Corey Feldman
The blacklisting of Corey Feldman is an all-around sad affair. As a child, Feldman became a star in Lost Boys and The Goonies. However, he was an alleged victim of a Hollywood pedophilia ring that was never taken seriously (at least, at the time). From this emotional turmoil, Feldman began abusing drugs to rid himself of the pain. These drug habits, in turn, effectively kept him from receiving offers for any acting roles.
Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan, an alleged victim of Harvey Weinstein around the time in which the horror film Scream was released, noticed the industry closing off to her as she began to speak out against the once-respected producer. Her increasingly outspoken of the entertainment business, including a war of words with her former Charmed co-star Alyssa Milano, effectively buried her acting career.
Roseanne Barr
As a proud Republican and staunch supporter of President Trump’s presidency, Roseanne Barr has become a controversial figure in Hollywood. She took her antics too far in 2018 when she racially joked about President Obama’s former Senior Advisor, Valerie Jarrett, in poor taste. The reboot of Roseanne was immediately canceled, leaving the president of ABC to dismiss the actress as her tweet was ”abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.”
Charlie Sheen
Years ago, Charlie Sheen was a huge Hollywood and TV acting heavyweight, leading the cast in the popular Two and a Half Men series. In early 2011, Sheen – who had been checked into rehab (for alcohol and drug abuse) and was dealing with several domestic abuse claims – publicly decried show co-creator, Chuck Lorre. Further, Sheen had the tenacity to ask for a 50% raise on his current $1.8 million per-episode salaries after hurling these insults. Soon thereafter, Sheen noticed the job offers stopped pouring in.
Randy Quaid
Oh, Cousin Ed from National Lampoon’s Vacation, what happened to you? While filming The Merry Wives of Windsor (2007), Quaid’s behavior toward the crew found him in a bit of trouble. In turn, his wife became involved. Sadly, his wife, Evi, sent emails to the cast and crew, crossing lines of professionalism. In rules established by acting union Equity, Quaid was fined $81,000 and banned from the union. Quaid’s few public appearances since have seen him descend into paranoid conspiracy theories.
Monique
Monique may have won an Oscar for her role in Precious, but she ultimately lost the war in Hollywood. As the actress did not care to continue with press engagements as she was not being paid to appear, the film’s director Lee Daniels eventually confirmed the comedian and actress had been blacklisted due to her lack of commitment. Daniels remarked, “Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign. This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community.”
Kirk Cameron
Kirk Cameron rose to fame in the 80s as the star of sitcom Growing Pains, and for a time he looked set to enjoy further success in the years that followed. However, over the years he grew increasingly vocal about his fundamentalist Christian faith and conservative beliefs, which alienated most of his former fanbase and put off Hollywood from hiring him.
Isaiah Washington
Rising to prominence in the late 90s with roles in such movies as Clockers, Out of Sight and Bulworth, Isaiah Washington seemed to be on an upward career trajectory. Then in 2005, he landed a part on TV medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, but in its third season he was fired after reports stated he referred to one of his co-stars with a homophobic slur. This ruined Washington’s image, and his career has never really gotten back on track since.
Mel Gibson
After breaking through with the Mad Max and Lethal Weapon movies, then becoming an Oscar-winning director with Braveheart, Mel Gibson was for a time one of the most bankable movie stars in the world. However, after a series of scandals revealing the depth of Gibson’s racism, sexism and anti-Semitism, Gibson’s reputation was severely tarnished. He still works intermittently as an actor and filmmaker, but in the eyes of many he can never be forgiven.
CeeLo Green
When his hit song F*** You (aka Forget You) came out in 2010, singer CeeLo Green reached mainstream stardom, and he later became a judge on TV’s The Voice as well as appearing on reality show CeeLo Green’s The Good Life. However, after he released several deaf-tone tweets on topics like homosexuality and rape, he was cast aside in Hollywood. His show was canceled, he was removed from his judge position on The Voice, and the demand for his musical performances was no longer ethically or financially feasible.
Thora Birch
Thora Birch broke through as a child actress with Patriot Games and Hocus Pocus, and later roles in American Beauty and Ghost World pointed the way to greater success in adulthood. Reports vary on why Birch’s career dried up so fast, but it’s widely thought it stems from an incident when her father and manager assaulted a crew member on a Broadway theatre production in which Birch was appearing.
