Transcripts:
From a fake apology after humiliating guests and employees. I am so sorry to the people who were affected to actually owning up to bad behavior and winning people back. And through it all, I lost some of my best qualities. For that, I'm sorry. Here's how an apology can make you either loved or hated.
Starting with Hollywood's former Golden Boy, Will Smith. Will Smith's career had been bulletproof for decades. He was the Fresh Prince who conquered TV, then Hollywood's biggest action star with hits like Independence Day and Men in Black. Later, he reinvented himself with powerful dramatic roles in films like The Pursuit of Happiness.
Whichever way you looked at it, he couldn't put a foot wrong. He was bankable, likable, and the perfect family man. But in the years leading up to the 2022 Oscars, crack started to show. His marriage to Jada Pinket Smith suddenly came under the microscope. In 2020, she admitted to having an affair with singer August Alcena while still married to Will.
I really felt like we could be over, you know? Yeah. No, we were over. And then what did you do, Jada? Well, you know, I think from there, you know, as time went on, I got into a different kind of entanglement with August. The Red Table Talk episode where they addressed it went viral, not only because of what Jada confessed, but because of Will's reaction.
Memes of his pain expression flooded the internet, and his carefully built Family Man image took a massive hit. Fans then resurfaced other videos like this one from 2019 where Jada's lack of respect for Will was on full display. You know a stair PL is coming to the table. She's going to be at the red table.
Would you say she has been instrumental in you and I redefining our relationship? I would say don't just start filming me without asking me. Oh my goodness. If you could film stare come help us again, please. I'm still dealing with foolishness. Don't No. No. She Yeah, cuz she don't just Would you say that she helped us heal the hurts that we caused between one another? My social media presence is my bread and butter. Okay.
So, you can't just use me for social media and not, you know, don't just start roll. I'm standing in my house. Don't just start rolling. Please watch us stare at the red table because she's helped us a lot. Can't you tell? Clips like this drew further negative attention to Will and Jada's marriage. And by the time the Oscars rolled around, they were on very shaky ground online.
Will was being ridiculed with people calling him weak for staying with Jada after her affair. So when Chris Rock made a joke about Jada's shaved head, comparing her to GI Jane, it really struck a nerve. Jada, I love you. GI Jane, too. Can't wait to see it. All right. At first, Will laughed, but seconds later, he stormed the stage and slapped Chris across the face. Oh wow. Wow.
Will Smith just smacked the [ __ ] out of me. Will then sat back down in his seat before shouting, "Keep my wife's name out your [ __ ] mouth. Keep my wife's name out your [ __ ] mouth." Wow, dude. Yes, it was a GI Jane joke. Keep my wife's name out your [ __ ] mouth. I'm going to Okay. It was one of the most shocking live TV moments ever, and within minutes, the clip was everywhere.
Some saw it as less about the joke itself and more about a man trying to reclaim control after being publicly humiliated by his own wife. When Will returned to the stage later that night to accept the best actor award, his speech only made things worse. He apologized to everyone aside from the man he just viciously assaulted. I want to apologize to the academy.
I want to apologize to my all my fellow nominees. Love will make you do crazy things. This sounded like a weak justification, not remorse, and everyone could tell. Months later, Will released a formal apology video. It was framed as a Q&A with him reading out questions and answering them directly. He apologized to Chris, to Chris's family, and to the academy.
I will say to you, um, Chris, I apologize to you. Uh, my behavior was unacceptable and I'm here whenever you're ready to talk. The delivery was stiff. The setup looked overproduced and viewers saw it as anything but genuine. Literally me where my mom forces me to apologize to my siblings.
The reason he didn't apologize in his acceptance speech is because he was still under the impression that what he did was proper and heroic. The apology now is because it didn't turn out the way he'd hoped and there was a ton of backlash. man destroyed his life's work over a joke everyone would have forgotten about in a few seconds. The fallout for Will was brutal.
