In a perfect world, everyone gets along, no one hates anyone, and we certainly never try to ruin anyone's career, life, or anything else, for that matter. But when was the world ever perfect? We can't even keep pop culture, which is primarily dedicated to keeping people happy and entertained, from being sabotaged. In fact, sometimes pop culture saboteurs can be quite dark or creative. Or both.
10. Wrestling. The Incredible Moolah exploited and sabotaged other female wrestlers.
Women's professional wrestling has never been as popular as men's, but WWE has long included women on its roster, and even today they play an important, albeit smaller, role in the organization. But long ago, there were only a handful of women who ever got screen time, and they were often valets for male stars. One woman who had a very long career was known as The Fabulous Moolah.
Although she was the first woman WWE brought into its Hall of Fame , her past would come back to haunt her and lead to a lot of controversy. It turns out Mula was something of a monster to other women in the industry and went out of her way to sabotage anyone who didn't bend to her whims, including cutting her out for large performance fees.
Other wrestlers called Mulu "« wicked »" and the list of charges against her was extensive. As a wrestling coach, she charged young and out-of-town wrestlers rent and tuition, leaving most of them short of money and in debt to Moolah, who then controlled them. She was accused of renting out girls to businessmen instead of booking wrestling gigs for them. Later, she was accused of sabotaging a tag team match in Japan by telling her girls the title belt was supposed to change hands, even though it never actually happened. No one believed them when they said Moolah had ordered them to do so.
One of her girls, Mad Maxine, made a splash in the WWE and was slated to become a character on a Saturday morning cartoon in the '80s, which might have propelled her to superstardom. But Moolah, her manager, never mentioned it to her. Instead, she took on the role.
9. Fans regularly sabotage the Baja 1000 rally race.
Head to the Baja Peninsula at the right time of year, and you can witness one of the most popular off-road races in history. The Baja 1000 has been running since 1967, and people from all over the world come to participate or just watch. They call it the most dangerous race in North America, and partly because fans continue to sabotage it.
Over the years, people have died at the Baja 1000, to give you some idea of what is meant by the word "dangerous." Dozens of people. The 1,000-mile route has resulted in numerous fatalities due to accidents in the mountains, ravines and rivers, and the muddy sand that the route runs through. But there are also booby traps, Placed by locals intent on sabotaging the race. Sometimes they dig holes, sometimes they pile trash on the road. One time, they rerouted a river to flood the course. The reason isn't necessarily to harm anyone, at least that's not the primary intent. It's done to make the race more exciting and dangerous, because that's what people crave. If they lead to accidents and deaths, well, that's what everyone signed up for.
8. John Belushi intentionally turned down SNL sketches written by women.
Saturday Night Live Over the years, there have been plenty of colorful personalities, as well as odd controversies for one reason or another. But we've also had to tolerate actors who simply didn't get along with others. Chevy Chase was it is common knowledge and, by common consent, terrible to his castmates when he was in the cast. Bill Murray He also faced accusations that he was quite difficult to work with on the show, and John Belushi was accused of outright sabotage.
Jane Curtin , one of the most famous female actors in the show's history, has gone on record saying that Belushi was such a misogynist , He would go out of his way to ruin his sketches if they were written by a woman. He believed that women were simply not funny, and he did everything he could to convince others of this by making them look bad.
7. William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols sabotaged «Star Trek» , to enable interracial kissing
«Star Trek» has existed as a franchise since the '60s for a number of reasons, but one of the things the show has always been about is the idea of inclusivity and diversity. The crew of the original Enterprise was diverse to show that Gene Roddenberry believed things like racism and hatred between peoples, no longer exists. One of the most striking examples of this was the episode in which the characters of Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Uhura kiss.
Kirk, a white man, and Uhura, a black woman, sharing a kiss might not seem like a big deal these days, but in 1968 , When it happened, it was like this. In fact, an interracial kiss had never been shown on television before. And it might not have happened either, if the actors hadn't intentionally sabotaged the scene.
NBC was concerned that some affiliates, especially in the American South, would have trouble with the interracial kiss. They wanted to do several takes of the scene, including one without the kiss. But according to Nichelle Nichols, the actress who played Uhura, William Shatner went out of his way to ruin it. all scenes without kissing , so they couldn't be used for broadcast. He sabotaged the scene so the kiss would air because it was the only good take.
6. Mike Grell sabotaged his character Tyroc for DC Comics.
You might not recognize the name Tyroc, even if you're a comic book fan, and that's partly thanks to Mike Grell. Grell created the character for Legion of Superheroes in 1976 after apparently openly stating his desire to introduce a black character, as there had literally been none on the roster up to that point. He was turned down, and apparently even had a black character he created. before publication, painted white , but he was later given the opportunity to create Tyroc, the leader of the Black Island, who would be an antagonist to the League.
