Life can fall apart slowly over time. A few bad habits, even more bad decisions. Missed opportunities. Maybe the wrong crowd, coupled with some questionable relationships...
But other times, it only takes a moment for someone to completely wreck their life. Perhaps it was a poorly-timed comment, a "just-this-one-time" mentality, or even being caught unexpectedly on a Coldplay kiss cam. Whatever the reason, many people have managed to derail their lives at a speed, which is quite astounding.
Someone recently asked, "Who ruined their life the fastest?" and the replies sped in faster than the resignation of Astronomer's CEO Andy Byron. Thousands of people shared stories about years of stability unraveled in an instant.
From silly decisions that led to fatal crashes, acts of self-sabotage that had the worst consequences, and even dumb comments that sent careers spiraling out of control... Bored Panda has put together a list of the most sobering responses for you to scroll through while you think about your own life choices. Many might make you step with caution to avoid doing anything that could alter your path forever.
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Not the fastest, but you have to credit Elon Musk for the sheer scale of his downfall.
He went from Silicon Valley’s darling genius that was going to save the world, to detestable technofa**st and one of the greatest villains of this generation.
He is now the poster child of the ultra wealthy using their money to make our lives worse.
That O’Brien ceo guy. Coldplay kisscam simultaneously brought him into fame and ruined his life.
My son. Decided to hang out of a window of a Jeep while the driver was doing donuts in the sand. The car rolled, he was k**led, no one else was even hurt cause they were all wearing seatbelts. One person in the car was going to do it, too, but Sage said "no, it's too dangerous." The irony of the stupid little fucker's comment is not lost on me. I miss him so much.
I ruined my.own life the fastest. I went to a doctors appointment for chronic pain, was prescribed opiates in about 5 minutes. That's all it took to utterly ruin the great life I had and alter it.forever
Thankfully, I'm coming back strong now.
Went to the emergency department with a gut infection about 3 weeks ago.. the doctor asked what pain killers I wanted. I said, jokingly, I dunno, what have you got? Sent me home with with 20 oxycodone. Didn't ask if I had a history of a*******n. I might be a grey haired old lady, but grey haired old ladies get addicted the same as anyone else. I don't do well with opiates, but he wasn't to know that.
Will Smith was 45 minutes away from accepting an Oscar before ruining his career and image.
I will never knowingly participate in anything he is involved with anymore. That was a gross mistake he made that he can't undo. Resorting to violence and bodily harm to someone who make jokes for a living. I do remember the first time I saw him on screen in Made in America and thought he was so talented. No more.
He should have been hauled out of the facility at that moment. Go out on the street and do that to someone and you will wind up in jail.
He felt untouchable and entitled and it backfired bigtime. Arrogant a*****e.
It should have been handled privately, but Chris Rock brought it on himself.
It was too bad he couldn't control himself regarding the issue... sounds complicated. Then again, modern humor needs to come up out of the 10 year-old bully realm and stop insulting people as a joke. We currently have a president who lives to insult others who don't bow to him and it disgusting. I actually would have liked to punch that comedian myself.
I highly doubt that he's "ruined his career and image"... Was it a huge mistake on his part? Yes... But he was sticking up for Jada who has alopecia. Losing your hair is devastating, especially as a female. I know from personal experience. So yes, he defended Jada but in the wrong way. Will it affect his reputation in the long run? I doubt it and I don't think it should. He's a brilliant actor, especially in some of his more serious roles.
It had some effect, which is a shame. I was quite liking that nature documentary he was doing. I'm not sure how Jada was feeling about the jokes. I don't think she was okay with it, but tried to sort of laugh a little to break the tension and not let it ruin everyone's fun. But it was clear she was not happy how Will handled it. It seemed like there was some quiet, or silent dialogue happening between Jada and Will just before he snapped. However, I will agree that the slap didn't keep Chris from continuing. But it was very obvious he was left hurt and speechless, all for doing his job. We know Chris Rock has a very sarcastic, smartass sense of humor. He's one of my favourite comedians. I loved Will back when he was doing Fresh Prince, but his likability has been declining ever since he boasted about getting a music award and crediting him omitting swearing in his music, angering fellow rappers. It's like he's been trying way too hard to go from comedian to serious performer.
