways we can visit this part of humanity while remaining safe and comfortable.”
“There is a level of novelty to it, it removes boredom quickly, and it helps us to discover our emotional limits while understanding the minds of those who go beyond social norms and potentially gaining knowledge of how we might avoid being victims ourselves. They also offer closure, with many stories ending with the mystery being solved, and the criminal being brought to a level of justice," the expert noted why so many are absolutely fascinated by real-life stories about evil.
#13
Jim Jones. He originally stood up for civil rights when it was really unpopular. Was hospitalized and accidentally placed in the black ward. When the doctors found out, they tried to move him, but he refused. Then he became a cult leader and used his power and influence to end the lives of a thousand people.
#14
Facebook. Last 5 years it turned onto a boomer bigot wasteland
Angela Turrall 2 years ago
Newsflash, it’s not just boomers that are bigots, and the sooner we all realise that, the sooner we can sort our s**t out instead of blame blame blame from all sides.
#15
Subway’s Jared Fogle. A formerly fat guy who lost weight by chasing kids. He started and ended his career the same way - getting into smaller pants.
"It can take us on an emotional rollercoaster, have us trying to solve the puzzle and test our fear in a controlled way. The permission to explore evil is powerful, as we so rarely get the chance elsewhere, and in itself, it is healthy and normal in moderation," the psychologist told us, adding that some people find this ‘comforting’ because the evil they see or read about is happening to someone else, not them.
"The challenge we face is the fact that consuming too much of this can desensitize us, and cause us to become less empathetic to the suffering of others, more fearful of our own environment, and potentially be more likely to use aggression ourselves. It can also cause us to be triggered by our own previous adverse experiences, make it harder to manage our own emotional balance, and increase our stress levels, so moderating our consumption is something we should have front of mind, even when we get embroiled in the latest series that is pulling us in,” he warned that moderation is key when consuming stories about real-life evil.
#16
My parents used to tell me about how I should be careful with strangers, and steer clear of anything on the net, because it's 'fake news and stuff designed to make you do bad things'.
In the last 1 2 years my mom has been sending me links about cancers, diseases, and all types of news coming from tabloid, and tells me that if it's on the net it must be true.
#18
Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich Maneuver, made up a bunch of untested uses for it (treating people having asthma attacks, and drowning victims were the two I remember) that he publicly talked up. Later, he funded an experiment that involved injecting people with Malaria to see if it would treat other conditions. The experiment was found to be unethical by American review boards, so he conducted them in Ethiopia.
#19
The current mexican president. He ran for the presidency 3 straight times on a no-corruption, atheist, liberal, feminist, leftist platform, once he finally won the election and 4 years into his presidency it’s clear he’s not just an evangelical conservative but he may be the most corrupt mexican president ever (and that’s quite an accomplishment in Mexico!) openly working for the Sinaloa Cartel and turning his back on the minorities that got him elected and openly mocking the victims of Mexico's rampant gender violence.
Victor Trejo 2 years ago
As a Mexican, I can say this is on the voters themselves. One must be quite naive to believe in all the BS this guy was promising in campaign. A big part of his success in the 2018 elections was due to the "I want to believe" herd, and another bif chunk was due to young people who didn't know him but thought he was sincere..
#20
Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church started out as an attorney defending civil rights.
#21
Philippe Petain. In WW1 he led the French to victory at Verdun, one of the worst battles in human history. In WW2, after France was beaten, Petain was the head of state of Vichy France. Guy went from the Lion of Verdun to the biggest Nazi collaborator in France.
#22
Netflix was once THE streaming service. Always had something to watch and the price was worth it.
But now, most of those shows and movies are gone, some of them long before things like Disney+ and other network streaming services came about. It got to the point where it was a joke to say "you wanna watch it? Then it's not on Netflix" or something along those lines.
Additionally, Netflix once put out a tweet about how "love is sharing your login" but is now charging extra for every additional party using an account. The price for a subscription has also gone up substantially, to the point where there were times my family considered dropping the subscription entirely.
Netflix, how far you've fallen...
