Anyone remember Natalia Kills or Karmin ?
2.Børns (real name: Garrett Clark Borns) became an electropop darling in the 2010s, opening for acts such asHalseyand Bleachers. But then, in 2018, just after finishing up a tour with Lana del Rey, he wasaccusedof sexual misconduct and grooming underage fans. Despite Borns denying the accusations, he wasdroppedfrom the All Things Go Fall Classic festival.
He took a long break from the public eye but quietlyreleasedan independent EP last year after beingdroppedfrom his label in 2020. This year, he wrote on Instagram that he did not groom anyone and that all relationships he had were consensual, but acknowledged “that I shouldn’t have engaged in relationships with fans,” saying, “I apologize to the women involved and hope they’ve found happiness. I didn’t show them the level of respect I could have in our communication or lack thereof, and I was irresponsible with their feelings.”
3.One of the most heinous examples on this list is Ian Watkins, the lead singer for the alternative rock group Lost Prophets, which was active in the 2000s. In the late 2000s, policebecame awareof allegations of sexual abuse of children, but Watkins was ultimately not arrested until 2012, though this was due to drug-related suspicions. However, once his home and belongings were searched, the police quickly pivoted to an investigation of child sex abuse. He was ultimately hit with 24 separate sex offense-related charges, including attempting to rape a fan’s baby, sexual contact with a one-year-old, and charges related to his filming and possession of child sex abuse. He was ultimately sentenced to 29 years in prison, where he has been ever since.
4.While he may still be able to make a comeback, Fetty Wap’s career is on hold after his 2022 drug trafficking conviction. Fetty skyrocketed to fame quickly with his first album, but his careerlanguishedafterward. Even Fetty himself said his careerwas on the declinebefore the conviction, which is why he turned to drug trafficking in the first place. He dropped an album late last year from prison, but it doesn’t appear to have charted. He won’t be eligible for release until2029.
5.Todrick Hall originally became famous through his YouTube videos and musical theater career, later appearing onAmerican Idol. After being eliminated, he continued his career inreality shows, YouTube, and Broadway, and released several albums. However, things took a turn in 2019, when Hallfaceda number of accusations, ranging from not paying collaborators and dancers to sexual harassment.
6.Sia became huge in the 2010s, rising in fame along withMaddie Ziegler, who appeared in many of her music videos. However, things took a turn when Sia released her filmMusic,featuring Ziegler as a nonverbal autistic character. Thebacklashto the film was strong even before it came out, especially regarding Sia’s choice to cast a neurotypical actor in the role of a child with autism. Still, Sia only made things worse during the film’s promotion, most notably when an actor with autism called her out for not casting someone like her, and Sia replied, “Maybe you’re just a bad actor.” Sia also stated she “actually tried working with a beautiful young girl, nonverbal on the spectrum, and she found it unpleasant and stressful.”
The movie was panned and called ableist, with reviewsnotingZiegler’s performance was like a caricature of an autistic person. It alsofaced criticismfor its portrayal of the use of restraint on autistic people, which is not recommended and can be dangerous and even fatal. Sia laterapologizedfor her problematic depiction and then deleted her Twitter account.
7.Natalia Kills slowly rose in fame over the early 2010s, opening for acts like Kesha, the Black-Eyed Peas, and Katy Perry, as well as featuring on an LMFAO song.
8.Natalia Kills' husband, Willy Moon, was similarly rising in the music scene aftergoing viralfor his hit “Yeah Yeah.” The two, who were married, both looked to be getting more notoriety with their first foray into reality television as judges onThe X Factor New Zealand.
Natalia laterissued an apology, saying, “A lot goes on behind the scenes of a reality TV show and [what] you see isn’t always the whole story. … I was encouraged to be outspoken, and things got out of hand. … Joe, I hope you can forgive me and I wish you all the best!” but the damage was done. The duo waslet gofrom the show after a viral petition to get them fired. Natalia did continue her career, but she changed her name and started a different band with Moon, which still has not released their debut album.
