Celebs Who Ruined Innocent Lives

The following article contains allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault, and mentions of suicide.

Is there anything better than a selfie with The Rock? What about an autograph from America's sweetheart, Julia Roberts? For the folks who encounter A-Listers like those two, a celebrity encounter is an exciting experience that will generate the kind of small talk that will have fellow partygoers drooling for years to come. But for others, chance run-ins with a stars have resulted in pain, loss, and in some cases, lifelong regret.

While many of the celebs in these situations may have benefited from the shield of fame and fortune in the wake of these real-life-cameos-gone-wrong, others paid a dear price in their own once-charmed life. The normal folks in each of these nightmare scenarios, however, suffered immensely in the shadows of their celebrity rendezvous. With results leading to everything from financial hardship, to physical injuries, to even death, here are the stories of some regular joes who probably wish they'd never encountered one of Hollywood's elite.

In 1987, a car that Matthew Broderick was driving in Ireland crashed head-on with another car, killing two people: Anna Gallagher, 30; and her mother, Margaret Doherty, 63. Broderick spent about a month in the hospital for various injuries, but ultimately walked away from the accident with a $175 fine. The initial charge of reckless driving was reduced to careless driving. At the time, the husband of Gallagher referred to the verdict as a "travesty of justice."

Fifteen years after the crash, the New York Post reported that Broderick was open to meeting with the family members of the accident victims, who seemed ready to forgive and move on. "He didn't kill my mother and sister deliberately," Martin Doherty told the Post. "There were strong feelings at the time, but I have since forgiven him and feel no anger toward him." Added a spokesperson for Broderick, "Matthew is willing to meet up with them. There is no ill will — not any sort of anger. The family is seeking some sort of closure."

It's unclear why Broderick's spokesman would have made that statement, or if the meeting ever took place, considering Doherty told The Impartial Reporter in 2012 that he had "never ever had any contact [with Broderick] over the years." Still, Doherty reiterated at the time that he had "forgiven what he had done," insisting that he recognized that what happened was "an accident."

2007 wasn't a good year for Terry "Hulk Hogan" Bollea. The former wrestler's reality show "Hogan Knows Best" was canceled, and his son was responsible for a horrendous car crash that caused permanent brain damage to his friend. Nick Bollea (a.k.a Nick Hogan) crashed his Toyota Supra straight into a palm tree while allegedly driving under the influence, leaving his passenger, Iraq war veteran John Graziano, in a "minimally conscious state," the Tampa Bay Times reported. Graziano now needs around-the-clock care from relatives.

Eyewitnesses say that Bollea was racing against a Dodge Viper when he lost control of his vehicle. The celebrity scion pleaded no contest to reckless driving with serious bodily injury and spent around six months behind bars. He was granted early probation release in 2012, which came as a double blow to Graziano's mother — she had just lost another kid in a car accident. "It is typical of the Bollea family to plan something like this around one of the worst tragedies of Debra Graziano's life, the death of her son Mike," her lawyer, George Tragos, said in a statement.

Bollea didn't do himself any favors when he started talking about how much money he could make from a "real-ality" show during jail phone calls with his dad, calls that were later released to the public. He revealed that he deeply regrets these words when he appeared on Good Morning America to discuss the accident, though Tragos claimed that Bollea showed no remorse for his actions.

When it comes to talk shows, secret admirer segments are usually pretty straightforward. But in a 1995 taping of "The Jenny Jones Show" that would never make it to air, one big reveal went tragically wrong. A Michigan man named Jonathan Schmitz was invited onto the show to meet his secret admirer, who turned out to be his friend, Scott Amedure. Days after the episode was filmed, Schmitz shot and killed Amedure in his Lake Orion home. He called 911 himself, telling authorities that he had turned a shotgun on Amedure "because he was embarrassed on national television," the Detroit Free Press reported.

Schmitz was sentenced to 25 to 50 years, but he wasn't the only one in the firing line. Many believed that "The Jenny Jones Show" played a big part in the tragedy, including Amedure's family, who sued it for negligence. "This is a renegade business," family attorney Geoffrey Fieger said, taking aim at tabloid talk shows in general (via Inside Edition). "These are irresponsible people. These are people beholden, answerable to no one."

"The Jenny Jones Show" was initially ordered to pay the victim's family $25 million, but that ruling was reversed on appeal. Schmitz was released from prison in 2017, a decision that was questioned by Scott Amedure's family. "I'd like to know that he learned something, that he's a changed man, is no longer homophobic and has gotten psychological care," Amedure's brother Frank told the Detroit Free Press.

