How To NOT Ruin Your Career (A Memo To Chris Brown)

February 11th, 2009

By now we ALL know about the Rihanna/Chris Brown drama, and the salacious rumours just keep pouring in. Isn’t it amazing how quickly things can change, even for celebrities? A few days ago, this young couple seemingly had everything going for them. Now, RiRi’s in hiding and Chris has become public enemy #1. I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that his career will never recover from this. Celebrities might get away with a lot of crap, but being an alleged or convicted woman beater isn’t something that people will forget easily – especially when your boy-next-door persona has been a big part of your appeal and success.

But Chris Brown is hardly the first celebrity who (may have) helped kill his own career. Here’s a list of things you should probably avoid if you want to remain on the A-list:

1. Murder (talkin’ to you, O.J).
Yes, this is an obvious one but obviously some people never got the memo. Nothing kills a career with more intense and lightning-fast speed than actually KILLING someone.

2. (Allegedly) Messin’ With The Kiddies (talking to you, MJ and R.K)
I say allegedly because both MJ and R. Kelly were acquitted of their child molestation and pornography charges. But the mere allegation is enough to destroy the public’s perception forever – especially if it happens more than once.

3. Becoming A Shameless And Insufferable Cracked-Out MESS (talkin’ to you, Amy)
Seriously, do YOU remember the time when Amy Winehouse was a really talented musician? This actually saddens me because the woman is so talented but SO sick. I blame the people around her for not dragging her by her beehive to rehab, but at some point she has to make a decision to WANT to live. Until then, she’s just a freak show for the whole world to watch.

4. Being A Fraud (talkin’ to you Ashlee, Milli & Vanilli)
Is it too much to ask that a singer be able to SING? I mean, it says so right in the job title. Milli Vanilli were total frauds but at least they admitted to it eventually. That earned them at least one point towards redemption. But Ashlee (and Papa Joe) blamed everything and everyone short of the Pope for being caught lip-synching on SNL. The world completely wrote her off when she tried singing live at various awards shows and still sounded atrocious. Game, set, match.

5. Going Too Far With The Eccentricities (again, talkin’ to you MJ)
Believe it or not, there was a time when Michael Jackson wasn’t a total freak. I actually remember those times, they were good! Then for some inexplicable reason, MJ began cultivating a bunch of eccentricities in order to become more “interesting” to the public. He even began feeding the tabloids bizarre stories about himself, like how he slept in a hyperbaric chamber. One problem though: those stories, combined with having a zillion plastic surgeries and walking the red carpet with your pet chimp, doesn’t make you more interesting. It only makes you look like a freak, and totally diverts attention away from what made you famous in the first place – your talent.

How about you – what do YOU think? Will Chris Brown bounce back from this scandal? And what do you think are the worst things a celebrity can do to harm their careers?

Posted on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 4:24 pm by antonella and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture.