15 Once Loved Actors Everyone Now Hates (And Why)

August 2024 · 12 minute read

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Let’s face it. We love to hate celebrities. They have managed to rack in more Benjamins than most people will see in their entire lifetime. Plus, there are all those perks that come with money and fame: private jets flying around the world, expensive dinners and clothes, and adoring fans. Well, that last one is fickle. One minute we’d get off our couch to go check out an actor’s latest film in the theatres, the next he messes up his image with a stupid quote or complaining about how hard it is being rich and famous and might even yell at a director.

No one can be perfect all the time, but when you have millions of people listening to your every word, your flaws are highlighted and scrutinized on a whole new level. And, let's face it, celebrities let their flaws shine brighter and more ridiculously than anyone else on the planet.

Then again, there are some stars who are able to make their flaws one of their most lovable qualities. It’s her imperfectness that makes Jennifer Lawrence the type of girl you'd want to grab a drink with. But that doesn’t work for everyone. Some people look straight up ridiculous when they try to be self-depreciating. Some stars can’t keep the act up for long and let their true obnoxious colours slip. Can you already name the stars we’re talking about? See if you can guess which stars are on this hated list; celebrities we loved, but now can’t stand. It’s a shame because at one point we really did love them.

Gwyneth Paltrow- ‘Unbearably Obnoxious’

Remember when we loved Gwyneth Paltrow? Well, maybe ‘love’ isn’t the word. She was an ice princess who broke into fame with a supporting role in ‘Shakespeare In Love’. Then, her star power rose for taking quirky roles such as Margot Tenenbaum in Wes Anderson’s 2001 film, The Royal Tenenbaums. However, the actress wasn’t content with being in the movie industry. She wanted more. She wanted to be a wellness guru. That was Gwyneth’s big mistake. She started a website that offered ludacris ‘health’ advice like putting jade eggs into a woman’s nether regions and selling said eggs for insane prices like $3,000. The words ‘pretentious’ and ‘obnoxious’ followed Gwyneth’s name and suddenly she became ‘the most hated celebrity’ in 2016. However, hated she may be, she still has a cult following that is slowly growing her brand and bank account for her.

Will Smith- ‘A Sell-Out’

Every kid knew the lyrics to the ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ and for several summers Will Smith had blockbuster after blockbuster and #1 singles that put his personality in the front seat. However, something about Will seems tired lately. That charming smile and charisma that drove him to the top of Hollywood have fizzled. Fans feel like he's just acting for the sake of paychecks. In other words, his passion is gone and he’s a sell-out. Some wonder if he even read the script before he took home the check for his latest movie ‘Bright’. "There’s boring, there’s bad, and then there’s ‘Bright’, a movie so profoundly awful that Republicans will probably try to pass it into law over Christmas break," Indie Wire wrote of the film. Other reviews weren’t kinder and after several terrible movies in a row, it looks like the actor’s blockbuster days are over.

Lena Dunham- She Can’t Be Trusted

Lena received a lot of hate from the press when she first came onto the scene with her hit show ‘Girls’. Many complained that she wasn’t pretty or skinny enough to be on television. Dunham shot back at critics and quickly rose as a body-positive icon for a new generation of women. Recently, she’s fallen from that throne by getting in trouble for her mouth. At the end of 2017, she defended a man accused of sexual assault by calling the accuser a liar even before hearing her story. Then, a writer who worked with Dunham brought up the racial slurs Dunham was known for in college. As if that wasn’t enough, the star has also been caught in a lie about her dog. Dunham gave the dog away because it had ‘behavioural problems’. However, the shelter where the dog was from stated that the dog was fine.

John Travolta- He’s Kinda Creepy

John Travolta has gone from being a Hollywood sex symbol to the guy that reminds you of your creepy uncle. ‘Now, Uncle John remember to keep your hands to yourself’. We all had to look away at the Oscars in 2017 when he grabbed both Scarlett Johansson and Idina Menzel. How can a guy with a career that spans decades wind up like this? Although, his ‘touchy hands’ aren’t anything new. We just haven’t seen it on national television before. In 2014, Jesse Green wrote for the ‘New York Times’ that during an interview with Travolta, the star ‘fondled’ his blazer. Oh, and let’s not forget that time that time he ‘forgot’ Menzel’s name because he was distracted by the ‘beautiful and sexy’ Goldie Hawn. Yep, he’s definitely the creepy uncle of Hollywood.