9.R&B duo Milli Vanilli reached worldwide fame in the late ’80s with their debut album, leading them to win the award for Best New Artist at the 1990 Grammy Awards. However, their careers quickly took a nosedive when their producer Frank Farianrevealedthey didn’t sing any of the album, which was confirmed by member Rob Pilatus. The Grammys swiftlyrevokedtheir award.
While Pilatus and co-member Fab Morvan attemptedmultiple comebacks, the scandal followed them, and they were unable to gain traction again.
10.Billy Squier skyrocketed to fame in the early 1980s, but by 1984, his career was essentially over. Why? The blame lies with the music video for his song “Rock Me Tonite,” which was so badmanyclaimedit singlehandedly tanked his career. Even Squier said so: “The video had a deleterious effect on my career. The tour before, I was selling out arenas faster than Sinatra, and as soon as that video came out, I was playing to half houses,” hesaidin 2011, according to IWant My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution.
The song itself was a major hit, but the video — which mostly featured Squier dancing around in a bedroom, rolling on the floor, and ripping his shirt off — made people scratch their heads. “The video misrepresents who I am as an artist,” Squiertoldthe authors ofI Want My MTV. “I was a good-looking, sexy guy. That certainly didn’t hurt in promoting my music. But in this video, I’m kind of a pretty boy. And I’m preening around a room. People said, ‘He’s gay,’ or ‘He’s on drugs’. It was traumatizing to me.”
11.Vanilla Icerose to fame incredibly quicklywith “Ice, Ice, Baby” in 1990, but he attracted controversy just as quickly. First, reported details about his past (namely that he had a rough background) were proven false. His music also was criticized for being white-washed and “mainstream.” Then, Jim Carreyparodied himonIn Living Color,he had a disastrous appearance onThe Arsenio Hall Show,and he was the subject of a diss track by 3rd Bass.Finally, he starred in thepanned filmCool as Ice, which effectively ended his movie career before it began.
He thenattempteda career in motocross, jet skiing, and reality TV and had multiple run-ins with the law. While he did attempt a comeback, it was unsuccessful, and his career never recovered.
12.Iggy Azalea looked like she was going to become huge after the success of “Fancy.” With “Problem” and “Black Widow,” Azalea proved she wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. But her career stalled aftercontinued accusationsof racism and profiting off of Black culture — including using a “Blaccent” — as well as her perceived inability to freestyle and public feuds. She eventually canceled her debut tour. She continued to make music but acknowledged her career had “fallen off a cliff” and never returned to her “Fancy” level of success.
13.CeeLo Green went massively viral with his hit song “Fuck You” in 2010, which was followed by a stint guest-hosting onThe Voice, along with performing at the Super Bowl halftime show. Butallegationsof drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 2012 derailed his career before he could become an A-List star.
Rape charges were not filed due to a lack of evidence, and his charges werereducedto supplying Ecstasy to the woman. Green pled no contest and was sentenced to three years of probation. Green may have continued his career — his lawyer claimed the encounter was consensual — but then he took to Twitter towrite thingssuch as “If someone is passed out they’re not even WITH you consciously! so WITH Implies consent” and “People who have really been raped REMEMBER!!!”
Green quitThe Voice(reportedlybelievinghe’d be fired, though he latersaid,“I ran my course there just naturally”), and his reality show,The Good Life,was canceled. Green is still around today, but not even close to the degree of his early 2010s fame.
14.Ben Hopkins of Pwr Bttm also saw their career derailed by sexual misconduct allegations. Just as the group was gaining traction, days before the release of their second album, Hopkins wasaccusedof being a sexual predator. Their label dropped them, streaming platforms removed their music, and their upcoming tour was canceled. Hopkins says the anonymous accusations are false and eventually released music as a solo artist in 2020 after taking a break from the public eye. However, they have yet to release a new album or make a full comeback.
