Most explosive celeb spats of all time: From vicious band fights and catty name calling to Simon Cowell almost punching 90s icon in the face

Showbiz is no stranger  to explosive spats with bad blood behind the scenes and long running feuds. 

From the warring bands like Oasis, Spice Girls and Boyzone to tensions on the set of This Morning and Sex And The City.

Music mogul Simon Cowell, 65, has revealed during one heated exchange he almost punched his protégés and 90s boyband icon in the face. 

Meanwhile unlikely clashes have also occurred with iconic rockers going head to head with the likes of disgraced BBC stars. 

From foul-mouthed social media rants to $400M  law suits, celebes find themsleves falling out in the most public of ways. 

 Now MailOnline takes a look back at the most explosive celeb spats of all time…

Simon Cowell vs 5ive

BGT judge Simon revealed that he nearly punched one of 90s boyband 5ive while working with the group during pm heated exchange. 

5ive – formed of Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, Sean Conlon, J Brown and Abz Love – were signed by signed by Simon and BMG/RCA for a six-album deal in 1997 but struggled to cope with the pressure of fame and their gruelling schedules. 

During an appearance on documentary Boybands Forever,  Scott, 44, confessed he reached breaking point in 2001, recalling: ‘I pinned one of the big cheeses at the record label up against his desk with my foot, crushing him into the wall,’ 

‘And said, “I will f***ing leave this band, you try and f***ing stop me”, with Simon Cowell trying to fight me off him.’

Simon admitted: ‘We almost ended up in a fist fight. I was that close to punching him in the face.’

As reported by The Sun , Scott went on to confess: ‘I’d lost my mind. They had to call security and carry me out of the building kicking and screaming like a f***ing wild dog.’

5ive split in 2001 and after reuniting several times over the years, the group are currently a trio formed of Ritchie, Sean and Scott.

Admitting the music industry came with a dark side, Simon mused: ‘You could make a lot of money, but it’s a really horrible, disgusting business at times. You’ve got to have thick skin.’

Noel Gallagher vs Liam Gallagher

The warring Gallagher brothers shocked and delighted fans in equal measure when they announced they would be reuniting 15-years for a 2025 tour.

The pair have been embroiled in a long running feud which lead to Noel quit the iconic britpop band ‘with great relief’ following a backstage bust-up in Paris saying: ‘I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.’

Formed in the 1990s, the Britpop group rose to fame with hits like Wonderwall, Don’t Look Back In Anger and Stop Crying Your Heart Out, going on to become arguably one of the biggest bands in British music history. 

During shows Liam frequently changed the lyrics of Noel’s songs to annoy both his brother and American listeners. 

While recording their hit album What’s The Story, Morning Glory? things escalated to the point where Noel took a cricket bat, which was later sold at auction in 2011, to Liam’s head. 

Their reunion came after Noel’s £20m divorce from ex-wife Sara MacDonald , with the elder Gallagher said to have been persuaded of the financial merits of getting the band together.

A thawing of a relations between the brothers and Noel’s single status is also no coincidence, with Liam famously not a fan of Sara, whom Noel married two years after Oasis’ 2009 split.

In 2019 Liam took a disparaging swipe at his sister-in-law in response to Noel’s criticism of his repeated attacks on social media.

‘Your wife argues with oasis fans on social media mate she needs to grow up she’s nearly 60 we all get s**t on social media my family gets it as well so don’t be blaming me (sic),’ he wrote.

Liam also referenced Sara’s own personal Twitter attack, in which she criticized his parenting skills, labelled him a ‘deplorable w***er’ and wished he ‘dropped dead’ before her kids were old enough to use social media. 

Ronan Keating vs Louis Walsh

There is no love lost between singer Ronan, 47, and his former manager, 72, who he branded a ‘jealous bullsh***er’ in a foul-mouthed rant last year. 

The pop star can be heard in audio obtained by The Sun after the X Factor judge,  described him as a ‘p***k’ in front of millions of viewers on Celebrity Big Brother. 

