PAULA DEEN: This celebrity chef arguably became more famous after admitting in a deposition that she uttered the N word on multiple occasions during her 67 years of life. The notoriety came with a big price tag, though. TheWrap estimated that the moment of honesty cost Deen $14.5 million in endorsement deals after losing her lucrative Food Network gig.
MEL GIBSON: This two-time Oscar winner went from aging action hero to falling star when he was pulled over in 2006 for driving under the influence, and then proceeded to blame all of the wars in the world on “f–king Jews.” His career never quite recovered, and took another hit in 2010 when a recording of a phone call with his baby’s mama, Oksana Grigorieva, hit the web with more racial slurs. Oh, and then there was that profanity-laden rant in front of screenwriter Joe Eszterhas.
DON IMUS: This shock jock made the mistake of referring to the Rutgers women basketball team as “nappy-headed hos” in 2007. As a result, his CBS radio show, “Imus in the Morning,” was cancelled. Fortunately for Imus, he was back on the radio waves less than a year later on an ABC station.
MICHAEL RICHARDS: The once-loveable “Seinfeld” star lost his temper on a heckler at a stand-up comedy show in Los Angeles, and lost a lot of love from fans in the process. A video featuring Richards repeatedly calling the audience member the N word went viral, and his stand-up comedy career went bye-bye.
JUSTINE SACCO: A public relations executive should probably know better than to publicly joke that white people can’t get AIDS. Sacco, however, did just that last December with a single tweet reading, “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” After landing in South Africa, she promptly lost her corporate communications job at Barry Diller’s media company, IAC.
BRENDAN EICH: Mozilla’s Brendan Eich has historically been known as a Silicon Valley power player, and his ascension to CEO of the popular internet service provider surprised nobody. But right after the pen lifted from the paper, it was revealed that Eich gave a $1000 donation in support of Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California. The fallout was swift and severe: Mozilla employees revolted and OkCupid banned Firefox users from accessing their site. Eich stepped down days later.
GILBERT GOTTFRIED: The comedian, best known in his later years for lending his signature voice to the Aflac Duck, was silenced by the insurance company in 2011 after Gottfried’s finger tips typed out one too many racist jokes following a devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
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