From controversial statements to criminal convictions, these artists saw their reputations crumble despite their musical talents. Join us as we examine the falls from grace that shocked the music industry and changed how fans view these once-beloved performers.
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00:00I didn't finish. I didn't finish. Let's not do this again.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo. And today, we're looking at musical artists whose reputations took major hits.
00:10I've served my time. I want to put it all behind me.
00:16Katy Perry
00:17Katy Perry's music may have never been highbrow, but at her peak,
00:26she made songs so catchy you could hear them once and they'd be stuck in your head forever.
00:31You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream
00:37Over time, though, the music got worse, as did her public image.
00:42Excitement about a comeback in 2024 was quickly deflated when it was revealed she was re-teaming
00:48with controversial producer Dr. Luke. Then, new single Woman's World had everyone talking and
00:54not about how much they loved it.
00:56It's a woman's world and you're lucky to be living in it
01:00After her album flopped, Perry made news for her mystifying live choreography and her participation
01:07in Blue Origin's all-female spaceflight, which spawned backlash over being tone-dead.
01:13The days of Katy Perry as an artist we adore are feeling more and more like a teenage dream.
01:19Let you put your hands on me and my skin-tied jeans
01:23Be your teenage dream tonight
01:26Drake
01:27If the song of the summer accuses you of heinous acts and otherwise insults you and your character,
01:33it's safe to say that your reputation has taken a hit.
01:37Watching Drake's rise was genuinely thrilling, as his best work demonstrated both his ear for
01:42great hooks and his ability to navigate complex topics.
01:46When you're ready, just say you're ready, when all the baggage just ain't as heavy
01:50But quantity soon overtook quality, and his heart-sick musical persona started to feel less
01:56endearing and more grating.
01:58How can you say, you know what I'm feeling, you know what I'm feeling, you don't feel nothing
02:06In 2024, a feud between the rapper and Kendrick Lamar broke out, and in case you somehow haven't
02:13heard, Drake did not win.
02:15The audience not dumb, shape the stories how you want, hey Drake, they're not slow.
02:19While Drake has fallen out of favor commercially, it's hard to imagine him garnering the respect
02:24he did in the era of Take Care, and nothing was the same.
02:27Is that your bestie?
02:29I'm a Ice Bowl for y'all like Breski
02:31I'm an actual, like bless me
02:33Chris Wu
02:34Chinese-Canadian rapper and singer Chris Wu first found success as a member of the boy band
02:40EXO before embarking on a solo career.
02:42You say you want freedom, you ain't gonna leash on, you ain't comin' home all
02:47Both a music and movie star in China, Wu seemed poised to be recognized around the world.
02:52In a way, that happened, but not for good reasons. In 2021, Wu was arrested on sexual
02:59assault charges and was convicted and sentenced to 13 years in prison. Upon his eventual release,
03:06he is set to be deported from China. This is by no means the only example of an artist allegedly
03:12using their fame and power to take advantage of others, as you'll see further in this list.
03:17I got your band like Austin, yeah, we'll take it back to the old way, yeah
03:22Tim Lambesis
03:23Tim Lambesis found fame as the frontman of metalcore band As I Lay Dying.
03:33But no amount of vocal prowess or stage presence could undo hearing about the news that broke
03:39in 2013. Lambesis was arrested for trying to hire a hitman to kill his estranged wife.
03:46He was convicted and sentenced to six years in prison.
03:49Prosecutors say this was a cold-blooded plan that Tim Lambesis fully intended to follow through on.
03:55He was released in 2016, and has since revived As I Lay Dying, though he's now the only remaining
04:02member. He's also remarried and divorced multiple times, with videos of him being abusive towards his
04:14third wife, Danielle Norris, leaked online. What's more, after this, a video leaked of Lambesis mistreating
04:21a dog, sparking a petition to have him investigated for animal cruelty.
04:25I'm in force to face, what's like people?
04:29DaBaby
04:32Some artists have their images ruined because of things they said in private that were later leaked.
04:37DaBaby, meanwhile, sabotaged his career in a very public fashion.
04:42Don't make me go hit the bank and take out a hundred to show you our pockets is different.
04:46At the 2021 Rolling Loud festival in Florida, the rapper made remarks that were wildly condemned for
04:52being homophobic.
04:53The rapper is still standing by his statements, and their statements leaders in the LGBTQ community
04:59are labeling as misinformation.
05:01Performances at numerous festivals were subsequently canceled, and numerous other
05:05artists condemned his comments. Multiple apologies weren't enough to turn the tide back
05:11in his favor, nor was the music released afterward. If ever there was a perfect example of someone
05:17needing to think twice before speaking, it's DaBaby.
05:20Come say something.
