Top 10 Famous People That Ruined Their Career With One Photo

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or in these cases, a career. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most widely known public figures whose careers or political campaigns were severely damaged because of compromising photographs. Our countdown of famous people who ruined their careers with one photo includes Kate Moss, Michael Dukakis, Kathy Griffin, and more! What other career-ending photographs exist out there? Bring them to our attention in the comments below.
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#Celebrity
#Photo
#Scandal
#Ruined
#Famous
#Career
#Fired
#Canceled
#Celebrities
#Controversy

[@WatchMojo]

What other career-ending photographs exist out there? Bring them to our attention in the comments below. For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppvSo5mrYqiFhpY Don't forget to play our Live Trivia (www.watchmojo.com/play) games at 3pm EST for a chance to win cash! The faster you answer, the more points you get!

[@Funny.Man101]

FUNNY JOKE FOR YOU GUYS COMMENTING HERE: Did you hear about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, no atmosphere. 😂😂😂LMAO!!! ANYONE GET IT? WAS THAT FUNNY?

[@Reaperguy67]

@@Funny.Man101 can you not spam your pointless comments. You are not funny and will never be.

[@fourwingsweepa1705]

Fucking lame

[@charliewaters5289]

9:00 You lying scumbags. You omit the pictures of Al Franken molesting an unconscious US Servicewoman, and another of him with a woman who testified he was grabbing her backside in the picture. You just totally left that out, no one ever heard of the "interview" you showed. You didn't even show the actual pictures. What the Hell is wrong with you? Get some freaking integrity !!!!!!

[@audrablue515]

Headline: “Supermodel takes illegal drugs” Headline:”In other news, water is wet”

[@honeyafun7450]

haha 😂

[@kevinwhelan9607]

Droll. Very droll. For years, I've been waiting for models to describe themselves as " artists"😮

[@jimmyparris9892]

Vanessa Williams is the only Miss America that I remember. I'm glad she overcame that B.S. I never understood why people were upset about the photos anyway. The media has been telling us what to think for far too long. They act like they're the only ones with any morals when they are the biggest pieces of crap on the planet.

[@MuzicTunes-lk6np]

Yes, she's the most popular Miss America, great actress & singer. I can't name another Miss America, except maybe Mary Ann Mobley. 😊

[@backagain5216]

You have to have some morals. Where does it end?

[@remmymafia3889]

I personally loved the close up of her snatch in that infamous Penthouse pictorial in '84. Her stock rose with me.

[@fenian123]

If anything the photos made her career, without them, even with her talents she likely would have been just another forgotten Miss America

[@YolandaAnneBrown95726]

It took decades, but the Miss America CEO apologized publicly to Vanessa Williams when she was hosting the Miss America show in 2015. It wasn't her fault and her reputation was damaged, but she climbed above it and has become an Icon.

[@daleketchup7434]

Can we really say Ed Miliband’s photo was controversial? Or even career ending? It feels more like a “haha you’re mid bite of a sandwich” than some massive scandal

[@thejtrax]

Yep. It's really really really difficult to explain how different it is on the political ladder of things.

[@Shanruss]

Seems ridiculous

[@done456]

England really????

[@GoddessPallasAthena]

Yeah, how stupid. The poor guy was eating lunch. At some point when we are eating, we are often less than attractive. He wasn't engaging in anything controversial (it would have been different if he had claimed he was a vegetarian, which, I don't believe he did). How would anyone like it if someone took an embarrassing, unattractive picture of them, simply doing a normal thing in a daily life and then printed it for all to see? No wonder famous people hate certain photographers. So, this was published so some magazine or paper could make money? I hope the editor who decided to put this in feels bad. (My guess is that he or she doesn't because it probably sold a bunch of issues). Watch the news or some other show and pause in the middle of their reporting. Often, you will see some pretty hilarious pictures - the anchor looking like he's falling asleep, about to kiss someone or looking very surprised. It's just how faces are. I hope someone follows the photographer around and snaps horrible pictures of them and posts it all over the place.

[@thejtrax]

@@GoddessPallasAthena yea 😢 let's be happy we are on the other side of things.

[@mojo3067]

Vanessa Williams - they hunted for dirt on her.

[@WumpusAmungus]

The original edition of the Penthouse that first had Vanessa Williams's pictures is now illegal to own because that issue also contained nude images of 15-year-old Traci Lords.

[@Jenny010132]

My dad had it.

[@michaelmonthey5974]

The way Ed Milland’s career ended was stupid. He never should have lost his career like that.

