#25. Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan had a bright future ahead of her in the early 2000s. She made it big as a child star and later as a teen idol, but it all came crashing down when she was arrested several times and had struggles with addiction.
After her numerous run-ins with the law and rumors about her diva behavior, she faded away from the spotlight for years. Then, in 2013, she attempted a comeback with The Crayons, which proved to be a huge failure. Her bizarre behavior continued, and she was never the same.
#24. Kirk Cameron
Kirk Cameron was another child star with lots of potential. Everyone thought that after Growing Pains he would make it big in Hollywood and become a heartthrob. But then, he opened his mouth.
His strict, extremely conservative religious views got in the way of several of his projects, where he would demand that the script and the wardrobe be changed to meet his moral standards. Not only that, but after he made some pretty awful anti-gay comments, his career was truly over. He tried to make a comeback with an awful movie, Saving Christmas, but it clearly didn’t work.
#23. Tara Reid
In a similar fashion to Lindsay Lohan but definitely not to the same degree, Tara Reid‘s promising career was overshadowed by her frequent partying and run-ins with the paparazzi. Serious filmmakers didn’t want to hire her because she didn’t seem professional, and her career went stale.
After many attempts to gain back her A-list status, Tara landed a role in the bizarre movie franchise Sharknado, which earned her a few good bucks, but totally butchered her chances of getting any serious blockbuster roles ever again.
#22. Ja Rule
Rapper Ja Rule did pretty well two decades ago and landed collaborations with big artists like Jennifer Lopez and Ashanti. However, just as quickly as it had started, his career started to fade out.
Over the years, he has tried to stay in the spotlight with little to no success and was involved in the Fyre Festival scandal a couple of years ago – a “festival” which turned out to be a scam. He was cleared of all charges, but his reputation was destroyed.
#21. Bill Cosby
What can we say about Bill Cosby that hasn’t been said already? Once he was a beloved celebrity that many saw as a father figure and a role model to kids, but then his true self came to light after being accused of sexual harassment and rape by countless women and children.
You would think that someone with a reputation as tarnished as Cosby’s would simply rather move to a remote location and start a new life, but not him. He has actually attempted to keep performing – with absolutely no success obviously.
#20. Alex Pettyfer
Alex Pettyfer had everything going for him. He starred in a few movies like I Am Number Four and Wild Child, which weren’t big hits but certainly put him on the map. But then, rumors started that he was difficult on set, and so his opportunities faded away.
He got a huge second chance, however, with the mega-successful Magic Mike, but then it was revealed that he had big conflicts with his more famous co-stars Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey, who said that he was rude and unprofessional. Then, his career was over.
#19. Shannen Doherty
Shannen Doherty is one of the most infamous divas in the business because she picks a fight whenever she gets the chance and naturally, nobody likes to work with someone like that. She first got that reputation while working in Beverly Hills 90210, which made it hard for her to get any roles.
Her next big role came a few years later with Charmed, which turned out to be a big hit. However, Doherty went back to her old ways and allegedly had a horrible relationship with co-star Alyssa Milano. Producers eventually decided to keep Milano and fire Doherty. Since then, she hasn’t gotten much work.
#18. Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton rose to fame for being this out of touch, clueless, spoiled rich girl, and audiences enjoyed watching her antics on The Simple Life very much. But after five seasons, the whole schtick wasn’t entertaining anymore.
She tried to revive her career with a few mildly successful shows like Paris Hilton’s New BFF, but it didn’t work out. Then, her stylist, Kim Kardashian, became a billion times more famous than her, and she faded away from the spotlight.
#17. Mischa Barton
Mischa Barton was on her way to becoming a teen idol in the early 2000s, thanks to her lead role on The O.C. She had the charisma, the talent, and the looks, but also, she had an attitude. She thought she was made for bigger things, so she abruptly quit the show, which made producers kill off her character, Marissa.
Sadly, Barton thought wrong. No big roles came after she quit, and even The O.C.’s ratings dropped dramatically after she left. It was a lose-lose situation for everybody, basically. Her next big opportunity came with The Beautiful Life, which only went on for five episodes.
#16. Lisa Kudrow
Don’t get me wrong: Lisa Kudrow is doing just fine, but after Friends ended, her career hasn’t been the same. On the show, she was one of the funniest characters, and so people thought that she would be the one to make it big after the show wrapped up.
The truth is, after the show ended, only Jennifer Aniston became a huge movie star, while the rest of the cast had to struggle to become household names again. Ironically, she returned to TV with a show called The Comeback, but it didn’t work out.
#15. Macaulay Culkin
Macaulay Culkin was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood during the 1990s when he was just a kid. But as we all know, being a child star is not easy, and many fail to make a transition into grown stars, which was the case of Culkin.
When he wasn’t a kid anymore and it was time to find adult roles, he didn’t have much luck. And then, came the several drug possession arrests. Since then, he’s had minor roles such as a part in Robot Chicken, but nothing close to the success he once enjoyed.
#14. Katherine Heigl
Katherine Heigl has one of the cringiest rap sheets in Hollywood because she, in a nutshell, destroyed her own career for no reason. She had a lead role on Grey’s Anatomy and starred in several movies, but then she opened her mouth.
