Everyone makes mistakes, and celebrities are no exception.
Over the years, we’ve seen our fair share of sex scandals, interviews-gone-wrong, racist remarks, extramarital affairs and public outbursts.
And just this week, two high-profile young musicians issued public apologies for bad behavior caught on tape.
Just days after One Direction’s Liam Payne said he was sorry for a video of his bandmates Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson smoking “a joint,” Justin Bieber was forced to apologize for a racist joke which also emerged on tape.
Payne — who was not pictured in the video — thanked everyone “who has stuck with us through this” and conceded their age was to blame.
“I love my boys and maybe things have gone a little sideways I apologize for that,” he said on Twitter. “We are only in our 20s we all do stupid things at this age. We all have a lot of growing up to do in an extreme circumstance I’m not making excuse but it’s fact we are gunna fall short somewhere.”
Meanwhile, Bieber issued a statement to apologize for using the N-word in a racist joke.
“I’m very sorry,” the 20-year-old said. “I take all my friendships with people of all cultures very seriously and I apologize for offending or hurting anyone with my childish and inexcusable behavior.”
But Bieber and the One Direction lads are just the latest in a long line of celebrities who’ve been forced to issue groveling public apologies for bad behavior.
Here are some of the more memorable ones:
Kanye West
West made headlines in 2009 when he interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Video Music Awards, announcing: “Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé had one of the best videos of all time! One of the best videos of all time!”
West was criticized for brazenly cutting her off and ruining her winning moment and faced a massive backlash from fans.
He later issued an apology to the singer and her mother: “I’m sooooooo sorry to Taylor Swift and her fans and her mum. I spoke to her mother right after and she said the same thing my mother would’ve said. She is very talented! I like the lyrics about being a cheerleader and she’s in the bleachers! I’m in the wrong for going on stage and taking away from her moment!”
He continued: “I’m not crazy y’all, I’m just real. Sorry for that!!! I really feel bad for Taylor and I’m sincerely sorry!!! Much respect!!!”
He also apologized on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” — and then did so again a year later.
Kristen Stewart
A massive scandal erupted when pictures of Stewart kissing married director Rupert Sanders were published two years ago.
“Twilight” fans were up in arms over how Stewart could cheat on her beloved co-star Robert Pattinson, while the controversy ended Sanders’ marriage to British model Liberty Ross.
“I’m deeply sorry for the hurt and embarrassment I’ve caused to those close to me and everyone this has affected,” Stewart said in an out-of-character statement. “This momentary discretion has jeopardized the most important thing in my life, the person I love and respect the most, Rob. I love him, I love him, I’m so sorry.”
Sanders also released the following apology: “I am utterly distraught at the pain I have caused my family… my beautiful wife and heavenly children are all I have in this world. I love them with all my heart. I am praying that we can get through this together.”
Chris Brown
Brown issued a public apology via a video message for beating former girlfriend Rihanna just hours before the pair were due to perform at the Grammy Awards in February 2009. The attack left Rihanna with heavy bruising and a “mouthful of blood,” according to police reports.
He said in a two-minute video on his website in July that year: “I wish I had the chance to live those few moments again, but unfortunately I can’t. I have told Rihanna countless times and I am telling you today that I am truly, truly sorry. What I did was unacceptable — 100 percent. I can only ask and pray that you forgive me.
“I have let a lot of people down I realize that. Nobody is more disappointed in me than I am.”
Alec Baldwin
Baldwin was forced to apologize for being a bad dad in 2007 when he left a vile voicemail on his 11-year-old daughter Ireland’s phone, calling her a “rude thoughtless pig,” adding: “You don’t have the brains or the decency as a human being.”
Baldwin took a lot of flak for the way he spoke to his daughter and blamed the stress of his custody fight with ex-wife Kim Basinger.
“I’m sorry, as everyone who knows me is aware, for losing my temper with my child,” he said. “I have been driven to the edge by parental alienation for many years now. You have to go through this to understand. (Although I hope you never do.) I am sorry for what happened.”
