40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains

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.

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

rockychunk , Dr. Oz Report

Final score:

327points

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General Anaesthesia 2 years ago

Thank you Oprah Winfrey.

117points

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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.

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

justbrowsing987654 , Gage Skidmore Report

Final score:

276points

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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

121points

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40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

Not_a_local_wanderer , Ellen Degeneres Report

Final score:

254points

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Allan 2 years ago

Never Ge-nerous after all

55points

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"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.

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

shaka_sulu , NBC Television Report

Final score:

241points

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RafCo (he/him) 2 years ago

Donald Trump was "nominated" for the Nobel Peace Prize. The nomination itself is meaningless.

22points

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Baby boomers that used to be hippies but are now Capitalist thralls who can’t tell freedom from fascism.

EnshaednCosplay Report

Final score:

240points

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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

225points

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40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

StephenPigot2020 , Conor McGregor Report

Final score:

225points

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gibsonpic 2 years ago

Spot on. I am from Ireland and I don't know one Irish person who has any respect for this idiot...he's an embarrassment.

92points

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"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."

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.

SergeantChic Report

Final score:

209points

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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".

119points

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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.

antipyretical Report

Final score:

201points

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Sian E 2 years ago

Yup, the company ethics and the way it treats workers is horrific....but.... next day delivery.... And yes, I know that makes me part of the problem.

99points

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40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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)

ugagradlady Report

Final score:

198points

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Alycia Perez 2 years ago

POS

118points

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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

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

TheBk_1er , President.gov.ua Report

Final score:

196points

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James016 2 years ago

My wife is Turkish and has no nice things to say about him. In fact it’s best not to mention his name to her.

93points

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#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.

JeSuisUnFennec Report

Final score:

194points

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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.

13points

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#12

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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

3lon_Mu5k , wikipedia Report

Final score:

184points

POST

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.

111points

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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

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

Crvsby , Nancy Wong Report

Final score:

176points

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olx 2 years ago

wait is this the koolaid guy

95points

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#14

Facebook. Last 5 years it turned onto a boomer bigot wasteland

TrashSea1485 Report

Final score:

172points

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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.

219points

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#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.

JuliaTheInsaneKid Report

Final score:

162points

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Terry Bogard 2 years ago

Bruh...

82points

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"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.

TheTemplarr Report

Final score:

161points

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Timmy Pillinger 2 years ago

Should have used parental controls

92points

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#17

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains O.J. Simpson

ChickenTendy27 , Peter K. Levy Report

Final score:

158points

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C Ronz 2 years ago

9out of the 12 jurors admitted they voted not guilty just to get back at the city of LA for the Rodney King beating. Hes 100% guilty

60points

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#18

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

parlimentery , Unknown author Report

Final score:

137points

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Jessamyn Zolczynski 2 years ago

Well that just makes it all fine and dandy doesn't it?

38points

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#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.

HyperAktiFF Report

Final score:

136points

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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..

54points

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#20

Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church started out as an attorney defending civil rights.

Pkrudeboy Report

Final score:

135points

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James016 2 years ago

That’s quite a turn

58points

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#21

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

arthuranymoredonuts , Public Domain Report

Final score:

125points

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XenoMurph 2 years ago

It's one thing leading a nation that has had to surrender, to save civilian lives, that's fine. Against the Nazi war machine at the time France could do nothing else. But it's another thing to willing give up tens of thousands of your citizens to be gassed.

58points

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#22

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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...

Darth_Destructus , Stock Catalog Report

Final score:

120points

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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

80points

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#23

Ghandi

Megademi4529 Report

Final score:

115points

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Terry Armstrong 2 years ago

Yes, without doubt...Now looking for Mother Theresa...

155points

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#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

Action-a-go-go-baby Report

Final score:

114points

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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.

34points

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#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.

batmanstuff Report

Final score:

113points

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Allan 2 years ago

Gave us sweet melodies but wasn't sweet after all

14points

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#26

The company apple

swiggityswoogey Report

Final score:

97points

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Starhawk Hunt 2 years ago

For what it’s worth? My iPhone hasn’t set anything on fire…..

4points

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#27

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains Kevin Spacey

Patri100ia , Maryland GovPics Report

Final score:

95points

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Jessamyn Zolczynski 2 years ago

Sorry, I don't read the news....what's up with this guy?

9points

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#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.

somabeach Report

Final score:

93points

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Spider 2 years ago

Who would've thought a "natural" at killing the "right" people could be a person capable of child rape. "Oh you're a fantastic murderer and you're proud of it and we're proud of you! You couldn't possibly be f****d up in the head especially after killing a bunch of people"

101points

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#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.

