Come on, let’s be realistic here. I mean, just because we adore celebrities, it doesn’t mean they are angels who have fallen from heaven. Does it now? Believe it or not, some stars even have a criminal record that shines more than their professional career!!!
Today I will be telling you about 15 celebrities who went to jail. Although there are many more, these are the names you absolutely must know if you love gossiping like me.
Sadly murder, rape, drunk driving, and domestic violence are some of the crimes celebrities commit, putting them in prison. It may come as a shock upon discovering a few stars that you never had in your wildest dreams thought could be so violent. Let’s get started, then.
Oh, wait, I almost forgot to mention the celebrity who got arrested for a hilarious reason. But no, I won’t reveal anything right now. You have to keep reading to find out which superstars made a total joke of themselves while dealing with the police and who ended up in jail multiple times.
By the way, would you like to take a quick look at the names of the celebrities who went to prison?
Well, here you go, then.
Overview of the Celebrities who went to jail
| Names | Year of Getting Arrested |
| Bill Cosby | 2018 |
| Chris Brown | 2014 |
| Justin Bieber | 2014 |
| Khloe Kardashian | 2007 |
| Lil Kim | 2007 |
| Lil Wayne | 2007, 2019 |
| Mark Wahlberg | 1987 |
| Matthew McConaughey | 1999 |
| Mike Tyson | 1992 |
| Nicolas Cage | 2011 |
| Paris Hilton | 2007 |
| Robert Downey Jr. | 1999 |
| Snoop Dogg | 1993, 2000, and Many More Times |
| Tommy Lee | 1998 |
| Wesley Snipes | 2010 |
1. Bill Cosby
The famous American comedian who starred in ‘The Cosby Show’ and ‘Fat Albert’ was sent behind bars in 2018. Any guesses why?
Well, in 2004, he drugged and sexually assaulted former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. After which Cosby was sentenced in 2018 to state prison for three to ten years.
Luckily the convictions on sexual assault charges were ruled out against him in 2012, resulting in the comedian being released after serving a reduced sentence from ten to three years.
2. Chris Brown
This singer sure has quite a record when it comes down to the law. Chris Brown first got arrested in 2009 for assaulting his then-girlfriend singer Rihanna. After which, he was sentenced to five years probation.
But he hadn’t learned his lesson and was charged several times for being involved in a hit-and-run case, assaulting a woman, and snatching a woman’s cell phone, which later put him in rehab.
Unfortunately, Brown’s behavior was appalling in rehab as he became aggressive and sleep-deprived, possibly a threat to harming himself. This resulted in him going to jail for a year in 2014.
After being released, the singer could not stay quiet for long and was back to being the violent person he was. Chris Brown was taken down to the police station several times for many reasons, which include stalking a woman, punching a photographer, driving without a license, and pointing a gun at a lady.
Luckily the singer has changed entirely and prefers to keep his distance from the law. Chris Brown has been dating German model Ammika Harris since 2019, with whom he has two children.
3. Justin Bieber
Ladies, where are you all at? Many of you who are absolutely in love with this star must be shocked to see his name. Well, all I can say is that your favorite Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber isn’t that much of a good boy, after all.
Justin Bieber is not a celebrity that went to jail for years. It was just a matter of a few hours. The singer was 19 years old when he was arrested in 2014 for drag racing in a Lamborghini in Miami while drunk.
Since Bieber admitted his actions and pleaded guilty, he was released the next day on a $2500 bond after having to spend a few hours being locked up.
4. Khloe Kardashian
Let the entertainment begin!! We all know that anything linked to the Kardashians means full-on drama. Although Khloe is in question today, we are fully aware that each and every member of the Kardashian family never fails to make us laugh. I mean, everything about them is hilarious!!!
Enough with my opinion; let’s get digging to see how Ms famous, for no reason, Khloe Kardashian managed to get involved with the law. Any guesses what she did?
Ok, well, Khloe was arrested in California in 2007 for (DUI) driving under the influence. She failed several alcohol tests when being pulled over by the police. As a punishment, the reality star was told to do community service and a course on alcohol education.
Khloe Kardashian completed community service but missed many sessions when it came to the course. This resulted in the reality star being put behind bars for 30 days. But lucky for her, she only had to spend a few hours in jail due to overcrowding.
