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If there's a popular reality television show called When Animals Attack, well another entertaining one might be called When Celebrities Attack.
The average person has bad days and good days. Celebrities are no different than the average person (although some might beg to differ). They too can have bad days and good days. Perhaps they walk around a little bit grumpy or melancholic. Maybe they're a little short when answering interview questions. There are a few that turn on those that are closest to them or those that are being paid to assist or help them in a varying degree of capacities—bodyguards, stylists, consultants, hair stylists, assistants, chauffeurs.
Instead of turning to someone who's there to help them, they turn ON them. A celebrity will turn mean and downright nasty. There might even be physical or verbal abuse involved. Many of these events and occurrences go unheard of because usually, settlements will occur under the table to keep the celebrity from the bad publicity. However, a few slip out every now and then. We've curated some of the best of the worst celebrities gone bad. Check out these 15 crazy celebrities that attacked their assistants:
Jenna Jameson
Adult star Jenna Jameson walked into a hair salon in Newport Beach where her personal assistant, Britney Markham, was getting her hair done. Out of nowhere, she punched her in the back and stomach with brass knuckles on. After hitting Britney, Jenna attempted to leave the salon but was placed under citizen's arrest until the police arrived.
Britney was taken to the hospital for her injuries. Jenna could have been charged with felony but fortunately (or in Britney's case, unfortunately) her brass knuckles were attached to her iPhone case which are a 'fashion accessory' and not a weapon. So, what if instead of brass knuckles on her iPhone it was a gun, would it still be considered a fashion accessory?
Taryn Manning
Actress Taryn Manning, who is probably most remembered for her role as Eminem's ex in the movie 8-Mile, attacked her friend and assistant Holliann Hartman.
Holliann and Taryn were staying at the Dream Downtown hotel in New York City when police received a phone call from the hotel at 5am. Holliann was covered with black and blue bruises from head to toe. Holliann alleged that Taryn hit and choked her and then bashed her head against the floor multiple times.
Taryn was arrested and charged with misdemeanor, assault, and choking. She was ordered to stay away from her assistant, Holliann. Taryn's attorney excused his client's behavior as nothing more than "friends have disagreements" and "they had a long, stressful day of travel." Do friends often choke and punch each other after a "long, stressful day of travel?"
Korean Air Heiress
Macadamia nuts were the poor attendant's offense. Outrageously spoiled Korean Air heiress, Cho Hyun-ah, viciously attacked the attendant for serving macadamia nuts to her in a bag and not in a porcelain bowl.
Cho forced the attendant to her knees and started slapping her in the head and chest area with papers. She flew into a bigger rage when the flight crew couldn't find in the manual a procedure on how to serve nuts properly. She ordered the plane back to the gate and forced the head flight attendant off the plane.
Cho was charged and sentenced to 8 months in jail in South Korea for her disgusting, despicable actions.
Naomi Campbell
Naomi Campbell is the most notorious abusive celebrity to work for. She's had multiple assistants that have been injured while in her employment directly due to her obvious rage problem.
In 1998, Naomi got upset with her then-assistant, Georgina Galanis, and hurled a cellphone at her head.
In 2004, Amie Castaldo was unfortunately the victim of one of Naomi's most vicious attacks to date. Naomi attacked her assistant by head-butting her to the ground, yanking her hair, and then biting her lips. Amie stated that Naomi also called her a "worthless, f*cking b*tch!" while she was pummeling her.
In 2006, she was involved in three separate incidences. She smacked her housekeeper with her phone. She beat her assistant with her Blackberry. And, the third incident was with her counselor! She took her long acrylic nails and dragged them across the counselor's face.
Each violent escapade got her a slap on the wrist. A couple days of community service which witnesses have said was just Naomi parading around outside pretending to work while police officers carried her purse. However, the police having her back seemed to come to an abrupt end in 2008. In early 2008, Naomi attacked police officers at Heathrow Airport! She was charged with assaulting police officers by punching and spitting on them. Naomi received 200 hours of community service.
