Celebs Caught On Camera Doing Things They Shouldn't
One of the many sad truths of celebrity is that, despite all your best efforts, you don't always get to decide when you'll be appearing on camera and what the lenses will capture. Over the years, a number of actors, musicians, models, and even politicians have been caught on film in some pretty compromising or, at the very least, embarrassing situations.
Read on to see who the cameras have busted and what kind of fallout ensued.
Whoopi Goldberg
Back in December 2014, actress and Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg was interviewing the singer Ashanti for The View when the unexpected happened: Goldberg allegedly accidentally farted as Ashanti was discussing her feelings on the flu shot. Goldberg immediately apologized for her, uh, slip, saying (via The Huffington Post), "'Excuse me, oh!'...as fellow host Rosie O'Donnell got up and started fanning the air, saying, 'You know those breakfast burritos, they kill ya!'" Indeed, Rosie.
This wasn't the first time that Goldberg had been accused of opening the gas pipes in front of the cameras. In 2011, she was interviewing actress Claire Danes when she allegedly let one rip in the middle of Danes' answer about her show Homeland. According to The Huffington Post, a spokesperson denied that Goldberg had passed gas.
But Whoopi, everyone knows: whoever denied it, supplied it.
Solange Knowles
Rumors swirled when security cameras caught singer Solange Knowles attacking her brother-in-law, rapper Jay Z, in an elevator at the Standard Hotel in NYC as her sister Beyonce looked on. The trio had been attending the 2014 Met Gala and were leaving an afterparty when the altercation occurred, and things got heated really quickly. A leaked surveillance tape from the elevator showed Solange, clearly unaware that she was being filmed, hitting and kicking Jay Z as Beyonce stood by, though at one point a bodyguard stepped between the two to try to break things up.
Luckily, it seems the family was able to put whatever the issues were behind them, long rumored to be about Jay Z and his alleged infidelities. In a statement obtained by People, the family said, "Jay and Solange each assume their share of responsibility for what has occurred...They both acknowledge their role in this private matter that has played out in the public. They both have apologized to each other and we have moved forward as a united family."
Marion Barry
Marion Barry served as the mayor of Washington, D.C. for a full 10 years before it all came crashing down as a result of some seriously scandalous "caught on camera" behavior. As Time magazine reports, the FBI busted the mayor on film smoking crack cocaine with "a former girlfriend turned informant" as part of a 1990 sting operation. Footage leaked to the media, and Barry's reaction — "B**** set me up" — did nothing to quell the firestorm.
Despite an onslaught of negative press, Barry was somehow able to regroup and parlay his troubles into a political rebirth. After a trial, Barry did go to jail for six months, but as the New York Post describes in a 2014 profile about his unlikely trajectory, after his release he "was regarded as a returning hero by many in Washington afterward." Barry was improbably elected yet again to serve as mayor of D.C. in 1994, and his political career continued.
Rob Ford
A different country, another drug-using mayor caught on camera.
In 2013, rumors circulated about a video featuring then-Mayor of Toronto Rob Ford smoking crack. Potentially devastating for Ford's career, as the Toronto Star explains, Ford denied that the video was real, and said he could not comment on a video "that I have never seen or does not exist.'" Months later, Ford admitted that he had in fact tried smoking crack, but insisted that it had only happened once. The rumors continued, however, with the New York Times reporting in 2014 that a second video was said to exist, and that additional footage showing Ford obviously intoxicated in numerous public places had started to appear online.
The initial video did end up surfacing via The Toronto Star in August 2016 (a few months after Ford's death from cancer in March the same year), confirming the veracity of the 2013 rumors about Ford's "caught on tape" drug use.
Kristen Stewart
In July 2012, Us Weekly broke the story that would devastate millions of Twilight devotees worldwide when the magazine published photos of then-22-year-old actress Kristen Stewart making out with 41-year-old filmmaker and Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders.
The problem? Stewart was still dating Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson, and Sanders was married with two children to model Liberty Ross. As Us Weekly reported, Stewart quickly released a heartfelt, apologetic statement, saying, "I'm deeply sorry for the hurt and embarrassment I've caused to those close to me and everyone this has affected. This momentary indiscretion has jeopardized the most important thing in my life, the person I love and respect the most, Rob. I love him, I love him, I'm so sorry."
But nothing could repair the damage that had been done by the leaked images, and the couple broke up shortly thereafter, as did Sanders and his wife. Years later, Sanders addressed the scandal, referring to it as a "momentary lapse."
Eddie Cibrian
Before the Stewart/Sanders affair, actor Eddie Cibrian and singer Leann Rimes made headlines when their own "met on the set of a film" love story was caught on camera. The pair had recently costarred in a Lifetime movie, and despite being married to other people (Cibrian to future Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Brandi Glanville; and Rimes to backup dancer Dean Sheremet) just couldn't resist getting to know each other better.
In March 2009, Us Weekly published stills from a security video that appeared to show the pair kissing and holding hands during what seemed to be a decidedly not professional dinner date in Laguna Beach. This all ended pretty happily for Cibrian and Rimes, if not for anyone else; their other marriages quickly dissolved, and the couple married in 2011.
Sienna Miller
In 2008, tabloids worldwide shared the news that British actress Sienna Miller was dating actor and producer Balthazar Getty, and things were going great...aside from that whole "married with four kids" thing he had going on.