NinnyBoggy Report

Final score:

89points

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Lene 2 years ago

That is really sad. But most abusers are extremely good at hiding the monster in them until they are alone with their victim(s). It's so wild how ppl can be a jekyll and hyde like that.

56points

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#30

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

nostrademons , Office of the Vice President Report

Final score:

88points

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Desiree McKinnon 2 years ago

And yet he was STILL a better President than Trump

221points

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#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

do_u_liek_ButtSchexx Report

Final score:

76points

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Injun Joe 2 years ago

2 on the Musk.

0points

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#32

Every organ until it gets cancer

SuperBaconjam Report

Final score:

75points

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Caro Caro 2 years ago

Fu*k cancer.

62points

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#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.

ThadisJones Report

Final score:

74points

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lara 2 years ago

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

11points

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#34

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

uniqueperson22 , Thomas Hart Report

Final score:

69points

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Satan Laughs 2 years ago

But a living traitor.

17points

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#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.

Omny87 Report

Final score:

68points

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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.

63points

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#36

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

rumpel4skinOU , Minh Hoang Report

Final score:

67points

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Jessamyn Zolczynski 2 years ago

Monkey see monkey do

23points

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#37

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains 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.

DegreeOffWhite Report

Final score:

65points

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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.

22points

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#38

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains Phoenix Jones, that superhero from Seattle. Saved some people over the years then eventually was caught by an undercover cop selling MDMA.

moist_kiwi53 , Torrin Maynard Report

Final score:

56points

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Terry Bogard 2 years ago

That real life superhero trend was f****n wild.

24points

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#39

Tony Blair. He was such a popular figure at one point. But it went so badly for him!

lofinobodyperson Report

Final score:

54points

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James016 2 years ago

He was a refreshing change from the Tories but taking us into Iraq without the proper equipment really was his downfall.

20points

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#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.

thejrevanslowell Report

Final score:

29points

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Michael Largey 2 years ago (edited)

Making an incorrect hypothesis and working to test it out does not make you a bad person or "off the deep end".

32points

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#41

Any famous scientist who starts thinking they're god's gift to intelligence and spouting s**t about topics they didn't study.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a talented physicist and astronomer. Nothing else. I've literally seen him ranting about medieval history on Twitter and blatantly getting details wrong.

SleeplessShitposter Report

Final score:

21points

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#42

Working in resturant kitchens. You either burn out young, or become the boss that everyone hates. (There's exceptions, but that's the rule.

grandpas_old_crow Report

Final score:

20points

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Andy Smith 2 years ago

I worked in restaurants from high school to my mid to late 20’s and then became an EMT. As an EMT, I have dealt with less stress and less overall soul sucking days than I did in restaurants

4points

#43

For me, Dennis Miller. He was my favorite comedian in the 80s and 90s. I watched *Dennis Miller Live* on HBO religiously and I listened to *The Off-White Album* so many times I could quote it front to back from memory.

He came off as a "progressive centrist" who by today's standards would seem like a leftist comedian even though he had some definite right-leaning views. (He was famously pro-death penalty, for example.) I didn't agree with his every stance but he always came off as educated, funny, and reasonable, with a dry and cynical wit that I plugged into immediately and honestly informed my own sense of humor a lot.

Then 9/11 happened and he went f*****g insane. Went immediately into the right-wing grift circuit, where he's been ever since, and took all of his old material out of print. He's utterly insufferable now.

ETA: I remember a really pathetic instance of this back around 2010 I think? where I was googling to see if I could find a copy of Off-White and got steered to a video clip of his right-wing radio show where a caller was asking about his "old commie material" and he disavowed it vehemently, claiming "I don't even remember a single one of those jokes".

Just a few months later he was trying to stage some kind of comeback and got a spot on Leno. After a minute or two of his right-wing b******t not getting one single laugh, he panicked and launched into some of his best bits from Off-White, a 20+-year-old album of jokes he "didn't even remember", and it absolutely *killed* the room. And you could see on his face in real time just how much it grated on him that that was the Dennis Miller people actually liked and wanted more of.

He used to be one of the funniest people alive. Oh well.

deathinactthree Report

Final score:

17points

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Kate Jones 2 years ago

He was always a little bit of a douchebag. I used to watch his HBO show Dennis Miller Live back in the 90s. He was known for always trying to be have a 'smart commentary'. But it was in such a snobby and smug way. If you're smart you don't have to try as hard as he did- it just came off as superior and arrogant. Jon Stewart was able to do what Dennis Miller was never able to, and that was being smart but likable. Dennis is not likable. But at least back then he was able to have a good time talking to guests and was much more funny and wasn't such a right-wing, joyless nutbag.

8points

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#44

Google.

