Movie cameos that aged very badly, from Donald Trump to Lance Armstrong

There's real joy to be found in the best movie cameos. A surprise appearance by a famous face can provide a great laugh for an audience, while also massaging the ego of the celebrity asked to show up in a Hollywood blockbuster. Everybody wins, right? Well, maybe initially.

Throughout history, there have been occasions where stars have fallen from grace due to their own actions and allegations of wrongdoing against them. In that context, any of the movies in which they cameo are left with some rather unfortunate baggage to carry forever.

Let's have a look back at some of the most unfortunate movie cameos that now, years after they were filmed, look rather dodgy indeed.

Donald Trump (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York)

When Donald Trump made a brief appearance in the 1992 film Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, it was partly a business transaction. In order to secure permission to shoot scenes inside the Plaza Hotel, director Chris Columbus agreed to include a cameo by Trump — the building's owner. At the time, it seemed quite innocuous to have him offer directions to Macaulay Culkin.

Read more: Donald Trump Finally Breaks Silence On 'Cheap' And 'Disgusting' New Film About His Life (HuffPost, 2 min read)

Nobody could've predicted that, decades later, Trump would be an enormously controversial two-time president of the United States. "It’s become this thing that I wish it was not there," Columbus said in April 2025. "I can’t cut it. If I cut it, I’ll be considered sort of not fit to live in the United States, so I’ll have to go back to Italy or something."

Elon Musk (Iron Man 2)

The current president's awkward best friend, Elon Musk, also had a seemingly normal cameo in a film that now comes with a whole lot of weirdness behind it. When Marvel filmed Iron Man 2 at the end of the 2000s, Musk was mostly known for being the boss of Tesla as well as a little bit of a cult celebrity online. It felt natural to give him a brief cameo appearance at a glitzy business event.

In fact, Iron Man screenwriter Mark Fergus has said that Tony Stark was partially inspired by Musk, along with other tech billionaires like Steve Jobs. Now, though, that inspiration feels a little more loaded than it did 20 years ago.

Diddy (Muppets Most Wanted)

The Muppets have appeared alongside almost all of the major American celebrities of the last few decades — such is their longevity and cultural status. But in the 2014 movie Muppets Most Wanted, they featured a famous face they would probably now rather not see seated alongside Pepe the Prawn at a casino table: Sean Combs, aka Diddy.

Read more: Muppets Most Wanted Spawned the Evil Kermit Meme 11 Years Ago. Here's Why Jim Henson Wouldn't Be Pleased (People, 2 min read)

At the time of writing, Diddy is awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in the wake of a whole heap of allegations against him. Given that many of the allegations surround the rapper's notorious "Diddy parties", his appearance at a party in the Muppets now looks very troubling.

Kevin Spacey (Austin Powers in Goldmember)

At the beginning of the comedy threequel Austin Powers in Goldmember, there's a brilliant sequence advertising the film-within-a-film Austinpussy. The movie imagines a fictionalised take on Austin Powers' exploits, parodying the James Bond franchise. Tom Cruise plays Austin in this skit, while Dr Evil is played by Kevin Spacey.

Read more: American Beauty screenwriter says Kevin Spacey has impacted the legacy of Oscar-winning film (Yahoo Entertainment, 2 min read)

This cameo now has an awkward feeling behind it, given Spacey's decline in Hollywood. In 2017, actor Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of sexual misconduct, with several further allegations following Rapp's decision to speak out. Spacey has steadfastly denied all of the allegations and was found not liable for misconduct against Rapp in 2022, also being acquitted of sexual assault charged by a UK court in 2023.

Despite the fact he has never been convicted of a crime, the weight of allegations around Spacey means that he is largely considered persona non grata in Hollywood.

OJ Simpson (The Naked Gun)

OJ Simpson's role as Detective Nordberg in the Naked Gun movies is, actually, quite a lot more than a cameo. He portrays Frank Drebin's partner Nordberg across all three of the original films, reflecting his fame as an NFL player and TV sports personality. But in 1994 — the same year the third movie came out — Simpson was charged with the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

The subsequent murder trial was an enormous news event, culminating in a verdict of not guilty. But in 2008, Simpson received a 33-year prison sentence for kidnapping and armed robbery in relation to a Las Vegas robbery. He was paroled in 2017 after serving nine years and died in 2024 at the age of 76.

Lance Armstrong (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story)

Between 1999 and 2005, Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times in a row — just years after being diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer.

This uplifting story made Armstrong a major cultural figure and earned him a cameo in the noughties comedy Dodgeball, providing impetus to the down-and-out gym owner played by Vince Vaughn. He's the reason Vaughn's character returns to his friends to take part in the final underdog battle.

Read more: Dodgeball 2 is happening with original star Vince Vaughn returning (Digital Spy, 2 min read)

However, in 2012, the US Anti-Doping Agency concluded that Armstrong had been using performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career. He was banned from all sport for life and his Tour de France titles were taken away. So it's fair to say that his previously uplifting cameo is completely tainted, though in some ways it's actually even funnier than when it was first written.

Jack (Bill Cosby)

The 1996 film Jack is one of the weirder comedies of Robin Williams' career, as well as one of Francis Ford Coppola's oddest movies — Megalopolis aside. Williams portrays the titular character, who ages at four times the rate of a normal person due to a very rare medical condition. The comedian Bill Cosby appears in a small but significant role as Jack's tutor.

It's not a particularly beloved film by anybody, but Cosby's involvement is even more troubling. Since 2014, more than 60 women have accused him of a variety of sex offences. Cosby served almost three years in prison before his conviction was overturned, though he was found civilly liable in 2022 for sexually assaulting a 16-year-old woman. The court ordered him to pay $500,000 (£378,000) in damages.