Considering that popular YouTubers can become rich these days, it makes perfect sense that it often feels like everyone wants to make a living being famous these days. With that in mind, it only seems logical that once somebody becomes a celebrity, they would do everything in their power to remain famous going forward.

Unfortunately, even if most stars want to continue being a beloved celebrity, there is a long history of famous people developing self-destructive tendencies. While it always is sad when a former star sabotages their own lives in one way or another, it can be easy to forgive their mistakes if they only hurt themselves.

In the case of Christian Slater, many of his former fans no longer have any affection for the actor as several of his misdeeds directly affected other people in serious ways. While there is no doubt that Slater has done some really bad things during his life, many moviegoers have no idea when Christian’s fans began to turn on him.

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Christian’s Early Run-Ins With The Law

Like a lot of young stars before and after him, when Christian Slater became famous he began to lead a very fast lifestyle. While it is easy to understand why some young stars have trouble dealing with the trappings of fame, that doesn’t excuse youthful actors breaking the law, especially when they put others in danger.

In 1988, Christian Slater had his first notable brush with the law when he was arrested for drunk driving. Amazingly enough, during that era, some people didn’t take driving under the influence overly seriously even though it is a major crime that puts others in grave danger. As a result of Slater’s ’88 arrest, he wound up being sentenced to ten days in jail. The following year, Slater made it clear that he hadn’t cleaned up his act as he led the police on a West Hollywood car chase, tried to scale a fence to get away, and kicked a cop in the head.

Unfortunately, anyone that hoped Christian Slater would make better decisions once the ‘80s ended, he was arrested again in 1994. This time around, Slater was caught carrying a firearm onto a commercial plane. While it is impossible to imagine why Slater thought it was a good idea to carry a weapon like that in his luggage, he only received three days of community service for his crime.

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The Perception Of Christian Slater Changes

In 1997, Christian Slater committed a crime that was so serious that it would forever change the way a lot of people perceived him. After a bender, Slater found himself behind bars on serious charges. According to a Rolling Stone interview about the event, Slater claimed he was then informed of his criminal actions that he had no memory of.

During a night out with his friend Petra Brando, her date Jacques Petersen, and their friend, Michelle Jonas, Slater suddenly got very violent under the influence of an illegal substance and alcohol. “The police told him that he had attacked Jonas and punched her repeatedly in the face, bitten Petersen on the chest when he stepped in to help, kicked a janitor in the stomach and then, when the police arrived, attacked an officer in the stairwell and tried to grab his gun.”

Unsurprisingly, when word broke about Christian Slater’s 1997 arrest and the reasons for it, it sparked a media storm that caused many of his fans to forever turn on him. From a legal standpoint, Slater also suffered serious consequences since he was sentenced to 100 days in rehab, 3 months in jail, and three months in a residential rehab center.

After going through that entire process, Slater gave the aforementioned interview to Rolling Stone in which he didn’t mince words about his actions and took responsibility for them. “I take full ownership of the incident. I haven’t shown any great character, doing drugs and alcohol. The cat’s out of the bag on me, OK? I’m insane. No doubt about it. Crystal clear. I can’t lie about it. I lie, I die. It’s over.”

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Another Arrest

Even though other famous actors like Robert Downey Jr. have been forgiven by the public after they spent time in jail, Slater’s violently assaulting a woman was hard to forget for fans. Worse yet, if some people were inclined to forgive Slater, the public’s perception of him took another major hit in 2005.

Arrested in Manhattan, New York in May of 2005, Christian Slater was accused of groping a woman on a city street. While speaking to the press about the incident, New York Police Sgt. Mary Doherty said; “Basically he grabbed a woman’s behind on the street” and that Slater was “intoxicated at the time”.

Ultimately, all charges against Christian Slater that stemmed from his 2005 arrest were dropped for lack of evidence on the condition that Slater kept out of trouble for six months. Even still, the perception of Slater was already cemented for many people at that point. On the bright side, Slater hasn’t had any publically known run-ins with the law since 2005 and he reportedly has cleaned himself up.

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