25+ Historical Figures Who Were Secretly Terrible People

As an author, Ted Geisel — better known as Dr. Seuss — made a huge impact on many of our childhoods with some of our favorite rhymes and colorful stories. The Lorax and The Cat in the Hat were some of his most successful writing works.

It’s not all sunshine and rainbows with Dr. Seuss, though. His first wife, Helen Palmer, was diagnosed with cancer, and he decided to cheat on her while she was already suffering. When Helen found out, she took her own life, and then Dr. Seuss went on to marry his mistress.

Jerry Lee Lewis greatly impacted the music industry and was known as rock and roll’s first great wild man. He really peaked in the 1950s and is still considered a legacy today. Jerry was actually a really violent person and is suspected of killing two of his wives.

Lewis’s reputation went downhill when he married his 13-year-old first cousin. He was then married six more times, and two of the wives mysteriously died from overdoses and drownings. He was also repeatedly charged with a misdemeanor for shooting guns.

We’ve all seen The Greatest Showman, a moving story about the circus and embracing who you are as a person. Well, it turns out that the real-life ring leader, P.T. Barnum, was a pretty awful human being who did not value the talent brought into his circus.

Barnum got his start in show business by buying an enslaved person called Joice Heth, who was conveniently left out of the film. The real-life people from the movie were exploited for their disabilities/appearances, allowing Barnum to profit off the word ‘freak.’

Charlie Chaplin rose to fame in the 1910s and continued his acting career well into the 1950s. He pioneered the silent film movement, and his persona, the Tramp, soon became a legacy. However, you guessed it, Chaplin was a bit of a weirdo.

In the 1921 film The Kid, Chaplin, who was 32 at the time, starred alongside 12-year-old Lita Gray. He allegedly pursued her for years, then impregnated her when she was 15. A year later, the pair were married. They later divorced, and Lisa wrote an autobiography called My Life With Chaplin in 1966.

Mother Teresa is widely recognized for her dedication to helping those in need. After founding the Missionaries of Charity in 1950, she went on to nurse sick and orphaned children for 45 years. It turns out that many of these kids were severely neglected.

They received no care, and investigators discovered the conditions were comparable to the Holocaust. Someone confronted Mother Teresa about this, and she said, “There is something beautiful in seeing the poor accept their lot, to suffer it like Christ’s Passion. The world gains much from their suffering.” Uh, what?

This one might shock a lot of you. John Lennon, founder and rhythm guitarist of The Beatles, is often seen as this all-loving hippie who advocated for peace. But no, he was quite awful to the people closest to him. Yes, we can hear the collective gasp from all of you!

Lennon was abusive to his first wife, Cynthia, and their children. It was so bad that one of his kids went deaf in one ear after being struck on the side of their by John. He even punched one of his friends, Bob Wooler, so badly that he almost passed away. No, no, no, John, all you need is love!

Thomas Edison, inventor and businessman, greatly impacted the modern world as we know it today. He’s credited for the invention of the lightbulb, as well as the phonograph and motion picture cameras. Turns out, he stole all those ideas. Yes, he was a common thief!

Inventors Henry Woodward, Matthew Evans, and Nicola Tesla claim that Edison stole all his greatest ideas from them. He also frequently ran dangerous experiments on his assistant, causing burns and sores all over his body. Lastly, he killed a lot of animals in electrocution testing.

Renowned for founding Apple and pioneering the mobile phone industry, Steve Jobs certainly had a lot of influence on our modern world. Despite being a great businessman, he was also known to be a horrible person, constantly yelling at employees and friends.

Jobs was also a neglectful father and denied being the father of Lisa Brennan-Jobs. He was soon sued for child support and begrudgingly took a DNA test, proving she was his daughter. Regardless, he still hardly spent time with her. We guess he was more concerned with his company than his kid… To each their own.

We all learned about Christopher Columbus in school and how he was a great Italian explorer. He led voyages across the Atlantic Ocean and is wrongfully credited with discovering America. Of course, he didn’t discover it and wasn’t even the first European to go there.

Nonetheless, when he got to America, he did some terrible things. Columbus enslaved and massacred so many Native Americans, completely taking over the land they had spent thousands of years developing. Some people say that what he did, unfortunately, started slavery.