The Academy banned him from the Oscars for 10 years. Memes and late night jokes turned him into a punchline. And even with the release of Emancipation and other projects, he's still defined by that one moment. What should have been the crowning achievement of his career finally winning best actor is now remembered for violence, controversy, and an apology that didn't fix anything.
After the slap, Chris Rock kept quiet for almost a year. And then in his Netflix special, Selective Outrage, he unloaded. He roasted Will, mocked Jada, and dragged the entanglement saga back into the spotlight. She hurt him way more than he hurt me. Okay. Recently, Will has been trying to revive his rap career, releasing new music, touring, and dropping freestyles to remind people of his roots.
On June 22nd, 2025, he appeared on Charlie Sloth's Fire in the Booth. And a couple of the bars in his rap made it clear he wasn't actually sorry for the slap at all. Now, I'm not the type of man to move in malicious ways. And I am too grown to play childish games, but if you talking crazy out your face up on the stage and disrespect me on the stage, expect me on the stage. It seems Will's initial apology was nothing more than an attempt to salvage his reputation.
After destroying years of goodwill in a single night, but not every celebrity apology ends in disaster, Jonah Hill's story is proof that when it's done right, saying sorry can actually save you. Jonah Hill's early years in Hollywood were complicated. He broke through with Super Bad, but almost instantly became a target.
When he was heavier, the industry mocked him for his weight. When he slimmed down, people said he wasn't funny anymore. It felt like he just couldn't win. But Jonah didn't let that stop him, landing major roles in films like Moneyball, 21 Jump Street, and eventually the iconic Wolf of Wall Street. By then, his career was in a great place.
He'd proven he wasn't just a goofy sidekick. He could shine in comedies, but also hold his own in serious, dramatic roles. But just as he was riding high with everything finally falling into place, one ugly encounter with a paparazzi threatened to derail it all.
While walking down a Los Angeles street, Jonah wasounded by photographers and in a moment of frustration, he snapped, yelling a homophobic slur at one of them. Have a good day. Enjoy. Suck my dick. Oh, a real bully. The clip spread quickly and Jonah faced a serious wave of backlash. A slur like that in any context just isn't acceptable. Jonah knew that, yet he said it anyway. And in the moment, it looked like the fallout could be disastrous for his career.
But the way he handled the controversy changed things. He responded almost immediately, appearing on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon just days later to apologize. He didn't hide behind excuses or tried to spin the story. Instead, he admitted he'd said something disgusting, called it the lowest point of his life, and made a direct apology to the LGBTQ plus community.
This weekend I was out with some friends and there was a paparazzi guy and he was antagonizing me and uh calling me names uh attacking me personally and my family personally and I was I was genuinely hurt by this and made angry by this and in response I wanted to hurt him back and I said the most hurtful word that I could think of at that moment.
you know, I didn't mean this in the sense of the word uh, you know, I didn't mean it in a homophobic way. And, uh, I think that, sorry, I think that, um, that doesn't matter. You know, how you mean things doesn't matter. Words have weight in meaning. And the word I chose was grotesque. And you know, no one deserves to say or hear words like that.
And you know, I've been a supporter of the LGBTQ community my entire life. And I completely let the members of that community and everybody else down when I used a word like that this weekend. And my heart's broken. And and I genuinely am deeply sorry to anyone who's ever been affected by that term. in their life.
You could tell, not just from Jonah's words, but from his body language, that he was genuinely remorseful about what he'd said. Viewers picked up on that, and the clip was flooded with comments like, "He looks genuinely shaken up by this. Jonah Hill is more of a man than most people in show business will ever be." He chose his words very wisely, and he was sincere through and through. Apology accepted. He seemed to be very genuine.
Joan even tried to turn the situation into something constructive, urging people to learn from his mistake and not lash out the same way he did if they ever found themselves in a similar situation. I'm sorry and I don't deserve or expect your forgiveness. But what I ask is that at home, if you're watching this and you're a young person especially, if someone says something that hurts you or angers you, use me as an example of what not to do.