[@flugsven]

If you're entertaining you get away with stuff. If not you'll have to go based on nonsense.

[@michaelmonthey5974]

@@flugsven Ridiculous! People should judge based on their effectiveness as leaders, not over some mundane thing like eating a sandwich because we all do that. That’s just stupid! It‘s like the lyrics in a song, “God is great, beer is good, people are crazy“.

[@flugsven]

@@michaelmonthey5974 Yes, it's ridiculous, totally agree.

[@korniceman3000]

It's amazing how different the realm of politics is in the UK vs US. If that was considered controversial and career ending, one could only imagine what kind of issues an American politician would face there (the likes of MTGreene and G Santos)...

[@therealhabsfan]

Wait!! So politicians used to resign after having a scandal??!! Really?? wow

[@MikkaViz]

Trump would instantly resign if he was ever involved in any kind of scandal whatsoever....lol

[@susanrobinson910]

Don’t know if you could consider this a “celebrity losing their career”, but what about the one photo of Prince Andrew and Virginia Giuffre? Maybe do a similar list involving royalty losing their status as royals over a photo?

[@Rebelwithacause94]

Have we really stopped so low as a society that we ridicule and insult people who eat sandwiches…? And yet we allow others to get away with sexual harassment and assault and call that ok?

[@pagaldo9642]

It’s crazy how Vanessa Williams even got better looking after being Miss America. Beautiful woman

[@trace9657]

I always felt the same. I was a child to teen age in the 1980s, I always hated the big hair and over done makeup. She was prettier years after that scandal then when she won.

[@wpaunan]

No prince Andrew? Thought that’d be #1!

[@tomryan914]

Prince "No Royal Marine, I want to be a sissy actor" Edward!

[@Craigalicioususa]

Or the epstein bill clinton painting lol but I guess it's not technically a photo, but still lol

[@lemaygaming6952]

@@CraigalicioususaIf they put that on the list people would call them biased for not showing pictures of Epstein and Trump.

[@AntonXul]

Bill Clinton & Donald Trump haven’t suffered any damage from their connection to Jeffrey Epstein. Prince Andrew on the other hand has.

[@nathanwinter6629]

My question is: Why do people care about the type of plane Bow Wow was flying on? Even if he lied, it’s not that big of a deal. Tons of celebrities have done way worse.

[@kissedbysun2517]

I have more respect for him not flying a private jet

[@aartadventure]

People don't care about that. People care about the fact that he was actively trying to lie to them and trick them. That really pisses people off.

[@nathanwinter6629]

@@aartadventure I don’t know if he lied. I’m not trying to disagree with you or anything, but I honestly have no idea because it was such a weird situation.

[@user-cw4gi2tq7w]

Yall aint showing the photos

[@suzannebelanus9061]

Ummm, yes they are.

[@IMAMONGUS]

I was wondering if some of them would be a youtube violation

[@LucyLioness100]

If they had shown the infamous photos of Vanessa, they would be in trouble with Prude-Tube. The non-explicit pics can be shown

[@user-cw4gi2tq7w]

@@LucyLioness100 what about censoring?

[@rubygracemoseley8144]

Wait….Ed Miliband was considered to be in a scandal because…he….was eating a sandwich…? W-why?

[@mayleeneyarbough-noel5859]

Right?! I mean, I could MAYBE see it being controversial if he claimed to be keeping kosher and that being a major part of his personality, but as far as I can tell, he never did.

[@mytruecrimelibrary]

John Edwards and the photo of him with his love child was pretty scandalous

[@kaykay3772]

Ed Miliband shouldn't have gotten canceled imo, but Gary Hart should've kept his mouth shut when he told reporters to follow him around.

[@Youcanthandleme319]

What?? Models use drugs?? 😂

[@COMPFUNK2]

I don’t really think that photo ruined Bow Wow’s career.

[@wendeboyd503]

He was done way before that

[@ermertieplug]

He had no career to lose

[@gogoyubari366]

Vanessa Williams is so pretty!

[@Ashbrash1998]

This really just shows you that cancel culture wasn't just invented recently, its always been a thing. Heck people were killed over rumors.

[@andrewhearne753]

It didn’t ruin Vanessa Williams in the long term. She ended up in several movies

[@loriellajames6978]

She also has a beautiful voice.

[@mflack6135]

I don’t think this was an ending for Vanessa Williams. More like a spectacular beginning.

[@sethgreen9515]

Dude lost his job because he ate a bacon sandwich pathetic.

