At some point in our lives, we’ve all said the wrong thing. In the social media age, we should all give ourselves a one minute warning before we press send on that tweet or Instagram post. This is especially true for celebrities: When they get caught up in the wrong controversy, the internet backlash machine can be relentlessly brutal.
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As evidenced by Janet Jackson’s recent scandal surrounding comments about Vice President Kamala Harris, this can be really rough when it happens to stars we love. No one is perfect, so take a moment a check out our rundown of stars we love who’ve put their foot in their mouths. It’s important to note that for most of these people, we’re still fans, but there may be one person we’re totally done with. We’ll let you guess who it is.
Janet Jackson
It’s never good when uninformed celebrities comment on politics. Janet Jackson learned this the hard way when she spread misinformation that Vice President Kamala Harris is “not Black.” She later apologized, but the damage to her reputation was already done.
Will Smith
It was the slap heard round the world when Will Smith told Chris Rock to “keep my wife’s name out you fucking mouth,” then slapped the hell out of him. It took a little time, but superstar bounced back with the summer hit “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” People will always have a soft spot for the Fresh Prince.
Lil Nas X
Lil Nas X doesn’t do anything small, so when he started promoting his single, __, by claiming he was enrolling in Liberty University, we knew something was up. He took the joke a little too far and ended having to apologize for the marketing ploy.
Kanye West
Kanye has made a career out of saying disturbing, inappropriate comments about other marginalized communities. It’s particularly upsetting as he was once considered the voice of a generation. Now, he’s just a sad imitation of his former self. And remember when we said there was one person we couldn’t forgive? Yep, you found them.
Idris Elba
Idris Elba ruffled a few feathers when he called the debate about Black British actors taking roles from American actors “unintelligent.” Frankly, he’s so talented and charming, we can’t stay mad at him.
Meghan Markle
Meghan Markle has experienced her fair share of backlash, a lot of it unwarranted. However, she really should’ve thought twice before revealing that she because she’s light-skinned, she didn’t truly “understand what it was like to be treated like a Black woman” until she started dating Prince Harry and received endless scrutiny.
Raven-Symoné
The former Disney Channel star has been the subject of multiple controversies, but the one that seems to keep coming back are her 2014 comments from an Oprah interview where she said, “I’m an American, I’m not an African American.” Even though she’s tried to clarify them several times, that’s a bell she can’t unring.
Anthony Edwards
Anthony Edwards is the future of the NBA, however, the young star should learn a little more about the game’s history. In a recent interview, while discussing basketball during the Michael Jordan era, he said, “I don’t think anybody had skill back then.” He did add that this didn’t apply to MJ. Seriously kid, get some perspective.
Jonathan Owens
The football star discovered just how beloved his Olympic gold medal winning wife, Simone Biles, is when he revealed he didn’t know how famous she was when they first got together, asserting that he was the catch. The internet quickly let him know he was wrong. Then in Paris, he saw it for himself first hand.
Taraji P. Henson
The Oscar-nominated actress found herself as the internet’s punchline when she mixed up influencers Jordan Howlett and Keith Lee while hosting the 2024 BET Awards. There was a little back and forth, but eventually everyone moved on.
Gabrielle Union
We had no problem with Gabrielle Union’s revelation that she and husband, Dwyane Wade, split their expenses 50/50. However, the independent woman’s comments left a lot of less confident men in their feelings.
Tyler Perry
Y’all may have issues with Tyler Perry’s movies, but the filmmaker is seemingly unbothered by the discourse, telling Keke Palmer that making his projects, his way is “exactly what I am supposed to be doing.”
Questlove
While the rest of us were enjoying the shenanigans of the Drake/Kendrick Lamar feud, The Roots’ drummer Questlove wasn’t in on the party. He wrote in part, “This was a wrestling match level mudslinging and takedown by any means necessary.” He later clarified that the battle triggered his feelings about the east coast vs west coast duel that cost us Tupac and Biggie.
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