Load More Replies...OK even if your theory were true did it not ruin his career and reputation? Thats the whole point of the post.
Load More Replies...
The pilot that allowed his children to play around with the plane, it crashed in just 3 min k*****g all 75 on board,
Aeroflot flight 593.
My dad was a pilot. As a child I sometimes sat in the cockpit if there were no seats available on the flight (we flew standby). There are so many buttons and switches and controls that it was overwhelming. I would be terrified to touch anything. Apparently the pilot let his 15 year old son sit at the controls and he partially disengaged the autopilot, which then fully turned off and the pilot autocorrected when trying to avoid the crash.
Justine Sacco's tweet "Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!" ruined her life so fast, she was the last person to know.
That guy who moved his family to Russia from the US because of radicalization and enlisted in the fight against Ukraine.
Mike Lindell? Founder of mypillow who at worst was known for being a passionate but weird founder. His product was ok. His company seemed to be doing well.
He then endorses trump and triples down. People went from having no opinions on him to hating him. His company is failing.and it seems like maga support isn't enough
Boban Jankovic, professional basketball player, paralysed himself by banging his head against the hoop support in a fit of rage.
I was watching that game when it happened! It was really terrifying to see it live
My older brother had a pretty epic collapse. He was waiting tables at one of the best restaurants in our city and was promoted to bartender and was being fast tracked to management. I know waiting tables and bartending doesn't sound like a big deal, but he was making around $100k a year and only working about 30-35 hours a week. He bought a house, a new car, and had a dog. Then he got into d***s.
One week everything is great. The next week his roommate moves out abruptly. I'm guessing he had been spiraling without the family knowing, but she saw it all coming. She leaves abruptly, the car gets repossessed, and the bank seizes the house. He moved in with my dad, but after 2-3 days my dad puts him in the VA hospital. After a few days there he bounces out and declares himself a new man. Moved back in with my dad. After a couple of days there, he's back at the VA, then out to basically a homeless shelter. This is all within like a 2-3 week span. That was 15 years ago. He's been bouncing in and out of shelters in Baltimore and Boston since.
Wow that is sad. The grips d***s get people into. It may feel good at the time but then all hell breaks loose.
Anyone who blows their hands off with a firework 🧨🦞
Greg Wallace
He presented MasterChef in the UK. Notice the past tense.
It came out that he said a few gross things to female contestants - including on the celebrity version.
Nothing actually horribly offensive, but definitely 'pervy uncle' territory.
But instead of apologising or even denying and playing down, he doubled down and having the gall to blame "women of a certain age" for complaining.
Matt Lauer. Once was the face of NBC and the Olympics. Has a torrid affair and SA charges at work. Gone forever in a flash.
Dude had a button under his desk to lock his office door so women could not leave
Adam Osbourne, founder of Osborne Computers which made the first successful portable computer, made announcements about new computers that were still in the prototype stage. So people stopped buying their existing product, Osborne Computing failed by 1985, and they became a footnote in computer history.
But they did name The Osborne Effect after this blunder.
A friend of mine decided that she was polyamorous. Her husband was supportive and she starting dating a married guy in another state, literally driving hours back and forth every other weekend to see him.
Out of the blue, after a few months of this, she says that she doesn't feel attracted to her husband anymore and might want a divorce. He is blindsided and willing to work on the relationship (he did nothing wrong and had been nothing but supportive of her), and her friends all beg her to try counseling before going nuclear for no reason. She ignores this and divorces him, ruining both her and her husband's life out of nowhere. She moves to the other state with the other guy and his wife, where she loses contact with her friends and family and basically becomes a mistress to him and watches the couple's baby for free.
