Lifestyle

Hero To Headlines: Sports Stars Whose Drama Engulfed Their Public Lives

Darren - July 6, 2023
Lifestyle

Hero To Headlines: Sports Stars Whose Drama Engulfed Their Public Lives

Darren - July 6, 2023

G.Q.

Jon Jones

Many people think that Jones is the greatest MMA fighter ever but he’s also a severely flawed human being. He has many problems outside of the cage and snorts coke like it’s going out of fashion. The UFC champion brought his private drama into his public life when police picked him up during the global health crisis.

CNN

Jones guzzled a bottle of mezcal and fired his handgun into the air near some homeless people. They unsurprisingly booked him for the offence but it wasn’t his first brush with the law. He infamously also had a hit-and-run incident when he crashed his vehicle into a pregnant woman’s car in 2015 (via The Sun).

NBC Sports

Tony Parker

Parker is another former NBA star who humiliated himself off the court. He married Eva Longoria in a gorgeous Parisian ceremony and it appeared they were ready to live the dream. But it turned into a nightmare for the actress because her husband was a cheater. First, a French model accused the four-time NBA champion of sleeping with her.

Shape

He denied this emphatically and his attorney said that Parker never met the woman. Longoria supported her husband through this turbulent time in their private and public lives. But then it emerged that Parker was texting one of his teammate’s girlfriends, Erin Barry. He broke Longoria’s heart and their relationship came to an end (via Hello!).

Sky Sports

Peyton Manning

Manning is one of the most beloved sports stars in the U.S. today. He carefully maintained a squeaky-clean image but sometimes his decisions affected the public lives of his loved ones. The former two-time Super Bowl winner allegedly delayed a team flight because he was receiving sexual favors from a young woman in his car.

New York Times

It’s worth noting that Manning was already married at this time. Meanwhile, he also allegedly had a longstanding relationship with Angela Buchman, a TV meteorologist. Nobody proved this but where there is smoke there is fire. We wonder how Manning’s wife feels about all of those rumors (via Sports Illustrated).

Vanity Fair

Shaquille O’Neal

O’Neal was a force of nature during his time in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, his private antics affected his loved ones’ public eyes. That’s because he cheated on his ex-wife Shaunie and betrayed her trust. Later he admitted that it was a mistake but he didn’t take full responsibility for his actions.

Ebony Magazine

At one time my ex-wife Shaunie and I were happy, but I admit it–I was a guy,” he wrote in his memoir (via Huff Post). “I was a guy with too many options. Choosing to be with some of those women, well, that’s on me. In my mind, I never did it disrespectfully, but obviously, I shouldn’t have done it all.”

Yardbreaker

Deshaun Watson

Watson is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the NFL but he’s a vile person. This didn’t stop the Cleveland Browns from desperately throwing a record contract at him. Dozens of masseuses filed civil suits against the former Texans player after he allegedly sexually assaulted them (via New York Post).

CNN

Allegedly, he forced them to perform sex acts during the massages and warned them to stay silent. The NFL suspended him for most of the 2022/23 season because he breached their code of conduct. It’s one of the most shameful stories in recent years because they didn’t deserve to have him ruin their private and public lives.

Golf Channel

Tiger Woods

There was a time when Woods was one of the most marketable athletes on the planet. The amazingly-talented superstar became the face of golf because of his brilliant successes. It seemed like he was living the dream with many Major wins and a Swedish supermodel wife. But disgrace hit him in the face like a car smashing into a brick wall (via Reuters).

Golf Digest

In 2009, Woods drunkenly crashed his car outside of his house and then his world turned upside down. Dozens of women, including strippers and porn stars, came out of the woodwork and revealed that they had affairs with the icon. His wife filed for divorce and custody of their children. Woods went to rehab as he looked to come to terms with his sex addiction.

L.A. Times

Nick Young

Iggy Azalea dated Lakers star Young and quickly fell in love with him. Young proposed to the rapper and she said yes. But this couple didn’t live happily ever after because he cheated on her. Their private affairs affected their public lives because he failed her. In the end, he broke Azalea’s heart with his irresponsible behavior.

Billboard

Azealea wrote the following message on Instagram (via Billboard). She said: “Unfortunately although I love Nick and have tried and tried to rebuild my trust in him. It’s never easy to part ways with the person you planned your entire future with, but futures can be rewritten and as of today mine is a blank page.”

Distractify

Zach Wilson

The Jets thought that they finally had their franchise quarterback when they drafted Wilson out of Brigham Young in 2021. They made him the second-overall pick ahead of Justin Fields and Mac Jones. But the QB never lived up to expectations because he made horrible decisions on the field. He threw too many interceptions and acted immaturely (via New York Post).

The Sports Rush

Meanwhile, he affected his and his ex-girlfriend’s public lives after he allegedly cheated on her. Abbey Gile accused Wilson of sleeping with his mother’s best friend in a scandalous statement. Later, she deleted her social media because she received a torrent of online abuse. Wilson went quiet for a while and eventually lost his place as Gang Green’s starter.

People

Tom Brady

Brady is the most successful quarterback in NFL history. Most people know about his divorce from Gisele Bundchen in 2022 but that’s not why he’s on this list. No, we’re more interested in his previous relationship with Bridget Moynihan. He married her and she became pregnant with their first child.

Entertainment Tonight

But then he met a certain Brazilian supermodel and changed their public lives forever. Brady left Moynihan for Bundchen as he coldly divorced his pregnant wife. The former Patriots star made some questionable decisions in his life but he threw himself into them. Nobody can say he doesn’t know what he wants (via Us Magazine).

Bleacher Report

Floyd Mayweather

Mayweather was the richest athlete on the planet before he retired from competitive boxing. But money doesn’t mean that somebody has class. He treats women horribly and believes that they’re objects for him to exploit. Mayweather went to jail after he punched Melissa Brim, his ex-girlfriend in a mall.

