Skip to main content
Games Radar Newsarama Total Film Edge Retro Gamer SFX
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The smarter take on movies
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Best Netflix Movies
  • Best movies on Disney Plus
  • Movie Release Dates
  • Best Netflix Shows
Don't miss these
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land
Movies The 32 greatest Los Angeles movies of all time
Austin Butler as Hank in Caught Stealing
Crime Movies Austin Butler's Caught Stealing stunts didn't faze New York City locals, despite "hanging out of a window of a real building" 6 stories up
Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride
Movies The 32 greatest action movie quotes of all time
The Naked Gun popcorn bucket
Comedy Movies The Naked Gun's wild popcorn bucket is an ingenious throwback gag to one of the original movie's raciest jokes
The Best True Crime Podcasts
Thriller Shows The 30 best true crime podcasts to kill your free time, ranked
Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun
Comedy Movies The Naked Gun reboot got greenlit thanks to a test sequence where Liam Neeson mocked Paramout executives: "He basically talks s**t to them and leaves"
Drama Movies The 10 best drama movies of all time, ranked
Tom Holland in The Devil All the Time
Thriller Movies The 25 best Netflix thrillers to watch right now
Great Gerwig's Booksmart
Movies The 32 greatest high school movies
Chris Hemsworth in Extraction
Action Movies The 25 best Netflix action movies to watch right now
The Naked Gun
Comedy Movies The Naked Gun sequel called "deliciously stupid" and "an actual comedy movie" in first reactions: "If there was any justice in the world, Liam Neeson would get an Oscar"
The hammer scene from Oldboy
Movies The 32 greatest revenge thrillers ever made
Glen Powell in Hit Man
Action Movies Glen Powell says Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy allowed leading men in action movies to be "sillier" and not "brooding" like Christian Bale
Rachel Sennott in Shiva Baby
Movies The 32 greatest movies under 90 minutes
Ice Cube stares intensely at a computer monitor in War of the Worlds
Movies After Amazon's War of the Worlds, I watched all the 0% rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes and here are the five brilliantly awful ones I'd recommend you stream next
  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

10 Movie Stars Who Fought The Law

Features
By Joshua Winning published 13 July 2010

Crime pays when you're in La La Land...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Robert Downey Jr.

Robert Downey Jr.

The Crime: The future superhero and crime fighter spent much of his time between 1996 and 2001 in the slammer for drug use and possession. The actor explained his substance abuse was down to his father, also an addict, who had fed him drugs from the age of eight.

"It's like I have a loaded gun in my mouth and my finger's on the trigger, and I like the taste of the gun metal,” he once said of his addiction.

The Time: In 1999, after failing to turn up for a drug test, Downey Jr. was sentenced to three years imprisonment in California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, California. He spent a year there before being released.

What Happened Next? Only one of the most unlikely comebacks ever. Having been fired from numerous jobs (including Ally McBeal), Downey Jr. became a born again celebrity thanks to low-key jobs that re-established him as a man that could be trusted again.

He’s now one of Hollywood’s most beloved kooky characters.

Page 1 of 10
Page 1 of 10
OJ Simpson

OJ Simpson

The Crime: Famously acquitted in 1995 when put on trial for the murder of his wife, Simpson evaded jail at that time. Two years later he was charged $33m in damages for battery, then in 2007 he admitted raiding a hotel-casino for sports memorabilia.

The Time: First jailed for violating the terms of his bail, Simpson was then condemned to 33 years in jail, with the possibility of parole in just nine.

What Happened Next? Love springs from the most unlikely of places, and now it appears that Simpson has found love again – he’s set to wed his pen pal. Who he’s never met. Described as a young blonde, she looks spookily like his late wife Nicole.

Page 2 of 10
Page 2 of 10
Paris Hilton

Paris Hilton

The Crime: A catalogue if driving offences led to the socialite-turned-actress being hurled into the slammer. In 2006 she was caught driving under the influence and had her license suspended. Just four months later she was caught driving anyway, then a month after that she was apprehended doing 70mph in a 30 zone.

The Time: Having been found to be violating the terms of her probation, Hilton was sentenced to spend 45 days in Lynwood Jail. A campaign was started beseeching Arnold Schwazenegger to pardon her. Eventually, she went into prison the same night as partying up at the MTV Movie Awards.

What Happened Next? Hilton served just 23 days before she was released, then dragged before a court hearing, and ordered to serve the rest of those 45 days in jail. She eventually emerged happy to have lost 10 pounds – see, at least she learned something…

Page 3 of 10
Page 3 of 10
Mel Gibson

Mel Gibson

The Crime: Gibson has had a long history of alcohol abuse, which he states stems from the fact that he’s a manic depressive. Though he has been charged and fined numerous times for his bouts of drunkenness, he has never served time.

Just last week, however, an investigation was launched after Gibbo’s former girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva claimed that he assaulted her. RadarOnline report that his tirade included him screaming "You look like a f******* pig in heat and if you get raped by a pack of n****** it will be your fault" at Grigorieva.