15.Another example? Mystikal, who had steadily risen in fame over the ’90s and early 2000s. In 2003, he seemed on top of the world, gaining his first-ever Album of the Year Grammy nomination and starring in the film13 Dead Men. However, in early 2004, he wasconvictedof sexual battery and sentenced to six years in prison.
Mystikalattemptedto make a comeback when he was released in 2010 and found some success in early performances. However, he continued to have run-ins with the law, being accused of rape and domestic battery, among other charges, and he iscurrentlyfacing a life sentence (heplednot guilty to all charges, and his former attorney proclaimed his innocence). He has not released a solo album since 2001.
16.Canadian-Chinese singer Kris Wu rose to fame through the Canadian-Korean boy band Exo before finding major success as a solo artist. He also made waves as an actor, appearinginthe Vin Diesel filmXXX: Return of Xander Cage,and seemed poised to break into the American market. But in 2021, the 30-year-old Wu wasaccusedof sexual assault of a 17-year-old two years prior. He denied the allegations but was arrested andultimately sentencedto 13 years in prison, a conviction which wasupheldupon appeal.
Wu wasquickly droppedfrom all of hismajor luxury brand dealsand obviously has not released any new music since then.
17.Another musician whose career was derailed by jail time is Tory Lanez. Lanez was arising starwho was finding mainstream success in the late 2010s — and then he wasaccusedof shooting Megan Thee Stallion in 2020. He was eventuallyconvictedand sentenced to 10 years in prison. Time will tell if he attempts to make a comeback after that.
18.Despite legal trouble, 6ix9ineshot to famequickly in the late 2010s, but hisinvolvementwith the Nine Trey gang led to his arrest in 2018 on racketeering, robbery, and firearm charges. He was ultimately sentenced totwo years in prisonafter testifying against other Nine Trey members, leading to himbeinglabeleda “snitch” and essentially ruining his credibility in hip-hop.
19.Keri Hilson had a wildly successful debut album and continued that success with her second album. But she never reached the career highs that were expected for her — due in part to her allegedlyshadingBeyoncé and Ciara in a few lyrics in her 2009 song “Turnin' Me On” (which Hilson denied). Hilson continued to face what she referred to as “verbal abuse” from Beyoncé fans for years and ended uptakinga years-long break from music, laterrevealingshe was dealing with depression and the grief of her father’s passing. She still has not released another album.
Hilson eventually alleged her labelhad told herto diss Beyoncé, saying she was too young and insecure to refuse. She says she’s sincemade upwith Beyoncé.
20.Fiona Apple was an ingenue when her debut album was released to widespread acclaim, but public opinionturned swiftlyagainst her when she won the MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist. She got up on stage and said she hadn’t prepared a speech, then famously said, “This world is bullshit, and you shouldn’t model your life … about what you think that we think is cool and what we’re wearing and what we’re saying and everything.” Apple was labeled afterward — in her own words — a “brat bitch loose cannon.”
Shelater saidshe felt like a “sellout” when she won and became “a paper doll in order to be accepted.” Her infamous speech, along withstorming offstageduring a show in 2000,led herto be seen as “unstable,” which followed her for her entire career. While Apple has continued to have an acclaimed, Grammy-award-winning career, she never again reached her pre-2000 commercial heights.
21.Pop duo Karmin had just begun to find mainstream success (aftermaking a name for themselveswith YouTube covers) with their 2012 EPHello.However, their performance onSNLthat same year is widely cited asone of the worstSNLperformances of all time. This effectively killed their momentum, and they ended up disbanding the group and starting a new music endeavor,Qveen Herby.
22.While Robin Thicke was around for years before “Blurred Lines,” the song catapulted him intoglobal superstardom, and he became a household name, getting nominated for his first non-production-related Grammy in 2014. But his performance of the song with Miley Cyrus at the 2013 VMAs generated significantcontroversy, as did the lyrics and music video for Thicke’s song (Thicke also lost a lawsuit about the song’s similarities to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up”).
