Recently, Reddit user u/Animeking1108 sparked a viral conversation on the internet when they asked: "What celebrity suffered the worst fall from grace?"
The thread prompted thousands of responses. Here are some of the top-voted comments from users.
Warning: Some responses describe sexual assault.
1. "Armie Hammer. As the grandson of an oil tycoon and someone whose career was starting to take off, I think his reputation will never recover, especially with all the new and disturbing info that has been released to the public. I don’t think I’ve seen any other celeb be accused of cannibalism before."
2. "Bill Cosby. He went from America's grandpa to synonymous with rape. Most people are still uncomfortable even talking about it."
3. "Jared Fogle. Fame out of nowhere to convicted pedophile."
4. "Not a big star by any means, but Mark Salling. Charged for child pornography and then he died by suicide before he could be sentenced."
5. "OJ Simpson. All-time football great, cultivated a public persona as a lovable nice guy in TV and movies after his playing career, and then the real OJ was revealed to the public."
6. "I was gonna say Kevin Spacey, but Harvey Weinstein's fall from grace was more...Shakespearean. Four years ago he was the biggest, and most powerful, movie producer in the world. Now he's a bum, a convict, and a sex offender."
7. "Joe Paterno. One of the best coaches in college football history. Squeaky clean image. Helped cover up the Penn State pedophilia scandal, where one of his coaches systematically groomed kids to rape. Awful."
8. "Michael Richards. Totally his own fault. To watch an otherwise good career get completely nuked in three minutes."
9. "Shane Dawson. At one point, he was the most popular internet celebrity out there, then the next day, you'll get demonetized just by saying his name in a YouTube video."
10. "Lance Armstrong. He had everything from gold medals and awards to multimillion-dollar endorsement deals with major companies, only to lose it all because he was using steroids the entire time. He was looked upon as a role model and had a huge fanbase around the globe. Now you hear nothing about him."
11. "Recently, it has to be Hilaria Baldwin, wife of Alec Baldwin. She pretended for years she was Spanish, featured regularly in Hola! magazine as a best-dressed Latina, hosted a successful podcast, and was a correspondent on an entertainment channel. Turned out she faked her Spanish heritage completely. She was pretty much disowned by all her sponsors and doesn't appear on TV anymore. She now spends her time uploading a thousand Instagram stories a day of her children."
12. "We forgot entirely about Matt Lauer. Dude had an actual rape button installed in his office while basically being the voice of American media...what the hell?"
13. "R. Kelly. From 'The World's Greatest' to 'I Believe I Can Fly.' Now in an 8' x 8' cell."
14. "Tiger Woods. Maybe not the worst, but definitely not a graceful fall."
15. "Paula Deen. The apologists are what get me. They were like, 'Well, you know, Southern women of a certain age sometimes hold some outdated views.' Bull. She is four years younger than my parents, and my parents were teenagers during the civil rights movement. There's no more 'racism is acceptable because you're old.'"
16. "Elizabeth Holmes. Maybe not a celebrity by traditional standards, but widely considered the next big thing in tech. She claimed to have developed a new method of blood testing that was set to revolutionize the medical industry. She raised billions in capital only to be proven a fraud, and is now indicted on federal charges."
17. "Both Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman."
18. "I don’t know if celebrity is the right word, but Rudy Giuliani. That dude was America’s Mayor after 9/11, and would have had shit named after him for years. Now he’s a kook who is likely going to make a really good deal or go to prison."
You can read the full thread of responses on Reddit.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE, which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search your local center here.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-2253 (4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.