25 Celebrities Who Endured Embarrassing Sports Failures

12. Conor McGregor

The biggest star in MMA, McGregor was a two-weight UFC champion. Renowned for his brash trash talk, knockout power, and volatile personality, the Irishman is also one of the richest athletes in the world. However, as good as he is in the cage, he’s not as brilliant when it comes to other sports. In 2018, the Dallas Cowboys faced the Jacksonville Jaguars with McGregor present as the guest of honor.

Worse pass thrown in the state of Texas today…Nathan Peterman's pick six or this effort from Conor McGregor? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/Zcxz4132V3

— LastWordOnNFL (@LastWordOnNFL) October 14, 2018

He definitely enjoyed himself as he hyped the team up in the huddle and got into the football feeling. Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there because he totally failed in his attempt to throw a football. Social media is not a kind place and annihilated McGregor for his shoddy effort. He has a powerful left hand, but nobody will be calling him up at quarterback anytime in the near future.

11. Boris Johnson

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is no stranger to gaffes in daily life or on the sports field. In 2015, the then-Mayor of London visited Tokyo in an official capacity. Aware of his love for rugby, organizers invited Johnson to attend a street rugby practice. Johnson eagerly agreed to participate and demonstrated bullish enthusiasm. However, one child named Toki Sekiguchi, is probably still concussed as a result of Johnson’s involvement.

Johnson carried the ball like a rampaging rhinoceros. Japanese spectators roared with appreciation as the politician lumbered down the touchline. Then he literally bulldozed into poor little Sekiguchi, flattening the child. His coach also failed to show any sympathy to the boy as he dragged him away out of the spotlight to pretend it didn’t happen.

10. Mariah Carey

Carey joins the ranks of terrible celebrity first-pitchers with this attempt from 2011. She attended a game between the Yomiuri Giants and the Rakuten Eagles in the famous Tokyo Dome. As one of the greatest female artists of the 1990s, she was a global superstar. Japanese fans were very excited to watch her throw the first ball of the day in the Nippon Baseball showdown, yet it wasn’t worth the wait.

Ever the diva, Carey looked the part with her giant sunglasses, short skirt, and heels. None of these items were conducive to baseball because she created a failure with her pitching attempt. It was a feeble throw and she was happy to escape from the field. Nobody expected her to throw a 90 mph pitch, but if hers was any slower, it would have gone backward. Stick to the day job, she made untold millions at it.

9. Stephen A. Smith

With his loud, outspoken criticism, Smith has attracted a ton of attention during his time as a sports analyst. Since ESPN obtained the rights to UFC events, his breakdowns have become a regular feature. However, many UFC fighters dislike Smith for the way he speaks about them. This is because they think that he doesn’t understand the sport or appreciate the dangers and complexities of fighting.

Needless to say, they weren’t kind when Smith posted a video of himself hitting pads. Anybody who tries out combat sports deserves a certain level of respect, but after Smith’s comments, the schadenfreude was rife. His form was more reminiscent of an animated mannequin than an actual boxer. Combat sports athletes unanimously agreed that Smith failed to impress with his display. Sometimes it’s best to stay quiet.

8. Boris Johnson

The second installment of Johnson’s sports failures, this one looks even more painful than the first. Before his time as PM of the UK, ‘BoJo’ enjoyed a ton of public goodwill. Many people appreciated his blustering manner of speech, his unkempt appearance, and his capacity for a blunder always made him entertaining. It also meant that he attended many kinds of celebrity events including this charity soccer game.

England played Germany in a spoof recreation of the classic 1966 game. It featured a combination of retired professionals and celebrities. However, the highlight-reel moment was when Johnson ran head-first into Maurizio Gaudino’s groin. The former German international crashed to the ground in pain as Johnson attempted to jog away with an innocent expression on his face that failed to convince anybody.

7. Will Smith

We’re not entirely sure what happened here. Smith was in London with his son Jaden to promote his new movie After Earth. While in the UK capital, the Smiths had the opportunity to hang out with some massive soccer names like Luis Figo and Edwin Van der Saar. They even took penalty kicks against the famous Dutch goalkeeper but the elder Smith’s was so bad that it’s unbelievable.

