45 Celebs Who Were Booted From Jobs Because Of Bad Behavior

Hollywood loves its dramas and scandals. Celebrity hookups, celebrities having children, celebrities getting catty, that’s all nice and juicy, but nothing compares to the frenzy when someone gets booted from a job. These celebs are suddenly thrown under a microscope, and their ledgers are forever left with a big fat red mark. No matter how big their name or the role is, there’s no guarantee that a celeb can keep the job. Creative differences may arise, or directors may realize that they’re not right for the role after all. Sometimes though, it’s just plain bad behavior or offensive language that gets a celeb kicked off a job, whether it’s from their past or in the current project they’re working on. Find out why some of your favorite celebrities were let go from projects they were working on.

Jane Hubert

Even decades after her departure from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Jane Hubert still has an ongoing grudge against her co-stars, especially Will Smith. The original Aunt Viv was reportedly fired from the show because even though the show wasn’t about her, she acted like it was, according to Will Smith. 

In a radio interview addressing the recast, Will said that it didn’t settle well with Jane that this new kid was getting a show, whereas she’d already been ten years in the industry. Although Will maintains that the feud between them is nonexistent, Jane begs to differ and blames him for ruining her career. 

Roseanne Barr

When a celeb gets fired from their very own show, it’s truly a different kind of oof, especially when it has reached the heights of a show like Roseanne. Unfortunately, that was precisely the case for the show’s previous lead, Roseanne Barr. The reboot of the 90s show was enjoying a hugely successful comeback, but it all came crashing down for Barr because of a racist tweet she made about former White House aide to Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett. 

Barr later apologized on Twitter, but by then, it was too late. The hit show was canceled. ABC halted the airing of repeat episodes, and they also began taking down episodes of the show from their website. Soon enough, Roseanne was renamed as The Conners and went on without its titular character. 

Thomas Gibson

If you’re a fan of Criminal Minds, there’s no doubt you know Hotch, the one and only head of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and the actor who’s been playing him for years. Sadly, after 11 seasons, Gibson was let go after an altercation on-set with a producer. 

Apparently, the run-in that caused his dismissal wasn’t even the first one. In 2010, he had a violent outburst on an assistant director. After that, the studio sent him to anger-management classes. As it seems, the studio had more than enough that second time around. 

Taylor Momsen

Taylor is known for her role as Jenny Humphrey on Gossip Girl. Unfortunately, she’s also known to have mimicked her character’s downward spiral from good girl to bad in real life. It started out with wearing dark makeup; then she started making surprise statements to the media. Finally, after four seasons, her “unreliable and erratic” behavior got her fired.

According to Tim Gunn, her onscreen mentor, Taylor often couldn’t also remember her lines. As it seems, this and her behavior is one of the main reasons her character’s screen time was cut back, and she was eventually written out of the show.  

Isaiah Washington

There was a lot of drama surrounding Isaiah’s departure from Grey’s Anatomy because his leave was also tied with another of his co-star’s exit from the show. The actor reportedly referred to castmate T.R. Knight with a homophobic slur in an argument onset. And although it was in part of a denial, he repeated the slur again at the Golden Globes. 

A few months after the controversy, Isaiah was fired from the show. He did make a reappearance in 2014; however, it sparked another batch of debate among fans. As for T.R. Knight, although Isaiah’s remarks didn’t specifically cause him to leave, the handling of the situation and his character’s growing absence on the show eventually caused him to move on. 

Kevin Spacey

We can never imagine House of Cards without Kevin Spacey, but it comes as no surprise that the issues and allegations the actor faced in the final seasons of the show have left fans disappointed. In 2017 in an interview with Buzzfeed, actor Anthony Rapp claimed that Spacey made inappropriate advances to him while he was still a minor. In the following weeks after, the accusations started piling up. 

With that, the producers of the series killed off Spacey’s character. Netflix also completely cut ties with him. Aside from putting the House of Cards production on hold, Netflix also decided that they would not be moving forward in releasing the film Spacey produced and starred in titled Gore. He was also edited out from All the Money in the World. 

Shannen Doherty

Shannen’s career has been plagued with rumors that the actress is hard to work with for a long time. Apparently, these rumors stem from the fact that she was let go from two consecutive shows allegedly because of her bad behavior.  

