The Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns of 2009

You can also read the condensed list published by Pop Tarts on FOX news.com. Click here:

The Top Ten Celebrity Meltdowns of 2009

By Patrick Wanis, PhD. Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior Expert & Clinical Hypnotherapist

Actors, sports players, musicians and politicians! No one was immune.

This year the really famous engaged in really stupid behavior. From criminal behavior and cheating on their wives to public outbursts and emotional breakdowns, the delusion of power and invincibility took its toll on many of the celebrities of 2009!

The intoxication of fame, fortune and power along with stupidity, ego and delusion gave some celebrities more publicity than they bargained for.

Celebrity Life Coach and Human Behavior Expert Patrick Wanis, PhD has compiled his third annual list of The Top Ten Celebrity Meltdowns of 2009 along with his expert insights into their antics and dangerous behavior.

Can you guess the number 1 celebrity meltdown of 2009?

Let’s start at the bottom and work our way up…

10. Politicians – lying, cheating and slandering
The list of the Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns wouldn’t’ be complete unless it included a few sex scandals, acts of ego and stupidity coming from politicians, and all three from South Carolina!

He escaped impeachment proceedings but not the scolding of his wife and political teammates: The wife of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford announced just this past week that she is filing for divorce, six months after Sanford traveled secretly to Argentina for what he later confessed was an extramarital affair. But Sanford’s pain isn’t limited to a humiliating divorce or the end of his presidential dreams, no; Sanford also believes and proclaimed to the world that his Argentine mistress is his “soul mate”!

But lying wasn’t enough for politicians in 2009; some had to also accuse others of it: South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson shocked many observers when he shouted out in congress, “You lie!” after US President Barrack Obama denied that health care legislation would provide free coverage for illegal immigrants. That got him the 15-minutes of fame and then another political activist wanted his share as well.

Commenting on a report posted to Facebook about a gorilla escape at a zoo in Columbia, South Carolina, longtime GOP activist Rusty DePass wrote, “I’m sure it’s just one of Michelle’s ancestors – probably harmless.”  Yes, DePass called an escaped gorilla, a relative of First Lady Michelle Obama!

The desire for celebrity status, power and fame leads people to engage in amazing acts of ego & stupidity as well as delusions of grandeur and invincibility! Are you ready for number 9?

9. Adam Jasinski
He won Big Brother 9 (2008) and $500,000. But Adam Jasinski wanted more. He was arrested after allegedly trying to sell 2,000 Oxycodone pills. It’s alleged that Adam used the $500,000 prize money to finance drug deals. Adam “told U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Todd Prough that for the past several months he had used the half-million dollars to bankroll ‘obtaining thousands of pills of Oxycodone’ he resold ‘to customers all along the East Coast.’ Adam now faces 20 years in prison and a one-million dollar fine.

Adam is an example of the way that more money makes you more of who you are. During the Big Brother TV show, Adam was also fired from his job as a PR manager with the United Autism Foundation after making an offensive remark about kids with autism which seems to say that Adam didn’t really care about the children – he just wanted the money. Now he’ll need a lot of money to pay the potential one million dollar fine. Reality TV producers don’t understand that when they take people who have extreme personalities & deep unresolved issues and then place them on TV, in artificially constructed situations, it only makes them worse and sometimes a danger to society.

8. David Letterman
David Letterman revealed that just like Tiger Woods, looks and image can be quite deceiving. Yes, while Letterman likes the world to think that he is simply a funny nerd, a goofball with a clean image, the truth is he too, like Tiger Woods is a womanizer. The difference is he got his women from his staff.

On national and international television, Letterman revealed to the world that a man had tried to allegedly extort from him one million dollars in order to remain hush about Letterman’s wild sex life. Yes, David Letterman admitted that he had slept with women who worked for him on CBS’ “Late Show” in the years leading up to his marriage. But Letterman was smart, a real manipulator of the world of television. He didn’t wait for the news to get out and then embarrass and shame him. No. Letterman told the world and expressed remorse. He admitted that he is human as well as a sexual machine. Ultimately, what Letterman was admitting is the reality behind most affairs, trysts and sexual liaisons by the famous: they are driven by power, opportunity and temptation.

7. Lindsay Lohan/Mischa Barton
She entered the list in 2007 when her problems with alcohol and partying, a domineering mother and a selfish and narcissistic father became too much for her to handle. After two drunk-driving arrests in four months in 2007, Lohan was mature enough to admit to the world that she is addicted to alcohol and drugs and set out to get help. But three visits to rehab in 3 years haven’t helped enough and it seems she still has a long way to go and cannot seem to find stability or security in her life. In 2009, she dumped longtime girlfriend Samantha Ronson and thus went from girlfriend to boyfriend to another boyfriend to even making out with a married man.