The Time: The case is ongoing, but if the allegations are proven, Gibson could see himself banged up for domestic abuse.

What Happened Next? The LA Sheriff’s Department confirmed that an investigation was opened last Monday. “I can confirm there is an investigation,” they say, “It was brought to our attention by the alleged victim.” Stay tuned…

Page 4 of 10
Page 4 of 10
Macaulay Culkin

Macaulay Culkin

The Crime: Child star Culkin proved he was no longer the adorable little Home Alone pup when, in 2004, he was arrested in Oklahoma City for possessing 17.3g of Marijuana as well as prescription drugs. He also proved he was a cool cat: he was listening to Huey Lewis And The News when he was caught.

"Everything that I do for some reason becomes this big crazy thing, you know, even though any normal person does it. Like, yes I'm a kid, I had a beer, I smoked a joint. Big deal," Culkin said at the time.

The Time: Culkin got himself out of jail pretty sharpish by posting a $4,000 bond.

What Happened Next? In 2005 he was awarded a deferred sentence and ordered to pay a $940 fine because he was not an “abuser”. Culkin is dating Family Guy ’s Mila Kunis, and recently appeared in an ad for Orange Broadband as an actor in a prison drama.

Page 5 of 10
Page 5 of 10
Al Pacino

Al Pacino

The Crime: Carrying a concealed weapon, according to the official police report. Pacino, aged just 21, was apprehended on 7 January 1961 and banged up for said concealed weapon. He was with two others, wearing a black mask and gloves, and had been circling the neighbourhood “looking suspicious”.

He told police that he was on the way to an acting job and needed the weapon for his performance.

The Time: Al spent three days behind bars; the charges were later dropped.

What Happened Next? Um, an Oscar win, a further seven nominations, and one of the most celebrated acting careers this side of Robert De Niro.

Page 6 of 10
Page 6 of 10
Michelle Rodriguez

Michelle Rodriguez

The Crime: Another load of DUI arrests led to bad girl Michelle becoming a bag girl. First up, though, came an assault charge in 2002, when Michelle’s roommate had the star arrested for battery. The charges were later dropped.

It was a year later in 2003 that Michelle’s first DUI arrest came, as well as a hit and run charge. She pleaded no contest, served 48 hours in jail, and completed community service in two New York morgues (ick).

Two years later, more speeding fines caused havoc with Michelle during her time shooting Lost …

The Time: In 2006, Michelle was sentenced to spend 60 days in jail, attend a 30 day alcohol programme and complete 30 days of community service, thanks to her latest DUI charge. She spent one day in jail thanks to overcrowding, and was banged up for a further 18 in 2007 – a fraction of the 180 she was sentenced to, again thanks to over-stuffed jails.

What Happened Next? Michelle’s bad girl reputation only got her more Hollywood roles – she played tough in Avatar and will next be seen in Machete . Evidently crime pays.

Page 7 of 10
Page 7 of 10
Mickey Rourke

Mickey Rourke

The Crime: Rourke exudes cool at the worst of times – which means when he was arrested for a DUI offence in 2007, he was of course atop a Vesper in Miami Beach. Dang, he’s just too cool.

"I'm not drunk. I didn't even drink that much," he told the arresting officer when he was apprehended at 4am. "I think I made a bad left turn and then I guess I said the F-word," he later told the news. "He got pissed off and, because of who I am, they kind of sandbagged me."

The Time: Barely even 12 hours – Rourke posted a $1,000 bond and skipped all the way home (we assume).

What Happened Next? Another remarkable career comeback; Rourke is now even more in demand than he was in the ‘80s. Proving he’s not afraid of the big house, Rourke even visited a Russian prison as research for his role in Iron Man 2 .

Page 8 of 10
Page 8 of 10
Winona Ryder

Winona Ryder

The Crime: Ryder was caught red-handed when she decided to thieve expensive goods from Saks 5th Avenue in Beverly Hills. She pinched $4,000 worth of threads – and remained adamant that she was doing it as research for a role.

A guard witnessed the actress cutting security tags off clothes while she was in the changing room – and she was found to be carrying eight different types of prescription painkillers when she was apprehended.

The Time: Ryder escaped jail, the judge instead demanding she atone for her sins by doing charity work. 480 hours of the stuff. We bet she’d rather have hone to prison.

"If you steal again you will go to jail. Do you understand that?" said judge Elden Fox.

What Happened Next? The year after her arrest, Ryder appeared in her most commercially successful movie ever, Mr. Deeds alongside Adam Sandler. She's kept a relatively low profile since, though appearances in Star Trek , A Scanner Darkly and The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee show she's still got it.

She should make waves with Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan when it's released later this year.

Page 9 of 10
Page 9 of 10
Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan

The Crime: "I'm still young and I'm still learning but that doesn't mean that what they say is true, that I'm getting messed up and all this crazy stuff and that I'm constantly partying or whatever."

