Beloved Historical Figures That Were Completely Douchebags

Cults of personalities throughout history have been praised for numerous reasons. But what if, their praises are not justified? What if, the people whom we all have admired for years turn out to be complete douchebags? Well, a lot of them were. From Albert Einstein to Mother Teresa, adored historical icons have all had a fair share of problems of all kinds that only do we dig deeper could it really show: they were human beings, just like us, and are no more immune to flaws than the average man.
Here are some of the most beloved historical figures who turned out to be complete douchebags. You can support whatever their contributions to  humankind, but the facts remain that they had flaws and their works are no excuses for their shortcomings. If you find this post interesting and were surprised by some or all of these facts, be sure to follow our website and share this post on your social media.

#1 Christopher Columbus...didn't discover s**t and brought misery wherever he went

Source: sticksnXnbones

#2 My father was a taxi driver in Australia and one of his customers was a man who'd been raised in Mother Theresa's orphanage. He said she beat him terribly. Another user also added: She was obsessed with preventing wartime sexual abuse victims from getting abortions. Her order sold babies. She buddied up to dictators and accepted stolen cash from them. Collected millions in donations and never spent them on her "houses of the poor" which were vermin infested crapholes where people went to die. Refused pain medication for the dying and ill because she believed suffering = being close to god. Had nothing but top of the line medical care for herself.

Source: 20thCenturyCobweb

#3 Thomas Edison. I’ll never forgive him for what he did to Tesla.

Source: Toiletchan

#4 Ronald Reagan - moved somewhere between 50-80 TRILLION from middle class to upper 1%. Ruined America!

Source: Robby777777

#5 Coco Chanel was a goddamn Nazi spy. Yes, she was an incredible designer, and she's probably one of the most influential humans of the 20th century, based on the number of people who have worn clothing directly inspired by her over the past 100 years. She really did change the way women dress in a truly radical way, and I respect that - knitwear, feminized menswear, ditching the corset, transforming black into an everyday color, the essential skirt suit, costume jewelry, synthetic fragrances in perfume, the list goes on. But she was a goddamn Nazi spy. Coco was a wretched anti-Semite, like so many other members of the European elite during the 30s.

She dated a number of staggeringly wealthy British aristocrats and they'd all sit around talking about the Protocols of Zion and s**t, trying to figure out whether any members of the royal family were secretly Jews, etc. When war broke out, the two Jewish brothers who ran her perfume empire (aka Chanel No 5, the best selling perfume in the world then and now) had to flee to the US for safety. How did Coco respond? By writing to the Nazis to ask them to transfer ownership over to her, a good Aryan, so she could make more money. But that's not the half of it.

She fell in love with a dashing German spy named "Spitz" who'd been seducing bluebloods all over France and England for years leading up the war. Coco was a useful woman - she was simply one of the richest women in the world, and she knew everyone in the British aristocracy, including her old hunting buddy and dear friend, Winston Churchill himself. She and Spitz socialized with all the biggest Nazi names in town, especially Otto Abetz, the Nazi ambassador to France, who invited them to every party in town. Spitz convinced her to join the Abwehr (aka the German secret service) and make trips to Spain. Operating under the code name "Westminster", she attempted to broker a "separate peace" between Germany and England. (In the meantime, she may or may not have reported at least one woman at the Hotel Ritz whom she suspected of being Jewish to the SS.) She had a grand old time going on her adventures, and wrote about the excitement of working for the Abwehr in her private notes.

Chanel was arrested only a few days after the liberation of Paris - absolutely everyone in town knew what she'd been doing and who she'd been doing it with - but for rEaSoNs UnKnOwN she was released without charges. It's widely believed that Winston Churchill personally intervened. It might be because the two of them had been close friends for decades. It might be because she was going to embarrass the s**t out of Britain by outing all the anti-Semites and pro-Nazis in the British aristocracy - including the recently abdicated Edward VIII who used his f***ng honeymoon as an excuse to tour Nazi Germany and shake Hitler's hand. She spent the rest of her life being a nasty, bitter morphine addict living in the Hotel Ritz. The House of Chanel has very, very little to say about the matter, and every few years a few more bits of damning evidence are declassified from the vaults.