Shannen was reportedly fired from Beverly Hills, 90210, because she got into fights with her co-stars. Her castmate, Tori Spelling, told her dad, Aaron Spelling, the creator and producer of the show, about it, which resulted in getting Shannen fired. She moved on to Charmed, but the same complaints of her causing all kinds of drama followed her and got her ousted from the show for good as well. 

Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen’s Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men was one of the most dysfunctional characters on TV, but he was also one of the funniest, and people loved him. Although fans were surprised at the manner of his death, they weren’t surprised that the actor behind the character was let go. 

Before Two and a Half Men, Sheen had built quite a reputation with reports of drug abuse and domestic violence. It all came to a head on the show, though, when he sent the show creator Chuck Lorre a vicious attack of nasty words and anti-Semitic insults. Not a very smart move indeed. Soon enough, he was replaced by Ashton Kutcher. 

Matt Lauer

For two decades, Matt Lauer has been the face of NBC’s morning news show Today. His tenure as the show’s anchor was ended, however, by a slew of sexual harassment allegations against him in 2017. The first complaint prompted an internal review, and soon enough, more complaints about incidents ranging all the way back in the early 2000s came to light. 

Lauer apologized after getting fired, but he did not give a full denial. In his statement, however, he admitted that there was enough truth in the allegations to make him feel ashamed and embarrassed. The news came as a shock to his fellow anchors who grappled with his loss in the show. 

Edward Norton

Edward Norton’s beef with Marvel is no secret to the world. Fans appreciated his performance in the 2008 solo movie of the green Hulk, and they were greatly surprised when Marvel announced that Mark Ruffalo would be taking his place. 

As it seems, Norton and Marvel couldn’t find their middle ground. Norton wanted a lot of creative freedom. And Marvel did grant him the opportunity to rewrite part of the screenplay. Unfortunately, Marvel had another vision for the film, and Norton wasn’t pleased with it. In the end, they parted ways, with Marvel saying that it wasn’t based on monetary factors but more on the fact that they needed an actor who was more of a team player. 

Terrence Howard

Aside from the Hulk, there were also quite a few actors who have been at odds with Marvel, and one of them is the original War Machine Terrence Howard. When Iron Man kicked off in 2008, things were going swimmingly for the two parties. After that, it was pretty much all-out drama behind the scenes. 

According to Entertainment Weekly, Howard upset people with his infamous difficult behavior. On top of that, Marvel reportedly cut his pay for the upcoming movies. Finally, when both parties couldn’t find a middle ground, they parted ways. At one point, Howard even blamed Robert Downey Jr. for it, but in recent years, it seems that his anger had faded. 

Columbus Short

Short was known for his role as the litigator Harrison Wright in Scandal. And although that’s the title of the show, none of the producers ever wanted a real scandal to rock their boat. Unfortunately, Short did just that when allegations of domestic violence against him came to light. 

The actor’s wife filed a restraining order against him. And following his departure from the show, he pled guilty to the accusations which earned him a year in jail. In addition to the abuse, the actor also dealt with substance abuse and he also allegedly assaulted someone at a party. 

Jon Polito

For two good seasons, the late Jon Polito took on the role of the quirky Detective Crosetti on the hit crime show Homicide: Life on the Street. His tenure ended, however, after a series of issues resulting from when his character was temporarily written off the show.  

Upset with the decision, Polito started badmouthing the producers of the show, calling them mediocre and referring to them as having little imagination. Apparently, producers promised to bring Polito back for three more episodes. But with everything that happened, they suddenly went back on their word and had Polito’s character commit suicide. 

Nicolette Sheridan

Sometimes, on-set issues just really don’t go well, and they end up in court. At that point, a lot of ugly dirt is dug up from both sides of the story. That’s exactly what went down between Desperate Housewives star Nicolette Sheridan and the show’s creator Marc Cherry. 

Sheridan claims that she was fired because of complaints she made when Cherry allegedly hit her on the head. As for his side of the story, Cherry claims that it was only a tap on the head to demonstrate a comedic scene. Cherry also insisted that they fired Sheridan based on creative and economic factors in addition to her unprofessional behavior. Allegations were made that Sheridan was rude to the cast and crew, which contributed to her firing. 

