Never Meet Your Heroes

People may appear one way only to turn out to be complete opposites. Despite their public appearances and acclaim, many historical figures who are praised for their successes actually have quite a dark side.

Kingkongphoto & www.celebrity-photos.com from Laurel Maryland, USA on Wikimedia

1. Elvis Presley

Some may argue Elvis is a product of his time and that what he did wasn’t “so bad.” But of course, they’d be wrong to think that because it is never okay to date underage girls. The rockstar had plenty of access to fans of this caliber and took full advantage. Just remember, the then 24-year-old singer met his wife Priscilla when she was 14.

Uncredited on Wikimedia

2. Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa may come across as a saint at first, especially for hosting numerous hospices that catered to poor and ailing patients. However, she believed suffering brought people closer to God and left most of these people to experience pain. Volunteers were untrained, and her practices were negligible at best, leading to a 40% mortality rate. In fact, when she herself got sick, she decided to go to one of the best hospitals rather than her own treatment center.

Evert Odekerken on Wikimedia

3. Alfred Hitchcock

Let’s just say Hitchcock and Weinstein have a lot in common. If stars didn’t meet his obscene demands, he would actively try to ruin their careers and often succeeded.

Ante Brkan on Wikimedia

4. Coco Chanel

Coco Chanel is best known as a French fashion designer and businesswoman who founded and popularized the Chanel brand. It turns out she was also a Nazi double agent who went undercover to secure her perfume line profits.

Los Angeles Times on Wikimedia

5. Albert Einstein

Okay, so Albert isn’t all bad and has done numerous great things. But like everyone on this list, it’s important to be aware of his shortcomings. Firstly, Einstein was terrible to his wife, Mileva Maric, and even created a contract to turn her into his maid. He also refused to acknowledge his children and even forced his wife to give one up for adoption. To make matters worse, he also encouraged the use of nuclear weapons but then claimed to regret it after World War II.

Photograph by Oren Jack Turner, Princeton, N.J. on Wikimedia

6. Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs has certainly made his mark on the world, and Apple continues to dominate the tech market. But like many of the creatives on this list, his innovation was paired with cruelty as a father, as he disowned his daughter. He also backdated Apple stocks to accumulate wealth, but perhaps that’s not as bad.

AB on Unsplash

7. The Wright Brothers

The Wright Brothers may have been crucial to understanding aviation and flight, but that didn’t mean they were perfect. Instead, after their success, the brothers actively blocked anyone else who tried to launch flights, arguing that their work should be patented and protected. To amend this, Franklin Delano Roosevelt created a patent pool that allowed aviators to share their technologies for a small fee.

History in HD on Unsplash

8. Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth is recognized for her accomplishments in stabilizing and leading England through a golden era. But like most monarchs of the time, she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty – through proxy, of course! She treated her prisoners horrendously and brutally suppressed the Irish.

Unidentified painter on Wikimedia

9. Dr. Seuss

Dr. Seuss is an adored writer known for great works like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Cat in the Hat. Despite his success as an author, he was a terrible husband. He essentially ignored his wife and had an affair while she struggled with health issues, pushing her toward an untimely end.

Al Ravenna, New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer on Wikimedia

10. Charlie Chaplin

Best known for his work in silent films, Charlie Chaplin certainly let his power and sway go to his head. Not only did he pursue and marry extremely young women in a series of failed marriages, but he also ridiculed and harassed them.

Unknown photographer on Wikimedia

11. Christopher Columbus

If you don’t know why Columbus has a bad reputation, then you’re in for quite the doozy. Despite “discovering” the Americas, Columbus also initiated Indigenous subjugation, exploited oppression, and started colonization in Native lands.

Sebastiano del Piombo on Wikimedia

12. John Lennon

If you’ve ever delved into John Lennon’s biographies, you’ll find the singer has plenty to say about his poor childhood. It turns out he did the same thing to his son with Cynthia Powell and then took it a step further by hurting his son and cheating on his wife with Yoko Ono.

Roy Kerwood on Wikimedia

13. Gandhi

Gandhi did great work progressing non-violent resistance in India, but it turns out his love for peace only extended to certain races. He said terrible things about those with darker complexions and was very hateful toward people of African descent.

Elliott & Fry on Wikimedia

14. Thomas Edison

By now, many people have caught onto Thomas Edison’s reputation as a notorious patent thief. Instead of inventing crucial objects, he was a big bully who stole and capitalized on the success of other inventors, mainly Nikola Tesla, who had to work under Edison for a time.

Louis Bachrach, Bachrach Studios, restored by Michel Vuijlsteke on Wikimedia

15. John Wayne

While the heyday of Hollywood has evolved into something else, certain classic actors are still adored by fans. One such actor, John Wayne, had plenty of troubling things to say when he tried to storm the stage at the 1973 Academy Awards. He verbally attacked Indigenous politics and publicly shared his horrifying beliefs on race.

Howard_Hawks'Rio_Bravo_trailer_(26).jpg: Trailer screenshot derivative work: Liorek (talk) on Wikimedia

16. Pablo Picasso

Nowadays, Picasso’s work is considered the pinnacle of art. But in his actual day, he was also known for doing terrible things to women. His violent tendencies, paired with his cheating scandals and aptitude for disowning children, ensured he ruined dozens of lives before he was done.

Argentina. Revista Vea y Lea on Wikimedia

17. Henry Ford

For fans of Ford, it’s important to understand the legacy behind the car you drive. While Ford certainly revolutionized the automobile industry, he wasn’t afraid to share his anti-Semitic views and admiration for Nazis.

Sam Warren on Unsplash

18. Winston Churchill

Churchill is best known for leading the Allies to victory during World War II, but that might be one good thing in a pot of bad. For one, he encouraged the use of chemical offenses against Afghani people, referring to them as uncivilized tribes. Also, when India was under his control in the 1940s, he refused to provide any aid during the famine, leading to the passing of three million people.

United Nations Information Office, New York on Wikimedia

19. Charles Dickens

This one’s wild, but Charles Dickens was pretty much ready to do anything to run away with his teenage mistress. So much so that he tried to bribe doctors to diagnose and commit his wife into an asylum.

Herbert Watkins (1828–1916) on Wikimedia

20. Walt Disney

Walt had his ups and downs, and maybe at his heart, he was trying to make something wholesome and approachable. Of course, it’s important to consider the bad with the good, and Walt displayed numerous issues with hiring women animators like Mary Ford and even used unacceptable terms when referring to the dwarves in Snow White.

New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Fisher, Alan, photographer. on Wikimedia