 

Source: overdueboo

 

#6 Pablo Picasso, he was misogynistic and sexually assaulted women

Source: Camby_doodles

 

#7 Gandhi. After learning all the colorist and racist s**t he would say to those who had darker complexion or those of African descent in my 8th grade year i haven’t seen him the same.

 

Source: unknown

#8 Bill Cosby. America's dad. Up until those allegations started

Source: NealR2000

#9 PT BARNUM. Most people know but due to the romanticization of The Greatest Showman, people should know that he was a maniac that did an ungodly experiments on living beings, locked people in cages, abused them, and mocked them. All whilst earning pocket from them.

Source: RogueVogueDino

#10 John Lennon. Treated like s**t during his childhood, whinges about it his whole life, then does the exact same thing to his son Julian

Source: BigMattress269

#11 Based on personal experience with Oprah Winfrey at Barnes Municipal Airport on New Years Eve in 1991, I would say it would have to be her. Cosby's private jet brought her and Steadman into the airport under cover of darkness to go to the Cosby estate up North. I watched from the tower and she shoved a lone child out of the way and slammed the door to the limo. All the child wanted was an autograph. Oprah's kindness and compassion was an act. If she didn't get something out of it, she was quite capable of stepping on feelings of a lone child when the cameras were not on her

Source: LeoEmptor

#12 Woodrow Wilson. Guy was majorly racist, segregated the military, kicked black people out of the government, he screened a KKK movie in the White House and was a strong defender of the KKK. Even for his time he was considered racist

Source: starcraft_al

#13 Elvis Presley. He groomed a then 14 year old and slept with her while he toured

Source: YellowB

#14 Alfred Hitchcock, the guy probably was one of the best filmmakers ever, yes. but it's worth mentioning how much he abused his actors, including sexually harassing Tippi Hedren

Source: RingoStarAllies

#15 King Edward the VIII was a nazi sympathizer who possibly colluded with the Germans to retake the throne in the event of an invasion and conquest of Britain. He wasn’t just a love sick romantic who gave up his kingdom for a woman

Source: mwm1980

#16 Steve Jobs. The way he treated his family is horrible

Source: iameshwar_raj

#17 Einstein wasn’t a great guy. Brilliant, sure, but kinda douchy in his personal life. He refused to marry his long time lover for years, even after she got pregnant. The child was assumed to be given up for adoption, but no record has ever been found. He and his wife, Mileva Marić, worked together on their research. People saw them do it. They made jokes about it at parties. He proudly told people that she did all his calculations.

They only put his name on their work and he went on to claim all the credit - ignoring any work she had done. Part of their agreement was that she would get the Nobel prize money but he tried to prevent that.

She raised two children - one schizophrenic - took care of the house and tutored to bring in extra money because he couldn’t get a job for a long time. He started getting more notoriety and then began an affair with his first cousin. He moved to a different country to be with his new hillbilly mistress. He divorced his wife and quickly married the new, younger model. He had rules she had to abide by, such as leaving the room immediately when told and not expecting or asking for any sort of affection except when necessary for appearances sake.

Elsa, his second wife, was dying and he worked nonstop because he didn’t know what to do (I guess). She was basically abandoned her last few months. He cheated on both his wives, numerous times. Ignored his children. Oh - and he was pretty into his second wife’s daughter and thought about marrying her instead.

Source: Miss_Adventures123

#18 Not quite beloved, but Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. He decided that Rosemary (his daughter) who was 23 at the time should have a lobotomy; he did not inform his wife of this decision until after the procedure was completed.

And then they sent her away to an institute. In her early young adult years, Rosemary Kennedy experienced seizures and violent mood swings.

In response to these issues, her father arranged a prefrontal lobotomy for her in 1941 when she was 23 years of age; the procedure left her permanently incapacitated and rendered her unable to speak intelligibly. Sick f**k, who would do this to their own child.

Source: renaissancemonse

#19 Apparently John Wayne needed to be restrained from assaulting a native American actress in the 70s at the academy awards or something. I think her name was Sacheen Little feather. And Clint Eastwood allegedly was mocking her too.

Source: b10h454r8_y