We asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the celebrities they lost respect for, and they were very opinionated. Here are some of the most insightful replies:
Warning: This post includes topics of sexual assault.
1. "I lost respect for The Rock after he showed support for Joe Rogan."
"In early 2022, Rogan posted a video on Instagram addressing people who felt his podcast spread misinformation about COVID, and Johnson commented, 'Great stuff here brother. Perfectly articulated. Look forward to coming on one day and breaking out the tequila with you.' That showed us his true colors there. He only backtracked when he found out about the video of Rogan saying the N-word."
2. "James Woods. Absolutely fantastic actor, but he's also a Trump supporter, and he tweeted really awful things about a gender-nonconforming child."
During Pride month of 2017, James Woods tweeted a photo of two parents celebrating their gender-creative child. Woods captioned the picture: "This is sweet. Wait until this poor kid grows up, realizes what you've done, and stuffs both of you dismembered into a freezer in the garage."
3. "Ellen Pompeo. I have totally separated her from Meredith, her character on Grey's Anatomy. Especially after she made some comments about Harvey Weinstein and his accusers that sounded like victim blaming."
In a 2018 interview, Ellen Pompeo said that she once did go into a room with Harvey Weinstein and had a half-hour conversation with him. "He did nothing inappropriate toward me. Now had he, I would've picked up that glass and smashed him across the side of the face with it. It's all what we're willing to tolerate. And our self-esteem: What are we going to put up with...to be accepted. How bad do you want to be in show business?"
Pompeo, in 2020, went on Twitter to say that she had not known Weinstein was a rapist at the time of the interview, although the interview happened months after the allegations against him came out. She stated that she did not start following the news about Weinstein until the trial began.
4. "Michael Jackson. Yes, I know he was never convicted, but in 2019, he was accused of sexually abusing at least two men when they were children in the '80s and '90s."
5. "I used to really like Matt Lauer. He really made The Today Show, until I found out about his sexual misconduct allegations in 2017 and his sexual assault allegations in 2019."
6. "I used to defend Katy Perry. Then Katy tricked a contestant on American Idol to kiss her on the lips in 2018, and I found that so wrong."
In Benjamin Glaze's audition, he told the judges that he had never been kissed. Katy Perry called him over to her, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek. Perry complained, so Glaze agreed to do it again. When he leaned in the second time, Perry surprised him with a kiss on the lips.
Benjamin said he was "a tad bit uncomfortable" by the kiss, and if Perry had asked to kiss him, he would have said no because he wanted his first kiss to be special.
7. "I can't watch Shane Dawson’s videos after all the old videos of his racist 'jokes' and inappropriate comments about children started popping out to the public in 2018 and 2020. It makes me sick."
Barrowman described his actions as 'silly behavior,' not sexual harassment.
9. "When I found out William Shatner supported Autism Speaks, I lost a LOT of respect for him."
On World Autism Awareness Day in 2017, William Shatner tweeted out a graphic that was part of a campaign from Autism Speaks. Autism Speaks is a controversial autism advocacy organization that many people feel stigmatizes autism because they paint it as a scary disease that needs a cure.
10. "Paula Deen and Hulk Hogan because using the N-word in private does not make it any less egregious."
In 2013, Paula Deen admitted to using the N-word in her deposition in a lawsuit. When asked if she ever used the N-word, she replied, "Yes, of course." She explained that she used it "when a Black man burst into the bank that I was working at and put a gun to my head.” She said, “I didn’t feel real favorable toward him,” referring to the robber.
When asked if she used it since then, she said, "I’m sure I have, but it’s been a very long time.”
Hulk Hogan was caught using the N-word in a 2012 radio interview that resurfaced in 2015.
11. "Ryan Reynolds. He and Blake Lively got married on a slave plantation. I think some research could've been done beforehand, perhaps."
In 2012, Reynolds and Lively got married at Boone Halle in South Carolina. It's a slave plantation that has also become a popular wedding venue.
In 2020, Reynold expressed regret saying, "It’s something we’ll always be deeply and unreservedly sorry for," he said. "It’s impossible to reconcile."
12. "Deshaun Watson. I’m a Clemson alumni and die-hard fan of the football team. But his 22 accusations of sexual misconduct are not something I can ignore."
13. And lastly, "Sean Connery. I used to love his movies, but then I read about a comment he made decades ago in a 1965 interview about how it was fine to hit women if they're 'hysterical.'"
In 1987, he doubled down on this when Barbara Walters questioned what he said, about hitting a woman with a closed fist, and he said, “I haven’t changed my opinion." He then continued to say that he believes that some circumstances merit slapping women.