Jim Caviezel
After getting his big break with a minor role in My Own Private Idaho, Jim Caviezel gradually climbed the Hollywood ladder throughout the 90s before reaching leading man status in the early 2000s. However, Caviezel’s most famous role – Jesus himself, in Mel Gibson’s controversial historical drama The Passion of the Christ – proved the tipping point of his career. Since then, the actor’s outspoken hardline Christian beliefs have cost him major roles.
Vince Vaughn
Vince Vaughn didn’t necessarily set out to be a comedy actor, but his turns in the likes of Dodgeball and Wedding Crashers typecast him as a funnyman. Vaughn’s subsequent attempts to be taken more seriously have been met with a mixed reception, but above all the actor’s conservative views shocked many of his peers, most notably when Vaughn suggested teachers should be given guns to help stop school shootings.
Stacey Dash
Actress Stacey Dash appeared to be on her way to the top after appearing in the teen romantic comedy Clueless in 1995. However, after Stacey Dash criticized the existence of Black History Month and supported the #OscarsSoWhite controversy, her conservative politics led to her becoming blacklisted in Hollywood. In 2016, she made controversial comments about transgendered people, drawing criticism from the often-liberal Hollywood community. These extreme beliefs might be why she doesn’t get roles anymore.
Katherine Heigl
Word travels fast in Hollywood, so if you’re someone no one wants to work with, people will know. That’s what happened to Katherine Heigl in 2008 when rumors that she was difficult to work with on the set of “Grey’s Anatomy” led to her role being drastically reduced. Some of the complaints about her in Hollywood were that she questioned scripts, refused to leave her trailer, and made ridiculous wardrobe requests. In March 2010, Heigl reportedly failed to show up for work on Grey’s Anatomy. Shonda Rhimes reached an agreement with her to release her from her contract, and the actress never returned to the show.
Martin Lawrence
Comedian Martin Lawrence has made a name for himself with his wildly inappropriate sense of humor. However, Lawrence has been banned from Saturday Night Live after his monologue was shortened due to misogynistic jokes; he also made homophobic comments at a roast held in honor of Steve Harvey.
Natalie Maines
Natalie Maines, lead singer of the Dixie Chicks, was criticized for speaking out against President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003. She apologized, but then rescinded the apology in 2006. Radio stations boycotted her band’s music, but they’ve since recovered from the controversy.
Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg is known for his love of marijuana. Although he has not been blacklisted in the US, he has been banned from entering other countries because he attempted to smuggle the d*** across borders.
Vanessa Marquez
Marquez had a recurring role on the medical drama “ER” for three seasons until she was dismissed from the show by producers. She later claimed that several key actors, including George Clooney, sexually harassed her on set and that she was fired when she complained about it. Years later, after being accused of having Marquez removed from the show and blacklisted in the industry, Clooney dismissed the allegations. Sadly, Marquez was plagued by mental illness throughout her life and died in a confrontation with police in 2018.
Tara Subkoff
Tara Subkoff seemed to have a promising career in Hollywood, with roles in “The Last Days of Disco” and “As Good as It Gets.” However, after she claimed she was propositioned inappropriately by Hollywood mogul and sex offender Harvey Weinstein, she found herself blackballed all over town. Out of options, Subkoff ended up leaving the industry to pursue other interests.
Ashley Judd
Actress Ashley Judd had been on a major roll in the late 1990s, appearing in several box office successes, including “Kiss the Girls,” “Double Jeopardy” and “A Time to Kill.” But she ran into Harvey Weinstein, who suggested she get to know him intimately—not as a friend. Judd rebuffed Weinstein’s advances, and Weinstein retaliated by telling director Peter Jackson not to cast Judd in his “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy. Fortunately – following Weinstein’s blacklisting – Judd has gone on to enjoy a successful acting career.