Alexander Graham Bell invented the very first version of something we all use every day — our phones. In 1876, he finished developing the telephone and made first contact with another person. Inventing something they couldn’t use until modern accessibility, Bell hated deaf people.

Bell’s own mother was hearing-impaired, as well as his wife. Despite this, he believed that deafness was a contamination of the human race, suggesting that deaf people should not be able to get married and have children. How bigoted!

Marlon Brando is considered one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time, peaking in the ’70s. Brando is credited with bringing method acting to mainstream audiences. Yeah, that stuff Austin Butler did to ‘become’ Elvis.

Rita Moreno — known for roles in West Side Story, Singin’ in the Rain, and One Day at a Time — dated Brando for eight years. She has since said that their relationship was so awful, and she attempted suicide because of how he treated her.

Before Henry Ford, automobiles were not accessible to the everyday person. He founded the Ford Motor Company, which increased the number of cars in America. Ford used this newfound fame to spread some incredibly terrible beliefs he had.

Ford was awfully anti-Semitic and used his newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, to slander Jewish people. For years after this, people boycotted Ford cars.

We’ve all heard of Kellogg’s cereal, right? John’s brother, William, was the founder of the cereal brand. Despite how successful his brother was for a good thing, John took it upon himself to gain status through awful beliefs.

John advocated for circumcision in men and young boys to prevent self-pleasure, but it gets worse. Young girls were ‘circumcised’ with acid poured on their privates. And, of course, he was racist. John backed segregation and promoted erasing anyone who wasn’t white from the gene pool.

Alfred Hitchcock directed many films in his time that would significantly impact the horror genre as we know it today. He directed Psycho (1960) — which would go on to inspire Scream, Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and more.

It turns out that he treated his film stars really badly. Hitchcock repeatedly assaulted Tippi Hendren and threatened to ruin her career if she ever rejected his demands. Years later, he sent her daughter a lifelike doll of her mother dead in a coffin. He would also continuously play cruel pranks on the people he worked with.

Many of us admire Helen Keller for all she accomplished in her life despite being deaf, blind, and mute. In 1904, she became the first deaf-blind person to graduate college and dedicated the rest of her life to helping people like her. Or that’s what she wanted the world to believe about her… The reality is far from this, though.

She believed that disabled children should be euthanized, which was crazy when she herself was disabled. In 1915, a disabled child was born, and the doctor let it die because of the disability. Society was in uproar, but Keller agreed with his decision.

Martin Luther was a German priest and professor who began the Protestant Reformation in 1517. Plenty of Catholics would end up following him, but Jewish people stayed true to their original faith. This sent Luther up the wall — he was outraged.

In return, he became awfully anti-Semitic and encouraged his new followers to burn down synagogues to prove their loyalty to Christianity. He released multiple books about Jewish people, using derogatory language to put down their beliefs.

If you’ve seen The Jungle Book, then whether you know it or not, you’ve heard of Rudyard Kipling. Kipling wrote The Jungle Book and many other famous pieces of work. He won a Nobel Prize in 1907 for his contributions to literature. However, during his life, he was racist.

Kipling came up with the phrase ‘the white man’s burden,’ which implied that white people needed to conquer non-white races. Many people have since tried to defend the author, saying that everyone felt that way back then. Sorry, that’s no excuse!

Whether we can afford their stuff or just dream of owning a product, we’re all aware of the brand Chanel. From memorable perfumes to high-end makeup, the brand has made a huge impact on the fashion and beauty industry.

Coco Chanel, the name behind the brand, did some pretty nasty things. During the Second World War, she worked with Germany because otherwise, she would have to close Chanel in Paris and soon built connections with German soldiers. However, many now believe that she was actually a spy aiding Britain.

Pablo Picasso was one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, whose Cubist style can be spotted from a mile away. Picasso was actually an awful person, but his success as an artist overshadowed this.

Many women wanted to become his muse and were abused by Picasso in the process. Just a few examples of the horrible things he did include burning a woman’s face with a ciggy, cheating on his wife, and abandoning his child. Many of his partners had mental breakdowns, with two even taking their own lives.

Hans Asperger was a physician who studied atypical neurology in children, becoming the namesake of Autism Spectrum Disorder (previously also known as Asperger’s syndrome). One of the reasons we have stopped using the term Asperger’s is actually because of the horrible stuff Hans did.