5. Lil Kim
The Grammy-winning greatest female rapper of all time also had her share of coming face-to-face with the law. Yes, in 2007, she was arrested for lying to the grand jury about a shootout that occurred just outside a New York radio station, all to protect her friends from going behind bars.
The rapper was sentenced to jail for a year, along with also having to pay a fine of $50,000.
6. Lil Wayne
I swear this man never fails to entertain me. Everything about Lil Wayne is super exciting, starting from his love life of dating multiple women at the same time to his criminal records, although he never harmed anyone physically.
Lil Wayne going to jail is not surprising at all, as he was arrested once back in 2007 for the possession of weapons and drugs, which led him to spend eight nights behind bars. Then in the following year, in 2008, the rapper was charged with four felonies for yet again possessing weapons and drugs.
Nope, we are not done as of yet, because Lil Wayne was charged again in 2019, which led him to face up to ten years in prison. This time the possession of a .45 caliber gold-plated handgun which was loaded was found in his private jet. Although the rapper did not use the gun, the main reason for the charge was that he was still prohibited from owning weapons due to his records.
Yes, Wayne did plead guilty to the possession of weapons, but luck was in his favor as the rapper’s name amongst a total of 143 people was on the list of pardons issued by the White House. This led to him being forgiven by President Donald Trump, and he didn’t have to go behind bars.
Why did the president pardon Lil Wayne? Well, because the rapper was known for doing his fair share of charity work and giving out generous donations, which Donald Trump appreciated.
7. Mark Wahlberg
Well, well, look who we found in our list of celebrities that went to jail. It’s none other than the American actor Mark Wahlberg. The actor got in trouble with the law when he was 16 years old, and since then, his record has been clean.
Walhberg dropped out of high school at the age of 14 and then started to mix with the wrong crowd. In other words, he joined a gang. This led to him getting arrested several times for being involved with drugs and other offenses.
However, things got out of hand when Mark was the age of 16, and he attacked two Vietnamese men. One man was hit with a stick, and the other was punched.
As a result, Wahlberg was charged with attempted murder, for which he got a ten-year sentence. After this, he pleaded guilty, which led to the sentence being reduced to 2 years, and he wound up in prison for only 45 days.
8. Matthew McConaughey
Are you ready for a good laugh? Wait until you hear why Matthew McConaughey is another celebrity who landed behind bars.
After partying hard for a straight 32 hours, Matthew decided to let off steam by stripping off naked in his own house and choosing to smoke a few joints while listening to African melodic beats through his home speakers at 2.30 am.
Now, I’m sure you all think there is nothing wrong with doing so.
Well, I’m not done yet. Matthew took it one step further and started playing his bongos to jam with the African beats blasting through the speakers. But then suddenly, two police officers broke in after receiving complaints from the neighbors that the actor was found to be noisy. He was then taken in for the possession of marijuana and disturbing the peace.
Throughout the whole scene, from getting arrested to reaching the police station, Matthew refuses to put on a shirt and chooses to remain nude!
9. Mike Tyson
For some reason finding out that the boxer Mike Tyson is another celebrity that went to jail is not at all a surprise. I mean, by looking at him, one can tell that he is a bad boy. But then again, that’s my personal opinion.
Anyway, Tyson was arrested for raping 18-year-old Desiree Washington in a hotel room in Indianapolis in 1992.
Although the boxer said that nothing happened forcefully, it was consensual. But he was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he served three years and got released in 1995.
We have seen in the past that celebrities always manage to find a way out of every situation, which includes getting free from jail too. Apparently, Mike Tyson had to pass the GED to reduce his sentence, which he did by sleeping with his prison counselor, who was appointed to help him study for the test!!
My curious mind wants to know, but how is that even possible in prison? No wonder the boxer later admitted that the three years in jail were the best times of his life.
10. Nicolas Cage
Being overconfident is not always a good thing which is what got Nicolas Cage sent to jail. Well, in 2011, the actor was seen late at night arguing with his wife on the lawn of a residence that he claimed belonged to them in New Orleans. When she disagreed, Cage grabbed her upper arm and pulled her to prove that the address was theirs.
The police were informed of the incident by onlookers who managed to come on time to order Cage out of the taxi he was ready to leave in. But the actor was drunk and kept yelling, ‘Why don’t you arrest me?’ which the police did after they had enough of Cage not cooperating with them.