Mira Sorvino
Yet another talented actress has been blacklisted by Harvey Weinstein, who’s been using his influence to ruin people’s careers for decades. Along with Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino — who co-starred with Judd in the 1996 film “Norma Jean and Marilyn” — recalled to the New Yorker that she rejected Weinstein’s sexual overtures. And just as Judd did, Weinstein successfully prevented Peter Jackson from casting Sorvino in his three-part Middle-earth epic. But it looks like the stain of Weinstein has worn off, as she is slated to appear in four projects this year.
Mo’Nique
When Mo’Nique won an Oscar for her role in 2009’s Precious, many assumed the actress and comedian was destined for Hollywood stardom. However, Mo’Nique’s reported refusal to appear at press events for the film because she wasn’t being paid for her time alienated a lot of producers, and the actress has struggled to land substantial roles.
Tobey Maguire
Ten years ago, Tobey Maguire was a megastar with an Oscar-winning movie and a record-breaking superhero franchise to his name. Nowadays, he’s pretty much forgotten by the media. Many have speculated that the actor may have gotten himself blacklisted in Hollywood due to his aging appearance, gambling scandal and lack of successful roles since 2013’s The Great Gatsby. Maguire’s career definitely slowed down, but his recent highly publicized appearance in Spider-Man: No Way Home could reignite studio interest.
Freddie Prinze Jr.
To pop culture fans from the 1990s, Freddie Prinze Jr. was one of the brightest stars in the entertainment industry. However, although he was once poised to become a star of romantic comedies, Prinze hasn’t been seen in one since the early 2000s. If you’ve been keeping up with the actor these last few years, then you likely know that he’s shifted his focus from acting to podcasting and writing so he can spend more time with his family.
Taylor Lautner
In 2008, Taylor Lautner rose to prominence as the werewolf Jacob Black in the film adaptation of the vampire novel “Twilight.” By 2012, it looked like Lautner was destined for even greater success in the future. However, Lautner’s earlier promise as an actor seems to have diminished. The harsh reality is probably that the actor isn’t as talented as some of the actors he’s going up against. After his first starring roles flopped, Lautner stopped receiving offers.
Charlie Chaplin
One of the most beloved comedy actors of all time, Charlie Chaplin’s Hollywood career was brought to a premature close by McCarthyism. Throughout the 30s and 40s, Chaplin became more explicitly political in his work, eventually leading to the House Un-American Activities Committee targeting him and, ultimately, deporting him from America.
Jennifer Grey
Jennifer Grey was very popular in the 80’s, and you probably remember her from iconic movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Dirty Dancing. But sadly, she feels that it was the nose job she had done in the 90’s that got her shunned from Hollywood and derailed her career. The problem was that after her plastic surgery, Grey looked so different that even her fans didn’t recognize her. She said: “I went into the operating room a celebrity and came out anonymous.”
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes was once a big name, with roles in the Blade trilogy and White Men Can’t Jump. But somewhere along the line, the multi-hyphenate began to be associated with more box-office failures than hits. Why? Well, reports have surfaced that Snipes was difficult to work with on set. In addition, Snipes also spoke out about Hollywood politics and its greed behind closed doors. It was also no secret that the actor had frequent run-ins with the law.
Paz De La Huerta
Actress Paz De La Huerta played Nucky’s girlfriend in Boardwalk Empire and was touted as a break-out star. However, it wasn’t long before the actress’s public persona began to affect her professional career. The 27-year-old became infamous for her boozy antics and uncensored interviews, which led to her eventual firing from Boardwalk Empire.
Michael Richards
In 2006, comedian Michael Richards was performing at a Los Angeles comedy club when an audience member began heckling him. Richards responded by directing a series of racial slurs at the man, who happened to be African-American. After an audible gasp from the audience, Richards left the stage without finishing his routine. Even his public apology on Letterman didn’t do much to salvage his career.
Tila Tequila
Model and reality TV star Tila Tequila may be a relic of the early 2000s, but her influence on that era cannot be denied. However, her outrageous persona was not embraced by everyone and in 2013 she crossed a line that led to her being blacklisted by mainstream outlets. She posted an article on her website explaining her sympathy for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, which caused a major uproar. It was apparent to her fans and anyone working in Hollywood that there was no way she could be forgiven.
