Hollywood Exclusive by Marilyn Beck & Stacy Jenel Smith

"Mad Men" is about to return to the AMC lineup for its sixth season (April 7), and we know this by star Jon Hamm getting into hot water over a dumb side comment he made to Elle UK while tub-thumping on behalf the show. That remark, as you may know, was that Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are "----ing idiots."

Hamm later tried to, um, explain that he was merely speaking out on the "pervasiveness of something in our culture," and that it wasn't meant to be personal. Kardashian, for one, did take it personally — as most of us certainly would if referred to as "----ing idiots" — and called his comments "careless."

Ah, yes. If we had a dollar for every "careless" or "----ing idiotic" thing said by show business celebrities, how very rich we would be. Most times, these teapot tempests lead to nothing. But now and then, stars' mouths get them into big enough trouble to destroy — or at least threaten to destroy — entire careers.

Consider the hard work Tom Cruise had to do to win over the public again — after the dark days a few years ago when he went off on his rants involving psychiatrists, anti-depressive drugs, post-partum depression and Brooke Shields.

Isaiah Washington was not only ousted from "Grey's Anatomy" after reportedly calling costar T.R. Knight a gay slur word — he went into a career stall.

Reports of Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic, misogynistic and otherwise abusive verbal diatribes have turned millions from reverence to repulsion for the star.

The late Marlon Brando's claims that Hollywood is run by Jews who exploit stereotypes of minorities, but never of Jews, on "Larry King Live" in 1996 probably would have produced even more difficulty for him — angry response caused him to later give a tearful apology in front of news cameras and rabbis — but by that point his career was behind him and he was widely viewed with disdain anyway.

Such was not the case for Sinead O'Connor. Few who saw it will ever forget the Irish songstress tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live television — that being "Saturday Night Live" in 1992 — while intoning "fight the real enemy." The shocking act, which followed up her performance of Bob Marley's "War" with new lyrics focused on

sexual abuse within the Catholic church, killed the ascendant momentum of her star in mainstream pop heaven.

"To slap a woman is not the cruelest thing you can do to her," Sean Connery has been quoted, and quoted — and quoted — from a 1993 Vanity Fair interview. He reportedly added, "There are women who take it to the wire. That's what they are looking for, the ultimate confrontation. They want a smack."

The comment haunted him for years, especially in light of ex-wife Diane Cilento's accusations that he beat her in a Spanish hotel room in 1965.

Subsequently, the former James Bond backed out of an event at Britain's Parliament because of Presiding Officer George Reid's claim Connery would be grilled about his views towards women. He felt compelled to state publicly again, "I don't believe that any level of abuse of women is ever justified under any circumstances."

There is still argument over the following horrifying remark from Gerard Depardieu: "I don't understand why rape is seen as bad in this country. In [France], I've raped several women."

Was it a foreign language-based misunderstanding? Or did he mean it? Depardieu was once quoted in a Time magazine story suggesting he'd participated in a group rape at age nine — a mistake, it was later decided, due to a misinterpretation of what he had said in French.

He's reportedly been far more careful about insisting upon accurate translations ever since.

Vanessa Redgrave was jeered and picketed as she went into the 1978 Oscar show — where she would later win the Best Supporting Actress award for portraying an anti-Nazi activist in "Julia" — by the Jewish Defense League and others angry over her pro-Palestinian stance. The aggressively leftist actress had funded and appeared in a documentary about the Palestinians' plight. Her acceptance speech veered off into political territory. As she noted that she would not be intimidated by "a small bunch of Zionist hoodlums whose behavior is an insult to the stature to Jews all over the world," audience members booed. When screenwriter Paddy Chayefsky excoriated Redgrave later in the show, saying, "I'm sick and tired of people exploiting the Academy Awards for the propagation of their own personal propaganda," they cheered.

Considering the long list of roles and accolades Redgrave has accrued since then, it appears the anger toward her at that time did little permanent damage to her professionally — but then, she never was as big a star as her "Julia" cohort and fellow celebrity pariah, Jane Fonda.

The history of "Hanoi Jane," and how her anti-Vietnam War activism went into terrible territory as she stupidly posed aboard a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft tank, would take up volumes in itself — and has.

Some celebs seem to use incendiary remarks to propel them to greater notoriety — like Kanye West. Is there anyone who's followed the hip-hop multi-talent's career who wonders why reporters make sure their recorders are running when he comes into a pressroom? West is expected to be tomorrow's story, and he often obliges. He knew exactly what he was doing when he told the mass NBC audience of a Hurricane Katrina fundraiser that "George Bush doesn't care about black people" - a comment that certainly opened up the topic for discussion. On the other hand, West was widely mocked for his temper tantrums over losing at awards shows.

Maybe a certain understanding toward public figures who stupidly shoot off their mouths in unfortunate ways accounts for Kanye's lady in life and mother of his baby on the way, Kim Kardashian, letting Jon Hamm off rather light for calling her an "----ing idiot."

Maybe.

COPYRIGHT 2013 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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