Hollywood Awards Won By Awful Celebrities

The following article contains references to sexual assault, domestic violence, homophobia, and racism. 

With the Oscars steadily approaching, we're reminded of the controversy, i.e. the slap that launched a thousand memes, that blighted last year's ceremony. At the 2023 Oscars Nominees Luncheon, Academy president Janet Yang said that the response to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was inadequate, suggesting that the Oscar winner should have faced graver repercussions for his surprising outburst. "What happened onstage was fully unacceptable and the response from our organization was inadequate... In times of crisis you must act swiftly, compassionately and decisively for ourselves and for our industry," Yang said, per Variety. "You should and can expect no less from us going forward." 

It's questionable, however, what punishment could be harsher than banning Smith from the Oscar for ten years. As critics have pointed out, Smith's penalty was unusually severe considering that far more contentious figures have not only been welcomed back to awards ceremonies, but have been celebrated and honored despite facing serious allegations (and, in some cases, being convicted of crimes). Subsequently, detractors argue that the incident highlighted the hypocrisy of the Academy, which apparently deems certain actions, such as an onstage slap, as monstrous, and others, such as facing a slew of sexual assault allegations, as inconsequential.

There's no denying that numerous unsavory figures have been applauded and awarded at various Tinseltown ceremonies. While hindsight is 20/20, in many instances problematic stars were honored long after being exposed for their sketchy behavior. Let's take a deep dive into Hollywood awards won by awful celebrities.

Despite the reckoning that was the MeToo movement, Casey Affleck has managed to continue with his career relatively unscathed. In 2010, he faced two sexual misconduct lawsuits stemming from his time filming the mockumentary "I'm Still Here" with his pal and then brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix. One of the accusers, cinematographer Magdalena Gorka, alleged in her lawsuit that a drunk Affleck went into her bed one night, wearing his underwear and a t-shirt, and began groping her. She claimed that he refused to leave her bed, but eventually stormed out of the room in anger. As a result of her accusations, she said that she did not receive a Director of Photography credit on the film. The second accuser, producer Amanda White, claimed that Affleck exposed his genitals and used misogynistic language when referring to women, per the Chicago Tribune. The cases were settled out of court.

When Affleck was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for his role in "Manchester by the Sea" in 2017, an uproar ensued. In a series of since deleted tweets, Constance Wu slammed the Academy for honoring Affleck. "Boys! BUY ur way out of trouble by settling out of court! Just do a good acting job, that's all that matters!" she wrote.

Following Affleck's Oscar win, Brie Larson, who was presenting the award, famously refused to applaud him. "Whatever it was that I did onstage kind of spoke for itself," she later told Vanity Fair.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Director Elia Kazan was one of the central figures of the Hollywood blacklist of the 1950s. Spawned from McCarthyism, the blacklist was a witch hunt against actors, writers, and directors with alleged communist sympathies. The accused were forced to testify before The House Committee on Un-American Activities where they were required to name names. Many refused to name names, including The Hollywood Ten, who faced grave repercussions to their careers.

But when called to testify, Kazan gladly gave up the names of eight acquaintances. Thereafter, as the Los Angeles Times argues, he made the anti-communist film "On the Waterfront" to justify his actions and continued to enjoy an illustrious career, while those he blacklisted had their livelihoods destroyed.

In 1999, Kazan was awarded the Special Lifetime Achievement Oscar. The honor was highly controversial, viewed as an affront to those whose lives he seemingly ruined. "He's being honored as if he were a hero when in fact he was a heel," blacklisted writer Norma Barzman told The Washington Post. "It's no joke. He destroyed many, many lives." A number of celebs refused to applaud Kazan, with Nick Nolte and Ed Harris famously looking less than impressed as the veteran filmmaker waltzed onto the stage, per the Los Angeles Times. Moreover, protestors took to holding placards outside the venue. "Like Judas, informers are never forgiven," declared blacklisted writer Joan Scott. "I had to go into hiding to avoid a subpoena. Being blacklisted still affects me."

In 2009, Chris Brown made headlines when he was arrested for viciously attacking his then girlfriend, Rihanna, before the Grammy Awards. According to the official police report, which was obtained by TMZ, Brown left Rihanna with a split lip, a bloody nose, multiple bite marks, and bruises. Yet, the industry was somehow quick to forgive the musician.

