Hollywood makes itself seem like it's all glitz and glamour, but if you follow along with the exploits of some of the biggest stars out there, you know that's not always the case. Famous people are human, too, and they make mistakes — just like the rest of us. The number of celebrity arrests (and less dramatic blunders) over the years are proof of that.
And even though many of them have more money than most of us will ever see in our own bank accounts, quite a few celebrities have been caught shoplifting. In some cases, it truly was about stealing something they weren't able to afford, but as we know now, crimes like this are often about much more than the money.
Stars including Winona Ryder and Lindsay Lohan have faced time in handcuffs because of their sticky fingers, and hopefully these stories can serve as a cautionary tale to anyone who's thinking of swiping merchandise from a store without paying for it first — famous or not.
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Lindsay Lohan
As the Los Angeles Times reported, in February 2011, Lindsay Lohan was charged with stealing a $2,500 necklace from a jewelry store in Venice, California, and not only did surveillance videos catch the crime on film, but she was also photographed by paparazzi while wearing the necklace in the days that followed. She was sentenced to 120 days in jail because of the crime, but ended up serving out her sentence at home due to overcrowding.
Winona Ryder
One of the most infamous celebrity shoplifting incidents involved Winona Ryder years before she ever starred in Stranger Things. In 2001, she was caught stealing $5,000 of merchandise, including clothing and accessories. The following year, she was sentenced to three years of probation.
Chloe Cherry
In February 2023, Euphoria star Chloe Cherry was accused of shoplifting a $28 top at a boutique in her hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her rep insisted that it was "confusion," not theft, and that the associate working at the store failed to charge her for the blouse along with the other items she purchased.
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Kristin Cavallari
Kristin Cavallari's alleged shoplifting incident took place while she was still a teenager. In an interview, actress and shop owner Tawny Kitaen claims that Kristin and her friends (including her Laguna Beach costar Jessica Smith) shoplifted from her boutique, Tawny K.
"My boyfriend stops one girl, and she's got merchandise in her purse," she said. "The three other girls start hauling a–. I call the cops and when the girls come back, they've got pants, underwear, tops. They take them to jail, handcuffed, the whole thing. I don't press charges. Cut-fade, two weeks ago, there's a split picture of Jessica on one side and this girl, Kristin from Laguna Beach, on the other and my daughter is like, 'Oh my God. She was the one who stole from your store?' And now she's this big thing."
Megan Fox
Megan Fox was actually banned from Walmart as a young teenager after she was caught stealing makeup from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's line.
"They actually took me into the court, and I had two choices and I took the second choice, which was wrapping [gifts] for Christmas, which was awesome, it wasn't really a punishment. The other one was they were gonna make me wear a sign that said I stole from Walmart and stand outside Walmart for three days," she told Express.
Amanda Bynes
Unfortunately, Amanda Bynes' troubled past has also included a shoplifting incident. In 2014, Amanda was banned from Barneys on Madison Avenue in New York after security alleged it caught her leaving the store wearing a $200 hat that she had failed to pay for. In exchange for the store not pressing charges, she signed an agreement to never go there again.
Britney Spears
Britney Spears was accused of shoplifting in 2007. According to the Daily Mail, she got into an altercation with employees at a store called Hustlers in West Hollywood, California, before allegedly stealing a wig off of a mannequin as she left — though before that, she did pay for the other merchandise she purchased.
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Farrah Fawcett
Back in her day, Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett faced her own issues with shoplifting. Insiders close to the late actress told Globe that she'd been caught shoplifting in her younger years more than once, including two arrests after stealing from boutiques while she was in college.
Stephanie Pratt
Kristin Cavallari isn't the only celebrity in the Laguna Beach universe to be accused of shoplifting. In 2006, Stephanie Pratt was arrested after she was busted stealing $1,300 from a Neiman Marcus store with a friend, which led to her being sentenced to three years of probation.
Amy Schumer
In an interview with GQ, Amy Schumer admitted that she frequently shoplifted when she was younger. She estimated that she stole about $100,000 worth of items between the ages of 14 and 21 until she finally got arrested at Bloomingdale's and was sentenced to community service.
"I just discovered this department store where you could just take whatever and then return it for cash — no tags, no receipt, nothing," she said. "You know, thousands of dollars. It was exciting. It was the adrenaline — the actual act of getting away with it. It wasn't about the money, even though the money was nice. And I didn't feel bad about it. It was this huge corporation. You know, I never stole from people. I never stole from a little store."
Kim Kardashian & Nicole Richie
In a post on her now-defunct blog, Kim Kardashian admitted that she and famous friend Nicole Richie swiped makeup from a drugstore as children.
"When Nicole Richie and I were around 11, we went into a drugstore in Malibu and took lipstick," she wrote, via People. "We thought we were so badass! I can't remember the name of the color, but it was a brown shade from Revlon. I wasn't much of a partier growing up, so this was about as rebellious as I got."
Kim Richards
In 2015, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kim Richards was arrested for shoplifting $600 worth of merchandise from Target. She was later released on a $5,000 bail, and sentenced to 36 months of probation, 300 community service hours, and 52 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
James Franco
James Franco is among the celebrities who have admitted to having sticky fingers in their younger years. As he told California Sunday Magazine, he got into big trouble as a teen.
"In eighth grade we started stealing cologne," he said, revealing that it eventually led to a "big bust" where they got caught. "We had like 30 bottles of cologne each in our lockers at school, and then we could sell cologne at the dances."
Shelley Morrison
Will & Grace star Shelley Morrison, who died in December 2019, was arrested in April 2003 for attempting to steal about $450 in jewelry from a Los Angeles department store. After pleading guilty to her crime, she was sentenced to probation and a $300 fine.
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Caroline Giuliani
In 2010, Rudy Guiliani's daughter, Caroline Guiliani, was arrested for shoplifting five items from a Sephora store, including Aqua Cream, Dior Skinflash Primer, and Bliss Hydroderm cream. The former New York mayor's daughter was sentenced to one day of community service as a first-time offender, and was only 20 years old at the time.
