Child Stars Who Think They Are Still Famous But Aren’t

It’s not easy being a child star. They spend their childhood years working and getting preferential treatment until one day, that all disappears. However, these former child stars haven’t disappeared from the limelight and can’t seem to understand that they aren’t famous anymore. Unfortunately, it’s a rare occurrence that anything good comes from these celebrities attempting to claw their way back into the spotlight. Instead of gracefully slipping away to enjoy a quiet life, there is no end to what these stars will do to stay relevant in the world of fame! Now, instead of remembering these celebs for the talent they had back in their heyday, we can’t help but giggle at their cringe-worthy behavior that unraveled in later years. Here are the child stars who think that they are still famous, but in reality, they actually aren’t.

Jamie Lynn Spears

Jamie Lynn Spears found fame as Britney Spears’ little sister. When she was cast for Nickelodeon’s Zoey 101, it looked as though she was set for a lucrative acting career herself, until the younger Spears sister announced she was pregnant, aged just 16.

That was the end of her career as a child star. She’s since tried to launch a music career with no avail. Luckily, she has the #FreeBritney campaign and other messy Spears family dramas to comment on for press attention.

Dustin Diamond

Who can forget Screech from Saved by the Bell? He was everyone’s favorite dork, but in the real world, a darker side of the actor was soon to unfold. Dustin wasn’t known for receiving any notable roles since leaving the popular teen show.

Sadly, Diamond passed away in February of 2021, leaving still-devoted fans to mourn his passing. He may not have been known for the quantity of his work, but we all know no other actor could have played Screech as perfectly as he did.

Angus T. Jones

Jones earned himself huge popularity while starring in Two and a Half Men in which he played Jake. Then rather surprisingly, Angus T. Jones told everybody not to watch the series and that he didn’t want to be in the show.

It seems that now he wants back into acting after showing up for a cameo of the Two and a Half Men finale. He’s also been working as the president of entertainment for Tonite. Having only landed one one-off role since leaving TAAHM, a career revival seems unlikely.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay first rose to fame after starring in Disney’s remake of The Parent Trap. She then went on to star in a series of teen comedies, including Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Freaky Friday, and the classic Mean Girls.

Then in her late teens, Lohan announced that she had drug and alcohol addiction issues. She also spent a brief spell in jail in 2007 for the possession of drugs. For years she’s been teasing a career comeback but that’s yet to happen.

Tara Reid

Tara Reid is perhaps best known for starring in the American Pie movies but her big break in acting actually came well before this. Towards the later American Pie films, Reid’s acting career gradually came to an end.

Since then, Tara Reid’s life seems to be full of scandal. It seems the press are more interested in her botched plastic surgeries and her seemingly odd relationships than they are in the Sharknado franchise in which she stars.

Aaron Carter

We all remember him as the sweet younger brother of Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys. Nick Carter released his first-ever song “I Want Candy” while still just a child. It then seemed as though he had disappeared from the spotlight.

Actually, it turns out that Carter had been waiting all this time to relaunch his music career. Amidst a very public relationship breakdown and drug issues, it took him almost twenty years to create another album, on which the best song appears to be a remix of I Want Candy.

Hilary Duff

Hilary Duff was once the Golden Girl of the Disney Channel. As an actress, she was successful and highly praised for her work. Even when she steered away from the usual good girl characters she played when she starred in According to Greta, when she played a rebellious, suicidal teen, she received mixed reviews, but her acting career still continued.

Duff then gradually moved away from acting to become a pop star. That’s when we began to see less of Hilary and maybe we were even a little sad that she had given up her role as an actress. Now, it’s the same old story. Although Duff continues to record music, it’s anything but her music that reaches headlines.

Corey Feldman

Some stars just won’t leave the spotlight. It seems that there is nothing that Corey Feldman won’t try in order to stay in the headlines. He was one of the first celebs who made an effort to reinvent themselves through reality TV but was unsuccessful. He’s also tried many other odd things in order to attract press attention.

