Celebs Who Can't Be Nearly As Perfect As They Seem

Navigating the minefield of fame has never been a simple task, and it's getting trickier all the time. Despite the fact that many of them owe their very careers to it, celebrities have been pushing for more protection from the press for decades, but the advent of social media and the rise of the 24 hour news cycle currently has privacy at a premium. In a world where putting a toe out of line can quickly snowball into a scandal, famous people with perfect public images are getting increasingly harder to come by. However, there are still a few celebs that somehow manage to stay squeaky clean.

In theory, the chances that someone will find a skeleton at the back of your closet increase exponentially the more famous you get, but historically, that hasn't always proved to be the case. From Hollywood A-listers to world-famous musicians and sports stars, the following celebrities are all at the top of their respective games, and dirt on them is extremely rare. We've done some digging and discovered that these celebs can't be nearly as perfect as they seem.

He was dubbed "the nicest guy in Hollywood" by The Telegraph, and the British broadsheet wasn't the first to give Oscar-winner Tom Hanks that honor. After making his breakthrough with 1988's Big, Hanks became a constant in Hollywood, earning a reputation as one of the industry's genuine good guys. His name still holds weight today, and that stellar reputation remains intact. "I made all my mistakes out of public view before I was known," Hanks told the Express.

He's managed to steer clear of scandal all these years, but if the rumors regarding the state of Hanks' marriage are true, he may not be the same man behind closed doors. "Tom has this folksy, Regular Joe image, but he can be cold and controlling, which puts a lot of stress on Rita [Wilson]," a source told Star magazine (via New Idea) in 2016. "Things are going downhill fast. Rita appears so miserable friends feel it could only be a matter of time before she pulls the plug."

The mag was forced to retract that story after Hanks unleashed his lawyer on the tab, but the actor has openly admitted that he has a seldom seen dark streak. "If someone takes advantage of [my] good nature, well then, you know, I'm not that nice a guy," he told CBS News.

Everybody loves Ellen, right? Wrong. The outwardly affable talk show host is rumored to have quite the mean streak when the cameras aren't rolling, and one person who isn't afraid to talk about it is Kathy Griffin. The comic first hinted at a beef with DeGeneres in her 2016 book, Kathy Griffin's Celebrity Run-Ins, and in 2018, she called her out over her handling of Joan Rivers' passing.

During her Laugh Your Head Off world tour (via Page Six), Griffin claimed she asked DeGeneres to do a tribute to Rivers, but DeGeneres refused, allegedly saying Rivers was more mean than funny. "That f*****g set me off," Griffin said. "So we had a fight in which I used inflammatory words like, 'Look you f*****g untalented hack.' ... You know when you're fighting with someone and you can kind of laugh at a point? Yeah, not that day."

Griffin wasn't the first person to blast DeGeneres over her attitude. A blogger claiming to have worked as a writer's assistant on The Ellen Show in 2001, claimed the host would treat people "like s***" on set. "We'd watch her in rehearsals, smiling and winning us over with her charm and comic timing," the anonymous writer alleged (via Gawker). "Then the director would yell cut, her face would fall, and she'd level a glare at the writers. 'Why do you keep writing these unfunny jokes?' she'd hiss."

He'll always be remembered for playing "The Boy Who Lived," but Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe isn't bitter about that. The Brit has embraced Potter fandom. "The fans of the Harry Potter films are unique and amazing and wonderful and still six years on since I finished them I'm constantly being amazed by their passion and by their curiosity," Radcliffe said while receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015.

He may have endeared himself to Potter fans with his humble attitude, but there's something that most of them probably don't know about Radcliffe. In an interview with Heat magazine (via CBS News), the actor said that while he never actually drank on set, he would sometimes turn up still under the influence. "I can point to many scenes where I'm just gone, dead behind the eyes," he said. "It was bad. I don't want to go into details, but I drank a lot and it was daily — I mean nightly."

Radcliffe won his battle with booze in 2010. He later revealed that it was his fear of failure that made him want to drink excessively, and he is the first to admit that he was a bit of a jerk before he got sober. "I was a recluse at 20," he told ShortList. "It was pathetic. It wasn't me. I'm a fun, polite person, and it turned me into a rude bore."

Read any list of famous philanthropists, and you'll find Bono near the top. The U2 rocker is as famous for his charity work as he is for his music, having dedicated years of his life to it. The Irishman has supported more than 40 charities to date, so why does he still tend to rub a lot of people the wrong way? Uproxx (who dubbed him the "world's most-punchable humanitarian") suspects the biggest sticking point for Bono-haters isn't the fact that he's constantly tossing up the peace sign and wearing sunglasses no matter the weather or occasion — it's that he seems to be a bit of a hypocrite.

In 2011, Bono and his band came under fire in the UK when news broke that U2 had shifted millions of dollars to accounts in different countries to avoid paying tax. The lead singer was accused of depriving the needy at home in Ireland with his use of tax havens abroad, but that scandal was nothing compared to the one that erupted in 2018. When the African headquarters of his One charity was hit with allegations of abuse, bullying, and sexual harassment, Bono apologized and offered to meet with victims.

"What will he do," asked a woman named only as Sibu (via iNews). "Shake my hand and take selfies with us and continue to play the Messiah?" Sibu claims to have been offered up as "bait" while working for One.

Meghan Markle seems to have slipped into life as Prince Harry's wife with all the grace expected of a royal. Pre-wedding polls showed that the British public found the former Suits actress to be the most relatable member of the royal family before she'd even officially joined it, and she further endeared herself with the citizenry when she asked folks to make donations to charities instead of sending her wedding gifts.

