Female Stars Behind Bars: 25 Famous Women Who Got in Trouble With the Law

Amanda Bynes

Amanda famously struggled with the law a lot in 2012. On April 4, 2012, she was arrested and charged with DUI after side-swiping a police car. She only spent a couple of hours in jail before being released, but her problems didn’t stop there. She faced six months in jail after not showing up for her hearing, and then in August she rear-ended another car and left without sharing her information. She was charged with hit and run in September (which could have had a year sentence), and her license was suspended. Then she was caught driving with the suspended license. Luckily for her, she never served jail time.

Amy Schumer

Some celebs get arrested by accident … and some do it on purpose! Amy was arrested at a political rally in 2018, and even brought it up in her Netflix stand-up special Growing. “Maybe some of you heard I got arrested in October,” she said. “I went down to D.C. to get arrested. It was really intense and really emotional. Everyone knew we were about to be arrested and everyone was chanting ‘No justice no peace’ and ‘we believe survivors.’ People thought it was irresponsible because I’m pregnant. But that’s why I went down there. I want to be able to tell this thing inside me that I did everything I could!”

Blac Chyna

In 2016, Chyna was arrested at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas for public intoxication and drug possession. First she was kicked off a flight, then she went to an airport bar and began harassing the waiters. Eventually, police found two ecstasy pulls on her and arrested her, setting bail at $8,000. Luckily, her then-boo Rob Kardashian hopped in the car, and drove all the way to Austin to bail her out.

Cardi B

In 2019, Cardi opened up about how she used to drug and rob men before she got famous, but luckily for her, she was never caught doing that. Unfortunately, she wasn’t as lucky last October when she was arrested for her part in a strip club brawl. She was charged with reckless endangerment but never served jail time and the case is still ongoing.

Farrah Abraham

In June 2018, this former Teen Mom star was arrested and charged with misdemeanor counts of battery and resisting, delaying or obstructing a peace officer. This came after she allegedly hit a security guard at the Beverly Hills Hotel after fighting with guests there. She originally faced 18 months in jail for the scuffle, but she took a plea deal five months later where she avoided jail time for 12 hours of anger management classes, two years of summary probation, and five days of community service or community labor.

Felicity Huffman

Felicity was famously arrested in 2019 as part of a massive operation to stop college admissions fraud. She eventually pleaded guilty and admitted that she paid off people to help get her kids into school. On September 13, she was sentenced to 14 days in prison at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, where she served checked in on October 15. She was expected to be released on October 27, but the Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement, “Felicity Huffman has been released from the custody of the Bureau of Prisons today, October 25, 2019, per BOP Program Statement 5140.36 ‘Release of Inmates Prior to a Weekend or Legal Holiday.’” Additionally, the actress was also given a year of probation and has to complete 250 hours of community service and pay a $30,000 fine.

Jane Fonda

Long before Grace and Frankie, Jane was a bit of a political activist! That made her something of a target, which is probably why she ended up arrested for something totally dumb in 1970. Jane was stopped in an Ohio airport following a speaking engagement at an anti-Vietnam war fundraiser in Canada after a security guard wrongly accused her of smuggling drugs. It turns out, the “drugs” were just vitamins.

“I think they hoped this ‘scandal’ would cause the college speeches to be canceled and ruin my respectability,” Jane wrote on her blog in 2009. “I was handcuffed and put in the Cleveland Jail, which is when the mugshot was taken. I was released on bond and months later, after every pill had been tested in a lab (with taxpayers money!), the charges were dismissed and there were a few paragraphs hidden in the back of papers that they were vitamins, not drugs.”

She did it again, though! At several climate change rallies in Washington D.C. in 2019, she was intentionally arrested to raise awareness for her cause.

Jenelle Evans

This Teen Mom star has had several unfortunate run-ins with the law. She has actually been arrested a whopping 15 times for reasons that include, but are not limited to, drug possession, assault, breaking and entering, harassment and violating probation. She’s done a few short stints in jail and has paid thousands in fines.

Khloé Kardashian

“Kim would you stop taking pictures of yourself? Your sister’s going to jail!” We all remember this wild Kardashian storyline, but what actually happened? Well, in 2008, Koko was arrested for a DUI, and was ordered to take an alcohol education class. Unfortunately, she violated her probation by missing classes and was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Lucky for her, the prison was overcrowded so she spent a whopping three hours in custody before being released.