And don't respond with hatred or anger because you're just adding more ugliness to the world. And again, I just I'm so sorry. The key here is that Jonah's apology was heartfelt. It didn't come across as something he was forced into or just saying because he got caught. And that sincerity is the main reason the scandal didn't end up being as bad as it could have been.
Jonah's career carried on strong with films like 22 Jump Street and War Dogs released soon after. But the same can't be said for the next actor on this list because Kevin Spacy's so-called apology went down as one of the worst in Hollywood history. Kevin Spacy's career was once untouchable. From the usual suspects to American Beauty, he was considered one of the best actors of his generation.
And by the mid2010s, he was in the middle of a big comeback as Frank Underwood on Netflix's House of Cards. But in October 2017, all of that came crashing down when actor Anthony Rap came forward with a shocking allegation that Spacy had made a sexual advance towards him at a party in the 1980s when Rap was just 14 years old.
In an interview with Buzzfeed, Rap said Spacy invited him to his Manhattan apartment for a party and made the sexual advance after everyone had left. He picked me up like a groom picks up the bride over the threshold, but I don't like squirm away initially because I'm like, "What's going on?" And then he lays down on top of me. "He was trying to seduce me," Rap told Buzzfeed.
The story blew up instantly, especially because it came right in the middle of the Me Too movement. Spacy had a chance to respond with clarity and respect. Instead, what he did is now remembered as one of the worst celebrity apologies of all time. He put out a statement on Twitter where he claimed he didn't remember the incident.
Then he said, "But if I did behave then as he describes, I owe him the sincerest apology for what would have been deeply inappropriate drunken behavior." To many, the phrasing sounded like he was dodging accountability. But it was the second part of his statement that really set people off.
In the very same apology, Spacy announced that he was gay, saying, "I have loved and had romantic encounters with men throughout my life, and I now choose to live as a gay man." instead of focusing on Anthony Rap. It looked like he was trying to shift the conversation onto his sexuality, and people didn't like that one bit. One fan said, "I've admired Spacy for a long time.
He's been in some of the best movies and TV series of all time." That said, I find it pretty shitty that he came out in this manner. It just seems like he threw this out there as a deflection to focus the media's attention on his sexual orientation rather than his alleged transgressions.
The fact that he's gay or bisexual has been an open secret for years, and no one really is bothered about that. Point is, it really comes off a lot more like a calculated spin rather than genuine reflection. LGBTQ plus groups condemn Spacy's statement, saying it was manipulative and harmful, and his career went downhill fast. Netflix cut ties with him almost immediately.
He had been the lead of House of Cars for four seasons, but in season 5, he was pushed out completely. The show's entire identity had revolved around Frank Underwood and without him it collapsed. Then came the movie All the Money in the World, where Spacy was the lead. Ridley Scott made the difficult decision to reshoot the entire film just weeks before its release, replacing Kevin with Christopher Plumber.
It cost millions and forced the cast to redo their scenes on almost no notice, but Scott said there was simply no other option. Keeping Spacy in the movie would have doomed it. More allegations followed in the months after Rap came forward. And even though Spacy was later cleared in court, the damage was already done. Hollywood had closed the door on him and his career never recovered.
While Spacy's apology is remembered as one of the worst in the business, for others, an apology can be the first step toward winning the public back. And one of the clearest examples of that is Justin Bieber. Have you ever left a meeting with messy notes, a dozen action items, and no clear idea where to start? Well, the Plaude Notes Pro is your solution.
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Justin Bieber started out as a squeaky clean teen idol discovered on YouTube, signed by Usher, and catapulted to fame with Baby. He was marketed as the wholesome kid next door. For a while, this worked. He was one of the most famous teenagers in the world. Mobbed by fans wherever he went. But growing up in that spotlight quickly sent him off the rails.
By his late teens and early 20s, Justin's image had completely flipped. Instead of headlines about music, it was one scandal after another. In 2013, tensions between Justin and the Paparazzi reached a boiling point. After being relentlessly pursued, an incident erupted when a cameraman held a nasty insult at him. [ __ ] little cop. Back to America. You [ __ ] The [ __ ] did you say? You what' you say? You lose. Lose your mouth. Lose your mouth.