What's it like to live next door to Justin Bieber? If you answered "horrible, terrifying and life-ruining," you would be 100% correct. At least that's what two former neighbors claimed in a 2015 lawsuit. Jeffrey and Suzanne Schwartz alleged the "Sorry" singer and his bodyguards "repeatedly harassed them and their family, vandalized their house with eggs and threatened them with anti-Semitic remarks," according to CNN. Equally awful were allegations that Bieber spat in Jeffrey's face after Jeffrey told the pop prince he was driving his Ferrari too fast through the streets of their gated community in Calabasas, California.

As one might surmise from the suit, the Schwartzes have a pretty rough history with Bieber. In 2014, Bieber pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor vandalism charge stemming from an incident in which he allegedly threw a dozen eggs at the Schwartz's mansion. He was ordered to pay $80,900 restitution, stay 100 yards away from the family, and was sentenced to two years' probation. The lawsuit alleged that the Schwartz family was subjected to "constant harassment" by Bieber's "entourage, fans and the media" after the story broke. Bieber would later sell his mansion to another media-friendly celebrity, Khloe Kardashian, in 2014.

He since has rehabilitated his career and image, but in the early 1990s, Mike Tyson was convicted of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old pageant contestant in Indianapolis. The New York Daily News wrote that "Tyson overpowered and raped her in his hotel room on July 19 during the Indiana Black Expo." Tyson's defense was that he was publicly known to be a crude womanizer, and the accuser "must have known" that he was interested in having sex with her, according to the report. 10 witnesses for the defense, however, testified that Tyson groped contestants and made bawdy comments during a dance rehearsal.

Tyson served three years in prison and settled a lawsuit by survivor Desiree Washington in 1995. Despite Tyson's documented history of brutality against women, two of the jurors in his criminal trial came forward in 1992 and said they believe Washington lied and was motivated by money. A Los Angeles Times profile of Washington in 1995 painted the story of a woman who was broken emotionally, also noting that her parents separated and sold her childhood home after pressures mounted during the Tyson trial.

Laura Bush was still trying to come to terms with the fatal car crash that had been haunting her for years when her husband decided to run for president. Speculation about the mysterious accident was rife during George W. Bush's first campaign. The subject remained a taboo one during his two terms as president, with members of the press reportedly discouraged from asking about it. In 2010, the year after her husband left office, Laura Bush released a book that went into detail about the collision that claimed the life of her schoolmate.

In November 1963, a 17-year-old Bush (then Laura Welch) ran a stop sign in her father's Chevy Impala. She and a friend were in a hurry to get to a drive-in theater, and the future First Lady didn't see the approaching Corvair sedan being driven by Michael Dutton Douglas, the local high school's star athlete and, according to some sources, a former flame of Bush. Bush was traveling at 50mph, and the impact was devastating. Douglas' smaller, lighter car ended up some 50 feet from the road, and his neck was broken.

"I lost my faith that November, lost it for many, many years," Bush revealed in her book, "Spoken From the Heart." "It was the first time that I had prayed to God for something... The only answer was the sound of Mrs. Douglas' sobs on the other side of that thin emergency room curtain."

As one of the most influential figures in entertainment history, Phil Spector became famous in the 1960s for creating the Wall of Sound and producing legendary pop music acts such as the Ronettes, the Crystals, the Righteous Brothers, and the Beatles, including John Lennon and George Harrison as individuals. His influence, music experts have said, carries well beyond those collaborations.

After spending many decades away from public scrutiny, Spector became infamous for the death of actress Lana Clarkson in 2003. Authorities found Clarkson dead at Spector's mansion in Alhambra, California, having sustained a fatal gunshot wound through the roof of her mouth. She was 40 years old. After a mistrial, in 2009 he was sentenced to the maximum 19 years-to-life for Clarkson's murder. He will be eligible for parole in 2028, when he would be 88 years old.

Prosecutor Truc Do called (via CNN) Spector "a very dangerous man" who had "a history of playing Russian roulette with women — six women. Lana just happened to be the sixth." In reading a statement on behalf of her family, Clarkson's mother said, "All of our plans together are destroyed. Now, I can only visit her at the cemetery."