Ronan also lifted the lid on why he sacked the music manger when his solo career rocketed after leaving the Irish boyband.

In the recording, from the height of their feud in 2006, Ronan can be heard fuming to biographer Rob McGibbon how Louis had ‘really hurt’ him.

Saying:  ‘I’ve no respect for Louis because he has none for me. He was very jealous of me.

‘I had to sack him because he wouldn’t manage me. He’s a very selfish character. It’s bullsh** man. He’s a bullsh***er.’

Louis has taken numerous swipes at Ronan over the years, including previously calling him ‘talentless and spoiled’.

In an interview with Q Magazine in 2012, he said: ‘His head got turned by having nice hotels and chauffeur-driven cars, and he thought he could write songs. 

‘If you’re Ronan Keating, who was working in a shoe shop when I discovered him, but end [up] thinking you’re George Michael, then you need to be stopped.’

After filming a recent documentary on the band Ronan has said he was left ‘on the floor in a mess’ as he recounting ‘very difficult’ times at hands of Louis.

Speaking on GMB he said: ‘When I watched it first, I was hurt, I was on the floor, I was a mess, I was an emotional mess.

‘I watched it again, I guess I looked at it from a different point of view.’

And in the documentary, Ronan lashes out at ‘vicious’ Louis and details Boyzone’s ‘toxic’ infighting as he reflects on the boy band’s bitter final days before splitting. 

Geri Horner vs Mel B  

The Spice Girls were the biggest girl band of the nineties but any hopes of a reformation since their 2019 tour have been scuppered- due to an ugly feud between Mel B and Geri.

Reports emerged that finger Spice has derailed a huge TV drama deal which would have netted each of the five members £1million each. 

Insiders have claimed talks were going well until Geri, 52, decided to back out of her involvement in the project

The feud began when Melanie Brown, 49, confessed she had a lesbian fling with Geri during the band’s nineties heyday on Piers Morgan‘s chat show in 2019. 

In the interview, Melanie told Piers the passionate encounter ‘just happened’ and seemed aware of how Geri, who married Formula 1 racing team boss Christian Horner in 2015, would take the revelation. 

Mel said: ‘She is going to hate me for this because she is all posh with her country house and her husband, but it’s a fact. But it wasn’t a thing, it just happened and we just giggled at it and that was it.’ 

‘I have said it now. All done. She is going to kill me.’ 

Geri denied the affair took place, with Mel accused of dreaming it up to sell copies of her tell-all memoir, Brutally Honest.

A source close to the band said at the time: ‘It’s not a very nice thing to do even if you do have a book to promote.

‘Nothing ever happened. We all know Mel B loves a headline. It might have been funny 15 to 20 years ago but it was over the top and not funny.’

Taylor Swift v Kanye

Who can forget when Kanye infamously interrupted Taylor during her victory speech for the Best Female Video gong at the 2009 MTV VMAs for You Belong With Me, which had been nominated against Beyonce‘s Single Ladies.

Kanye emerged on the stage and took the microphone from Taylor, telling her, ‘Yo, Taylor, I’m really happy for you, I’mma let you finish. But Beyonce had one of the best videos of all-time! One of the best videos of all-time.’

While the musical stars appeared to be on better terms in the years following – they were pictured at a number of events in the years after – things blew up after the release of Kanye’s 2016 song Famous.

Kanye claimed at the time that Taylor had given him her blessing to refer to her as a ‘B****’ in the lyrics of the song, in a reference to the VMAs incident. 

Taylor said she never made such an agreement, leading to a public feud with Kanye after he and his former wife Kim Kardashian in July of 2016 released a call Kanye and Taylor had over the contents of the Famous song.

Kim alluded to Taylor as a snake upon the release of the call, saying in a tweet, ‘Wait it’s legit National Snake Day?!?!?They have holidays for everybody, I mean everything these days!’

