26 Bits of TV Trivia We Didn’t Find Out Had Identical Twins Until a Few Seasons in When the Writers Ran Out of Ideas

Stephen Colbert Holds Off on Criticizing Paramount, President Trump in Gracious ‘Late Show’ Cancellation Response

30 Easter Eggs Hidden in Your Favorite Horror Films

CBS Cancels Stephen Colbert and ‘The Late Night’ Franchise, Citing ‘Financial Reasons’

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Sprang Haphazardly Out of Our Crime-Inspecting Uncle’s Head

30 Celebrity Stunts That Failed Miserably (Or Brought Joy and Order to the World)

Good! Or thank you! Whichever applies!

30 Celebrity Stunts That Failed Miserably (Or Brought Joy and Order to the World)

March 11, 2024

Give it a rest, you handsome, talented studs. Whatever got you fame and fortune, just… keep doing that. It’s not worth risking it all on some invention or skincare product.

Click right here to get the best of Cracked sent to your inbox.

30

CRACKED Natalie Portman has serious science cred. As a student at Syosset High School on Long Island in the late 1990s, Portman made it to the semifinals of a very demanding research competition, while also carrying out an investigation into a new method of turning waste into useful forms of energy. — Source

29

Marlon Brando created a new tuning system for conga drums. In addition to acting, Brando was also passionate about conga drums. Не went as far as to create a new tuning system for them, and invent a motorized device to help tune the drums more easily. CRACKED — Source

28

Kristen Stewart

27

David Schwimmer

STU ION HO David Schwimmer RA saved the day. CAT Ross from Friends helped the New York Police by giving them footage of a violent fight that broke out outside his apartment. Police were able to apprehend one man, while another was taken to the hospital with stab wounds. TH CRACKED RAP — Source

26

CRACKED Dennis Rodman is sort of a diplomat to North Korea. Rodman and Kim Jong-un met back in 2013 and hit it off immediately, resulting in multiple subsequent meetings between the two (usually featuring other basketball players as well) and possible diplomatic implications. — Source

25

Hedy Lamarr

Hedy Lamarr was an actress, beauty icon, and inventor. Along with composer George Antheil, Lamarr created a frequency hopping system to make radio- guided torpedoes harder to detect. This eventually became the basis for modern wireless technologies. CRACKED — Source

24

CRACKED Selena Gomez helped solve a murder case. Over one weekend, Gomez helped amateur sleuths solve a real-life cold case at CrimeCon Chicago. The event was organized to help bring peace to Kurt Sova's family by solving his murder. — Source

23

Bill Nye

CRACKED Bill Nye created a better ballet slipper. The Science Guy designed the slipper to better support dancers by encasing and protecting the toes while providing support along the sole. Не understood that traditional ballet slippers hurt the dancer's body, and designed one that works with nature's forces instead of against them. — Source

22

The secret to Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal move? A shoe he invented. Jackson designed a special shoe with a triangular slot in the heel, which hooked onto a metallic peg that came up from the stage floor at the right moment. This allowed him to lean forward at an impossible angle without collapsing. CRACKED — Source

21

CRACKED UAL Ashton Kutcher gave evidence in a murder trial. On one Valentine's Day, Michael Gargiulo allegedly murdered Ashley Ellerin, who Ashton had plans to go on a date with. Не knocked on her door, but when nobody answered, he left. The next day he found out she had been brutally stabbed in her own bathroom just minutes after he arrived. — Source

20

CRACKED FIG.2 FIG3 Jamie Lee Curtis made a diaper with a built-in wipe holder. Curtis invented a souped-up diaper with a waterproof baby wipe-holding compartment (wipes included). This infant garment makes the process of changing diapers much simpler. — Source

19

Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash was a badass secret agent. The Man in Black got his start in the military, where he was a top secret Morse Code operator. Cash intercepted a message about Joseph Stalin's death, which was huge at the time because of the Cold War. CRACKED — Source

18

mg.2 . Fig s Prince designed and named the Purpleaxxe keytar. Prince is the sole inventor on a patent for a keytar which he called the Purpleaxxe. The instrument made appearances on stage more than once, but it's unclear if Prince himself ever played it. CRACKED — Source

17

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Curb Your Enthusiasm saved a man from going to jail for life. Juan Catalan was arrested for a girl's murder, but he claimed to have been at Dodger Stadium watching the game, which just so happened to be when Curb Your Enthusiasm was shooting there. Since Larry David brushed right against Catalan in footage time- coded that night, that proved his innocence. CRACKED — Source

16

CRACKED Former supermodel Naomi Campbell testified in The Hague. Campbell testified at the trial of former warlord and President of Liberia Charles Taylor, who was charged with war crimes committed in Sierra Leone. She was called to testify after allegedly accepting a diamond as a gift from Taylor in 1997. There is no suggestion that she knew the diamond's possible origin. — Source

15

Dustin Diamond

CRACKED Dustin Diamond released a (fake) sex tape in 2006. Diamond tried to make some quick cash by releasing a sex tape called Screeched, but it turned out that it wasn't actually him in the video. Не later admitted that a stunt person was hired, and said it was all about making money. — Source

