8 Celebs Who Were Banned From Hollywood (And 7 Who Are Next And Need A Lawyer Now)
Andrew Mccoy Quick Links
The Weinstein effect is the phenomenon that started when dozens, if not hundreds, of women came forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of misconduct and abuse. The extent of Weinstein's abuse is still unknown, although many women have claimed Weinstein demanded they watch him shower, or perform inappropriate favors for him in order to secure a part for a movie. Some women who refused to co-operate claim that Weinstein had them blacklisted, as they struggled to land movie parts after rejecting his advances. The Weinstein effect has lead to a number of prominent figures in Hollywood getting blacklisted, and it's only a matter of time before other people get shunned by the industry, like Kevin Spacey. Spacey was accused of abusing a teenage boy, and the movie All The Money In The World, which Spacey was set to star in, has been reshot with another actor replacing Spacey.
At the helm of the misconduct allegations is the #MeYoo movement. The movement encourages women to speak up about harassment that women have faced. Most notably, the #MeToo movement held a demonstration at the Golden Globes, where almost every woman and man attending dressed in all black. Though their intentions are in the right place, many people are criticizing the movement for it's apparent vigilante justice. Anyone accused of abuse or anyone who attacks the #MeToo movement is getting banned from Hollywood. So, who's currently banned and who's next to go? Find out!
Louis C.K. — Banned For Life
Louis C.K. has been at the top of the comedy food chain for years. When ranking the top comic's of today, Louis C.K. was always placed first. His unique comedic style had audiences laughing at things they would normally find offensive. Despite his prolific comedy career, Louis C.K. is banned from Hollywood after harassment allegations surfaced late in 2017.
For years, rumors have been spreading about Louis C.K. being a supposed pervert. Many anonymous sources went to reporters that there was a popular comedian who would force female comedians to watch him touch himself. Gawker named Louis C.K. as the perpetrator in 2015, and he tried to cover up the story. He refused to address the allegations and claimed that many women that were speaking against him, like fellow comedian Tig Notaro, were ill informed. On September 7, 2017, Louis C.K. officially denied the rumors but just four days later, the New York Times published an article outlining the details of Louis' misconduct. As of now, five women have come forward to say that they were harrassed by Louis C.K. between the late 1990s and 2005. C.K. has since come forward to say that the allegations were true.
Aziz Ansari — Getting Banned Next
Aziz Ansari is loved for his distinct voice, comedic style, and of course his show, Master of None. The Netflix original show has been praised for it's socially progressive narrative, and has received countless awards nominations, including three Emmy's and a Golden Globe. But recent allegations against Aziz are dividing fans and leaving us all wondering what Aziz Ansari is really like.
A woman, who shared her story anonymously, said that she went on a date with Ansari and went back to his apartment. According to the woman, she was pressured by Ansari to sleep with him, which she tried to indicate she didn't want to by her body language. Afterward, the woman left, saying that she cried the whole ride home because she felt violated. Everyone was shocked by these allegations, including Ansari, who thought the encounter was completely consensual. In a statement, Ansari said that he talked to her soon after their date where she told him how he felt. Ansari said that he "took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said."
Morgan Spurlock — Banned For Life
Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock hadn't found much success in Hollywood outside of his movie Super Size Me. His documentaries The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and Mansome were mediocre at best, and many critics found it hard to believe anything Spurlock said in the movies after it was revealed he purposefully manipulated the facts in Super Size Me. He also directed One Direction: This Is Us and the controversial movie Rats, which focused on the treatment of rats around the world.
After Rats, it seemed that Spurlock was set to make his Hollywood comeback. However, his dreams have been dashed after reports came out in December 2017 accusing Spurlock of harassment and infidelity. He didn't try to hide from the news, either. Spurlock openly admitted to paying a settlement to a former staff member he called "s*x pants" and admitted to being "unfaithful to every wife and girlfriend I ever had." Spurlock also addressed a claim that he had assaulted a woman in college that he thought was consensual but she did not. He tried to apologize for his actions, but let's be honest — his career is over.
Matt Lauer —Banned For Life
For 20 years, Matt Lauer was a co-anchor on the Today show. He was known for his unique (now creepy) behavior on camera but it was often overlooked by the audience, and even Lauer's co-workers. After all, that's just how he had always acted. For a time, Lauer was the face of morning television. Now, he's the face of another sexual misconduct allegation.
In late November, 2017, a former co-worker of Lauer's said that she had been harassed while working on the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The co-worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC about Lauer's behavior and he was immediately fired. Following his termination, at least ten other women came forward to say that Lauer had harassed them. One of these women was a production assistant on the show, Addie Zinone, who said that she felt her consensual relationship was an abuse of power by Lauer, because she felt that if she turned him down it would have ended her career. Ironically, her accusation ended Lauer's career.