2009 has still proven to be a disappointing year professionally for Lindsay: Her comedy “Labor Pains” was originally planned for a theatrical release, but instead appeared as a TV movie on ABC Family channel which was quite “a setback for the star”, and received dismal reviews from critics who were expecting “a triumphant return of a prodigal child star.” Lindsay still hasn’t gotten the real help she needs which is to heal her pain over her relationships and poor upbringing by her mother and father.

I grouped Lindsay Lohan and Mischa Barton together because the former star of “The O.C.”, Mischa Barton, seems to be following in the footsteps of Lindsay Lohan. The once-scary-skinny starlet was arrested for DUI and marijuana possession in LA. She was driving in two lanes during a break from the movie’s location work last year. She did what most celebrities do and later checked into rehab but that didn’t work and in July this year, Mischa was taken away by police and hospitalized under California’s involuntary psychiatric-hold law just hours before she was due to fly to New York for the premiere of her movie, “Homecoming.” California law grants authorities the power to hold a person for up to 72 hours if they present a danger to themselves or to others.  Bad more bad news came Mischa’s way just a couple of weeks ago: her TV show “the Beautiful Life” was axed after just 2 episodes. Mischa was devastated and unless she deals with the deeper psychological motivations behind her frightening thinness, she will end up like Lindsay Lohan.

6. Kate and Jon Gosselin
Probably the most watched and controversial marriage on television as ten million people followed the story, troubles, misery, feuding and eventual divorce of Kate and Jon trying to rear eight children. Some people said Kate is mean, nasty and a perfectionist while others condemned Jon as he at first remained passive but soon turned the tables when he withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars and found himself with a young lover and girlfriend.

The TV show reflected the horrors of a failed marriage that turned sour and bitter as Jon was tossed out of the show and he retaliated by trying to ban the TV crew from entering his property. The losers were and are the children who have little love and affection from the father who seems more engrossed in his own fame and career.  “This past year, Jon Gosselin was the most photographed man in America and appeared in more magazines than any other reality TV star,” his attorney boasted.

For this couple, what I have termed as “The Curse of The Reality Show” took yet another victim, and the fame, fortune and constant attention simply further fueled the desperation, loneliness and inner emptiness that Jon has probably felt most of his life. (Click here to read more about the curse of reality shows and why reality shows lead to divorce: https://patrickwanis.com/blog/reality-shows-lead-to-divorce/ .) And to make matters worse, Jon chose to hang out with and receive advice from one of the worst possible examples of fatherhood – Michael Lohan (father of Lindsay.)

5. Carrie Prejean
The former Miss California USA 2009 and Miss USA 2009 first runner-up created one of the biggest storms of the year. But after Carrie Prejean took her stance on “opposite marriage” on April 19, all hell broke loose and she even claimed that she lost the Miss USA title due to her opinion.

Carrie Prejean was dethroned nationally on June 10, 2009, for continued breach of contract and the she sued claiming libel religious discrimination. And then the pageant countersued her and demanded Prejean repay the money spent for her breast implants. Eventually the suits were settled out of court on November 3, 2009 following the revelation of a sex tape involving Carrie.

But Carrie had yet another episode, this time on Larry King when she took offense to Larry’s question calling it inappropriate and she removed her microphone, threatening to walk off and sat on set. Even Donald Trump was shocked and said she was out of line and that Larry’s question was not inappropriate.

Carrie’s greatest embarrassment comes when it is revealed that she believes that the body is the temple of the Lord but she felt comfortable enough to display the Lord’s temple to the world hoping she has the best temple and then enlarging her breasts to prove her temple is the best and then finally being exposed literally when the world finds out she made a tape of herself masturbating and sent it to her boyfriend and asked him to lie to the world and tell everyone that it was made 3 years earlier than it was made.

The lesson for Carrie Prejean is yes, speak your truth with compassion, but as the oath goes in court, “swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.” Money and power just makes us more of who we really are, and it is often best to come out and tell the world who we really are and that yes, we made some big mistakes. But Carrie wants the world to believe that she is perfect and holy and this is the path of celebrity ego and meltdown.

4. Christian Bale
Star of the movie Dark Knight, Christian Bale who played Batman revealed this year that yes he truly has a dark side to him. Just a few months after dealing with police after an alleged domestic violence incident involving his mother and sister, Bale went ballistic on the set of Terminator after Shane Hurlburt, director of photography, accidentally ruined a scene by walking onto the set. Bale had a meltdown and for more than 3 minutes, he was screaming, yelling, threatening violence and threatening to quit if the bosses didn’t fire the director of photography. The audiotape became a hit online.

