Robert Downey Jr.'s arrest to Kim Kardashian-Kanye West struggles: Inside Hollywood’s so-called Thanksgiving 'curse'

Thanksgiving has seen a series of high-profile celebrity crises over the years, from breakups to arrests and accidents that continue to shadow Hollywood.

Thanksgiving is regarded as a quiet family holiday. But for a long list of celebrities, the end of November has delivered some of their most public crises. Breakups, arrests, long-buried scandals, even unexplained deaths - the date has picked up a reputation for trouble in Hollywood circles.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West were also linked to Hollywood's so-called Thanksgiving curse.

Celebrity marriages that collapsed on the holiday

Eric McCormack and Janet Holden:

The Will & Grace actor and his wife ended their 26-year marriage after years of keeping their relationship largely private. Holden filed first, citing irreconcilable differences, and TMZ obtained the documents that confirmed the split. Both eventually settled, but the timing placed their divorce firmly in Thanksgiving’s troubled column.

Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey:

Thanksgiving 2005 marked the end of one of the early-2000s’ most-covered pop couples. Hours after holiday celebrations wrapped, Simpson announced a “mutual decision” to separate. Their MTV-covered marriage had defined a pop-culture era, People reported.

Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock:

The couple’s nine-month marriage ended around Thanksgiving 2006. Reports later tied the tension to Borat, after Kid Rock saw Pamela Anderson’s cameo and reacted poorly. The split became one of the holiday’s more widely discussed celebrity breakups, as per Rolling Stone.

Scandals and arrests that played out over Thanksgiving

Tiger Woods’ 2009 car crash:

Two days after the National Enquirer ran its story alleging an affair with Rachel Uchitel, Woods crashed his SUV into a fire hydrant outside his Florida home on Thanksgiving morning. He was unconscious when discovered, and the incident opened the floodgates to the cheating scandals that ended his marriage to Elin Nordegren, as per The Sun.

Robert Downey Jr., 2000:

Downey Jr. was arrested in a Palm Springs hotel on drug-possession charges. Police found methamphetamine and cocaine in his room, according to Rolling Stone. The arrest came just months after he was released from state prison, adding another entry to a troubled period before his Hollywood comeback.

Halle Berry and Gabriel Aubry, 2012:

As per the Hollywood Reporter, Aubry was arrested after a fight with Berry’s then-fiancé, Olivier Martinez, outside Berry’s LA home. The altercation took place during a Thanksgiving custody handoff involving their daughter, Nahla.

Deaths and tragedies tied to the holiday

Natalie Wood, 1981:

Wood's body was found near Catalina Island over Thanksgiving weekend. She had been on a yacht with husband Robert “RJ” Wagner, Christopher Walken, and captain Dennis Davern. Though ruled an accidental drowning at the time, the case resurfaced in 2009 after new details from Davern. Wagner was later named a “person of interest,” but never charged, as per The Sun.

Holiday fights and public meltdowns

Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott, 2018:

A heated argument over Spelling’s acting work ended with McDermott being kicked out of the house, as per The Sun. He reportedly spent the night in a hotel, according to Radar Online. Their relationship, strained since McDermott’s 2013 affair, eventually ended in a finalized divorce in 2025.

Kanye West, 2016:

During Thanksgiving week, West was hospitalised for exhaustion and dehydration after days of erratic behavior and abruptly cancelling a stretch of shows on the Saint Pablo tour, The Sun reported. Kim Kardashian rushed to the hospital, but the marriage eventually dissolved in 2021.

For most Americans, Thanksgiving brings routine family gatherings. In Hollywood, the date has repeatedly surfaced in headlines for reasons far from celebratory - messy splits, arrests, scandals, and, in rare cases, tragedy.