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11. ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to prove to everyone that you’re good and sober, the reputation once attached to you simply won’t go away. Even though Robert Downey, Jr. has been sober for years, people still see him as a major screw-up who does a lot of drugs and a lot of stupid things.
At some point between the Oscar nominated title role in the movie Chaplin and the prominent television role on Ally McBeal, Downey, Jr. lost his compass. He started doing a lot of drugs and was arrested many, many times. He went in and out of rehab, onto the streets and into lockup again for years, completely unable to snap out of it.
His substance abuse issue even cost him the high-profile role in Ally McBeal, for which he received a Golden Globe and An Emmy nomination. After being arrested barefoot in Culver City and later also trespassing his neighbor’s house and sleeping in his bed, the producers fired Downey from the show. It wasn’t until 2001 that he finally managed to sober up.