Later a leaked video appeared to have proven Taylor told the truth about her phone call with Kanye over his controversial song. 

The new clip that surfaced on social media appears to show Kanye didn’t consult Taylor about the ‘b****’ lyric, and only asked her about the other line in the song, which was previously mentioned by Kim.

While defending themselves in the past Kim and Kanye did not mention the ‘b***’ lyric, apparently because they knew the phone conversation with Taylor did not touch upon it.

In the footage which was shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, Kanye can be seen informing Taylor he is writing a song about her and asked her if she could add hype to the song by tweeting it out.

Kanye tells her: ‘It has a very controversial line at the beginning of the song about you.’

Kanye then told Taylor she ‘sounded sad’, and the singer questioned if the lyrics were ‘mean’, to which he reassured her he didn’t think they were. 

Explaining the context to the lyrics he explains: ‘It says, uh… and the funny thing, when I first played it and my wife heard it, she was like, “Huh? What, that’s too crazy,”

‘And then when Ninja from Die Atwoord hear it, he was like “Oh my god, this is the craziest s**t, this is why I love Kanye…” and now, it’s like my wife’s favourite f***ing line… I just wanted to give you some premise of that.’

He then says the lyric: ‘To all my Southside n***as that know me best / I feel like Taylor Swift might owe me sex.’

Taylor laughs and says: ‘That’s not mean.’ OK, well this is the thing why I’m calling you, because you got an army, you own a country of motherf***ing 2bn people, basically,’ Kanye says. 

‘If you felt that it’s funny and cool and hip hop, and felt like it’s the College Dropout and Ye that you love, people would be way into it, and that’s why I think it’s super genius to have you be the one that says, ‘Oh I like this song a lot… this is cool.’

Taylor then tells Kanye she needs some time to think about it, adding: ‘When you hear something for the first time you need to think about it, because it is absolutely crazy.’

There is no mention Kanye would call her a ‘b***h’ or suggest he ‘made her famous’ during the phone call. 

In a separate clip which is circulating on Twitter which appears to be from the same call, Taylor tells Kanye: ‘I [sold] a full 7m of that album before you did that, which is what happened.’  

Taylor in 2019 spoke to Vogue about how she dealt with the high-profile scandal, saying she channeled her energies into her material.

‘A mass public shaming, with millions of people saying you are quote-unquote canceled, is a very isolating experience,’ she said of the difficult time.

Sir Rod Stewart vs Gregg Wallace 

Sir Rod lashed out at disgraced Masterchef host after claiming he’d bullied wife Penny Lancaster during her appearance on the show’s celebrity series in 2021. 

Gregg, 60, stepped down from hosting the BBC cooking show in December after nearly 20 years  while an investigation into his alleged misconduct is carried out.

The singer, 80, branded the former greengrocer a ‘tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully’ for ‘humiliating’ his wife, before going on to nickname the broadcaster ‘yellow teeth’. 
Gregg initially faced accusations of inappropriate behaviour from 13 people, including Newsnight presenter Kirsty Wark, over a 17-year period across five shows from 2005 to 2022.

But in the days after, he has faced an onslaught of fresh allegations which include groping, pressing his crotch against a colleague and allegedly flashing another woman in his dressing room.

The week before, Rod branded Wallace a ‘tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully’ for ‘humiliating’ his wife when she appeared on his show in 2021. 

Penny was left in tears during her appearance on the show after Wallace told her off with the ‘serious’ delay of her food and then refused to eat her food. 

Following Gregg’s departure from the show, Rod took to Instagram as he wrote: ‘So Greg [sic] Wallace gets fired from Master Chef.

‘Good riddance Wallace… You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?

‘You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully. Karma got ya. Sir Rod Stewart’

During Penny’s appearance, chaos filled the kitchen, with Wallace telling her: ‘Mate, we can’t be ten minutes late,’ calling her delay ‘serious’.