Lindsay Lohan
Actress Lindsay Lohan is an icon of the late 90s and early 2000s – headlining beloved classics such as Mean Girls, Freaky Friday and The Parent Trap. However, Lohan’s career soon took a turn for the worse. While she seemed to be on track for movie stardom at one point, her personal life became problematic, and this eventually turned Lohan into a toxic commodity. But times have changed, and the media’s treatment of celebrities has become less severe. In March 2022, the star signed a deal to headline three upcoming Netflix projects – with the first one due to drop later this year.
Paul Reubens
In the 1980s, Pee-wee Herman was an iconic figure. In 1991, a scandal involving indecent exposure at an adult movie theater changed his public perception drastically. He withdrew from view afterward, making only rare appearances during the 1990s.
Jeffrey Jones
Jeffrey Jones won fame for his portrayal of the principal in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but he ended up disgraced when it was discovered that he was in possession of underage photos. Jones received five years’ probation, counselling, and was required to register as a s** offender.
Mark Salling
Mark Salling rose to fame with his role on the musical series Glee, but his career ended in December 2015 after he was arrested in Los Angeles on charges that he possessed and distributed underage photos. The actor was found guilty and took his life a month before he was due to be sentenced to prison.
Amanda Bynes
The star of The Amanda Show and She’s The Man, Amanda Bynes, had a very public meltdown on Twitter following her arrest for substance abuse, making both raunchy and obscene comments at Drake, Rihanna, Miley Cyrus, and Jay-Z. Nowadays, Bynes is trying to get her life back together while attending Los Angeles’ Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She said she has no interest in acting anymore.
Stephen Collins
Stephen Collins is best known for his role on 7th Heaven. In 2012, Collins admitted during a therapy session that he was guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor. Unfortunately for the actor, his former wife Faye Grant secretly recorded their therapy sessions, which leaked to TMZ in late 2014. Seth MacFarlane fired him from Ted 2, and his career ended instantly.
Paula Deen
Paula Deen had a successful career as a food personality beginning in 2003 and continuing through 2012, but her reputation was irreparably damaged after she made several racist comments. When the Food Network verified her statements, they refused to renew her contract.
Kathy Griffin
Comedian Kathy Griffin says she has been blacklisted from Hollywood over a controversial photo she took back in 2017 that depicted her holding a severed head resembling President Donald Trump. After the scandal, the actress lost her annual New Year’s Eve co-host job for CNN and 25 theaters canceled her upcoming shows.
Robert Blake
Actor Robert Blake went from child star of MGM’s Our Gang to a murder suspect after his wife – Bonnie Lee Bakley – was found dead in his car after being shot. In 2002, two former stuntmen came forward and claimed that Blake had tried to hire them to murder his wife on separate occasions. Blake was acquitted of murder but found guilty of “intentionally” causing Bakley’s death, and ordered to pay $30 million to her children.
Jamie Kennedy
Actor Jamie Kennedy gained recognition for his role as horror movie geek Randy Meeks in 1996’s Scream. However, in 2005, Son of the Mask, a sequel to Jim Carrey’s The Mask, was released with the comedian as the star. Critics were quick to pan it, and it landed on lists of the worst movies of the decade. Kennedy subsequently made a film called Heckler specifically to call out people who had mocked him. For many, this behaviour was the nail in the coffin for Kennedy’s career.
Elisha Cuthbert
Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert was well-positioned for a career in Hollywood. But despite her youth and good looks, she was never able to sustain a successful film career. Unfortunately, after a string of poorly rated movie and TV performances, Cuthbert was no longer a bankable personality. She was last seen in Netflix’s The Ranch, but unfortunately the show was canceled by the streaming service in 2020.
Kevin Spacey
Kevin Spacey was once one of the most respected actors in Hollywood, with two Academy Awards under his belt and credits in some of the most celebrated films and TV shows of all time. All that respect – along with his career prospects – promptly evaporated in 2017 when actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexually assaulting him when he was underage, with others soon coming forward with similar allegations.
Bill Cosby
In 2014, the world was stunned by the revelation that Bill Cosby – once affectionately referred to as ‘America’s Dad’ – was a predator with a long history of drugging and sexually assaulting women. Cosby was jailed in 2018 and, while he’s since been released, it’s safe to say that his career is rightfully dead and buried.