The star of The Goonies has tried to half transform himself into Michael Jackson. He’s also taken to the stage to perform some of his best-known songs, but unfortunately, his performances were nothing less than cringeworthy. His behavior is nothing less than embarrassing. Feldman is an excellent example of “any publicity is good publicity.”

Danny Bonaduce

After his stint in The Partridge Family as a youth, Danny Bonaduce has stated that after leaving the show, he only worked a total of 20 weeks in the 14 years that followed. He paved his way back into the public eye by working in radio and then starring in reality TV show Breaking Bonaduce. The show documented his marriage breakdown, drug relapse, and a suicide attempt.

It’s crazy how far some stars will go to stay relevant enough to remain famous. Bonaduce went as far as to almost die before people took notice, and even then, his reignited fame was short-lived. He received more bad press when he traded in friendship for money to write a column about former co-star David Cassidy’s life and battle with dementia.

Kirk Cameron

Some actors become too big for their boots when in fact, they’re not quite at the point where they can call the shots like they think they can. Kirk Cameron was the coolest kid around when he played Mike Seaver in Growing Pains during the 80s. However, somewhere along the line, Cameron embarked on a new religious journey and suddenly had a huge issue with racy scenes being written for his character. The show came to an end in 1992.

Later, in an interview with Piers Morgan, Kirk sparked fury with the derogatory comments he made about homosexuality. These comments stalled his chances of any potential acting work in the future. He responded to critics saying that it wasn’t a problem because he had his own company (CamFam Studios) making projects he’s proud of. Strangely, his company has only made 4 feature films and 2 short films in the last 10 years. He and his wife now teach online marriage counseling courses.

Macaulay Culkin

While it’s hard to forget Macaulay Culkin completely, considering that he appears on our TV screens every Christmas, his career was shockingly short-lived. Despite landing starring roles in many 90s movies, his acting career stalled before he became a teenager.

His teens and twenties turned out to be troubling times for the former child star. Between 2004 and 2005, he faced legal issues involving drug offenses. Although he claims to be a recluse, Culkin hasn’t shied away from the spotlight completely. In fact, he’s done much in the way to try and reform his career – Culkin has tried acting, music, and podcasting. Yet, we’ll always remember him as Kevin.

Katherine Heigl

Many people might be surprised to read that Katherine Heigl was also a child star. Many believe that her big break came from her roles in movies like Knocked Up, but actually, she started her acting career aged just 14. It was Grey’s Anatomy; however, that made her a recognizable face.

In the meantime, Heigl was quickly developing a reputation as being a bit of a diva. Some might say she was a diva, whereas others just found her straight out difficult to work with. Her “no a***ole” policy and her refusal to tolerate “bull***t” or nasty people made her very unpopular. Not to worry, now she stars in cat litter commercials on Youtube, some of which have even reached 100,000 views! Now that’s a backup plan!

Jeremy Jackson

Jeremy Jackson had been acting for some 7 years before joining Baywatch in 1991, but it was thanks to this role that he hit the big time. Throughout the 90s, his popularity grew, and his character helped to make Baywatch a 90s cult classic. That was until Jackson hastily quit the show in a huff and starting heavily abusing drugs.

In 2009 he starred in reality TV show Confessions of a Teenage Idol. While on the show, he discussed his drug issues and his addiction to bodybuilding, claiming he had spent at least $200 000 on performance enhancers. Yet he sabotaged any chances of reclaiming his career when he was arrested twice in 2015 for two different stabbing cases. He later got kicked out of Celebrity Big Brother for sexually assaulting a housemate. Some people never learn…

Yasiel Puig

Yasiel Puig is one of the most successful Cuban-born baseball players of his generation. He’s played for the Cleveland Indians, Cincinnati Reds and Los Angeles Dodgers. Puig earned himself the nickname of “The Wild Horse” for his playing abilities. And it seems his wild reputation extends to off the pitch as well.