Following her eviction from the kitchen in 2021, she shared a cryptic post on Instagram hinting at ‘a person’s behaviour’.

Sarah Jessica Parker vs Kim Cattrall

It was long reported that, Sarah, 59, earned a much larger salary than her costars during her time in the show leading to friction. 

In a 2004 interview about the pay-difference Kim, 68, said: ‘I felt after six years, it was time for all of us to participate in the financial windfall of Sex and the City…When they didn’t seem keen on that, I thought it was time to move on.’

It was also flagged that in 2004, Kim didn’t sit with the other actresses at the Emmys – to which she said: ‘Are we the best of friends? No. We’re professional actresses. We have our own separate lives.’

On their friendship, Kim said to Piers Morgan: We’ve never been friends – we’ve been colleagues. And in some ways that’s a very healthy place to be, as you have a clear line between your professional life, and your personal, too’.

Kim’s public swipes at Sarah Jessica have been numerous, yet an unexpected reaction came after the tragic death of her brother Chris.

In February 2018, Chris, 55, went missing when he left the house unlocked without his phone and wallet, after which Kim issued a plea for information.

With a heavy heart she then confirmed that he was found dead near his home in Alberta, Canada. Further details were not given, yet it was revealed that police ‘had no reason to believe there was anything suspicious involved in his death.’

Shortly his death, Kim took to Instagram to thank both her fans and her Sex and the City colleagues for support before hitting out at Sarah.

Following her thank yous, four days later, Kim shared an image with words reading: ‘You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona.’

She added a caption on the shot directed at Sarah, reading: ‘My Mom asked me today ‘When will that, that hypocrite, leave you alone?’ Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now…

The series was later revived for spin-off And Just Like That, declining to return Kim said in 2019: ‘It’s a “no” from me. You learn lessons in life and my lesson is to do work with good people and try and make it fun.’

Even SJP has claimed she does not want Kim back – when asked by Variety in a 2022 interview if she would be ‘OK’ if Kim was able to come back to the show if some ‘miracle were to happen,’ after their very public feud exploded back in 2018.

She responded: ‘I don’t think I would, because I think there’s just too much public history of feelings on her part that she’s shared. I haven’t participated in or read articles, although people are inclined to let me know.’

Nevertheless Kim did return as Samantha Jones in a cameo role during the second season’s finale, however only agreed to film if she had no contact with her co-stars. 

Kerry Katona vs Atomic Kitten

Just months before quitting the band after 26-years, Natasha Hamilton reportedly hinted at a reunion without former member Kerry Katona, amid their ongoing feud.

The band first launched in 1998, with Liz McClarnon, 43, completing the trio, before Kerry, 44, quit in 2001 after falling pregnant with her first child and being replaced by Jenny Frost, 46.

Speaking to The Daily Star last August, about an Atomic Kitten reunion Natasha, 42, said: ‘Never say never, who knows what could bring us back together?’.

Before failing to mention Kerry in the line-up: ‘I’d love to do something again with myself, with Liz [McClarmon] and with Jen [Frost] Who knows?’

‘The door’s always open for Jen to come back whenever she wants.’ 

MailOnline have contacted Natasha and Kerry’s representatives for comment. 

In 2023, Kerry made a heartbreaking plea to her ex bandmates urging if they could put their ongoing feud to bed so they can be friends again. 

Kerry wrote in her new! magazine column ‘life is too short’ and she is ‘really sad’ that she doesn’t speak to her band anymore. 

She wrote: ‘When something like this happens it brings home how I feel about my relationship with the Atomic Kitten girls.

‘It’s really sad that we don’t talk. I’ve reached out to them so many times. Life is too short.’ 

She wrote: ‘When something like this happens it brings home how I feel about my relationship with the Atomic Kitten girls.

Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni

The legal drama began in December 2024, after actress Blake filed a lawsuit against her It Ends With co-star and director Justin, accusing him of sexual harassment and launching a smear campaign against her.