Roman Polanski
While Roman Polanski is considered by some to be one greatest filmmakers of all time, there’s a reason the director hasn’t worked in Hollywood since 1977. After Polanski was convicted of drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl, the director fled to Europe. He will be arrested if he ever returns to America, and the fact that he hasn’t been blacklisted by the European film industry is morally questionable at best.
James Woods
After a long, distinguished career, veteran actor James Woods has mostly faded into obscurity due to his outspoken support of hard-right ideologies. While Woods is far from the only Hollywood actor to express conservative views, he has taken it further than most, labelling George Soros ‘satanic’ and frequently spreading misinformation about the 2020 election.
Gina Carano
After a successful run as an MMA fighter, Gina Carano made the jump to acting, with credits in a number of films and TV shows including Fast & Furious 6, Deadpool and The Mandalorian. In 2021, Carano complained on social media that being a Republican in Hollywood is like “being a Jew in Nazi Germany”, a comparison that got her dropped by Lucasfilm and left her generally shunned by the industry.
Brendan Fraser
At one point one of the most in-demand actors, in 2018 Brendan Fraser publicly called out Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Phillip Berk for inappropriately touching him at an event. Fraser has stated that this led to him being blacklisted from Hollywood, although his critically-lauded (and Oscar-winning) performance in The Whale is a hopeful sign that he’s getting his career back on track.
Tippi Hedren
Tippi Hedren was a relatively unknown actor when Alfred Hitchcock hired her to star in The Birds and Marnie. According to Hedren, Hitchcock demanded sexual favours in return, and when she refused the director he spitefully blocked her from landing any more leading roles, which the actress later claimed effectively ruined her career.
Will Smith
One of the most popular actors in Hollywood, Will Smith shocked the world when he slapped Chris Rock on live TV at the 2022 Oscars, after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife. While Smith is unlikely to be completely blacklisted from Hollywood, he’s been officially banned from the Oscars and his career has almost certainly taken a knock.
Shia LaBeouf
Shia LaBeouf has been involved in a number of controversies, including racially abusing police officers, making his co-stars deeply uncomfortable with his method acting antics and getting arrested multiple times for fighting. In 2020, his ex-girlfriend – musician FKA Twigs – accused the actor of assault, and although the case has yet to go to trial, LaBeouf has already been dropped from multiple projects.
Josh Trank
Josh Trank made waves in 2012 with Chronicle, and the director was soon handed the reins to a big budget Fantastic Four reboot. Unfortunately, things unravelled quickly, with allegations of Trank’s unhinged behaviour on the set soon emerging. The director was dropped from a standalone Star Wars film as a result, and it seems Hollywood studios are in no mood to give him a second chance.
Elizabeth Berkley
After a successful run on beloved sitcom Saved by the Bell, Elizabeth Berkley went in the complete opposite direction with a starring role in 1995’s raunchy thriller Showgirls. Berkley struggled to land mainstream roles after the movie, which the actress has blamed on the heavy nudity featured throughout the film. While Showgirls has since become a cult success, Berkley’s career has never recovered.
Megan Fox
While she hasn’t been fully blacklisted, Megan Fox came perilously close when she compared Transformers director Michael Bay to Hitler during an interview. Unsurprisingly, Fox was axed from the franchise, and her career took a serious hit for a while. The reason the actress wasn’t fully cancelled is probably down to claims that Bay’s treatment of the actress was equally questionable.
OJ Simpson
Even though football star turned actor OJ Simpson was declared innocent of his wife’s murder, Hollywood – and the rest of the world, for that matter – remained largely unconvinced. While he avoided prison, Simpson has never appeared on screen again, apart from a few interviews he has given for documentaries investigating the case and subsequent trial.
Ellen DeGeneres
While Ellen DeGeneres drew widespread praise for being one one of the first openly gay women in American show-business, a number of unsavoury allegations have since severely tarnished her reputation. Amongst these are accusations that her TV show was rife with bullying, racism and unfair firings, with DeGeneres personally involved in much of it, and the presenter/actor is currently not working.