At just 29, you’d think that the baseball right fielder would still have a constant playing position and a thriving career. Unfortunately, a string of reckless driving charges and involvement in brawls during games has resulted in suspensions from playing and less opportunities to win deals.

Amanda Bynes

Amanda Bynes started out in acting aged just 7. She was a major hit on Nickelodeon during the 90s and early 00s, especially when she began starring in her own comedy sketch show – The Amanda Show. Amanda’s fan base continued to grow and a little later on she was cast for a number of movie roles.

Bynes then embarked on a period of odd behavior. She was found in the possession of marijuana and received a three-year probation. A year later the cops were called after she randomly started a small fire on a stranger’s driveway. Then came the string of strange and shocking tweets, claiming that her father had mentally and sexually abused her. Later on, she apologized for the tweets, explaining that they were not true and that she was suffering from mental health and substance abuse issues. Bynes has been trying to resume her career for the last year but is there a place in Hollywood for the disgraced Nickelodeon star? Maybe not.

Tila Tequila

Tila initially started out as a model and appeared in various men’s magazines, including Playboy, Maxim, and Stuff. After she became recognized as the most popular person on Myspace, Tequila’s career began to take off. Her popularity earned her the opportunity to star in her own reality show series. A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila was a bisexual-themed dating show. The show became MTV’S second highest-rated series premiere of 2007.  Through the years Tila has dabbled in modeling, acting, and singing.

Unfortunately, it’s Tila’s hateful comments and uneducated slander that attract media attention these days. The Singapore-born star was thrown out of Celebrity Big Brother for voicing her support of Hitler and making racist comments. Most recently, she said that homosexuality was “disgusting”, despite the fact that she once identified as a lesbian and had a long-term relationship with another woman. Stick to what you do best Tila, err…what was that?!

Amy O’Neill

Amy earned success early on with Honey, I Shrunk the Kids in 1989, and also The Young and the Restless. O’Neill went into very early retirement in 1994 after she was struggling to find respectable acting roles that didn’t require nudity.

After several years away from the spotlight, O’Neill was ready to find fame once more. Unable to find any suitable acting roles, she settled on joining a circus act known as “Girls on Stilts.” So she did get the height, just not heightened fame.

Shia LaBeouf

There seems to be a strange belief among child stars that you must indulge in criminal behavior as some sort of coming of age ritual. Shia LaBeouf is no exception, and although his convictions were not as bad as some, they certainly didn’t help his career in any way.

It’s fair to say that Shia LaBeouf’s filmography is impressive. His most iconic films include Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle, the Transformers sequel, and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. Unfortunately, his outspokenness on politics and religion and facing two arrests for aggressive and drunken disorderly behavior has lost him both respect and interest. Rather than retreating into the shadows, he’s still hunting for work and hangs on to any mediocre role that he can get his hands on these days.

Elijah Wood

You could say that Elijah Wood was America’s version of Harry Potter’s star Daniel Radcliffe during the 90s. Wood was a very successful young actor who took to the leading roles of many big movies. During the 1990s, he starred alongside many famous Hollywood movie stars in films, such as Flipper, Forever Young, The War and The Good Son.

His major break came in 1999 when he was cast as Frodo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Unfortunately, Wood was unable to compete with his much celebrated earlier performances and stopped receiving major roles after the sequel ended. Although still acting, Wood’s starred in all kinds of movies since but none have been as successful as his earlier movies.

Zachery Ty Bryan

It’s a common case with many child stars. Just because you’ve gained huge success early on in your career as a youngster, it doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed a lucrative career for life. Zachery Ty Bryan first found fame in Home Improvement when he was cast as Brad Taylor. In 2009, after his time on Home Improvement ended, Taylor officially retired from acting.