Mandy Patinkin

Patinkin is now known for his role in Homeland, but there was a time he was on Criminal Minds. Just as the show started enjoying great success after two seasons, though, Patinkin was suddenly gone. He basically went AWOL with no explanation to anyone whatsoever. Eventually, he was booted from the show.  

In an article for the New York Magazine, Patinkin referred to the show as the “biggest public mistake” he has ever made. He thought it was going to be different, but the content of the show disturbed him to the point that he called it destructive for his soul and personality. To his credit, he did admit that he behaved abominably while dealing with his issues against the show. 

Michael Pitt

Michael Pitt was a rising star from Boardwalk Empire. Unfortunately, a combination of poor attitude and poor work ethic sealed the actor’s unceremonious firing from the show. According to a source from the set, Pitt was just a pot of trouble.

Pitt was allegedly often late, had trouble remembering his lines, changed his dialogue a lot, and always questioned his character’s storyline. Not only that, but he also got into a fistfight with William Forsythe. According to Deadline, even Pitt’s own agent dropped him because of his difficult behavior. 

Mischa Barton

The 2000s teen drama The O.C. made A-listers of its stars overnight. Among the biggest names in that cast is Mischa Barton. At the height of it all though, in season 3 of the show, her character was killed off. According to O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, it was all part of the plan, but rumors circulating the actress’ leave says otherwise. 

Barton apparently wasn’t the most well behaved on set. Her co-star Tate Donovan even said that she was the biggest diva there. She was also known for her hard-partying with fellow celebrity bad girls Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, and she was even arrested and hospitalized.  In an interview with People, Barton admitted that by the time she was fired, she has indeed spiraled out of control.  Fortunately for her, Schwartz has always chosen to go the more diplomatic route and avoided adding fuel to the fire. 

John Rhys-Davies

John Rhys-Davies was at the front of a burgeoning sci-fi series in the 90s called Sliders. Midway through the third season, however, the actor was given the boot. Allegedly, John wasn’t a huge fan of the show’s writing team. He told Digital Spy that the series could’ve been the best show on TV, but they didn’t have the vision. 

The actor complained about his lines calling the script incomprehensible gibberish. But the writers would just tell him to do his job. These clashes eventually led to his exit from the show. And although the actor calls it a missed opportunity for him, the writers most probably didn’t.

Jay Thomas

Not many kids may know the name of the late Jay Thomas today, but he was a constant in sitcoms back in the 80s and 90s. He was much loved for his role in Cheers, but he was also known for another thing concerning the series.

While starring in the show, the actor was also a morning DJ for KPWR-Power 106. According to TV writer and blogger Ken Levine, on one of Jay’s segments, a caller asked him about what it was like working in Cheers. The actor basically said it was brutal. Why? Because he had to kiss his co-star Rhea Perlman. To make matters worse, rumor has it that Perlman was listening in at the time. After that, Jay’s character was killed on Cheers. 

Brett Butler

Brett Butler was front and center of the hit sitcom Grace Under Fire. After five years on air, though, Butler was fired, and her show went down along with her. Butler’s Vicodin addiction reportedly made her irrational and unreliable. Sources at ABC also revealed that the shenanigans Butler pulled were simply too much. 

According to them, Butler demanded her own chartered jet after refusing to fly with her castmates. She also kept the cast waiting for two hours for their joint scenes. This behavior not only cost the producers but also led to some pretty sad on-air fallout.

James Remar

Chances are if you get busted for the possession of drugs, you can immediately expect the boot. James Remar had his own personal experience with his in the James Cameron sci-fi juggernaut Aliens. He was supposed to play the role of Corporal Hicks, but just a couple of weeks into filming, he got busted, and the next thing he knew, Michael Biehn had taken his place. 

Not only did his drug problem cost him a role, but it also cost him a good friendship. After the incident, his close friend Walter Hill who recommended him to Cameron, never hired him again for 12 long years. Fortunately, he has picked himself up and has had a prolific career even without Aliens.

Richard Gere

With all his good work, it’s sometimes hard to forget the outrageous things that happened in Richard Gere’s career. There was that rumor he stuck a gerbil up his bum. And then before that, there was his feud with Sylvester Stalone on the set of The Lords of Flatbush.

