Celebrities who bite the hand that feeds them

One of the key benefits of being a celebrity in our celebrity-conscious culture is the endorsement deal. Just for being famous -- talent not required -- you can land a deal worth millions. It's an extremely simple transaction.

But of course, as A-Listers (and the occasional B-Listers) are wont to do, they screw things up. And we're not talking about celebrities who get involved in drugs or get caught in some morals violation that gets them booted out of their contracts. We're talking about simple slip-ups where the paid spokespeople are not putting the good money they're being paid where their mouths are.

Here's a number of stars who just had to ruin a good thing:

Back in January, Rachael Ray reportedly had a hissy fit when an assistant handed her a Dunkin Donuts coffee to drink between takes of a Dunkin Donuts commercial. According to a food blog, the domestic diva reportedly demanded that someone "bring me MY coffee" before continuing. All was well in with the world when someone handed her a Starbucks café. That wasn't the only Ray-Dunkin controversy of the year: in May an online advertisement was pulled after conservatives complained that the scarf she was wearing was too similar to a kaffiyeah, once popularized by late PLO leader Yasser Arafat.

Back in 1986, the Beef Industry Council of the Meat Board and the Cattleman's Beef Board signed Cybil Shepherd and James Garner as celebrity spokespeople for their $30 million PR campaign to promote meat. In theory it was a great plan. But they ran into a PR nightmare when Garner underwent heart surgery (guess he like that red meat a bit too much) and Shepherd admitted that she didn't eat meat.

Also see the gallery version of the full list.