ArtSchnurple Report

Final score:

15points

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Seedy Vine 2 years ago

Remember when their slogan was "Don't be evil"?

5points

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#45

Charles Lindbergh

Keith502 Report

Final score:

13points

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Colin Matthews 2 years ago

Agreed. A nutcase

6points

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#46

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains Fritz Haber. He revolutionized the ability to fertilize crops and stopped the downfall of our modern agricultural civilization which has allowed the earth’s population to increase by 4 billion since his discovery. He created other technologies that would then be used in WW1 chemical warfare and eventually Zyklon B in WW2 that was used to perpetrate the Holocaust.

cooliovonhoolio , The Nobel Foundation Report

Final score:

12points

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David Fox 2 years ago

Very unpopular opinion/facts. He was a Chemist. During WW1 most countries were employing scientists to develop chemical weapons and both the Axis and Allies used gasses against each other....there wasn't a singular person at fault but as a collective. ALL scientists we're doing their duty to their country. Do I condone it? Of course not. As with Zyklon B, it was officially used as a pesticide not a murder weapon.....it was Farben who found it a useful tool for mass murder. Fritz committed suicide after knowing that his pesticide was used to kill millions!!

10points

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#47

Rudy Giuliani was "America's Mayor" after 9/11, and now...

Griseumguy Report

Final score:

10points

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Jessamyn Zolczynski 2 years ago

Rudy so popular he has to be on here twice huh?

14points

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#48

joe rogan - i really like how down to earth he seemed. he usually has ideas that seemed to be very logic based. later he turned into someone who doubts logic. i m not scientist but i simply find anyone who say masks dont work having a serious flaw with their logic.

similarly i used to like jordan peterson. i am not a fan of sjw s**t and pronouns etc. i am NOT going to memorize 1001 different pronouns. but if it makes anyone's day a little brighter. i will call you he or she on your preference as well as your preferred name.

his insistence on deadnaming ellen page is really... salty. how different is it from someone going to the gov and asking for their name to be officially changed? name changes happen.

people who i liked a lot. turned into people who i dont like. not necessarily villains but thats for me.

exsea Report

Final score:

10points

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Berry-Nice 2 years ago

I say this to all the older members in my family, because my daughter changed her name when she was 13 (she still uses she/her) but regardless; does someone changing their name or pronouns HURT YOU. People can call themselves whatever they want and I will happily oblige because trust me, the last thing they were thinking of when they made that decision was "oh I'm going to spite the boomers by changing my name". You are not that important. And if it makes them happy and confident then take the extra millisecond to remember what they call themselves. You may make mistakes, I did accidentally call my bros bf a girl at first because he is still female presenting, but I corrected myself and apologised (still cringe at it though). This one is just embarrassing.

22points

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#49

We had the rent raised and this pushed us into owning a home. Had a huge chip on my shoulder about the landlord squeezing me for more money and enough was enough so we bought a house. Fast forward a few years and we move towns for work and rent out the house. ( 6months before COVID )

I quickly became that landlord who only saw dollar signs when the rent came late or wasn’t paid in full.

Sold the house after COVID caused the tenets to just stop paying and I had to shoulder my mortgage and the rental we had in town.

im_too_high_4_this Report

Final score:

5points

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Valerie Young 2 years ago

Why are landlords such trash?!

3points

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#50

Just watched a video on Fritz Haber. He was one of the two German chemists to create the Haber-Bosch process in early 1900s which is credited with supporting the life of 4 billion people. He became an instant hero for the world and is the main reason world hunger is no longer a production problem but a logistical one. He ended up winning the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1918, but between creating the Haber-Bosch process and winning his prize in 1918 he was a major player in WWI.

During WWI the allied powers put a trade blockade on Chilean saltpeter which was a major source of ammonia for the production of explosives. So he used his plants to turn from making ammonia for crops to making ammonia for weapons. Not only this he was instrumental in creating one of the first used chemical weapons in WWI, Chlorine gas. He became known as the father of Chemical warfare.

If that was not bad enough in the 1920s scientists at his institute developed a cyanide gas we now know today as Zyklon B, the chemical used in Concentration camp gas chambers.

Despite creating the process which would theoretically end world hunger he is more know today with creating chemical weapons and supplying the Nazis with the chemical they would use to kill over 10 million people.

DoYouEvenCareAboutMe Report

Final score:

5points

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Colin Matthews 2 years ago

Well no. His name has very little association with the holocaust as he died of a heart attack in 1934. You are correct about his work in synthesis of ammonia vs his work on chlorine gas.

7points

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#51

H3h3, he use to call out the b******t on youtube, all the click baiting and harmful videos. Now he is the ultimate click baiter and drama youtuber. Super sad to see cause I loved his content as a kid, but ever since the podcast it hasn't been the same.

