17 Famous Celebrity Arrests, Including Mugshots

Celebrities are people just like us, and they often run afoul of the law. Unless you’re picking up those tacky magazines at gas stations, regular mugshots aren’t anything special. These are the sorts of tangles with the law that make headlines in today’s list.

Frank Sinatra

One of the most famous celebrity mugshots is also one of the oldest. Frank Sinatra posed for this photo in 1938 on the charges of seducing a woman. He was released but arrested later when it was discovered the woman he was seeing was married.

Wesley Snipes

Actor Wesley Snipes is iconic for his roles in movies like New Jack City and Blade but the actor ran afoul of the IRS in the 2000s. While there are numerous celebrity mugshots we can point to, few were booked on charges of tax evasion like Mr. Snipes.

Bill Gates

That’s right, the former face of Microsoft has one of the most famous celebrity mugshots you’ll see on the internet. Bill Gates was arrested in 1977 for driving without a license. This didn’t do much to the Microsoft founder, who is still one of the most prominent billionaires on the planet.

Dennis Hopper

Hopper catapulted to fame thanks to his turn as the director and star of Easy Rider. To say the man had an interesting life is a bit of an understatement. Hopper ran afoul of New Mexico law enforcement thanks to reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident in one of the more notorious celebrity mugshots you’ll see.

Phil Spector

This is arguably one of the most bizarre celebrity mugshots you’ll see today. Phil Spector is best known as a record producer, especially when considering his “Wall of Sound” approach. Spector would eventually be convicted of murder in the second degree.

Nicole Richie

Richie is best known for her turn on the reality show The Simple Life. The socialite was arrested in 2006 for driving under the influence, resulting in a fairly subdued attempt at celebrity mugshots. She was released a few days later.

Billie Holliday

Singer Billie Holiday will always have a special place in the hearts of jazz lovers, especially when considering hit songs like “Strange Fruit.” The singer came under fire in 1947 when she was arrested for possession of narcotics.

Buju Banton

Banton is a Jamaican dancehall singer who won a Grammy for his talents in 2010. A year prior the singer was arrested for cocaine trafficking charges while traveling in the United States. Buju Banton was convicted in 2011, serving almost 7 years in prison before his release and subsequent deportation.

Justin Bieber

While Justin Bieber remains a pop sensation, he faced charges in 2014 for driving under the influence while in Miami, Florida. The singer seems somewhat happy in one of the most famous celebrity mugshots to come out of the 2010s.

Elvis Presley

Oddly, while this is one of the most famous celebrity mugshots you’ll find, Presley wasn’t booked on any charges. Instead, he was posing for a photograph for an honorary police badge. Still, it certainly makes for a striking image.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Some of the most famous celebrity mugshots don’t come from any real wrongdoing. Martin Luther King Jr. was booked while in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. His methods of civil disobedience helped pave the way for the Civil Rights Act in the following decade.

Lindsay Lohan

While Lindsay Lohan is in the middle of a comeback, the actress had more than one encounter with law enforcement. While this is one of many celebrity mugshots for the actress, it was concerning probation violation charges due to drug use.

Dalton Trumbo

Trumbo worked in many different fields during his time in Hollywood during its Golden Age. This is one of the more subdued celebrity mugshots, following Trumbo’s arrest while being held in contempt of the United States Congress during a HUAC hearing.

Barry Bonds

Bonds is famous and infamous due to his time in Major League Baseball. However, in 2011 he was convicted of a felony count of obstruction of justice during a 2003 testimony. This was a massive shakeup for Major League Baseball, where Bonds was once the uncontested home run king.

Young Jeezy

Rapper Young Jeezy came to be one of the more interesting celebrity mugshots I came across. Jeezy was arrested in 2006 after allegedly participating in a shootout and carrying a concealed firearm. A lack of evidence led to all charges being dropped.

Shepard Smith

Smith served as one of the most popular faces on Fox News for years. His career was almost completely derailed in 2000 following his arrest for aggravated battery with a motor vehicle. Smith stayed on Fox News until 2019 and currently works toward freedom of the press.

Snoop Dogg

Well before Snoop Dogg was doing guest spots with Martha Stewart, he was a rather infamous rapper in the West Coast scene. Snoop Dogg was booked in 1993 on charges of murder, something that he would later highlight in a song. Despite going to trial, the rapper was acquitted of all charges. That said, it created one of the most iconic celebrity mugshots of the 1990s.

The image featured at the top of this post is ©melhijad/Shutterstock.com.