They fell, dusted themselves and got back up

Chris Brown and Rihanna

What you need to know:

Despite suffering setbacks, some people are able to put their past behind and rise back to where they were before, sometimes even do better. Woods is the newest comer on this block. Abdulaziizi K. Tumusiime looks at these celebrities who despite falling down, were able dust themselves and make comebacks.

Chris Brown

The singing couple of Chris Brown and Rihanna, was slated to perform at the 2009 Grammy awards. But, on the D-day, they were in jail and hospital respectively. Brown had beaten, bitten and bloodied his “boo”, in a precipitated fight. Brown’s vicious act had a dimming effect on his career prospects.

He lost endorsement deals. Commercial adverts in which he featured were suspended, and a number of radio stations stopped playing his music. He was shunned and condemned by his fellow celebrities. But, after apologising and doing community work that he was sentenced to, Brown worked on getting himself round this backlash; he concentrated on producing good music, a strategy that did not disappoint.

The R n B star’s music has won him awards - he has won 20 awards since the bust-up, new endorsement deals, more money and more fans. He was back at the Grammys in 2012, where he performed, and won an award. Brown has not only proved his talent in the music industry, but also in the movie industry. He has starred in a number of movies such as, Think Like a Man, Bad 25, and Takers, among others. The jewel in the crown is that his better half, Rihanna, is back. What a fella (ella ella)!

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Cinderella Ssanyu a.k.a Cindy

Once upon a time, one of Uganda’s celebrated chanteuses, Cinderella Ssanyu, belonged to a singing girls’ group called Blu* 3. Furthermore, the only photos of Cindy that were ever published in the media, were those in which she was dressed. Then, events switched to the flip side; the singer left Blu 3, and photos of her nude, were published by a local tabloid. “First I was crying. I couldn’t even talk for a couple of hours.

It was very depressing…This is the worst thing that you can do to a woman,” said Cindy, in an interview with music uganda limited, about how she felt when the nude photos were exposed. However, Cindy’s life after the scandal was an embodiment of the adage which states that although the world is full of depression, it is also full of overcoming it. Cindy embarked on a solo music career that has since become successful. She has released chart topping hits such as Ayokyayokya, Mungu Bwasalawo, and Nawewe.

In 2009 she was crowned as the diva of the year. In 2012 she gave birth to a bouncing baby girl. Early this year, the songstress joined the list of the few local female artists who have managed to organise album launches. Surely, she bounced back!

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Tiger Woods
“The tiger roars, again”, read a couple of newspaper headlines, reporting about how Tiger Woods had reclaimed the number one spot. The celebrated golfer is once again, the world’s no.1, a ranking he lost in October 2010. Woods’s story is a lesson that challenges exist, but that no challenge is big enough to overcome.
The golfer’s misery started when it was revealed by tabloids that he had been cheating on his wife with as many as 120 women.

He and his wife divorced. Woods apologised for the string of his marital infidelities and went to rehab for sexual addiction. With no wife and children around him, and carrying the humiliation of the exposure of his putrid promiscuity on his shoulders, one could rightfully say that Woods had enough to worry about than his golf swing. But the wunderkind golfer convinced himself that he could revive his career.

He was laughed off when, prior to the 2010 Master Golf Tournament, he said despite the scandal, nothing had changed and that he was going to try and win. Unfortunately, he did not. In 2011, his ranking fell to a record low of number 58, he was plagued by injuries which had him bow out of some tournaments. Nonetheless, the “the tiger” kept going. Fast forward, Woods is once again the world’s number one.

Even the void in his love life was filled; he and Lindsey Vonn, a ski racer, are dating.

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Kobe Bryant

When Kobe Bryant joined the NBA in 1996, he told his colleague, Shaquille O’neal: “I am going to be the Will Smith of NBA.” True to his words, Bryant helped the LA lakers to three straight NBA titles in the seasons of 2000 - 2002. Then it happened. In 2003, Kobe was accused by a hotel employee for sexually assaulting her. It was reported that what started as an ecstatic star-meets-fan affair spiraled into the latter raping the former.

Bryant was charged with rape. The charges against him were dropped when the accuser refused to testify in court. In the civil suit, an out of court settlement was reached, and the basketballer apologised to the young woman. The scandal punched holes in his promise career. Bryant’s performance in the seasons after the scandal, to be exact, was lacklustre.

But from 2007 to 2009, things started looking up. He guided the LA Lakers to three straight NBA finals, winning two of them. Also, Bryant won two MVP awards for the 2008 and 2009 seasons. Currently, Bryant is the highest paid basketball player earning a hefty $59.8m (about Shs155b). His Jersey is the top selling one internationally. The black mamba (his alias) is back to his star status.

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Micheal Vick

Vick is an American football quarterback. Since joining the National Football League, Vick’s career was a promising one, till 2007. In 2007, he was convicted for running a dog fighting operation, and sentenced to 21 months in prison, followed by two months in home confinement.

To rub salt in the wound, the footballer lost his NFL salary and product endorsement deals. He was also released by his club. Had the sun prematurely set on a career that promised a lot? No. After serving his jail term, in 2009, Vick was signed by a new club. He worked hard to revive his career.

Fortunately, he did not wait long to reap from his effort; in 2010 he won the award for The Associated Press 2010 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, an award that no player had returned from jail to win. Currently, Vick is one of the NFL’s highest paid players earning a whopping $15.9m about (Shs41.3b).

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Simon Cowell

When you mention American Idol, Pop Idol, X factor, the Got Talent shows (Britain and America), American Inventor, Celebrity Duets, One Direction (the boy band), Leona Lewis, among others, one name will feature prominently: Simon Cowell. That is the extent of Cowell’s influence. However, behind this enviably successful media mogul, is an unenviably tearful story.

In the 1980s, Cowell had a record label of his own called Fanfare Records. Business was brisk, and he made a lot of money which he used to fund a lavish lifestyle. He drove expensive cars, flaunted expensive designer gear, spent most of his nights in clubs where he generously bought drinks for his friends and himself. Suddenly, all this ground to a halt.

Fanfare Records closed due to problems with the parent company. Resultantly, Cowell ran bankrupt, lost his car and home, and was out of a job. The direness of his situation forced him to move in with his parents. A big setback it was. Nevertheless, all the above is history. As of 2012, he was estimated to be worth $364m (about Shs946b).