Quen_the_wizard Report

Final score:

4points

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Satan Laughs 2 years ago

Who??

22points

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#52

Charles Romley Alder Wright: The inventor of Heroin.

Back in the 1890's, Morphine Addiction was bad. But it was still a pain reliever and general anesthetic. Considering this was a time when surgeons just started using drugs to put patients under instead of holding them down and hoping your assistants were strong enough to pin a thrashing patient still, they couldn't just get rid of it from the market. So Wright wanted to make an non-habit forming alternative. Something so patients wouldn't be in pain, surgeons could work calmly and efficiently, and no patient would get addicted.

Before Mr. Wright found out about how terrible of a drug he had made, he died. Bayer (the pharmaceutical company) further developed the drug until the Treaty of Versailles first banned it.

If Mr. Wright were still alive, he'd be branded a monster and there would be calls to get him locked up. But when he died, people probably thought he was a hero for making a non-addictive morphine alternative.

YoureInMyWaySir Report

Final score:

3points

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Judes 2 years ago

This one's unfair. It's not like he deliberately developed a drug to make people addicts.

21points

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#53

As of now, mark cuban is in the hero stage for making medications affordable. My fear is that once it really catches on, he’ll increase the prices and we’ll be back to where we started.

Mr Cuban, please stay the hero we need.

inflewants Report

Final score:

2points

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Valerie Young 2 years ago

This list is about those who have turned, not who you think will.

13points

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#54

My dad. I used to think he was great, but as I got older I realized he’s no better than the rest of my shitty family.

anon Report

Final score:

2points

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Karin Gibson 2 years ago

Ok thanks for sharing

7points

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#55

Richard Jewel.

Security guard at the Atlanta Olympics who saved a bunch of people from getting killed by a bomb (could have been killed himself) only to be falsely accused and harassed relentlessly by the FBI and media when an FBI agent leaked to a local reporter that he was a prime suspect.

They even tried to convince him that they thought he was a hero and trick him into doing a 'bomb threat video' where he was the bomber. The idea was to later use that as evidence against him.

Poor guy and his family suffered for months while the FBI basically fabricated evidence, raided his home and kept him under surveillance 24 hours a day. He was eventually cleared as a suspect but only after pressure from his lawyer to basically charge him or provide him a statement saying he wasn't a suspect any longer.

Never_Been_Missed Report

Final score:

-5points

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Lyone Fein 2 years ago

So..........he really doesn't belong on this list?

57points

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#56

40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains J.K. Rowling

Seriously. Hell, she could’ve even kept milking HP for all it’s worth (and then some) if she wanted to stay in the public eye. Instead, she chose to use her platform to spew hate…toward part of a demographic that very much loved her books. It’s baffling (and yes, really upsetting to me as a queer person who grew up with HP).

nibo001 , J.K. Rowling Report

Final score:

-14points

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Beverly 2 years ago

No, she didn't. Nuanced argument does not equal hate. Please, people, grow up.

72points

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#57

Will smith

TheBulgarianDiver Report

Final score:

-16points

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Przemo 2 years ago

How is he a villain? A man is not defined by a single stupid thing he does. He is barely an a*****e.

14points

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#58

JFK. Had so much potential to get drug down into corruption, nepotism, and such between his family's power, ties to the mafia, and womizing.

But he was assassinated before that could happen and died the hero.

ExiledSanity Report

Final score:

-19points

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Mr. Cinder 2 years ago

He was trying to stay the hero, that's why they assassinated him! Then his brother carried on the fight and he was assassinated too. This one doesn't belong here at all.

8points

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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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ItsJess 2 years ago

It's wild to me that people these days seem to regard Mike Tyson as a loveable scamp

Coleen 2 years ago

I've been waiting for someone to mention Mike Tyson. It floors me anytime I see him on t.v. Other people can get cancelled for saying something unpopular, but this a**h*** is a convicted rapist who served three years of a six-year prison sentence. And, in '06, denied the rape in an interview but stated that at that point, he WOULD rape the girl. WTF?

Pam Akers 2 years ago

Deborah Harris - great list. May I add The Subway guy. Can't remember his name!

1point

PatriciaB 2 years ago

Fred the weatherman

J Adams 2 years ago

What did Barrymore do to deserve to be on this list with actual, had a pool party where someone died? He didn’t cause the death and didn’t a child die at one of Tommy lee and Pamela Anderson’s pool parties? They never received the vitriol Barrymore did

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.

Some Cool Guy 2 years ago

Lance Armstrong

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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40 Real-Life Heroes Who Lived Long Enough To Turn Into Villains

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