The poor husband was devastated. We're still friends with him and he's remarrying to a lovely woman, but I still mourn the loss of my friend who just fucked up her entire life to go be miserable.
OJ Simpson?
Dude was IT as an NFL player. Had a successful career as an actor in some way (Naked Gun, tv Ads etc….). Money never would’ve been a problem. Dude had a gravy train life set up for him and he fumbled it all.
Definitely my neighbor drove drunk with his whole family in the car and he crashed. He became paralyzed from the waist down his whole family was fine and they left him completey. F**k you niri.
better than him living without a scratch and his whole family dying.
A friend of mine was in college and had a great life until he decided to drive extremely drunk and got into a horrible accident. He ended up with many broken bones and a very expensive DUI case. He got expelled from college. He couldn't find a job for years after that.
Henry Ruggs III. He was driving pretty dang fast when he k**led that woman and her dog on his drink driving thrill ride. Knowing the NFL, he’ll still have a job once he gets out of prison. After all, “if Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3, we’d probably diagnose it as an eating disorder.”
The cop who shot the kid tamir rice 11 years ago now is one of the few police who hasn’t been able to escape their past as a shooter. He got fired as an officer after the shooting, and he’s continually tried to apply to new police stations and as a security guard to various places, his past keeps catching up with him, and people keep contacting his new work places, to keep him off the force, and to this day he has not been able to return as a cop
plenty of good answers I see already, one I think of is Otto Warmbier. While I doubt we'll ever know for sure what exactly happened, he made some small choice, whether innocent or foolish, that ruined and subsequently ended his life. I remember at the time of the incident he had the persona of a privileged twat who thought touring north korea would be a fun gag, and quickly FAFO'ed. Now its North Korea so how much of it was manufactured? IIRC the incident was that he tampered with a poster or something. that we'll never know, but one could argue just being an American traveling to North Korea in the first place as a 'tourist' is asking for it.
An old friend of mine and his wife were having trouble getting pregnant. She kept having miscarriages, and the last one they had to remove a fallopian tube. She was understandably distraught by this and fled to Colombia. Totally mia for a few weeks. In that time this old buddy knocked up his neighbor. When his wife came home he said "see I'm not the problem". Oof
Edit: to be clear they removed a fallopian tube from her.
OMG the edit. People if you weren't taught basic biology go back to your high school and insist they finish your education. When there's only one man and one woman involved there should be no need to clarify who had a fallopian tube removed. That'd be like needing to know who provides the $perm.
Kind of an old story, but Jimmy the Greek who used to be on the NFL pregame shows. Was at a dinner, had a few too many and, on camera, started talking about slave owners breeding “big blacks” with “big black women” to make “big, strong, blacks”. I’m paraphrasing, but it was career over pretty much overnight.
TBH, it’s one thing that the slave owners in the South did. They actually kept logs similar to what the AKC registry uses for dogs. The Antebellum South was an evil place.
My favorite 'guy who failed the fastest' is this guy I met in El Monte, CA, arrived to CSULA from Brazil on scholarship for engineering, saved up working under the table to buy a mustang, drove it fast around the industrial zone we worked in, faster and faster each lap, went over the curb, over the grass, car ended up on top of utility box, while I was working at Starbucks across the street from the landing zone.
Guy wasn't hurt, but he got into all sorts of trouble, lost his scholarship, visa, chance at US education and deported.
I have a very young coworker who waited until he got a permanent contract. Then he took a big loan and bought a brand new BMW with all sorts of extras. 3 weeks later he totaled it, but luckily wasn't much hurt. He has to pay back the loan now for another 10 years... Oh kiddo....
That girl who stuck her head out of a roof window on riding bus during a school trip and head butted a tunnel entrance.
I wonder if they're thinking of this: https://abcnews.go.com/US/teens-death-party-bus-blamed-booze/story?id=20144369
The Hawk Tu A girl ruined her brand with a crypto scam
Any brand built on THAT was doomed to fail (unless it's p**n)
Azealia Banks. Released a song that was played on near repeat in every club in 2012. Talk about how big she would become.