14

CRACKED Ashanti promoted her album with death threats. To promote The Declaration, the singer's website allowed visitors to send gotcha-grams - personalized reports about the receiver being gruesomely murdered out of jealousy. Universal Music quickly shut that down after the backlash. — Source

13

Brian Williams

CRACKED Brian Williams was exiled from MSNBC for seven months in 2015. This came after a series of events that led to him being suspended without pay, including allegations that he exaggerated details about his experiences during the Iraq War. — Source

30 Easter Eggs Hidden in Your Favorite Horror Films

26 Bits of TV Trivia That Got Caught in Our Tractor Beam When We Were Trying to Abduct a Cow

30 Law-Abiding Bits of Trivia About Criminals and the Crimes They’ve Committed

28 Facts About TV and Movie Sets and Locations That Deserve Their Own Documentary

62 of the Funniest Tweets from the Week of July 7, 2025

36 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia That Were Destined for Greatness, But Are Squandering Their Potential in This One-Horse Town

12

Kathy Griffin

Kathy Griffin is fiercely unapologetic for her Trump stunt. Griffin is no longer sorry for holding up a fake decapitated head of Donald Trump. She says the whole outrage was blown out of proportion and she lost so much because of it, including her job on CNN's New Year's Eve special. CRACKED — Source

11

Yacht

CRACKED L.A. band Yacht created a fake sex tape to promote their new album. The whole story was fiction and a scheme weeks in the making to advertise a new music video. Activists say the stunt may make it harder for revenge porn victims to be believed. — Source

10

CRACKED BIO Coaby . . Febru Go ahead Meme mel BillCosby.com/CosbyMeme #CosbyMeme HAPPY MONDAY! University 782 SEC After asking the internet to meme him, Bill Cosby's plan backfired. Fans used the web tool provided to highlight past accusations against the comedian instead of memeing him. The original tweet was quickly deleted, and the link redirected to Cosby's homepage. — Source

9

THAEE AIL BOARDS CRACKED Woody Harrelson's AMA went downhill fast. Harrelson's AMA on Reddit went downhill when he started treating it like a regular interview and ignoring users' questions. For a while after that, redditors were roasting him mercilessly. — Source

8

7

CRACKED Madonna wouldn't remove a projection of a swastika. Even though she was sued, Madonna has refused to remove the projection on French right-winger Marine Le Pen's head in a display used on her MDNA tour. She argued that the song in question, Nobody Knows Me, addresses intolerance and how much we judge people before knowing them. — Source

6

Guns N’ Roses

CRACKED Guns N' Roses and Dr Pepper have a complicated relationship. When GNR released their long-awaited album Chinese Democracy, Dr Pepper promised every American a free can of soda, but the website to claim it was inaccessible. Axl Rose threatened legal action against Dr Pepper, because not everyone in America got a free drink. Pepr Est. E — Source

5

Morton Downey Jr.

CRACKED Talk show host Morton Downey Jr. faked an attack for publicity. In 1989, Downey said three skinheads attacked him in an airport restroom, but authorities thought he made up the story. Downey was reportedly found with a pair of scissors and a felt-tip marker pen in a toilet bowl, but there was no other evidence of the attack. — Source

4

KFC and Oprah

GRACKED You can't get away with not delivering the chicken, even if Oprah is involved. A district court ruled that KFC did not live up to their word on coupons for free Kentucky Grilled Chicken meals promoted by Oprah Winfrey. The plaintiffs alleged common law fraud against the fast food chain, and the judge agreed, stating that they have a plausible claim. — Source

3

Alicia Keys

2

CRACKED Boris Johnson dangled from a zipline during the 2012 Olympic games. While he was Mayor of London, Johnson got stuck on a zipline during the Olympics. An internet meme surfaced, called Dangleboris. — Source

1

Ginuwine

CRACKED Criss Angel and Ginuwine were rehearsing a magic stunt when Ginuwine passed out. The stunt involved being submerged in water, and things took a turn for the worse when Ginuwine lost consciousness. According to Angel, it was unclear as to whether or not Ginuwine was suffering from a stroke or heart attack, but thankfully he made a full recovery. — Source

Tags:

Visual

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

Bob Barker Had to Be Convinced to Say the B-Word in ‘Happy Gilmore’

Trivia & Jokes

35 of the Funniest Tweets from Thursday, July 17, 2025

Movies & TV

38 ‘SNL’ Characters Who Carried the Show (And Hosts Who Almost Ruined It)

Movies & TV

Adam Sandler Was Hugely Relieved When His Daughters Didn’t Suck at Acting

Movies & TV

‘Rick and Morty’ Promo Teases the Return of An Estranged Season One Side Character

Movies & TV

This Is What Made Larry David Cry During His Unreleased Documentary

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

‘My Dad Would Have Never Quit That Show’: Isaac Hayes III on what ‘South Park’ Meant to His Father

2

Struggling Shane Gillis Tells ESPYs Crowd to Lighten Up After Getting Booed

3

All the Lies Sitcoms Have Sold Us About Adulthood

4

‘Rick and Morty’ Promo Teases the Return of An Estranged Season One Side Character

5

16 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Handmaid's Tale

I agree to the Terms of Service

Add me to the weekly newsletter

Add me to the daily newsletter

I am AWESOME