She claimed in the lawsuit that he had entered her trailer while she was topless, showed her graphic video of his wife giving birth, and bit and sucked on her lips during an improvised kissing scene. 

Justin responded by filing a $400 million lawsuit against the catress, and also sued The New York Times for $250 million, claiming it ‘relied almost entirely on Blake’s unverified and self-serving narrative, lifting it nearly verbatim while disregarding an abundance of evidence that contradicted her claims.’

The feud has only grown to be more explosive, as Justin released raw footage from the movie set and even a website with documents related to the suit in an attempt to clear his name, and she recently subpoenaed cell carriers to look for more receipts in her ongoing legal battle.

Meanwhile Blake’s Pal Taylor Swift was also dragged into the explosive saga when Justin countersued the actress and her husband Ryan Reynolds. 

Justin, Blake and her actor husband Ryan Reynolds have all denied the allegations against them in the lawsuits.

In his filing Justin claimed Blake used the Bad Blood hitmaker to intimidate him at a meeting with husband Ryan about edits she had made to a rooftop scene.

The director claimed Taylor made him feel like he ‘needed to comply with Blake’s direction for the script’.

Blake later appeared to threaten him by comparing herself to Game of Thrones character Khaleesi in a series of text messages, included as exhibits to court papers, in which she referred to her husband and her best friend as her ‘dragons’.

A source previously told DailyMail.com that the ‘uncool and unnecessary’ description was a shock for Taylor who had never planned to be at the meeting, but arrived at the actress’ New York penthouse to find it was still ongoing.

‘For the time being she is taking a step back from Blake because she doesn’t want to get tangled in this more than she already has – which is far more than she ever needed to be,’ an insider told DailyMail.com.

Khaleesi, also known as Daenerys Targaryen and Mother of Dragons, is one of the main characters in Game of Thrones, which aired between 2011 to 2019.

She was portrayed as a villain after descending into madness and turning to vengeance due to trauma and loss.

Justin also claimed in the suit that Blake leveraged her friendship with the Grammy-winner to get her way behind the scenes.

Kendrick Lamar vs Drake  

Kendrick and Drake’s 13-year feud was brought to the forefront of public awareness when the Not Like Us rapper performed his diss track during the Super Bowl halftime show.

During his performance Kendrick teased the controversial song throughout, before performing a redacted version.

Not Like Us was previously released on YouTube with what appeared to be a graphic of Drake’s mansion with sex offender symbols, as he accused the musician of being a ‘certified pedophile’ over his alleged interactions with younger women. Drake has responded to the claims by bringing a legal action.

In addition to performing the song – which he is currently being sued for because it includes lyrics labelling Drake, 38, a ‘certified pedophile’ – Kendrick brought out Serena Williams, who is also in a feud with the Canadian rapper.

Elsewhere on the track, he says: ‘Say Drake, I hear you like ’em young,’ the 36-year-old rapped, encouraging others to ‘hide your little sister from him’. 

Drake is suing Universal Music Group for spreading the ‘false and malicious narrative’ that he is a pedophile, TMZ reported on January 15. 

Drake said in court documents that UMG knew Lamar’s diss track would include lyrics and images in a music video that referred to him as a pedophile.

He accused UMG of allowing the ‘inflammatory and shocking allegations’ because the song was a ‘gold mine’ for the company.

While there is clearly no love lost between the duo, the Canadian and the Compton native started out amicably, collaborating on Drake’s 2011 album Take Care, Kendrick’s 2012 track Poetic Justice, and ASAP Rocky’s 2013 track F***in’ Problems.

Things began to change in 2013, with the release of Big Sean’s song Control because it featured a guest verse by Kendrick that made it clear he thought he was better than his contemporaries. 

It appears that the feud between them was also in part due to their differing attitudes towards wealth and fame, with Kendrick being fiercely tight-lipped about his private life while Drake is known for showing off his lavish lifestyle on Instagram.

