The Real Reason These Celebs Disappeared From The Spotlight

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Hollywood careers are notoriously precarious. Between scandals that render a star unmarketable to audiences, actors and actresses aging out of their leading lady/man years, and voluntary retreat from public life to regain privacy (or even just some peace of mind), there are many ways an A-lister can quickly become a so-called "has-been." One day you're in, the next day you're out.

Even Indiana Jones himself soured on life in the spotlight. "There's nothing good about being famous. You always think, 'If I'm successful, then I'll have opportunities.' You never figure the cost of fame will be a total loss of privacy," Harrison Ford once lamented, according to The Guardian. While the Star Wars actor never became a total recluse, he is famously private.

The celebs on this list seem to be following Ford's lead in hiding from the limelight. Out of sight doesn't always mean out of mind, though. These celebs might have stepped behind the curtain to hide from the spotlight, but we're here to tell you the real reasons we no longer see them on the red carpet.

Former Hollywood "it" girl Cameron Diaz has all but disappeared from the entertainment industry on her own terms. During a March 2018 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Diaz said to her The Sweetest Thing costars, Christina Applegate and Selma Blair, whom she had not seen in years, "I am actually retired, so I would love to see you ladies."

In her own words for In Style's 25th anniversary issue in August 2019, Diaz said, "I've given more than half of my life to the public. I feel like it's OK for me to take time for myself now." She added, "It's fun to just not have anybody know what I'm up to. Because my time is all mine." She also suggested that she was more interested in focusing on friendships and her marriage to Good Charlotte rocker Benji Madden. However, she did hint, "I have some things brewing, but it's a little too early to talk about them." 

Four months later, on January 3, 2020, Diaz "announce[d] the birth of [her] daughter," Raddix Chloe Wildflower, on Instagram. Her post read, "While we are overjoyed to share this news, we also feel a strong instinct to protect our little one's privacy. So we won't be posting pictures or sharing any more details." As of this writing, that is Diaz's only IG post for 2020, which is approximately on pace for the three total posts she shared on the site in 2019. 

Sometimes, stunting works. But the high-profile stunt allegedly pulled by Jussie Smollett on January 29, 2019 backfired, and then backfired again. The Empire actor allegedly staged a hate crime to garner public sympathy for the purpose of, according to Chicago Police officials, gaining leverage for salary negotiations for the upcoming season of Empire.

Smollett told Chicago police he had been physically attacked by two assailants who purportedly used homophobic and racial slurs (and praise of President Donald Trump), put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him. His story unraveled, however, and Smollett was charged filing a false police report, which is a felony. A grand jury later indicted him on "16 separate counts of disorderly conduct related to" the initial charge, per The New York Times. He also lost his job on Empire. In March 2019, all 16 of the charges against Smollett were suddenly dropped, but new grand jury, led by a special prosecutor, filed six new counts similar to the original indictment in February 2020, to which he has pleaded not guilty.

Smollett's alleged scheme, which seemed to be an attempt at taking advantage of an acrimonious political climate, sent him into hiding instead. He hasn't really been seen publicly outside of court appearances, he hasn't disappeared completely. The coronavirus pandemic apparently inspired him to return to Instagram, where he posted a video of himself singing with the caption: "Quarantine day 421...Hope y'all are staying safe. Spread love and kindness...not Rona."

Although the #MeToo initially chipped away at Hollywood's A-List, the media business also saw the downfall of powerful anchors and producers. Matt Lauer was perhaps the most shocking. 

According to Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill (via Variety), former NBC News staffer Brooke Nevils alleges that Lauer sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in Sochi, Russia, when the network was there for Winter Olympics coverage. An NBC investigation lasting just over 24 hours found the allegations credible, and they decisively took action, terminating Lauer. More reports of Lauer's alleged workplace sexual misconduct arose afterwards, with 12 women coming forward to The Washington Post with claims of unwanted "sexual advances" from the disgraced anchor. After months of silence, Lauer released a statement in which he vehemently denied "any allegations or reports of coercive, aggressive or abusive actions." He did, however, say, "I fully acknowledge that I acted inappropriately."

Since then, Lauer has spent his time in the Hamptons, keeping a relatively low profile until he released another, arguably more aggressive statement of defense to Variety in October 2019. In the second statement, Lauer insisted that his encounter with Nevils was "mutual and completely consensual." He also seemingly addressed his other accusers, saying that they "have abandoned shared responsibility" for their participation in what he called "extramarital relationships." The missive was not well received, and although there were rumors that Lauer was planning a comeback, that does not seem likely as of this writing.  

Latin superstar Ricky Martin, his husband, Jwan Yosef, and their four children are one big, happy family. With much of his time spent behind closed doors in a house full of children, Martin has traded one kind of La Vida Loca for another, and it seems he's never been happier! Time spent at home with his bustling family is Martin's "greatest joy," according to Architectural Digest. Martin announced he and Yosef were expecting their fourth child at the Human Rights Campaign national dinner on September 28, 2019, where Martin was being honored for his LGBTQ advocacy. The couple announced the arrival of a son one month later via Instagram.

On being an openly gay man having a family in the public eye, Martin told Out, "A lot of people tell me, 'Well, your kids are on the covers of magazines...' and I'm like, 'Yes because I want to normalize this...I want people to look at me and see a family and say, 'There's nothing wrong with that.' It's part of my mission. It's part of my kids' mission as well." Martin has scheduled a 2020 tour, and it sounds like we should expect to see much more of Martin, Yosef, and their children as they demonstrate one of many methods of creating familial bliss with the world.