Jeffrey Tambor — Banned For Life
Jeffrey Tambor was a well respected comedian, best known for his work on Arrested Development, Transparent, and for his role as the Mayor of Whoville in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. His most recent work, Transparent, won him a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Series for his role as a transgender, divorced, parent of three. Though Transparent was set to be the next big show on streaming services, Tambor announced that he would not return to the show after harassment allegations made against him.
In early November, Tambor was accused of misconduct by his former assistant. Following the first allegations, two more actresses came forward to say that they had been harassed by Tambor while working with him. Tambor denied, and still denies, any wrongdoing and said that "for all my flaws, I am not a predator and the idea that someone might see me in that way is more distressing than I can express." His inability to admit his wrong got him banned from Hollywood — and he won't be coming back.
Ben Affleck — Getting Banned Next
One of the first celebrities accused of harassment after Harvey Weinstein was Ben Affleck. The woman accusing Affleck, Hilarie Burton, tweeted a video clip of her talking about an interview she had with Affleck. In the clip, Burton said that Affleck wrapped his arms around her and touched her breast. Upon hearing the accusation, Affleck immediately apologized and said that thought he doesn't remember it, he wants to change his behavior to be part of the solution and not part of the problem.
However, this could be the end of the illustrious career of Ben Affleck. Rumors have begun circulating that if Ben Affleck is booted from his role as Batman in the DC Universe, Jake Gyllenhaal is going to step in for the new Batman movie. The rumors started circulating since November, and fans are divided about whether they think Gyllenhaal will make a good Batman. We'll all have to wait and see if the social pressure from Affleck's past behavior will get him removed from the DC's biggest franchise.
Andrew Kreisberg — Banned For Life
You won't know his face, but you'll know his shows. Andrew Kreisberg is best known as the creator of the hit superhero shows Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow. He's also written for several animated series, including Justice League, The Simpsons, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. But of course, his bread and butter for the past few years has been the 'Arrowverse' for the television network, The CW. Sadly, he's also known as just another prominent figure caught up on the #MeToo controversy.
At the start of November, 2017, Kreisberg was suspended from his position as showrunner on the four shows part of the Arrowverse: The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and Supergirl. His suspension came after 15 women and 4 men accused him of harassment. Two weeks after his suspension, Kreisberg was subsequently fired. Star of Supergirl Melissa Benoist addressed said that the allegations were a "major disappointment."
Matt Damon — Getting Banned Next
Matt Damon had a really rough 2017. To start, his movies, Downsizing, Suburbicon, and Bending The Arc were flops. He's going to need an amazing string of movies to make up for the waste that 2017 turned out to be. But, to be honest, Matt Damon is going to have a hard time finding roles after the comments he made about all of the recent harassment scandals.
Social activists bashed Matt Damon for his comments about assault being on a spectrum. In his own words, Damon said "We're going to have to figure — you know, there's a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and actual assault, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn't be conflated, right?" Damon's comments were so controversial that activists created a petition (with over 13,000 signatures now) to have Damon edited out of Ocean's 8.
Steven Seagal — Banned For Life
Steven Seagal hasn't been a respected member of the Hollywood community since the 1990s. The former martial arts instructor made a career out of corny action movies, starting with his very first movie Above the Law which was released in 1988. Steven Seagal has been living his Hollywood life Above the Law considering how long he's gotten away with what people are accusing him of.
To be honest, Steven Seagal's harassment and domestic violence allegations are nothing new. He's been accused of asking women to undress during auditions, harassing co-workers, threatened to beat up women, and even human trafficking. These allegations date back to the early 1990s and have mostly ended Seagal's movie career. However, it's the most recent allegations that have gotten Seagal kicked out of Hollywood for good. Actress Portia de Rossi alleges that Seagal told her "how important it is to have chemistry off-screen" and unzipped his pants in front of her. Rachel Grant, the Bond girl from Die Another Day also recently claimed that Seagal pulled her top down and then exposed himself to her during an audition.
Mark Wahlberg — Getting Banned Next
Mark Wahlberg was in the middle of an unusual controversy when it was revealed he was paid $1.5 million for reshooting All The Money In The World while his co-star, Michelle Williams, was only paid $1,000. The reshoots came after Kevin Spacey was removed from the film following the allegations made against him. Social activists cited gender discrimination for the reason Wahlberg was paid so much, while Williams was paid so little. Wahlberg was criticized despite the fact that all he did was get paid for the work that he did. After all, he was the highest earning actor in 2017 — time is money, for him.
