Celebrity Altercations That Took A Physical Turn
Hollywood is a small town, and not everyone gets along with everyone. Personalities can clash, egos are too big, and competition is fierce among celebrities, which can lead to heightened emotions and even coming to blows.
That said, there have been several instances of celebrities clapping back at other celebs through social media, interviews, or song lyrics. Remember the feud between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift? Although their beef had to do with Perry poaching backup dancers from Swift, it was only a matter of time before Swift hit back at Perry by doing what she does best, releasing the song "Bad Blood." And, of course, there's the ongoing feud between rappers Meek Mill and Drake. After Mill alleged that Drake used a ghostwriter for his music, Drake hit back with diss tracks, like "Back to Back." Mill responded with his own song, "Wanna Know."
Although beefing with another celeb with songwriting is pretty harmless, some feuds have gone beyond that. Alas, there are a handful of stars who lose their temper and, when face to face with someone who has bad-mouthed them, will lash out by throwing a few punches. We've seen it happen between billionaires on an elevator, actors on a film set, and in public places like restaurants and award shows.
Was Justin Bieber a factor in Orlando Bloom's breakup?
In July 2014, Orlando Bloom and Justin Bieber got into a scuffle when the two crossed paths in Ibiza, Spain. So, what did the actor and the pop star find themselves fighting over? It was allegedly about Bloom's then-wife, Victoria's Secret model Miranda Kerr.
According to TMZ, Bloom and Bieber had an altercation while dining at the celebrity hotspot restaurant, Cipriani. Grainy footage showed Bloom approaching Bieber, but what viewers don't see is the actor reportedly throwing a punch at the Biebs after he allegedly made a comment about Kerr. Bieber ducked the punch and shouted at Bloom, "What's up, b***h?" The singer left the restaurant, but he retaliated by taking to Instagram and posting a photo of Kerr in a bikini and a second photo of Bloom crying.
Bieber initially met Kerr backstage at the 2012 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, and it was reported by E! News that the two were flirting with one another and there were rumors of the two hooking up. Kerr was married to Bloom when all this went down, and her lawyer had to release a statement to deny that Kerr was never romantically involved with the singer. Coincidentally, Bloom and Kerr separated just a year later in 2013. Did their divorce have anything to do with Bieber?
Jay-Z and Solange's infamous elevator incident
The notorious altercation between Solange and Jay-Z in an elevator might be among the most talked about celebrity fights ever. After the 2014 Met Gala, video footage obtained by TMZ showed Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Solange, and a security guard in an elevator following an afterparty in New York City.
In the infamous video, Solange yells at the rapper before hurling kicks and hitting him as the security guard tries to pull her away. After the footage was released, there were several theories about why Solange attacked her brother-in-law. It might have had something to do with Jay-Z's infidelity, particularly with fashion designer Rachel Roy, who was rumored to have been the woman behind Beyoncé's lyric, "Becky with the good hair." An insider for People claimed that Solange "was provoked by Rachel," who was at the event, adding that "Jay said something inappropriate to Beyoncé and Solange, and she snapped."
Despite the three stars never confirming what led to the heated exchange, Jay-Z and Beyoncé have mentioned the incident in their songs. In the 2014 remix for "***Flawless," Beyoncé sang, "Of course, sometimes s*** goes down when there's a billion dollars on an elevator." As for Jay-Z, he appeared to have blamed himself for Solange's actions in his song, "Kill Jay Z." "You egged Solange on / Knowin' all along, all you had to say you was wrong / You almost went Eric Benét / Let the baddest girl in the world get away."
Kim and Kourtney Kardashian's feud turned physical
Reality stars Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian Barker's sibling rivalry has been ongoing for quite some time. However, in the Season 18 of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," things took a dramatic turn when the women got into a physical altercation that shocked viewers.
In the episode, Kourtney shared in her confessional that she was fed up with her sister's belief that she didn't possess a strong work ethic. Kourtney reiterated this sentiment in a conversation with Kim, Khloé Kardashian, and Kendall Jenner, and that's when things came to heavy blows. After Kourtney threw a water bottle at Kim, the women became physical, and they slapped and scratched each other as Khloé tried to stop the altercation.