I'm back. I'm back. You prick. Right. Little. This confrontation marked a turning point signaling Justin's growing frustration with the invasive media. The constant scrutiny from paparazzi fans and even fellow celebrities had begun to take its toll, leading him to push back against the pressures of his fame. However, this defiance soon spiraled into reckless behavior.
A few months later, after a night of partying in a New York nightclub, he was filmed urinating in a janitor's bucket and shouting, "Fuck Bill Clinton." We swagger, man. You know, this is just the best pitch, bro. We the water kids. That's the coolest spot to piss. You know, you'll forever remember that. My kids in this.
[Applause] [Music] It was juvenile and disrespectful, and the clip went viral fast. Then came the balcony incident. In Toronto, fans gathered outside his hotel hoping to see him. And instead of engaging with them in a civilized way, Justin leaned over his balcony and spat down at them. Whether he meant it directly at the crowd or not, the optics were brutal.
Headlines everywhere painted him as arrogant, entitled, and disrespectful to his own supporters. Not long after, he was in Brazil for a tour stop and spray painted graffiti on the walls of the Hotel National, a protected heritage site. Local police charged him with vandalism, and the story spread around the world.
But Justin's behavior wasn't just making headlines overseas. Later that same year in California, he was accused of pelting a neighbor's house with eggs, causing around $80,000 in damage. That number might sound ridiculous for an egging incident, but it was still another example of him acting out, and it added to the picture of a star completely out of control.
Then came the Miami arrest. In early 2014, Justin was caught drag racing a rented Lamborghini against R&B singer Khalil. Police reported that Justin exhibited signs of intoxication and admitted to consuming alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs.
When he refused to cooperate with officers, they placed him under arrest, resulting in his infamous mugsh shots. Mr. Bieber, you are charged with the following: DUI, alcohol, or drugs, resisting without violence, and driving with an expired driver's license. This was a new low, but arguably the most shameful moment of all was yet to come.
That year, old videos resurfaced of a 14-year-old Justin using the N-word, one less lonely less lonely. One less lonely. There's going to be one less. If I kill you, I'll be part of the KKK. Then there'll be one less lonely. There will never be one less lonely. The Miami arrest had painted him as reckless, but this crossed into something darker, damaging his reputation in a way the other scandals hadn't. At this point, Justin was in full meltdown mode.
The squeaky clean image was gone, replaced by a string of arrests, lawsuits, and controversies. He was being called a child star on the path to ruin. There was a time where I was sipping lean. I was popping pills. I was doing Molly. Um, you know, shrooms, everything. And it was just an escape for me. But this was where he began to turn things around.
In 2015, after taking some time away from the spotlights, he went on the Ellen Degenerous show and owned up to his behavior. I've done some things that might not have been the greatest. Really? So, uh, nothing comes to mind. I don't know what you're talking about. Later that same day, he posted a Facebook video apologizing directly to fans, saying he hadn't been himself and that fame had gone to his head.
So, today, I was on Ellen. I was really nervous. I was afraid of what people are thinking about me right now. I didn't want to come off uh arrogant or conceited or basically how I've been acting the past year year and a half. Not long after, he did the Comedy Central roast of Justin Bieber. For over an hour, celebrities tore into him, bringing up every arrest, controversy, and embarrassing moment.
Justin fired back with jokes of his own. But it was at the very end when he dropped the humor and got serious. He admitted he'd made mistakes, promised to grow up, and thanked the people who stuck around. The things that I've done really don't define who I am. I'm a kind-hearted person who loves people. And through it all, I lost some of my best qualities.
For that, I'm sorry. But what I can say is I'm looking forward to being someone that you guys can all look at and be proud of. Someone you can smile at and see some of yourself in. Someone close to me once said, "It's how you rise from a fall that truly defines you as a man.
" I'm excited for that challenge, and I want to say thank you so much for taking this journey with me, and I'm excited for you to see what's next. His apology came across like he really meant it. The roast wasn't just about jokes. It was his way of putting everything on the table and apologizing on a massive public stage. And in the years that followed, he backed it up.
