21 Famous Women Who Were Completely Failed By The 2000s
21 Famous Women Who Were Completely Failed By The 2000s
Jamie KoThu, October 8, 2026 at 12:31 AM UTC
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Warning: This post contains mentions of bullying, eating disorders, suicide, alcoholism, and drugs.
The 2000s were a wild time for pop culture, especially for women in the spotlight. Between brutal tabloids, invasive paparazzi, relentless body scrutiny, and deeply uncomfortable interviews, a lot of things that were treated as "normal" back then look very different in hindsight. So, here are 21 times famous women were publicly shamed, scrutinized, and treated unfairly in the 2000s:1. Janet Jackson was 37 when the infamous wardrobe malfunction occurred with 23-year-old Justin Timberlake. He pulled away part of her costume during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show and ended up exposing her breast. The scrutiny fell heavily on Janet, who was reportedly blacklisted from a significant part of the music industry for years. Her music was removed from major platforms, and her Grammy invitation was revoked.
J. Shearer / WireImage via Getty ImagesMeanwhile, Justin still performed and won awards at the Grammys that same year. Janet has since said, "Justin and I are very good friends, and we will always be very good friends. We spoke just a few days ago. He and I have moved on, and it's time for everyone else to do the same."2. Winona Ryder was 30 when she was arrested for shoplifting from Saks Fifth Avenue in 2001. She was later convicted of grand theft and vandalism and sentenced to probation, community service, fines, restitution, and counseling. Looking back, Winona said the arrest "definitely had a giant effect" on her career.
Steve Grayson / WireImage via Getty ImagesShe moved away from Los Angeles and stepped back from acting, later describing the 2000s as a particularly difficult period for women in the public eye. "There was a period when I was not in season," she said. "It was like 10, 12, 15 years, and it did coincide with everything that happened, but also, if you look at the period from 2000 to 2010: wow! It was the most degrading time to be a woman."
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3. Anna Nicole Smith later recalled an appearance on Howard Stern's show where he said he thought she weighed 300 pounds, brought out a scale, and let callers pressure her to get on it. Anna refused, but the conversation kept going. She said the comments "really, really hurt bad," and made her even more depressed. The incident came amid frequent tabloid coverage of her weight, marriage, substance use, and personal life.
HBO Max / The Howard Stern Show / Viayoutube.com4. Monica Lewinsky was just 22 when her relationship with then-49-year-old President Bill Clinton began. When it became public, Monica took on much of the judgment and blame, despite the significant age and power difference between a White House intern and the president.
Getty ImagesThe humiliation followed her for years. Monica later said the public shaming was "excruciating," that she "came very close" to suicide. Even after earning a master's degree, she struggled to find regular work or volunteer opportunities, and she described the years afterward as "a very desolate 10 years."5. The Chicks were at the top of country music when Natalie Maines told a London audience in March 2003, "We're ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas." Almost immediately, Cumulus Media told its 42 country stations to stop playing the group's music, and their album sales dropped.
KMazur / WireImage via Getty ImagesThe group subsequently disappeared from many country playlists, faced media "abuse," and Natalie needed 24-hour security after receiving threats. She apologized at the time for disrespecting the office of the president, while continuing to defend the group's right to express its views.6. Britney Spears was only 25 when she shaved her own head at a Los Angeles salon while paparazzi and onlookers gathered outside. In her memoir, The Woman in Me, she later explained that shaving her head was an act of rebellion after years of having her appearance picked apart: "You want me to be pretty for you? Fuck you." She was being followed so relentlessly that, by 2008, paparazzi trailed the ambulance taking her to a psychiatric ward.
Fred Duval / FilmMagic via Getty ImagesBritney later wrote about the enormous pressure she was under at the time, including severe postpartum depression and being separated from her children.7. Paris Hilton was 19 when she made a private sex tape with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon, who was 33. When it surfaced in 2003 without Paris's consent, her representatives said it had been made only for the two of them and that Paris never intended anyone else to see it. Her lawyers threatened legal action as copies began circulating.
Jamie McCarthy / WireImage for Bragman Nyman Cafarelli via Getty ImagesYears later, she said people accused her of releasing the tape herself for attention and that the media response was full of slut-shaming and voyeurism. She said, "I did not want to leave my house. I was just so depressed and so humiliated."
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8. Ashlee Simpson was only 20 when the wrong vocal track played during her second SNL performance in 2004, exposing that she had been using a backing vocal. Ashlee had actually lost her voice because of acid reflux.
NBC / NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesThe backlash still followed her for years, despite her next album going platinum. Ashlee later called the reaction "dehumanizing" and said, "I think it's a different era...I think during that time, I mean, the bullying was insane." She also talked about how the incident seemed to sit on her shoulders "forever."9. Megan Fox was one of Hollywood's biggest young stars when she started speaking bluntly about working with Transformers director Michael Bay. She said, "He wants to be like Hitler on his sets, and he is. So he's a nightmare to work for, but when you get him away from set, and he's not in director mode, I kind of really enjoy his personality because he's so awkward, so hopelessly awkward. He has no social skills at all."
Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images via Getty ImagesMegan did not return for Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Bay later said that Steven Spielberg responded to the Hitler comparison with "Fire her right now," although Megan had previously said that leaving was her own decision.10. Rihanna was just days away from turning 21 when her then-boyfriend Chris Brown, who was 19, assaulted her in February 2009. Brown later pleaded guilty to felony assault and received probation and community labor.