Timmy Pillinger 2 years ago
This is more or less everything on the internet ever. Start with a good idea and run it at a loss to get people into it it. Start running it for profit and destroy the service people were going for
#24
Blizzard Entertainment (now Activision/Blizzard)
Used to be the darlings of the PC world with everything they creating being solid gold classics on launch
Now nothing but recycled trash, cash grabs, micro transactions, and sexual assault scandals
How the mighty have fallen
Sergy Yeltsen 2 years ago
The rot set in after Blizzard were bought out by Activision. You only have to see what a mouth breathing, bottom feeder POS Bobby Kotick is to see where all that came from.
#25
R Kelly. Grew up with The Worlds Greatest, Ignition, Ignition (remix), plus other songs. We all voted for The Worlds Greatest to be our graduation song in ‘07. Then we find out he’s minor league Jeffery Epstein.
#26
The company apple
#27
Kevin Spacey
#28
[Specialist John "Stebby" Stebbins](http://www.crimemagazine.com/war-hero-who-became-child-rapist) portrayed in *Black Hawk Down* by Ewan MacGregor.
Dude was a desk jockey in the US Army Rangers, deployed to Mogadishu in an administrative capacity. For one reason or another was pulled from his cushy position to fight on the ground with infantry and became a total natural, going berserk on the enemy and receiving commendations from numerous squadmates. Dude was nothing short of heroic in a nightmare scenario.
Years later he was court marshalled and sentenced to several years in prison. He'd raped his daughter, a toddler. Total fall from grace if I ever saw one.
#29
I had a longtime coworker that I earnestly thought was a great guy. Extremely funny, super charismatic, generally kind. Nice shoulder to lean on, exceptionally conversationalist. I absolutely thought he was one of the best people I had ever met, and did for several years.
At the start of a shift, I found out from a girl that had dated him that he was physically and verbally abusive. He had dated several coworkers and multiple coworkers came out and said that it was something that had happened with multiple women, all of whom were scared to speak up about it because they didn't think anyone would believe that *he* of all people was a domestic abuser.
I spent the rest of the shift nauseous and sick, unable to focus on work at all. On one hand it felt like a betrayal, and on the other I felt selfish as f**k for putting myself in any sort of "victimhood" in such a situation when there were genuine victims of his assault. I didn't really know what to do or say and at one point was walking by multiple coworkers, himself included. Just kept my head down and tried to walk by, but one of my coworkers called me back.
Turns out, they were roasting the f**k out of him because he had just admitted to being a flat earther. I absolutely deflated, because his intelligence had been one of the things I really admired about him. In the course of a single shift, I found out one of the smartest and kindest people I knew was a physically abusive flat earther.
He never faced any repercussions for his actions to my knowledge. I quit a couple weeks later, every shift was miserable after that.
#30
Richard Nixon. Won the 1972 election by a landslide, with only Minnesota and DC voting for McGovern, on the back of a strong economy. Two years later resigns in disgrace over Watergate, in the midst of stagflation, and his reputation has never been rehabilitated.
#31
I feel like mine has to be Elon Musk. He seemed like he was this good guy and now he is just an asshat
#32
Every organ until it gets cancer
#33
English engineer and writer [James P. Hogan.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_P._Hogan_(writer))
He wrote several really solid Sci-fi books that were hugely influential to me when I was growing up, and then towards the end of his life he became a Holocaust/AIDS/climate change denier.
#34
Benedict Arnold. Almost died during the revolutionary war, if I recall correctly, and if he had he would have been remembered a huge hero, and a martyr. Instead he lived and changed sides, and is remembered only for his being a traitor.
#35
Neil Degrasse Tyson. Though he became less of a "villain" and more "buzzkill". At first he seemed like the next Carl Sagan, celebrating the wonders of science and the universe. But somewhere along the line he turned into this smug, pseudo-nihilistic wet blanket who poo-pooed on anyone getting excited over solar eclipses and stuff. As someone who grew out of that mentality back in middle school, it's honestly kind of embarrassing to witness the same attitude being showcased by an actual astrophysicist who's old enough to be my dad.
Chucky Cheezburger 2 years ago
If he doesn't think solar eclipses are awe inspiring, he can go p**s up a rope. If you haven't experienced one, it's like the world stops for a moment. Animals stop making noise...bugs, and birds fall silent. Even people stop and get quiet. Not gonna lie, I had an emotional response that I still can't name other than being in awe.
#36
My dad used to annoy me by calling my Pokemon cards "Pokey-Mans". Now my kids have them and I do the same thing and it annoys the s**t out of them.
