Fame is no guarantee. It’s a fickle thing that can appear and then be gone in a flash.
Sometimes, celebs can recover from these career blows. But oftentimes, a celeb’s star power is tarnished forever.
Any names currently coming to mind? Come see if your guesses made the list of 10+ celebs who were famous for 15 minutes.
1. Iggy Azalea
The Australian rapper had so much promise when she came onto the music scene in 2014 with her smash hit “Fancy.”
But everything soon turned upside down for the star, thanks to countless feuds ( including one with Papa John’s ) and enraging her fans on multiple occasions.
There was also this video of her “freestyling” that made her a laughing stock.
All of these issues compounded until it became difficult for the rapper to fill seats at shows, resulting in her canceling her 2016 tour altogether.
2. Spencer and Heidi Pratt
The couple rose to fame on MTV’s The Hills by being the show’s villains.
Heidi then attracted media attention for the fact that she had 10 procedures done in 24 hours, leading her to look unrecognizable.
In the end, it was the couple’s thirst for fame that actually squashed their 15 minutes of it.
Remember all those cheesy photos of Spencer and Heidi frolicking at the beach?
Spencer later confirmed to the blog, Pop Culture Died, what we already knew to be true: they were staged.
3. Farrah Abraham
When we first met Farrah on Teen Mom , fans had so much sympathy for her since her daughter’s father had been killed in a car crash.
But the sympathy soon went away once she started making bad decision after bad decision, eventually even resulting in her being fired from Teen Mom OG .
One bad decision was the countless plastic surgeries that left her unrecognizable.
She also decided to start a new career as an adult entertainer in the adult entertainment industry. As a mother to a young girl, fans criticized her for being a bad role model.
4. Lorde
If you’ve been asking yourself “where did Lorde go?” you’re not alone.
The New Zealand singer shot to stardom in 2013 for her single, “Royals.” But we haven’t heard much of her from then.
Guess she wasn’t Quen Bee, after all!
5. Gotye
Ironically, his song “Somebody That I Used To Know” ended up being all about him: He’s somebody that we used to know.
He dropped that single and then, much like Lorde, fled the scene. We haven’t heard much from him since.
6. Rebecca Black
She might want her 15 minutes back since they weren’t exactly pleasant…
After she released the music video for “Friday,” she was ridiculed on the internet. While she’s still making music today, she’s keeping a much lower profile.
7. Kevin Federline
For two years, Kevin was the famous backup-dancer-turned-husband to pop singer, Britney Spears.
During their whirlwind time together , they got married and welcomed two boys: Sean Preston and Jayden James. But once the pair split, so did Kevin’s star power.
8. The Duggars
The 19 Kids and Counting family was bound for mega-fame until they hit a very unfortunate roadblock: Josh Duggar admitted to sexually molesting his two younger sisters.
The “family values” of the show just didn’t ring true after that.
9. Kris Humphries
Despite being a pro basketball player, the star’s real claim-to-fame is that he was once married to Kim Kardashian for 72 days.
But after he fought her so badly in court while she was pregnant, his career hasn’t really recovered.
10. Ryan Phillipe
The actor was a big deal in the ’90s, as he starred in the notable films , I Know What You Did Last Summer and Cruel Intentions .
He was also married to America’s Sweetheart, Reese Witherspoon. But once they divorced, Hollywood broke up with him, too.
11. Paris Hilton
Before the Kardashians took over the reality sphere, it was all about Paris Hilton. She was a household name thanks to her show, The Simple Life , her perfume lines, and even her sex tape.
But she was soon overshadowed by Kim Kardashian.
12. Lauren Conrad
While Lauren is still a celebrity figure, her star isn’t as prominent as it used to be when she starred on The Hills or Laguna Beach .
These days, she lives a quieter (drama-free) life with her husband and two kids.
13. Tila Tequila
Oh, Tila Tequila.
At the height of her fame , she was the most-viewed profile on MySpace (remember that?) and even had her own TV show, A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila , where she dated both genders.
But everything has gone downhill in recent years, starting with when she tweeted, “I love Hitler so much!”
Yikes. She has also made it clear that’s she’s not a fan of Muslim people or homosexual people.