He opened up about mental health, focused on stability, and slowly rebuilt his image. Like Jonah, Justin's story serves as an example of how a genuine apology can really turn things around. But Ellen's so-called apology had the opposite effect. It damaged her reputation beyond repair. For almost 20 years, Ellen Degeneros built her brand on one simple message, be kind.
It was the way she ended every show, and for millions of viewers, it became her trademark. But behind the smiles and the dancing, things weren't nearly as wholesome as they looked. Her daytime show was a juggernaut. Celebrities lined up to appear. Audiences adored her, and Ellen became one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. She even received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
For the longest time, she was untouchable, but eventually it all fell apart. clips began resurfacing that painted a very different picture. When Mariah Carey came on, Ellen pressured her to drink champagne to expose a pregnancy she wasn't ready to announce.
The other thing is that people are saying that uh that you're pregnant there. There's rumors. Don't discuss that. Um All right. Well, you don't have to. No, that's okay. No, honestly, you don't have to answer. Let's just toast with champagne and decide. This is peer pressure. You see what Ellen is doing? This is peer pressure. No, let's toast to you not being pregnant. If you're not pregnant, then we should Oh my goodness, it's too early for me.
I only drink it after 300 p.m. Yeah. [Applause] [Music] You're pregnant. You're pregnant. No. No. No. She made Taylor Swift play a humiliating game where male celebrities photos were shown and she had to ring a bell if she dated them. All right. We didn't date. Okay. I That's what I'm saying. That's ridiculous to show Zach. They never did date. Okay.
Hold it like you're going to ring it at some point. How do you feel? All right. Danny Dvito, did y'all date? You know, I can't talk about that. All right. All right. John, what are I don't know what I'm You're supposed to ring. I don't want to. I don't want to. I'll ring because they'll send me angry emails and I don't want to get I'll hold it for you.
[Applause] [Music] What are you doing to me? This is [Applause] it. Okay. All right. All right. Sophia Vagara was mocked for her accent. Do you get gifts? I get gifts. Yeah. What kind of gifts do you get? Could you Can you get rid of the accent? Is it No, I can't. I tried and I'm too old already.
I mean, literally, you've been on this show for 10 years and your accent has gotten worse. How is that possible? Selene Dion was shamed for her son's hair. I'm not too much into politics stuff. All right. Well, it seems like you're busy with something cuz you're forgetting to cut your son's hair. Um, this is Look at him. He is beautiful. But look at his hair. When are you going to cut that hair? Even ordinary guests weren't safe.
In one segment, Ellen relentlessly mocked and degraded a translator who was helping her interview a young Chinese-speaking guest. I think you'd be good at everything because you play the ukulele and then now you're playing uh guitar, electric guitar, right? Yes. Yeah. What else do you want to learn? Just one question. Just what else does he want? I don't know what you're telling him, but just ask him what I'm saying. Okay.
Sorry. Um see that was that short. After this, the translator got flustered and lost her composure, but Ellen just wouldn't give her a break. Finger style. So, a finger style guitar besides electric guitar. A finger style? What's a finger style? [Music] Oh, acoustic. Well, don't just ask. Don't look at me and go, I don't know.
We're not having a conversation. I'm asking them what what is a finger style. Acoustic. You don't know that. Ask him. Okay. Fingering styles. Oh, he knows what a finger style is. But we don't. Never mind. Okay, I've lost interest. Even Ellen's own audience fell victim. In one notorious episode, she publicly shamed a woman for taking extra free merchandise.
Then she goes back and she returns one of her stolen items and she switches it out for a hat. Hello. I What's your name? My sister couldn't come, so that was her souvenir. Yeah. Yeah. a lot of people's sisters couldn't come.
Look, I I like that you like the products so much that you wanted to bring one back for your sister. But um now when you go like to Costco or or you're the kind of person like when you go trick-or-treating and nobody's home, you don't just take the you take the bowl. You just walk away. She proceeded to force the woman to sit in what she called Ellen Jail, a makeshift prison on stage.
