15 Celebrities And The Crimes They've Committed
Millions of people around the world look up to celebrities like stars in the sky; they are worshiped, idolized and loved. However, we generally see only one side to their lives. The tabloids can give as a little sneak into the more private areas of their existence, but a lot is left unsaid.
Celebrities go to great lengths to preserve a positive image of themselves, regardless of their area of work. They NEED to maintain the audience's love and admiration.
They might look great in magazines and on screens, but they are human and some of them have committed some pretty nasty, unbelievable crimes that they couldn't hide forever.
Some have been forgiven, others have been forgotten but some of them are truly shocking and appalling.
15 Laura Bush
I'm not sure if Laura Bush qualifies as a celebrity, but she is famous worldwide for being the wife of former U.S. president George Bush.
At the age of 17, Laura didn't make a stop at a STOP sign on the road and crashed against the car of her schoolmate, 17 year-old Mike Douglas, who died in the accident.
She was never charged, however Laura Bush did admit in her memoir Spoken from the Heart that she got distracted while chatting with her friend who was riding in her car. She also blamed other factors for the accident, like the lack of light on the road, the size of the sign and the handling of the victim's model of car.
14 Ray Rice
In the terrifying footage leaked by TMZ, you can see Ray Rice, the Baltimore Ravens running back, knocking out his then-fiancé in an elevator. He then drags her out of the elevator while she's unconscious and nudges her around with his foot.
The video infuriated millions across the globe, but his fiancé pleaded to the public to forgive him. Rice was suspended for just two games of the 2014 NFL season and the criminal charges were later dropped after he agreed to undergo court supervised counseling. He married his fiancé six weeks after the incident on March 28, 2014.
However, in January 2015 NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell agreed the punishment hadn't been enough. After the Baltimore Ravens terminated Ray Rice's contract, they were handed a lawsuit from Rice in which he demanded $3.5 million dollars for wrongful termination. Rice won the lawsuit.
13 Jimmy Savile
Jimmy Savile was pretty famous on the other side of the pond in the United Kingdom. He was known for being a DJ, and a television and radio personality. If you've ever heard of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops, well, Jimmy was the first and last presenter of the show.
Ironically, he was also known as a “kind” charity fundraiser, but DO NOT judge this book by the cover. Jimmy Savile was a monstrous pedophile.
In 2012, nearly a year after his death, sexual abuse reports started coming into the spotlight. Soon after, hundreds of testimonies came to light. It was reported by the Daily Mail that Savile raped over 500 children, his youngest victim being 2 years old at the time of the abuse.
He never faced charges or went to prison during his lifetime.
12 Ian Watkins
Remember the band Lostprophets? They were sort of big in the mid 2000's with one of their hit songs being Last Train Home. If you do, then you remember lead singer Ian Watkins, a horrible monster no one saw coming.
Watkins is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence in the United Kingdom for pedophilia, rape, extreme animal pornography and conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a 1-year-old girl.
Earlier this year, The Ministry of Justice in the UK was under intense scrutiny for transferring Watkins to a “softer” prison so he could be closer to his mother.
11 Tonya Harding
Tonya was known within the U.S.A for being a figure skating champion. However, it was her crime that catapulted her to international “fame.”
On January 1994, Harding, consumed by jealousy and an indescribable competitiveness, hired Shane Stant to break her most direct competitor's legs. Luckily for Nancy Kerrigan, Stant only bruised her right leg, but it was enough to leave her out of the competition.
Harding won that competition, but she didn't win the war. The media later publicized how the attack on Kerrigan had been planned by Harding and her husband. The evil figure skater avoided a possible jail sentence by pleading guilty; she received three years probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $160,000 fine.
As part of the deal she had to resign from the USFSA and was banned for life from participating in any future events.
10 Tim Allen
He's known for his long-standing acting career, one of his most famous roles being the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Toy Story films.
However, you might not know that Tim Allen went to jail in 1978 for drug trafficking and was sentenced to life in prison. He was arrested in the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport in possession of over 650 grams of cocaine. He pleaded guilty and traded a reduced sentence in exchange for the names of other dealers.
He ended up serving only two years and four months out of the possible life sentence he could have gotten. He was paroled in 1981.
9 Martha Stewart
Her cookbooks have great tips, but there is something you wont find there. Tips on stock you should sell.
A little over 10 years ago, in 2004, Martha Stewart was guilty of insider trading when her broker Peter Bacanovic tipped her off that her stock in a company called ImClone was going to fall. What did Martha do? Sell, sell, sell! The FBI would have never gotten to her if her assistant wasn't so chatty to the FBI and so…
Martha was found guilty of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators. She was sentenced to five months in a correctional facility.