[@lenaeospeixinhos]

I'll never understand why in the US a politician's love life is of any importance to their office, but whether they've actually broken the law is whatever. I don't care who the person is f... as long as it's not The People or a minor.

[@forshame2002]

If they claim to love family values and then they're cheating on their spouse and/or paying prostitutes it absolutely is an issue.

[@lenaeospeixinhos]

@@forshame2002 that's the thing! I don't care about their personal family values! I want to know what policy they're wanting to implement in the country, things that will impact everyone's lives, what they do in the bedroom has no impact in the lives of anyone except their own. Their goings-on matter as much to me as mine matter to them. It's the power to influence a whole people that should be the focus.

[@illegalamishmen]

In today’s political climate, Franken would have never resigned. We’ve seen congress people do far far worse

[@ElizabethT45]

Bow Wow gets a pass from me; he never said he was on the plane and posted no photos pretending to be on one. Influencers can rent mock-ups of private jet interiors and pretend they're flying private or first class, he didn't do that.

[@vominator]

you left out weeeeener's mirror selfie

[@maryroberts2099]

Some of these are ridiculous

[@tylergoodman3560]

Some of these weren't that bad. 🎉

[@Opedanderson]

KG is correct. She is protected by the 1st Amendment for her disgusting photo. But so are all the calls to boycott her.

[@AlohaLowah]

Yep! She wasn't stopped from her 1st ammendment right. She just had the consequences of the act. And she didn't like them... But oh well. No freedom was taken from her.

[@samd1577]

Exactly. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

[@suzannedelafontaine9644]

@Watchmojo you seriously need to keep an eye on your comment section. First 8 comments on this post all came from porn-bots.

[@jessifer23f]

That's why people need to report the bot for it. It's the second option when you report.

[@CertifiedCommentBotHater]

And that's KZbin's problem but they don't seem to bother fixing said problem because they are too busy worrying about their money and adding useless, unnecessary features These bots are also on the comment sections of other large channels, not just theirs

[@Reaperguy67]

When it comes to those bots. It's a major spam issue. Also there are some people who will defend them and think it's a real person. It's honestly pretty sad people don't understand it in here .

[@Cinenerd.Returns]

Complain 😢

[@Reaperguy67]

@@Cinenerd.Returns nope it's called telling them to do something about those comments. By the way, it's sad that you think it's a real person 🤡

[@alexg9165]

Hey, let's do a list about 10 photos that ruined careers and only show two of them...

[@user-zi8ux6fy2n]

With a name like WEINER I would pay any amount of money to change it...and SUE my parents.🤬

[@mattalan6618]

supposedly its a German name

[@user-zi8ux6fy2n]

@@mattalan6618 huh, it sounds Jewish... either way it's SHAMEFUL!!!

[@phillipstephens4522]

A weiner named Weiner!!

[@user-bq3me8bw7j]

@@mattalan6618 not really.... its a j name

[@mlynettepinky595]

Bow wow career wasn't ruined because a photo of him lying about being on a jet. People on social media, especially Black Twitter, made fun of him and made memes. He was still on the reality show Growing up hip hop

[@balamohammed5947]

thats why they were mad at Bow wow?! and why was a politician sneared for eating a sandwich?

[@kissedbysun2517]

Because some people have sad little lives devoid of meaning and purpose and can be convinced that stupid crap matters

[@mathieuleader8601]

I bet Prince Andrew's Epstein photo will be on here

[@spicymayo623]

Sooo do we have to look up the photos ourselves 😂 wtf

[@johannawigg6921]

Ikr!!!

[@jacobdrolet4262]

Amazing video watch mojo of celebrities destroyed there careers with photographers that being taken of them out there in the world,fantastic job.

[@Animeguy300]

This is an informative list

[@hudahekizzy8402]

How can a career be "ruined' when they climb back to the top in 3 months? Do any words have any meaning anymore?

[@kittenface8577]

I know,I was wondering that myself. Watch Mojo does that all the time.

[@robertrosati6704]

Surprised Jane Fonda didn’t make this list.

[@bronsonbamnallen1633]

the problem with Kathy Griffin is she wasn’t funny in the first place, and her career was borderline lukewarm already.

[@mathieuleader8601]

they say a photo is worth a 1000 words

[@tomryan914]

Marilyn Chambers R.I.P

[@fallOutbOOm]

WatchMojo: Famous People That ""RUINED"" Their Career With One Photo Also WatchMojo: ...but Kate Moss' career bounced back in a matter of months.