So the actor got his wish granted of being arrested and thrown behind bars!! However, it was a matter of only a few hours as his wife did not press charges against him.
11. Paris Hilton
Why should boys have all the fun? Girls, too, want to be a part of some action once in a while, and Paris Hilton, the reality star, left no stone unturned to prove it with her reckless driving skills.
From leaked sex tapes to being in contact with the law many times throughout the years, Paris Hilton first got arrested in 2006 for drunk driving, which led to her license being suspended.
Well, in January 2007, the reality star got back her license after paying a fine of $15,000. She clearly did not learn and was caught once more for driving and ended up without a license again. As a result, she had to sign papers that forbade her from driving.
But our blonde beauty was clearly in the mood for trouble when two months later, in March 2007, she was caught again for driving at 70mph in a zone where the maximum limit was 35mph. To add to it, she had no headlights on even though it was night, and most of all, the celebrity did not have her license as it was suspended.
Finally, on 4 May 2007, Hilton was sentenced to 45 days in prison for her reckless driving and not attending the alcohol education program ordered by the court. Luckily she got away with spending only 23 days behind bars.
12. Robert Downey Jr.
Who comes to mind when we hear the name of the character ‘Iron Man?’ It’s none other than Robert Downey Jr. who showed off his acting skills while playing the role.
However, we all have our dark sides, and so does this actor, who was arrested multiple times from 1996 until 2001 for drug use. But due to him always missing the court-ordered legal substance tests and also facing arrests too many times, the actor was finally sentenced to three years in prison in 1999.
Luckily Robert only had to serve one year of the sentence, after which he was released and has been kept away from using any illegal substances.
13. Snoop Dogg
‘I wanna thank me for never quitting. I wanna thank believing in me.’ These are just a few lines from the rapper’s famous speech at the Hollywood Walk Of Fame ceremony, which never fails to entertain me.
Nonetheless, Snoop Dogg has been in and out of prison several times throughout his life. But it all started when he was only 19 years old and got caught for the possession of cocaine which led to him spending a few hours locked up in jail, but that was only the beginning.
Then again, in 1993, the rapper and his bodyguard were arrested for murder but later, the charges were dropped, and they both got released on bail after spending a few days in prison. From then till the middle of the 2000s, Snoop Dogg clashed with the law several times for firearm and drug possession, and also, he was linked with a rape case of which the charges were dropped later.
However, the rapper last spent time behind bars in 2012 for a few hours when he was arrested for possessing marijuana.
14. Tommy Lee
Rock star Tommy Lee, drummer and founder of the rock band Motley Crue is also on the list of celebrities that went to jail. Can you guess why? Was it drugs, sexual abuse, or domestic violence?
Although the musician has been arrested three times, he was sent to prison once for beating up ex-wife ‘Baywatch’ star Pamela Anderson. The actress ended up with a broken fingernail on her right hand and bruises on her back.
Tommy Lee was sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation.
15. Wesley Snipes
We all know that being a Hollywood star indeed adds huge bucks to one’s bank account, but then again, the amount of tax that needs to be paid is a reasonably big sum too. And in all honesty, no one is keen on paying taxes, not even Wesley Snipes. The actor failed to make tax payments from the years 1999 to 2007, although he earned about $38 million over that period of time.
Anyhow when Wesley Snipes appeared in court, he apologized to the judges and offered three checks worth $5 million altogether as a partial payment of his debt. But obviously, the court did not accept anything and sentenced the actor to three years in prison from 2010-2013.
Final Words
Finding out that celebrities are capable of such indecency is genuinely upsetting. Although Justin Bieber and Mark Wahlberg were minors at the time they committed their crimes, the two genuinely regret their past actions, which is, I guess, a good sign.
Whereas Khloe Kardashian and Paris Hilton both ended up behind bars for their reckless driving, and to be honest, I won’t be surprised if we see these two going to prison again for the same reason.
On the other hand, Chris Brown committed crimes regularly and was in and out of jail previously. But thankfully, he has become a new man now and turned towards being the best version of himself.
I know I didn’t mention many names here, but there is one celebrity I have to give credit to one man for making us all laugh. It’s none other than our bongos player Matthew McConaughey. Wait, no.. our naked bongos player who was high on marijuana late at night and got arrested. I cannot get over this!!!
Well, I shall be signing off now, but I sincerely hope you enjoyed reading about celebrities who went to jail.
