The Biggest Jerks In Music

This article contains references to sexual harassment, domestic abuse, hate crimes, racism, and drug use.

Musicians often like to think of themselves as tortured geniuses. Unfortunately, some of them apparently have a habit of torturing others. From some of the worst feuds in music to bitter breakups and terrible rap sheets, the following artists all have controversial reputations. 

It's worth noting that there is obviously some distinction to be made between your average, everyday musical jerk and those who've gone way off the deep end. There are musicians who've committed crimes and others with truly heinous allegations against them, sure. But there are also those who are just downright unpleasant and provocative, seemingly for the hell of it. A jerk will always take the latter form, first and foremost. In music, those people will overshadow their great talent and success by repeatedly doing or saying ill-advised things. Their reputation often precedes them, and sometimes, it can completely kill their career. Other times, it simply becomes a turn-off for fans who get tired of having to defend the crummy actions or statements committed by their musical faves. 

These stars may make incredible tunes but from trolling folk on Twitter to urinating in mop buckets, they're also among the biggest jerks in music. Is the bad press on the mark about them? Listen up and decide for yourself.

Kiss frontman Gene Simmons may want to keep that notorious tongue from wagging so much. When Run-D.M.C. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Simmons took issue with the hip-hop duo's inclusion. While noting that they're significant artists, he nonetheless told Radio.com (via Rolling Stone), "But they don't play guitar. They sample and they talk. Not even sing." He also had beef with Grandmaster Flash and N.W.A.'s induction, griping, "I am looking forward to the death of rap." Following Prince's death in 2016, the performer also commiserated on the painful loss of the musical legend by seemingly attacking the late star's alleged lifestyle choices. He told Newsweek, "That's what drugs and alcohol is: a slow death."

To top it off, Simmons is fairly well renowned for his controversial statements regarding women. In an interview with NPR's Terry Gross, for instance, he explained his sketchy reasoning for wearing a codpiece on stage. "The notion is that if you want to welcome me with open arms, I'm afraid you're also going to have to welcome me with open legs," he stated. Meanwhile, journalist Kathy McCabe accused the rock star of responding to her interview questions with sexist retorts, per The Daily Telegraph. During an appearance on "Interview," via NZ Herald, Simmons copped to the behavior but insisted there was no excuse for it. He might even consider self-improvement. He explained, "I've made lots of mistakes ... I've been an arrogant, sexist pig." 

Justin Bieber's assorted troubles have been well-documented. There was that time he peed in a janitor's bucket. The time he got kicked out of some Mayan ruins for climbing where he wasn't supposed to and reportedly mooning other tourists. And that time he had to pay $80,000 in damages to a neighbor's house that he egged.

Let's not forget the time he may have assaulted a photographer and the time he reportedly had a fight with Orlando Bloom. The bad press went on and on, seemingly keeping tabloids in business. Bieber also once compared himself to a zoo animal when fans asked for photos, parodied his own song using a racial slur, and brawled with a total stranger. His commitment to being a jerk was legit. 

But hold up, Bieber may have turned over a new leaf. In a 2018 Instagram post, he credited his deepening religious beliefs with helping him to move forward in life. While celebrating Easter, he wrote, "I am set free from bondage and shame!" Meanwhile, his marriage to Hailey Bieber appears to have given him some solid foundations with which to be less of a jerk. In a 2021 interview with GQ, the singer described how finding stability had allowed him to correct his path and let go of his history. "A lot of people let their past weigh them down," he told the outlet. "But I'm just like: 'I did a bunch of stupid sh*t. That's okay.'"

Where do we even begin? Chris Brown's public persona was pretty much squeaky clean until his alleged assault on then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. Two years later, he hurled a chair at a window when "Good Morning America" had the nerve to ask him about it. Obviously, his alleged behavior against women is worse than simple jerk-status material. However, it's what he's done between such alleged incidents which have earned him that title. 

In 2016, Brown went on a bitter rant against ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran in which he insulted her career trajectory on Instagram. A year later, she was granted a 5-year restraining order against the singer due to his alleged threats against her. The two reportedly broke up in 2015 after Tran discovered he'd gotten another woman pregnant while they were together. In 2016, said-woman accused Brown of giving their daughter asthma due to his frequent marijuana smoking around her. It's no surprise that Brown's tour manager and publicist both quit that same year due to his behavior. 

The "Loyal" singer has had further run-ins with the law, of course. In 2021, police had to break up the star's massive birthday party due to how disruptive it was to his neighborhood. In 2016, he was also involved in a standoff against the LAPD after he was accused of threatening a woman with a gun, per the Los Angeles Times. Brown vented against the cops on social media during the standoff and claimed that he was being victimized. 

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support on their website.

Nicki Minaj is undeniably talented and successful. But based on the evidence, she may also be kind of a jerk. In the early days of her feud with Cardi B, for example, the rapper was reported to have made some petty moves against the "WAP" superstar. In 2018, Minaj was reported to have hired two very specific women to star in her music video for "Good Form." Those women just so happened to be preparing to sue Cardi over an incident in a club, according to TMZ. 