He returned to acting just a couple of years later. While appearing on Fox News in 2012, Bryan explained that no longer wanted to be in front of the camera but instead preferred to work behind the scenes. Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that his most recent performance at the time was labeled “terrible” and that “Bryan probably ranks as one of the most unimpressive movie heroes ever put on screen.” Great insults last a long time!

Haley Joel Osment

In case you didn’t recognize him, Haley Joel Osment played the kid in The Sixth Sense. The Sixth Sense made the child star incredibly popular, and almost everybody everywhere began to recognize his face. Osment was often referred to as “The kid from The Sixth Sense” for a long time afterward.

HJO then took a break from acting to focus on his studies but returned in 2013 with hopes of diversifying his performances. Interestingly, he is still haunted by his role in The Sixth Sense, which is the only reason he has been hired for any acting work since. Since his return to acting, Osment has only been cast for roles in which he plays a parody of himself or his Sixth Sense character. While he’s hoping to find an ongoing role where he can exercise his acting abilities, it appears that he’ll always be known on and off-screen as “the kid from The Sixth Sense!”

Nick Cannon

Child stars or former child stars are well known for having diva-ish tendencies. Nick Cannon certainly proved that to be true when he walked off America’s Got Talent in 2017. Sources state that a rift had occurred between Nick Cannon and NBC over racial comments Cannon had made in his stand-up comedy act.

Despite his best attempts to look as though he was taking the moral high ground, exclaiming: “I turned down millions of dollars. I have moved on to bigger and better things, like my mix tape.” his rash, aggressive behavior actually portrayed him as quite dumb. The final straw was when insulted Georgian Court University during one of his stand-up performances for MTV2. He completely broke the terms in his contract, which required him to “avoid vulgarity and explicit sexual content in his performance.” Given that he refused to apologize and his overall terrible attitude, we’re not all that surprised he’s no longer famous.

Brenda Song

Song’s big break was when she signed a contract with Disney. She was regular on the Disney Channel and appeared in a couple of movies too, including Get a Clue in 2002. Song gained popularity through That’s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.

After departing from the Disney squad, Song hasn’t done a lot in the way of acting or anything else that could boost her profile. For years, she was known as the on/off girlfriend of Miley Cyrus’s less famous brother – Trace. Perhaps her best move was forming a relationship with fellow child star – Macaulay Culkin. Maybe that could finally boost her celebrity status?

Drake Bell

Drake Bell is best known for playing one half of the Drake & Josh duo on Nickelodeon. Drake & Josh was one of Nickelodeon’s most popular shows at the time and it looked as though it would rocket Bell’s career. Yes, soon after the show ended Bell disappeared from our screens.

In between being the frontman of a garage band, Drake has resurfaced only to become a troll on social media. He first received criticism for his transphobic remarks made about Caitlyn Jenner. His second high profile attack was on former co-star Josh Peck about not being invited to his wedding. He has since taken back these comments and apologized. And his anti-social behavior doesn’t stop there. At one of his band’s small-town gigs, he stopped the concert to scold a kid for throwing balls on to the stage. Really, Drake!?

Orlando Bloom

It was his role as Legolas in Lord of the Rings that put Orlando Bloom on the map. In the years that followed, Bloom reprised his role in The Hobbit film series and was a fan favorite in the Pirate of the Caribbean series.

After the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie, Bloom stopped receiving such notable parts in films. He occasionally makes the odd movie but raising his profile from one-off roles has proven no easy feat. The British-born actor has now morphed into a stay-at-home husband and is more commonly known now as Mr. Katy Perry.

Brian Bonsall

Bonsall played Andy in Family Ties, Alexander in Star Trek: The Next Generation and perhaps his most famous movie was Blank Check from 1994. If Brian Bonsall’s film history doesn’t ring any bells, perhaps his police reports will.