No amount of community service, anger management, or therapy seems to be turning this catwalk monster around. Perhaps a nice 6-month stint in a women's correctional prison might be just what the doctor ordered!
Katt Williams
In 2016, Katt Williams was slapped upside the head with a $1-million lawsuit brought on by a former assistant's alleged abuse claims. Yadira Torres endured some pretty atrocious abuse at the hands of Mr. Williams.
In 2016, his assistant claimed that she was punched in the face at a public restaurant. Katt was arrested and thrown in jail for assault. She also claims that before this public assault, he has tied her up and restrained her in a hotel room. He was punishing her for disobedience. He had left her tied up for several hours before he released her.
While traveling with Yadira, he became upset with her and took all of her money, leaving her stranded in the middle of an airport with nowhere to go! Katt sounds like one mean and nasty guy. If he can assault someone in a public venue, who knows what he would do to someone in private?!
Demi Lovato
Songstress Demi Lovato suffered a major meltdown during the summer of 2011 when her ex-boyfriend, Joe Jonas, started dating Twilight star Ashley Greene. Demi was touring with the Jonas brothers and became a terrible person to be around. She didn't want anything to do with her fans and her music suffered because of her attitude.
The last straw came when Demi was on a flight to Peru and suddenly, without any provocation, got up from her seat, walked over to her friend/assistant/backup dancer and punched her square in the face! Friends quickly got her back to her seat and implored her to seek professional help. Demi told Elle magazine, "When you punch someone on a plane, enough is enough." Demi did seek professional help to overcome her anger issues along with going on medication for bipolar disorder.
Lindsey Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is no stranger to the tabloids and she has thankfully managed to remain out of them for the last year or so. But previously, she was one mean girl (yes, in reference to Mean Girls).
After getting into a car accident, she desperately tried to get her assistant to take the rap for her. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work and she was charged and booked in the local jail. Her assistant bailed her out as soon as he was given the opportunity to but this was not good enough for Ms. Lohan. The mean girl reportedly got into the car, taking the driver's seat while he sat in the passenger seat. As they sped out of the parking lot and onto a busy stretch of road, Lindsey attacked him and pushed him out of the moving vehicle!
Christian Bale
Christian Bale is one of the most intense actors in Hollywood. The guy has an amazing repertoire of films under his belt, including American Psycho, Terminator, and The Dark Knight.
To become such an incredible actor, there's no argument that he would need to possess great intensity and focus but it seems as though he is channeling his American Psycho character, Patrick Bateman. Things that would be not so much of a big deal to the average person, to Christian, are extremely big deals.
While Christian was filming the 4th installment of the film Terminator, he was secretly recorded verbally assaulting and humiliating a cinematographer on set. What did this offending cinematographer do to deserve such a verbal lashing from the megastar? He walked into Christian's view. Christian flew into a rage.
"If you do it one more time, I ain't walking on this set if you're still hired!"
"Do you want me to go and trash your lights? Then why are you trashing my scene? I want you off the f*cking set!" Christian apologized and blamed it on being immersed in his John Conner persona. Several days after the recording was released, he was accused of verbally assaulting his mother and sister. There seems to be a pattern forming here.
Jeremy Clarkson
When the host of Top Gear, Jeremy Clarkson, wants a steak, you better get him a steak or you're going to end up needing a steak for your black eye!
Jeremy Clarkson punched his Top Gear producer when they arrived at a hotel later than expected and the hotel's chef had gone home for the night. Sources say that it was even Mr. Clarkson who caused the delay in their getting back to the hotel on time because he was busy drinking rose wine at a local pub.
When Mr. Clarkson's demands were refused and he was offered a deli tray instead, he blew up and allegedly punched his producer. Several witnesses say that he only pushed and screamed at the producer. Jeremy says that he pushed him and never punched him. Whatever the details, Jeremy did end up getting his way. The hotel's general manager went and cooked him up his sirloin steak with potatoes.
Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra, often referred to as 'Old Blue Eyes', passed away in 1998. He is best known as being one of the most famous crooners of all time and a real ladies' man. He is also known for having a violent temper.
