Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Biggest Falls From Grace In All Of History

Henry VIII in stained glass
gold and red cathedral interior
Photo by Tom Podmore on Unsplash

It's always disappointing when our heroes and idols don't meet our expectations.

Be they a film star, sports icon or prolific political figure, sometimes the people we admire the most don't turn out to be quite the person we hoped they were.

Proving to be a far cry from the friendly persona they exhibit in the media.

Sometimes, the truth behind people we held in high regard proves to be much worse than anyone could possibly imagine.

When these same people we've held high on a pedestal prove to have been responsible for reprehensible, sometimes criminal behavior.


Redditor owenthevirgin was curious to hear what people considered the most shocking cases of well regarded people showing their true colors, leading them to ask:
"Who had the biggest fall from grace in history?"

Henry VIII

"Henry VIII has to be up there."

"He was a famously handsome, pious, and noble young king, very in love with Katherine when they were married, and over time he became the wife-killing tyrant we know today."- SmunkTheLesser

David Farley

"Nationally/internationally you of course have mega stars and politicians."

"On a local level, I submit predatory doctor and religious leader David Farley."

"200+ accusers."

"Unless you're the DA, who disputes that number by saying there were only over 100 victims that came forward."

"So, somewhere between 101 and 299."

"Of course, he still has his defenders, but he 'retired' and moved out of state 'to be with his family' basically overnight."

"Note that his 'retirement' email was sent to his patients, some of whom had appointments scheduled, without mention of losing his license to practice medicine or the lawsuit/news article dropping that week."

"When he slipped out of state to 'be with his family' he was substitute teaching within days next door in Idaho, and has now moved to Utah."

"At least half his kids aren't speaking with him, but my parents assure me it's all made up because, and I quote 'he really helped us out when you were sick'."

"Yes, I know him personally and yes, I believe the victims, and yes, I will share this story anywhere it comes up naturally."

"Dude should be in prison forever."- David-S-Pumpkins

Vidkun Quisling

"I'd say Vidkun Quisling."

"He was one of the last men to be given the death penalty in my country, and his last name is listed as a synonym for a cowardly traitor in our dictionary."

"He essentially sold us out to the Nazis during WW2."

"The thing is that he was previously seen as a good humanitarian, traveling to other countries to help the poor with Fridtjof Nansen, a National hero who won the Nobel Peace Prize, but it has later been revealed, only a couple of years ago, that he was never a good man from the start, and was in fact always a vile opportunist regardless of what affiliation he needed to have in order to further his own reputation and build his own grandiose sense of self!"

"Under the guise of his humanitarian work, he'd loot values from dead/dying people, and give desperate starving people food scraps or pennies for VERY expensive valuables, if he didn't just take them."

"He'd also take advantage of desperate young women, those who had lost their families were the easiest targets after all."

"His first wife was a 17 year old Ukrainian girl named Alexandra."

"Even his family members were confused about it."

"He also got a second wife, Maria Quisling, so in addition he was also a bigamist."

"Seeing the pictures and notes of what he saw in famine stricken areas just makes what he did worse."

"The thought of this gut wrenching despair not phasing a man, not making him question what he's doing and just continuing on to prey on people, just makes me sick."

"I didn't think I could find a literal traitor to my country more deplorable decades after his execution, but learning what an ABSOLUTELY DEPLORABLE opportunistic narcissist he was, just made him even worse."

"To think that he was a revered humanitarian at one point."

"I'm glad he was executed."

"Though I wish they had paraded him around so people could throw tomatoes at him first."- DecadeOfLurking

Fred Phelps

"Fred Phelps."

"Started his career as a celebrated civil rights lawyer in Kansas. Followed up Brown vs Board of Education 20 years later and ended up forcing them to implement more fair educational conditions for students of color."

"Went on to form the Westboro Baptist Church which became one of the most despicable hate groups in the US. Notorious for their homophobia and protesting at military funerals. That church was one of the most reviled hate groups in the 90s and 00s."

MercutioMan·

Arnold

"Benedict Arnold. Hero general of the American Revolution. One of George Washington's best assets. Felt slighted and overlooked by his contemporaries. Switched sides to the British, made no difference to the war effort. Died in disgrace in England. His name is now a synonym for traitor."

GonnaGoFar·

As the saying goes, nobody's perfect, and not every famous person wants to be someone's hero or idol.

Therefore, they feel no obligation to put on a show and pretend to be someone they're not.

However disappointing this is to discover, however, these are the people who are simply being their true selves.

Not the ones who cover up their criminal, illicit and predatory behavior with a warm, caring demeanor, seeming to fool everyone.

Thankfully, though, the truth has a way of getting out.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Pope Leo XIV; Donald Trump
Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

CNN Thinks They Know Why Trump Started Attacking Pope Leo—And Yep, That Certainly Tracks

Last month, NBC News released the results of a poll conducted February 27-March 3, 2026, by Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies that measured the feelings of United States voters towards a variety of people, organizations, and concepts.

Respondents were asked if they felt very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative towards each. People featured were Pope Leo XIV, MAGA Republican President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio, former Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris, California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and late-night talk show host Stephen Colbert.

Keep ReadingShow less
Charlize Theron (left) responds to Timothée Chalamet’s (right) controversial comments about ballet and opera.
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

Charlize Theron Gives Timothée Chalamet A Blunt Reality Check About His Future After His Comments Insulting Ballet

Timothée Chalamet declaring that “no one cares” about ballet and opera was always going to age poorly. It just happened faster than expected.

Enter Charlize Theron, who didn’t just disagree—she flipped the whole argument, suggesting that while centuries-old art forms will endure, Chalamet’s own career may be far more vulnerable in the age of artificial intelligence.

Keep ReadingShow less
Caitlyn Jenner; Donald Trump
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Caitlyn Jenner Slammed For Hypocrisy After Revealing That She Asked Trump To Fix Gender On Her Passport So She Can Travel Again

Former Olympian Caitlyn Jenner recently revealed she can no longer travel internationally after the Trump administration's new passport policy required her to be marked as "male," and is receiving backlash for writing a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to get it changed.

Jenner, a transgender woman, has long aligned herself with the MAGA movement, which is diametrically opposed to LGBTQ+ equality and has led an attack against transgender rights that culminated in legislation banning or restricting gender-affirming care in GOP-led legislatures in more than half the country.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @oz11201's TikTok video
@oz11201/TikTok

Hero Oklahoma Principal Crowned Prom King In Emotional Viral Video After Tackling Would-Be School Shooter

On April 7, Pauls Valley High School in Oklahoma was breached by twenty-year-old Victor Hawkins, a former student who showed up at the school armed with a gun.

Fortunately, upon his entry into the school, Principal Kirk Moore did not hesitate to full-body tackle him and disarm him, keeping him down until authorities arrived, all while sustaining a shot to the leg.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Donald Trump
C-SPAN

Trump Dragged After Making Bizarre Joke About His Age—And, Yeah, He Wishes

79-year-old President Donald Trump had people raising their eyebrows after he, during a discussion about Social Security, tried to claim—jokingly, one hopes—that he's "not a senior" citizen.

Trump, who turns 80 in June, was discussing his administration's pledge that Social Security benefits would be tax-free when he claimed that "seniors are loving me" and proceeded to ramble incoherently.

Keep ReadingShow less