In a 2006 interview, Stalone explained the whole thing. He said Gere would pompously strut around set, and he would often get carried away with his character. The tipping point of it all though, was the mustard accident. Stalone was eating his lunch in the back of a Toyota, and Gere climbs inside beside him with his mustard covered chicken. Stalone warns him not to get any on him, but just as Gere bites into his food, a drop of mustard lands on Stalone’s thigh. Elbows went flying. Gere got kicked out of the car and ultimately got kicked out of the movie as well.

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Very early on in his career, Van Damme was supposed to star alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger as the creature from Predator. But reportedly, just days after filming has begun, the actor was fired. The strange thing is, no one can’t seem to get their stories straight.

According to Van Damme, his issues were with the suit. He had trouble performing in it, and when he refused to do a jump that was too dangerous for him, he got booted. According to casting director Jackie Burch though, Van Damme was simply a problem and would continuously be complaining. The actor also reportedly didn’t get along with producer Joel Silver. In the end, he was replaced by Kevin Peter Hall. 

Louis CK

When the sexual misconduct allegations came to light against comedian Louis CK in November 2017, his empire quickly started to crumble. The once-beloved comedian, who confessed to the allegations against him, was immediately cut off of multiple projects he was working on.

Universal and Illumination Animation fired him from The Secret Lives of Pets 2. TBS canceled his animated series The Cops. And HBO and Netflix refused to air his second exclusive stand-up special. Even his own management company and publicist dropped him like a hot potato. Yikes. 

Lori Loughlin

Loughlin has long been a staple of the Hallmark Channel. But her good standing with them immediately changed after she was arrested for a college bribery scandal. She and her husband apparently spent half a million dollars to get their two daughters into the University of Southern California as athletic recruits. However, neither one of them was an athlete. 

When the news got out, Hallmark’s parent company Crown Media cut ties with Loughlin. She was written out of When Calls the Heart, which she starred in for a good six seasons. And she was also booted from the Garage Sale Mysteries telefilm series. 

Jason Mitchell

The Chi creator Lena Waithe called Mitchell the black Tom Hanks when she signed him up for the series. After all the allegations that surfaced against him, though, she might be regretting those words. Mitchell was fired two seasons in from The Chi, and he was also fired from Desperados due to his conduct. 

Tiffany Boone, who played Mitchell’s on-screen girlfriend and series showrunner Ayanna Floyd, filed complaints against Mitchell. Floyd said that they became targets of his rage and inappropriateness. Sources from the set of Desperados also cite the same thing saying that the actor made the other actresses on set uncomfortable with inappropriate remarks days upon arriving for filming. 

Clayne Crawford 

Crawford played Martin Riggs for two seasons on Lethal Weapon. Mid-2018, the actor got the boot after a highly publicized on-set blowup and what the executives called as repeated occasions of emotional abuse, which dated back several months towards cast and crew. 

Crawford was also involved in a volatile feud with co-star Damon Wayans. Wayans accused him of assault and emotional abuse. Later on, Crawford, for the incidents on set, blamed it all on unsafe working conditions. But it seems that his beef with Wayans is still there.

Jeremy Clarkson

Following a physical altercation with Top Gear producer Oisin Tymon at a hotel, the former Top Gear host was suspended and later on fired.  Reports say that the accident occurred because no hot food was served after a long day of filming. 

Tymon took himself to the hospital, and Clarkson reported himself to the BBC bosses. Clarkson was suspended, and an outpouring of support came from Top Gear fans who wanted the host reinstated. Unfortunately, a line has been crossed, and no rules can be bent for Clarkson. 

Craig Gore

Gore put a definite end to his role on Law and Order after making controversial remarks about the protesters who were part of the Black Lives Matter Movement. In one post, he condemned them for disobeying curfew. He posted the word “curfew” alongside a picture of himself holding a gun on his porch. 

His other threats include shooting looters who wandered near his Hollywood home. The posts were then brought to show creator Dick Wolf’s attention on Twitter. And Gore was fired shortly after. In his post, Wolf said that he is not tolerating this kind of behavior and has the actor terminated immediately. 

Paula Deen

Food personality Paula Deen got a nasty string of firings from her three Food Network cooking shows in 2013 after she was served with a lawsuit saying she used derogatory remarks and racial slurs towards black people. 