As lead singer of metal legends Mötley Crüe, Vince Neil was getting national attention after the band played the US Festival in 1983 and opened for Ozzy Osbourne on tour, when Neil's reckless personal actions took one life and threatened to ruin many others. In December 1984, Neil caused an automobile accident that claimed the life of his friend Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley of the band Hanoi Rocks, and severely injured two others in the second car involved. Neil, who was charged with vehicular manslaughter and DUI, served only a portion of the 30-day sentence given in 1985. He also paid a total of $3 million to the victims.

With Dingley in the passenger seat, Neil was driving home from a liquor store in Redondo Beach, California when he collided head-on with a Volkswagen. Driver Daniel Smithers, 20, and passenger Lisa Hogan, 18, sustained severe head injuries. Investigators said Neil, who sustained only minor injuries, had a blood-alcohol count of .17 (.10 was the legal limit).

Neil's reputation recovered, Mötley Crüe's popularity skyrocketed, and the band made it a point to come out publicly against driving while drunk. Neil, however, has had other brushes with the law including additional arrests for DUI.

John Landis, the director responsible for films such as "Blues Brothers," "Animal House," "Trading Places" and "Coming to America," nearly had his career ended at its height in 1982 when star Vic Morrow and two child actors were killed in an accident while filming the "Twilight Zone" movie. A helicopter careened out of control after a special-effects mishap, crushing one actor and decapitating the others.

A jury found Landis and other filmmakers not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 1987, though Landis admitted on the stand that he violated labor laws when he illegally hired child actors, 7-year-old Myca Dinh Lee and 6-year-old Renee Chen. Further, a book about the trial alleged Landis to be reckless and dangerous on the set, and that prosecutors messed up by not charging Landis and others with violating child labor laws.

Landis also paid $2 million to each of the children's families to settle civil actions. Morrow's children, who included actor Jennifer Jason Leigh, agreed to an earlier settlement shortly after the accident. Morrow was also known for starring in the TV series "Combat!," along with roles in the "Bad News Bears" and "Blackboard Jungle."

On February 7, 2015, just a few short months before her monumental coming out, Caitlyn Jenner was involved in a fatal accident on the Pacific Coast Highway that left a woman dead. According to reports, 70-year-old Kimberly Howe was driving her Lexus sedan when a Prius driven by Jessica Steindorff suddenly stopped. Howe hit her brakes, only to be rear-ended by Jenner's Escalade. Howe's Lexus was pushed into oncoming traffic, and she was killed on impact when her vehicle was struck by a Hummer.

Jenner did not face charges. In court documents (via People,) the Los Angeles district attorney said there was not enough evidence to prove that her "conduct was unreasonable" behind the wheel, but the former Olympic gold medalist was slapped with three separate lawsuits. Jenner settled with Steindorff in December 2015, and a month later, she settled with the step-children of the deceased Howe. A third lawsuit from the family who was driving the Hummer, resulted in Jenner eventually agreeing to pay an $800,000 settlement to them in 2018. 

Jenner has expressed her "heartfelt and deepest sympathies" to the victim's family. The reality star blamed the paparazzi for distracting her in the moments leading up to the fatal crash and filed a lawsuit claiming she was being stalked at the time of the crash.

Alec Baldwin has lived a tangled life, but nothing has come close to the tragic incident on the "Rust" movie set. During filming in October 2021, the actor held a prop gun that fired a live round, wounding the movie's director Joel Souza, and fatally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The devastating loss of Hutchins had brought moviegoers back to the time actor Brandon Lee was shot and killed on the set of "The Crow" in 1993, sadly reminding the world that several people have been killed on movie sets.

In the aftermath of the incident, Baldwin insisted that he didn't pull the trigger as the events unfolded. However, he has since stated that he pulled back the hammer of the gun, which made it go off. In 2023, both Baldwin and the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were charged with involuntary manslaughter. Baldwin's charge was dismissed as new evidence emerged, but he was recharged in January 2024 and pleaded not guilty. As for Gutierrez-Reed, she was found guilty of the charge but was acquitted of tampering with evidence in March 2024, and faces up to 18 months in prison. Baldwin's trial has been set for July 2024.

Baldwin has spoken out after the accidental shooting death of Hutchins, expressing grief and sadness. However, there are mixed feelings from outsiders about who should take responsibility for her death. Nicki Swift even spoke with a body expert on whether Baldwin feels like a victim himself in all of this.

"Sons of Anarchy" actor Johnny Lewis was released from jail just five days before he murdered his landlord, attacked two men, and fell to his death on September 26, 2012. Before his untimely death, Lewis was arrested three times in 2012 with charges that included assault, battery, and burglary.

