busted celebrities

Busted celebrities is the term to describe any of the number of famous or infamous celebrities who've been arrested or otherwise "caught" in the act, most often for drunk driving or drug possession. For some celebs the mere act of being busted has helped propel them to even greater heights of infamy.

While sites like Smoking Gun or TMZ specialize in presenting the mug shots of these sometimes felonious fiends, certain names are more associated with getting "busted" than others. Mel Gibson helped launch an entire website because of his DUI arrest and subsequent racial tirade. Paris Hilton, already known more for her exploits than any discernible talents, gripped the nation with her DUI and then drawn out incarceration. But none are more famous for being busted than former NFL Hall of Famer turned actor O.J. Simpson, when he was arrested for the double homicide of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend, Ronald Goldman.

It was O.J. Simpson's 1994 televised slow motion car chase down the 405 in L.A. on July 17 which helped define the new era of celebrity criminals, and the media feeding frenzy which followed. While the O.J. Simpson murder acquittal may have shocked the nation, what has since been described as the "Trial of the Century" defined and sculpted the intersection of law and celebrity forever (O.J. was recently convicted in '08 for armed robbery, kidnapping, and other charges in a case involving Simpson-related sports memorabilia in Las Vegas).