The Hulk Hogan thread touched upon this a little bit. I have a few but the biggest one has to be the one whose name shall not mentioned, Lance.
I bought his posters, I bought his books, I cheered him on at the Tour de Georgia and SF Grand Prix, I bought a Trek, but most incredulously I believed his story. Until it all came crumbling down.
Boy was I wrong about him. Who are your fallen idols?
He wasn’t an idol but the fall was so pathetic he has to be mentioned.
John Edwards. From a Senator and definite presidential contender to hiding in the bathroom of a hotel to get away from the National Enquirer.
Made a big deal of how his wife was dying of cancer, got Rielle Hunter pregnant, hired her for his campaign, and denied the baby was even his for several years.
Such a POS.
I don’t think I idolize anyone and especially not this guy, but I did find it a bit disconcerting to recently find out Bruce Dickinson of Ironmaiden was a Brexit guy and apparently holds other rightish views.
Although reading a bit on his views now, it’s the typical thing were a British conservative is still pretty liberal by US standards.
Again not somebody I idolize but I think I’ve seen that Eric Clapton has some pretty racist/xenophobic views?
I’m not sure he was anyone’s idol but Rudy Guliani’s fall from grace probably puts him on a Mount Rushmore of such things. Fantastic prosecutor and US Attorney, “America’s Mayor”, to the sad piece of shit that he is now.
OJ Simpson is probably the star of this kind of show.
Kobe will always be tarnished by raping that white girl at some Colorado resort. He genuinely seemed like the nicest athlete in the world until that point.
Woody Harrelson. I’ve always been a fan of his work but it can be easy to conflate an actor with his characters. The positions he’s taken recently have been pretty disappointing.
Hopefully, most grown adults have enough perspective not to idolize other human beings (all evidence of MAGA notwithstanding). But kids clearly do, and even without idolizing, there are some obvious cases of reality not matching the national perception.
Bill Cosby
Michael Jackson
OJ Simpson
Tiger Woods would be another.
Admire traits, not people. It makes life much easier.
I’ve stuck to that pretty assiduously so don’t feel a lot of vicarious disappointment when people get busted and don’t have any good personal examples for you. But there still are people I’d feel sad about, were they to fall. If Kipchoge turned out to be a doper, for example, or if it turned out Obama had been screwing interns.
Had no idea about this. What are they?
I thought he always was a bit whacky
For a long time I thought of him as his character from Cheers. That may just be a sign that he is a really good actor.
I made the mistake of following Jack Lambert, Steelers legendary linebacker from the 1970s, on twitter.
He’s a surly white dude in his 70s living in rural nowhere. Of course he’s a Trumper. I could have died happy not knowing that.
I lost a lot of respect for Clint Eastwood when he started campaigning for the GOP. The empty chair bit at the 2012 RNC was just plain embarrassing.
Like lots of people, I was more prone to idolizing when I was younger. I liked Lance a great deal, and still have a jersey he autographed, but I was (I hope) a lot more savvy and skeptical when he rose to fame.
Among idols of my youth, the toughest falls were probably Bobby Fischer and OJ.
Mel Gibson?
Kevin Spacey?
This thread reminds me of the first celebrity scandal and fall that I recall–Bob Crane. He was into sex, lies and videotape before that was a movie.
I just googled him, and I didn’t know that he was murdered and that’s still unsolved.
Clinton
i didn’t idolise him but damn what a stupid fall from grace. Hillary is still on cleanup in aisle 3.
This just seems so quaint now. That almost makes me idolize him even more.
Easy one, but Pete Rose
As Phillies fan, my boyhood image of him is completely replaced by picturing him sitting in front of a Pro’s Image store at the mall signing autographs. It is the pro athlete version of guy on the corner with a carboard sign.