The Daily Mail reported that the couple were snapped "cavorting around while holidaying on the Amalfi coast." Confronted with undeniable proof of his affair, Getty was forced to release a public statement: "In light of the fact that many pictures have surfaced in print and on the internet which has caused myself and my family great embarrassment, I felt it necessary to at least acknowledge publicly that, yes indeed, my wife and I have separated and I will not be commenting any further."
Somehow, the marriage survived the scandal, and the Gettys are still together. Miller, meanwhile, was recently linked to Capote and Moneyball director Bennett Miller.
Winona Ryder
You'd think that a successful Hollywood actress would have little need to steal designer clothing, but in 2001, Winona Ryder was caught on security surveillance tapes lifting thousands of dollars worth of items from a Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills, Calif. The actress was arrested and found guilty of grand theft and vandalism, and as Us Weekly reported in 2016, "was sentenced to three years' probation, 480 hours of community service, $3,700 in fines and $6,355 in restitution to the department store."
It seems the whole debacle was ultimately beneficial for Ryder, giving her time to recalibrate and focus on her personal life. She told Interview magazine in 2013 (via The Daily Mail), "I did come up against what felt like a wall. And with what happened ... I really needed the time off, which ended up being a couple of years...In a weird way, it was almost like the best thing that could have happened.'"
Ashlee Simpson
In a 2004 Saturday Night Live appearance, singer Ashlee Simpson performed her first song without any issues. But, when it came time to perform her second song of the night, a vocal track for the first song started playing...again. Ashlee paused, confused, and then broke into a strange dance (it might best be described as a "jig") before wandering off the stage. It seemed the singer had been irrefutably caught lip-syncing once and for all.
Simpson later acknowledged that she had initially been singing over a backing track, a decision that, according to her (via ET Online), was due to her "severe acid reflux." She's still sticking to her story to this day though, and denies that she was ever straight-up pretending to sing.
Robin Thicke
Blurred lines, indeed.
A seemingly de rigueur August 2013 fan picture turned into something a bit more scandalous for Robin Thicke, when a young blond woman was photographed with the married singer's hand placed firmly on her backside. Thicke's grasp was revealed in a mirror that was positioned behind the pair, and the image quickly went viral after, as The Daily Mail reported, "A Twitter user posted the photo on the micro-blogging site tweeting it to Robin's wife Paula, 37, with the message: 'Look at the reflection girl.'"
Thicke's marriage and personal life fell apart shortly thereafter.
Ariana Grande
In a story that seems almost too bizarre to be true, the diminutive singer Ariana Grande was caught on a security camera in 2015 with then-boyfriend Ricky Alvarez licking powdered jelly donuts at Wolfee Donuts in Lake Elsinore, Calif. It's safe to say that she wasn't intending to tell anyone, and was fine with the donuts then being sold to unassuming customers. She was also captured making anti-American statements, like "I hate America."
The singer was forced to own up to her actions after the tape leaked to the press, and released a video apology, saying (via CNN), "Seeing a video of yourself behaving poorly, that you have no idea was taken, is such a rude awakening, that you don't know what to do — I was so disgusted with myself...Not here to make any excuses or justify my behavior, because I can't...I'm just here to apologize."
Ben Affleck
In 2006, Gawker posted a shocking video in which seemingly inebriated actor Ben Affleck, who was making the press rounds to promote his film Jersey Girl, made Montreal TV host Anne-Marie Losique sit on his lap during an interview. He then proceeded to ramble on and discuss Losique's breasts, telling her, "You know, you should work at Fox here in LA. You'd blend right in, they would love you. Fox LA, they have a pole that they dance on."
If you decide to watch the video, be forewarned: it's extremely uncomfortable.
Kiefer Sutherland
A bizarre 2006 video of 24 actor Kiefer Sutherland running into and crushing a Christmas tree after affirming his identity as a pirate quickly went viral, and is a holiday gift that keeps on giving. According to The Daily Mail, "The now infamous scene of Sutherland launching himself on the Christmas tree took place in a London hotel, when the actor was reported to have been under the influence of alcohol."
This didn't stop Sutherland from later mocking his own video; in 2011, he posted a picture of his official holiday card on his Twitter page, showing the actor about to reenact his infamous stunt.
It's good to know Sutherland was able to laugh at his antics while we all did too.
John Stamos
Well, this isn't the Uncle Jesse that we remember.
During a 2007 Australian talk show interview to promote ER, Full House actor John Stamos displayed some strange behavior when, as OK! Magazine reported, he "slurred his way through... wandering around the set, reading host Kerri-Anne Kennerley's lines from the teleprompter and making lewd gestures in front of her."
In 2009, Stamos owned up to the cause of his behavior, telling The Advocate (via OK! Magazine), "I'll be honest: When I went on that morning show, I was drunk...Yes, I was on sleeping pills and I was jet-lagged, but I was also just plastered." If nothing else, we appreciate his candor.
Kate Moss
An infamous 2005 scandal around supermodel Kate Moss ensued when UK's The Daily Mirror published front page images of her appearing to snort cocaine. The photos had been secretly taken in a London studio where Moss' then boyfriend, Pete Doherty of the band Babyshambles, was recording an album. As the Evening Standard reported in September 2005, the photos "appear to show Moss – said by the newspaper to have kept her 'mammoth stash' in her handbag – cutting fat lines of cocaine on the back of a CD cover and sharing them with Doherty and his entourage."
Moss certainly suffered the consequences, as she lost her lucrative contracts with Burberry and H&M. She also earned the unfortunate nickname "Cocaine Kate" from the unforgiving British tabloids. But, she soldiered on, and has since appeared in numerous magazines and on catwalks around the world.