The DeGeneres Curse: 10 Years After The Viral Oscars Selfie, Stars’ Careers And Lives Are Impacted
Trigger warning: domestic violence
Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscars selfie made way for a haunting aftermath, as a decade later, the fortunes of celebrities featured in the infamous pictures, such as Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, and others, took a sinister turn. Some may go as far as to speculate that the star-studded snap was cursed.
In 2014, Ellen took the unforgettable yet ill-fated selfie at the 86th Academy Awards, herding popular Hollywood stars together. Since then, so many of the featured celebrities have seen their fortunes take a turn for the worse.
The picture included Ellen, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Bradley Cooper, Jared Leto, Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Peter Nyong’o, Jennifer Lawrence, Channing Tatum, and Lupita Nyong’o. Eight out of the 12 famous personas went on to have notable instances of negative turns in their careers or personal lives.
Ellen DeGeneres’ infamous 2014 Oscars selfie sparked a haunting aftermath
Image credits: EllenDeGeneres
Ellen was dubbed “the meanest person alive”
Image credits: ellendegeneres
Starting with Ellen, who was “knocked off her Queen of Daytime perch” after allegations were made in a 2020 BuzzFeed article accusing the comic of lording over a “toxic workplace environment.”
A resulting thread on X (at the time known as Twitter) went on to dub the 66-year-old host “the meanest person alive,” The New York Post reported.
Moreover, an Ellen DeGeneres Show source told The Post in 2020: “The stories are all true!” Subsequently, the show, which had been on for 19 years, ended in 2022.
Julia was seemingly spared from the cursed
Image credits: juliaroberts
Kevin was accused of sexual assault
Image credits: Kevin Spacey Talks
In 2017, Kevin Spacey was reportedly instantly fired from his Netflix series House of Cards after actor Anthony Rapp had accused him of a sexual assault years earlier when he was a teen, as per The Post.
The 64-year-old Oscar-winner went on to face a series of similar charges in the US and the UK, all of which he was acquitted of or have been dropped. Nevertheless, his career has never recovered.
In 2016, the once beloved “Brangelina” couple broke up, with Angelina initiating a divorce from Brad in 2016, citing irreconcilable differences.
Bradley kept on being nominated for Oscars without winning any
Image credits: Variety
Channing got divorced
Image credits: TheEllenShow
The former couple’s separation unleashed a slew of allegations and disputes over custody of their six children and division of assets, including a French vineyard they co-owned.
Additionally, a court filing from Angelina alleged that on a 2016 flight, Brad grabbed her by the head and shook her, then he choked one of their children and struck another when they tried to defend her, AP News reported.
In the same theme, Page Six reported in 2023 that Meryl and her husband of 45 years, Don Gummer, had been separated since at least 2017.
Jennifer was also seemingly sparred
Image credits: Peter White/Getty Images
Meryl separated from her husband of 45 years
Image credits: Leon Bennett/GA/The Hollywood Reporter
Additionally, Channing and Jenna Dewan divorced in November 2019.
In 2014, Bradley was nominated for his second Oscar for his role in American Hustle. However, he has since been nominated for 10 more Oscars and has never won one.
Meanwhile, Jared has gone on to star in the unpopular Suicide Squad, amongst a handful of other movies.
“Brangelina” faced a terrible faith
Image credits: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Lupita’s life seemingly evolved favorably
Image credits: lupitanyongo
More so, the 52-year-old actor saw accusations of questionable behaviors with underage fans resurface since a 2005 article for The Post alleged that he had invited minors to performances by his band, Thirty Seconds to Mars.
In 2018, actor Dylan Sprouse wrote on X: Yo @JaredLeto, now that you’ve slid into the DM’s of every female model aged 18-25, what would you say your success rate is?”
As for Peter Nyong’o, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts, and Lupita Nyong’o, their personal and professional life have evolved favorably. For now…
“Hollywood is just bad,” a reader commented
Wow. What a strange happening. A bunch of people in a picture after 10 years, and then someone just picked up totally randomly stuff that happened to them in the past decade. Brilliant article there, BP
So, out of the 10 people in this post, 3 were "spared", 1 whose curse was "not winning an Oscar", 3 went through divorces, 1 went through a separation (but an [admittedly brief] Google tells me they remain good friends), and 1 whose behaviour was made public, and 1 whose open secret of sexual abuse was brought to light. THIS POST IS ABSOLUTE NONSENSE. Edited to add - it took TWO PEOPLE to make this post?!
One 'visual editor' and one honest to goodness 'journalist'!
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So after the photo was taken, 60% of the people in the photo experienced a documented stressful life event, at least 2 of which (DeGeneres and Spacey) were 100% responsible for said event. Interpretation: People in the photo are cursed. Great way of minimising perpetrators' responsibility for their own actions of sexual assault/violence.
Wow. What a strange happening. A bunch of people in a picture after 10 years, and then someone just picked up totally randomly stuff that happened to them in the past decade. Brilliant article there, BP
So, out of the 10 people in this post, 3 were "spared", 1 whose curse was "not winning an Oscar", 3 went through divorces, 1 went through a separation (but an [admittedly brief] Google tells me they remain good friends), and 1 whose behaviour was made public, and 1 whose open secret of sexual abuse was brought to light. THIS POST IS ABSOLUTE NONSENSE. Edited to add - it took TWO PEOPLE to make this post?!
One 'visual editor' and one honest to goodness 'journalist'!
Load More Replies... So after the photo was taken, 60% of the people in the photo experienced a documented stressful life event, at least 2 of which (DeGeneres and Spacey) were 100% responsible for said event. Interpretation: People in the photo are cursed. Great way of minimising perpetrators' responsibility for their own actions of sexual assault/violence.
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