Even the calmest and coolest moviegoers of them all get excited when they see a celebrity doing a cameo appearance in a film where they weren’t expected. However, what was once thought of as cinema gold soon went to dust when stars such as Kanye West and Elon Musk fell from the skyline.
When Stephen King made an appearance in his own 2019 film It: Chapter Two, he played the role of a shopkeeper and everyone lost their minds. In the romantic comedy 2006 film The Holiday, it was a surprise when Dustin Hoffman shows up as a fellow customer in a DVD shop in the scene when Jack Black learns that his girlfriend has cheated on him. To crown them all, the late great David Bowie appears as the judge in the 2001 film Zoolander when the superstar models played by Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson agree to a face-off.
Those cameos were well-placed and will always be appreciated no matter how many times we watch those movies. The cameos on this list, however, not so much.
Lance Armstrong in Dodgeball (2004)
“Grab Life By The Ball” is the slogan for the film where Vince Vaughn goes up against Ben Stiller to keep his gym. Before the big dodgeball match, Vaughn loses heart and gets a pep talk from none other than the great cyclist himself Lance Armstrong. At the time, it might have seemed like a good idea because Armstrong was looked up to by kids, athletes, coaches, and armchair warriors all around the globe for his great speed on a bicycle.
All that came to an end when the then-retired cyclist was accused of cheating. Accusations lead to a thorough investigation in which he was found guilty of blood doping and using performance-enhancement drugs. He had retired and thought that was all behind him, but it resulted in him being stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France wins, his Olympic medal and even his own Livestrong Foundation charity turned its back on him. What a guy to give Vince Vaughn a pep talk about facing your challenges head-on.
Kanye West in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)
Quite a few cameos take place in this scene where news teams are waging a gang war in the park. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are the faces of Entertainment News, Jim Carrey crashes the party of the Incredibly Polite Canadian News Team, Will Smith pops in from ESPN All Sports, Liam Neeson challenges from the History Network with John C. Reilly as the ghost of Stonewall Jackson, and even Harrison Ford shows up to the fight. It was a great scene that included Kanye West from MTV.
At the time, Ye was huge. That all changed when he started to lose his mind as some fans have claimed, but they lack the medical background to make a credible diagnosis. Adidas ended its relationship with the rapper after making antisemitic and controversial remarks as the Anti-Defamation League describes it. Appearing on Infowars, he talked about his admiration for Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. That was enough to get him canceled pretty much and Ron Burgundy is probably wishing there could be a way of erasing him from the great work that was once known as Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues.
Will Smith gets a mention right here for his infamous slap of comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, but Rock has come back with a Netflix comedy special Selective Outrage, and since slammed the disgraced actor and rapper back. So, he’ll just remain a mention.
Kanye West in The Cleveland Show (2010-2012)
In 3 different episodes, Kanye played the part of Kenny West in The Cleveland Show. In one episode, he gives honor to Cleveland by rapping freestyle and talking about how the “big man” lifted him up when he was down. What would Cleveland have to say about Kenny now?
For information on what Kanye West did to fall from grace, visit the previous mention on this list.
Donald Trump in Home Alone 2 (1992)
A little kid running around New York alone, Macaulay Culkin finds himself bumping into Donald Trump in the Plaza Hotel where he has purchased a room using his father’s credit card. Trump owns the Plaza Hotel and that’s how he has gotten himself into many cameos. When he’s approached by filmmakers if they can be permitted to use his properties in their films, he agrees on the grounds that they write him in a small role.
When Trump threw his hat in the ring in 2016, he offended about half the country with his infamous speech declaring that Mexico doesn’t send their best but, “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” It didn’t make matters any better when a recording surfaced of him saying, “Grab ’em by the [beep].” Of course, when he lost the election, he used his platform to rally the troops which resulted in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurgency. Now, he’s looking at being arrested based on the testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen. This list could go on, but that’s the picture.
Elon Musk in Rick and Morty (2013)
Elon Musk plays Elon Tusk, the CEO of Tuskla. He enjoys the humor in his scene with Rick and Morty while they talk about Elon Musk in their reality. When Rick spills the problem, he says, “Regular Elon can be a little bit controlling.” Hmm…that might have been a little foreshadowing and Elon Musk went along with the gag because deep down inside, he knows.