Lindsay Lohan- The Ultimate Train Wreck

We don’t have a lot of time for this one, so we’ll just focus on 2017. It was the year that Lohan made cringe-worthy headlines for her desperate attempt to connect with celebrities on Twitter. When they didn’t follow her back or attend her birthday party in Mykonos, Lohan became upset and ‘outed’ them for not being real friends. To add fuel to that fire, Paris Hilton gave an interview with MTV Australia where she recalled the time that Lindsay chased her and Britney Spears down and got into their car after a party. Later, Lindsay put herself in hot water with any fans she had left by defending Harvey Weinstein, saying she feels ‘sorry’ for him. The actress has since moved to Dubai where some say she is avoiding paying the $100,000 that she owes in taxes.

Shailene Woodley- The Bad Feminist

Fans remember when she played a spunky teen on Free Form’s ‘Secret Life of the American Teenager’. Then, she became famous for the ‘Divergent’ franchise and was unfortunately made to give interviews. What sort of things did she say that annoyed people? Well, for starters she’s stated that she eats clay. She called it ‘one of the best things you can put into your body’. Other wellness advice that she gives is ‘sunning her vajayjay’ and washing her hair ONLY once per month. Then, there is also her stance on feminism. She isn’t one because she’s in touch with her masculine and feminine side. She also thinks that women compare themselves too much and are filled with too much envy. What a way to upset her female fans. Maybe her publicist should only let her give scripted interviews.

Nicolas Cage- Went Bankrupt Buying Castles

How do you know that the public hates you? When you’re an actor with a Facebook page dedicated to why people hate you. Nicolas Cage has fallen low in moviegoer’s eyes for his unwise choices in films, where it seems the only good thing about them is how much he gets paid. Soon Cage became the weird looking actor who made bad films. Although, he has tried to reach out to fans by stating that he doesn’t do films ‘just for paycheques’. He’s simply a comic book geek who loves doing any movie with castles and cars. He’s so into his hobbies that he’s gone into debt purchasing castles in Europe and some of the most expensive cars in the world.

Jonah Hill- His Co-stars Hate Him

How is it that a guy like Jonah Hill can come into the movie scene and within a few years ruin his reputation with outbursts? Veteran actors like his ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ co-star Leonardo DiCaprio can work for decades and maintain his. Well, for one, Leo hasn’t upset the writers at ‘Rolling Stone’ enough to call him ‘prideful’ ‘bad-tempered’ and ‘obnoxious’. In an interview with the magazine, Jonah is quoted as saying, “Being in a funny movie doesn’t make me have to answer dumb questions.” Even writer and actor Judd Apatow has called Jonah ‘angry’. And, when talking about his career, Jonah does seem a little full of himself, saying, “I could have made a billion dollars doing every big comedy of the last 10 years.” He sounds more like a douche and less like a funny guy.

Katherine Heigl- Criticizes Her Own Films

We can all learn from Heigl that sometimes it’s best just to shut up. The ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ star upset producer Shonda Rhimes when she declined a best actress nomination because she wasn’t given ‘good enough material’. Katherine now regrets her words. Then, she backed out of her contract with the show with her sights set on movies. She starred in the successful ‘Knocked Up’, which she also criticized. After that outburst, her roles dried up and she was labeled as ‘difficult’. It’s no wonder that publicists give actresses scripted answers. At least they won’t seem ungrateful for the millions of dollars and fame that have been given to them. Or, maybe criticizing is just in Heigl’s nature as she’s even called herself ‘judgmental and uptight’. Although, there are dozens of accounts of her being considered ‘greedy about paychecks’, and demanding when it comes to scripts in Hollywood.