Just one year after leaving acting in 1995, Bonsall found himself in trouble with the cops for driving under the influence, possession of marijuana, assault, and other charges. The latest update on Bonsall was that he was serving two years of probation for a third-degree assault. It’s like Andy Warhol said, everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame.

Orlando Brown

Things were going really well for Orlando Brown. He was the star of Disney’s That’s So Raven after starring in 100 episodes over four years. After the show ended, things started to go from bad to worse for Brown. Orlando was arrested for driving under the influence but failed to show up for court appearances, landing him with a 180-day jail sentence.

Shortly after his driving under the influence case, Brown allegedly threatened to kill a woman and was caught with meth in his pocket while fighting with his girlfriend in a police station parking lot. It was no surprise that he wasn’t called back for the That’s So Raven sequel series. Initially Brown accepted this with no issues but then began to share explicit details on an affair he’d had with a co-star on the show. And the award for the biggest car crash goes to…

Freddie Highmore

Freddie Highmore was the sweet kid in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Finding Neverland, both of which he starred alongside Johnny Depp. As a child, Freddie was instantly recognizable and was loved for the angelic roles he portrayed. He took a few years away from acting, and when he returned, he was all grown up. What Highmore did next was a highly anticipated question.

Obviously as a grown man he couldn’t resume the type of roles in which he’d starred as a child. Freddie’s biggest role since returning to our screens was in A&E’s Bates Motel. This received mixed reviews, as it couldn’t be more different from the childlike characters he was used to playing. Highmore still acts, and his new staring role in ABC’s The Good Doctor, might just make him an exception to the other child stars on this list.

Ariana Richards

Ariana’s first taste of fame came in 1993 when she landed a part in Jurassic Park. She’s also well known for appearing in Boy Meets World, Tremors, and in Ben Folds Five’s music video for “Brick.” Ariana gave up acting for a while and focused on her love for art.

Years later, Ariana shared that she would like to return to the screen and subsequently featured in a number of small, cameo roles. It was thought that her second breakthrough would come from Battledogs in 2013, originally titled Ward’s Island. Unfortunately, the film wasn’t as well-received as hoped, which spoilt Richards’ plans of a successful comeback.

Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey was the young, beautiful singing sensation of the 90s. Her music was used in Disney movies and she became a household name. One of the biggest turning points in her career came when she released the Christmas song “All I Want for Christmas (Is You)” which was a global success.

Carey has continued to release music in between taking prolonged breaks away from the spotlight. But no matter how hard she tries to stay relevant with current music trends, it’s her old hits that fans want to hear her perform. Mariah’s best bet would be to re-emerge once a year around Christmas time just to play her wintery hit.

Joey Gaydos Jr.

Joey found fame back in 2003 when he played the part of Zack in School of Rock. Yet, despite playing the teacher’s pet in the comedy movie, he was far from it in reality. Shortly after finding success in acting with School of Rock, Gaydos founded his own real-life rock band called the Joey Gaydos Group in 2005.

Ever since then, the actor-turned-musician has become better known for his antics off-screen more than anything else. Gaydos is still making music when he’s not getting arrested for drink-driving offenses or for stealing musical instruments. Sadly, this so-called rock and roll lifestyle isn’t going to increase his ticket sales.

Daveigh Chase

Chase’s character Samara in The Ring was probably the reason you couldn’t sleep for a whole week after watching the movie! Daveigh Chase’s face became well recognized after starring in the 2002 film. Even though Chase had been acting since the late 90s, it was her part in The Ring that boosted her identity as an actress.

Daveigh continued to endure success in acting for years after her initial debut. Throughout the last 4 years of her film career, Chase wasn’t getting such prominent parts, and her personal life seemed more gripping than her movies. In the year 2017, she was arrested twice, once for driving a stolen car and the second, for the possession of illegal drugs. It’s been said that Daveigh would really like to return to acting, but her criminal record has put paid to that. Bad luck!

