Kim Kardashian
In perfecting the art of modern celebrity, Kim Kardashian wed pro basketball player Kris Humphries and filed for divorced 72 days later, thus going from bride to newlywed to divorcee in record time and ensuring a seamless run on magazine covers. For the record, her lawyer says the marriage was not a sham. (Jumana El Heloueh/Reuters)
Silvio Berlusconi
With his support in parliament crumbling and his country buckling under debt, Silvio Berlusconi left the Italian prime minister’s palazzo for the last time in November, but it wasn’t to go to a debauched party. Outside, a crowd chanted “buffoon” as he went. With that, the European financial crisis did what so many allegations of corruption and so many tales of “bunga bunga” could not: break Il Cavaliere’s hold on Italy. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)
Barry Bonds
After years of investigation, accusations and legal wrangling, baseball’s home run king Barry Bonds was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice. Whether or not he knowingly took steroids will remain a point of dispute, much like his accomplishments on the field. A spot in the Hall of Fame for the disgraced slugger seems unlikely. (Noah Berger/AP Photo)
Lindsay Lohan
In January, Lohan got out of rehab. She was promptly charged with stealing a $2,500 necklace from an upscale jewellery store. The rest of the year was a whirlwind of photo ops at court appearances and at her community service. Then she decided to pose for Playboy in a pictorial inspired by Marilyn Monroe (the second time she has portrayed the doomed starlet for a magazine). Hugh Hefner says the nude photos are “very classy.” (James Devaney/WireImage)
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
On May 13, Dominique Strauss-Kahn was the managing director of the International Monetary Fund and touted as the future president of France. Then a hotel maid accused him of sexual assault. Then a French writer made a similar charge. Then he was linked to a prostitution ring. Looking dejected, he appeared recently on the cover of Le Parisien under the headline, “DSK, a man alone.” (Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images)
Anthony Weiner
Though his surname elicits puns, it was technically not Anthony Weiner’s penis that got him in trouble. It was, more accurately, his photographing that penis (or at least a suggestive bulge in his boxers), and then sending that photo, via Twitter, to a woman who was not his wife, that undid his promising political career. A social media sex scandal for the 21st century. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)
Kweku Adoboli
In the early morning hours of a Thursday in September, London police arrested UBS trader Kweku Adoboli. His alleged crime? Unauthorized trading that had cost the Swiss bank some $2 billion. The so-called “rogue trader” faces charges, but three executives, including bank CEO Oswald Grubel, resigned in response. (Sang Tan/AP Photo)
Hilary Swank
In her defence, Hilary Swank claims the celebration in Grozny that she flew across the globe to attend was not necessarily meant to mark the birthday of notorious Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov. She just sort of ended up wishing him a happy birthday while she was there. These things happen. (Musa Sadulayev/AP Photo)
Categories: Life
Rogues of the year
From scam marriage to b-day parties with dictators–they’ve done it
From Macleans
Health
Will cancer screening actually save your life?
Science-ish looks at the evidence on PSA testing, mammograms and the true benefits of screening
World
Photo gallery: Europe’s unconventional political spouses
Girlfriends, lovers, and working moms and dads
Film
Cannes: Where the stars talk politics
Superheroes save the world at home, but anti-heroes are the avengers in France
Travel
Everest: ‘The open graveyard waiting above’
Too many adventurers want to scale the world’s highest peak—even if it means their deaths
Business
The REAL Canadian bank bailout
CMHC numbers reveal what was likely a move to offload risk from the banks to taxpayers
Canada
Nik Wallenda puts his life on the line
On June 15, Nik Wallenda will walk where no one has ever gone: over the maw of Niagara Falls