Angelina Jolie- She Trashed Brad

Let’s face it; Brad was the one we really loved in Brangelina. When Angelina silently stuck up her nose at doing more blockbuster action films like ‘Tomb Raider’, which secured her rise to fame, she lost a huge fan base. Her stabs at directing have mostly flopped at the box office. Remember, ‘By The Sea’? Critics and fans alike panned her film. Even her otherworldly beauty and humanitarian efforts can’t save her films at the box office. Then, in 2016 she divorced and verbally trashed Brad’s reputation. Yet, Brad is a likeable and jolly guy and she’s reserved and cold. So, when he was nominated at the Golden Globes in 2017, his Hollywood peers gave him a standing ovation before he even made his speech. Angelina, on the other hand, is known by her peers as the wanna-be-great-director who producer Scott Rudin called a ‘spoiled brat’ and ‘insane’ in emails.

Matt Damon- Defended Weinstein

If you haven’t heard of Harvey Weinstein by know you may not know why women hate Matt Damon. And, if you don’t watch late night talk shows, you might not know that Jimmy Kimmel hates him too. Okay, so maybe the feud between the late night host and actor is just for laughs. But, women hating Damon is not. It was after that ‘New York Times’ story about Harvey Weinstein stated that Damon was involved in the cover-up. That’s right, he vouched for the producer and helped to squash the story coming out in 2004. When the story finally came out in 2017, Damon helped coin the term ‘mansplaining’. During an ‘ABC News’ interview, he continued to defend Weinstein’s actions by saying that at least it’s not as bad as child molestation.

Kate Winslet- Out of Touch

She’s such a great actress and seemed pretty down-to-earth at one point in her career. Yet, these days that ‘normal girl’ role is feeling tired. She’s been working in Hollywood as an A-list actress since she was 19 years old. She’s far from normal. She’s also far from fat and hearing a slim woman talk about how ‘fat’ she supposedly is, is kind of annoying. She tried being feminist, but her past and current relationships with questionable directors Roman Polanski and Woody Allen have forced many women to call her out on Twitter. Although, women can’t blame her. She’s proven that she’s not a good feminist after she chastised fellow actresses for complaining about earning less than their male co-stars. We wonder how she’d feel if she found out that Billy Zane earned 100% more than she did for doing Titanic.

Megan Fox- Says The Darndest Things

It’s almost hard to hate someone as naturally beautiful as Fox. She was edgy and determined to do Hollywood her way. She was destined to be the next Angelina. Then, she got a lot of Botox and stuff that made her lips unnaturally pouty. It became a lot easier to hate the actress who slammed the producer that made her a household name. She famously called Michael Bay, the man behind the ‘Transformers’ franchise a Nazi. Then, there were her series of weird interviews where she compared herself to a human sacrifice and stated that she believes in aliens and mermaids. Again, she’s an actress who makes the case that some actresses should never ever give interviews.

Anne Hathaway- There’s No Real Reason Why

How could Anne Hathaway not be on celebrities we hate list? She is hated so much that she has brought people together who hate her and gave a lot of journalist a way to pay their rent with stories as to why she is so disliked. But, there’s no real reason why she’s hated. She just happens to be that goodie-two-shoes who is pretty, has a great career, and is extremely nice. And, that’s why she’s hated. She says and does the right thing and that’s boring. She makes the right choices as far as roles go and that’s boring. Although, she does cry a lot in her films and that is a legitimate reason to hate her. Right? Probably not. As Hathaway has said, she’s aware that she’s hated and realizes that there’s no real reason why.

Kristen Stewart- She's A Terrible Actress

Technically, it’s hard to say that we really hate K-Stew in 2017 or 2018. She’s mostly stayed out of the public eye focusing on indie films and her relationship with Victoria’s Secret model Stella Maxwell. Yet, whenever she does pop up in the media too much, it’s easy to hate her. She complains about fame. She’s unapproachable. She’s always frowning. And, she’s not that good of an actress. Watching ‘Twilight’ is painful, but even more so by her blank face and monotonous voice. It’s probably a movie used in film classes for what not to do as an actress. Even so, Kristen has that ‘I’m important’ air about her and makes sure that others know that she absolutely does not care what they think. She’ll continue to act and rack in those millions whether she’s good at it or not.

References: Bet.com, HuffingtonPost.com, PopMatters.com, The Guardian.com, VanityFair.com, PageSix.com, Deadline.com, DailyMail.co.uk

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