Went absolutely insane in interviews and social media and destroyed like 95% of her following and blacklisted from mainstream radios so never got much real coverage again.
From what I know about her, it couldn't happen to a nicer person.
Velveteen Dream. Was literally IT in NXT. Future superstar, future WrestleMania headliner was what everyone talked about. Came out he was texting minors. Threw it all away.
Aaron Hernandez went from NFL star with a $40 million contract to convicted murderer serving life in prison in about 3 years. Then k**led himself. Absolutely spectacular self-destruction.
A patient I help treat sometimes. 5yo left unattended for a few minutes, proceeded to drink from a bleach bottle. Caustic burns destroyed their airway and oesophagus but managed to survive because of tracheostomies and feeding tubes. Parents penalised and the child placed into care. Child needs routine surgeries to fix the damage caused by the caustic burns, and because of their age all fixes are temporary because they're constantly growing.
I used to run with a dangerous crowd. Well, this guy was preparing his shöt of smeth. He also had one with bleach in it to clean it. He set his down and went to the bathroom and guess which one he fired upon his return? He made it but good God I hope I never see that shade of red on a person again. I just knew he was deäd. Had to call the ambulance on that deal. I look back now on my lifestyle then. I'm neither proud, nor ashamed. All of it shaped me into me today. My kids don't even know I have ever tasted alcohol and they're 12 & 13 :)
Like Michael Carroll from the UK-at nineteen he won almost ten million pounds in the lottery,spent a few years on cars,parties and gambling and ended up broke and back to manual work.
Howard Dean. Was well on his way to becoming the democratic nominee for president in 2004. He had a ton of momentum, polling looked great, the nomination was his for the taking. Then he gets on stage at a rally and in a fit of excitement lets out a awkward scream and overnight his campaign fell apart. It was one of the earliest “viral” clips on the internet. Late night hosts mocked it. Chapelle show spoofed it. He never came back from it. Poor dude.
The singer Grimes. Completely destroyed and flatlined her decades-long music career and any prestige she had for a rich scumbag who cheated on her constantly and got other women pregnant while she defended him publicly 😂 Humiliation ritual fr.
Gotta say, I only know her as one of the many silly women that slept with Musk, but it's sad that she had a promising career tank for her poor choices in men. I mean; lots of people make bad choices and don't have their career ruined/themselves publicly humiliated because of it.
Thug in Limerick Ireland, showing off in front of young lad with a glock, blew his brains out because the gun was loaded and had one up the spout.
my friends who dont know how to save money. 3 kids, 4th on the way, fought his girl. now him and orher friend living in a garage sleeping on separate cots. they both just financed $20k buggy and $47k buggy off roading. they are paying $1200 total. Both trump supporters because he will fix the economy. while they both sleep in an apartment detached garage with rats 💀
probably me,
went on a strict vegan diet in my teens and stayed on it for 20years, had resulting chronic fatigue for 10 years could barely walk 1 minute before needing 10min rest.
slept 12-14hrs per day.
then it slowly improved a tad however i was still greatly nutritionally deficient by living maunly on just a little fruit for so long.
took me having life threatening issues before i finally tested meat again and then it went away.
however by that time already in 30s having wasted 2 decades.. am still far from recovered and battle ptsd anxiety attacks fatigue neurological and brain issues that made it impossible to work hence became homeless (this will be my 7th winter)
although i had to resist the overwhelming urge to unalive 1000s of times am still here with little hope but it is what it is. life isnt always roses, grace and angel dust however it sure grants us great lessons that hopefully others can learn from to enjoy a fuller life 🌼
You can do veganism and be healthy. However, you have to be smart about it. I’m not vegan, but my brother and his wife are and have been for 40 years. They’re 70+ and just completed a 2 month bicycle camping trip of France. As I said you have to know how to do it. Especially how to get high quality protein
Len Bias. A top 2 pick who was supposed to carry the Boston Celtics from one era to another but then just 2 days after he was drafted he OD'd on c*****e and died
Maybe not the fastest and the biggest ‘ruin’ but Machine Gun Kelly deserves a honorable mention.
