Watching a hero fall from grace, especially if they are one of your personal heroes, is a terrible experience. No matter how high we hold certain people in the world, we often forget that they are humans and have some qualities that are less than stellar. (Some are just plain crazy.) Maybe one of your idols has experienced some sort of scandal during their tenure of being famous and it rocked your world…
Here are some of the biggest icon scandals the world has ever seen.
1. William Shockley
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William Shockley was a brilliant physicist who invented the transistor, but also believed the government should sterilize people with low IQs.
2. Philipp Lenard
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Phillipp Lenard was a German physicist and Nobel laureate who pioneered research on cathode rays. He was also a supporter of eugenics and was an early member of the Nazi Party.
3. Arnold Schwarzenegger
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It all came crashing down on Arnold didn’t it? It was revealed that he had an affair with his maid and that he had a secret love-child all while he was in the midst of being governor of California. It hasn’t hurt his film career much, but his perception in the public eye is definitely not as golden as it once was.
4. Frank Miller
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While comic book author Frank Miller isn’t the most notorious person on this list, He is known for some fairly offensive works and advocates, on occasion, far-right political views that alienate many of his fans.
5. Bobby Fischer
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The most famous chess player in the world had some dark beliefs. He was a flagrant anti-Semite who made anti-Jewish statements as early as the 60s, and who kept white supremacist and anti-Semitic literature in his private library.
6. Ty Cobb
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This legendary baseball player was notable for setting numerous records in his days of playing. He was also notable for being quite racist. He was involved in well-documented fights with African-Americans, and was known for violent confrontations with fans.
7. James Watson
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James Watson is the biologist credited with discovering the double helix DNA structure. He is also a bigot who believes black people inherently have inferior intelligence, failed to credit a female colleague who contributed to the discovery of the double helix, and was a notoriously arrogant professor at Harvard.
8. Mel Gibson
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Who could forget Mel Gibson’s profanity laced tirade on his ex-wife’s voicemail? The racist views expressed by Gibson have definitely left his legacy blemished.
9. Orson Scott Card
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Orson Scott Card is the award-winning author behind the science fiction classic, Ender’s Game, and believes that any government that supports same sex marriage is a “mortal enemy” that he would act to destroy.
10. Lance Armstrong
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Lance Armstrong was on top of the cycling world and helped raise millions for cancer research, until it all came crumbling down for him. Armstrong admitted in 2013 to performance enhancing drug use during the time and was banned from the sport of cycling.
11. Dr. Suess
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Dr. Suess is the beloved author of many children’s books, but his humble beginnings have a more dubious nature. Theodor Seuss Geisel drew racist ads and political cartoons early in his career, and also penned anti-Japanese war propaganda during World War II.
Perhaps no one is perfect, but now it’s a little harder to support the works of these people now that we know the truth about them.