Sky Sports

Later, he opened a strip club in Las Vegas called Girl Collection. Mayweather never expressed genuine remorse for his actions and allegedly committed battery against another girlfriend. The aggressive boxer went to counseling after a judge ordered him to deal with his demons (via The Sun).

The Guardian

Franck Ribery

We already mentioned how Karim Benzema solicited a 16-year-old prostitute. But he wasn’t the only one involved in this encounter. Former Bayern Munich star Ribery also went on trial during this sordid affair. The scar-faced winger denied knowing that the girl was underage at the time of the incident (via France 24).

AFP

Prostitution is legal in France but escorts must be over the age of 18. Dehar became a celebrity in France after the incident but her Algerian father refuses to connect with her. It was a humiliating case for Ribery and the other players because it tarnished their public lives. But they brought it on themselves because they didn’t have to approach a sex worker.

British G.Q.

Wayne Rooney

Rooney rose to superstardom at an early age after breaking into the Premier League at the age of 16. But this may have gone to his head because he had many scandals involving prostitutes. The worst part of this was that he was in a relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Coleen. Remarkably, she continues to live with him today.

Caught Offside

The former Manchester United star visited a Liverpool brothel at least 10 times. He had an encounter with a rubber-suited 47-year-old granny amongst other women. 10 years later he had another threesome with some hookers and betrayed Coleen again. The Scouser allegedly has a big problem and needs to face it (via The Mirror).

Bay Area News

Jimmy Garoppolo

Jimmy G. is one of the most handsome NFL quarterbacks ever. The former Niners starter joined the Raiders in 2023 and has enjoyed a successful career. He also attracts some of the most beautiful women in the world. However, he raised eyebrows when he went on a public date with adult film actress Kiara Mia (via Daily Beast).

News.au

Some analysts said that he should show more class and better values as an NFL quarterback. They disparaged Mia and sneered at Garoppolo as they shamed the porn industry. Later, Mia claimed that Garoppolo was a gentleman and treated her very well. That’s better than many NFL stars who cheat on their partners or even physically abuse them.

AP

Brett Favre

There was a time when Favre was one of the most respected athletes in the U.S. But that’s no longer the case after multiple high-profile scandals that tarnished his reputation. The former Packers quarterback lost credibility after he allegedly sent unsolicited nudes to former Jets hostess Jenn Sterger. In the end, the NFL fined him because he didn’t cooperate with their investigation.

CBN

But an even bigger scandal emerged in 2023 after he allegedly ripped off the state of Mississippi. He allegedly received welfare money for multiple projects in one of the worst corruption cases in modern U.S. history. We expect athletes to live clean-cut public lives but that’s simply not Favre’s existence (via CBS Sports).

Essentially Sports

Conor McGregor – Part II

Superstars face an uncomfortable reality because everything they do can leak into their public lives. One issue is that everybody has a camera phone and records all of the drama they see. McGregor experienced this when he punched an older man in a Dublin pub. The reason was that the man rejected a shot of the UFC fighter’s whiskey.

CNN

McGregor reacted badly to this in a moment of lunacy. Later he apologized but he didn’t care that much because he bought the pub and banned his victim from entering. This is one of the most petty revenges in the history of the world. In the end, McGregor moved on and it became a part of his notorious legend (via Sportskeeda).

Marca

Deebo Samuel

Samuel was one of the best players in the NFL in 2021. However, the Pro Bowler joined the ranks of cheating athletes when a young woman shared a photo of him in her Instagram Close Friends story. One of the connections screen-shot the intimate image and shared it online (via Side Action).

NBC Sports

The young woman said: “I was told he was single. I’m not a home wrecker and I was not aware, I would never post a taken man when I got cheated on for 4 years.  I wasn’t even the one that recorded the video, I thought it was cute, I didn’t know half of what I found out today. It is what it is.”

Sky Sports

Ryan Giggs

Giggs is one of the most immoral soccer players in history because he betrayed two of the closest people in his life. That’s right, he betrayed his wife and his brother as he stooped to a new low. The Manchester United star had a long-running affair with his brother Rhodri’s wife, Natasha (via National World).

Sky Sports

They secretly met regularly for eight years as they humiliated their partners. Unsurprisingly, Rhodri and Ryan became estranged after the latter ruined their public lives. But Giggs’ wife, Natasha, stayed with him until 2017 after he cheated on her again with multiple partners. Later, the Wales national team fired him after he allegedly committed domestic violence.

People

Ja Morant

It’s unfortunate when athletes’ private antics affect their public lives. That became Morant’s reality in 2023 as he showed a penchant for waving firearms around. The NBA doesn’t like it when its stars flaunt guns because it puts its advertisers on edge. The Memphis star had multiple firearm-related incidents as he brandished his weapons online.

New York Times

We should note that technically Morant didn’t break any laws in Tennessee where he filmed the videos. But he went against the NBA’s code of conduct and they don’t take kindly to this. Furthermore, many people became concerned about Morant’s mental health. It was a distressing state of affairs because he went through a difficult time (via TMZ).

Fox News

Zion Williamson

Everything looked rosy for Williamson and his pregnant girlfriend Ahkeema when they shared their baby’s gender reveal on Instagram. But then OnlyFans model Moriah Mills unleashed a napalm-like wave of sensational news. She alleged that she had an affair with the Pelicans’ star and said that her period was also late.

Sports Illustrated

Mills wrote: “Zion Williamson looks like you been had a girlfriend and sleeping with other women behind my back. Better pray I’m not pregnant too because I’m definitely late.” It’s important to note that Williamson denied the allegations but this drama threatens to ruin his family’s public lives (via The Sports Rush).

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