Mara Wilson

Mara Wilson is up there with the most memorable of child stars like Macaulay Culkin. Mara won our hearts in Matilda, Mrs. Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street, and A Simple Wish. Aged just 13, Wilson retired from acting in 2000 to focus on other projects.

In her adult years, Mara has shared conflicting personal opinions on her life as a child star. Not so long ago, she was very open about the hatred she felt for her early movies and even advised people not to watch them. More recently, Wilson has changed her mind once again and has decided that she’d like to return to public life and revive her acting career. We’ve yet to see her in anything yet. As the saying goes – be careful what you wish for.

Miley Cyrus

When thinking back to her days in Hannah Montana, who could have predicted that Miley Cyrus would undergo such dramatic image and lifestyle changes. Miley is the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. During her teen years, she was a hit on the Disney channel, landed herself some great movie roles, and even launched an initially successful music career.

Yet despite being just 27, Cyrus has battled drug and alcohol problems, as well as other issues in her personal life. Although Miley continues to record music, all anybody’s really interested in is her unpredictable behavior and string of car wreck relationships.

Ashlee Simpson

Ashlee Simpson has always had an interest in performing arts, but it was her big sis and former brother-in-law’s reality show Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica that helped get her name out there. Following the success of her sister Jessica Simpson’s show, Ashlee got her own reality show – The Ashlee Simpson Show.

Simpson released her first album in 2004 and enjoyed fame that equaled her sister for a brief time. Sadly for the younger Simpson sister, maintaining fame was a struggle and things soon turned sour when she began encountering negative press attention, relating to her personal life. Simpson is just another case of somebody trying to get famous through a better-known sibling. She still considers herself to be a musician but nobody seems too bothered about seeing a comeback any time soon.

Christina Milian

Christina Milian burst on to the scene in the early 2000s with funky music tracks and a lucrative movie career to follow. But what happens when “too cool for school” turns well, “old school.” It’s hard for former pop sensations to hand over their microphones and movie scripts to new talent but sadly, that’s the way it goes.

Milian is now given parts in low budget movies and occasionally performs on musical talent shows. Admittedly, Milian did have a string of successful hits in the early 2000s but nothing than any younger viewers would know of, therefore making her quite an irrelevant casting choice. Thankfully, social media allow stars to update their audiences with their relationship statuses to fill in gaps in their work schedule. Phew!

Chad Michael Murray

Chad Michael Murray was the movie heartthrob of the 00s. Movies such as Freaky Friday and A Cinderella Story made him a well-known name and who could forget teen drama series One Tree Hill? After playing Lucas in One Tree Hill for seven years, Murray became recognized for little else.

Even a part in House of Wax alongside Paris Hilton did little to help with the stereotype OTH had left on him, other than stirring up a scandal about an alleged affair between Murray and Hilton. In 2010 he featured in a music video with Christina Milian but despite his best attempts to raise his profile again, Chad Michael Murray’s best work remains in the 2000s.

Devin Ratray

You’ll probably recognize Devin Ratray from the early Home Alone movies. He played Kevin’s bullying older brother – Buzz. As a child actor, Ratray was often cast as the scary bully in movies like Home Alone and Little Monsters.

As an adult, he has received numerous guest appearance opportunities in popular television series like Supernatural and Law & Order. He then went on to film a documentary about his love for Condoleeza Rice. Although he is occasionally still cast for roles, Devin’s identity in the movie world seems to have shifted from actor to extra.

Frankie Muniz

Recognize this face? It’s actor Frankie Muniz, star of Malcolm in the Middle! He also enjoyed leading roles in other films in the early noughties, including Racing Stripes, Big Fat Liar, and Agent Cody Banks. In 2003 he was named as one of the most popular child actors of that time.

Muniz decided to leave acting to pursue a career in open-wheel racing. After completing the Atlantic Championship, Frankie’s career has been a real mixed bag of jobs. He had his own band, started his own companies, went on Dancing with the Stars, and then started an olive oil and vinegar company with his long-term partner. Didn’t expect all that now, did you?!