According to reports, Wahlberg asked to be paid for the reshoots whereas Williams waved her acting fee. Activists were calling Wahlberg greedy for demanding to be paid, though many of his fans didn't see it that way. Nonetheless, Wahlberg donated his $1.5 million fee to the organization Time's Up, a fund help fund accusers of harassment and abuse, but the damage has already been done.
Brett Ratner — Banned For Life
Producers and directors are the hot shots of Hollywood. During the audition process, it almost entirely comes down to whether or not the heads of Hollywood want to give you a shot at stardom. Brett Ratner is responsible for directing movies like Rush Hour, X-Men: The Last Stand, and was also a producer on Prison Break and Horribly Bosses, and he's given many women the chance to become famous — for a cost.
In October, 2017, Ratner was accused by a talent agency employee of assaulting women. Following the first accusation, seven other women, including Ellen Page and Olivia Munn, accused Ratner of sexual misconduct. Based on the reports, almost any woman that came close to Ratner was vulnerable to be harassed. A journalist who had to interview Ratner in 2008 was also harassed by the Hollywood hot shot. He must have thought that he was untouchable. Thankfully, after the allegations became wide spread, Warner Bros, his primary distributor, cut ties between them and Ratner. His career is (hopefully) dead in the water.
Liam Neeson — Getting Banned Next
Liam Neeson took a stand against the #MeToo movement and said that the harassment allegations have become a "witch hunt." The actor revealed his opinion on the movement on The Late Late Show, where he said "there's some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl's knee, or something, and suddenly they're being dropped from their program or something."
Neeson took it a step farther and talked about the allegations made at Dustin Hoffman, and said he wasn't sure if he believed them. "When you're doing a play, and you're with your family, other actors and technicians, you do silly things. I think Dustin Hoffman... I'm not saying I've done similar things like what he did. Apparently he touched a girl's breast and stuff, but it's childhood stuff." As you can imagine, Neeson's statements led to push back from Twitterverse. Is this the end of our favourite Irish actor?
Bryan Singer — Banned For Life
Of all the horrible people in Hollywood, Brian Singer is the worst. The Hollywood director is arguably worse than Harvey Weinstein, if the allegations are true. Singer, who is known for directing movies like X2, X-Men: First Class, Superman Returns, Jack the Giant Slayer, Days of Future Past, and X-Men: Apocalypse, has been accused multiple times throughout his career of abuse. Particularly, Singer has been accused of abusing teenage boys at private parties, and even on the sets of movies.
For years, stories of Brian Singer drugging and assaulting aspiring teenage actors were being kept out of the tabloids. His abuse was so well known, that he was even cited in the 2014 documentary An Open Secret, a film that focuses on pedophilia in Hollywood. The movie alleges that Singer would attend private parties where young, vulnerable actors would be in attendance. In the past few months, more and more young men have come forward to say that they were abused by Brian Singer. He has since deleted his Twitter account, been fired from his latest movie, Bohemian Rhapsody, and for all intents and purposes, his career is over. If we're lucky, he'll never work in Hollywood again.
Dustin Hoffman — Getting Banned Next
As part of the Weinstein effect, many misconduct and harassment allegations were published about Dustin Hoffman late last year. Hoffman apologized for his actions but denied that he ever harassed or assaulted anyone that he worked with. Specifically, one woman claimed that Hoffman slapped her butt before he would go on stage as part of a pre-acting ritual.
John Oliver attempted to confront Hoffman during a live panel interview. Oliver, who has been criticized of virtual signalling in the past, seemed to verbally berate Hoffman about the rumors and said that he believed the women who were accusing Hoffman. Hoffman was caught off-guard, and responded by saying, "You've made the case better than anyone else can. I'm guilty. Because someone has alleged something, I'm guilty. You push a button. It's all over the world. I'm a predator. I'm this and that and it's not true." True or not, social activists responded poorly to Hoffman's attitude and he's most likely about to get the boot from Hollywood.
Catherine Deneuve — Getting Banned Next
French actress Catherine Deneuve essentially committed career suicide when she released a letter criticizing the #MeToo movement. In the letter, Deneuve said that the movement had gone too far and was being fuelled by a "hatred of men." Though Deneuve doesn't stand alone, as another 99 prominent French women signed the letter as well.
However, after receiving so much criticism around the world, Deneuve has taken a step back to apologize for the contents of her letter. She was more so apologizing for not what she said, but how she said it. Deneuve has, however, tried to distance herself from some of the other women that supported her letter. One of the women, who Deneuve did not mention by name, stated on TV that she believed a woman could orgasm while being assaulted. Deneuve publicly bashed the woman, but went on to say that she didn't like that someone could be removed from a movie for "groping somebody's buttocks 30 years ago with no other form of trial." Needless to say, people aren't impressed with her comments.