[@Thedrisin155]

Some of these are just simple stupidity. Bad judgment calls and immoral behavior. The poor sandwich guy? I mean come on, he was just eating a sandwich. Don’t ever judge anyone who prefers not to eat in public. 🙄🙄🙄

[@waverlyking6045]

How many of these people who claim to hate cancel culture were standing up for Al Franken, especially since he apologized and took full responsibility for his stupid photo?

[@bradleyj.fortner2203]

I'm a Trump supporter and I thought Franken got screwed. We may not agree politically. But, he didn't deserve the backlash he got.

[@waverlyking6045]

@@bradleyj.fortner2203 Great comment 👍

[@benguthrie8814]

@@bradleyj.fortner2203yes he did deserve it. He had a history of being handsy when taking photos with all kinds of women as the Senator.

[@bradleyj.fortner2203]

@@benguthrie8814 I don't think so. I just read the allegations. He wasn't copping feels. His hand went to the upper buttocks instead of the small of their backs and such. I could understand it if he were groping women. But, he wasn't. I don't believe there was any inappropriate touching. Just bad hand placement and #metoo frenzy.

[@claudine1928]

Al Franken also had a photo taken, of a female soldier a sleep on a militairy plane, while he pointed at her breast in a demening way. And have those people on the list would now have big careers because of what they did. Socials and media changed and not for the better...

[@IlGreven]

Dukakis' campaign wasn't torpedoed by the tank photo; it was tanked by the Willie Horton scandal...

[@crimsonclover9871]

How is Prince Andrew not on this list??

[@flipperdale51]

I still like that picture Cathy Griffin posted. She should post an updated one.

[@loriellajames6978]

Lol

[@mikeawesome9212]

BAHAHAHA!! "Check out this photo of me flexing my muscles" 💪

[@cheleshows]

... he lost because he was eating a bacon sandwich? And what, Didn't "look right?' What the eff ever "right" is. What am I missing?

[@thejtrax]

How different it is in politics. In their world, that makes sense. In ours, it doesn't.

[@kissedbysun2517]

It's just proof that there's no substance in politics. It's all about appearances

[@bentorres4620]

A career ruined by riding in a tank, but trump goes up in the polls after being found liable for sexual assault in a court of law .....WTF;

[@ThatDevilForrest]

And don't forget the "Dean Scream" that ruined his campaign. All for being excited....

[@rottenhead8385]

@@ThatDevilForrest I know right, we are to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. That man must have dodged a major bullet staying out of that White House.

[@rottenhead8385]

oh what the world has come to...

[@ericbradley2010]

6:48 the tank photo isn’t what tanked Dukakis

[@kevinwhelan9607]

Gary Hart's downfall was a classic example of hubris😮

[@LillikoiSeed]

And Trump is STILL considered a viable Presidential candidate??!

[@Popmycherryyo]

09:48 probably not on purpose, but holy moly, that sentence gets a WHOLE new meaning in this kinda video..

[@skwisgarskwigelf7191]

Anthony Weiner really living up to this name 😂

[@Aetium]

the Kate Moss situation is kind of crazy. a supermodel doing drugs isn't really shocking to anyone, and brands dropping her seems more reactionary than anything else. it's no surprise that she bounced back, because most people in the industry wouldn't give a fuck about drug use

[@wendeboyd503]

For her to be the face of several companies, it is a big deal. Thinking about the possibility of things happening behind closed doors is different than seeing photo evidence of it out in the open. None of those companies want that to be associated with drug use.

[@mynameisnotearl4383]

Hugh jackman played Gary hart in a movie

[@tjwash5118]

Any picture of me doing my job would probably get me fired. I’m not particularly competent in the tasks.

[@rosario508]

The bow wow example is completely meaningless and ridiculous

[@proto57]

Williams was treated sooo unfairly. In everyone of the other photos, they were reflecting some bad actions or attitudes or lacking personalities of the people they were of. But for Williams, it was just some partially nude photos which were never supposed to be released. It said nothing wrong about her, and she was betrayed. It was a travesty that the committee didn't stand behind her on this. They looked really bad when they forced her to resign. But doing that, they told the world they didn't really care at all about the lives of the women, that it really wasn't about female accomplishments and empowerment, it was just about making a buck off their looks, and discarding them. On the contrary, if they had stood by her, if they had said the truth, "Ms. Williams was treated unfairly by this photographer, who broke his word to her, and tried to ruin her reputation for a few dollars. We stand behind her, and support her", then I think they would have gained huge respect around the world. And that's not just me thinking this in hindsight, I remember that being the feeling for most people I spoke with at the time. EDIT: Oh yeah, the sandwich bite was pretty innocent, too. But even he admitted that there were more important reasons he lost, than the sandwich.

