by Aj Brady

Created on: March 15, 2008   Last Updated: May 15, 2008

The list of Hollywood and other celebrities who have been busted by the police for Driving Under the Influence is as long as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's arm.

To break it down into some of the more recent high-profile cases, let's first begin with the train-wreck that became of cute-as-a-button child star Lindsay Lohan ...

*The former redhead with freckles was busted twice in a New York minute for DUI in recent years, the young star being forced into rehab and sobriety before reaching her 25th birthday. Nobody could forget her mug shot, sporting platinum blonde hair, a healthy tan and plumped-up lips. Not only had her appearance "gone Hollywood", her drinking habits had as well.

*Lionel's daughter, better known these days as Hollywood socialite Nicole Richie was busted in late 2006 for driving under the influence of drugs. Richie, who had been through drug rehab earlier in her still-short lifetime, was forced to spend less than a few hours locked up, after judges granted leniency due to Richie revealing she was carrying rocker Joel Madden's progeny at the time.

*Faded star Nick Nolte was done on a California highway a few years back, and his mugshot was proof just how far the once-suave star had gone to the cleaners. A dishevelled Nolte, sporting a gawky Hawaiian shirt graced websites all over the world, as the star was forced to come clean about his drinking demons.

*Who could forget American-born, Australian-raised Hollywood royalty Mel Gibson's brush with the law a few years back? Not only was it a simple DUI arrest for a man with a long history of alcohol abuse, it also turned out to be much worse when Gibson was heard to ask an arresting officer if he was Jewish, and then stating that Jews were to blame for most of the wars in the world. His career has since recovered, despite such Jewish actors as Rob Schneider refusing to ever work with or for Gibson again.

*Quite possibly, the granddaddy of all celebrity DUI's occurred twice, in late 2006 and early 2007, when uber-Hollywood socialite and heir to the Hilton Hotel fortune, Paris Hilton, was pinged by the constabulary. She ended up pleading no contest to the charges in court, was sentenced to mere months in prison, but got out after serving just four days. Public outrage ensued, forcing the judge to renege and bring the Hollywood "It" girl back to serve the remainder of her time. A tearful Hilton wailed to her father that "it's not right", however she returned from the pokey a supposedly stronger woman, telling Larry King she was ready to dedicate her life to more worthy causes than painting Los Angeles red each weekend.

*One fairly recent celebrity DUI that has flown under the media radar somewhat was that of multiple Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer Michael Phelps. The Mark Spitz-reincarnation fell foul of the law a few years ago now, but it barely rated a mention outside of the swimming world. A reason for this incident flying under the radar somewhat may be due to swimming's lack of mainstream popularity in the United States as a whole. Phelps, known for his clean-cut persona, has since corrected his ways, and is gearing for another huge Olympics come Beijing this year.

This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to celebrities who have been busted for DUI. It's becoming a status symbol to say someone has officially "made it" as a celebrity, if they've been busted at least once, and had their inglorious mugshot plastered all over the internet and cable television around the world.

So, if you are looking for whomever it will be that is the "next big thing" in the world of celebrity, you may just find them in the courthouses and jail cells of Beverly Hills. Or, if they aren't there yet, give them time, they soon will be.

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