He tried taking shots at Eminem and Em’s response made him quit rap and pursuit emo rock lol.
A guy from my high school beat his mom to death. Not sure if you can say that was the moment his life was ruined because he was already arrested for playing with a gun in the house and grew up just as immature, but killing his mom was the point where he truly resigned all hope for a future.
I mean... I guess he had some explanation for doing this, justified or not. (Arguing not, because I don't think taking the life of another is ever justified, no matter how much I might make dark jokes etc). As others have said in so many other posts though, explanations aren't excuses. I'd be curious to interview him in a few decades and say "is whatever you killed her over still worth it?" RIP to his mum.
My wife. She cheated. My youngest son is the one who found the evidence.
"Helping" her move out. She will know how much she fcked up next week.
El Pirata de Culiacán. He was recorded talking mess about a powerful cartel boss and shortly after he was k**led in a nightclub in Mexico. He was 17 years old.
My brother. Repeatedly hung out with the kids my mom and I told him time and time again that they were not good people and you’ll get in trouble.
Fast forward half a year later and he was arrested with those friends for robbing 3 liquor stores with guns. He only got off because he was what the cops called the bag boy who didn’t hold any weapon or hurt anyone. Well, that and I got him a lawyer who frequently represented organized crime members and got 99% of them off with a slap on the wrist. Him being white we were targeted by my brothers friends family and we were stalked, menaced and had weak molotovs and bricks thrown at our house. We were blamed for being racist and that’s why he got off not understanding that he didn’t even hold a gun, had no priors and his friends were known gang bangers who’ve been known to pressure others into doing things.
Well, anyway he now has a record that will follow him everywhere now.
Actually, the record won't follow him (unless he is again arrested for something serious), because he was a juvenile at the time. It's my understanding that these records are sealed.
Bud Dwyer former treasure. Shot himself on live tv. He ruined his life and told on most of the rotten people in his office. He also ruined live tv since after im pretty sure they started to delay most stations
plz correct me if i’m wrong but wasn’t he cleared afterwards when it was discovered he hadn’t done what he’d been accused? of …..
Not super famous, but definitely notable. The streamer/youtuber Cryaotic.
Had a big following from his YouTube days. Did videos with PewDiePie before switching over to Twitch full-time. He would pull in a good 4000 viewers per.
Then, as I understand it, he started an antidepressant that altered his brain chemistry a bit too much, and he started seeing himself as an activist and hero.
Then he posts a YouTube video where he admits he groomed girls on the internet. Everything cascades from there and he disappeared off the face of the Earth.
Rudy Giuliani. He was America’s mayor during 9/11. He was an example of strength and perseverance. If you don’t agree with that then maybe you can at least agree that he had some prestige. But he became a joke and ultimate loser when he hitched his wagon to the Trump train.
Huw Edwards. I went to school with him, and was so impressed with his dignity when he was presenting the news on the BBC that the queen had died. Then.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huw_Edwards https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huw_Edwards
James Dean. Starred in three movies. This back in the sixties. Bought a small sports car. One night/day was driving way to fast. Went around a curve. Lost control and killed himself. Could have a very good career as a movie star.
Gerald Ratner was chief executive officer of the major British jewellery company Ratner Group. He referred to the company's products as "total crâp" and some earings as "cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks and Spencer's, but I have to say the sandwich will probably last longer than the earrings". After his comment the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the group's collapse. Ratner hired a chairman in an attempt to stabilise the situation, and was dismissed by the new company chairman in November 1992. The group changed its name to Signet Group in September 1993.
I was thinking of him. Amazed that this wasn't on the original list.
Load More Replies...Good point! He’d definitely be among the right company on this list.
