2013 wrecks in review: 'Lone Ranger,' Paula Deen, Alec Baldwin

2013 wrecks in review: ‘Lone Ranger,’ Paula Deen, Alec Baldwin

"The Year in Entertainment in One Image."

By David Horsey

Dec. 18, 2013 1:13 PM PT

This year in entertainment, Alec Baldwin took a wrecking ball to his career. So did celebrity chef Paula Deen. Both did it by opening their mouths.

Baldwin had just kicked off “Up Late,” a new interview show on MSNBC, when he was caught on video shouting disparaging remarks at a paparazzo. As seems to be a habit he cannot break, the epithets included demeaning slurs against gays. MSNBC dropped him like a rancid rutabaga.

Deen was accused of workplace racism. Apparently, she let slip racial terminology left over from her childhood in the deep South. The Food Network dumped her with the yard waste.

PHOTOS: Horsey on Hollywood

Meanwhile, pop phenom Justin Bieber did a good job destroying his cute and wholesome image in 2013, revealing an unappealing, disrespectful, spoiled-brat side of his personality. This did not necessarily hurt him with his huge fan base, but it did add Bieber to the list of overindulged young celebrities who need a good spanking.

There were other types of wrecks, including Johnny Depp’s “The Lone Ranger,” an attempted resurrection of an old entertainment franchise that may have been moribund too long. The movie cost nearly $250 million to produce and left the Walt Disney Co. with a loss estimated to be as high as $190 million.

Nevertheless, entertainment success stories abounded during the last 12 months, not the least of which was the quirky, twerky final evolution of Miley Cyrus from sweet Hannah Montana to the bad girl no one can stop watching. Sure, she couldn’t keep her clothes on or her tongue in her mouth all year, but Miley was clever enough to know, if a wrecking ball is headed your way, a savvy entertainer just hops on it and belts out a great song.

ALSO:

Horsey on Hollywood: The Kardashian Christmas Spirit

Horsey on Hollywood: Movie moguls battle over ‘The Hobb it’

Horsey on Hollywood: Should Miley Cyrus replace Katie Couric?

More to Read

Awards

David Horsey

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist David Horsey is a former political commentator for the Los Angeles Times. Syndicated by Tribune Media Services, David’s work has appeared in hundreds of media outlets. After graduating from the University of Washington, Horsey entered journalism as a political reporter. His multifaceted career has taken him to national political party conventions, presidential primaries, the Olympic Games, the Super Bowl, assignments in Europe, Japan and Mexico, and two extended stints working at the Hearst Newspapers Washington Bureau. As a Rotary Foundation scholar, Horsey earned an M.A. in international relations from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. He was also awarded an honorary doctorate from Seattle University. Horsey has published eight books of cartoons, including his two most recent, “Draw Quick, Shoot Straight” (2007) and “Refuge of Scoundrels” (2013). For escape, he spends a few weeks each year working as a cowboy in Montana.

2013 wrecks in review: ‘Lone Ranger,’ Paula Deen, Alec Baldwin

More to Read

More From the Los Angeles Times

Most Read in Awards