8 Jay-Z
Jay-Z is known for creating amazing music, having a beautiful baby girl and being Beyoncé's husband. What many don't know is that Jay-Z stabbed a rival record producer, Lance Rivera, back in 1999 at the Kit Kat club in N.Y.C.
Jay-Z pleaded guilty and didn't get a prison sentence, but he was on probation for three years.
Shawn Carter (that's Jay-Z's real name) is also guilty of another crime which happened when he was a child. At 12 years old he accidentally shot his older, drug-addicted brother in the shoulder for stealing his ring. Carter felt terrible about the incident and thought he would spend his life in prison.
7 Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson is the running back for the Minnesota Vikings. His great and strong physique has turned him into a talented athlete, but also a fearsome person you wouldn't want to get angry. Unfortunately his son found that out the hard way.
In 2014, Peterson was brought to justice for beating up his 4-year-old son with a tree branch. He would beat his son in the legs, back, buttocks, genitals and ankles. Peterson said it was a form of disciplinary action that had been handed down through generations in his family.
He pleaded no contest to the crime, and avoided a jail sentence after reaching a plea deal with a court in Texas.
Before 2014 was over, Petersen found himself again in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. It was reported he had been wrongly using funds from his charity to fund orgy-fueled parties.
6 Chris Brown
I'm sure most people who have heard of Chris Brown have also heard how he treated his then girlfriend Rihanna.
On February 8th 2009, Chris Brown and girlfriend Robyn Rihanna Fenty were involved in an argument that became so heated that Rihanna ended up receiving some very heavy hits to the face.
Brown pleaded guilty to the felony charges and was given six months community labor and five years of formal probation.
The incident has effected the performer's career. He was banned from entering the UK and it's now difficult for him to acquire a visa to enter Australia and New Zealand to perform.
5 Mike Tyson
One of the world's most successful heavyweight boxers, Michael Gerard Tyson, was convicted of rape in March 1992.
His victim was then 18-year-old Desiree Washington who was also known for competing in the Miss Black Rhode Island pageant. Apparently, the two had met at a pageant rehearsal and some time after, Tyson had invited Washington to a party and then took her to his hotel room where the crime took place.
A ten year sentence was handed to Tyson, but the judge knocked off the last four years meaning he would serve a maximum of six. He was actually released, however, after serving only three years because of his good behavior.
4 Danny Trejo
Just one look at Daniel Trejo on or off screen and you can see that this guy means business.
While he is recognized for playing some of the most bad-ass roles in Hollywood, many people don't know that once, those roles were very similar to his reality.
Trejo was released from prison in 1972, after being locked up multiple times over an 11 year period for armed robbery, murder and drug charges. His teenage years revolved around criminal activity and drug addiction. After leaving prison he became a drug counselor, helping those in the position he was once in.
3 Stephen Collins
It seems the world has to watch out for what TV's loving, caring fathers do off the screen.
Stephen Collins played a kind, loving, caring parent on the long-running TV series 7th Heaven. However, it wasn't until recently that it came to light Collins couldn't be further from his character.
April Price, Collins' first victim to come forward with accusations, was 13 when she met the then 35-year-old actor on a summer vacation in Los Angeles. Now 44, Price told The Daily Mail Online about how the actor inappropriately exposed his genitalia to her on three separate occasions.
It was first found out that Collins had sexually molested three young girls between 1973 and 1994 when his now estranged wife leaked footage of him confessing to his therapist about the deeds.
While admitting his actions publicly, Collins claims he is not a pedophile, but simply had “exhibitionist” tendencies at the time.
2 Don King
Many of us will recognize Donald King's wild hairstyle. The infamous boxing promoter created a huge name for himself through promoting major boxing fights (such as Muhammad Ali VS George Foreman) and setting up huge gambling rings.
What many may not know is that King was responsible for the deaths of two people. The first death occurred in 1954, when King shot a man by the name of Hillary Brown who was apparently trying to rob a gambling joint King was a part of.
King claimed to have acted in self-defense in this case, but the second death is very dark.
In 1966, King claimed that an employee of his had run off with some money, around $600. Upon seeing the man in a Cleveland bar, King proceeded to beat him to death outside of the bar by stomping his head into the ground.
He was only convicted of manslaughter and served four years in prison.
1 Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby won over our hearts way back in the 1980's with his hit show The Cosby Show. He portrayed the lead character, Heathcliff Huxtable, a loving and caring father with a sense of humor that gave us many smiles and laughs. Speed forward 20 plus years and Bill Cosby is hated worldwide.
The first report of sexual assault allegations came to our attention in the year 2000 and again in 2005. However, those lawsuits were settled out of court and his reputation remained pretty much intact. It wasn't until recently that the whole problem exploded after more than 40 women came forward with sexual assault allegations, some dating all the way back to 1965.
According to the Business Insider, shocking evidence seems to bolster women's claims that he drugged and raped them using Quaaludes (a type of sedative).