Just three years later, he was welcomed back to the Grammys, where he won the award for Best R&B Artist and gave a rousing performance. Not everyone was ready to applaud Brown, however. On Twitter, a number of viewers lamented his comeback. "Whenever I see Chris Brown nominated for anything or performing, my soul dies a little," wrote one user. Meanwhile, HelloGiggles condemned the Academy for honoring a domestic violence perpetrator: "I'm frustrated that the mainstream media is covering this story like it's any comeback story, like an exiled prince's return to a former glory."

While the Academy may have had a short memory, the impact of his actions has been lasting. "For me, and anyone who's been a victim of domestic abuse, nobody wants to even remember it," Rihanna told Vanity Fair. "Nobody even wants to admit it. So to talk about it and say it once, much less 200 times, is like... I have to be punished for it?" Moreover, Brown has an extensive history of violence against women, having been accused of multiple crimes since attacking Rihanna.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

There has long been a curious cognitive dissonance when it comes to Woody Allen. The filmmaker was first accused of molesting his adoptive daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992; he has denied the allegations. The accusations were well known in Hollywood, yet, for decades actors jumped at the chance to work with him and were more than happy to accept low pay.

In 2012, Allen won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for his film "Midnight in Paris," marking the third time he picked up the award. In a 2014 blog for The New York Times, Dylan condemned Hollywood for continuing to applaud her alleged abuser. "Last week, Woody Allen was nominated for his latest Oscar... It felt like a personal rebuke, like the awards and accolades were a way to tell me to shut up and go away," she wrote. She also took aim at the various Hollywood stars who continued to work with and defend him: "You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten me?... Imagine a world that celebrates [your] tormenter."

Hollywood didn't really turn its back on Allen until 2018, in the wake of the MeToo movement. He had just completed filming "A Rainy Day in New York," starring Timothée Chalamet and Selena Gomez, but Amazon Studios suspended the film's release following a resurfacing of the 1992 allegations. Subsequently, the aforementioned actors donated their salaries to sexual assault charities.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

According to those who were abused by Harvey Weinstein, his predatory behavior was an open secret in Hollywood. Indeed, prior to his downfall, numerous allusions were made to the producer being an abuser. For instance, Seth MacFarlane hosted the 2013 Oscar nominations, where he quipped, "Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein."

Despite his rampant abuse of women, Weinstein won a whopping 81 Oscars for his various films, making him one of the most award-winning producers in Hollywood history. "Everyone knew if you were in a Harvey movie, chances are you were going to win or be nominated for an Oscar," Sasha Stone of AwardsDaily.com told Forbes. "It's a sick thing to be in a business where that was the collateral used to coerce women."

In 1999, he famously won big for "Shakespeare in Love," but he reportedly used shady tactics to win over the Academy. According to Vanity Fair, he pressured the film's stars into doing relentless and exhausting publicity for the film over the course of three months. These tactics paid off and Weinstein continued to take home Hollywood awards in the years that followed, until his expulsion from the Academy in 2017. "The era of willful ignorance and shameful complicity in sexually predatory behavior and workplace harassment in our industry is over," the Academy said in a statement. Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year jail sentence.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Mel Gibson is one of those rare stars who was canceled before the term "cancel culture" entered the zeitgeist. In 2006, Gibson went on an antisemitic rant after cops pulled him over for driving under the influence. He claimed that Jewish people are responsible for all the world's wars, and demanded to know whether a female officer was Jewish, per TMZ. Although he apologized for the incident and insisted he wasn't antisemitic, he made racist marks once again in 2010.

The "Braveheart" star left an abusive voicemail on ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva's answering machine. In the tape, which was obtained by Radar, Gibson makes a number of vile racist and misogynist threats, including expressing a desire for Grigorieva to get raped and using the n-word. Moreover, Winona Ryder told The Times that Gibson once uttered antisemitic and homophobic remarks towards her and a friend. "We were at a crowded party with one of my good friends, and Mel Gibson was smoking a cigar, and we're all talking and he said to my friend, who's gay, 'Oh wait, am I gonna get AIDS?'" she recalled. "And then something came up about Jews, and he said, 'You're not an oven dodger, are you?'"

Nevertheless, Hollywood has seemingly forgiven Gibson. In addition to being nominated for Academy Awards for his 2016 film "Hacksaw Ridge," he won the Hollywood Film Award for Best Director that year. This prompted critics to ponder how someone as controversial as Gibson has maintained an illustrious career.

