2017 was a sad year for the entertainment industry, it turns out that Hollywood has been keeping some pretty nasty secrets. We also found out how low the bar is to becoming famous. Some of these newly famous people seem like they’ll do almost anything to occupy a slot on the A-list, but what does that even mean when you can become extremely famous for having a catchphrase? I mean, "howbow dah?" Many of these celebrities have mastered the talent of having clickbait careers, but it’s no secret that this isn’t a sustainable way to stay relevant.
While attention seeking behaviour is timeless, the time-limit on these folks is running out. Some famous from Vine and Youtube have already peaked, unable to keep up with the crazy short attention spans of millennials. It’s not our fault, though. For those of us ready for a new crew of questionable famous people in 2018, here are 18 celebs whose fame won’t last through the next year.
For some, it’s because they’re terrible people. For others, it’s because they never should have been famous in the first place. Who would you be happy to see retire in the new year?
18 Harvey Weinstein Should Stay In Hiding
By now, everyone is familiar with the horrific life that was led by Harvey Weinstein. Allegations against him sparked a global movement of women coming forward to share their stories of abuse with the hashtag #MeToo. After Weinstein was exposed by dozens of accusers, many of them A-list actresses like Gwyneth Paltrow and Cara Delevingne, he stopped by The Meadows in Arizona for a 7-day stint in rehab. Sounds like a solid plan, right? Naturally, nobody was satisfied with this. People take more time celebrating their birthdays than the amount of time Weinstein spent in rehab. Fortunately for everyone, he returned to rehab for an outpatient treatment, where he has been seen visiting restaurants wearing makeup and a wig. Lately it seems that he has been feeling bold enough to go out without the wig, much to the horror of everybody. We’re hoping that he stays undercover for a while. Possibly forever.
17 Tyga's Not The Father, Right?
After being Young Money’s youngest signed member at the time of Bedrock, Tyga has stayed in our news feeds thanks to his relationship with Kylie Jenner. He can thank the Golden Age of the Kardashians for that. But other than his relationship, what else has kept him in the spotlight? Can anybody name one of his songs?
Now that it is known he's not the father of Kylie’s baby, is his fame going to disappear? Although he posted and deleted a snapchat suggesting he might be the father, sources generally agree the father is Travis Scott. We know he wanted to be the father, as that would have kept him relevant for a few years. Since he's not, his star is fading, and it looks like 2018 will be the year of Tyga, who?
16 Scott Disick, Professional Sketchy Boyfriend
Even when he was on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Scott Disick was a f*ckboy. The ex of Kourtney Kardashian, and father of her children, Scott routinely cheated on Kourtney and embarrassed her on national TV. At the age of 34, he’s currently dating 19-year-old Sofia Richie, who he met when she was freshly 18. Sofia isn’t even old enough to go to a bar. To most people, it seems like he’s using Sofia to send a message to Kourtney, which isn’t fair to the mother of his children or his current girlfriend. In all likelihood, he’s probably cheating on Sofia, too. Scott dated a series of 18-year-old Instagram models during and after his relationship with Kourtney, routinely taking on the role of the deadbeat dad. His current job is making appearances at nightclubs, which isn’t really a far cry from where he started as a socialite in the first season of KUWTK. Get out of there, Sofia!!
15 Mariah Carey Desperately Needs To Rest Her Vocal Chords
Every time Christmas rolls around, Mariah climbs out of her cave to give a string of terrible performances of All I Want for Christmas Is You. I’m pretty sure publications are paid to write positive reviews of her performances, or the good performances are entirely held up by backtracking. Here’s the tea: Mariah can’t sing anymore. The song is vocally challenging and she can’t keep up! Isolated vocals from her performances have gone viral for their cringe factor, and it’s no surprise as to why. While once a talented vocalist, her voice is strained from her years of strenuous performances and recordings, and she isn’t taking the time to recover and adjust. Not to mention her reputation for having a diva personality, which just doesn’t hold up in the year where people are less accepting of bullying and rudeness. Is anyone working on All I Want For Christmas Is A Different Hit Song?
14 Will Lena Dunham Quiet Down?
Lena Dunham cannot catch a break. While she has attracted a number of controversies since creating the HBO series Girls, her worst yet has been voicing her support for a Girls writer accused of assault. Not a smart move in post-Weinstein Hollywood. While it’s obviously tricky to navigate situations like this, especially when you have a personal connection to the alleged abuser, sometimes the best course of action is not to say anything at all. Making thoughtless and controversial statements has been a long-time habit of Dunham’s, where she has been flagged as writing sometimes racist essays and accused of tokenism on her show. While it seems she has her heart in the right place, she would probably be better off laying very low and improving her PR strategy. She could probably recover her image significantly if she took some time off. For many celebs, the best kind of attention is no attention.
