#PinkSlipped: Careers Ruined by Social Media
Stars who couldn't survive the Twitterverse.
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#PinkSlip - Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms have been instrumental in helping stars reach wider audiences than ever before, and have even played a hand in creating stars from whole cloth. (Remember where Justin Bieber got his start?) But what the Internet giveth, the Internet can taketh away, and nobody knows that better than the following victims of online scandals. From Meek to Azealia, here are some celebs whose careers have been ruined by social media.(Photos from left: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Samsung, John Sciulli/Getty Images for Nasty Gal)
Photo By Photos from left: Jonathan Leibson/Getty Images for Samsung
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Azealia Banks - This femcee is as well-known for her ferocious Twitter fingers as she is for her music. While Azealia's social media rants have often been the most entertaining thing on the internet, she recently crossed the line — really crossed the line — when her rant against former boy-bander Zayn Malik turned racist and Islamophobic (she made reference to him smelling like "curry"). Last Thursday, Twitter suspended Banks' account for her "abusive tweets and behavior." Hopefully the time away from social media will give her a chance to calm down. (Photo: John Sciulli/Getty Images for Nasty Gal)
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Meek Mill - Deciding to step to Drake, whom he accused of not writing his own raps, turned out to be not the brightest move on the Philly MC's part. Despite Meek's attempt to expose the Toronto native as a fraud, Drake's retaliation was swift, ruthless and included not one but two diss tracks and endless memes that even had Will Smith laughing. To add insult to injury, one of the diss tracks — "Charged Up" — landed in the top three on the Billboard charts. The internet dragged Nicki's boo for days. That said, Meek's album Dreams Worth More Than Money certainly got a boost from the Feud of the Year, so maybe the joke is on us? Don't count him out just yet. Mr. Mill might have a comeback in him.(Photo: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)
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Iggy Azalea - Ask anyone who matters — 13-year-olds, Black Twitter, anyone who works at a record label — and they'll tell you that the Age of Azalea is over. What's startling is the Australian pop rapper went from chart topper (she had Spotify's second-most streamed album of 2014) to pariah in about 10 months. Many factors played a part in Azalea's demise, including the fact that most people realized she's not a very good rapper, but social media was by far the biggest. Once Twitter decided it had had enough of Iggy, the walls came crashing down. We'll see if there's an Act 2 in her future, but for now, Iggy has plenty of time to plan her wedding to Nick Young. (Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images for NARAS)
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Rachel Dolezal - Oh, Rachel. The former president of the NAACP's Spokane chapter — who is white, FYI — tried her best to convince the world that transracial is a thing. While she provoked some fascinating debates, the internet has spoken and it says,"No way, diva." Once Twitter stopped caring what Rachel had to say, her 15 minutes of fame ran out real fast. (Photo: REUTERS/Stephanie Keith /LANDOV)
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Rashard Mendenhall - NFL careers aren't known to last all that long, but this Pittsburgh Steeler's time in the league came to a crashing halt after Mendenhall appeared to tweet support for Osama bin Laden following the terrorist leader's kill and capture in 2011. Within 48 hours, Mendenhall had lost all his endorsement deals and, within a couple of years, retired from the NFL altogether. The football player didn't go down without a fight, though: he sued Champion, with whom he had a million dollar contract, for wrongful termination under the Freedom of Expression Act. (Photo: Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
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Larry Johnson - In 2009, former Pro Bowl running back Johnson engaged in a Twitter feud with the wrong people, sending a series of inflammatory tweets that got him into some hot water with his employer, the Kansas City Chiefs. Johnson was suspended for a game for the tweets — which included disses against his coach and a gay slur directed at a fan — 32,000 Chiefs fans petitioned the team to release Johnson from his contract. The team had no choice but to oblige.(Photo: Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department via Getty Images)
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Anthony Weiner - When the New York City congressman sent a lewd photograph of himself to someone on Twitter as a public tweet rather than a direct message, late night talk show hosts (and, probably, Republicans) were salivating. The social media oops, dubbed Weinergate, ultimately lead to his resignation from the House of Representatives.(Photo: Peter Kramer/NBC/NBC NewsWire)
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Paula Deen - Few have fallen as hard as TV's Butter Queen. The celebrity chef watched her entire empire evaporate like steam when a 20-year-old deposition in which she admitted to having used the n-word "once or twice" surfaced online in 2013. Endorsement deals, product lines and even her long-running Food Network cooking show were all gone within weeks. (Photo: Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for SOBEWFF)
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Keri Hilson - One of the earliest casualties of the Beyhive, Hilson saw her once promising career go up in smoke after she allegedly called out Beyoncé for not writing her own lyrics. That was seven years ago. But the Beyhive never forgets, and Hilson was never able to fully reignite her career. At least she has a gorgeous man, NBA player Serge Ibaka, to go home to.(Photo: Michael Buckner/Getty Images)
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