Kim spoke about the intense scene on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," where she stated that she and Kourtney made amends, but production was halted for one week to let everyone cool off. "I don't really ever resort to violence like that, but she scratched me so hard," Kim told the host. "When I looked down at my arm, and I saw she'd really scratched me, and I felt it all on my back, I just went over and slapped her back. It's not my proudest moment." Unfortunately, the two women found something new to feud over in their Hulu series, "The Kardashians." Following the Season 3 premiere, Kourtney accused Kim of using her wedding as a "business opportunity," and the Dolce & Gabanna feud continued into Season 4.
Conor McGregor and Machine Gun Kelly had beef?
There didn't seem to be any public beef between MMA fighter Conor McGregor and Machine Gun Kelly prior to the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. That's why people were left very confused when the two men found themselves in a heated altercation at the award show's red carpet.
Photos obtained by TMZ showed McGregor confronting Kelly, who was alongside then-girlfriend Megan Fox on the red carpet before the show began in September 2021. The fighter shouted at the singer and, at one point, threw a punch and lunged for MGK as his bodyguards held him back. It was alleged that McGregor wanted to take a photo with the singer, but he refused. However, a representative for McGregor denied this allegation. So, what caused McGregor to snap? We'll probably never know.
After everything had subsided, Entertainment Tonight interviewed McGregor, who stated that he had no idea why it got so intense between the two men but happily took a dig at MGK. "Nothing happened with me, I only fight real fighters, people that actually fight, you know what I mean. I certainly don't fight little vanilla boy rappers," he verbally jabbed at the genre-hopping rapper. "I don't even know the guy. I don't know anything about him, except that he's with Megan Fox."
Pink claimed Christina Aguilera squared up to her
Christina Aguilera and Pink's feud goes back to 2001 when they worked together alongside Mýa and Lil' Kim on the song "Lady Marmalade." The song topped the music charts and won the four women a Grammy, so what could have made these two highly talented women butt heads?
In an interview with MTV's "Behind the Music" (via Bustle) in 2009, Pink revealed she was unhappy when a label executive decided Aguilera should be given the standout high parts of the song amidst petty on-set drama. Things escalated between Pink and Aguilera, with the "Just Give Me a Reason" singer alleging that Aguilera once tried to punch her at a club. Appearing as a guest on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" in 2017, she shared, "I think I'm an alpha, and she's an alpha, and I'm used to taking my altercations physical, and she's used to having them verbal. We just are very different."
Aguilera refuted Pink's comments when she appeared on Cohen's show two years later. "Look at her and look at me, like, I wouldn't swing on her! She can beat my a**. Are you kidding me?" Aguilera shared. However, the singer suggested the ladies put their feud in the past when she added, "She's a different person now. She's a mom. She's cool."
The royals got physical
After deciding to separate from the royal family, Prince Harry released his 2023 memoir, "Spare," which saw the former Duke of Sussex holding nothing back regarding what was happening inside the walls of Buckingham Palace and his relationships with his family members. One shocking revelation in his tell-all was his physical altercation with his older brother, Prince William.
In an excerpt reported by The Guardian, Harry wrote that things came to a head between the royal brothers in 2019 while William visited Harry at his Nottingham Cottage home. There, Harry recalled wanting to speak about the press, but instead, had an intense confrontation with William after he accused Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, of being "difficult," "rude," and "abrasive." However, Harry pointed out that William was mirroring what the press stated about Markle. Things became physical between the two men shortly after that.
"It all happened so fast. So very fast. He grabbed me by the collar, ripping my necklace, and he knocked me to the floor. I landed on the dog's bowl, which cracked under my back, the pieces cutting into me. I lay there for a moment, dazed, then got to my feet and told him to get out," Harry wrote. According to E! News, royal expert Sharon Carpenter alleged that the release of "Spare" caused Harry and William to become completely estranged.
Don't ever attempt to kiss T.I.
The Chainsmokers DJ Andrew Taggart learned the hard way about getting too close to rappers without their permission. In an August 2022 TikTok posted by the group titled, "When meeting T.I. goes wrong," Taggart claimed that the "Whatever You Like" rapper punched him in the face after Taggart kissed him on the cheek while at a party.
In the video, Taggart recalled the incident: "We're in a vibe, and I, like, gave him a kiss on the cheek; it was totally my fault." According to the producer, the Atlanta rapper didn't find the kiss funny and pushed Taggart off before throwing a punch at him. Thankfully, T.I. accepted Taggart's apology before things could have escalated. Laughing off the encounter, Taggart shared, "It was the weirdest interaction ever."