05:21Robin Thicke
05:22If you only know Robin Thicke from Blurred Lines, it may genuinely shock you to learn there was a time
05:29when he was genuinely respected as a musical talent.
05:32Lost without you, can't help myself
05:38While he might not have been a household name, he had carved out a solid niche for himself in R&B.
05:44While his Big Pop crossover was certainly successful, it also spawned much criticism for its
05:49questionable lyrics and crass video.
05:55Thicke's appearance at the 2013 VMAs didn't help, nor did the release of Paula, an album written for
06:02and about his estranged wife, Paula Patton, that flopped spectacularly upon release.
06:08I gotta get a go, get a go, get a go, get a bag
06:12During their subsequent divorce proceedings,
06:15Padden accused Thicke of domestic violence, infidelity, and abuse against a minor, Chuck Berry.
06:21I bought a brand new airmobile
06:24There's arguably no artist on this list who has changed music as we know it quite like Chuck Berry has.
06:31So, while Berry's legacy as a musical pioneer is secure, it's significantly complicated by his personal life.
06:46Amidst his initial stardom, Berry was arrested and charged with violating the Mann Act.
06:51He was sentenced to five years in prison.
06:54Other controversies followed his release, including being charged with physical assault of a woman
06:59and being sued by multiple women regarding a camera in his restaurant's bathroom.
07:04While Berry kept performing even in the years leading up to his death in 2017,
07:09his image was still decidedly tarnished by these revelations.
07:13Now, you can't get me. No, baby, you can't get me.
07:20Morrissey
07:21As frontman of the Smiths and throughout his solo career, Morrissey was renowned for his sensitive,
07:26witty lyrics and achingly beautiful voice.
07:30I would go out tonight, but I haven't got a stitch to wear it.
07:36Over time, however, he became better known for the words he's spoken than the ones he's sung.
07:42These include insensitive comments on topics such as race, immigration, and sexual assault.
07:48While he's long had a reputation as being outspoken, for many, he's since veered into
07:54indefensible territory. He also expressed his support for the far-right For Britain movement.
07:59While this doesn't completely undo the quality of his best work,
08:04it does make it more difficult to want to revisit them.
08:07Chris Brown — having your debut single be a No. 1 hit — is no small feat.
08:23After the success of Run It and further radio hits,
08:27Brown's reputation was forever altered in 2009, when he was arrested for domestic violence against
08:32his girlfriend at the time, Rihanna.
08:35The minute the physical wounds go away, you want this thing to go away.
08:40This is a memory you don't want to have ever again.
08:43More legal troubles and controversies followed over the years.
08:46In May 2025, he was arrested in Manchester on a warrant regarding an alleged 2023 assault
08:53incident at a nightclub. Though he's been able to maintain a successful recording and performing
08:58career despite all these scandals, Brown's bad behavior has eclipsed his music considerably.
09:07Jerry Lee Lewis — Jerry Lee Lewis always caused commotion as an early rock and roll rebel.
09:13Incidentally, the wild child went too far by settling down with Myra Gale Brown in 1957.
09:19After four triumphant concerts, Lewis inadvertently referred to Myra's age at a press conference.
09:25All hell broke loose.
09:27The 22-year-old Lewis publicly lied about his third wife's real age,
09:32who was a teenager. She was also his first cousin, once removed. Just like that,
09:38Lewis publicly went from bad boy to total creep. The subsequent concert cancellations
09:43and boycotts devastated his popular appeal.
09:45I had no airplay on the radio. I couldn't see anything I did wrong.
09:50And Jerry's records were pulled from the stations. He was blacklisted. He could not do a TV show.
09:58He was bad news. No one would touch him.
10:01He remained an active musician for the rest of his life, whose influential work is still celebrated.
10:07The man himself would never recover from his union with Brown or its disillusion on the grounds of
10:12infidelity and abuse. This wasn't Lewis' last scandalous marriage.
10:17Jerry Lee Lewis' talent was never in doubt, but his personal life will forever raise questions
10:25about his legacy.
10:27Ryan Adams
10:28Prolific singer-songwriter Ryan Adams has enjoyed great acclaim and clout in the music industry.
10:34Many fellow musicians counted on him in their own careers. In 2019, seven women told the New York
10:40Times that this came with strings attached. They claimed that Adams used promises of professional support
10:46to sexually and romantically coerce them. If they resisted, he would use social media to sully their
10:52public image. Adams initially denied these allegations, but later took full responsibility
10:58for his history of abuse. Many didn't buy his formulaic apology and promise of growth.
11:03I find it curious that someone would make a public apology, but not do it privately. I am speaking
11:12for myself, but I have not heard from him and I'm not looking for an apology necessarily, but I do find
11:17it curious that someone would sort of do an interview about it without actually making amends privately.
11:22Some say the material he's produced since has suffered from a tone-deaf tone of self-pity.