Load More Replies...I'd like to nominate Ned Fulmer from Try Guys who got caught cheating on his wife, the mother of his two children, with a mutual work colleague at a restaurant. Iykyk
Isn't he the one that was always gushing about his wife and like bringing her up all the time, like that was his thing? I don't remember much, I only saw their stuff a couple of times.
Load More Replies...People forget Gus Ferocq. Went from head quarterback of the Redskins to absolutely nothing because he celebrated his first win with a celebratory bashing his head into a wall into a concussed idiot with no future in 20 seconds.
I still nominate US politician Gary Hart, who verbally defied reporters to 'catch him in any impropriety' and drove directly to his yacht where his young blond GF was waiting, visible on the deck.
What about Ruby Franke & 8 Passengers? Their life was on the countdown to destruction the first time their Bishop/church recommended Jodi Hildebrandt.
Some are wondering how quickly the Labour government will implode. They've made a promising start...
Anyone else reflecting on how lucky they are not having ended up on this list with the stupid s**t they did when young?
Nope. Never did anything that would warrant ending up on a list like this.
Load More Replies...There was a guy back in the 80s, founded a tech company. It went public and he was an instant millionaire. He found out that day, then drove his car around a couple of curves in a fit of excitement, crashed, and killed himself. I'll always remember that.
This was one of the stupidest articles I've ever read on boredpanda. Whoever wrote it sounds like a high school student, trying to earn extra credit. Unsubscribing right now.
Rudy Giuliani. He was America’s mayor during 9/11. He was an example of strength and perseverance. If you don’t agree with that then maybe you can at least agree that he had some prestige. But he became a joke and ultimate loser when he hitched his wagon to the Trump train.
Huw Edwards. I went to school with him, and was so impressed with his dignity when he was presenting the news on the BBC that the queen had died. Then.... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huw_Edwards https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huw_Edwards
James Dean. Starred in three movies. This back in the sixties. Bought a small sports car. One night/day was driving way to fast. Went around a curve. Lost control and killed himself. Could have a very good career as a movie star.
Gerald Ratner was chief executive officer of the major British jewellery company Ratner Group. He referred to the company's products as "total crâp" and some earings as "cheaper than a prawn sandwich from Marks and Spencer's, but I have to say the sandwich will probably last longer than the earrings". After his comment the value of the Ratner group plummeted by around £500 million, which very nearly resulted in the group's collapse. Ratner hired a chairman in an attempt to stabilise the situation, and was dismissed by the new company chairman in November 1992. The group changed its name to Signet Group in September 1993.
I was thinking of him. Amazed that this wasn't on the original list.
Load More Replies...Good point! He’d definitely be among the right company on this list.
Load More Replies...I'd like to nominate Ned Fulmer from Try Guys who got caught cheating on his wife, the mother of his two children, with a mutual work colleague at a restaurant. Iykyk
Isn't he the one that was always gushing about his wife and like bringing her up all the time, like that was his thing? I don't remember much, I only saw their stuff a couple of times.
Load More Replies...People forget Gus Ferocq. Went from head quarterback of the Redskins to absolutely nothing because he celebrated his first win with a celebratory bashing his head into a wall into a concussed idiot with no future in 20 seconds.
I still nominate US politician Gary Hart, who verbally defied reporters to 'catch him in any impropriety' and drove directly to his yacht where his young blond GF was waiting, visible on the deck.
What about Ruby Franke & 8 Passengers? Their life was on the countdown to destruction the first time their Bishop/church recommended Jodi Hildebrandt.
Some are wondering how quickly the Labour government will implode. They've made a promising start...
Anyone else reflecting on how lucky they are not having ended up on this list with the stupid s**t they did when young?
Nope. Never did anything that would warrant ending up on a list like this.
Load More Replies...There was a guy back in the 80s, founded a tech company. It went public and he was an instant millionaire. He found out that day, then drove his car around a couple of curves in a fit of excitement, crashed, and killed himself. I'll always remember that.
This was one of the stupidest articles I've ever read on boredpanda. Whoever wrote it sounds like a high school student, trying to earn extra credit. Unsubscribing right now.