If you or a loved one has experienced a hate crime, contact the VictimConnect Hotline by phone at 1-855-4-VICTIM or by chat for more information or assistance in locating services to help. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

Although he was only recently convicted, allegations of R. Kelly's sexual misconduct date back to the early '90s. The singer first met Aaliyah when she was just 12, per the Chicago Sun-Times. He illegally married the late songstress in 1994, when she was 15, but he is believed to have first had sex with her when was around 13 or 14, per the BBC. In 2000, he was accused of sexually abusing children, with his pedophilia apparently being an open secret in the music industry.

Having first won Grammys in 1998 for his hit song "I Believe I Can Fly," Kelly continued to be honored long after rumors of sexual abuse surfaced. In 2005, he won an American Music Award for best Soul/R&B male artist. Rather than condemn Kelly, Hollywood not only awarded him, but made light of the serious accusations he faced. For instance, at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, Chris Rock joked that Kelly would have to be seated far apart from the then underaged Olsen twins, resulting in raucous laughter and applause from the celebs in attendance.

When the musician was found guilty of nine charges of racketeering and sex trafficking in 2021, questions were raised as to whether his awards ought to be revoked. Speaking to the Chicago Sun-Times, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said that there were no such plans in place. "We're probably not a business that we want to be in of taking people's awards back," he said.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Louis C.K.'s sexual misconduct story arc has undoubtedly been one of the most bizarre. In 2017, the comedian was canceled, albeit briefly, after a number of female colleagues alleged in a New York Times exposé that he exposed himself and masturbated in front of them. C.K. was one of the few men accused in the MeToo era to own up to the misconduct allegations. "These stories are true. At the time, I said to myself that what I did was okay," C.K. said in a statement, per The Guardian, "because I never showed a woman my d*** without asking first... But what I learned later in life, too late, is that when you have power over another person, asking them to look at your d*** isn't a question. It's a predicament for them... I wielded that power irresponsibly."

Thereafter, C.K. briefly became persona non grata, but he emerged from the wilderness when he won the Grammy for Best Comedy Album in 2022. In what some deemed an affront to his victims, the comedian's award-winning album, "Sincerely, Louis C.K.," dealt with his experiences of being canceled over sexual misconduct.

In an interview with Variety, C.K. survivor Julia Wolov said that the comic's Grammy win proved that nothing has changed in Hollywood. "Nobody cares. That's the message this sends," she said. "It really does. That's the truth." She also said that it was incredibly difficult for survivors to heal with C.K. being publicly applauded. 

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Unlike the numerous men who have been accused of — and deny — sexual misconduct, Roman Polanski's case is unique. This is because the director has been convicted of statutory rape, and has openly bragged about his predilection for underage girls (he once claimed that "everyone wants to f*** young girls," per The New Yorker), yet has been relentlessly defended by Hollywood. Polanski's sexual misconduct case dates back to 1977, when he pleaded guilty to statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, whom he also allegedly sedated with alcohol, per the AP. He fled to France before his sentencing and remains in exile.

He was supported by various A-listers, including Martin Scorsese, Tilda Swinton, and Wes Anderson, who signed a petition calling for his release. During an appearance on Howard Stern's radio show, fellow director Quentin Tarantino once asserted that the victim, a 13-year-old child, wanted to have sex with Polanski, eliciting an unusually furious and indignant response from the notoriously crude radio host.

In line with Hollywood's adulation of Polanski, he received a standing ovation when he was awarded the Oscar for Best Director (for "The Pianist") in 2003. As The Guardian argues, the Polanski case highlights a troubling hypocrisy in Hollywood. The outlet also notes that the director has various other alleged victims, the youngest of whom, artist Marianne Barnard, claims Polanski assaulted her when she was just 10. "I want him to be exposed so he cannot carry on this behavior," Barnard told The Sun.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Like a number of other celebs in this rundown, it has been claimed that Kevin Spacey's alleged abuse of young men was an open secret. Although he was famed for playing creepy characters in films such as "Seven" and "American Beauty," few could have predicted the extent of his alleged crimes. The actor is currently facing seven charges of sexual assault in the UK, his home of many years, and is awaiting trial, per Reuters. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Spacey has won two Oscars: he took home the Best Supporting Actor statue for "The Usual Suspects" in 1996 and the Best Actor award for "American Beauty" four years later. As recently as 2015, he was awarded for his work in "House of Cards" at the Golden Globes. Moreover, he was set to be honored with a prestigious Emmy Founders Award in 2017. However, in light of sexual assault claims in the wake of the MeToo movement, the Academy revoked the honor, per People.