But Bale didn’t just have an emotional meltdown he revealed rage, anger, major pretentiousness and egomania. “You don’t understand what it’s like to work with actors.”

To his credit, Bale apologized on radio and admitted “I acted like a punk” with his bad behavior. But the mistake Bale made was to try and fool the audience by saying that he is an actor that he “can’t handle the movie star thing.” However, the two have nothing to do with each other. He acted like a prima Madonna, a movie star that deserves royal treatment. During his radio apology, Bale reminded listeners that he doesn’t believe he is better than anyone else. But the only person he needs to remind of that is himself. Bale needs to learn humility, compassion and tolerance.

3. Kanye West
Last year Kanye West made it into the top 10 list of meltdowns after being arrested for two scuffles with a photographer, first in the Los Angeles International airport and then in the United Kingdom.  But it seems his mouth is much bigger than his fist. West jumped on stage at the 2009 VMAs and snatched the microphone from winner Taylor Swift and told millions of live viewers around the world that he thought Beyonce deserved the award. The audience booed and many celebrities cussed him out on Twitter – including Kate Perry and Pink.

Kanye seems to enjoy playing the victim and desperately seeks attention. He also jumped onstage at the 2006 MTV Europe Music Awards when he was snubbed for his single “Touch the Sky.” He grabbed the microphone, and like a spoilt child told the audience that his video deserved to win because it “cost a million dollars and Pamela Anderson was in it.” Maybe what West really deserves is to be treated like the child he chooses to be and have “a time out in the corner.” We need to remember that musical and creative talent does not always equal respect or consideration for others. In fact, for kanye, the talent plus the attention and notoriety equals narcissism!

2. Tiger Woods
So many people believed in and even worshipped Tiger Woods and not just his ability to play golf. His parents and Michael Jordan believe that Tiger Woods, a Buddhist, is “the Chosen One”, sent by God to change the course of humanity. Michael Jordan’s take: “I really do believe he was put here for a bigger reason than just to play golf. I don’t think that he is a god, but I do believe that he was sent by one.” Others literally worshipped Tiger Woods such as “Tiger Woods is God church.” And of course, his wife, Elin believed in Tiger Woods. The world remains shocked to learn that Woods has allegedly had numerous mistresses and affairs – some with porn actresses – possibly 11 total affairs.

Before marrying the former model and nanny Elin Nordegren, Tiger Woods was a womanizer. But Elin believed Tiger when he told her he was going to change. The mistake Elin made was to fall in love with Tiger’s potential (to become a loyal, faithful monogamist.) Women often make this mistake – falling in love with a man’s potential, hoping he will change. And for Tiger Woods, the more famous and the more powerful he became, the more he lived like a rock star – women and groupies throwing themselves at him, and he, giving into impulses and temptation – doing what many men in power do – cheat and betray thinking they are invincible and god-like. The lesson for the rest of us is: don’t put people on pedestals or worship them and beware thinking that a squeaky clean sport equals squeaky clean behavior!

1. Chris Brown
His stepfather was abusive and violent and although Chris Brown says he hated his stepfather for being that way, it seems Chris unknowingly took on some of dad’s traits when he was arrested for assaulting his ex-girlfriend Rihanna. Brown says he is embarrassed and humiliated about losing his temper with the ‘Russian Roulette’ singer Rihanna in an attack which left her covered in bruises and bite marks. Chris Brown also revealed that he still can’t look at the photographs of Rihanna’s injuries scattered all over the internet.

Brown now has finally accepted responsibility for his actions and says “It’s a reminder that I have to be in control of my own actions and not anyone else’s. My actions today and in the past shape my future.” However, before he got to that point his ego made him delusional when he also tried to verbally attack TV show goddess Oprah saying that she slapped him when she criticized his assault on Rihanna and that Oprah had forgotten the good work he had done for her charities. Chris Brown still needs much more help to deal with the underlying issues that led him to assault a woman. It is very common for children to copy their parents’ behavior and many men who become violent towards women often saw their father do the same thing; they copy the very thing they hate and often hate themselves that they couldn’t protect their mother and can’t stop copying their father’s behavior!

The Final Word
Recently I gave a lengthy and detailed interview to the TV show Extra about Tiger Woods and I mentioned that one of the lessons that we can learn from his story and scandal is to put all celebrities into proper perspective and understand that whether they are rock stars, athletes, movies stars or musicians, we simply need to appreciate them for their contribution and talent and stop confusing artistic and sporting achievement for wisdom, insight or spirituality. In other words, they are not Gods and don’t deserve to be put on a pedestal because every time we put them high up there, they will simply take themselves down!

Patrick Wanis PhD
Celebrity Life Coach & Human Behavior Expert