The suit was dismissed, and she gave a tearful apology on the Today show, but the damage had been done especially since she confessed in the deposition that she used racial slurs in the past. She came under fire for the very same issue again two years later when she posed as Lucy Ricardo for a Halloween picture alongside her son, who dressed up as Ricky Ricardo and wore brown face. 

Taylor Selfridge

MTV gave the Teen Mom OG reality star her marching orders because of offensive tweets. In one tweet, she wrote, “My uncle is dating an Asian. Aunt Ping, please make me sushi.” In another, she said that she greeted everyone on set, but she refrained from greeting black people because they scare her. 

With that, MTV ended their professional relationship with her and shelved Selfridge and her boyfriend Cory Wharton’s Teen Mom special. Selfridge, later on, addressed the tweets and apologized. She also announced that she was going to leave the reality TV life altogether. 

Dee Nguyen

Selfridge wasn’t the only casualty in MTV’s house cleanup of stars with less than savory words to say. Nguyen ended up in hot water after making insensitive comments on the Black Lives Matter Movement. A viewer blasted her for posting thirst traps and taking advantage of the situation. And Nguyen clapped back, saying people die every day. 

To make matters worse, she also questioned her followers about why people thought she was anti-BLM, adding that she’s been saying that since she lost her virginity. After that, she immediately received backlash from fans and her co-stars as well. Later on, she apologized, but MTV had already severed ties with her. 

Shane Gillis

What goes on the internet stays on the internet. Stand up comedian Shane Gillis had to discover that for himself after losing a huge gig on SNL when offensive jokes of his against Asian people resurfaced. The video with the jokes was later deleted, but it was too late. 

Soon enough, people found other questionable comments made by the comedian, and just four days after getting the job, Gillis had it taken away from him. He never even made it on the air. Gillis, later on, issued an apology on Twitter and said he respects the decisions and was grateful anyway that he had the opportunity. 

Hartley Sawyer

The past has literally haunted plenty of stars today, and Hartley Sawyer is just one of them. He played the Elongated Man on The Flash. He was given the boot before he could join the series for its seventh season for sexist and racist remarks he made in the past online. 

Some tweets contained discussions about violence against women, and some included homophobic language. Sawyer has since deleted his Twitter account, but screenshots of his tweets have already circulated online. In his apology on Instagram, the actor called the tweets hurtful and unacceptable and expressed that he profoundly regretted them.

Stassi Schroeder

It has been quite the 2020 for Vanderpump Rules with four of their cast members fired from the show for the same reasons, for making racist remarks. Aside from Schroeder, castmates Kristen Doute, Max Boyens, and Brett Caprioni were also axed from the show. 

The issue emerged after Faith Stowers, who appeared on the show for two seasons, revealed that Schroeder and Doute called the cops on her. Apparently, there was a report of a black woman allegedly robbing and drugging men in nightclubs. And since it was a black woman with a weave, they assumed it was Stowers. It failed though, and Schroeder and her castmates were off the show following the dig up of their past racist remarks. 

T.J. Miller

Silicon Valley returned for its fifth season with one remarkable difference: no T.J. Miller. And as it seems, people working on the show might’ve felt a little relieved. Insiders reveal that he had raw talent, but he had become unpredictable, among many other things. 

Miller would often self-medicate with alcohol and show up on set drunk. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even show up at all. He was also arrested after making a fake bomb threat while on a train to New York. It was later revealed that the actor was drunk when he boarded the train and continued drinking inside. He also exchanged some nasty words with a woman sitting a few seats from him. He was released on bond, but the charge against him could still land him for five years in prison. 

Jeffrey Tambor

Emmy-award winning actor Jeffrey Tambor was fired from Amazon’s Transparent in the wake of sexual harassment allegations made against him by cast and crew members. According to cast member Trace Lysette, working with Tambor could be a rollercoaster. One minute he can be nice, and the next, he can be inappropriately flirtatious. 

Tambor’s former assistant also accused the actor of acting in a sexually improper manner through a private social media post. In his statement, Tambor revealed that he thinks the investigation was flawed and biased and that he will continue to defend himself from the accusations vehemently. 