Though he is no longer being awarded in Hollywood, Spacey is still garnering plaudits in Europe. In 2023, he received a lifetime achievement award at the National Museum of Cinema in Italy, where Spacey has been sowing the seeds of his return. "Tonight we're witnessing Kevin Spacey's comeback," declared Italian art critic Vittorio Sgarbi, per The Hollywood Reporter. "The one living through cinema is an immortal man, and it is precisely him that we are awarding this prize to tonight."

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

The future was looking bright for James Franco in 2018. He had just completed his passion project, "The Disaster Artist," about the making of the calamitous Z-list movie "The Room," and was being honored accordingly. That year, he won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy and waltzed onstage wearing a Time's Up pin to show solidarity with the MeToo movement.

But Twitter users were swift to question why Franco was exhibiting his supposed feminist chops when he himself has been accused of sexual misconduct. "James Franco just won. Please never ever ask me why I left the film/TV business," actor Ally Sheedy wrote in a since deleted tweet. Meanwhile, actor Violet Paley tweeted about her own alleged encounter with Franco. "Cute #TimesUp pin James Franco," she wrote. "Remember the time you pushed my head down in a car towards your exposed penis & that other time you told my friend to come to your hotel when she was 17? After you had already been caught doing that to a different 17 year old?" The latter accusation is in reference to Franco's viral interaction with a 17-year-old Scottish girl in 2014; in a transcript published by E! News, the actor asked the girl her age before pressuring her into coming to his hotel room for sex.

Since then, Franco has faced multiple sexual assault allegations; in 2021, he settled a sexual misconduct lawsuit out of court for $2.2 million, per CNBC.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Shortly before his death in 2007, Ike Turner won the Grammy for Best Blues Album. As Reuters highlights, the win was met with controversy, as his ex-wife and collaborator, Tina Turner, had accused him of domestic violence.

In her autobiography "My Love Story," Tina opened up about the extent of the abuse her ex inflicted upon her. She alleged she was raped, beaten, and had hot coffee thrown on her. "He used my nose as a punching bag so many times that I could taste blood running down my throat when I sang," she wrote. "He broke my jaw. And I couldn't remember what it was like not to have a black eye." Speaking to The Times, she revealed that he also cheated on her, despite simultaneously being dangerously possessive and jealous. "There was violence," she explained, "because he had this fear that I was going to leave him... The other women weren't so bad, but it was the constant, constant ill treatment." As the outlet notes, Ike admitted that he had slapped Tina on a number of occasions, but denied that he was an abusive person.

In the 2021 documentary "Tina" (via Vanity Fair), the singer revealed that she is still haunted by the abuse she suffered. "I wanted to stop people from thinking that Ike & Tina was so positive, that we were such a great team," she explained. "So I thought, if nothing else, at least people know."

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Filmmaker David O. Russell hasn't really made a secret of his unpleasant personality. In 2007, a video went viral in which he verbally abused Lily Tomlin on the set of "I Heart Huckabees," calling her the c-word among innumerable other insults. Addressing the incident years later, Tomlin told The Hollywood Reporter, "I was like stoic in my suffering. But we've overcome it."

In 2012, Russell was investigated by police after his teenage transgender niece, Nicole Peloquin, alleged that he groped her breasts and genitals, per The Smoking Gun. When questioned by police, Russell did not deny groping his niece, but attempted to blame her for the violation by claiming that she was "always causing drama since the transgender transformation and has become very provocative and seductive." As sexual violence campaigners highlight, "she was asking for it" is a common tactic used by abusers to undermine women and thus escape legal repercussions. As revealed during the Sony Pictures email hack, Hollywood execs were well aware of Russell's problematic behavior, with Amy Pascal referencing it in one of her correspondences, per The Daily Beast.

Despite this, Russell was honored at the Golden Globes in 2014, with "American Hustle" winning the award for Best Comedy Film. Following the ceremony, the director remarked, "strong women characters are the gateway to a very powerful movie," per the Los Angeles Times. Such a sentiment is ironic given the allegations against him.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).