Just because they’re famous, doesn’t mean they’re not weird sometimes. Or, you know, all the time. From bizarre antics to weird videos and the odd witches’ brew or two, the celebs on this list have done it all.
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10 Suicide solidarity
Marilyn Manson is the shock rocker most parents warned their kids against during the 90s. Not surprizingly, since he’s been associated with Satanism, a dalliance with Anton LaVey and smoking human bones.
In 2001, Manson took his inherent weirdness to a new level, and decided to grab a security guard during his set at the Ozzfest. He wrapped his legs around the man’s head and rubbed his genitalia against it, whilst wearing only pantyhose and a leather thong. This did not sit well with the 25-year-old guard, Joshua Keasler, who laid a battery and sexual assault charge against the singer. The sexual assault charge was dismissed by a judge, and Manson paid $4,000 in fines after pleading no contest in 2002.
In 2013 Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael Jackson, reportedly tried to commit suicide after being told she wasn’t allowed to attend a Marilyn Manson concert. According to reports, Jackson tried to slash her wrists with a meat cleaver after drinking 20 Motrin pills. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where was admitted for observation and recovery. During said concert, Manson dedicated his song “Disposable Teens” to Jackson and then proceeded to drag a meat cleaver across his forearm ‘in solidarity’ with the then 15-year-old girl.[1]
9 Everything Shia LaBeouf has ever done
Ah, yes, Shia LaBeouf. There is no way that a list like this cannot include the actor that seemed so normal during his appearances in movies like Transformers but turned out to be stranger than anyone could ever have imagined. He is the guy that was accused of plagiarism and then also of plagiarizing his apology regarding the plagiarism. He decided to wear a paper bag over his head on the red carpet with the words “I am not famous anymore” written on it, leaving his fans baffled. LaBeouf is also the guy that at the age of 28 decided to appear in a Sia music video alongside 11-year-old Maddie Ziegler. In the video the two tussle while wearing skin-colored leotards and shorts.
Sia’s social media feeds were flooded with angry responses from those who saw the video, saying it smacked of child molestation, pedophilia and child abuse. Sia apologized quickly, but the controversy didn’t stop the video from racking up over 4 million views on YouTube in one day.
A lot of LaBeouf’s shenanigans were excused as ‘art exhibitions’ and ‘perfomance art’ but what he was thinking when he livestreamed himself in 2015 while watching all his movies in reverse chronological order, we’ll probably never know. He invited people to join him in the theatre and at one point the line to just get into the theatre was 12 hours long. After shaking a lot of hands and looking very confused during some of his movies, he took a couple of naps in the aisle next to his seat before returning his attention to the screen.[2]
8 The enigma that is Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is the master of facial expressions, swearing and leather jackets. He attracted all kinds of attention with his jackets to the point where he woke up at home one day to find a man standing at the foot of his bed, dressed in only a leather jacket belonging to Cage, eating a Fudgsicle. Cage is also the guy who loved spending money so much that he unwittingly bought a stolen dinosaur skull and decided to buy the rumored-to-be-haunted LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans in 2007 so it could serve as inspiration for writing a horror novel. Needless to say, the novel never saw the light of day.
Throughout the years, Cage bought Leaf Cay, a private island in the Bahamas, shrunken pygmy heads and a tomb shaped like a pyramid. And then there was the $150,000 octopus purchase, because he hoped the tentacled pet would help him become a better actor.
The octopus must not have helped much because in Cage’s new gig, History of Swear Words, he is pretty much just the usual Nicolas Cage, only amped up even higher (and with a bizarre dye job).[3]
7 All we smell is… Lady Gaga
Even with an excellent vocal range and an Oscar behind her name, Lady Gaga will probably always be best remembered for wearing a meat dress, bleeding during performances, and showing up at an awards ceremony in an egg. Gaga has also scared the bejesus out of Eminem one time, when she accepted an award from him completely covered in red lace and a red crown adorning her head.
In 2013 it was reported that Gaga was really pressed while backstage on the Late Night show and could only make it as far as a dressing room where she squatted over a trash can. The weirdest consequence of this wasn’t even Gaga’s own doing, however. Andy Cohen decanted the singer’s urine into a bottle after which one of his personal assistants cooked it up into a fragrant perfume.[4]
6 That’s Captain… Jack Sparrow
Johnny Depp has always been a wacky character, his movie roles aside. In the early 90s he attended interviews and spoke in what sounded like an American English accent, but as the years went by his accent morphed from British to Irish to Australian. He also made a friend’s final wish come true when he had Hunter S. Thompson’s ashes shot from a cannon after Thompson committed suicide in 2005.
Depp was convinced by the one and only Nicolas Cage to become an actor after first meeting in the 80s and being roommates for a while. Depp was all about becoming a musician, but one night during a game of Monopoly, Cage told Depp to try acting. This led to Depp meeting with Cage’s agent and nabbing his first role in A Nightmare On Elm Street.
Depp has done some pretty far-out things over the years, including recording a bizarre video of himself and then wife, Amber Heard, apologizing for bringing their dogs to Australia. Months later he joked that he had killed and eaten his dogs “under direct orders from some kind of, I don’t know, sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia.”
