The Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns of 2012

 

Head butting your wife, promoting strippers, beating a stranger while your friend holds him down, labeling yourself as a “paid hypocrite”, cheating with a married father of two children, sex with underage boys, alcohol binges, driving naked and drunk, demanding the US President fire a cop, selfishness, callousness and tweeting that hurricane victims are “projecting negativity.”  These are just some of the bizarre behaviors that landed celebrities into the 6th annual list of The Top 10 Celebrity Meltdowns for 2012 by Human Behavior Expert, Patrick Wanis PhD.

“As technology advances and the public can almost drown in every detail of the life and minute actions of celebrities, it is becoming apparent how narcissism, greed and loneliness are the new themes for celebrities, resulting in more meltdowns and self-destructive behavior.”

“The American playwright, Wilson Mizner said ‘Be nice to the people on the way up because you’ll meet the same people on the way down.’ In Hollywood, though, many people will be nice to you as you get closer to the top but those same people will quickly abandon you on the way down; loneliness is a common theme this year – a lack of real friends.”

“Another emerging theme is bad and selfish parenting: Ariel Winter’s mom Chrystal Workman tried to leak nude photos of her other actress daughter Shanelle in a desperate attempt to boost her career and fame. But Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan and even Angus T. Jones are examples of the consequences of poor or selfish parenting.”

Here is Wanis’ sixth annual list – The Top Ten Celebrity Meltdowns of 2012 – along with his expert insights into their antics and dangerous behavior.

Can you guess the number 1 Celebrity Meltdown of 2012?

Here is Patrick Wanis’ list along with his insights.

Let’s start at number ten and work our way up to the top Celebrity Meltdown of 2012

10. Miley Cyrus
Miley is a classic example of what happens when a daughter has a bad relationship with her father – a man who is more intent on being her friend than parent and a father who is willing to transport his daughter to Los Angeles even though he believes it’s a city of temptation and evil: “And there, driving to work each day in the City of Angels, was this sign. ‘A physical sign. It could have easily said ‘You will now be attacked by Satan.’ ‘Entering this industry, you are now on the highway to darkness…’”

According to her dad’s own religious beliefs, Miley Cyrus who was baptized prior to coming to LA (with the intention of protecting her from the evil of Los Angeles) might as well have parked her car and set up her tent in the darkness: Miley is now almost promoting porn – dancing live with strippers and a porn actress and featuring them in her latest music video.

At the Vh1 Divas’ concert, Miley performed Billy Idol’s Rebel Yell and grabbed her crotch as she sand “more, more, more.” Interestingly, when Michael Jackson did the same move of grabbing his crotch, he explained it as a gesture of rebellion and anger against his father who he claimed had molested him.

At the ‘Christmas Creampies’ concert in Los Angeles, Miley Cyrus cavorted onstage with a topless stripper during a raunchy routine, and in the music video for “Decisions,” she frolics with a porn actress, tongue-kisses a pantomime horse and gets cake smeared all over her.

Many child actresses are challenged to break away from their squeaky clean image, but for Miley Cyrus, it appears her behavior and rebellion are more geared towards anger at her dad (whom she recently publicly criticized as not knowing what he is talking about) than they are driven by a career move to dissolve and shed the old sweet and innocent Hannah Montana image and character. Unless, Miley and her father resolve and heal their relationship, Miley is easily on the highway to the darkness and dysfunction of Lindsay Lohan.

9. Chad Johnson
It’s common for a person who gets caught cheating or is accused of cheating to become more than defensive and to even turn offensive, but violence is never acceptable or excusable. Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, a former receiver with the Miami Dolphins pleaded no contest to misdemeanor battery charges after allegedly head-butting his wife Evelyn Lozada when they argued following her discovery of a receipt for condoms.

According to the police report, Ochocinco and his wife were unpacking groceries when she found a receipt for a box of condoms in the trunk. They sat in the driveway in their parked Smart Car, arguing, when Ochocinco grabbed her and head-butted her.