Let that be a lesson to you cuz you think it is. You you think nobody's watching you and you just need to be a good person just because you want to be a good person. You go sit in that Ellen jail over there right now. [Music] No, you're No, you'll steal stuff back there. Come here. This way. What's What's your sister's name? Anna. All right. Well, Anna got you in big trouble. This wasn't harmless teasing.
It showed a mean streak that didn't line up with her kindness image. And as bad as those moments looked on TV, what was happening behind the scenes was worse. In 2020, former staffers described the workplace built on fear. Employees were told not to look Ellen in the eye.
People were allegedly fired for taking medical or bereavement leave, and others reported racist comments from senior producers. One star summed it up simply, saying, "That be kind [ __ ] only happens when the cameras are on. Toxic, phony, hypocrite, liar. That's what she is." Ha Muscat was with Ellen from the beginning in 2003 when the talk show was launched.
We were told from the very beginning, don't talk to Ellen. Don't do this. You can't, you know, go into her office. It was very nerve-wracking, very stressful. We all walked on eggshells all the time. How does the Ellen we see on TV compare to the Ellen you saw when the camera stopped rolling? Totally different. Um, she would only speak to the audience when the cameras were rolling.
As soon as they turned the cameras off, she would not even acknowledge the audience. She would just sit on the couch basically. Even when she exited, she just said what she had to say on camera and then walked off. You just expect a lot when you go to meet like your idol and then when you get disappointed it's like such a let down. They tell you, you know, you can't be smarter, funnier than Ellen.
She's the comedian and the star, not you. Warner Brothers launched an investigation into the show and three top producers were fired over allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. Ellen wasn't directly accused of that behavior, but she couldn't escape the perception that it all happened under her watch.
She wrote a letter to staff and then kicked off the next season of her show with a televised apology. As you may have heard, this summer there were allegations of a toxic work environment at our show and then there was an investigation. I learned that things happened here that never should have happened.
I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. I know that I'm in a position of privilege and power and I realize that with that comes responsibility and I take responsibility for what happens at my show. There were also articles in the press and on social media that said that I am not who I appear to be on TV because I became known as the be kind lady. The truth is I am that person that you see on TV.
I am also a lot of other things. I sometimes I get sad, I get mad, I I get anxious, I get frustrated, I get impatient. And I am working on all of that. I am a work in progress. and my intention is to always be the best person I can be. And if I've ever let someone down, if I've ever hurt their feelings, I am so sorry for that.
Instead of saving her, the apology backfired. Comments poured in, accusing her of pretending the toxic culture had nothing to do with her, and ratings for the show collapsed by more than 40%. Ellen then announced the show would be ending after its 19th season, but insisted it had nothing to do with the allegations. The ratings are down for this show.
They're down for every talk show, right? To be fair. Y but more for this one. Mhm. Does that factor into any of this decision? It's it's more for this one cuz we had fall, you know, further to fall. Um and everybody else was at a lower, you know, place so they didn't have as far to fall to be honest. I mean that's the truth.
We are we were very very successful. Later it became clear how hollow her previous apologies were as she claimed she was a victim of misogyny and that the backlash had been orchestrated. Did you feel like you were being cancelled? I mean, I really didn't understand it. I still don't understand it. Um, yeah.
I thought I thought something was going on that that because it was too orchestrated. It was too coordinated. And and also, you know, it it I have I have to say if if nobody else is saying it, it was really interesting because I'm a woman and it did feel very misogynistic. It felt like I am a boss.
I have a very successful show. I'd never had any complaints about anything for 17 years and all of a sudden all at once something happened. So it did feel um yeah it was sexist. Yeah. By the time she returned with a Netflix special in 2024, her reputation was in tatters. Instead of rebuilding, she took shots at the various scandals that ended her career. Oh yeah. I got kicked out of show business.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, cuz I'm mean. Yeah. Yeah. You can't be mean and be in show business. No, they'll kick you out. Yeah. The be kind girl wasn't kind. That was the headline. Here's the problem. I'm a comedian who got a talk show and I ended the show every day by saying, "Be kind to one another." Had I ended my show by saying, "Go [ __ ] yourselves.