Long ago, during his 21 Jump Street days, Depp vandalized a promotional billboard with his own face on it because he didn’t like the picture of his character. Once security realized who he was, they let him continue to his heart’s content.[5]
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5 Pop princess gone awry
The 90s gave us a seemingly unlimited supply of pop stars and boybands, including The Backstreet Boys, Westlife, Christina Aguilera, The Spice Girls, NSYNC and of course, Britney Spears. After the Mickey Mouse Club was cancelled, Spears moved back home, and it would take only 5 years for her to open for NSYNC on her first real concert tour and become a superstar. Then followed a much-publicised relationship with Justin Timberlake, a controversial kiss with Madonna, a 55-hour first marriage and a trainwreck of a second marriage to Kevin Federline. In 2007, she shaved her head, attacked a photographer’s car with an umbrella, lost custody of her kids all while working on her fifth album “Blackout.”
Things only started to look up again for Spears towards the end of 2008, but the never-ending fight over her assets continue to this day, as her father is still her conservator. Late in 2020, Spears sparked concern among her fans when she posted a clip to Instagram in which she frenziedly explained how much she enjoyed her summer. Her dishevelled hair and smudged makeup made the whole thing just that much more disconcerting. Two months later, Spears seemed to poke fun at herself for sharing Instagram posts back-to-back in which she wears the same clothes, sparking even more concern among her fans. One can only hope that things take a turn for the better once the next conservatorship hearing is held in February 2021.[6]
4 I’mma let you finish…
Because of all the strange incidents surrounding Kanye West, it is easy to forget that the rapper was a huge influence in the 21st century development of mainstream hip hop. His controversial behavior at award shows, friendship with former president Donald Trump and almost-past marriage to Kim Kardashian has overshadowed the music industry successes he has achieved over many years.
Things went from bad to worse for Kanye, when he uttered his thoughts on slavery in 2018, saying “When you hear about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice.” Not surprisingly, the rapper received massive backlash and quickly apologized. He then went on to defend both R Kelly and Bill Cosby which didn’t score him any points whatsoever either.
In a truly bizarre turn of events, Kanye revealed on July 4th, 2020 that he would be running for president that year. He received support from Elon Musk but couldn’t get America on board, receiving only 0.04% of votes nationally.[7]
3 Let Me Be Frank
Kevin Spacey was just your average actor, winning roles and awards, including a Golden Globe and five consecutive Emmy Awards, until he was accused of being a sexual predator in October 2017. Netflix immediately cut ties with Spacey, removing him from the last season of House of Cards as well as cancelling his film, Gore. Also in October 2017, Spacey came out as gay while apologizing to his first victim, actor Anthony Rapp, who alleged that Spacey had made a sexual advance toward in 1986 when Spacey was 26 and Rapp only 14. In total, more than 30 people came forward claiming that Spacey abused them sexually, including 8 people involved with the production of House of Cards.
For some reason, Spacey thought it would be a good idea to post a video to YouTube on Christmas Eve 2018 in which he wears a Santa apron and behaves like his House of Cards character, Frank Underwood. In the video he says things like “You wouldn’t rush to judgement without facts, would you?”
In 2019 he once again reprised his Frank Underwood YouTube character with another video released on Christmas Eve in which he creepily says, “You didn’t really think I was going to miss the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas, did you?”[8]
2 Armie the cannibal?
2021 is shaping up to be not such a good year for Armie Hammer and we’re only just done with January. While the DMs at the centre of the current storm hanging over the actor’s head have yet to be verified, they are truly chilling. In the DMs Hammer allegedly details disturbing fantasies, including rape, mutilation, and cannibalism. Screenshots of these messages were shared by several women in January 2021, who are claiming they were sent to them by Hammer. His credibility has also been hampered by his comments on BDSM during an interview with Playboy seven and half years ago. He didn’t do himself any favors by having an Instagram video leaked from his private account in which a lingerie-clad woman can be seen lounging on a bed, and Hammer can be heard referring to her as “Ms. Cayman.” He quickly released a statement to the Miss Cayman Islands Universe Committee in which he apologized profusely.
Hammer was also the centre of controversy in July 2019, after he shared a video of his 2-year-old son who happened to be sucking on the actor’s toes, for a full 7 minutes. Fans commented that they found the video not only disgusting, but inappropriate and disturbing.[9]
1 It’s not as bad as it looks
Azealia Banks was a hit on Myspace in 2008 and was signed to her first record label at the age of 18. Much like Kanye West, the rapper, singer, songwriter, and actress has been very outspoken regarding her political views and doesn’t shy away from disputes over Twitter. In fact, Banks has had very public feuds with several superstars, including Beyonce, Rihanna, Eminem, Lady Gaga, Dave Chappelle, Busta Rhymes, Lizzo and of course, Kanye himself.
In 2016, Banks posted a series of videos on Instagram showing her cleaning a closet in her apartment that was seemingly filled with dead and decaying chickens, dried blood, and feathers. All this, she said, was in the name of witchcraft. After a few more years of fighting with just about everyone, Banks truly shocked her fans in January 2021 when she posted extremely disturbing videos to Instagram which seemingly showed her cooking her deceased cat, Lucifer, after digging his corpse up three months after he died.
She defended herself after huge backlash from people who thought she ate the cooked cat, saying “No, I didn’t eat the cat, and I especially did not eat a cat that’s been dead for three months.” She went on to say that what can be seen on the videos was part of taxidermy. Banks also clarified that the skull she held up in the video wasn’t that of her dead cat, but a human skull she purchased from a website. She went on to explain that the skull belonged to a six-year-old girl who had died from head trauma.[10]
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