More celebrity breakdowns while we await the latest news on Britney:
Margot Kidder
In 1996, the actress known best by many for portraying Lois Lane in the Superman movies disappeared from her home. Several days later, she was later found disheveled and frightened in some bushes. She was admitted to a mental hospital, and she credits her family with helping her get her bipolar disorder under control.
No one who saw the bizarre 2001 live meltdown on MTV’s “TRL” will soon forget it. After handing out popsicles to the crowd of screaming fans, Mariah broke into an improper strip tease, removing her top while being interviewed by host Carson Daly. By the end of the month, she had checked into a hospital with her publicist saying it was an extreme case of exhaustion.
Courtney Love
Courtney has had so many public breakdowns; it hardly seems fair to mention her. In 2004, she flashed host David Letterman while appearing on his show, then later was arrested for throwing a microphone at a man in the audience of her New York show. She also appeared to be under the influence at the 2006 televised VH1 roast of actor William Shatner – so much so that she even shocked the other attendees with her behavior.
Dave Chappelle
Once an unknown, Chappelle found a huge amount of success with his Comedy Central show, “The Dave Chappelle Show.” As a reward, he was offered a $55 million dollar contract by the network. But, in the third season, he just walked away from it all, going to South Africa during filming of the show and never returning to the set. Everyone called Chappelle crazy, but he later admitted he was unhappy with the way the show was going and took off to South Africa to reflect on his life and career.
Okay, the Oprah couch thing may not have been a total meltdown, but it certainly made me uncomfortable to watch it. I love a man who shows his love, but seriously – couch jumping on national television? Many thought Tom had lost it. And I didn’t even mention the psychiatry rant with Matt Lauer that followed.