Thicke may have been able to save his career — but his highly publicized divorce and ensuing album focused on getting his wife back, which was amassive critical failure, cemented his ousting from the music A-list. His next album wasn’t until 2021 and did not cement a comeback for Thicke.
23.In the early 2010s, Azealia Banks seemedpoisedfor a long career in the music business, but since then, her outspoken Twitter rants and feuds have meant that she’smore well-knownfor her controversial online presence than her music. While she still performs, she certainly has not achieved the level of mainstream success she might have.
24.Marilyn Manson rose to fame in the ’90s as a controversial rock singer and has remained famous for the past few decades — but things took a major turn in 2021 when his ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Woodaccusedhim of sexual assault and abuse. Other womenquicklycame forward with their own allegations against Manson, and Manson’slabelandagencydropped him.
Manson denied all allegations and sued Wood for defamation and persuading other women to lie about him, but the suit failed, and he was laterorderedto pay Wood’s legal fees. Meanwhile, he was alsoaccusedof sexual assault of a minor back in the ’90s last year (he pled no contest) and was sentenced to community servicefora misdemeanor assault of a videographer in 2019.
In light of the wave of accusations and turning public opinion (Rolling Stonecalledhim a “monster hiding in plain sight” in 2021), it seems unlikely Manson’s career will recover, even though some women’s cases have been dismissed or settled, and one victim recanted (a judgedecidedthe victim’s new statements would not be used as evidence). He has not released music or appeared in film and television since 2021, and justdays ago,a judge ruled not to toss a lawsuit by a woman accusing Manson of abuse when she was underage.
25.R. Kelly has been dogged by sexual abuse allegations throughout most of his career, but that didn’t seem to stop his massive levels of success — until 2017whena BuzzFeed Newsreportabout an alleged sex cult led to resurfaced allegations that he’d had sex with minors and abused women.
Public opinion of Kellybeganto drastically shift, with protests outside his concerts and studio, and Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora releasing statements that they would stop promoting his music — many members of Kelly’s personal team also quit. 2019’s six-episode docuseriesSurviving R. Kellyfurther tarnished the star’s reputation, causing Kelly’s record company to drop him and upcoming shows to be canceled.
Soon after, Kelly washitwith aggravated criminal sexual abuse and assault charges against a minor, as well as sex trafficking and sex work charges, and he was later found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison. In another trial, he was found guilty of child sexual abuse and pornography and sentenced to 20 years in prison (which — except for one — could be served concurrently with his 30-year sentence). Kelly is currently serving out his sentence.
26.Chris Brown experienced a major fall from grace after he wasarrestedon suspicion of making criminal threats following a pre-Grammys party he attended with then-girlfriend Rihanna. He was ultimatelysentencedto five years of probation and community service, as wellasdomestic violence counseling. He lateradmittedto hitting Rihanna in his car during an argument.
Photos of a bruised and injured Rihanna ignited public hatred of Brown, and his next album,Graffiti,soldnotably worsethan his prior album (it also was criticallypanned). Helostendorsementdeals, and multiple celebrities spoke out against him.
However, Brown is one of the examples from this list whose career made a pretty full recovery. His next album,F.A.M.E.,debutedat number 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, which was his first album to do so. He still remains successful, though it’s true that there are still those who believe he doesn’t deserve to be. In fact, Browncomplainedlast year about people who “still hate” him for his “mistake.”
27.Gary Glitter enjoyed a decades-long career as a glam rock artist in the UK, and his legacy seemed overall cemented until he was arrested in the late ’90s on child sex image charges. He wasfound guiltyand sentenced to only four months in prison, but his career never recovered. He moved to Cuba, then Cambodia, and afterward Vietnam, where he was convicted of sexual abuse in 2016. Glitter claimed the charges were a conspiracy and that he was innocent. He wassentencedto three years in prison but was deported to the UK after two and a half.
