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2000s Celebrities Who Vanished From The Spotlight

Source: E! OnlineView Original
entertainmentMarch 22, 2026

by Jeremy HayesBuzzFeedBuzzFeed Contributor

Easy come, easy go with fame (sometimes for the best). On the always "lit" subreddit r/Millennials, Reddit user u/ColeBelthazorTurner asked: Name a 2000s celebrity that disappeared overnight. Here are just some of the top responses that will make you go, "Oh yeah, I forgot about them":

1.

"American Idol originally had two hosts: Ryan Seacrest and Brian Dunkleman. After the first season, Dunkleman thought he was at peak American Idol fame and left for other opportunities. Seacrest became a household name, and Dunkleman was forgotten."

Michael Buckner / Getty Images

—u/DroopyMcCool

2.

"Holy cow. I haven't thought about Craig Kilborn in 20 years."

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

—u/AttachedHeartTheory

3.

"Clay Aiken and/or Ruben Studdard."

Carlo Allegri / Getty Images, Gustavo Caballero / Getty Images

—u/whyUT-urp

4.

"They tried to make Taylor Lautner into an action star, that mission failed."

Jason Merritt / Getty Images

—u/Gullible-Constant924

5.

"Tila Tequila."

Noel Vasquez / Getty Images

—u/protein_factory

6.

"I was expecting Jon Heder to be the next big comedy star."

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20th Century Fox / giphy.com

—u/Suspicious_Use_7561

7.

"Chris O'Donnell."

Stephen Lovekin / Getty Images

—u/GeauxCup

8.

"Chris Kattan, but I recently found out why he has been out of the limelight. Bad neck injury."

Malcolm Taylor / Getty Images

—u/Swayze_Castle

9.

"Eliza Dushku."

Jason Merritt / Getty Images

—u/Bananasinpajaamas

10.

"Jay Mohr."

Scott Gries / Getty Images

—u/Suspicious_Use_7561

11.

"Dane Cook? Although I didn’t think he was that funny back then, I remember he used to be everywhere: movies, award shows, and stand-up specials."

Mark Mainz / Getty Images

—u/Dsarg_92

12.

"Fairuza Balk."

Valerie Macon / Getty Images

—u/FeralQueenC

13.

"Whatever happened to Jason Mraz?"

Jo Hale / Getty Images

—u/RancidOgre

14.

"Andy Milonakis."

F. Micelotta / Getty Images

—u/overpriced-taco

15.

"Jamie Kennedy."

Paul Hawthorne / Getty Images

—u/UncleGarysmagic

16.

"Oliver James. I had such a crush on him in Raise Your Voice and What A Girl Wants."

Evan Agostini / Getty Images

—u/Fragrant-Camera4860

17.

"Scott Wolf."

Vinnie Zuffante / Getty Images

—u/Josephthebear

18.

"Tom Green."

Bill Tompkins / Getty Images

—u/LowOrbitQuietMyth

19.

"Sean William Scott was everywhere in the early 2000s, but you rarely hear anything about him now. I think he’s still acting, but his career never took off in the way I thought it would."

Vinnie Zuffante / Getty Images

—u/el_disko

20.

"Emile Hirsch."

Justin Goff / Getty Images

—u/Littlewing1307

21.

"Jesse Camp."

Chad Buchanan / Getty Images

—u/Farts_constantly

22.

"Ethan Suplee. Boy Meets World, Blow, Remember the Titans, American History X, a bunch of Kevin Smith Films. Dude was everywhere then disappeared and maybe popped up randomly. Last I saw a few years ago he dropped a ton of weight, go healthy and was pretty ripped. Really happy for him with that transformation, it could not have been easy."

George Pimentel / Getty Images

—u/chefblaze

23.

"Freddie Prinze Jr. (although he kind of said he left showbiz to focus on his family, so kudos to that)."

Peter Kramer / Getty Images

—u/Iamoldsowhat

24.

"Remember when Alyson Stoner was in everything? I thought she had it made."

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images

—u/AerialAce96

25.

"Kevin Federline."

David Hardenberg / Getty Images

—u/2PhoneCapone

26.

"Paula Abdul."

F. Micelotta / Getty Images

—u/oliversmama1

27.

And finally, "Jessica Alba."

Brad Barket / Getty Images

—u/MorganL420

Can you think of someone who was huge in the 2000s and is basically no longer famous now? Comment below!

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