The following day, T.I. addressed the situation on Instagram and didn't seem to hold any grudges towards Taggart. In fact, he invited The Chainsmokers on his "expidiTIously" podcast. "I have nothing negative to say ... we just had to work through some stuff, you know what I mean? We got to a much better place ... I have nothing but good things to say about them," the rapper shared, adding that after the scuffle, T.I. and Taggart had a drink and a shot to hash things out. Don't you love a happy ending?
John Leguizamo's dislike for Steven Seagal is insurmountable
Actor John Leguizamo's feud with Steven Seagal goes back to 1996 when the pair starred in the action movie, "Executive Decision," and Leguizamo carries that disdain toward Seagal still. During an interview with AV Club in 2012, Leguizamo shared that Seagal warned his castmates to follow his lead while filming the '90s flick, with Seagal allegedly stating, "I'm in command. What I say is law." Not taking Seagal seriously, Leguizamo recalled, "So I started laughing, and he slammed me with an Aikido elbow against a brick wall and knocked the air out of me."
From there on, Leguizamo has continued to bash Seagal. When the "Ice Age" star decided to take on the role of an actor with a diminishing career in 2022's "The Menu," he told Entertainment Weekly that he used Seagal as inspiration. "I've met lots of stars like that, maybe before they were washed up. I mean, now they're washed up. I kind of based mine on Steven Seagal. I had a bad run-in with him. We did a movie together. It was 'Executive Decision.' He's kind of a horrible human."
Jamie Foxx and LL Cool J went method while filming their movie
The 1999 movie "Any Given Sunday" featured an ensemble cast that included Al Pacino, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx, and LL Cool J. The sports drama told the story of a struggling football team with teammates whose personalities clashed, including that of Foxx and LL Cool J's football-playing characters. It turns out that these on-screen egos would play out off-screen between the two stars.
Co-star Bill Bellamy recalled the tense situation between Foxx and the rapper that left the Oscar-winning star in the hospital. Appearing as a guest on the "Drink Champs" podcast, Bellamy stated that the rapper was getting fed up with Foxx's antics and jokes while filming. During a scene in which Foxx and LL Cool J's characters come to blows, Foxx punched the rapper. Comparing LL Cool J to turning into the Hulk after the punch, Bellamy shared that the two men got into a real fight, with the rapper knocking Foxx out. "Jamie cuts his tongue, he has to go to the hospital, he's got to get like 16 stitches ... we can't film right now because we don't know what's going on with Jamie when he comes back from the hospital, and the tension is crazy!" Bellamy recounted.
However, the men put their differences aside to finish the film after meeting with real-life NFL player Jim Brown, who also starred in the movie. "Without Jim Brown, I don't know what would have happened," Bellamy shared.
Jack White and Jason Stollsteimer's bar brawl
The history of rock music isn't complete without its fair share of beef. For example, there was Courtney Love versus Dave Grohl and Keith Richards versus Mick Jagger. However, one of the most memorable feuds — that turned physical — occurred between two Detroit-based band leaders: The White Stripes frontman Jack White and The Von Bondies lead singer Jason Stollsteimer.
To understand the back story, White was a significant factor in launching the Von Bondies into stardom. He allowed them to open for his shows, included them in their "Sympathetic Sounds of Detroit" album, and even produced their first record. But something turned sour between the two men, and when they both attended a record release party at Detroit's Magic Stick in 2003, a fight broke out between them. According to MTV, White approached Stollsteimer, and when he refused to speak to him, White allegedly spit on him, attacked him, and punched him multiple times.
However, White had a different story to tell. In a Q&A on his band's website (via MTV), the White Stripes singer claimed that Stollsteimer's version of events was just a publicity stunt and that his injuries were not as bad as they seemed. Despite White's version of events, he pled guilty to an assault charge. "It's so funny that when the aroma of money and fame is in the air, old friends will quickly step on your face to get to it," White said in his Q&A.
Isaiah Washington had Patrick Dempsey against a wall
In 2007, fans of the long-running drama "Grey's Anatomy" were shocked to discover that Isaiah Washington, who portrayed Dr. Preston Burke, was fired after using a homophobic slur in a heated exchange with his co-star Patrick Dempsey while on set. Washington later apologized and denied that the slur was directed at anyone on the show. However, most suspected that it was aimed at T.R. Knight, who publicly disclosed that he was gay after Washington's exit.