Mackenzie Phillips

Phillips got her big break in the industry pretty early, and at 16, she was starring in One Day at a Time. Sadly, the actress experienced some problems early on in the show, and in the second season, she had developed a cocaine habit. Disorderly conduct once landed her an arrest.

By season 5, though, disorderly conduct was the least of her worries in her professional life. She started missing rehearsals and showing up late-onset. Soon, it became such a problem that producers asked her to take a hiatus and get clean. When she failed to do so, she was fired. As of now, though, she has turned her life around and is currently working as a drug rehab counselor at Breathe Life Healing Center. 

Danny Masterson

Masterson is most known for his role as Hyde on That 70s Show. And over the years, the actor has been tailed by sexual misconduct allegations. It came to a head in 2017 when four women accused him of raping them in the early 2000s, which triggered an investigation against him. 

Later in 2017, Netflix decided to fire the actor from the comedy series The Ranch. His talent agency soon followed suit and dropped Masterson. There has been speculation that as a known Scientologist, his church protected Masterson in the years before these allegations came to light. Until now, the actor continues to deny them. 

Judy Garland

Judy Garland’s stay on the set of Valley of the Dolls was a very brief one. Although there are plenty of accounts and theories on what exactly happened, the most popular one out there is that she was fired for her excess drinking and bad behavior. 

Other accounts of the incident say that she didn’t get along with the director. Some say that she wouldn’t leave her dressing room, and a few others said that she made rewrite demands. Judy herself stated that she wasn’t fired. But we’ll probably never know the truth. 

Eric Stoltz

There is such a thing as going overboard with the method acting but back in the filming days of Back to the Future, Stoltz didn’t seem to realize that. Apparently, the actor went ultra method for his role as Marty McFly. And instead of making the film better, it resulted in more hostility from his co-stars and got him replaced by Michael J Fox a few weeks into filming.

Simply put, he was kind of a jerk. His request that everyone should keep calling him Marty even after takes might be passable. But then he also acted nastily towards Tom Wilson, who played Biff Tannen. It even got to the point that Stoltz would get too physical with Wilson, so yep, he had to go. 

Dana Plato

Plato’s role on the 80s show Diff’rent Strokes helped catapult her to popularity. Unfortunately, as was the case with plenty of other child stars of that time, she suffered from substance abuse. In the 83 to 84 season of the show, she became pregnant. The producers initially agreed to write it into the show but her substance abuse issues sealed her dismissal. 

Although she was written out, she did manage to make a few guest appearances later on. Sadly, she wasn’t able to pick up her career after that. And in 1999, the former child star passed away after overdosing on prescription drugs. 

Robert Downey Jr. 

It’s become somewhat common knowledge now given the fame and popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Still, before Robert Downey Jr. became the godfather of the Avengers, he had a troubled past. His difficulties with drugs and alcohol came to a breaking point when he was arrested for being under the influence of narcotics. 

This cost him his role as Calista Flockhart’s boyfriend in Ally McBeal. It wasn’t his first arrest, however. After the first one, though, David E. Kelly, the producer of the show, gave him a second chance, but after that, he was fired. Interestingly enough, this role won Downey a Golden Globe as a supporting actor.  

Jessica Mulroney

There’s only one thing worse than getting the boot, and that is having your own show pulled off the air. Jessica Mulroney, the former best friend of Meghan Markle, had her Canadian reality show I Do, Redo dropped after her alleged abuse of her white privilege. 

On Instagram, influencer Sasha Exeter said that Mulroney took offense on a call to action she made for people with large followings to use their voice against racism. Mulroney allegedly reached out to brands Exeter was working with or could work with in the future. And this all culminated in Mulroney sending a threat to Exeter to end her career. Mulroney has since apologized and chosen to focus on her work. 

Abby Lee Miller

Abby Lee Miller, the famous Dance Moms coach, was supposed to be spending her 2020 hosting her Abby’s Virtual Dance-Off Show. Sadly, Lifetime has ended their decade-long relationship with her and has kicked her show out along with her.

The actions were triggered when Adriana Smith, a mom of one of the dancers, accused Miller of being racist. Smith’s daughter also apparently overheard Miller saying that she was only in the show for a sprinkle of color. Although Miller has apologized online, Smith refused to accept it saying she didn’t think it was sincere.