It's human nature to look up to people; successful people who act like the benchmarks of what we'd like to be in an ideal world. Of course, not all successful people are created equal and quite a few of these celebrity role models are not as admirable as you might think.
1) Kate Moss
The top model and poster child for the incredibly skinny ideal of beauty once said: "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Inspirational words from the face of the "heroin chic" movement, making her legions of teenage female fans even more insecure than they already were, and who has clearly never tasted a butterfinger cookie dough cheesecake bar in her life. After being caught in a cocaine scandal in 2005, not only did she not lose her endorsements, but her salary actually doubled, based merely on the fact that all publicity is good publicity.
2) Kim Kardashian
Emblematic of the bizarre nature of modern celebrity, she started her career as a frickin' porn star, before transitioning into the drivel that is reality TV, going on to marry the most egotistical man in the universe, and ultimately giving birth to a direction. No one can deny that she ticks all the physical attractiveness boxes, but what has she ever done that merits adoration? Her appeal can only be down to sheer wish fulfillment; her fans adore her simply because they want to be as rich and as hot as her, and while you can't begrudge her that, it's kind of appalling that so many people value her solely for that reason.
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3) Miley Cyrus
Miley showed the world just how much it fucks you up to grow up in the public eye. She was recently voted the worst celebrity role model for young girls due to her "inability to make positive life choices" and her "sexualised" persona. I guess no one expected this career move from an alumnus of the House of Mouse.
4) Justin Bieber
There was a time when you could have said that Bieber got an unfair amount of abuse, but that ship has sailed and now the gimp deserves everything he gets. Bieber made his millions because of his appeal to teenage girls, who follow him like he's the freaking Pied Piper. So, when images of Bieber smoking weed broke out, there were instances of actual self-harm from his hysterical fans in response. This is the insane power this kind of public figure has on their fans. He also managed to get out of a DUI charge by agreeing to star in an anti-drugs campaign, which sent this healthy message: Kids, you can get away with anything, but only if you're famous enough.
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5) Lance Armstrong
Once he seemed like the perfect role model; after being positively riddled with cancer he managed to come back and win the Tour De France in an almost superhuman feat. Well, it turned out that it actually was a superhuman feat, in that it was humanly impossible for him to do such a thing by natural means and he was doped up to the high heavens. Add to that the fact that Armstrong used his impressive influence to railroad the career of his teammate Frankie Andreu for daring to speak up about his doping, and Armstrong went from the people's hero to total villain in record time. But perhaps worst of all, the whole scandal ruined his cameo in Dodgeball.
6) Chris Brown
Once, the name Chris Brown would've evoked memories of a talented singer and dancer; of course these days we know him primarily as the guy who brutally beat up Rihanna. The fact that he could maintain a career after something like that boggles the mind. In an interview with 'Good Morning America' shortly after the attack, Brown was asked about the incident with Rihanna and immediately after the show the singer trashed his dressing room and smashed a window with a chair, behaviour which really didn't help with the whole aggressive psychopath image.
