The Most Infamous Celebrity Mugshots

It might sound surprising, but mugshots have actually been around for quite a while. The oldest cameras date back to the early 1800s, and by the 1850s, some police departments in the United States were already using them to keep track of arrested people. Some, like the New York City Police Department, would even publish books of criminals' mugshots for the public, who could then be on alert about various local thieves and ne'er-do-wells. Still, it took a few decades into the 1880s to formalize what most would consider today to be the standard mugshot, consisting primarily of an individual's upper half.

Over the years, countless people have had their mugshots taken after being arrested, including some of the most important people in history. Famous (or infamous) former leaders like Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, and Benito Mussolini all had their mugshots taken as young men, as did gangsters like Al Capone. 

With the growth of mass media and improvements in communication technology, celebrity mugshots are now like gasoline for the media fire. In some cases, these mugshots will stick with the celebrity for years, haunting them as ugly reminders. Looking back, from Donald Trump to Tim Allen, these are some of the most infamous celebrity mugshots.

Widely known as the "Godfather of Soul," James Brown had a night he probably regretted on January 28, 2004. That evening, he found himself under arrest after an incident between him and his wife, Tomi Rae Brown. James and Tomi Rae had been married since 2001, but were reportedly separated in the summer of 2003, though it seems by that January they were living jointly again. They had a son together who was two and a half years old at the time of the incident, James Joseph Brown II.

The charges facing James were for domestic violence against Tomi Rae. James was 70 years old when the arrest occurred, while Tomi Rae was less than half his age at 34, and it was alleged that he pushed her to the ground. James' 2004 charges were not his first relating to domestic violence, as he was previously arrested in 1988 after allegedly hitting his former wife Adrienne Brown, though she would later recant her accusations.

While certainly not as troubling as the charges, James' appearance in his mugshot was quickly mocked and ridiculed by the media. It was jolting to see him so bedraggled in the photo, and The Washington Post described his hair as being in "utter disarray" and "like a mound of carved statuary dislodged from its base." James later pleaded guilty and forfeited over $1,000 in bond but did not go to jail, and claimed he had not tried to hurt his wife.

Vince Vaughn has certainly played a lot of roles in his career, but for a few hours on the morning of April 12, 2001, he found himself trying on a new act: jail inmate. Prior to his arrest, Vaughn was shooting a movie with Steve Buscemi, and the pair decided to go out to a local bar in downtown Wilmington, North Carolina, with screenwriter Scott Rosenberg. At some point, Rosenberg and Vaughn got into a violent altercation and were arrested, and Buscemi was also a victim of multiple stab wounds.

The stabber, Timothy Fogerty, was placed under arrest and faced a charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. He was later sentenced to two years in prison, though most of it was suspended. According to reports, Fogerty was threatening Buscemi with the knife before stabbing him. This led to Vaughn getting into a physical altercation with one of Fogerty's friends, resulting in Vaughn's arrest for misdemeanor assault. At some point, Vaughn was also maced by police during the fight.

The news of Vaughn's arrest quickly made the news, and it disrupted the filming of the movie after Buscemi had to leave the state to get plastic surgery. About two months later, Vaughn appeared in court on the assault charges, where he entered into an Alford plea — meaning he did not admit guilt — and was banned from going to any more downtown Wilmington bars for an unspecified length of time.

While not a celebrity in the traditional sense, John Gotti was one of the most infamous mobsters and criminals in American history. Gotti was a longtime mafioso who, by the 1980s, was one of the most visible and powerful gangsters in New York City. With nicknames like the "Dapper Don" and the "Teflon Don," Gotti was known for his ability to evade justice, despite his many arrests. There were even exposes written on him in newspapers that highlighted his so-called celebrity status and seeming popularity among the public.

However, all of that changed on December 11, 1990, when federal agents arrested Gotti while he was eating at a restaurant in Little Italy. The next day, Gotti's name and picture were all over the front page of The New York Times, again, this time showing him being dragged out of the restaurant by FBI agents. His official mugshot showed him smiling, looking supremely confident in beating the charges once again, but he would turn out to be very wrong.

December 11th would be the last time that Gotti was ever arrested, and he was convicted less than two years later in April 1992 on charges including murder and racketeering and later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His final mugshot is the most infamous, as he never needed another, and his false confidence was to be betrayed by the final verdict. Gotti died in 2002 of cancer while still in prison.

At the time of her arrest in 2018, adult film star Stephanie Clifford, widely known by her stage name Stormy Daniels, was already one of the hottest names in the media cycle, but her brief incarceration sent things into the stratosphere. Clifford came to widespread attention earlier in 2018, when it was reported that she was a former mistress of then-President Donald Trump. The report claimed she had allegedly been paid to keep secret about an affair they had together before he was elected, which Trump denied.