It turns out he was part of a committee that helped determine which autistic children were ‘useless.’ These children would then be sent to Am Spiegelgrund in Vienna, where Nazi Germany murdered children. The poor children were used in experiments and then euthanized.

Known as the ‘King of Rock and Roll,’ Elvis’ music could be heard everywhere in the 1950s and ’60s. In the last few years, people have started to notice how weird his relationship with Priscilla was.

They first met when she was 14, and Elvis was 24, grooming her until their marriage seven years later. Elvis believed he could mold Priscilla into his ideal woman, saying he liked that she was “young enough that I can train her any way I want.”

Andy Warhol is one of the most famous artists in history. He created many paintings that we all know and love. Some of the most famous pieces include the Campbell’s Soup Cans and the Marilyn portraits. He hired artists to help produce his art, but he overworked and underpaid them.

They received no credit for what they did, meaning Warhol got all the praise. Warhol is also accused of the death of his muse, Edie Sedgwick. They made 18 films together, and she became addicted to narcotics under his companionship before dying of an overdose at 27.

Skyrocketing to fame during Hollywood’s Golden Age, John Wayne starred in countless films such as True Grit, The Longest Day, and The Quiet Man. In 1973, Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather, an Indigenous actor, on stage to speak about the Wounded Knee Occupation.

Wayne, who played plenty of cowboys that killed Indigenous people, was outraged. He stormed the stage and had to be restrained by security. Wayne often spoke publicly about white supremacy, saying, “I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility.”

Charles Dickens created some of the most well-known stories and characters in literature history. A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and Great Expectations are just a few examples of his Victorian novelist work. But, as you may have guessed, he was an incredibly awful person behind the scenes.

Dickens, then 45, had an affair with 18-year-old actress Ellen Ternan. To try and get out of his marriage, he attempted to bribe doctors to diagnose his wife Catherine with a mental illness to get her admitted to an insane asylum. Luckily, the doctors said no.

From Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to Matilda, Roald Dahl encapsulated our childhoods with some incredibly wholesome stories. Despite his success, he was notoriously bigoted, and old versions of his ‘nasty’ books were replaced with kinder ones.

Dahl has publicly admitted that he was anti-Semitic, saying, “Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.” Unfortunately, all the horrible beliefs he had were continuously pushed aside because of his work as an author.

Joe DiMaggio is one of the most valued baseball players of all time, having played for the New York Yankees for 13 years. DiMaggio is also quite well known for marrying Hollywood Golden Age legend Marilyn Monroe.

He soon became a jealous partner and hated seeing Marilyn succeed in her own right, hating when she had to kiss men on screen. He was also verbally abusive to her, causing her to become addicted to illicit substances, which eventually led to her downfall.

The Rolling Stones was the biggest band out of the ’60s, producing hit after hit for another 20 years. Brian Jones was the founder and lead guitarist of the band but left nine years after the band formed.

While on one of their tours, Jones met model Anita Pallenberg. They started a relationship, and he soon became incredibly abusive, even once breaking his hand because of how hard he’d hit her. Keith Richards, guitarist for The Rolling Stones, helped Anita escape.

Michael Jackson is one of the biggest artists in history, dubbed the ‘King of Pop’ since his chart-topping success throughout the ’80s and ’90s. A lot of his bad behavior was overshadowed by how famous he was, but if you’ve watched Leaving Neverland, you’ll know.

Two men came forward to reveal how they were abused by Jackson for years as children. Jackson allegedly brainwashed them and their families so that he could be left alone with the boys. He carefully hid the abuse, but it all came to light after his death.

Bing Crosby’s professional career was jam-packed, excelling in everything from music to television production. Despite his legacy, Crosby was a terrible person to his peers and an even worse father. In a memoir, his eldest son Gary would reveal some dark secrets.

Gary wrote that Bing physically and verbally abused him and his brothers, and even accused him of cheating on their mother. Two of his brothers came forward backing the claims, but another said that none of it was true. We’ll likely never know the full truth, but if even a bit of it is true, it’s a shame.

Known for being one of the pioneers of rock and roll, Chuck Berry redefined rhythm and blues and introduced those fundamental sounds to a whole new genre. However, he was once jailed for two years for transporting a young girl across state lines for ‘immoral purposes.’

Berry was also accused of filming women in the bathroom. What a creep! Lastly, in 1988, he punched his wife in the mouth. Sure, he may have been a legend of rock and roll, but he did horrible things and left his victims silenced.