After getting angry with his drummer, he took a large glass pitcher and threw it straight at the drummer's head. The drummer dodged the pitcher just in the nick of time. The pitcher exploded only inches away from his head.
Other violent outbursts include taking a sledgehammer to a helipad he had built for a VIP guest that was planning on staying with him. The VIP guest had changed his plans at the last minute and Sinatra was beyond furious. The VIP guest? President John F. Kennedy. Old Blue Eyes busted up the helipad and also kicked in the guest room door that JFK would have occupied.
Sinatra also got mad on a television set that was malfunctioning at a hotel he was staying at, the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. He took the television and threw it out his hotel window, narrowly missing pedestrians in the street below!
Justin Bieber
Pop star Justin Bieber, went off the handle in late 2012 when he attacked his personal bodyguard. Justin punched him in the chest and stomach multiple times. The bodyguard, Moshe Benabou, took Mr. Bieber to court over the assault and screaming tirade.
Justin's attorney was able to make an agreement with Mr. Benabou and get it settled out of court. The amount of money Justin had to fork over to Mr. Benabou is unknown but with multiple witnesses, it would have been an easy win for him in the courtroom and a real public relations nightmare for the "Never Say Never" singer.
In the photo above, you see him aiming a solid punch at a paparazzi in Paris.
Fred Durst
Do you remember Fred Durst? The lead front man of the late 90's band Limp Bizkit? Well, Fred has a bit of a temper. He displayed this temper at one of his concerts when he decided to kick someone hired to protect him in the head!
He was on stage when he came up behind the 29-year-old security guard and nailed him right in the head. The security guard ended up having to go to the hospital. Fred ended up spending the night in jail. The security guard's company filed a lawsuit in the amount of $400,000 against Mr. Durst.
This time it was not "my way or the highway..." Fred settled out of court.
Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe terrified executive producer Branko Lustig on the set of his movie Gladiator. He threatened to kill the producer with his bare hands. Branko was so scared of Crowe that he considered walking away from the film. He had to be persuaded to stay by director Ridley Scott.
Russell was "erratic" and a walking time bomb on the set of Gladiator. He was very unhappy with his script, especially the final line. He has walked out from the set multiple times prior to completing the film. When it was finished, he famously told the director that the film was "sh*t" but he was a great actor who made "sh*t" sound good.
Rosie O'Donnell
Rosie O'Donnell was once the darling of the talk show circuit. She was known for her 'crush' on Tom Cruise and her trademark phrases like "cutie patootie."
Well...not so much anymore. Rosie is nicknamed "The Beast" due to her flaming temper and erratic behavior. On the daytime talk show The View, she would become downright nasty and mean to everyone that disagreed with her—co-stars to producers. She terrified a producer by pinning her to her own chair and screaming profanities in her face. The producer was fired leading to a lawsuit against Ms. O'Donnell. The producer claimed she was unfairly terminated and while employed on The View, she was subject to the wrath of Ms. O'Donnell, regularly berated and humiliated.
Things aren't always so rosey with Rosie.
Lance Armstrong
The once-celebrated 7-time Tour de France champion was revealed to be a horrendous bully and liar during the doping and blood transfusion allegations and subsequent trial.
One person that endured a significant sum of Lance Armstrong's abuse was none other than his personal assistant. Mike Anderson worked for Lance for 2 years. He was terminated in 2004 after discovering illegal drugs in Lance's bathroom. Lance tried to strong-arm him into signing a nondisclosure agreement, meaning he would never be able to list Lance as an employer or discuss anything about him. Mike refused. Lance fired him and then badmouthed him to the press and cycling professionals. Mike's dream was to open his own bike shop which Lance promised he would help start. Lance refused and instead tried to turn everyone against Mike...which worked for a time; until the bomb burst and turned the cycling world on its head. Lance's world came crashing down around him. Many people started to finally speak out over how Lance bullied and harassed them. They were no longer afraid of him and happy to see justice.
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