He was again forced to publicly apologize in November last year after using an anti-gay slur against a photographer, whom he called a “c—sucking f-g.”
“I did not intend to hurt or offend anyone with my choice of words, but clearly I have,” he said, “and for that I am deeply sorry. Words are important. I understand that, and will choose mine with great care going forward.”
His evening show, “Up Late With Alec Baldwin,” was suspended for two weeks.
Hugh Grant
It’s been almost 20 years since Grant was arrested after hooking up with Hollywood prostitute Divine Brown. He later fessed up in an interview with Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show” while at the height of his career.
“You know in life what’s a good thing to do and a what’s a bad thing, and I did a bad thing. And there you have it,” he told Leno. Grant pleaded no contest to the charges against him, paid a fine and received probation.
And that was that.
Christian Bale
It’s not often that a celebrity admits to acting like a “punk,” but Bale did so after audio of him launching an expletive-ridden tirade at a cast member on the set of “Terminator Salvation” was made public.
Bale apologized unreservedly on a Los Angeles radio station, saying the past week had been “miserable” for him.
“I was out of order beyond belief,” he told KROQ in 2009. “I was way out of order. I acted like a punk. I regret that. I’m an actor and I don’t quite know how to handle this movie star thing.”
He added: “There is nobody who has heard that tape who has been hit harder than me. The one thing that disturbs me so much is that I’ve heard a lot of people saying that I seem to think that I’m better than anybody else.
“Nothing could be farther from the truth. I am a lucky man, I never forget that and that is why I put so much into what I do, and why I care so much about it and why sometimes that enthusiasm just goes awry.”
Mel Gibson
Actor and director Gibson was publicly lambasted in 2006 when he was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and launched into a drunken, obscenity-laced tirade about “the Jews.”
According to a police report published on TMZ, Gibson said at the time: “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world.” He apologized the next day.
“I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge,” he said.
His career suffered terribly as a result, and some would say it has never fully recovered.
Tiger Woods
Despite enjoying a squeaky-clean image for most of his career, Woods created headlines around the world in late 2009 when news broke that he had been involved in several extramarital affairs.
After dropping off the radar for a few months, he returned to the spotlight in February 2010 to hold a press conference.
“I was unfaithful,” he admitted. “I had affairs. I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.
“I have let my family down, and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect.”
John Mayer
Mayer posted a mea culpa on Twitter in 2010 after he frequently used the N-word during a Playboy interview. He then repeated the apology during a performance at a Nashville concert, where he promised to “quit the media game.”
“I am sorry that I used the word,” he said on the social media site. “And it’s such a shame that I did because the point I was trying to make was in the exact opposite spirit of the word itself.
“It was arrogant of me to think I could intellectualize using it, because I realize that there’s no intellectualizing a word that is so emotionally charged.”
Reese Witherspoon
A week after a highly embarrassed Witherspoon and her husband, Jim Toth, were arrested for disorderly conduct, the star apologized on national TV.
Witherspoon became upset during the DUI arrest and said, “Do you know my name?” and when the police officer responded no, she then threatened him, saying: “You’re about to find out who I am. … You are going to be on national news.”
“It’s one of those nights, you know, we went out to dinner in Atlanta and we had one too many glasses of wine and we thought we were fine to drive and we absolutely were not,” the actress told “Good Morning America.”
“And it’s just completely unacceptable and we are so sorry and embarrassed. And we know better. And we shouldn’t have done that.”
“I have no idea what I was saying that night. I saw him arresting my husband and I literally panicked. And I said all kinds of crazy things. I told him I was pregnant — I’m not pregnant! I said crazy things. And if you only hear me laughing (it’s) because I have no idea what I was talking about.
“And I’m so sorry. I was so disrespectful to him and I have police officers in my family. I work with police officers every day. I know better and it’s just unacceptable.”
This story originally appeared on News.com.au.