Taylor Lautner

Taylor Lautner was a very popular young star during the early 2000s. Some of his top films include Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Danny Phantom, My Wife and Kids, and What’s New, Scooby-Doo?  Later on in the later 00s, he was considered a teen idol and sex symbol. Lautner even ranked second in 2010 on Glamour Magazine’s “The 50 Sexiest Men of 2010”.

What happened next? In 2008 Taylor auditioned for the new Twilight series and got the part of Jacob Black. You could say that Twilight was the beginning of the end for Lautner’s career, as he was forever in the shadows of Robert Pattinson’s popularity. Taylor’s last acting role was in 2016.

Ross Bagley

Starring in The Fresh Prince of Bellaire with Will Smith from 1994 was Bagley’s first recognized acting role. However, it wasn’t until 1996 when he starred, again with Will Smith, in Independence Day that he became well known. Ross has made appearances in a few movies since the 1996 hit but we’ve not seen much of him since he did Independence Day.

Bagley went on to study film at California State University, Northridge. He has been trying to make a comeback into acting for a few years, but nothing has happened yet. The curse of early success is not knowing when to reign it in.

Curtis Jackson AKA “50 Cent”

It’s funny how things turn around. 50 cent’s famous “Get rich or die trying” mantra couldn’t be more relevant than it is now – to him! As well as once being a famous rap singer, Curtis Jackson (AKA 50 Cent) also had his hands in many other investments too. His major pitfall was getting involved in several high-cost investments, such as boxing promotion and mining of heavy metals.

In 2015 it was announced that he had filed for bankruptcy. Yet this wasn’t the only drama going on in the rapper’s life. Throughout the year’s he’d filed lawsuits against others and had drug charges thrown at him. You’d think that after facing bankruptcy he would just gracefully sit quietly so as not to cause any more embarrassment or problems. But no, Jackson has joined a long line of one-time celebrities who have now become Twitter menaces.

Phoebe Cates

Phoebe Cates enjoyed fame in numerous films during the 80s. Throughout the 1980s she was sharing an apartment in Greenwich Village with her then-boyfriend who she met the first time she went to Studio 54 with none other than Andy Warhol. It seemed as though she was set for mega-success thanks to her acting career and social circles.

Cates’ most notable role is perhaps Gremlins. Yet, after the early 90s Cates seemed to disappear from show business. Her only known acting role since the 90s was in 2001’s The Anniversary Party, which probably explains why she decided to forego a complete career change. In 2005 she purchased her own independent boutique.

Bow Wow

Bow Wow, formerly known as Lil’ Bow Wow, or Shad Gregory Moss as he’s known in real life is best known for his rap music and acting roles. In 2004 he took the leading role in Johnson Family Vacation and has had main parts in many other movies too.

Despite signing a new record deal in 2015, Bow Wow’s chances of reviving his music career don’t seem all that likely. Over the years, the rapper has wound up involved in some terrible scandals from fighting with a woman to refusing to pay child maintenance fees. To top it off, he was left named and shamed in 2017 when his social media “Bow Wow Challenge” exposed his supposedly private jet, luxury lifestyle as fake. Oh, dear…

Jodie Sweetin

Jodie first hit our screens when she starred TV sitcom Valerie but you probably recognize her from Full House. After leaving Full House, Sweetin went on a downward spiral and began drinking alcohol aged just 14. Sweetin’s drinking turned into alcoholism and over the next 15 years, she battled alcohol and drug addiction.

Jodie is said to have abused a concoction of drugs, including ecstasy, methamphetamine, and crack, as well as others. The actress later stated that she did it because she was bored. In between rocky relationship issues, Jodie rejoined the Full House cast in Netflix’s Fuller House in 2015 but it didn’t relaunch her career in the way she had perhaps hoped.