Terry Gene Bollea is better known by his wrestling stage name, Hulk Hogan. He began his professional wrestling career in 1977, gaining popularity for his eye-catching look. Hogan retired in 2012, as he was getting too old to fight. So, what did he do?

A few years ago, tapes from 2007 were released where some incredibly racist things were coming out of Hogan’s mouth. In an outburst in response to the tapes being released, Hogan said, “I am a racist, to a point.” Well, sorry, Hulk — that doesn’t make it okay!

If you haven’t heard of the Woody Allen story, you’re in for a wild ride. Allen is a filmmaker who made some of the most successful movies — like Annie Hall, Midnight in Paris, and A Rainy Day in New York. No one could deny his talents on the silver screen, but that’s not where the issues lie.

Allen’s downfall came when he married Soon-Yi Previn, who was actually his adopted daughter. His then-partner Mia Farrow had adopted Soon-Yi, whom Allen first met when Soon-Yi was just 10 years old. Many believe that Allen groomed Soon-Yi and got into a relationship with her when she became an adult.

Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States and was in office from 1861 to 1865. During his time as president, he made a lot of influential changes, which is why we tend to remember him for all the good things he did.

Lincoln did effectively end slavery during his time in office, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t racist. Sure, he might have been opposed to slavery, but he said on record that he wasn’t in favor of “the social and political equality of the white and black races.”

The third U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, was in office from 1801 to 1809 and is well known for being the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. As many men were at the time, Jefferson was, of course, a terrible human being.

Jefferson enslaved over 600 people, one of whom was 14-year-old Sally Hemmings, whom he impregnated six times. She was actually the illegitimate daughter of Jefferson’s father, John Wayles. The Jefferson family denied this for years, but it was confirmed true through DNA in 1998.

We have another president on this list — Andrew Jackson, who was the 7th U.S. president. He was in office from 1829 to 1837, one of the longest presidential terms, just below Franklin D. Roosevelt. Of course, like every man in the 1800s, Jackson did some awful stuff.

Jackson was racist and, you guessed it, a slave owner. He advocated for a bill known as the Indian Removal Act, forcing thousands of Native Americans to leave the land that they should have rightfully owned. It’s just another example of old white men doing terrible things.

The 28th president of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, made big waves while in office. He pushed the economic movement forward and also led America in the First World War. Wilson even won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1919 for pioneering the League of Nations.

Many people seem to forget that he was incredibly racist and implemented segregation in all federal offices. His ignorant acts of segregation caused a ripple effect across the US, with other businesses introducing segregation. With a racist President in office, it only gave citizens more justification to do the same.

Cleveland was the 24th U.S. president, who was then in office again as the 26th president. He’s well known for being the first Democrat to win after the Civil War, as well as his monarchical approach to the presidency. Despite this, the guy was actually a huge creep.

He groomed his best friend’s daughter since she was a baby and then married her when she was 21 and he was 49. Years before this, he also assaulted a woman, and she fell pregnant. She threatened to expose him, so he used his power to get her sent to an insane asylum.

Joe Kennedy Sr. was of huge political prominence in his time. He was John F. Kennedy’s father, who was a really good person, but the same can’t be said about Joe himself. Some of you may know that his daughter, Rosemary, had a lobotomy.

Joe was responsible for this, forcing her to get one due to her mood swings. He didn’t tell his wife about it until the procedure was done. Rosemary’s life was completely ruined, and she lost the ability to walk and speak properly. As a result, she was put into an institution.

We’re casting around 500 years back in British politics to Oliver Cromwell, considered one of England’s important statesmen. Turns out, Cromwell was responsible for the Drogheda Massacre.

His soldiers raided Drogheda, Ireland, and slashed innocent people in the streets. He forced many of them into their own church before setting it on fire. There was no evidence of anything bad happening in Drogheda, so he killed over 3,000 people for no reason.

Winston Churchill was prime minister of the UK, serving twice between 1940 and 1945. He was an inspiration to many and is credited with leading Britain to victory in the Second World War. People often forget all the terrible things he did to get there, and he was racist.

He believed there was a racial hierarchy, with white protestants sitting at the top. Churchill was also strongly in favor of using poisoned gas against tribes and refused to provide aid to India during the Bengal Famine. This led to the deaths of over three million people.