Jussie Smollett
In the early hours of January 29, 2019, Jussie Smollett called the Chicago police, claiming he had just been the victim of a hate crime. It eventually transpired, however, that Smollett had fabricated the entire event, and he was convicted for filing a false report. The actor was sentenced to 150 days in jail (although he is currently free pending an appeal), and his career seems to have been irreparably harmed.
Dave Chappelle
Since 2021, Dave Chappelle has been on a mission to stand up to cancel culture. In particular, Chappelle has made a point of including jokes about transgendered people in most of his routines, and – while he claims he’s doing so to make a point about freedom of speech – his crusade is likely to cost him the chance of working in Hollywood again, although he’s still doing well as a comedian.
Dalton Trumbo
In 1947, after refusing to testify in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee, screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was incarcerated and blacklisted from Hollywood. However, following his release, Trumbo continued to write movies under a pseudonym, with two of the films he had written even winning Academy Awards.
James Franco
In 2014, James Franco sent seductive messages to a girl on Instagram, despite the fact that she had just informed him she was 17. Four years later, a number of students at Franco’s Studio 4 acting school accused the actor of propositioning them sexually. In the ensuing furore, Franco was dropped by just about everyone, including long-time friend and collaborator Seth Rogen, and his career has never recovered.
Marilyn Manson
Goth rocker Marilyn Manson is no stranger to controversy, but the 2021 allegations of abuse that a number of women levelled at the musician have seemingly destroyed his career. As well as getting dropped by his management and record label, Manson was also cut from the Starz TV show American Gods, and he will likely never work in Hollywood ever again.
Armie Hammer
In 2021, Golden Globe nominee Armie Hammer was hit with accusations of assault by multiple women. Although Hammer strenuously denied the allegations – and the LAPD declined to press charges, citing insufficient evidence – the actor’s career prospects do not look good. In a 2023 interview, Hammer complained that he has been “completely cancelled”.
Louis CK
In 2017, Louis CK’s career was booming, with the comedian selling out stadiums and starring in a number of films and TV shows, including his own. Then came a string of accusations from female comics, who claimed CK regularly exposed himself to them without consent. CK was dropped from just about everything, although he’s since made a comeback on the standup scene.
Faye Dunaway
In 2019, Faye Dunaway – a highly acclaimed actress and recipient of many prestigious awards – was accused of bullying her cast-mates in the Broadway play she was starring in. Dunaway’s former assistant also sued the actress for ridiculing him for his sexual orientation. Following the controversy, Dunaway has been shunned by both Hollywood and Broadway.
Sondra Locke
Sandra Locke’s Hollywood career came screeching to a halt after the actress went through a messy and highly public breakup with Clint Eastwood, her long-time partner and the father of her children. Locke was blacklisted from Hollywood for around a decade, with many suspecting Eastwood was responsible, and her career never properly recovered.
Amber Heard
In 2022, after years of acrimony that had frequently spilled into the public eye, Johnny Depp took his ex-wife Amber Heard to court for defamation. After a televised trial that attracted millions of viewers and included some truly shocking revelations, Heard was found guilty and ordered to pay Depp compensation. Rumours suggest the actress has been cut from Aquaman 2, and her career has largely stalled.
Harvey Weinstein
After decades of using his immense Hollywood power to sexually abuse and then blacklist actresses, Harvey Weinstein was finally convicted of his crimes in 2023 and himself blacklisted – in this case from free society – for 23 years. Should the so-called super producer manage to live long enough to see himself released, it’s safe to say he will never go anywhere near the film industry again.
Johnny Depp
Amber Heard’s career wasn’t the only victim of her highly publicised divorce with Johnny Depp. In the years following their split, Heard made a number of accusations against her ex-husband, claiming that he had physically and emotionally abused her. Although Depp eventually won a defamation lawsuit over these allegations, his career has never recovered, and these days he seems more focused on music.
Dorothy Parker
A prolific and highly celebrated writer, Dorothy Parker was responsible for films including A Star is Born, Trade Winds and Saboteur. Unfortunately, just as her Hollywood career was gathering steam, Parker’s involvement with left-wing politics landed her on the radar of the House Un-American Activities Committee, result in her blacklisting.
