The 10 Wildest Moments of Lauryn Hill's Career
The WTF? Moment: In 2002, Lauryn told MTV that she had met someone with "an understanding of the Bible like no one else I ever met in my life." However, some of her friends and family referred to the man—reportedly known as Brother Anthony—as a "shaman" who was altering Lauryn's lifestyle and changing the way she thought about things a little too drastically.
Why It Was So Outrageous: We all knew there had to be a reason Lauryn was acting so differently just a few years after The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill dropped. This kind of gave us a glimpse into what was possibly causing it.
How It Turned Out: By all accounts, Lauryn continued to see this "shaman" for at least a few more years and her behavior continued to get more and more bizarre. She's never really spoken out about his influence on her, though, so we're not exactly sure what to believe.
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The WTF? Moment: During a performance at the Vatican in December 2003, Lauryn read a statement to an audience of 7500 people denouncing the Catholic Church and the priests who were caught molesting young boys.
Why It Was So Outrageous: Lauryn was a guest of the Vatican on the night that she went on a tirade against it.
How It Turned Out: Many of the religious figures who were in attendance that night took shots at Lauryn through the press and the segment, which was set to air on TV, was cut from the final broadcast. As a result, Lauryn's message never really got out and it appeared to make her look crazy instead of shining light on the church as she intended.
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The WTF? Moment: At the top of 2004, Lauryn started selling various items on her Web site, including a $500 autographed poster, a $75 book, and a $15 music video for a new song called "Social Drugs" that could only be viewed three times before it expired.
Why It Was So Outrageous: Lauryn never came across as an artist who was in the game for the money, but that's exactly how she came across in '04 when she tried overcharging her fans for everything on her site. And charging her fans that much to watch her music video—and then limiting the number of times they could watch it—was just about the dumbest business decision we've ever heard.
How It Turned Out: We're pretty sure that about 13 or 14 people total saw the "Social Drugs" video. And, her book? Yeah, it wasn't exactly a best-seller. Nice try, though, Lauryn.
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The WTF? Moment: During a concert in June 2005, Lauryn allegedly exhibited some truly bizarre behavior when she reportedly tried to clear the backstage area and asked anyone who had to stay to refrain from looking her in the face when she walked by them.
Why It Was So Outrageous: Normally, we'd chalk this up to a celebrity acting Hollywood. But this was so over the top that we're not sure what to make of her allegedly trying to clear out an entire area of people who were probably backstage to try and help make her performance go smoothly.
How It Turned Out: This was one of those stories that, regardless of how true it actually was, ultimately hurt her reputation and didn't help her gain any new fans.
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The WTF? Moment: In 2006, Lauryn reportedly starting asking people, including her Fugees bandmates Pras and Wyclef, to address her as "Ms. Hill." She also toyed with the idea of changing her stage name to "Empress."
Why It Was So Outrageous: Um, what? There's really nothing else we can say to explain the outrageousness of what "Ms. Hill" apparently tried to get people to do.
How It Turned Out: We call Lauryn "Ms. Hill" now as a sign of respect. But we're pretty sure that Pras and 'Clef have other names for L-Boogie that aren't quite as flattering as that one.
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The WTF? Moment: During an interview in August 2007, Pras spoke about the Fugees second breakup and blamed much of it on Lauryn. "Before I work with Lauryn Hill again," he said, "you will have a better chance of seeing Osama Bin Laden and George W. Bush in Starbucks having a latte, discussing foreign policies...At this point, I really think it will take an act of God to change her, because she is that far out there."
Why It Was So Outrageous: Damn, homie, Lauryn is that bad to work with? We knew things weren't all good between members of The Fugees, but this quote showed us that things were even worse than we had expected.
How It Turned Out: As Pras predicted, The Fugees haven't gotten back together since breaking up back in '07 and it doesn't sound like there are any plans for them to get back together anytime soon.
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The WTF? Moment: When asked about the state of hip-hop in August 2007, Lauryn had this to say: "That's a longer story. That's like a longer interview...I see a lot of talent; lot of potential...At the same time, I see a lot of lost potential."
Why It Was So Outrageous: Wait, Lauryn Hill said something about lost potential? On the one hand, we see the larger point she was trying to make. But we can all agree that Lauryn had—and, if she wants to, still has—a lot of potential. But sadly, she's probably not going to live up to it.
How It Turned Out: That was more than four years ago. She still hasn't put out any new music since or done a "longer interview" to explain exactly what she meant. Ayo: Call us, Lauryn!
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The WTF? Moment: During the second stop on a 10-day European tour in 2009, Lauryn passed out at the start of her show, refused to offer refunds to her fans, and then promptly cancelled the rest of the tour.
Why It Was So Outrageous: It's hard to fault Lauryn for canceling a tour because of health reasons. But, come on: If you're going to cancel a show, make sure people get their money back for it!
How It Turned Out: Lauryn never gave in and she presumably lost a whole bunch of European fans by refusing to give people a refund. It seems a little silly to us, especially when you consider how much money she's made over the years.
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The WTF? Moment: After getting booed during a December 2010 show in Brooklyn for being more than four hours late, Lauryn scolded the crowd by yelling, "I'm worth the wait!"
Why It Was So Outrageous: Lauryn was the one who showed up four hours late—which is something she seems to do at every show these days—yet she was the one who yelled at the crowd. Seems a little backwards, no?
How It Turned Out: Lauryn got a ton of bad press for her actions, and a number of fans actually yelled at Lauryn at the show. It hasn't stopped people from showing up in droves to see her, but it's definitely made them think twice before buying tickets to her shows.
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The WTF? Moment: In June 2011, Lauryn's longtime boyfriend Rohan Marley revealed that he was not the father of her sixth child.
Why It Was So Outrageous: To the best of, well, everyone's knowledge, Hill and Marley—who is the father of Hill's first five children—hadn't split up when he took to Twitter to reveal that he wasn't the father of her sixth child.
How It Turned Out: Like everything in Laruyn's life, this situation quickly turned even more confusing than it originally was. Once the baby was born the following month, Marley backed off his statement. But his words were cryptic and we're still not really sure whose baby Lauryn had this summer. It's just one more thing that confuses us about her and makes us say "WTF?!" every single time we think about it. And, hey, if there's one thing we can say about Lauryn, it's that she's consistent, right?