" The special bombed, receiving terrible reviews online, and any hope Ellen had of making a comeback disappeared. In the end, Ellen's downfall wasn't just about a toxic workplace or a few cruel interview moments. It was about hypocrisy. For nearly two decades, she told the world to be kind.
But when her own behavior came under fire, her response didn't show kindness, it showed denial. Her apology felt fake because her actions never changed. But what happens when someone skips the big apology moment and lets their actions do the talking? Robert Downey Jr. faced his own massive scandal, but he never gave that emotional viral apology we've come to expect from celebrities in crisis.
Instead, he let his changed behavior speak for him. And somehow that became more powerful than any apology could have been. Before he ever put on the Iron Man suit, Robert Downey Jr. was already Hollywood's golden boy. By 27, he had been nominated for an Oscar for Chaplain.
Praised as one of the most talented actors of his generation, and respected across the industry. On paper, he had it all. accept control over the addictions that were slowly destroying him. The habit started young. His father, filmmaker Robert Downey Senior, introduced him to drugs when he was just 6 years old. By his teens, he was already hooked. And by the time the '90s hit, he was spiraling out of control.
In 1996, police pulled him over for speeding and discovered he was high behind the wheel. In the car, they found heroin, cocaine, crack, and a 357 Magnum. He was arrested and hit with fenally drug possession and a DUI, but managed to walk away with probation. Only weeks later, he broke into a neighbor's home while under the influence, passed out in their child's bed, and was arrested again.
Rehab followed, but sobriety didn't stick. The next 5 years were a cycle of arrests, court appearances, failed rehab attempts, and constant relapses. His drug use was so heavy it's remarkable he never overdosed. Finally, in 1999, after skipping out on court ordered rehab, he was sentenced to three years in California state prison system.
What was your lowest point? It was probably when I I realized I was going to be going and and doing time and I wasn't going to in a real prison. In a real prison, yes. He ended up serving about a year behind bars and inside he admits he hit rock bottom. At one point, he considered taking his own life, but the pattern didn't break at release. Downey relapsed almost immediately.
And by the early 2000s, Hollywood had basically written him off. He was uninsurable. Studios wouldn't touch him because the premiums were through the roof. He was blacklisted, broke, and labeled a lost cause. People around him feared he wouldn't live to see 40. Then things turned.
He met Susan Levan, a film executive on Gothica, and their relationship was different. Susan didn't enable him. She gave him an ultimatum. Get clean or lose her. Around the same time, Downey says he had a moment of real clarity. Sitting in his car with a stash of drugs beside him, staring at the ocean, he realized he'd either stop or he wouldn't survive.
He got out of the car and threw the drugs into the water. That decision didn't fix everything overnight. But it was the first real step toward getting his life back. I think there's an aspect of it that that's clearly has to do with one's own morality because it's too easy to jump on that wagon of it's a disease and my brain's been hijacked and I no longer have a choice in the matter.
Think there's that element for sure, but past a certain point, you have to you have to stand up inside yourself and and change. You know, everybody does with any with any issue ultimately. Anything else is just a really, you know, new age excuse if you ask me. With time, Downey was able to revive his career with small roles leading onto bigger ones.
And by 2008, director John Favro took the ultimate gamble on him, casting him as Tony Stark in Iron Man. I believe that you know most uh difficult situations will resolve themselves if you are persistent and if you don't if you don't uh give up entirely and that's what I never did. I never gave up. Landing Iron Man didn't just give him a boost.
It turned him into the face of the most successful franchise in movie history. He pulled a complete 180, but he didn't do it alone. He had Susan by his side and crucially he had the support of Mel Gibson. Gibson vouched for him when nobody else would, even paying his insurance bond so studios could afford to hire him.
