Erykah Badu, Vulture, 2018
What she said Oh dear Lord. She starts with: “I see good in everybody. I saw something good in Hitler,” then proceeds to qualify the statement with the entirely baseless assertions that “he was a wonderful painter” and “he had a terrible childhood”, neither of which is true. She then ponders what her own daughter might have turned into had she grown up in the Hitler household. As one does.
The effect on her career A fortnight later she was announced as the headliner of Field Day festival.
Sean Connery, Playboy, 1965
What he said “I don’t think there’s anything particularly wrong about hitting a woman … An open-handed slap is justified … If a woman is a bitch or hysterical … I’d do it.”
The effect on his career Bafflingly, he worked solidly for close to four more decades, cornering the market in lovable, irascible father figures. By the time the internet arrived and revisited the comments to note that they were, you know, TOTALLY reprehensible, he had retired. In 2005, his ex-wife Diane Cilento alleged that Sir Sean was as good as his word during their marriage.
John Mayer, Playboy, 2010
What he said The purveyor of tedious blues-rock started out his interview with Playboy denying that he was a douchebag, and then rapidly provided ample evidence that, actually, he really and truly is. In addition to dropping a casual N-bomb, he responded to a question about black female fans thusly: “My cock is sort of a white supremacist. I’ve got a Benetton heart and a fuckin’ David Duke cock.” A racist penis, ladies and gentlemen.
The effect on his career After some onstage weeping to hammer home the depths of his own feelings of twattery, he stopped doing interviews and didn’t sing in public again for nearly three years. Sensible.
Chainsmokers, Billboard, 2016
What they said The “brostep” pioneers farted out a litany of blokey guff in which they honked about being, like, really good at drinking, to the extent it would probably kill them; revealed that of all their artistic motivations, “pussy was [always] No 1 … I had to date a model”; and that they had a combined penis length of 17.34 inches. One of these seems substantially less likely than the others.
The effect on their career Non-existent – apparently it was not especially revelatory that the duo have a tendency towards dickheadedness. The next year, they won a Grammy.
5 Seconds of Summer, Rolling Stone, 2015
What they said Luke Hemmings of the Aussie pop-rockers alienated their youthful fanbase by, if not actively confessing to nightly sex sessions with multiple groupies as such, then smirkingly admitted that “the possibility is high” that such happenstances regularly took place. Which somehow seems worse than just saying, “Yes, we had sex with lots of fans, often several at once.”
The effect on their career Heart-warmingly for those of us who believe in karma, their one single release since the interview, 2016’s Girls Talk Boys, tanked horribly in all the major global markets. Still, phwoar, sex with girls, eh?
Lee Ryan, The Sun, 2001
What he said In a spectacularly poor choice of words, Blue crooner Lee said that 9/11 had been “blown out of all proportion” (oh dear) one month after it happened, and asked, “Who gives a fuck about New York when elephants are being killed?” On a subsequent appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, he claimed he had said the much more even-handed “Fuck New York … Animals need saving and that’s more important”. Hey, that’s fine!
The effect on his career In an apology, he claimed that “I’m not good with words and I get mixed up”. You could argue the words “a subsequent appearance on Celebrity Big Brother” tell their own story. As do “Blue finished 11th in the Eurovision” and “got dropped by his record label”. They’re still out there, gamely plugging away, though.