NBC / NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesA photo showing Rihanna's injured face later appeared online, prompting police to open an internal investigation because it appeared to be a confidential image from a domestic-violence case. Rihanna later spoke about how exposed she felt by the photo's release, saying, "It was a confidential case, by law, so when it became about getting a cheque, and completely disrespecting somebody else's privacy, it was just disappointing."11. Brooke Shields had adults commenting on and profiting from her sexuality since childhood. She played a child growing up in a brothel in Pretty Baby at 11, filmed The Blue Lagoon at 14, and appeared in highly sexualized Calvin Klein ads while she was still a teenager.
James Devaney / WireImage via Getty ImagesThen, in 2005, 40-year-old Brooke had to publicly defend taking antidepressants for severe postpartum depression after 43-year-old Tom Cruise criticized her. Brooke explained that the medication helped her survive after she considered swallowing pills or jumping out a window at the lowest point of her depression. Cruise later apologized to her in person, and she accepted it.
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12. Jessica Simpson was 28 when photos of her performing in "mom jeans" in 2009 sparked a huge conversation about her weight. The coverage spread everywhere, with tabloids and commentators fixating on her body and appearance. Jessica later said the scrutiny over her body broke her confidence, saying it "ruined the stage for me."
Logan Fazio / Getty Images13. Mariah Carey was 31 when she was hospitalized in 2001 after what her spokesperson called an "emotional and physical breakdown." She canceled public appearances, including an MTV anniversary event, while the Glitter era was under heavy scrutiny.
Scott Gries / Getty ImagesYears later, Mariah revealed that she had been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder in 2001 and said, "Until recently, I had lived in denial and isolation and in constant fear someone would expose me." She eventually sought treatment and said she was able to return to writing songs and making music.14. Lindsay Lohan's jump from child star to adult celebrity happened pretty fast. Rolling Stone put the 18-year-old on a 2004 cover under the headline "Hot, Ready & Legal," while tabloids and photographers were already obsessing over her body and speculating about her breasts.
Stephen Lovekin / FilmMagic via Getty ImagesThe paparazzi attention also turned more invasive. At 18, Lindsay said, "There's not much I can do at this point anymore. I feel like the more I kind of defend myself, then the more they say. I'm just such an easy target, I guess. I don't know why I'm so interesting." She also revealed that the police said a photographer intentionally crashed into her car.15. Katherine Heigl was one of Hollywood's rising stars when she earned the label of "difficult" for being blunt about her own work. She calledKnocked Up "a little sexist," and the comment sparked a backlash that portrayed her as ungrateful.
Gregg DeGuire / WireImage via Getty ImagesThen she withdrew herself from Emmy consideration for Grey's Anatomy because she didn't think she'd been given material worthy of a nomination. Years later, Katherine said the narrative that she was ungrateful, difficult, and unprofessional took a serious toll on her mental health, and that she asked her mom and husband "to find me somewhere to go that could help me."16. By 2008, Amy Winehouse's addiction and personal struggles had become a near-constant tabloid storyline. One BBC radio executive even called the coverage a "form of pornography" that was "complicit in this woman's destruction."
Dan Kitwood / Getty ImagesThe paparazzi attention got so intense that Amy later obtained an injunction stopping photographers from following her and gathering outside her home.17. Tyra Banks was 33 when paparazzi swimsuit photos caused a body-shaming frenzy. She was described as being bullied by the media over gaining weight, while tabloids ran cruel headlines.
M. Tran / FilmMagic via Getty ImagesTyra responded by going on her talk show in the exact same swimsuit and telling critics to "kiss my fat ass." She also said she kept thinking about young girls who looked like her and would see bodies like theirs being called "ugly" and "disgusting."
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18. Vanessa Hudgens was only 18 when a private nude photo of her leaked online in 2007. Instead of the conversation centering on the fact that an intimate image had been spread without her permission, Vanessa ended up issuing a public apology. Disney even called it a "lapse in judgment" and said, "We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."
Michael Loccisano / FilmMagic via Getty ImagesYears later, Vanessa described the experience very differently: "It was a really traumatizing thing for me. It's really fucked up that people feel like they are entitled enough to share something that personal with the world."19. Jennifer Love Hewitt was 28 when paparazzi bikini photos from a vacation drew scrutiny about her body and cellulite. She was a size two, but bloggers were calling her overweight.
NBC / NBCUniversal via Getty ImagesJennifer responded because she was worried about girls seeing a body like hers treated as something shameful. She wrote that "a size two is not fat! Nor will it ever be," and told women with "butts, boobs, hips and a waist" to put on a bikini and stay strong.20. In 2007, the Daily Mail published a bikini photo of Keira Knightley alongside a story about a 19-year-old who had died after suffering from anorexia. Keira sued because the article suggested she had lied about having an eating disorder and that her image had contributed to the young woman's death.
Yui Mok - PA Images / PA Images via Getty ImagesKeira won. The paper accepted that she did not have an eating disorder and was not responsible for the woman's death, and it apologized and paid damages. Keira later described the constant scrutiny around her body as something she is "not comfortable with." She added, "I think it's safe to say I hate it. It's the idea of being watched. It's 24/7 surveillance. I think it's a very strange voyeurism. It makes me feel dirty. I don't want to be a part of that."21. Lastly, Tara Reid was 29 when the strap of her dress slipped at a 2004 red carpet event, exposing one of her breasts while she was posing for photographers and had no idea what had happened. She revealed that when she realized it, "I cried and begged the photographers not to print it, but it was everywhere…I was on the websites as having the ugliest boobs in the world." Tara has also said, "I just hated that the paparazzi were high-fiving each other and laughing. It was so cruel. But it happened and...you move on."
J. Merritt / FilmMagic via Getty ImagesLooking back now, which of these examples are hardest to believe were considered normal in the 2000s? And who else do you think was treated unfairly during that era? Share your thoughts in the comments or the anonymous form below, and your submission may be featured in a future BuzzFeed Community post.
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