13 Forgetting Kevin Spacey
DJ Khaled Voice: Another one! Spacey was dropped from Netflix’s House of Cards following the revelation of his attempt at assaulting a 14-year-old. It seems that Spacey’s behaviour was also an open secret in Hollywood; many of the men he assaulted were afraid to come forward because they felt nobody would believe them. He was even accused of groping a member of the Norwegian royal family. Talk about reaching for the stars... It goes to show that being a Hollywood “untouchable” doesn’t mean your past won’t come back to haunt you – and doesn’t mean you can get away with this stuff forever. Spacey issued a non-apology, coming out of the closest as justification for his behaviour, and the number of his accusers continues to grow. The shaming of Kevin Spacey is important because it brings light to this issue. It’s definitely time for him to retire anyway.
12 Who Is Giving Farrah Abraham Money?
Farrah Abraham should not be famous. She has been desperate to stay relevant after being fired from Teen Mom, and currently identifies as an “adult entertainer”. Sure thing. During her career, she has been accused of racism, and name drops Teen Mom for the purpose of self-promotion while blasting it for being “fake”. She was accused of neglecting her daughter, after telling the media that she believes it is healthy to spend time apart. She has said MTV doesn’t want to work with her if she continues her work as an adult performer, which she finds unfair. I think she’s overestimating her long-term earning potential in these films, especially because she has a child. Take the safe pay check, Farrah. Let your kid go to college.
11 The Confusing Fame Of Jake Paul
Who is Jake Paul? Why is he famous? When did the bar for fame get so low? Jake Paul can be aptly compared to a fidget spinner: Cheaply manufactured, questionably useful, ubiquitous, a hallmark of 2017, and I can’t see his popularity enduring into the next year. Is that too harsh? After years of performing pranks on Vine (RIP) to releasing music videos on Youtube, Jake is everywhere and his legions of fans adore him – but for how much longer? His music career is self-sustaining on Youtube, and not necessarily privy to quality. His song “It’s Everyday Bro” is one of the most disliked videos on Youtube. He also hit a career low in 2017 when he was fired from the Disney series Bizaardvark, although he initially denied this. Like many famous crappy celebs (*cough* Bieber), he is constantly in trouble with the LAPD because of neighbours making noise complaints from his huge parties.
10 People Love To Hate Rita Ora
While Rita is very famous in the UK, where local celeb culture is self-sustaining. She hasn’t really made waves in North America, other than having a few popular songs years ago. She is more often the subject of memes concerning her fledging fame than recognized for her musical achievement. Recently she was the subject controversy over a photo she took with with Conor McGregor, captioning it as “date night!”, angering his army of insane fans who accused her of being a home-wrecker. Even McGregor’s wife passively aggressively reminded her that he’s taken. She is regularly being accused of copying Rihanna and Beyoncé, from their hair to their clothes. Being more famous for doing things wrong, it seems like miss Ora needs to take a step back from the spotlight.
9 Making Conor McGregor Famous Was A Mistake
Without further ado, the reigning douchebag king of the British Isles. One of the most successful fighters in the UFC, his rags to riches story is constantly shared on Facebook by crusty dudes. What the video shows is that a woman stuck by this guy, even if he is all about pub brawls and being obnoxiously rowdy. He also likes to party at clubs, hanging out with dancers, all while his wife stays at home with their new baby (congrats!). Too add more, he also has a tattoo of his own name, and a pinstripe suit that says “f you”. A bothersome fact is that he didn’t receive nearly as much criticism as Rita Ora for their picture – double standards much? While it seems like propping him up to fame is subversive against the entertainment establishment, he’s less of a diamond in the rough and more of a punk that needs to learn something about respect.
8 Wendy Williams Really Needs A Break
If Wendy Williams had a superpower, it would be a strong intuitive sense of what to say to piss people off en masse. Although 2017 seems to have been a renaissance period for her show, it seems that most of the hype was related to her tendency to make inflammatory comments and pretending to faint on stage. She started off the year publicly criticizing Paris Jackson for not being famous enough to front a Rolling Stone cover. Wendy also angered Beyoncé fans when she implied that Beyoncé spoke like she only had a fifth grade education, then later ripped on Nicki Minaj for “trying too hard” to stay relevant. She even came for future princess Meghan Markle, accusing her of being a social climber. Uh… Trying too hard would probably be a better descriptor for somebody who tries stirring up minor controversies for daytime talk show viewers… but that’s just my opinion.
7 One Too Many Racist Scandals For PewDiePie
Born Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, but better know for his Youtube name PewDiePie. This guy was once one of the most subscribed Youtuber of all time. That all turned quickly when it came out that this gamer turned millionaire began making racist comments in his videos. Following a series of non-apologies and relapses in behaviour, he was fired by Maker Studios, the Disney owned company that managed his Youtube career. His actions divided fans, with many remaining apologetic towards his behavior and justifying the problematic comments, essentially saying it’s okay to be racist as long as it’s a joke. Um. Questionable people become famous all the time, and unfortunately this gives ordinary people who have unsavoury opinions a platform to express themselves and feel entitled. While some have said that he only makes these comments for attention, doing things for shock value as self promotion isn’t sustainable. Let’s put good energy into the world in 2018.