14. Jon And Kate Gosselin
This is another TLC family ( Jon & Kate Plus 8 ) that had their 15 minutes of fame ripped away due to a personal scandal.
In their case, this was Jon’s alleged 2009 affair with a third-grade school teacher named Deanna Hummel.
15. Snooki
Snooki was the breakout star of MTV’s hit show, Jersey Shore , the moment she walked through those doors and yelled, “the party’s here!”
But sadly, the party left the building once she calmed down and became a wife and mother of three kids.
16. Josh Hartnett
For a while there, it appeared as if Josh Hartnett was being groomed to become Hollywood’s next leading man. But just as quickly as the teen dream appeared, he was all of a sudden gone without a trace.
17. Taylor Lautner
Most of us will remember Taylor from his time spent playing Jacob Black in The Twilight Saga . His shirtless reveal in New Moon had audiences swooning.
Sadly, Taylor was never able to use the Twilight momentum to jump-start his career.
18. James Van Der Beek
I know that a lot of people associate James with Dawson’s Creek , but to me, he will forever be Jonathan “Mox” Moxon.
Side note: if you haven’t seen Varsity Blues , I’d highly recommend you add it to your list. John Voight gives an Oscar-worthy performance.
19. Tara Reid
Hollywood had a fast and burning obsession with Tara Reid. After her breakout role in American Pie , she went on to star in a slew of other raunchy romantic comedies.
These days, you can catch her in the Sharknado franchise.
20. Jason Biggs
Speaking of American Pie alumni, Jason is another one who was never able to completely shake off the pie crust, if you know what I mean.
I suppose that seeing a grown man making love to a pastry is a hard image for a casting director to shake.
21. Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith was one of the defining voices in ’90s cult film making. He’s best known for playing the mute sidekick, Silent Bob, and has directed some of the most popular films of the era, including Chasing Amy and Mallrats .
22. Jason London
Jason rose to prominence in Richard Linklater’s opus, Dazed and Confused . But even though his character in the film was wildly popular and his performance was hailed by critics and audiences alike, Jason was never able to find a firm foothold in the acting world.
23. Shane West
I grew up with a sister who’s about the same age as I am. Let me tell you, without exaggeration, that I was forced to watch A Walk to Remember at least 20 times over.
In fact, I could probably still quote it word-for-word.
24. Daniel Tosh
Daniel Tosh is an enigma. His star was on the rise in the early ’00s and he’s credited as one of the first true trolls of the internet.
Thankfully, we all got tired of watching him commentate on YouTube clips almost as quickly as he began.
25. Dane Cook
While we’re on the topic of flash-in-the-pan comedians, Dane Cook is the cream of the crop. He was one of the first-ever to utilize social media to his advantage, and as a result — Dane went viral.
He sadly just didn’t possess the staying power required to remain relevant.
26. Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson was a proverbial pop queen in the late ’90s and into the early ’00s. She had a commanding singing career, her own reality TV show , and was married to 98 Degrees frontman, Nick Lachey.
When her marriage went the way of the DoDo, so did Jessica’s fame.
27. Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Simpson committed career suicide when she agreed to a “live” performance on Saturday Night Live .
As she began to close out the show, the wrong song started playing over the speaker system, revealing that she’d been lip-syncing all along.
28. Jaleel White
“Did I do that?”
Who could forget the iconic catchphrase from Steven Q. Urkel?! Sadly, almost everybody.
Jaleel was an integral part of one of the most wildly popular sitcoms of the ’90s. Afterward, he would forever be typecast as the adorable dork.
29. Tekashi 69
To borrow a phrase, it’s “stoopid” to think how freaking famous Tekashi 69 became — literally overnight.
Love him or hate him (and most hate him), there’s no denying that this kid has a knack for making hits. Thankfully, his star power has begun to wane since his release from prison.
30. Ricky Martin
For a brief period of time, Ricky Martin had the entire world ” Livin’ La Vida Loca .”
And while I’ll fully admit that I still get up and dance whenever the song comes on, Ricky has since faded into obscurity, becoming one of the greatest one-hit-wonders of the age.
31. Vanessa Carlton
For some of our younger readers, the name Vanessa Carlton may not ring any bells.
But I guarantee you, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you’ve heard the song ” A Thousand Miles ” in a movie at least once. Boy, does that piano melody ever take me back…