#37
Chris Benoit
This was terrible to see. I was a huge pro wrestling fan back in the day. To my knowledge, Benoit was actually a great person until he suddenly wasn't. That 'suddenly wasn't,' though, carried a hell of a consequence. It's actually kind of amazing how people with severe CTE act very similarly. When your job is basically to pound your brain in every night, who knows what will happen? Just look at all the NFL guys who have similar issues, i.e. Steve McNair. I feel bad for everyone involved, which includes Benoit himself. I don't think he even had the ability to reason anymore. Steroids didn't help, but I think they only expedited things.
Terry Bogard 2 years ago (edited)
This was way tragic. He was a great athlete. Glad to see the sport get safer in recent recent years, as much as the means in a sport where giant men are jumping on each other every night.
#38
Phoenix Jones, that superhero from Seattle. Saved some people over the years then eventually was caught by an undercover cop selling MDMA.
#39
Tony Blair. He was such a popular figure at one point. But it went so badly for him!
#40
Linus Pauling is an intresting one. He was one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century - won the Nobel Prize twice. Later in life he went off the deep end and became convinced that Vitamin C could cure cancer and maje him immortal - an idea that lives on in various forms today.
What do you think ?
Deborah Harris 2 years ago
Jimmy Saville, Prince Andrew, Michael Barrymore, Gary Glitter, Ian Watkins , Tiger Woods, Weinstein, Oscar Pistorius, Mike Tyson, Michael Vick ...to name but a few
Brivid 2 years ago
I watched the Jimmy Saville documentary that was on Netflix. As someone from the US I didn't grow up with him during my childhood. So I just thought he seemed extremely weird and controlling even without all the molestation.
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Paul C. 2 years ago
Rolf Harris, loved by just about everyone, as the lovely man, who even painted a beautiful picture of the Queen. Then we discovered his darker side.
Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
Yeah, we adored Rolf in our house. He was friends with my Mum, even asked her advice after he recorded (ironically) "Two Little Boys", which would go on to be a massive hit for him. He was worried about releasing it too close to Christmas. From Wikipedia: "The song reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart on 18 December 1969, where it stayed for six weeks, thus becoming the first chart-topping single of the 1970s as well as the last of the 1960s." And, about five years later, my Mum recorded it on the only album she and my Dad recorded. Some neat bonus trivia for ya there. Anyway, that song and that man were important to us. I have a picture of myself hugging him in the '70s on my site which I can't remove until I can get to my files (I owe them dough, don't have it, can't touch my files). Such a sad fall from grace.
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Marcus Lynch 2 years ago
Agreed. Champion who beet cancer and then turned ultra liar about steroid use. Stripped of all his wins and credibility. I distinctly remember the day I burned my "LANCE" shirt.
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Deborah Harris 2 years ago
Jimmy Saville, Prince Andrew, Michael Barrymore, Gary Glitter, Ian Watkins , Tiger Woods, Weinstein, Oscar Pistorius, Mike Tyson, Michael Vick ...to name but a few
Brivid 2 years ago
I watched the Jimmy Saville documentary that was on Netflix. As someone from the US I didn't grow up with him during my childhood. So I just thought he seemed extremely weird and controlling even without all the molestation.
Load More Replies... Paul C. 2 years ago
Rolf Harris, loved by just about everyone, as the lovely man, who even painted a beautiful picture of the Queen. Then we discovered his darker side.
Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
Yeah, we adored Rolf in our house. He was friends with my Mum, even asked her advice after he recorded (ironically) "Two Little Boys", which would go on to be a massive hit for him. He was worried about releasing it too close to Christmas. From Wikipedia: "The song reached number 1 on the UK Singles Chart on 18 December 1969, where it stayed for six weeks, thus becoming the first chart-topping single of the 1970s as well as the last of the 1960s." And, about five years later, my Mum recorded it on the only album she and my Dad recorded. Some neat bonus trivia for ya there. Anyway, that song and that man were important to us. I have a picture of myself hugging him in the '70s on my site which I can't remove until I can get to my files (I owe them dough, don't have it, can't touch my files). Such a sad fall from grace.
Load More Replies... Marcus Lynch 2 years ago
Agreed. Champion who beet cancer and then turned ultra liar about steroid use. Stripped of all his wins and credibility. I distinctly remember the day I burned my "LANCE" shirt.
Load More Replies...
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