Viewers of the show learned a lot more about the incident in Lynette Rice's 2021 book, "How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey's Anatomy." As reported by Us Weekly, writers Mark Wilding and Harry Werksman recalled that Washington and Dempsey had a physical altercation after both stars were tardy for filming. "Isaiah, for whatever reason that day, just took that the wrong way, and he went after Patrick," Werksman detailed. "He went after Patrick, pushed him up against a wall, and said, 'You can't talk to me the way you talk to that little f***** T.R.'"
Both Dempsey and Washington commented on the incident in Rice's book. "We learned that we [had] to watch what we say," Washington shared. "We [had] to make sure we [were] more accountable." Meanwhile, Dempsey believed the altercation "really healed the show," adding, "No one passed the buck, and everyone owned up to the situation and moved on."
Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe brawled on the set of The Outsiders
Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise were up-and-coming actors when they starred together in the 1983 film "The Outsiders," which was based on the book by S.E. Hinton. However, things got tense between the two young stars when their fight scene became a real brawl on set.
As reported by the Independent, Lowe recalled accidentally hitting Cruise while the two rehearsed their scene for the movie. Cruise didn't take it lightly, and a fight ensued. "I got one clean shot on Tom, and Tom is such a competitive lunatic — which is what I love about him — but the next thing you know he's ready to kill me!" Lowe recounted. "He's a whole lot of guy. It's like the United States and China right now. If you treat China like a foe surely she will become one. It was all good. But he was the one I was worried about."
In 2020, the "Parks and Recreation" star shared with Dax Shepard on his "Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard" podcast that Cruise was a bit of a brat then. When Lowe and Cruise had to stay in the same hotel room in New York City after auditioning for "The Outsiders," it turned out to be a big no-no for Cruise. "Tom finds out that we're sharing a room and just goes ballistic," Lowe revealed. Despite Cruise's ego, Lowe took it as the "Mission: Impossible" star knowing he would be a big deal someday.
Kid Rock and Tommy Lee's feud over their shared ex
Kid Rock and Tommy Lee had been at odds with one another for years, with a significant theory that the animosity had something to do with the fact that both men were married to actor Pamela Anderson at one point. Apparently, Lee even wrote a diss track titled "Face to Face," off his 2002 Never a Dull Moment album, which took nasty jabs at an unnamed enemy that was speculated to be Rock.
Things turned sour for these two rockers when they literally found themselves face-to-face at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. According to Far Out, Lee went over to Kid Rock's table to say hello to Diddy, and that's when a fistfight broke out between Kid Rock and Lee. As Kid Rock recalled it on "The Mikey Morning Show" (via Metal Underground), "When I came back from the bathroom, he's pretty much sitting in my seat. I'm like, that's it." Kid Rock denied that their tension had anything to do with Anderson but did state that there "was just a lot of mouth talking, a lot being extremely disrespectful for a long time."
As reported by Far Out, Lee mentioned the fight on his website, referring to Kid Rock as "Kid Pebble" and adding, "I stand up and embrace him with a semi-hug and say, 'Hey dude. What up?' He punches me in the face." Kid Rock was eventually cited with a misdemeanor for hitting Lee.
The infamous Oscars slap
The 2022 Academy Awards will forever be remembered as the day Will Smith slapped comedian and host Chris Rock live on air. The altercation occurred after Rock joked about Jada Pinkett Smith being cast in "G.I. Jane 2" because of her shaved head not knowing that Jada had alopecia. After the joke, the "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" star walked onto the stage and slapped Rock. Will sat back down in his seat before telling Rock, "Keep my wife's name out of your f***ing mouth." Will ended up stepping back on the stage when he won Best Actor for his role in "King Richard."
Will apologized to Rock in a lengthy post on Instagram, stating, "Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night's Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada's medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally." Will was also banned from the Oscars for 10 years.
As for Rock, the comedian used the infamous slap in his stand-up routines during his following comedy tour. During a performance in London, Rock joked (via Us Weekly), "I'm okay, if anybody was wondering. Got most of my hearing back. Don't expect me to talk about the bulls***. I'll talk about it at some point — on Netflix. Your tickets were expensive, but not that expensive."