Kendrick and Drake’s feud seemed to come to a head in 2024 when they exchanged a total of eight diss tracks between March 26 and May 4. 

The most famous of which was released in May, with Not Like Us seeing Kendrick sensationally accuse Drake of being a ‘certified pedophile’ and pursuing minors. 

Drake denied the allegations in his rebuttal track The Heart Part 6, saying his was ‘not a name you gon’ see on no sex offender list’. He also took legal action, filing a federal defamation lawsuit last month over Kendrick’s diss track. 

Phillip Schofield vs Holly Willoughby

Former This Morning host Phillip, 62, reportedly nicknamed former co-star and ex best friend Holly, 42, ‘The Witch’ amid his epic fall from grace.

She has since ruled out any reconciliation with him after he reportedly sent her message on WhatsApp the day before news of his axe became public, claiming she had ‘brought him down’. 

Phillip left This Morning in May 2023 following months of speculation about a breakdown in his relationship with Holly. 

He then admitted to having an affair with a junior colleague and left ITV altogether.

Tensions between the pair reached further heights when Phil boldly declared there were ‘three s**ts’ at ITV on his Channel 5 show Cast Away. 

Phil has also severed more ties within the TV industry as Holly’s husband Dan Baldwin, who co-owns the production company Hungry Bear, responsible for shows such as Gladiators and Michael McIntyre’s Big Show is ‘furious’ with Phil. 

A source told MailOnline: ‘The friendship between Holly and Phil is well and truly over, there is no way she is going to speak to him again after this. 

‘Holly’s TV producer husband Dan is also furious about Phil’s behaviour towards her.  

‘From rumours he refers to her as ‘the Witch’ in messages with friends to his barbed jibe about the ‘three s***s in showbiz’ in his Channel 5 show Cast Away, Dan has well and truly had enough.’ 

MailOnline has contacted Holly’s representatives for comment. 

The Daily Mirror reported Phillip sent the accusation in a WhatsApp message and said Holly should have publicly supported him following their fall out.

He then blamed her for not doing so, saying it then prompted him to stand down after 21 years on the ITV show.

After he sent the WhatsApp, Holly reportedly replied she was in the dark about what was going on.  But friends of Phillip say he was so upset that he reported Holly to two senior ITV bosses. MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.

Hailey Bieber vs Selena Gomez

For years, the internet has pit Justin Bieber’s ex-girlfriend Selena and his model wife Hailey against one another and despite their protestations, the pair appeared to fall out yet again in 2023.  

Rumours that they were fighting started to spread once again after Hailey shared a TikTok video in which some believed she was making fun of Selena, who is now engaged to fellow singer Benny Blanco.

Joined by close friends Kendall Jenner and Justine Skye, Hailey was accused of referencing a set of unflattering paparazzi photos featuring a bikini-clad Selena as the friends lip synched: ‘I’m not saying she deserves it, but God’s timing is always right!’

The post was swiftly deleted, but the negative reaction it inevitably prompted led to Hailey insisting her poorly timed video had nothing to do with her love rival.

‘I never comment on this type of thing but we were just having a girls’ night and did a random TikTok sound for fun,’ she assured disgruntled followers. ‘It’s not directed at anyone.’

However, fans then accused Kylie Jenner of mocking another Selena post, after the Disney Channel star admitted she had ‘accidentally laminated’ her brows too much. 

Taking to Instagram, Kylie adopted a similar pose with the same arched eyebrows and the accompanying caption: ‘This was an accident ?????’

She then added even more fuel to the fire by sharing a FaceTime call with Hailey – during which they both zoomed in on their eyebrows.

The uproar resulted in Kylie losing half a million social media followers, while Hailey’s following went down by close to a million in total.

Conversely, Selena saw her followers increase by 10 million as a result of the online trolling accusations aimed at the pair.

Hailey later hit back at feud accusations, calling it a ‘vile, disgusting hatred that can come from completely made-up and twisted, and perpetuated narratives.’