After allegedly head-butting his wife, he began screaming, “I don’t give a [expletive]! I don’t give a [expletive] about my career!” prompting her to run to a neighbor’s house, where she called the police.

As a result of the battery against his wife, the couple’s new reality show on VH1, “Ev and Ocho,” was cancelled before it aired, the Miami Dolphins terminated his contract and they divorced a month after the incident.

Some people only learn from their mistakes and wrongdoings when the consequences become really extreme. However, when a man head-butts his wife, he needs to deal with the real issue of anger, misogyny and violence against women.

8. Amanda Bynes
Amanda Bynes, like Miley Cyrus, began her career with acting roles of innocence on various shows on Nickelodeon and other TV series. But by 2010, she appeared in lingerie on the cover of Maxim magazine, stating that her new look is “who I am.”

Amanda Bynes also boasted that she was different from the other childhood stars, stating in 2007 that ‘club scenes and drinking doesn’t appeal to me.” Later, she changed her mind again, saying that she believed her parents had taught her about alcohol and she could balance drinking and the club scene.

But in 2012, it appears that she really can’t balance them at all and just like, Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes’ life is quickly spinning out of control. She was charged with DUI in June after sideswiping a policeman’s car and refusing to take a breathalyzer test; in September she was charged with hit and run after leaving the  scene of two separate accidents; her license was suspended in September and later her BMW was impounded for driving with a suspended license.

In contrast to Miley Cyrus, who appears to be deliberately rebelling against her father, Amanda Bynes joins the rank of other young female celebrities such as Fiona Apple and Lindsay Lohan who believe they are entitled, suffering from the Fame Factor – denial and delusions of grandeur & power.

When Fiona Apple was arrested at a checkpoint and police allegedly found marijuana aboard her tour bus, Fiona took to the stage to criticize the police who arrested her. In response, the police publicly stated that she should “shut up and sing.”

But Amanda Bynes went one step further and clearly demonstrated her false sense of significance and her self-inflated ego when she asked the President to “Please fire the cop who arrested me.”

“Hey @BarackObama… I don’t drink. Please fire the cop who arrested me. I also don’t hit and run. The end,”

Bynes said she doesn’t “hit and run” but in December, she settled with the victims of the accidents so that the criminal charges might be dropped.

As with most child stars, they become quickly corrupted by the fame and adulation, and without proper parenting & guidance, they become adults who never truly mature, refusing to accept accountability and responsibility and unable to form a meaningful identity and contribution to society.

7. Liam Hemsworth
Australian actors have often been embraced by Hollywood for their seemingly brazen manliness and swagger – Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe, Ryan Kwanten, Sam Worthington, Hugh Jackman and Liam Hemsworth.

The challenge for many of them is drawing the line between their onscreen personas and their real life. Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe are two examples of Australian actors who have a challenge controlling their temper and anger.

Liam Hemsworth is another new example.

Liam was leaving a bar when he believed a drunken patron was throwing rocks at him and his friend. Instead of walking away, witnesses claim Liam punched the man as his friend held him down on the street. Self defense and standing up to bullies is necessary but when you beat someone while your friend holds him down, you are engaging in rage and revenge. Liam’s rageful behavior is another example where a celebrity reveals himself to be a poor role model with a lack of self-control and giving in and allowing his anger to control him. Liam also needs to review his choice of friends – an emotionally intelligent friend wouldn’t encourage you to beat someone let alone help you, unless it was purely in self-defense – and it wasn’t.

6. Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart became famous for playing Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga. She has also starred in Panic Room (2002), Speak (2004), Into the Wild (2007), The Messengers (2007), Adventureland (2009), The Runaways (2010), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012).

But what made her even more infamous than her acting and on screen personas is her off screen affair with her movie director Rupert Sanders, the “Snow White and the Huntsman” director who is married with 2 children.