Kimora Lee Simmons

What a killer mugshot! Kimora got arrested in 2004 when police tried to pull her over for a broken tail light. She didn’t stop until she got to her home, and then police found marijuana in the car. She was charged with possession of marijuana under 50 grams, eluding police, careless driving, tailgating and driving with a broken brake light.

Lauryn Hill

In 2013, Lauryn served three months in prison and three months on house arrest for tax fraud. She faced three years behind bars, but the judge took into account her six kids, no prior crimes, and the fact that she’d already paid back a lot of her taxes.

Lil Kim

In 2005, Lil Kim was sentenced to a year behind bars for perjury when she admitted to lying in testimony relating to a shootout among rival rappers. She was also arrested in 1999 over marijuana possession but did no jail time.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay probably had the most infamous string of legal troubles from 2007-2012. From DUIs to hit and runs and a suspicious necklace theft accusation, Lindsay ended up going to jail a few different times. She did about an hour in 2007, 2 weeks in 2010, and one month in jail and one month on house arrest in 2011.

Lori Loughlin

This Fuller House star was arrested in March 2019 on charges relating to a college admissions scandal where she allegedly paid to have her kids recruited to college as part of the crew team, despite them not doing crew. She has not admitted any guilt, despite many other parents involved taking a plea deal. In October 2019, the United States Department of Justice slapped her with even more charges related to the scandal. “In exchange for the bribes, employees of the university allegedly designated the defendants’ children as athletic recruits — with little or no regard for their athletic abilities – or as members of other favored admissions categories,” the press release read, shared by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Massachusetts.

Martha Stewart

In March 2004, Martha was found guilty of felony charges of conspiracy, obstruction of an agency proceeding, and making false statements to federal investigators. She was sentenced to five months in jail, where she said her nickname was “M. Diddy,” and then five months of home confinement.

Michelle Rodriguez

Michelle was arrested in 2002 after an altercation with her roommate. The roommate later dropped the charges, but those weren’t the last of Michelle’s legal woes. In 2004, she spent 48 hours in jail and had to perform community service and complete a three-month alcohol program, and three years of probation after pleading no contest to a hit and run, drunk driving, and driving with a suspended license. In 2005, she spent another 5 days in jail after being caught driving under the influence in Hawaii while filming Lost. In 2007, she was sentenced to 180 days in jail for violating probation, but she was released 18 days later due to overcrowding.

Mischa Barton

Mischa was a major it girl in 2007 thanks to the success of the TV series The O.C.. Unfortunately, things took a turn for her when she was arrested for a DUI and driving without a license.

Nicki Minaj

Long before Nicki became, well, Nicki, she was working as a waitress at Red Lobster and found herself under arrest in 2003. She was taken in by NYPD for possession of a weapon with intent to use.

Nicole Richie

In 2002, Nicole was arrested for a nightclub fight she was involved in. Luckily, those charges were dropped, but she was arrested again in 2003 for driving under the influence. She went to rehab and got three years of probation. In 2006, she got in trouble again when she entered an exit ramp and began driving the wrong way on the highway. She was sentenced to four days in jail, but only served about an hour before being released due to “overcrowding” (are y’all catching the pattern here?)

Paris Hilton

Paris was famously sentenced to 45 days behind bars for violating per probation and being caught driving under the influence multiple times.

Remy Ma

This female rapper was arrested for allegedly shooting another woman after accusing her of stealing her money. She served six years in prison for her crime, and was released in 2014. Unfortunately, she’s recently been charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly hitting one of her Love and Hip Hop costars, so her legal troubles aren’t quite over.

Snooki

Snooki was famously arrested in 2010 for disorderly conduct when she got absolutely smashed at a bar in New Jersey.

Stephanie Pratt

Stephanie actually got into a few sticky situations when she was younger. While working as a P.A. for Lost in Hawaii in 2006, she got in trouble for shoplifting and drugs. Then, in 2009, she was arrested for a DUI, and sentenced to three years of probation after paying $5,000 bail.

Winona Ryder

In 2001, Winona was arrested for shoplifting. Looking back on the scenario in 2016, she told Porter magazine, “Psychologically, I must have been at a place where I just wanted to stop. I won’t get into what happened, but it wasn’t what people think. And it wasn’t like the crime of the century! But it allowed me time that I really needed, where I went back to San Francisco and got back into things that. I just had other interests, frankly.”