He failed to get any power on his first shot. Sure, he was having fun and it wasn’t serious at all, but it’s still remarkable that a man with his physique couldn’t kick a ball at all. Then Jaden took a shot and scored, although his father lifted the goalkeeper out of the way. The only thing worse than that penalty kick was the movie because at least the former made people laugh.

6. P. Diddy

Jamie Foxx was iconic as quarterback Willie Beaman in the Oliver Stone movie ‘Any Given Sunday.’ It should come as no surprise that Foxx was so good in the role because he was a genuinely talented ballplayer. He became the first QB in his high school to rush for over 1,000 yards and also dreamed of playing for the Dallas Cowboys. But he wasn’t even Stone’s first pick for the role. That was P. Diddy.

The rapper claimed that scheduling conflicts forced him to leave the film at the last minute. However, rumors quickly circulated that he couldn’t throw a ball to save his life. Allegedly, Diddy’s throwing mechanics were shockingly poor, and no amount of coaching could help him. Stone and the casting director had a tough decision to make, but in the end, they chose the right man for the job.

5. Carly Rae Jepsen

The Canadian popstar rose to prominence in 2012 for her single ‘Call Me Maybe.’ However, Jepsen’s manager won’t expect any phone calls from MLB franchises after one of the worst celebrity first pitches in the history of humankind. Jepsen has many talents, but baseball definitely isn’t one of them. Tampa invited her to throw the first pitch at Tropicana Stadium before their game against the Houston Astros.

Jepsen stood there in her short shorts with her Rays’ jersey knotted above them. She wound up but held onto the ball for too long and ended up just dropping it in front of her as she failed. To be fair, she was a good sport about it. Jepsen might throw wishes in wells but she wouldn’t hit the ground if she fell out of a plane. It could have been worse but we’re not exactly sure how.

4. Logan Paul

Paul is a leading YouTube star with millions of social media followers. He also has a reputation for being a moron with one video in Japan attracting massive controversy because he filmed a dead person in a forest. Meanwhile, Paul and his younger brother Jake have recently stepped into the world of professional boxing. He fought fellow YouTuber KSI in an amateur match that went to a draw. Then they agreed to rematch as professionals.

However, this didn’t go as well as Paul expected because he lost the match. It was controversial because the referee deducted two points from him in the final round. But it was still embarrassing for the Internet star because he talked himself up so big. He wanted to win so that he could continue to run his big mouth and annoy the entire world. Now his brother is the one doing that instead.

3. 50 Cent

50 Cent has sold over 30 million albums throughout his career but don’t ask him to pitch a baseball. This might seem like a strange connection but the rap icon joined the ranks of terrible celebrity pitchers in 2014. This infamous moment took place before the Mets-Pirates game at Citi Field. No doubt the hip hop legend had visions of going full Babe Ruth in front of the watching fans.

To make matters worse, his practice throws weren’t bad at all. Unfortunately, he clearly isn’t reliable in clutch situations because when the time came, he totally failed. The run-up looked good and he winded up his arm, but then he blasted the ball so far wide-left that it probably came back to hit him. As one YouTube fan commented, “his aim is so bad, he probably shot himself those nine times.”

2. Jose Canseco

Canseco is a colorful character who made his name as an MLB star. A two-time World Series winner, he was also the AL MVP in 1988. But Canseco totally tarnished his record when he openly admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. After retiring from baseball, he decided to transition to MMA. However, that didn’t work out very well for him.

He competed against giant cult hero Hong-Man Choi during the Super Hulk Grand Prix at DREAM 9. The event took place in Japan where they love a freak fight. It went about as well for Canseco as he could have expected because Choi demolished him in under one round. Freakishly tall and strong, Choi used his reach and power to bully the former baseball star and forced him to tap out.

1. Diana Ross

The World Cup is the most-watched sports tournament on the planet. Every four years, soccer teams from every continent battle it out to prove that they’re the best. The USA hosted the tournament in 1994 because the geniuses at FIFA thought that would make Americans care about that sport. However, that worked as well as Icarus’s wings because it totally failed. But one moment is emblematic of the US’s relationship with soccer more than any other.

Oprah Winfrey fell off the stage after introducing Ross at the opening ceremony. Then the Supremes’ star performed before one of the most cringe-inducing moments in sports history. Next, she took a penalty to symbolically open the tournament. Ross ran up in her dress and heels before smacking the ball wide of the goal. But the organizers rigged the net to split apart regardless. It was hilariously bad.