Grell felt the character was embarrassing and racist, and to emphasize this, he made him look embarrassing on the page. He made the character look like what he described as a crossbreed. Elvis and the Pimp . The character was largely ignored after his initial appearance and was eventually forgotten entirely.
5. Disney tried to sabotage FernGully because of Robin Williams
Animated film FernGully: The Last Rainforest came out in 1992, and probably the biggest splash it's made since then was that all compared it to Avatar« in 2009. A voice cast that included the likes of Tim Curry, Christian Slater, and, by far, the biggest star in the cast, Robin Williams.
It just so happens that 1992 was also the year Disney released the film «Aladdin» , which also featured Robin Williams, this time in his famous role as the Genie. Today, the role is remembered fondly, and the idea of a major star voicing the role is as commonplace as butter on toast. But it wasn't always that way, and in fact, Robin Williams is credited with changing the entire world of voice acting. from - for his role in "Aladdin." Before him, famous actors didn't voice cartoons; it was almost unheard of.
Williams did Aladdin It was a hit, and Disney knew it. So the rumor that he was also voicing a character in a competitor's film made them nervous. In other words, they were trying to sabotage the production. Disney's brass tried to force Williams to leave the role, but he wouldn't go, claiming, "It's my voice.". You can't stop me ».
Director Bill Kroyer talked about renting the space during production only for Disney to offer the owners more money and took them. They tried to buy a third property, and at some point, Disney chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg showed up with eight people in tow and just wandered around the room. This was all because Katzenberg simply didn't want Williams in someone else's cartoon.
4. Disney also sabotaged their game «The Lion King.
Have you ever heard someone tell you that video games were harder when they were kids? Or maybe you thought so yourself. Well, you're probably not wrong. Sometimes companies have intentionally sabotaged their own games to make them incredibly unbeatable, like Disney did with its game «The Lion King» .
Released on the SNES in 1994, it was a very demanding and frustrating game. The developers made the game harder at Disney's request to prevent anyone from renting the game and beating it in a weekend. Their research showed that if a player rented the game and did too well, he wouldn't buy it . So they made it almost unbeatable in the hopes that you'll fork out for your own copy.
3. Wham's manager sabotaged Queen
Wham!, the band that brought George Michael fame in the 1980s, was the first Western pop group to perform in China, but it wasn't planned that way. Queen were the first choice, but a little creative sabotage sidelined them.
The band's manager tried for a year and a half to get Wham! to play to China . He says he flew to China and ended up inviting 143 government officials to dinner again and again to convince them to let the band perform. But since they were also considering Queen, he compiled pamphlets. One showed Wham! fans as sweet, meek teenagers. Another depicted Freddie Mercury in« provocative »" a pose designed to scare off the Chinese. It worked, and Wham! got the gig.
2. Ed Sullivan sabotaged Buddy Holly on live television.
Once upon a time, anyone who was anyone had to appear on Ed Sullivan if they wanted to be recognized, and that's exactly what Buddy Holly did. In 1958, Holly and his band made their second and final appearance on the show after angering Sullivan so much that he actively sabotaged their live performance.
Sullivan, who is known to , was hot-tempered , asked the band to play another song because he thought their song "Oh Boy!" was too hoarse . Holly informed Sullivan that he planned to sing "Oh Boy!" and that's what the band played.
Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that Sullivan wanted to talk to the band during rehearsal, and only Holly showed up, who joked about it . During the show, he responded by cutting the band down to one song instead of two. He then introduced Holly, mispronouncing your name , and also cut the microphone off of Holly's guitar, so at one point Holly plays a guitar solo so it's obvious he's playing, but the microphone just doesn't work.
1. Sharon Osbourne sabotaged Iron Maiden's performance at Ozzfest
Ozzfest is a semi-annual music festival held since 1996 and founded by Ozzy Osbourne and his family to showcase rock, metal, and other hardcore acts. Ozzy himself has headlined alongside other major bands, from Slipknot and Marilyn Manson to Metallica and Mötley Crüe. In 2005, one of the more classic metal bands on the bill was Iron Maiden, and things didn't go well for them.
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson made a mistake when he publicly making fun of Ozzy Osbourne and his reality show. He also accused Ozzy of using a teleprompter on stage. Ozzy's wife and manager, Sharon Osbourne, responded by unleashing the dogs of war.
Osbourne turned off the band's sound system several times and arranged for fans (and possibly other bands) threw eggs at them, as they took the stage. Others stormed the stage during the show with a flag warning them not to mess with Ozzy. As they left the stage, Sharon told the crowd of 40,000 that Dickinson was a jerk.
Afterwards, they exchanged some not-so-nice words in the press, and it's safe to say that Iron Maiden are still not welcome on tour with Ozzy and will not be willing to join them again.