Tirades, meltdowns, outbursts; call them what you like. The fact is that none of us can honestly say we’ve never once lost our cool. It happens to everyone, and unfortunately for these people, it happened when either a camera or tape machine were rolling. So I invite you to sit back quietly in your chair and enjoy listening to 10 people totally flying off the handle. WARNING: the clips herein contain language that may offend.
Dennis Green
Loses To the Bears
Dennis Green was the usually level-headed coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2004 to 2006. However, he revealed quite a different side to the press after an embarrassing loss to the Chicago Bears in which they blew a 20-point lead in less than 20 minutes. The incident was later mocked in a well-known commercial for Coors Light.
Ed Harris
A Violent Man?
At a press conference for his film “A History of Violence”, Ed Harris kills the laughter in the room by demonstrating his own concept of violence. The footage has been cropped, so there is seemingly no explanation for his sudden change of character.
Bob Dylan
Glass in the Street
This clip was taken from the 1965 documentary “Don’t Look Back”. A casual party in Dylan’s hotel room turns ugly when someone comes to the door inquiring about glass that has been thrown into the street. At first the rock icon seems out of line, but then you come to find that he’s really just concerned that someone might get hurt.
Lily Tomlin and David O Russel
“I Heart Huckabees” Out-Takes
Tensions were certainly high on the set of the film “I Heart Huckabees” as seen in this clip. Actress Lily Tomlin and director David O. Russell had been at odds from the first day of shooting. Keep your eye on Jason Schwartzman sitting in the chair. He doesn’t even flinch as props go flying right over him!
Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Reporter Attack
Popstar, actress, trendsetter, and apparently, animal. Björk’s primal instincts got the best of her while at the Bangkok International Airport when she assaulted this reporter like a mother bear protecting its young. Björk later apologized for the incident.
Sometimes the best outbursts are the ones from people who you could never imagine losing their cool. As is the case with Casey Kasem and the late Snuggles.
Bill O’Reilly
“Do It Live”
Before he had his own show, Bill O’Reilly was an anchor for Inside Edition, and had a decent head of hair to boot. His behind-the-scenes temper tantrum has been widely circulated since the inception of YouTube, becoming a favorite of liberals and conservatives alike.
Buddy Rich’s reputation for being a hot head almost eclipses his work as a celebrated jazz drummer, thanks to a series of tapes secretly recorded by his band. These tapes, which feature explosive tirades of Rich horribly insulting and actually threatening members of his band, eventually fell into the hands of comedians like Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. Based on the absurdity of some of Rich’s “florid, inspired rants of pure rage”, certain lines were lifted right out of the tapes and used in dialogue for the Seinfeld show.
Michael Richards (Kramer)
Racist Rant
Speaking of Seinfeld, here is an man who ruined his entire reputation/career in a matter of 3 minutes at a comedy club back in November of 2006. Unlike most on this list, there’s nothing funny about this clip, just shocking footage.
Orson Welles
Frozen Peas
Once the golden boy of Hollywood, poor Orson Welles was eventually reduced to narrating commercials for a line of TV dinners late in his life. Welles’ career might have plummeted, but his ego never did. In this most infamous clip of them all, Welles is recording his voice-over to a screen showing the corresponding video footage.
This clip comes from the Pinky & Brain show featured on Animaniacs (the 7th Most Popular ’90s Cartoon). Seeing as how the character of Brain was partially based on Orson Welles himself, it makes sense that the writers would feature a show with Brain doing a word-for-word parody of the Frozen Peas recording.