She said that the show didn’t deserve to be nominated for the Emmys because of its poor writing, and she even rejected her own nomination. Not only that, but she also trashed one of her biggest movies, Knocked Up, saying that it was sexist. After that, she only had a couple of failed roles, and that was it for her.
#13. DMX
DMX had a good run as a rapper in the 1990s, and then he became an actor as well in the 2000s. Then, his career came crumbling down when he got arrested for animal cruelty and drug possession. After some time in jail, he decided to make a comeback.
In 2012, he went on the road with the intention to revive his career. However, his booking agency sued him for breach of contract, and his tour was canceled. The suit was dismissed, but his chances of making a comeback were ruined.
#12. Ray J
Ray J was doing very well as an actor and R&B singer in the early 2000s. Then, an infamous sex tape featuring him and his then-girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, was released. This skyrocketed Kim to fame, but it had the opposite effect on Ray J’s career.
He was sort of overshadowed by Kim after that, and he only released one popular song since then: Sexy Can I. After that, he slowly morphed into a reality TV star, and his career just wasn’t the same.
#11. Limp Bizkit
Rap-metal band Limp Bizkit was big in the 1990s but found it very hard to stay relevant in the following decade. Their big comeback, The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1), didn’t get much recognition due to problems with the label.
After that, the band went on hiatus from 2006 to 2009 and has slowly come back into the music scene. Sadly, it never achieved the same level of success it once had, even after a few lineup changes and changing record labels.
#10. Lil Mama
Lil Mama is mostly known for her one and only hit song: Lip Gloss. The song was a huge hit, but she didn’t manage to land any other song in the charts. She found other gigs to fill her time, but nothing too interesting.
Her big comeback attempt came when she starred in CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, where she played the late rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopez. The movie was well-received but it wasn’t enough to revive her career, and she was soon forgotten again.
#9. JC Chasez
JC Chasez was once breaking hearts all over the world as a member of NSYNC, but when the group disbanded, most of them found it hard to make it as solo artists. The only one who truly made it was, of course, Justin Timberlake.
JC released his first solo single, Blowin’ Me Up (With Her Love) which wasn’t bad but was definitely overshadowed by Timberlake’s solo work. After that, Chasez gave up on his solo career.
#8. David Hasselhof
David Hasselhof came into stardom thanks to his role as one of the hot lifeguards on Baywatch, but that’s pretty much all he did for a long, long time. After the show ended, Hasselhof struggled to find something to do. He tried acting and even singing, but he didn’t find much success.
His big comeback attempt was getting into reality TV along with his whole family in The Hasselhofs. Sadly, the show was so unwatchable that it got canceled after just two episodes. Yikes.
#7. Sharon Stone
One bad choice as an actor can ruin your career, so imagine what happened to Sharon Stone after several bad acting choices. She became one of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood after Basic Instinct, and then came her downfall.
She starred in many, many failed movies, and she was slowly forgotten. Her big comeback opportunity came in 2006 with Basic Instinct 2, but sadly the movie was nothing more than a desperate cash grab, and it only made her problem worse.
#6. Chris Klein
Chris Klein was definitely on the right track to become a big star. He was one of the leads in American Pie and also starred in Election, but that’s pretty much all he got to do before he was arrested for a DUI.
His reputation was tainted after that and he went on to work on awful projects such as Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Now, he’s only doing small parts on TV shows and his big movie star days are long gone.
#5. Steven Seagal
Steven Seagal was a huge action star in the 1980s, but that didn’t last long. His downfall began in the ’90s with a few bad movie choices, such as Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, and it only got worse.
He attempted numerous comebacks that didn’t work, and on top of that, he progressively got more and more out of shape, which doesn’t help if you’re trying to be a strong action star. Nowadays, nobody takes him seriously.
#4. Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase became a respected comedian thanks to her many years on Saturday Night Live, and he later started to act in movies. He basically had everything going for him, but just like Katherine Heigl, his big mouth got the best of him.
His big comeback after a few slow years was the TV show Community, where he worked for a few seasons until it was revealed that he was unbearable on set. Not only that, but he openly trashed the show on interviews, so he was fired.
#3. Stephen Baldwin
Stephen Baldwin started with a promising career thanks to The Usual Suspects, but that is pretty much his biggest role to date. After that, he made many bad movie choices, such as Half Baked and Bio-Dome.
His struggles with addiction also took a toll on his career, and no matter what he tried, he could never achieve the same success he once had. Nowadays, he is most famous for being supermodel Hailey Baldwin‘s dad.
#2. Vanilla Ice
What is Vanilla Ice known for? That’s right, his only famous song: Ice Ice Baby. Although the song was extremely popular, that’s the only hit he could ever land. Not only that, but it turned out that the bass line was stolen from David Bowie, which made him look really, really bad.
He tried to come back with new music after that, but it flopped. He also appeared on some reality shows and even dated Madonna, but that’s all he’s been doing in the last three decades.
#1. Lil Kim
Lil Kim made it big in the rap scene and was the biggest female rapper for a few good years, but then she started to fade away. She still had time to prepare a good album and make a good comeback, but she preferred to spend time at the doctor’s office.
Staying out of the spotlight, coupled with her dramatic change in looks made Lil Kim drop out from the A-list into oblivion. She is hardly recognizable and there are many more women in the rap scene who are doing a million times better, sadly.