The circumstances of her arrest were that Clifford was working at a gentleman's club in Columbus, Ohio, when Columbus police cuffed her for illegal sexually oriented activity. However, even though her arrest and mugshot quickly went viral, the police dropped the charges a day later, claiming they had made a mistake. Unfortunately, the arrest had already been made, and the police officers' flimsy evidence for making it would come back to haunt them. 

Daniels filed a lawsuit against the police department, saying they specifically targeted and arrested her based on her negative association with Trump and their support for him. She later settled the lawsuit for $450,000, and four of the vice officers involved in her arrest were later reprimanded. Two of them were fired, the other two were suspended, and the vice unit was subsequently disbanded.

While most people know Vince Shlomi as the guy from the Shamwow! and Slap Chop infomercials, it was his 2009 mugshot that really earned him headlines worldwide. Shlomi found himself under arrest back in February 2009, after getting into an altercation with an alleged sex worker in Miami, Florida. An Israeli-American, Shlomi had come to prominence a few years earlier, on the back of his idiosyncratic infomercials hawking his products, and by 2009, he was getting big enough that he was able to start hiring more employees. However, the ensuing downtime inadvertently led to his arrest.

That February, Shlomi allegedly paid a female sex worker named Sasha Harris a substantial amount for her time, but at some point things went wrong, which may have been the result of a drinking binge. Shlomi and Harris started fighting after Harris was said to have bitten Shlomi, and his mugshot showed him with blood on his face and lips. When news about the scandal broke, the press quickly latched onto Shlomi's fame as a salesman, making jokes about using the Shamwow! to absorb the blood from his fight.

Neither Shlomi nor Harris ended up facing charges over the incident, but the mugshot has followed him around like a bad habit for years. Since then, Shlomi has made amends, taking responsibility for his actions and cleaning his life up to avoid any more bad arrests.

On July 28, 2006, famous actor Mel Gibson was arrested for suspicion of DUI, and it turned into one of the most infamous incidents in his entire life. According to transcripts of the police report originally released by TMZ (via the Los Angeles Times), police found an open container of tequila in his car, and Gibson became agitated and concerned once he realized that he was going to be placed under arrest. He started to act unruly and belligerent, directing copious amounts of profanity against the officer, and somewhat bizarrely making several antisemitic remarks.

Not only did the news about Gibson's arrest and mugshot quickly make the headlines, but his outrageous comments were media fodder. Various outlets accused him of being racist and antisemitic, and the seemingly nonchalant expression in his mugshot drew further ire. He later apologized for the incident and his comments, but they were met with a tepid reaction among most of Hollywood. Gibson pleaded no contest and was fined when he returned to court, but he avoided serving jail time.

In an interview with Variety in 2016, Gibson reflected on his arrest, calling it an "unfortunate incident." He also called his vilification in the press unfair, and blamed the police officer for allegedly illegally recording him. He also denied that he was antisemitic and said he had moved on from the incident — even if the press hadn't.

At one point, well before his public fall from stardom, it would have been inconceivable that the now-disgraced actor Bill Cosby would be pictured behind bars. Known as one of America's most lovable TV dads for so many years, Cosby's 2015 mugshot is still one of the biggest reminders of the many abhorrent allegations levied against him. Allegations surrounding Cosby first surfaced in 2005, but it was not until 2014 that they made headline news, and led to his ostracization from the majority of Hollywood.

When the news went viral, Cosby's reputation was immediately shattered, and soon more and more women were accusing him of sexual improprieties. Yet, it was not until his December 2015 arrest that he faced legal charges and his now-infamous mugshot, the image becoming a symbol of all the numerous allegations made against him. Cosby was later convicted in 2018, and sentenced to up to 10 years in prison for rape.

However, in 2021, the verdict was thrown out upon appeal due to a previous agreement Cosby had made with a prior prosecutor, and Cosby remains free as of 2023. In all, more than five-dozen women have made allegations against Cosby, but his 2015 mugshot is the closest he has become to being held responsible.

Well before Tim Allen became a famous comedian, he faced serious legal problems back in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The year was 1978 and Allen was in his early 20s, and he had a unique profession: smuggling cocaine. No small-time pusher, Allen had more than half a kilogram of cocaine on him when he was arrested at the airport, and it seemed like his life was going to be over. Facing life in prison over the incident, Allen flipped on his distributors and got a reduced sentence, finally leaving custody in June 1981.

Looking relatively young in his booking photo, it's a pretty far cry from the Allen who would later become one of TV's most famous dads through his longtime stint on "Home Improvement." Allen first began his acting career years after his release in 1988, and started "Home Improvement" in 1991, and he has never looked back since. 

In 2021, he talked about the incident on WTF with Marc Maron, saying that the passing of his father played a role in his succumbing to that kind of lifestyle, but he also noted that he was 23 years sober from drugs and alcohol. Thankfully, Allen put his smuggling days behind him, though his mugshot still occasionally crops up.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, may be the victim of domestic abuse, or a victim of sexual assault, contact the relevant resources below:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

• The National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

• The Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).