[@CanadianSmoke]

Vanessa Williams showed the world what grace and poise truly is... as for Senator Franken... he showed the Republican party what accountability and responsibility looks like.

[@Volcell-85]

Ed milband looks like sacha baren Cohen cosplaying as ray barone 😅

[@user-zc7ds8gx7n]

Military tank? As opposed to all the other tanks? Fish, water, ____top?

[@alex4863]

Wiener own last name was his Achilles heel, the biggest pipe bomb of the 2010’s for me.

[@starchaser57]

She did not break the law. She just broke all the laws of common sense and decency. When you ack like the south end of a northbound mule, you don’t have the right to get upset when you’re treated like the south end of a northbound mule

[@rrsaga]

Al, he’s good enough.. smart enough and God doggone it, people like him.

[@markhooper4532]

Winnie Wallace..... Someone needs to tell Kate Moss her career was ruined all those years ago because of her drug taking...She clearly hasn't heard yet....

[@jamesletts2209]

I’m sorry… someone ruined their career because… they ate a sandwich!? A Sandwich!? 🤯 soooo….are people not allowed to eat now!? 🤯

[@akaihanayume]

i cant be famous i have panic attacks and anxiety id be a nervous wreck being hounded and go forbid i sneeze a wrong way

[@gkarenko9593]

The Chris Lee thing seems mi or compared to what is in the courts now. And that career goes on... for now.

[@kittenface8577]

So the poor guy lost his career because he ate a sandwich!?? Wow. Im dumbfounded on that one. I feel bad for him. Everyone has to eat. That is beyond ridiculous.

[@michaelryan2416]

Kathy G just because something is legal doesn’t make it right. It was just in bad taste like about 95% of the rest of your material

[@16Regulator]

But i thought the left were the snowflakes ?? Why would people get offended for that pic ?

[@dramaqueen1975ful]

The career of Kate Moss was not ruined at all!!!

[@arribaficationwineho32]

Kate moss was hardly ruined by any claims of drug use

[@bribee1346]

So who’s in the thumbnail? 🤔

[@lisab7977]

Comparing these “scandalous” things to today’s immorality is almost laughable.

[@KB-qk1ic]

Career ended with a photo First entry; subject was back on top months later

[@cleverusername9369]

Franken never should have resigned.

[@bobthebear1246]

A-MEN.

[@benguthrie8814]

So just forget about all of the other women he fondled while taking a picture with him. He's lucky no one pressed charges against him.

[@nitoduzit]

Vanessa Williams career took off with that photo.

[@MegTheGreat82]

Where's the Kate Moss photo?

[@arrow2370]

Bow wow's thing and Millebands thing were not like the rest, it was stupid to try to cancel them.

[@Hillers62]

At 11:25 ...Yes, there is freedom of speech...there is also the consequences of such speech...If you say "I hate all firefighters", That is freedom of speech, and you have the right to say it...and the government cannot do a thing to you about it...but the American people...that is different...

[@mumblesbadly7708]

Top 10 People *WHO…

[@midnightodellewest1999]

THANK YOU

[@jbj7599]

It's crazy that Vanessa Williams Penthouse is illegal to own cuz Traci Lords

[@007Julie]

Vanessa Williams is one of the most beautiful women in the entire world. If she had been born a few thousand years ago she would’ve had empires at her feet, just like Cleopatra

[@talan7503]

Never heard of any of these people. Are these the kinds of new articles you'd find in tabloids, and news clips you'd find on late night fox or smthn?

[@jakobraahauge7299]

A bump is npt ruin - bad title or naf picks

[@lemaygaming6952]

It was a huge blow to memers everywhere that we never got a President Weiner.

[@ScoobydoobyDoo-bp2gt]

2:45

[@mrforte9462]

Black mirror... Anyone. Eating a bacon sandwich doesn't seem all that bad for a politician to do.

[@zereotrope]

9:45 "Weiner dug himself into a hole".

[@clearcreek69]

I thought Elliot Spitzer would be #1

[@ErraticPT]

These people are/were "celebrities"?!? Not for the majority of the world have they ever been.

[@BethGoth15]

I'd completely forgotten about Ed Miliband's picture. I can't remember if I ever saw it 🤔 Just shows you how interested I am in politics 😂 Poor guy, he might as well have been caught sitting on the toilet 😪