6 Matt Lauer's Best Career Choice? Disappearing
In the wake of Weinstein, dozens of women have come forward to share their stories of being assaulted by Matt Lauer. He was fired from NBC after investigations revealed he assaulted multiple women by locking them in his office, and even had a switch under his desk that locked the door from afar. Surprisingly, the investigation into the assaults actually predates the Weinstein scandal. His treatment of women was an open secret, and video evidence of his questionable behaviour over the years has emerged online. While his wife is attempting to maintain privacy during this period, it is suspected that she and Lauer are in the process of separating. Lauer should probably spend a considerable amount of time laying low, and 2018 is the perfect time to be forgotten.
5 How Is Chris Brown Still Relevant?
Sorry to beat a dead horse, but why is Chris Brown still famous? This year the world woke up to naming abusers, Chris Brown made strides garnering sympathy after beating Rihanna in 2009. Yet, nearly 10 years later, Chris collaborates with many popular artists and has fans making excuses for him in the comments of his Instagram posts, where debates rage constantly surrounding the incident. Should the moral of the story be 'it’s ok to beat your girlfriend if your record label makes you apologize years later?' While Chris’ management seems to be on top of clearing his image, every once in a while his true colours are revealed when he makes some kind of terrible comment, like criticizing singer Kehlani following a suicide attempt, or telling Tinashe she looks like a hobbit. While his image has been somewhat rehabilitated by his PR team, we hope that fans might read between the lines in 2018.
4 Who Is Still Listening To The Chainsmokers?
After the world collectively stopped captioning their IG photos with the lyrics to #Selfie, the Chainsmokers came out with Closer, which saw airplay that hasn’t been seen since the era of Blurred Lines. But where have they been since then? It’s not surprising that some musical acts can create very strong works and then fizzle out - being a one hit wonder is nothing new, but the body of The Chainsmokers’ work is just so boring. Maybe boring is harsh, but the difference between boring and formulaic is that while both can mean predictable, formulaic is meant as a compliment. A live Chainsmokers performance is like being trapped in a very energetic elevator where everybody is wearing fluffies and body glitter. It’s hard to say with certainty whether or not EDM will endure in 2018, but it’s doubtful that these guys will ever be able to live up to Closer.
3 Danielle Bregoli Needs To Stop Before The Industry Burns Her Out
While the Cash Me Ousside originator is constantly the subject of criticism like “why did we make her famous? Everyone hates her, but so many people took interest in her that she became a millionaire this year. That's right, the public made this joke a millionaire. Honestly, it’s not that I think she doesn’t deserve to be famous, but is the entertainment industry a safe place for a girl like her? Despite giving off vibes that she’s hard AF, taking on the name Bhad Bhabie, the reality is that she’s a 14-year-old girl and Hollywood probably doesn’t have her best interest in mind. Her mother seems to be loving her daughter’s manufactured fame. Yes, These Heaux is a certified bop, but don’t forget Bregoli was made famous for being a hot mess on the Dr Phil show. Let’s hope she lays low and doesn’t mess up in 2018.
2 Who Is Cameron Dallas Again?
Cameron Dallas makes me feel like I’m 300 years old. His popularity is a mystery to me, although it probably shouldn’t be, considering we live in the age of extremely mediocre people becoming famous by sheer luck. No shade, though. After skyrocketing to fame on Vine, he appeared in a series of average-to-bad films and TV series, and the majority of his fame seems to be reserved for his large social media following on Twitter and Instagram. While he tends to avoid controversy, he recently made headlines for… having tattoos. Crazy. Wow. At least Jake Paul ticks off his neighbours and makes terrible music. With the inevitable release of Vine 2.0, can we expect our news feeds to be filled with a new league of young, mysteriously famous teenagers? Probably.
1 Stacey Dash Is Still Clueless
Stacey Dash is basically famous for being in a movie that was a hit 22 years ago, and her strong support for the President. She is also an author, but also technically didn’t write her own book. Dash routinely makes controversial comments criticizing celebs for being too political, when that is exactly what she has been doing for the last year. After appearing on Fox, among a panel of talk show hosts, her contract was not renewed. She isn’t as popular with viewers as her social media presence might suggest. Her entire act involves making ridiculous comments about sensitive topics, then playing the victim when people react negatively. As if. She essentially aligned herself with powerful people in order to make herself feel bigger but ended up becoming a bully. Her act is transparent. Maybe she’s still a little bit clueless?
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