Celebrity Product Endorsements That Were Total Disasters

LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant was one of the NBA's hottest players when he signed a half-mil/year deal with Nutella to appear in commercials for the hazelnut spread. When Bryant was accused of rape in 2003, the company severed its relationship with him (despite releasing a statement claiming the decision was made before his "legal troubles"). His wife wanted a divorce, but later took him back, making them one pair of celebrities who survived cheating and stayed together. Bryant later settled a separate civil case with his accuser, who then changed her story and the felony charges were dropped.

"Sandwich enthusiast" Jared Fogle became the spokesman for the Subway sandwich chain in 2000 after he lost 245 pounds on a diet of nothing but Subway sandwiches, famous for displaying the huge pants he wore when he weighed in at 425 pounds. That all ended when the creepier-than-we-ever-imagined Fogle was found guilty on charges of trading child pornography and paying to have sex with minors. He's currently serving a 15-year sentence in a federal penitentiary. Suffice it to say, he's no longer Subway's spokesman.

In 1989, Pepsi paid Madonna a whopping $5 million to appear in a two-minute commercial featuring her single "Like a Prayer", which seemed like a good idea — until Pepsi execs saw the video for the song, which was released the day after the commercial. With its...let's say "provocative" Catholic imagery (burning crosses, stigmata, Madonna making out with an African-American saint, etc.), the video was instantly controversial, and Pepsi was caught in the crossfire, with angry consumers confusing the video with the commercial. Pepsi stopped running the ad and ended its association with the pop star. Though the money lost may not seem like a big deal for someone as big as Madonna, we're sure she could've used it years later when she was forced to pay ex-hubby Guy Ritchie an absurd amount in one of the most expensive celebrity divorce settlements of all time.

Hertz Rent-a-Car's long association with NFL great O.J. Simpson was seemingly an advertising gold mine for the company, with "the Juice" appearing in TV commercials and ad campaigns for Hertz since 1975, a deal that also included personal appearances, giving motivational speeches and meeting key clients. Simpson's relationship with Hertz became strained when recordings of 911 calls emerged implicating him in spousal abuse of then-wife Nicole, and was severed completely in 1994 when he became the world's most famous accused murderer in the infamous "trial of the century."

Rapper Chris Brown was one of many celebs to shill dairy products in the widely popular "Got Milk?" advertising campaign. That all came to a screeching halt after he beat then-girlfriend Rihanna to a bloody pulp, when the Milk Processor Education Program (which ran the ads) stopped running Brown's ads. As for him and Rihanna? To no one's surprise, that went down as one of the messiest celebrity breakups ever.

In 2010, Kim Kardashian and her sisters launched the Kardashian Kredit Kard, a prepaid credit card branded with the Keeping Up With the Kardashian stars' visages. Problems arose immediately due to the ridiculously high fees (including a $99.75 annual "card purchase" fee and a $7.95 monthly fee). Once the "kredit kard" was singled out by the Attorney General of Connecticut as being predatory, aimed primarily at children and the poorly educated, the Kardashians quickly distanced themselves from the deal and it was taken off the market.

Former Pittsburgh Steelers QB Michael Vick saw his lucrative endorsement deal with Nike go up in smoke after his 2007 conviction for being involved in a dogfighting ring. Apparently memories are short; Nike re-signed him several years later after he returned to the NFL following a 21-month-stint in the slammer.

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British supermodel Kate Moss was the hottest face in fashion, ushering in the much-maligned "waif" look (AKA "heroin chic") in the 1990s, and entered into lucrative endorsement deals with fashion brands such as Chanel and Burberry. When a police investigation was ordered after photos surfaced of Moss snorting fat lines of cocaine at a nightclub, Burberry and Chanel both dropped her, while H&M scrapped an upcoming campaign at which she was at the centre.

In 2005, former Cheers star Kirstie Alley became the celebrity spokesperson for Jenny Craig, trumpeting the 75-pound weight loss she experienced thanks to the diet plan. Three years later, tabloid photos of Alley seemed to indicate the star had put the weight back on, and then some, with The National Enquirer running a headline that read: "Kirstie Alley Fired For Being Too Fat." Whether or not that was the reason, Jenny Craig and Kirstie Alley parted ways around that same time.

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When Olympic swimming gold medalist Michael Phelps was photographed taking a hit from a bong, his Cheech & Chong-like behaviour was bad news for his endorsement deals, especially with Kellogg's (the cereal manufacturer paid Phelps big bucks to put his smiling mug on boxes of Corn Flakes). After the photos leaked in 2009, Kellogg's cut ties with Phelps, releasing a statement that read: "Michael's most recent behavior is not consistent with the image of Kellogg. His contract expires at the end of February and we have made a decision not to extend his contract." As a postscript, Phelps pretty much redeemed himself at the Rio Games in 2016 when he broke the record for the athlete with the most Olympic gold medals, having won 23 of the suckers over the course of his career.

Butter-loving celebrity chef Paula Deen was one of the hottest personalities on the Food Network until her sworn deposition in a lawsuit filed by a former employee was leaked to the press, in which the Southern chef admitted to using the N-word, among other racist behaviour. As a result, the Smithfield pork company — which sold a brand of ham with Deen's face on it, cut ties with the now-toxic TV personality, who also saw her Food Network show yanked away, while other endorsement deals likewise evaporated.

Former NBA great Charles Barkley wasn't quite in peak athletic condition when he signed on to be a spokesman for Weight Watchers. And while all seemed to be going well, a conversation in the broadcast booth became problematic when Barkley — not realizing his mic was open — talked about his lucrative new gig, quipping that "I thought this was the greatest scam going — getting paid for watching sports — this Weight Watchers thing is a bigger scam." Amazingly enough, Weight Watchers forgave Sir Charles, and he continued appearing in ads despite his "scam" comments.

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Nike's association with Lance Armstrong was long and deep, including selling 80 Livestrong-branded products related to Armstrong's cancer charity of the same name. When it emerged that the superstar cyclist had been at the centre of a sophisticated doping ring for the better part of a decade, the brand dropped him like a hot potato, declaring in a statement that "Nike does not condone the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs in any manner."

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The Keeping Up With the Kardashians star (baby daddy to Kourtney Kardashian) had signed on to endorse a health shake called BooTea, but accidentally pulled back the curtain to reveal how celebrity endorsement deals actually work when he clearly wasn't paying attention, cutting and pasting: "Here you go, at 4pm est, write the below. Caption: Keeping up with the summer workout routine with my morning @booteauk protein shake!" That's right, instead of just pasting the part he was supposed to, Disick also pasted the instructions about how and when he was supposed to share the info. Whoops!

During a 2007 concert in Trinidad, rapper Akon invited a young woman onstage and proceeded to grind against her in a highly sexual manner, which proved to be an exceedingly bad idea because a) the woman was actually a girl, aged, only 15, and b) the daughter of an influential local preacher. As a result of the furor, Verizon decided to pull its sponsorship from Gwen Stefani's tour. Why? Akon was Stefani's opening act — talk about collateral damage!