11:28I don't remember were we wild and young? Oh, that's faded in the memory.
11:36Whether Ryan is truly remorseful, that music industry clout has dried up.
11:41You had a lot of A-list friends that stayed quiet when all this happened. Did this sort of teach you who
11:46your real friends are? Oh man, I got friends the whole alphabet, so I'm good.
11:51Ike Turner
11:52In the early days of rock and roll, Ike Turner was a visionary.
11:56He took the blues and created his own Ike Turner sound.
12:01He really got his big break by helping his wife Tina get hers. The couple revolutionized pop music,
12:07but no longer share the same esteem. After filing for divorce in 1976, Tina revealed that her marriage
12:13was plagued with physical and psychological abuse. Ike's public image, as well as his finances,
12:19were further tarnished by substance use and legal issues. All of this was cemented in pop culture
12:25by the biopic What's Love Got To Do With It? The Turners both stated that the film embellished
12:34their dysfunctional relationship. Still, while Tina is immortalized as the queen of rock and roll,
12:39the queen maker's legacy is overshadowed by cruelty. After the movie came out, people were like,
12:46sorry, we're not gonna help. Tekashi 6ix9ine
12:49Daniel Hernandez stands out from a generation of rappers who made their stage name on Soundcloud.
12:55Unfortunately, it's not so much because of Tekashi 6ix9ine's work with big names in the industry.
13:01In 2015, he pled guilty to criminally sexualizing a minor in a music video. Over the next two years,
13:07he would be implicated in or admit to a number of violent offenses. Despite asking for time served,
13:13the judge cited a list of crimes linking Hernandez, which he said wreaked havoc across the city.
13:19He also softened racketeering and firearm convictions in 2018 by ratting on gang associates.
13:25After many assumed he would be free this week, Brooklyn rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine has been sentenced to
13:3024 months in prison and a subsequent five years of supervised release. Hernandez left prison two years
13:35later but was labeled a snitch in his community and an overall scumbag in the mainstream. He dug himself
13:41even deeper with several high profile feuds. Otherwise, 6ix9ine's music is as low profile as ever.
13:59CeeLo Green In both hip-hop groups and solo soul, CeeLo
14:04Green was a titan of his industry. My life feels purposed and my music feels intentful and I feel
14:10empowered because of it. His reputation first started to bend in the early 2010s over hostile
14:16responses to critics online. It broke after he was accused of sexual battery and charged with
14:22assaulting an intoxicated woman. Green maintained his innocence by posting that victims remember the
14:27experience. He is a very popular celebrity in Los Angeles. The prosecutor has to consider that
14:33because the jury is going to like CeeLo Green. He made so many disturbingly ignorant comments that his
14:39account was temporarily shut down. A lackluster apology was insufficient to save one of music's
14:45most prolific stars. The scandal cost him gigs and nearly destroyed his career on the screen.
14:51Record sales have also suffered. CeeLo manages to stay busy, but now largely outside of public view.
14:58The accusation was so untimely and unfortunate.
15:01Ian Watkins
15:03Fans were devastated when the Welsh rockers' lost profits broke up in 2013. The reason why was the
15:09most devastating part. The previous year, lead singer Ian Watkins was arrested for possession of drugs
15:16and highly obscene materials. Because he shows no emotion. He shows no sympathy. He shows no guilt.
15:23And in this case, the evidence is overwhelming. He eventually pleaded guilty to 10 counts of sexual
15:28activity with minors. Watkins' abuses had been reported to police as early as 2008. The police watchdog,
15:34the IPCC, confirmed they'd now identified as many as five forces who, since 2009, had passed on
15:42information about Watkins to South Wales, please. The horrific scandal has even besmirched his
15:48bandmates' legacies. Lost profits' music and merchandise have been basically blacklisted from
15:53the public. Thankfully, most of its members have found success with the band No Devotion and other
15:59beloved projects. Watkins, meanwhile, is serving 29 years in prison for his heinous crimes.
16:05There is no doubt in my mind that Ian Watkins has exploited his celebrity status.
16:10Marilyn Manson. Industrial metal pioneer Brian Warner made a career out of shocking the public
16:16as Marilyn Manson. His subversive brand would gradually be hidden from the mainstream over
16:21several high-profile murders committed by fans. I think it's my job as an artist to be out there
16:28pushing people's buttons and making them question everything. He was a key subject and proponent of
16:33discourse following the Columbine High School massacre. I definitely can see why they would pick me,
16:39because I think it's easy to throw my face on a TV, because I'm, in the end, sort of a poster boy for
16:47fear, because I represent what everyone's afraid of, because I do and say what I want.