Okay, Linds, if you say so. Party animal Lindsay Lohan has a catalogue of run-ins with the law so big that you could cut windows into it and make it into a house. Frankly, it would take too long to go into all of them (and really, we don’t care enough), but suffice to say she’s spent the last five years drinking, driving, not appearing for court hearings and generally being a right nuisance.

The Time: Lohan was sentenced to 90 days in jail for not attending alcohol rehabilitation classes and testing positive for alcohol consumption nine times. Clearly the judge was tired of her mediocre performances in court.

“It’s like someone who cheats but doesn’t think it’s cheating if they don’t get caught,” the condemner said.

What Happened Next? We expect Lohan will be released after nine days for good behaviour. Hopefully she’ll do the right thing and give former wild child Drew Barrymore a call for some advice. More likely she’ll meet up with Paris Hilton, share jailbird tales and continue on her tragic downward trajectory.

Page 10 of 10
Page 10 of 10
Joshua Winning
Social Links Navigation

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.  

See more Movies Features
Read more
Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in La La Land
The 32 greatest Los Angeles movies of all time
 
 
Austin Butler as Hank in Caught Stealing
Austin Butler's Caught Stealing stunts didn't faze New York City locals, despite "hanging out of a window of a real building" 6 stories up
 
 
Mandy Patinkin in The Princess Bride
The 32 greatest action movie quotes of all time
 
 
The Best True Crime Podcasts
The 30 best true crime podcasts to kill your free time, ranked
 
 
The Naked Gun popcorn bucket
The Naked Gun's wild popcorn bucket is an ingenious throwback gag to one of the original movie's raciest jokes
 
 
Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin in The Naked Gun
The Naked Gun reboot got greenlit thanks to a test sequence where Liam Neeson mocked Paramout executives: "He basically talks s**t to them and leaves"
 
 
Latest in Movies
James Marsden as Cyclops in X2
X-Men star James Marsden says you can "feel" that Avengers: Doomsday is "something special": "The world is ready for this movie and these worlds to collide"
 
 
The Penguin episode 8 (2024)
The Penguin standout Cristin Milioti won't return as Sofia Falcone in The Batman 2, director Matt Reeves confirms
 
 
Ice Cube stares intensely at a computer monitor in War of the Worlds
Ice Cube says he shot Amazon's infamous War of the Worlds movie completely alone during the pandemic: "the director wasn’t in there, none of the actors was in there"
 
 
Grogu in The Mandalorian season 3 episode 6
The Mandalorian & Grogu seemingly has a new synopsis that describes Baby Yoda as "the Force's heir in the galaxy"
 
 
Channing Tatum in Bullet Train
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle English dub voice actor Channing Tatum says his daughter has been his "anime inspiration from the start"
 
 
Demon Slayer
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has broken even more box office records than was originally projected and it might surpass Mugen Train as the highest-grossing anime movie ever
 
 
Latest in Features
Mario holds a Shy Guy and jumps above grass in Super Mario Bros 2 - from Retro Gamer 252
Super Mario Bros' legendary jump helped define 40 years of platforming, Donkey Kong Country programmer says: "You had more control... There was risk/reward"
 
 
Pokemon Pokopia screenshot showing Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle all gathered around a Ditto in human form between two green trees
Pokemon Pokopia: everything we know about the Pokemon game that looks a lot like Animal Crossing
 
 
A taurus-shaped robotic figure with flaming innards, against a dark background with rocks visible
Helsmiths of Hashut review: Fear this new Warhammer Age of Sigmar army, because it's gonna kick ass
 
 
A screenshot of the upcoming Switch 2 game, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave with a character using a purple energy blast
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave – Everything we know about the strategy game's Switch 2 debut
 
 
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Downton Abbey helped me through the toughest times, but The Grand Finale feels like the perfect time to wrap things up
 
 
Upcoming video game movies: Mario, Princess Peach and Toad in The Super Mario Bros Movie.
Super Mario Galaxy Movie release date, cast, plot, and everything else you need to know about The Super Mario Bros. sequel
 
 
  1. Key art for Lego Voyagers showing the two lego heroes with red and blue brick eyes near a rocket
    1
    Lego Voyagers review: "A carefully crafted, playful, and earnest adventure"
  2. 2
    There's now a real version of the Witcher Gwent card game, and it's just as engrossing as the original
  3. 3
    Borderlands 4 review: "Undeniably an excellent looter shooter, but one that requires a bit of tunnel vision to fully enjoy"
  4. 4
    This enormous exploration board game won't be for everyone, but it's a masterclass in narrative and sandbox gameplay
  5. 5
    Hollow Knight Silksong review: "Worth the wait and then some, this isn't just more Hollow Knight but an evolved, spindly beast all its own – even if it's fiddly at times"
  1. Vera Farmiga as 'Lorraine' in The Conjuring: Last Rites
    1
    The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"
  2. 2
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  3. 3
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  4. 4
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  5. 5
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  1. The cast of Gen V season 2
    1
    Gen V season 2 review: "As strong as the first season, if not stronger"
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"
  3. 3
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  4. 4
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  5. 5
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...