After a drunk driving incident, Mel Gibson famously went on an ugly anti-Semitic rant, which left many in Hollywood disinclined to work with him.
Hollywood is an interesting place. It is where dreams are created, superstars are born and many of today’s greatest movies are made. However, on the other hand, it can be a very ruthless place. The movie and television industries are very cut-throat. One wrong move, step or action can ruin a career in the blink of an eye.
While there is no official Hollywood “blacklist” per se, there are a number of people whose careers seemed to fall off a cliff, and not because of a lack of talent. A public freak-out, being difficult to work with or being racist and/or homophobic are just some of the many reasons why people can be blacklisted. And then there are the more recent revelations that some actresses had their careers torpedoed as a result of turning down the unwanted advances from some of the most powerful men in Hollywood — a very disturbing realization for many of us. Here are 16 actors and actresses who have essentially been blacklisted by most of Hollywood, and why.
Kirk Cameron got his introduction into Hollywood at a young age, as he was a child star and appeared in many different TV shows and films. He is best known for his role as Mike Seaver in the sitcom “Growing Pains” for seven seasons, but also appeared in movies “Like Father Like Son” and “Listen to Me.” However, Kirk Cameron is hardly known as an actor anymore and more known these days for his radical Christian views. He speaks all day long about his beliefs toward religion, homosexuals and more, which has led to him being essentially blacklisted from Hollywood. Whether he is doing interviews on TV shows or social media, Cameron cannot keep his religious views and beliefs to himself.
Brendan Fraser was a huge star in the late ’90s and early 2000s, appearing in films such as “Bedazzled” and “The Mummy.” However, Fraser’s roles started to become less frequent as the 2000s wore on, and the actor blames an encounter with the former president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as the reason for his blacklisting.
According to Fraser, he was sexually assaulted by Philip Berk at the Beverly Hills Hotel in 2003 and claims that because he resisted, the HFPA has rarely invited him back to the Golden Globes ever since (Berk denies Fraser’s version of events, claiming in his 2014 memoir that he pinched Fraser’s behind as a joke). Fraser admits that other factors may be at play for his decreased work volume, but still feels that his encounter with Berk was a significant factor. “The phone does stop ringing in your career, and you start asking yourself why. There are many reasons, but was this one of them? I think it was,” he said.
A vocal supporter of Donald Trump’s presidency, actress and comedian Roseanne Barr is one of Hollywood’s most controversial figures but her outspoken political Twitter rants finally went a step too far in May 2018 when she wrote a racist tweet about Valerie Jarrett, a Senior Advisor to former President Barack Obama. Though Barr later deleted the tweet and issued an apology, ABC promptly canceled the “Roseanne” reboot the very same day, with the company’s president labeling her remarks,”abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values.” While it’s still a little too early to tell, it’s hard to see Barr getting offered many roles in the future following her latest public scandal.
Tippi Hedren started her career as a fashion model in her early twenties but got her big break in Hollywood after being discovered by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. Hedren would go on to star in two of Hitchcock’s films – the suspense thriller “The Birds” (1963) and the psychological drama “Marnie” (1964) – but relations between the pair soon turned ugly.
Hitchcock reportedly made a number of sexual advances towards Hedren, who promptly turned him down and told the filmmaker that “Marnie” would be their last film together. An enraged Hitchcock threatened to ruin her career and refused to release Hedren from her contract and prevented her from getting work for two years before finally selling the contract in 1966. Fortunately, Hedren’s acting career eventually recovered and she later became a vocal animal rights activist as well.
Mo’Nique, whose full name is Monique Angela Hicks, is a comedian and actor who first gained attention for her stand-up shows and for playing Nicole “Nikki” Parker in the UPN series “The Parkers,” which ran from 1999 to 2004. However, Mo’Nique’s biggest break came in 2009, when her role-playing an abusive mother in Lee Daniel’s film “Precious” earned critical praise and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, since her big win for “Precious,” Mo’Nique’s film and TV roles have largely dried up and the actress claimed in a 2015 interview with the Hollywood Reporter that it was because of how she handled the 2010 Oscar campaign for Precious.
According to Mo’Nique, Precious director Lee Daniels confirmed as much to her in a phone call, stating that Hollywood had blackballed her because she “didn’t play the game.” In a subsequent interview, Daniels generally confirmed Mo’nique’s position, stating, “Her demands through Precious were not always in line with the campaign. This soured her relationship with the Hollywood community.”
Washington has been a Hollywood veteran for many years and has dozens of different television and movie credits to his name. Despite his many roles, the one he is known the best for is definitely his role as Preston Burke in “Grey’s Anatomy.” However, he was let go from the show (and essentially blacklisted by Hollywood) after using a homophobic slur about a castmate. He also used the slur again after the show won a Golden Globe, which was the nail in the coffin. While he still works from time to time (and has a recurring role on “The 100,” he isn’t working nearly as much as he could have been.
While he made a triumphant return as a director with Hacksaw Ridge in 2016, Mel Gibson is still largely blacklisted from Hollywood screens. I doubt we see him act that much at all going forward. Gibson was a very successful and popular actor and director throughout the 80s, 90s, and 2000s. However, Gibson had some very public freak-outs that damaged his career beyond recognition. After a drunk driving incident, he went on a giant anti-Semitic rant, which made huge headlines all over the world. It has been over a decade since the incident and some fans have forgiven him. But many people, especially the Hollywood elite, will never forget the things he has said and done.
Cee-Lo Green got his start as a musical act and has been in the industry since the mid-1990s. However, it wasn’t until his hit song “F**k You” came out in 2010, which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, that he became more of a household name. Green parlayed this success into being a judge on “The Voice” and getting his own TV show. However, some very insensitive tweets on the topic of rape and homophobia led him to essentially be blacklisted completely. He lost his TV show, his spot on “The Voice,” and even many of his scheduled concert gigs didn’t want him to show up anymore.
As a child, Thora Birch was in a ton of notable films and many of us still watch her in “Hocus Pocus” every Halloween. She evolved from a child star to a bona fide star in the late 1990s and early 2000s. However, with how hot her career started, why is she not a bigger star now? Well, one rumor floating around is she has been blacklisted due to her father and manager reportedly physically threatening a co-star, which quickly got her fired. While she has recently returned to acting a little here and there, she will never go on to be the star that many thought she would.