Recently buying Twitter to grant its users “free speech” once again, he brought back Twits who had been banned for good reason. He immediately fired top executives. He fired an engineer for his own lack of engagement on the social media platform. He has disregarded security issues as well as hate speech issues and those are just some of his Twitter moves that have expedited his fall. His transgender daughter has filed to legally change her name because she desperately wants to cut ties with him. Based on his tweet that “Pronouns suck,” it’s easy to see why.
He has said that people are dumb if they worry about COVID. He compared Justin Trudeau to Hitler and he called a diver who was vital in saving trapped Thai schoolboys a “pedo guy” and then downplayed that it meant creepy to win a defamation lawsuit. There is more, but readers will lose the will to live.
O.J. Simpson in Roots (1977)
O.J. Simpson plays the part of Kadi Touray who is traveling with his family through Kunta Kinte’s town, the role of Kinte is played by LeVar Burton. In their scene, Touray uses his lightning speed to chase Kinte across a field and catch up to him to teach him about training. Of course, that’s something O.J. knows a little bit about.
Too bad he went on to stand trial for the murder of his wife, Nicole. He was also charged with killing Ronald Goldman. He was found not guilty, but he was sued in civil court and lost to the tune of $33.5 million. He may not have seen a prison for those murders, but he did eventually do time when he was convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping. He is out now, but it’s likely he won’t be doing any more cameos.
Michael Jackson in Men in Black II (2002)
Michael Jackson played Agent M in Men in Black II. He had been in plenty of movies throughout his life. He loved dressing up as the Scarecrow in the 1978 film The Wiz. Crewmembers on the set said it was hard to get him out of makeup when the shooting was over for the day. However, in 2022, he wasn’t doing much of that anymore. That’s why his appearance in Men in Black II was so unexpected.
Michael’s reputation was tarnished by the multiple accusations of sexual misconduct with children. He was never convicted of any charges, but he did settle out of court. Sometimes, celebrities settle out of court even if they’re innocent just to get the case to go away and to limit the damage in the press. Michael Jackson’s motivation for settling is unknown but the accusations were very damaging and his reputation never had a chance to bounce back.
Matt Lauer in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (2015-2019)
Playing himself on the Today Show, Matt Lauer interviews the underground bunker girls and makes the statement, “I’m always amazed at what women will do because they are afraid of being rude.” At the time, Lauer was a respected news personality, which makes his role perfect in Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt to interview the women who had been kidnapped and held captive in a bunker for 15 years under the guise that there was a nuclear apocalypse.
Not so anymore. Matt has been accused multiple times of misconduct that include an accusation of rape. Ronan Farrow, Mia Farrow’s son, is the author of Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. In it, he details an incident in which it is alleged that Matt anally raped Brooke Nevils who is now a former NBC News employee. They both attended the Sochi Olympics and this incident supposedly happened in his hotel room. Nevils confided to Farrow that she was very intoxicated and wouldn’t have agreed to anal sex at all.
Jared Fogle in Super Size Me (2004)
Jared Fogle’s rise to fame was doing Subway commercials because when he was over 400 lbs. he lost all that weight by eating at Subway every day. Those $5 subs weren’t just cheap eating, but obviously healthy for you too. That’s what landed him in his role in Super Size Me, the documentary where writer and director Morgan Spurlock puts himself on a McDonald’s diet for a month while taking a look at the role fast food plays in the obesity issues in America.
Little did anyone know that Fogle had other interests. He is now serving time in prison for having child porn on his computer, but that’s not the worst part. He’s also been found guilty of engaging in sexual activity with children.
Harvey Weinstein in My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie (2005)
Harvey Weinstein appears in the animated comedy My Scene Goes Hollywood: The Movie about the Barbie doll. It’s an odd cameo, but Harvey is an odd man. At one time, it was like he owned Hollywood after co-founding Miramax with his brother. He had the power to make or break an actress’s career and that’s what he used his power for.
Now he sits in a prison as a convicted sex offender where he was found guilty in a court in New York for sexual assault and rape. He was then extradited to Los Angeles where he was further convicted of rape, forced oral copulation, and third-degree sexual misconduct. He has to serve out his 23-year sentence in New York before starting his 16-year sentence in California. So, it’s unlikely that he and his rotting teeth will ever see the light of day again.
