These Actors 100% Deserved To Be Fired From Their Hit TV Shows And Series Because They Did Some Messed-Up Stuff

For 90% of these: (Kim K voice) "It's what she deserves."

1. Charlie Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men for erratic behavior, drug use, and inflammatory comments.

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Warner Bros. fired Sheen after a public fall from grace and drug use, citing their “reasonable good faith opinion that Mr. Sheen has committed felony offenses involving moral turpitude (including but not limited to furnishing of cocaine to others as part of the self-destructive lifestyle he has described publicly).” Warner Bros. also cited self-destructive conduct, difficulty at work, and inflammatory comments — these include calling co-creator Chuck Lorre a "stupid, stupid little man." His character was killed off, and Ashton Kutcher took over a lead role on the show. At the time, Sheen was the highest-paid actor on TV.

2. Kevin Spacey was fired from House of Cards for sexual assault allegations.

David Giesbrecht / Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

Spacey was fired from his hit Netflix show after actor Anthony Rapp made sexual assault allegations against him. Production on the show's final season was put on hold — it ultimately aired with Robin Wright as its main star. Netflix also refused to work with Spacey at any future point, scrapping his film Gore. He was later ordered to pay $31 million in damages to the production company due to the money they lost for halting production and rewriting the season.

3. He was also fired from All the Money in the World.

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Spacey was fired from the film after he completed filming, due again to the same sexual assault allegations. He was replaced by Christopher Plummer, who re-filmed all his scenes in nine days and was nominated for an Oscar for his performance.

4. Roseanne Barr was fired from her titular sitcom role in the Roseanne reboot — the show was cancelled and then came back as The Connors, with Roseanne's character killed off.

ABC / Courtesy Everett Collection

Barr was fired after making offensive and racist comments about Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett, which ABC’s entertainment president, Channing Dungey, called, “abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values.” 

5. Gina Carano was fired from The Mandalorian after comparing being a Republican to being a Jew living during the Holocaust.

Justin Lubin / Disney+/Lucasfilm / Courtesy Everett Collection

Carano, who had made controversial comments on social media before, was asked not to return to the Lucasfilm and Disney show, and plans were scrapped for her character to have her own show. 

6. Hartley Sawyer was fired from The Flash due to inflammatory tweets.

Colin Bentley / The CW / Courtesy Everett Collection

It was announced series regular Hartley would not return for the upcoming season of The Flash after screenshots of many of his old racist, misogynistic, and homophobic tweets surfaced on social media. One tweet read, “The only thing keeping me from doing mildly racist tweets is the knowledge that Al Sharpton would never stop complaining about me.”

7. Isaiah Washington was fired from Grey's Anatomy after using an anti-gay slur on set.

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He'd later claim it wasn't directed at anyone, though some sources claim he used it in connection with his costar T.R. Knight, who is gay. The word was apparently uttered after a physical and verbal altercation between Washington and male lead Patrick Dempsey. He was later fired for his comment.

8. Shannen Doherty was fired from hit series Beverly Hills, 90210 after being "difficult" during filming and having issues with her costars, notably Tori Spelling.

Mario Casilli / TV Guide / Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection

Spelling, who also said Doherty got into a physical fight with costar Jennie Garth, admitted in 2015 that she'd called her father, producer Aaron Spelling, to get Doherty fired after rising tensions on set. Doherty did return as the character in reboot/sequel 90210 and as herself alongside her costars in BH 90210.

9. Jussie Smollett was fired from Empire after hiring two acquaintances to stage a hate crime against himself.

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Smollett shocked fans when he revealed he'd been at the center of a homophobic and racist attack — and then it came out that he'd made the entire thing up. He was charged with making a false police report and fired from the series, which was in its fifth season.

10. Robert Downey Jr. was fired from Ally McBeal for drug use.

20th Century Fox / Courtesy Everett Collection.

It actually took a few arrests for Downey Jr. to be fired from the show, but he was eventually fired in March 2001, just after being arrested for investigation of being under the influence of drugs and then checking into rehab. 

11. Sasha Mitchell was fired from Step by Step after being arrested for domestic abuse.

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Surprisingly, he wasn't kicked off the show until his second arrest for domestic abuse, and he still returned for a Season 7 episode as a guest.

12. Danny Masterson was fired from The Ranch after sexual assault allegations.

Patrick Wymore / Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection

Masterson denied the allegations, claiming they'd already been investigated and dismissed years prior and saying he was "disappointed" in Netflix's decision. His character Rooster was killed on the show.

13. Lori Loughlin did not return to Fuller House after she went to jail for her role in the 2019 college admissions scandal.

Michael Yarish/Netflix / courtesy Everett Collection

Alongside her husband, Loughlin was convicted of paying half a million dollars to get their daughters into USC (for which she fabricated evidence that her daughters were on the rowing team in high school), and served two months in jail. She was not in the fifth and final season of the show after appearing in the first four.

14. Louie C.K.'s show Louie came to an end after his own sexual misconduct allegations came to light.

KC Bailey/FX / courtesy Everett Collection

FX shut down their deal with Louis and his production company after he admitted to masturbating in front of multiple female colleagues, saying, "Now is not the time for him to make television shows. Now is the time for him to honestly address the women who have come forth to speak about their painful experiences."

15. Steve Burton was fired from General Hospital for refusing to get the COVID vaccine.

Adam Larkey / ABC / courtesy Everett Collection

His character, who he had played since 1991, was killed off after Burton decided to leave the show rather than get the vaccine.

16. Jason Mitchell was fired from The Chi after accusations of sexual harassment on set.

Parrish Lewis / Showtime / Courtesy Everett Collection

The exact events that led to Mitchell's firing are a bit murky — Mitchell claims it had more to do with him asking for more money and that he doesn't even know what he's been accused of. However, show creator Lena Waithe says she'd been made aware of issues between Mitchell and costar Tiffany Boone, and Season 2 showrunner Ayanna Floyd Davis said, "Ultimately everyone was well aware of Jason’s behavior and his multiple HR cases." Mitchell had also recently been fired from the Netflix film Desperados.

17. And finally...Armie Hammer was fired from just about every upcoming film and show he was meant to be in after sexual assault allegations and alleged messages where he called himself a cannibal.

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He was fired from Billion Dollar Spy, Shotgun Wedding, and TV series The Offer, leaving him fired from everything he was set to appear in that hadn't wrapped production yet. He was also dropped by his agency and publicist.