One would hope that the rich and famous get to spend their happily ever afters free and enjoying the lavish lifestyle of Hollywood’s elite. Alas, such is not the case for all. Like everyone else, they can make mistakes that have negative repercussions in their lives. From substance use to college admissions scandals, there are a number of things that could cause them to have to spend some time behind bars.
Below, we compiled a list of actors who are, have been, or may currently be in prison.
15 Alec Baldwin
The eldest of the Baldwin brothers, Alec Baldwin is well-known for his roles as Alan Hunley in the Mission Impossible franchise, a voice in The Boss Baby franchise, Bill Oakland in Blind, and many other supporting roles. He also starred alongside Tina Fey in 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy, a role for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and seven Screen Actors Guild awards.
In October 2021, he became more infamously known for accidental manslaughter. He discharged a prop gun on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set for Rust, a movie he was starring in but which he had also written the story for and produced. The gun discharge injured director Joel Souza and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin and Rust’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were both charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. One of the counts — for Hutchins’ death — has the additional caveat of a firearm enhancement, meaning that if they’re convicted, there is a minimum five-year jail sentence.
On January 31, 2023, both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed were officially charged with the two manslaughter counts. In April, the charges against Baldwin were dropped.
14 Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman is known for her supporting roles in film and television, most notably as Lynette Scavo in Desperate Housewives, Mary in Christmas with the Kranks, and Sabrina “Bree” Osbourne in Transamerica. The latter role won her a Golden Globe Award, Independent Spirit Award, National Board of Review, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
On March 12, 2019, Huffman was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud. She had been involved with a nationwide college entrance exam cheating scandal to help her daughter get into an Ivy-league school. When her daughter answered SAT questions incorrectly, Huffman paid a proctor $15,000 to correct her answers and ensure admission.
On September 13, 2019, she was sentenced to 14 days in prison and received a $30,000 fine. She also had to serve 250 hours of community service and one year of supervised release.
13 Jared Fogle
Jared Fogle is well-known for playing himself in Jack and Jill, Sharknado 2: The Second One, and Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!. He was also a spokesman for Subway’s ads from 2000-2015.
Federal law enforcement first became aware of Jared Fogle as a person of interest in 2007, when a journalist and radio host told the Sarasota Police Department that Fogle had made lewd comments about her middle-school-age girls. This then prompted an investigation and eventual operation with the FBI, but there was not enough evidence to convict Fogle.
While separately investigating Russel Raylor, authorities then discovered that Taylor had traded sexually explicit photos of videos and children with Fogle. This led authorities to Fogle and, on July 7, 2015, the FBI and Indiana State Police raided Fogle’s house.
On November 19, 2015, Fogle pleaded guilty to the distribution and receipt of child pornography and traveling to engage in illicit sexual conduct with a minor. He was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison, to serve a minimum of 13 years before eligibility for time off with good behavior. After his release, he will still be on supervised release for the entirety of his life. In addition to the sentence, Fogle was fined $175,000 and had to forfeit $50,000 in assets plus $1.4 million in restitution to the victims.
12 Jussie Smollett
Jussie Smollett is most well-known for his role as Jamal in the Empire TV show (2015-2020). In January 2019, Smollett reported to the police that he had been the victim of a hate crime. This turned out to be a staged attack against himself and in December 2021, he was convicted of five felony counts of disorderly conduct.
He was sentenced in March 2022 to 150 days in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $145,000 for lying to the police.
Since the sentencing, Smollett has been released on bond while his case is on appeal.
11 Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan was the sweet kid who played twins in The Parent Trap and went on to a series of teen idol movies such as Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenager Drama Queen, and Mean Girls. But Lohan’s rise to fame was also peppered with a history of alcohol and drug abuse. On July 6, 2010, she was sentenced to 90 days of jail for failing to attend her court-ordered weekly alcohol education classes. Lohan ended up serving only two weeks due to prison overcrowding and the non-violent nature of her crime.
10 Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland is known for his roles in the movies Young Guns, Flatliners, A Few Good Men, The Three Musketeers, Dark City, Phone Booth, and Pompeii. He is most well-known for playing Jack Bauer in the drama series 24. This role won him an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Satellite Awards.
In 2007, Sutherland pleaded no contest to DUI charges and for violating the terms of his probation. He served 48 days in jail and, after his release, had to undergo an 18-month alcohol education program and weekly therapy sessions.
9 Michael Jace
Michael Jace played LAPD officer Julien Lowe in The Shield, and Michael Jordan in Michael Jordan: An American Hero. In 2014, he shot his wife in front of their children in their Los Angeles home. He was convinced she wanted a divorce because she was dating another man. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the murder.