It is still unclear what provoked Lewis — besides a 2011 head injury — to kill 81-year-old Catherine Davis in her L.A. home. The actor strangled Davis and, at some point, killed her cat in the process. He later attacked a house painter and his neighbor, Dan Blackburn, before returning to Davis's home, where he fell from the roof while trying to evade the police and was found dead in the driveway.

There were disturbing details surrounding Lewis' autopsy report. USA Today reported that Lewis' death was ruled an accident, but he also "had nail marks on both sides of his neck" and "suffered partial strangulation." However, there were no traces of drugs or alcohol found in his body, which was initially speculated to be the reason why Lewis might have murdered Davis as his life was spiraling out of control.

Michael Jace, who portrayed police officer Julien Lowe on the popular FX series, "The Shield," was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his wife, track athlete April Jace. For the offense, the actor was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

On May 19, 2014, Michael shot April once in the back as she was arriving home, and shot her in the legs two more times while their two young sons were present. The actor then dialed 911 and called his father-in-law. During the trial, one of the couple's sons testified against their father, stating (via NBC) that he heard him telling April, "'If you like running, run to heaven,' and then he shot her." The trial's prosecutors stated Michael shot his wife after believing she was going to divorce him and that she was being unfaithful.

During his sentencing, Michael apologized for taking the life of the mother of their children. "I am profoundly sorry for the pain I have caused everyone ... There is no replacing April," he said.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was the father of four kids, but he denied the paternity of his first-born, a daughter named Lisa Brennan-Jobs, whom he shared with his girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan. Lisa was born in 1978, and 23-year-old Jobs wanted nothing to do with her, telling Time in 1983, "28% of the male population of the United States could be the father." The innovator even went on to claim that he was infertile, but the DNA test didn't lie; "'the probability of paternity for Jobs, Steven .... is 94.1%,'" it read.

In a 2018 article written for Vanity Fair, Lisa detailed how her mother struggled financially, working multiple jobs, and was on welfare during the first two years of her life. After the paternity results, Jobs was ordered to pay $500 a month in child support. Just days after the child support was established, "Apple went public, and overnight my father was worth more than $200 million," she wrote.

Jobs would visit his daughter sparingly throughout her young life. He eventually made amends with Lisa, and although theirs' wouldn't be the father/daughter relationship she had hoped for, she was at his bedside when he died in 2011. She was also given a multi-millionaire dollar inheritance, like his three other children. Jobs was also the father of son Reed and daughters Erin and Eve, whom he shared with his wife Laurene Powell Jobs.

Ryan Grantham was a former child actor whose last role would be portraying Jeffery in one episode of "Riverdale" in 2019. The following year, he committed a horrible crime when he shot and killed his mother in her home in British Columbia. In September 2022, Grantham was charged with second-degree murder, which carries an automatic life sentence in Canada, being ineligible for parole until he serves 14 of those years.

In March 2020, Grantham shot and killed his mother, Barbara Waite, in the back of the head while she was playing piano. After killing her, the actor used a GoPro to record his confession and showed his mother's lifeless body. The next day, Grantham had plotted to kill Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, loading a car up with guns and Molotov cocktails. Although he changed his mind, the actor also thought of acts of mass violence at his former school, Simon Fraser University, or the Lions Gate Bridge. Instead, Grantham turned himself in to the police that night.

The CDC noted that Grantham had been seeking help for his mental health while in prison, with Justice Kathleen Ker stating that the young actor "was in a downward spiral in the months leading up to the matricide."

Rapper Remy Ma went to prison for six years all because of $3,000. The hip-hop star was charged with intentional assault, possession of a deadly weapon, and attempted murder after she shot a member of her entourage in July 2007. Remy Ma believed that Makeda Barnes Joseph had stolen the money out of her purse. Remy Ma argued that it was an accidental firing of her gun, but the courts did not believe her. After shooting Joseph, who denied taking the money, the rapper did not stay by her side, opting to drive her car away and then get in a cab. However, she later turned herself in to the police.

Remy Ma was ultimately sentenced to eight years in prison. While serving time in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in New York, the rapper earned her sociology degree and married rapper Papoose. She was released in 2014, having served a total of six years. The same day she was released, the rapper posted a message on Instagram to her fans that simply read, "I'm back!!!"

If you or anyone you know is dealing with domestic violence, has been a victim of sexual assault, or is in crisis, contact the relevant resources below:

• Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
• Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
• Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.