At age 22, it easy to argue that Kristen is still a girl and not yet a fully evolved woman and therefore she will make mistakes and display a lack of self-control and self-discipline, completely oblivious to the consequences of her selfish behavior and how her self-gratifying affair can rip a family apart.

There are multiple reasons that Kristen would be attracted to a married man; it wasn’t as much about the fact that he was married as much as it was about the fact that he was very powerful.

Power is one of the most potent aphrodisiacs for women, number one. Number two, women often fall in love with a man who becomes their teacher.  Women get very attracted to a man that can teach them something – a man who can help them to evolve, help them to grow. So it’s not unusual that a young impressionable, vulnerable girl that’s growing and evolving and blossoming will easily get attracted to someone that could actually help her to do that creatively, artistically, and maybe even emotionally because of the role she’s playing in the movie.

Third, women often get attracted or form relationships with people with whom they spend a lot of time because our bonds are not only formed by intense emotional activity and interaction; our bonds are also formed by simply spending a lot of time together.

Because Kristen is still young, she can learn from this mistake and recognize that giving into lust and cheating on your boyfriend with a married father of two has the potential to destroy many lives.

5. Elmo – Kevin Clash
Since 1985, Elmo has been one of the central characters and puppets in Sesame Street. Although, three people had been the voice for Elmo, it was Kevin Clash, puppeteer and voice actor who established Elmo as a strong character with the falsetto voice and unique personality.

But after winning 23 daytime Emmys and one prime-time Emmy for his work as Elmo, Kevin Clash had little choice but to resign from the children’s TV series after four men claimed that Clash had sex with them, each of them when they were underage – as young as 15 and 16. The four men have filed lawsuits against Clash although he denies ever being involved in underage relationships with any of these men and claims they were consensual adult relationships.

Clash had also been married for 17 years, divorcing in 2003 and coming out as a gay man in 2012.

Regardless of his orientation, every adult is playing with fire when pursuing any sort of relationship with anyone that is underage. It is true that gay teens often seek out older men via online chat rooms and although, even if guilty of sex with a minor, Clash is not a pedophile (which refers to sex with prepubescent children – under age 13) but his alleged attraction and encounters with teenagers has now destroyed his work and passion in the world of entertainment for children. Even worse, it has changed and tainted the way people will now view and perceive Elmo as voiced by Kevin Clash.

4. Angus T. Jones
Angus T. Jones plays Jake Harper in “Two and Half Men” and is now the highest paid child actor, receiving $350,000 an episode – about $8 million a year. After almost 10 years with the show, at age 19, Angus T. Jones who says he has become spiritual slammed his own show on a video calling it “filth”, “driven by the enemy” Satan and telling people to stop watching it: “Please stop watching it and filling your head with filth.”
“I don’t want to be contributing to the enemy’s plan. … You cannot be a true God-fearing person and be on a television show like that. I know I can’t. I’m not OK with what I’m learning, what the Bible says and being on that television show.”
Jones’ parents’ marriage broke up a couple of years ago, at which point, he says he fell into temptation, had a desire to run away, and almost got into drugs.

While Jones spoke out about the way he truly feels, the real challenge is that instead of appealing to be released from his contract with the show, he chose to apologize for his comments against the show which has also made him rich and successful.

“I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that.”

Angus T. Jones’ parents sent him to a Christian school, so the critical question is why did his parents allow a child from age 8 to be in such a show that obviously does not reflect or support Christian values? Why did they allow him to in a show that promotes promiscuity forcing him to eventually also label himself as a “paid hypocrite”?

3. Erin Moran
Happy days appear to be no more for Erin Moran who played the cute and effervescent Joanie Cunningham in the famous TV series. Now 52, Erin is the story of a child actress who grows up to lead an extremely unhappy and broken life – drinking in motel parking lots, offering back rubs, and now almost homeless. Moran and her husband were living in run down motels in Corydon, Indiana after being thrown out of their trailer home. Moran had spent all the money from her $65,000 CBS settlement for royalties for Happy Days; it’s believed she spent it all on drinking and partying. Her mother-in-law had forced them to vacate the trailer they had been sharing and when Erin Moran tried to sneak back in, she and her mother-in-law got into an argument and hurled profanities at each other.