He had initiallyplanneda comeback, but this never materialized. In 2015, he wassentencedto another 16 years in prison for sexual abuse from the ’70s and ’80s. He was released early in 2023, thenincarcerated againa month later after violating license conditions.
28.Singer-songwriter Ryan Adams, who was well-known for championing young female artists' careers, wasaccusedby several women (including ex-wife Mandy Moore) in 2017 of “dangling career opportunities while simultaneously pursuing female artists for sex.” If the women refused, he allegedly grew angry and resorted to emotional and verbal abuse as well as harassment. Adams did apologize but did not specifically confirm the allegations. “I am fully accountable for my harmful behavior, and will be for my actions moving forward,” hewrotein a public apology. He was also investigated for an alleged online sexual relationship with a minor, but charges were not filed.
Adams’s career suffered greatly, with Adamsreleasinghis next two albums through his own label (the albums did not chart in America or England) and taking to social media with desperate pleas for labels to sign him. “I just really want a second chance to make some music — maybe help other people believe you can get up out of the gutter and be something,” he wrote, saying he was close to becoming homeless.
In 2022, Adamsperformeda sold-out show at Carnegie Hall but did not invite any journalists. He hired a new team, including crisis-PR specialist Howard Bragman, who spoke to Variety, saying, “We want to show that he has a real team behind him that believes in him and supports him, and that he’s putting a life together. We want people to notice, and if they want to move forward with him, here’s where we are.” He’s released eleven albums since – including four on a single day — that did not receive much attention.
29.Nick Carter rose to prominence in the ’90s with boy band the Backstreet Boys. He then embarked on a successful solo career, but things took a turn for Carter in 2017. After a report that Carterhadallegedly sexually assaulted a fan in 2006, former Dream member Melissa Schuman wrote ablog postaccusing Carter of sexually assaulting her in 2003 and latersued himfor sexual assault and battery.
30.Another international musician who ruined his own career with alleged sexual assault was Sigur Rós drummer Orri Páll Dýrason. Artist Meagan BoydaccusedDýrason in an Instagram post of raping her in 2013. Dýrason denied the allegations but quickly left the band, writing on Facebook, “I will do anything in my power to get myself out of this nightmare, but out of respect for those actually suffering from sexual violence, I will not take that fight public.”
Dýrason never rejoined the band, whichstruggledin the wake of the allegations and also a tax evasion case, but finally released another album in June — without Dýrason andadding backin old keyboardist Kjartan “Kjarri” Sveinsson. Dýrason seems to have all but vanished from the public eye.
31.Trey Songz has a long history ofbeing accusedof sexual assault, domestic violence, disorderly conduct, and aggravated assault over the years (as well as sexual intimidation by Keke Palmer),* but it seemed like the public and the industry largely ignored these allegations. WNBA player Dylan Gonzalez’s 2022 allegations appeared to turn the tide, with two more sexual assault allegations following, including a rape case that was initially dismissed because it was past the statute of limitations but has since beenrefiled. Songz ultimatelysettled.
In this second instance, where a woman claims Songz groped her and pulled her bra off in public, she isseeking$10 million. Songz also accepted a plea deal for a physical assault charge. With no new album on the horizon, it seems unlikely Songz’s career will recover anytime soon — especially because whenever he is mentioned in the press, it isusuallyinrelation to continued backlash.
32.Finally, Ashlee Simpson also largely ruined her career after being caught lip-syncing onSaturday Night Livein 2004. When the wrong trackbegan to play(the same one she’d already performed), Simpson did not sing but did a strange dance. She later blamed the band before saying she’d lost her voice due to acid reflux and was ordered by doctors not to sing.
The singer’s career did continue, but it wasdefinitely affectedand did not see the same momentum as it had pre-scandal. Her second album didnot selleven close to as well as the first, and a 2005 Orange Bowl performance saw her getting booed by the crowd. While Simpson did end up appearing onSNLagain, these days, she is perhaps best known for the lip-syncing incident over any of her music.