8 Harvey Weinstein
Though not an actor in his own right, Harvey Weinstein deserves to be on the list given his affiliations in the film industry as a massive film mogul and producer. He was born on March 19, 1952, and produced films such as Sex, Lies, and Videotape, The Crying Game, Pulp Fiction, Heavenly Creatures, Flirting with Disaster, and Shakespeare in Love. He won an Academy Award for producing the latter.
Investigators were targeting him for years on various rape and sex crime allegations, but it took the testimonies of Miriam Haley and Jessica Mann (among 87 others!) to lead to jail time. Weinstein was arrested in May 2018 in New York and charged with rape, committing a criminal sex act, sexual abuse, and sexual misconduct. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison, with the earliest possible release date on November 9, 2039.
He was extradited to Los Angeles on July 20, 2021, to face additional charges at a second trial. He was found guilty of three of the seven charges on December 19, 2022.
7 Shannon Guess Richardson
Shannon Guess Richardson starred in The Walking Dead as a walker. She’s known for sending ricin-laced letters to then-U.S. President Barack Obama and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. She also tried to frame her husband for the letters. In July 2014, she was convicted of developing, producing, possessing, and transferring a toxin with the intent to use it as a weapon. She was sentenced to 18 years in prison.
6 Wesley Snipes
Wesley Snipes is known for his roles in Major League, White Men Can’t Jump, Passenger 57, Demolition Man, U.S. Marshals, The Expendables 3, and the Blade film trilogy as Blade. In February 2008, he was convicted of three misdemeanor counts of failing to file federal tax and spent three years behind bars.
5 Robert Downey Jr.
Easily recognized as Tony Stark in the Iron Man and Avengers franchises, Robert Downey Jr. is both an actor and producer. He had some successful roles in his youth as his role in Pound, Weird Science, and Less than Zero. His later career was marred by drug and alcohol addictions, both of which led to his arrest and subsequent imprisonment from 1999 to 2000 in a California treatment facility and state prison, after several parole violations associated with charges related to drugs.
Robert seems to have bounced back from the past, however, as he was named by Timemagazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008 and was on Forbes’ 2013, 2014, and 2015 lists as Hollywood’s highest-paid actor. He also won a Golden Globe for his role as Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes.
4 Tim Allen
Tim Allen is known for playing Mike Baxter in Last Man Standing, voicing Buzz Lightyear for the Toy Story franchise, and playing Santa Clause in The Santa Clause franchise. Before his success, he was imprisoned in 1978 for attempting to traffic over 650 grams of coke. Luckily, he avoided the full sentence by making a plea deal and giving information about other dealers. In exchange, he received a reduced sentence of 3 to 5 years. He ended up serving two years and four months and was paroled in 1981.
3 Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg is known as an actor, businessman, and former rapper. He played Mickey in The Basketball Diaries, Leo Handler in The Yards, Captain Leo Davidson in The Planet of the Apes, and Charlie Croker in The Italian Job. He produced and starred as Captain Joe Grusinsky in We Own the Night. Other notable roles include The Happening, Max Payne, The Lovely Bones, The Fighter, Pain and Gain, The Gambler, Patriots Day, Spenser Confidential, and Uncharted.
When he was 16, Wahlberg perpetrated two unprovoked attacks on Vietnamese victims, knocking one unconscious. He pleaded guilty to both counts and was sentenced to two years in prison, but only served 45 days of the sentence.
2 Sean Penn
Sean Penn is both an actor and film director and winner of two Academy Awards for Mystic River and Milk. He’s also known for his roles in At Close Range, State of Grace, Carlito’s Way, Dead Man Walking, Sweet and Lowdown and I Am Sam, among others. He directed The Indian Runner, The Crossing Guard, and The Pledge.
Despite a successful career, Penn is known for his volatile outbursts. Though he was arrested many times for them, only one arrest actually landed him behind bars for 60 days. In 1987, he punched an extra on the set of Colors. At the time, he was already on probation from two prior assaults. He only served a fraction of his sentence, thanks to his then-wife Madonna.
1 Courtney Love
Courtney Love is an actress, singer, and songwriter. She is known for the movies Sid and Nancy, Straight to Hell, The People vs. Larry Flynt, 200 Cigarettes, Man on the Moon, Julie Johnson, and Trapped, among others.
Her career was not without its downfalls. In January 1995, she was arrested for disrupting a flight and getting into an argument with a flight attendant. In July 1995, she threw a lit cigarette at musician Kathleen Hanna and punched her in the face. Love consequently pleaded guilty to an assault charge and was sentenced to anger management classes.
In 2003, after a painkiller overdose that nearly killed her, Love was convicted of felony drug possession. Then, a year later in 2004, she was charged with felony assault for attacking a woman with a bottle and a metal flashlight.