And in 2011, when Downey was honored with the American Cinematic Award in LA, he used his acceptance speech to publicly thank Mel for giving him that lifeline. I asked Mel to present uh this award to me for a reason. Because when I couldn't get sober, he told me not to give up hope and he urged me to find my faith. And I couldn't get hired.
So he cast me in the lead of a movie that was actually developed for him and he kept a roof over my head and he kept food on the table. And most importantly, he said that if I accepted responsibility for my wrongdoings and if I embraced that part of my soul that was ugly, I'd become a man of some humility and that my life would take on a new meaning.
And I did and it worked. Moments like that along with various interviews where he openly discussed his addiction became his apology. Not excuses, not deflection, but accountability. Downy's redemption is one of the greatest Hollywood turnarounds ever.
He went from being blacklisted and written off as a lost cause to one of the most bankable and respected actors in the world. And he showed that sometimes the strongest apology isn't just words. It's proving through action and consistency that you've changed. But not every star follows that path. Some refused to take responsibility even in the face of tragedy. And that was the case for Travis Scott after Astroorld.
By 2021, Travis Scott was one of the biggest names in music. Astroorld was more than just an album. It was a festival, a clothing line, and even a Fortnite concert. He'd built a reputation for wild, chaotic shows where fans were encouraged to rage, leading to mosh pits, and all kinds of dangerous behavior.
But at the Astroorld Festival in Houston, that energy turns deadly. But from the moment the doors to Astroorld opened, there was chaos at NRG Park. At 2 p.m., a stampede of concert goers exploded through security gates with dozens being trampled in the process. As the clock ticked down to Travis's performance, tens of thousands of fans crammed into the venue to see him perform. Where your feet were placed is where your feet stayed the whole night.
At around 8:30 p.m., the crowd began to compress and push, making moving and even breathing difficult. 4 3 2 As soon as that countdown went to zero, it was just my my rib cage was so squished that I couldn't expand my chest, expand my lungs to catch a breath. In a video taken by a fan at around 9:12 p.m., people in the crowd could be heard screaming for help.
Soon, ambulances were seen pushing through the crowd. Fans were chanting, "Stop the show." And some even climbed towers to beg staff for help. Travis briefly paused when he noticed the commotion, but the performance carried on. At one point, he even told fans to put a middle finger in the sky if they were okay. Everybody go put a middle finger up in the sky.
At 9:38 p.m., officials declared a mass casualty event. Security and medical staff were seen rushing into the pits. And yet, the performance went on for another half an hour. Even as Drake joined Travis on stage at 9:54, chaos was still unfolding in the crowd.
By the time the concert finally ended at 10:11 p.m., eight people were dead. Two more later died from their injuries. The victims were as young as 9 years old. The scale of the tragedy was staggering. 10 lives lost, thousands injured, and millions watching online as the horror unfolded in real time. The day after the disaster, Travis posted a black and white video on Instagram addressing it.
I just want to send out prayers to the to the ones that was lost last night. My fans really mean the world to me and I always just really want to leave them with a positive experience. I could just never imagine the severity of the situation.
I'm honestly just devastated and I could never imagine anything like this just happening. Everybody continue to just keep your prayers. I love you all. To call this an apology would be generous. There was no real ownership or compassion for the families who lost their kids and fans let that be known. The only thing missing from his social media apology was an actual apology.
I could never imagine the severity of the situation. Bruh, you were there. He seems more worried about his reputation than the lives lost because of his carelessness. The backlash was massive. More than 300 lawsuits were filed with damages seeking billions of dollars.
sponsors pulled away, his festival was cancelled, and his name became tied to one of the darkest nights in live music history. Months later, Travis did an interview with Charlemagne the God where he insisted that he didn't know what was happening in the crowd. People said they uh collectively they collectively heard folks screaming help every time you stopped the song to get your attention.
Did you did you hear any of those screams? No, man. I just didn't I just didn't hear that. Even if that were true, the shadow of Astroorld will never leave him. His so-called apology only fueled the outrage, and it's still remembered as one of the emptiest responses to a tragedy in modern music.