16:53In 2021, Manson finally lost his niche group of supporters. Multiple people, including ex-fiancé
17:00Evan Rachel Wood, alleged years of abuse and sexual assault. It's a cycle, and it bleeds into so many
17:08problems in our country and our society that we are not even aware of. He's been embroiled in legal
17:13battles with his accusers, which have raised concerning testimony against all parties. While
17:18there was apparently disturbing evidence suggesting that Manson's horror isn't just for show, and his
17:24defenders may have since dwindled, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department ultimately dropped the
17:28charges against him in 2025, following a criminal investigation. Gary Glitter
17:34I deeply regret doing what I was sent to prison for.
17:41Paul Gad helped broaden Glamrock's pop appeal with the flamboyant anthems and live performances of Gary
17:47Glitter. He'd still be an icon of the genre if it weren't for his shocking criminal history.
17:53In 1999, Gad was convicted of possessing obscene content and registered as a sex offender.
18:00His career died on the spot.
18:02Glitter served two months in prison, and upon his release, he claimed he was repentant.
18:06After prison, Gad tried starting anew outside of England, only to be deported and banned from
18:12several countries for continuing to fraternize. A conviction in Vietnam resulted in deportation
18:18to his homeland, where he was convicted of multiple sex crimes in 2015.
18:22Judge Alistair McQueeth told Glitter, I've read the impact statements of all three victims.
18:28It is clear, in their different ways, they were all profoundly affected.
18:32The Gary Glitter brand has now faded into obscurity, and all that's left is a criminal
18:37rejected by the whole world. Kanye West
18:40Even more astonishing than Kanye West's renown was his downfall. He first lost mainstream
18:46credibility with baffling statements throughout the 2000s. This included poorly phrasing racial
18:52concerns after Hurricane Katrina, and hijacking an award acceptance speech by Taylor Swift.
18:57Taylor, I'm really happy for you. I'ma let you finish. But Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time.
19:08One of the best videos of all time.
19:10West then polarized the black community by downplaying racism and aligning with right-wing
19:18politics through the 2010s. This culminated in a representation of white supremacist culture in
19:24the 2020s, especially anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. That dealt a destructive blow to West's
19:31music career, business brand, and social media presence. Still, he always finds a platform for
19:37his outrageous views. I know they're gonna say whatever they want about me. When I bring up the truth,
19:43they're gonna say you didn't get enough sleep. It's because of your health. Many link the rapper's
19:48antics to mental illness or mere attention seeking. But as West continues to dig himself
19:53into scandal, he can't even count on public pity. There is a sense of sadness and tragedy when you
19:59think about individuals who have known him for so long. Diddy. He has been known by many names.
20:05Puff Daddy, P Diddy, and simply Diddy. But while the man born Sean John Combs was once seen as an
20:11aspirational figure for his multi-layered success, he's now viewed as a total villain.
20:18Though Combs had faced legal troubles and accusations of unsavory behavior over the years,
20:23it was never enough for him to be truly canceled. But in 2023, Combs' ex,
20:28singer Cassie Ventura, sued him for abuse and other horrific acts.
20:32They shut the door and everything just started happening. And I saw the aftermath.
20:39This was followed by the release of surveillance footage of Combs brutally attacking Ventura.
20:44More lawsuits followed, with numerous people coming forward with claims of horrific acts
20:48committed by Combs. He was then hit with a criminal indictment, with a trial beginning in 2025.
20:55But they're also gonna have to lay the foundation for this RICO charge
20:58and explain how he conspired with more than one person and how he was running bad boy records as a
21:03corrupt organization. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the
21:08bell to get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional
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21:17notifications. R Kelly. Do you like teenage girls? When you say teenage, how are we talking?
21:28The one-time king of R&B has gone from one of music's biggest stars to one of its worst pariahs.
21:35R Kelly's glamorous image first cracked in 1994 when the 27-year-old briefly married underage singer
21:42Aaliyah. His indiscretions were further suggested throughout the 2000s by allegations and a hard-won
21:48legal battle. Robert feels as if he's invincible. I can't be touched. And in hindsight, in society,
21:55we kind of made him feel that way. The public was completely divided until the subsequent decades
22:00ended their debate. Accusations of sex cults and horrendous abuse led to widespread boycotts before
22:07the hit docuseries Surviving R Kelly killed public sympathy. I think R Kelly is on everybody's
22:13permanently cancel list. All of this is wrong. R Kelly has a sickness. Yes, I believe R Kelly's
22:20a dirtbag scumbag, and somebody should press charges and try to prosecute again. Press charges,
22:26let's go! This inspired a series of trials leading to convictions on racketeering, trafficking,
22:32and other crimes. Kelly began his 31-year prison sentence in 2023. Though there's no salvaging
22:39the musician's once-celebrated art, his victims have finally received justice. What musical artist lost
22:46your respect? And why? Let us know in the comments. You get that type of power, you kind of lose
22:51perspective of reality.