We are nearing the end of 2011, which means it’s time for FOX411’s Pop Tarts column's 5th Annual Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns. Fake marriages, quickie divorces, infidelity, shoplifting, illegal gambling, racism and exhibiting just good ol’ stupidity .. stars did it all this year!
“Bad behavior is on the rise amongst celebrities because we glamorize and create idols of people who have truly made little or no contribution to society, and we reward them with money, fame, attention, prestige and undeserving significance,” explained human behavior expert, Patrick Wanis PhD, who worked with us again this year to compile the list. “And by rewarding bad behavior instead of punishing it, we only serve to encourage and nurture it.”
So that brings us to the highly-anticipated question: which stars had the biggest meltdowns of the year?
#10. Johnny Depp, Susan Sarandon and Sinead O’Connor
These guys tied for tenth by saying something stupid that offended a cross-section of the population! Johnny Depp came under fire when he compared photo shoots with rape in an interview with Vanity Fair. Susan Sarandon referred to Pope Benedict XVI Joseph Ratzinger as a Nazi, when in fact he was involuntarily enrolled as a member of Hitler Youth, but unlike most of the other teenagers, Ratzinger refused to go to meetings, bringing economic hardship to his family. And 80s songstress Sinead O’Connor took things even further by tweeting that she would perform a “bloodbath” if the Pope was to visit her home country of Ireland. She later said it was just “a joke.” Ha?
#9. Alec Baldwin
Just last week Baldwin was removed from an American Airlines flight for refusing to turn off his phone. The “30 Rock” star then took to Twitter to make disparaging remarks about the airline staff who then publically fired back by exposing his rude behavior. And it doesn’t end there – the attendants are reportedly now pushing to have Baldwin listed on the carrier’s “no-fly” list, and want his hit NBC show removed from all in-flight entertainment.
#8. George Lopez, Brett Ratner, Tracy Morgan and Katt Williams
Who hurled the most hurtful slurs of 2011? Let's go to the videotape. Lopez ignited a war of words when he compared “Dancing With the Stars” contestant Kirstie Alley, who has long struggled with her weight, to a pig. “Rush Hour” director Ratner “resigned” as producer of the 2012 Academy Awards after angering the gay and lesbian community by using the derogatory “f” word during a speech at a movie screening. Tracy Morgan said in a comedy routine that if he would kill his son if he turned out gay. And Williams also upset a number of people when he ranted about Mexicans, fighting a heckling audience member by stating that they should go back to their country.
#7 and #6. Camille Grammer and her ex Kelsey
The former star of the popular Bravo reality show “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” embarrassed Kelsey -- and the viewing public -- by making such remarks about his manhood as “Big hands, big feet, big disappointment.” Meanwhile, Kelsey – who is now married to a younger woman – showed his childish side following an interview with Australian TV program “Sunrise” after they played clips of his ex-wife commenting about him on her show. He exploded backstage, hurling profanities at the entertainment producer and calling him such things as “a sick dog.” Grammer has since been banned from ever appearing again on the popular morning show.
#5. Ashton Kutcher
Kutcher headlines when it was reported he cheated on his soon-to-be former wife Demi Moore with a 22-year-old San Diego blonde named Sara Leal – on the weekend of his sixth wedding anniversary. Kutcher then shot his reputation a little further last month by hastily tweeting his anger that Joe Paterno had been fired from his position as the Penn State football coach, without fully understanding the grave nature behind Paterno’s dismissal. Oops.
#4. Kim Kardashian
As one of the wealthiest and most recognizable faces (and figures) in the United States, Kim Kardashian built an empire on letting fans in on her personal life. However, her prominent profile took a severe blow this year when she filed for divorce from NBA player Kris Humphries just 72 days after a highly-sponsored, ten-million dollar televised wedding (kaching!). Fans felt betrayed by the reality star, with many claiming that the entire wedding was a fraud, and the ongoing saga was only heightened when “James Bond” star Daniel Craig labeled the E! family “f**king idiots” in the recent issue of British GQ.
#3 Arnold Schwarzenegger and Anthony Weiner
And a list of meltdowns surely would not be complete without the inclusion of politicos, and this year Arnold Schwarzenegger and Anthony Weiner got tongues wagging enough to draw at number three. The actor turned California governor shocked the nation when it was revealed he had engaged in an adulterous affair and secretly fathered a son with the housekeeper 14 years ago. The “Terminator’s” 25-year marriage to Maria Shriver was promptly terminated. Meanwhile, disgraced New York-based Democratic Congressman Anthony Weiner was forced to resign after accidentally tweeting lewd photos of himself to his followers, young admirers and a former porn actress in a saga branded “Weinergate.” He continued to lie and claim to have been hacked, before finally ‘fessing up and stepping down, and it was consequently affirmed that his wife, Huma Abedin – a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton – was pregnant with their first child. Yieks.
#2. Lindsay Lohan
The trials and tribulations of Lindsay Lohan have earned her a spot on this list four times in the past five years. In 2007, Lohan was number four, in 2009 she scored number seven, in 2010 she was number three and this year she has climbed to number two. The troubled actress kicked off the year by being charged with the theft of a necklace from a boutique in Venice, and was sentenced to 120 days behind bars, but due to jail overcrowding served the sentence under house arrest. While under arrest, the “Mean Girls” star failed a random alcohol test, and later violated court-ordered community service. She was slapped with yet another jail sentence (her fifth in four years) but again spent a mere few hours in the clink. Lohan has been ordered to spend most of her days doing community service at the L.A. County morgue, but even on her first day in attendance she couldn’t manage to arrive on time, despite stern warnings from the Judge, and was turned away in disgust. Plus she posed nude for Playboy!
In almost any other year, this would have snagged her the top spot easy, but in 2011 she had some extra special competition...
#1. Charlie Sheen
This year's winner, the man with “Adonis DNA and tiger blood,” Mr. Charlie Sheen! The fired “Two-and-a-Half Men” star launched a “movement” across the country, berating his sitcom colleagues, executive producer Chuck Lorre and even the families of his former crew in a swell of bizarre and shocking TV interviews and radio rants. He also paraded his multiple “goddess” girlfriends in a weird comedy/concert tour, boasted about his drug-use and swung a machete from a rooftop. However, the once highest-paid TV actor in Hollywood’s shocking “winning” streak was soon squashed by reality when social services took his children from his custody after ex-wife Brooke Mueller (who has been battling a severe drug problem all year herself) obtained a restraining order against him.
“Charlie is tortured as he strives to convince the world and ultimately himself that he is a winner, that he is good enough and worthy,” added Wanis. “But unless he urgently changes his beliefs and behavior, his children may well be the ones who suffer.”
Ya think? And there are your Top 10 Celebrities Meltdowns of 2011. Celebrities, we have a New Year's resolution for you in 2012: Go to work, go home, go to bed. Wake, repeat.
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