Many child actors and actresses grow into troubled adults either because their childhood and innocence was robbed, they never received guidance about how to manage their finances or they were unable to find significance or create a career for themselves other than acting.

2. Randy Travis
One of the world’s most famous and talented country music singers – more than 50 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts, and 16 of these were number one hits. He has sold more than 20 million records, won seven Grammy Awards, 10 Academy of Country Music statuettes, 10 American Music Awards, seven Music City News awards, five Country Music Association honors and eight Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association, and yet, he appears to be rich, famous, successful and alone! He was arrested after being found naked, drunk and passed out in the middle of a street; another time

On February 6, 2012 Travis was arrested for public intoxication while sitting in his car at a Baptist church in Texas.  On August 7, 2012, police found Travis naked on the road and smelling of alcohol after crashing his car. Travis threatened the lives of the officers.  That same day, just prior to the DUI arrest, Travis allegedly walked into a convenience store naked, demanding cigarettes from the cashier, who in turn called the authorities. According to the store clerk, Travis left the store after realizing he didn’t have any money to pay for the cigarettes.

On August 24, 2012, police in Plano, Texas cited him for assault after responding to an early morning call that two men were fighting outside a church. Both men were reportedly taken to hospital following the incident, and Travis allegedly appeared to be “extremely intoxicated.”

Travis and his wife & manager Elizabeth divorced in 2010 after 19 years of marriage so it is not clear if this is the root cause of Randy Travis’ distress. But what is clear is that despite all of his money, fame and talent, the question remains – where are his friends? How does a man get to this level and appear to be so alone? As exemplified in the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”, what really counts is not the amount of money you have, but the amount of real friends.

1. Lindsay Lohan
Five years out of six, Lindsay Lohan’s behavior has placed in her the Top Ten List of Celebrity Meltdowns: In 2007, Lindsay was no. 4. In 2009, she was no. 7, in 2010, she was no. 3, in 2011, she rose to no. 2, and in 2012, she is at the top. And in 2012, she has become fully recognized not for her talent or contribution but rather for her ever growing self-destructive behavior.

Lindsay’s personal life has now become a spectacle and circus show; she is no longer a draw-card at the box office and she has transformed into a caricature on cable television with her acting deemed as “woeful” for her performance as Elizabeth Taylor in “Liz & Dick.”

Lindsay admits she has a problem but denies any addiction. One of her greatest challenges is her flagrant disregard for the law; she has a long history of lying to the police.  Her probation – related to her shoplifting conviction – was formally revoked and her lawyer postponed her arraignment on three new charges of lying to the cops stemming from a car accident.

She has been identified and accused of being involved in various scuffles and the IRS has seized her bank accounts because of money she owes the IRS.

Possibly, the best example of her childish, selfish and polarizing behavior is her thoughtless, callous and arrogant tweet during Hurricane Sandy which killed 113 people and created close to $50 billion in damage:

“WHY is everyone in SUCH a panic about hurricane (i’m calling it Sally)..? Stop projecting negativity! Think positive and pray for peace”

Year after year, I have explained that the root causes of her problems are first her toxic relationship with her parents, and second, her poor choices of toxic friends.

Actor James Franco has tried to help her in the past, but he also succinctly sums up her problem and the way that the added attention is fuel to Lindsay’s fire of uncontrollable and consuming behavior since she continuously gets rewarded for bad behavior: ‘I think one of the reasons it’s so hard is when she gets in trouble, she gets all this attention and I’m sure she gets book offers.”

And ‘N Sync singer and actor, Lance Bass says she has been given too many chances and thinks maybe the only hope for Lindsay is jail time which she may very well get in 2013 when she faces the judge’s forthcoming decision now that her probation has been revoked. “The only way that’s going to change her is to put her behind bars.”