The 10 Biggest Career Crashes

Stanley McChrystal

What does it take to bring down a four-star general? Apparently just a couple of juicy quotes in a music magazine. McChrystal offered his resignation over his command of the war in Afghanistan to President Obama in June after a Rolling Stone profile by Michael Hastings quoted him as groaning, "Oh, no not another email from [Special Representative to Afghanistan Richard] Holbrooke," and captured one of his advisors referring to Vice President Biden as "Bite Me." After 34 years of service, McChrystal retired. But he's not just sitting at home drinking Bud Light Lime, he's taken to the road, charging $60,000 a pop plus expenses for speeches.

Steven Rattner

November should have been a grand month for Steven Rattner, the private equity honcho and former head of Obama's auto industry restructuring efforts. But instead of celebrating the IPO of General Motors, Rattner is being sued by New York attorney general (and soon-to-be governor) Andrew Cuomo for at least $26 million for his alleged role in a pay-to-play scheme to get investments from the New York State pension fund. Rattner already agreed to a settlement with the SEC, accepting a two year ban from the securities industry and coughing up $6.2 million in fines. In response to the suits, Rattner announced, "I will not be bullied simply because the attorney general's office prefers political considerations instead of a reasoned assessment of the facts…I intend to clear my name by defending myself vigorously against the politically motivated lawsuit."

Charles Rangel

Charlie Rangel just can't catch a break. His much-touted decades of public service have been long forgotten since he was first accused of ethical breaches more than two years ago for failing to report income from property in the Dominican Republic, misleading disclosures of income, and soliciting money inappropriately. After his pleas for an extension to find counsel (after doling out $2 million already, he claims he can no longer afford lawyers) were rejected this week, the ever-diplomatic Rangel walked out of the proceedings. Not that that stopped the congressional panel from finding him guilty of 11 House ethics violations. The committee's top lawyer recommended Rangel face censure.

Jeff Zucker

Zucker is the man that built his reputation by installing the NBC Today show in a see-through studio and convincing musicians to perform to miniature masses in Rockefeller Center. But as morning television made his career, primetime power destroyed it. When he was promoted to CEO of NBC, the network was high on the success of Friends, but its ratings soon fell, tarnished by series failures and hiring misfires (Ben Silverman, anyone?). Of course, putting Jay Leno on at 10 p.m. and then quickly rescinding Conan O'Brien's newfound seat behind the Tonight Show desk when the pilot was a ratings disaster was the final straw.

Rick Sanchez

After nearly three decades in broadcasting, Rick Sanchez's television trajectory took a disastrous turn when he was a guest on comedian Pete Dominick's radio show in September. Sanchez, a Cuban immigrant, called Jon Stewart a bigot and said, "a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart. And to imply that somehow they—the people in this country are Jewish—are an oppressed minority? Yeah." The top brass at CNN who had been signing Sanchez's paycheck for the last five years weren't smitten with the comments and released a statement less than 24 hours after interview aired to say Sanchez was no longer with the company.

Silvio Berlusconi

The Italian Prime Minister is no stranger to scandal, but none were quite as colorful as the recent "bunga bunga" ordeal. Since Berlusconi became Prime Minister for the first time in 1994, he's been linked to Cosa Nostra (the Italian mob) and he's been accused multiple times (including by his ex-wife) of philandering with minors. The latest allegation, and one that may out-rank all the preceding allegations, comes from a 17-year-old prostitute who claims that Berlusconi plied her with more than $1,300 worth of cash and jewelry and organized a 20-woman orgy at his Milan villa. According to the woman, known as Ruby, Berlusconi learned about the ritual Libyan orgy called "bunga bunga" from Muammar Kaddafi. Despite a history of escaping scandal unscathed, the bunga bunga accusation as well as a tumbling approval rating and the weak Italian economy has caused rifts within his party and the defection of key members of his coalition, including one who said he was worried about the "moral message" the government was sending. A confidence vote by the Parliament on December 14 will decide whether the government believes he should stay in office.

Brett Favre

Ask any red-blooded American man who Brett Favre is and the answer will likely be: "One of the best National Football League quarterbacks. Ever." True enough, but he's tugged at fans' heartstrings enough the past few years—retiring, unretiring, et cetera—that there's little public sympathy when embarrassing things happen to him. Like alleged pictures of his penis showing up on Gawker Media's Deadspin, which the company obtained for a mere 12 grandHe and his wife donatedon pace to break his career single-season turnover mark. and which Favre (allegedly) sent to a female sideline reporter along with sexy voicemails. To be fair, Favre does a lot of good in the communities he works in. $600,000 to four Minnesota charities in October. Still, making it rain on a penis picture snafu, even one on which the jury is still out, doesn't make it any less of a penis picture snafu. And on the football front it's been a far from stellar season for the future Hall of Famer. He's on pace to break his career single-season turnover mark.

Mel Gibson

For a long time Mel Gibson was an A-lister, a genuine nice guy, an action star turned acting legend, filthy rich, and totally normal. But when the mighty fall, they tend to fall hard. And 2010 was the year that Mel Gibson fell the hardest. His girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, the mother of one of his children, alleged a slew of physical and verbal abuse the summer past, and she had the audio to prove it. The first in a series of recordings damning the Oscar winner was released by Radar Online in July. Gibson said lots of mean and racist things, which have been repeated ad nauseam elsewhere. Not all is lost for Gibson, and, in fact, some media experts think he'll bounce back. Gibson's next movie, The Beaver, will be the first test. What else could producers do but play up Gibson's crazy in ads for the movie?

Charlie Sheen

In any given year Charlie Sheen could make a list of public figures with major downfalls. This, however, was a banner year even for him. In late October Sheen, a recovering alcoholic, allegedly relapsed during an alcohol-and-drug fueled bender with a pornstar at The Plaza Hotel. Sheen ended up naked in a restaurant bathroom, his face allegedly covered with cocaine. Cops later got a 911 call and the pornstar was found hiding on the floor of the actor's hotel room bathroom after Sheen went on an apparent tirade over a misplaced watch. No surprise, then, that almost a year after a domestic violence charge from Brooke Mueller, his wife, the couple officially filed for divorce in November.

Tony Hayward

If it wasn't a good year for oil giant BP, it was an even worse year on a personal level for CEO Tony Hayward. There wasn't much public sympathy for the man who served as BP's public face after the worst oil leak in history. Not that he did a bang up job on the public relations front. Hayward infamously said he, "wanted his life back," while yachting off the English coast. It was just one of many miscues in a rapid crash and burn for Hayward, who led BP from 2007 until he was fired in July. As for the yachting incident, would Hayward change anything? Not really. "I hadn't seen my son for three months, I was on the boat for six hours...I'm not certain I'd do anything different," he said.

By: the daily beast