A celebrity apology is not always what it seems. From lackluster to too-little-too-late, celebrities have a history of offering unconvincing apologies for their mistakes or wrongdoings. The latest, most famous of these insincere attempts at amends comes from rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs. It seems like not a day has gone by recently without Combs in the news. A line of women have been stepping forward with allegations of abuse. Perhaps most famously, Diddy’s ex, Cassie Ventura, settled a federal lawsuit against the Bad Boy Records executive last November. But it wasn’t until mid-May of this year that Diddy made any attempt to apologize for–or even acknowledge–Cassie’s allegations.

Recently, CNN obtained footage from 2016 showing the music mogul repeatedly assaulting Cassie in a Los Angeles InterContinental Hotel. Finally, a celebrity apology from Diddy has gone public. He took to Instagram, claiming he was at “rock bottom” at the time. He also stated that he sought therapy and entered rehab in the time since. Instagram users lambasted the “I’ll Be Missing You” rapper, stating “Not even a week ago Diddy was denying the accusations against him” and “YOU ARE NOT THE VICTIM HERE.” Cassie’s lawyer Meredith Firetog also released a statement on the apology, calling it “disingenous” and an act of “pathetic desperation.” This is, of course, only the newest in the ongoing pop-culture spectacle known as the “questionable celebrity apology.” Let’s take a look at five times celebrities have issued condolences that raised eyebrows and garnered further backlash.

Shia LeBeouf is no stranger to criticism – he did, after all, once don a paper bag over his head on the red carpet. But back in 2012, the Even Stevens actor gave his own celebrity apology regarding a short film he created titled Howard Cantour.com. While it was initially very well-received by fans and critics alike, not long after release the film was revealed to be the work of plagiarism. Comic book writer Dan Clowes came forward, showing how the film copied much of the plot and dialogue of his comic Justin M Damiano.

LeBeouf issued a strange apology via a rambling series of tweets. First, he said that, swept up in excitement and creativity, he “neglected to follow proper accreditation.” Finally, he admitted that he “f****** up.” Perhaps the oddest thing about this was that it was revealed later that LeBeouf’s apologies were themselves plagiarized from a Yahoo! Answers forum, which led to further investigations of plagiarism and continued future skepticism over LeBeouf’s work.

Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis both rose to fame on the much-loved sitcom That 70s Show. One of their former co-stars, Danny Masterson, was convicted last May of two counts of sexual assault. Kutcher is known as a co-founder of Thorn, an NGO that works against human trafficking. That’s one reason the media found it bizarre when it was revealed he and Kunis wrote letters in support of Masterson to his judge. They lauded him as an incredible person. In the midst of subsequent public outcry, Kutcher and Kunis created a video apology. Their disheveled demeanor and stilted tones led viewers to see it as very insincere and uncaring.

Who can forget when Will Smith stood up and slapped Chris Rock hard during the Academy Awards in March 2022? The moment was so strange that it felt surreal. Rock had let loose a somewhat insensitive comment about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett’s alopecia. Less than an hour later, Smith won Best Actor for his role as Richard Williams in King Richard. Smith took that chance to publicly apologize for what had just transpired, but he didn’t explicitly apologize to Rock himself. He claimed that he was “fogged out by that point.” This, of course, led to heavy criticism, prompting Smith to finally release a 6-minute apology video on his YouTube channel. He stated that “there is no part of me that thinks that is the optimal way to handle a feeling of disrespect.”

For years, celebrity chef Mario Batali was well-known as a friendly face on various Food Network shows, and as an ongoing member of ABC’s The Chew. But everything came crashing down in 2017 when Batali was fired from The Chew due to multiple allegations of misconduct with women. In his email newsletter, Batali later apologized for his actions and stated that he took “full responsibility.” However, for some bizarre reason, the chef included a recipe for cinnamon rolls right after his apology. This careless decision was heavily criticized and mocked across the media.

The social media influencer and professional boxer/wrestler Logan Paul has had to make a couple of public celebrity apologies over the years. But probably the most famous and most ridiculous came after he filmed himself in Aokigahara forest near Japan’s Mount Fuji. The forest is infamous due to the large number of suicides that have taken place there over the years. Paul filmed a body and his reaction, which viewers were astonished by. It resounded with incredible disrespect and insensitivity.

Paul rushed to offer a few apologies, which ranged from him claiming that the entire video was created in reaction to his own psychological issues and even that he was attempting to raise awareness about mental health in general. No one really took these various statements too seriously, and he was the target of (mostly well-deserved) mockery. (He was also the target of a $3 million dollar lawsuit based on a Google licensing deal that fell through after his forest video.)

About The Author

Christopher Gorrie is a writing consultant and digital marketer from San Diego, CA. Since completing an MA degree at San Diego State University, he's worked as the Nonfiction Editor of Consequence Forum and a Senior Network Editor for The Arena Group. He is also the founder of Text Sense, a content and digital strategy agency.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qbvTp5ywoJmltbC8jZympmdoZYR5fZNmmp6klZe%2FqsDYZpipp5yktKqx0maZmpuboa60tA%3D%3D