26 Of The Most Controversial And/Or Problematic Things Celebrities Did In 2021

Featuring a lot of your faves.

2.

Chris Pratt wrote this Instagram tribute to his wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, and thanked her for giving him a “gorgeous healthy daughter.”

3.

Travis Scott made headlines after eight people died and many more were injured at Scott‘s Astroworld Festival. The debate was whether Scott knew about what was happening and continued the show.

4.

Dixie D’Amelio faced backlash after she made these out-of-touch comments about going to college:

5.

Boosie Badass went on an anti-gay rant after Lil Nas X made a lighthearted joke about collaborating with him:

7.

Reality star Harry Jowsey was talking about makeup YouTuber James Charles on his podcast, Tap In. When someone asked who James was, Harry said, “He’s just some faggot.”

You claim to be an ally and this is how you speak to your straight friends behind closed doors huh? @HarryJowsey

06:31 AM – 20 Oct 2021


Twitter: @adorejamess

8.

Lizzo sparked a debate and received criticism after an interaction between her with Chris Brown went viral. In the video, she asked for a picture and called him her “favorite person in the whole fucking world.”

Lizzo asked Chris Brown for a picture in new video:

“Can I get a picture with you because you’re my favorite person in the whole f*cking world.”

07:47 PM – 02 Oct 2021


Twitter: @BuzzingPop

9.

Katie Couric made some headlines after she talked about celebs in her book Going There. On Martha Stewart, she recalled making a joke about her one time on an award show, saying, “[It took] some healthy humbling (prison will do that) to develop a sense of humor.”

Katie also talked about her reluctance to mentor/support Ashleigh Banfield when she was a rising journalist. “For a minute there, Ashleigh Banfield was the next big thing. I’d heard her father was telling anyone who’d listen that she was going to replace me. In that environment, mentorship sometimes feels like self-sabotage.”


Lars Niki / Getty Images for New York Women in Film & Television

Katie also wrote in the book that when she met Prince Harry years ago at a polo match in Brazil, he reeked of “booze and cigarettes,” and the smell “oozed from every pore.”


Bryan R. Smith / AFP via Getty Images

10.

Ben Platt faced backlash after the bizarre casting of him as a high school student in Dear Evan Hansen led to claims of nepotism (given that his father is a well-known Hollywood producer who worked on the film).

Ben Platt on criticism of his casting in the #DearEvanHansen film: “The reaction is largely from people who don’t understand the context of the piece, the fact that I created the role and workshopped it for 3 years. Were I not to do the movie it probably wouldn’t have been made.”

07:07 PM – 06 Aug 2021


Twitter: @FilmUpdates

11.

Priyanka Chopra, Julianne Hough, Usher, and other celebs faced a wave of criticism for their upcoming show The Activist. According to Deadline, the premise of the five-week reality show is: “Activists go head-to-head in challenges to promote their causes, with their success measured via online engagement, social metrics, and hosts’ input.”

12.

Sharon Osbourne was fired as a host of The Talk after her heated discussion with Sheryl Underwood about Pier Morgan’s racist comments about Meghan Markle. She was also under fire for her past slurs toward Julie Chen, Sara Gilbert, and Holly Robinson Peete.


CBS Photo Archive / CBS via Getty Images

13.

Chrissy Teigen lost brand deals and roles after it was revealed that she bullied Courtney Stodden when they were a teenager:


NBC / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

14.

Gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics due to concerns about her own mental health, which set off a barrage of shitty opinions about how she shouldn’t have “quit.” She responded perfectly with this caption on Instagram, “The word ‘quitter’ is not in my vocabulary.”

15.

Carrie Underwood was called out for liking an anti-mask tweet.

16.

Jessie J caused quite a ruckus after she told Glamour the story behind the iconic song “Bang Bang,” which featured Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj. Jessie said Ariana heard the song, loved it, and then somehow Nicki heard the song in the studio and also loved it so much that she said, “‘I’ve got to jump on this.” Jessie said she didn’t even have to ask Nicki to be on it. Nicki said that wasn’t true:

17.

Justin Timberlake was basically re-canceled after Framing Britney Spears analyzed how he manipulated the media to paint his ex Britney in a bad light.


Denise Truscello / WireImage / Getty

Read the full explainer here.

18.

Ben Stiller faced criticism after he went back at a reporter, who called out the nepotism of Hollywood in a tweet about The Rightway — a movie directed and produced by the children of Hollywood elite. Ben tweeted this at the reporter:

@franklinleonard Too easy @franklinleonard. People, working, creating. Everyone has their path. Wish them all the best.

02:00 AM – 28 Jul 2021


Twitter: @RedHourBen

19.

Addison Rae upset journalism/college Twitter after tweeting this about studying broadcast journalism for “3 whole months” to prepare for being a commentator at a UFC fight night:


Twitter: @whoisaddison

20.

Armie Hammer’s alleged DMs of him talking about cannibalism and other dark stuff leaked. He was accused of rape, leading him to drop out of multiple film projects.


Christopher Polk / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

22.

Demi Lovato received heavy backlash after they called out a local LA yogurt shop for “diet culture” when The Big Chill sells “snacks for Celiac or diabetes or vegans.”

23.

Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills were both exposed after Tom was accused of extorting the victims he won cases for — including widows, children, burn victims, plane crash victims, etc.


Bravo / Via youtube.com

The recent documentary The Housewife and the Hustler exposed Tom and Erika’s shady dealings.

24.

Sia’s movie Music received widespread backlash, including a petition to have it removed from Golden Globes consideration, for its depiction of autistic people.

25.

David Dobrik lost brand deals and faced heavy backlash after one of his videos allegedly depicted sexual assault and some of his prank videos endangered others, as well as for past offensive comments.

26.

And finally, James Corden’s segment “Spill Your Guts” was criticized after it was called out for being culturally insensitive.

Did we miss any? Let me know in the comments below!