Need more proof that Minaj can be a jerk? She slammed Travis Scott for selling bundles to promote his music when it prevented her "Queen" album from debuting at No. 1, and she has even targeted legit musical legends. The star has been accused of being repeatedly disrespectful against legendary rapper Lil' Kim and was even accused of threatening Mariah Carey during their time on "American Idol." And let's not forget the 2021 incident wherein Minaj publicly put Jessie J in her place over her involvement with the hit song, "Bang Bang."

In 2021, she even waded into the beef between Little Mix and their former bandmate Jesy Nelson over accusations that the former girl band member was appropriating Black culture to boost her image. Per Daily Mail, the star defended Nelson during the controversy, prompting fans to accuse Minaj of hypocrisy. Didn't she put Miley Cyrus on blast for the same thing? Hey, maybe she just loves a good feud.

Record producer Dr. Luke has been embroiled in a bitter court battle with former protégé Kesha for years, but his bad reputation in the industry extends beyond her allegations. "A lot of artists that have worked with him don't work with him anymore for pretty good, solid reasons," said Kelly Clarkson in an interview with KIIS 1065 (via Rolling Stone). "He's not a good person to me. We've clashed," she explained. In November 2018, she alleged in legal documents (via The Blast) that Dr. Luke had also tried to sneakily take credit for writing her hit song "Behind These Hazel Eyes."

But that's not all! According to Billboard, singer Becky G sued Dr. Luke's Core Water company for $105 million over claims he allegedly pressured her into promoting the brand. According to the legal documents, the producer purportedly made it seem like the performer's continuing music career was completely dependent on her promotional work with the brand. "It became apparent that Core was simply using [Becky G] as a walking, talking, and singing billboard to turn its irrelevant water brand into a hip and culturally relevant water company," the documents stated.  

In short, there are plenty of artists who've had drama with Dr. Luke in one way or another. And the evidence supporting that he's allegedly kind of a jerk continues to stack up.

Stories about Nickleback frontman Chad Kroeger being a jerk are as diverse as they can be dumb. During an interview with Men's Health, for instance, the "Rockstar" performer boasted that he once convinced a drum tech to stick his genitals in a whirling metal fan. It was a bit of fun, apparently, and the guy got paid some pocket change for the silly stunt, but still. 

For years, Kroeger has also been embroiled in a petty feud with Slipknot and Stone Sour frontman Corey Taylor. In an interview with Metal Covenant in 2017, the Nickelback star alleged that Taylor had bad-mouthed him in the press and accused Stone Sour of swiping his band's sound. "They're not as good as Nickelback. They sound like Nickelback-lite," he complained. Coming for Slipknot, he followed up by saying, "They had to put on masks and jump around. How good can your music be if you've gotta beat each other up on stage [and] throw up in your own masks every night?"

During an interview with 98 KUPD, Taylor fired back by calling Kroeger an idiot. Damningly, he also accused the Nickelback star of being the only member of the band who was a jerk. "I love everybody else in that band. I'm very, very cool with [them]," Taylor said. "I've hung out with them. It's just Face Like a Foot who I can't really hang out with." Good luck unseeing that now.

There are some things better left unsaid. With former One Direction star Zayn Malik, that appears to be a lot of things. His mouth may have helped him amass a small fortune, but it's gotten him into quite a bit of trouble too. At first, it was just the way he talked about his former boy band, like the time he told Complex that he ultimately left One Direction because the band felt inauthentic. Creative differences or not, it should be noted that Louis Tomlinson is apparently still mad about Malik's behavior. At least that's what he suggested to Metro (via Cosmopolitan) in 2019.

If that wasn't enough, the star made sure to spend his 20s stamping off a veritable bingo card of alleged jerk behavior. He once purportedly ghosted a GQ writer by saying he was going to the bathroom. Meanwhile, various tabloid reports claimed he cheated on his former fiancée Perrie Edwards. According to The Sun, he even dumped her via text message (a report she confirmed in Little Mix's biography). Sadly, his behavior only worsened over the years.

In 2021, Malik made headlines amidst his split from Gigi Hadid after an alleged explosive argument with her mother, Yolanda. According to court documents obtained by TMZ, the singer shoved the former Bravo-lebrity into a dresser after calling her a "f***ing Dutch sl*t." He walked away with four criminal harassment charges, pleaded no contest, and adamantly denied the tabloid reports.

There was a point in which Travis Scott wasn't known as much more than Kylie Jenner's baby daddy. He's since become a household name on his own merit, but only because his bad behavior keeps catching headlines. Most recently, the star was put in the hot seat when, according to The New York Times, at least 10 people died from injuries they sustained during his Astroworld festival in Houston. Damningly, the star was accused of continuing to perform beyond the point of his festival being declared a mass casualty event. Footage of him doing the robot at Astroworld paramedics were resuscitating fans didn't exactly help to change that perspective. 

At the time of the Astroworld tragedy, Scott had already faced legal trouble for similar incidents. According to Today, a lawsuit was filed against Scott, accusing him of inciting a crowd into a frenzy prior to a man being pushed from a balcony and paralyzed. Per Billboard, the rapper also pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after encouraging people to rush the stage during a show in Arkansas. Even Scott's colleagues have spoken out. Most prominently, his former manager Shane Morris claimed the rapper basically left him for dead in a recording studio while he was having a seizure. "Travis Scott is the worst person I worked with in my entire career in music," he said in the now-viral TikTok video. Ouch.