Markle is proving to be a perfect addition to the royal clan, but there are those who think she's a little too perfect. "I still haven't warmed to her," Australian TV personality Chrissie Swan said (via New Idea). "It's her manner. She looks like she's performing. To me she looks like she's portraying a concocted humility — acting." British reality-star-turned-reporter Katie Hopkins also went after Markle in a scathing article, but it was Markle's family in America that really tried to tarnish her image.

Speaking to The Sun after Harry and her half-sister went public, Samantha Markle accused her younger sibling of being a social climber. "Hollywood has changed her," Samantha said. "I think her ambition is to become a princess. It was something she dreamed of as a girl when we watched the royals on TV." The Duchess of Sussex is now living that dream, but her outspoken family remains a thorn in her royal side.

Another Hollywood nice guy with a seldom seen shady side, Matt Damon has become skilled at the art of explaining his way out of tricky situations that are usually of his own making. Numerous colleagues have vouched for him over the years (Emily Blunt once called him "the most universally loved person I've ever met,") but Damon has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth during interviews.

When it comes to public relations, 2015 wasn't a good year for Damon. The actor was forced to apologize for some tone deaf comments that he made about diversity in Hollywood, and then he was drawn into a scandal over an interview he did with The Guardian that seemed to suggest gay actors should stay in the closet for the sake of their careers. "I think it must be really hard for actors to be out publicly," he said. "I think you're a better actor the less people know about you, period." Damon apologized for that one during an appearance on The Ellen Show (via Time).

Damon's A-list everyman image took another hit when the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke. During a highly controversial interview on Popcorn with Peter Travers, Damon angered plenty of sexual harassment and assault victims and advocates when he warned of the dangers of a witch hunt. "I do believe that there is a spectrum of behavior," Damon said. "There's a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation."

NBA star LeBron James has been loved and hated with equal passion by the people of Cleveland. The native Ohioan famously angered his home state when he signed with the Miami Heat (some fans even burned their James jerseys,) but he found his way back into their hearts when he made a triumphant return to the Cavaliers. When he departed a second time to join the L.A. Lakers, the attitude from Cavs fans was very different — many actually wished him good luck. That's Ohio, but what does the rest of America really think of King James?

"There are a lot of reasons to love James even if you aren't from Cleveland," said Jerry Bembry, senior writer at The Undefeated. "He's the most talented player in the game. He loves his wife and kids, leading an off-the-court life that appears every bit that of the perfect family man." James is apparently such a good guy that he even apologized to his childhood sweetheart wife for the "hardships" she endured being by his side on the road to fame and fortune, but if claims made by his mother's ex-boyfriend are accurate, he has more apologizing to do.

Rapper Da Real Lambo alleges James fathered a love child with Miami reporter Sharon Reed and had an affair with none other than Beyoncé. Lambo also promised to dish "the truth" about why the singer wasn't invited to James' wedding in an upcoming tell-all book, which will hopefully shed some light on these unsubstantiated claims.

Ryan Gosling has become a big hitter in Hollywood after starring in a string of critical hits, but he stands out from the crowd by being a star in real life, too. The actor has been dubbed a hero on several occasions, and while that word may be a little strong, there's no denying the Oscar-winner is about as selfless as a celebrity gets. In 2011, he was seen breaking up a street fight, and the following year he actually saved a woman's life.

"I literally just got saved from a car by Ryan Gosling, that actually just happened," British writer Laurie Penny said (via the New York Post). "I was crossing 6th avenue in a new pink wig. Not looking the right way because I am from London. Ryan Gosling grabbed me away from a taxi." Penny admitted to swooning once she realized who'd rescued her, and she isn't the first woman Gosling's had that effect on. In fact, it seems to happen to some of his co-stars, too.

Gosling dated co-star Sandra Bullock in 2002's Murder by Numbers; had a relationship with Rachel McAdams after they appeared in The Notebook together; and the mother of his kids, Eva Mendes, played his love interest in The Place Beyond the Pines. But did he really stop there? According to a RadarOnline source, Gosling also had a thing with La La Land co-star Emma Stone. "Ryan keeps insisting that there's nothing going on with Emma," an insider said, alleging that Mendes was reportedly "fed up" with their flirting.

Dwayne Johnson's 2018 CGI spectacular, Skyscraper, posted some underwhelming box office numbers, but The Fate of the Furious and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (both released in 2017) made more than $2 billion combined worldwide, making the former wrestler one of the world's biggest movie stars. His universal appeal stems from more than just muscles. He's a genuinely nice guy who leads his own foundation and supports several charities, but is he really that perfect?

Former co-star Vin Diesel would probably tell you otherwise. The pair waged a highly-publicized beef that started on the set of The Fate of the Furious. There's also at least one Twitter user who can relate to Diesel's plight, having felt the wrath of "The Rock" on social media. When said Twitter user cast some shade on the characters' respawning scenarios in Jumanji, Johnson responded with a "kindly go f*** yourself."

Johnson's reply was an attempt at humor, so we won't hold that against him, but it's a lot harder to defend some of the antics he was involved in when he was still wrestling. He shot to prominence during the WWE's Attitude Era, which many believe was degrading toward women. Writer April Lavalle recalled Johnson calling Stephanie McMahon a "$2 slut, which was met with laughs and cheers from the audience. Yes, this is the same Rock who has starred in several children's movies, has won the hearts of millions, and is threatening to run for president."