Entertainment

17 Celebrities Who Said They Were Retiring & Never Did

Stardom can be overwhelming, so it's not surprising that certain celebrities — like Sean Connery — have decided to take a step back from the fame game. Then there are certain stars just can't give up the spotlight — even after they claimed that there careers in Hollywood were over. Click through to see the stars that made plans to retire — and then got back in the game shortly after.

by Kaitlin Reilly

Justin Bieber

Bieber tweeted that he was retiring from the music business in 2013, then went back on his word and said that the whole thing was a “joke.”

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Clint Eastwood

Eastwood claimed that he would stop acting after his 2008 film Gran Torino, and then made the film Trouble With the Curve in 2012.

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Shia LaBeouf

LaBeouf announced he was done with acting in early 2014 — but it didn’t exactly go down like that. He acts alongside Brad Pitt in the 2014 film Fury and is slated to star in the film Man Down, out 2016.

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Ryan Phillippe

The actor claimed to have quit Hollywood back in 2011 because he couldn’t stand the paparazzi and the gossip about him in the tabloids. It didn’t stick — he’s since had roles in several movies as well as an arc on TV series Damages.

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Alec Baldwin

Baldwin announced in 2014 that he was done with public life, but that wasn’t the first time the actor claimed to have retired. He threatened to quit his NBC series 30 Rock after the fifth season of the show.

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Jay Z

There’s a reason Jay Z called his 2003 “retirement” from music-making the “worst retirement in history” — it didn’t last.

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Amanda Bynes

The troubled former child star claimed that she had retired in 2012, then “un-retired” later that year.

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Johnny Depp

Depp told the BBC that he considers retiring often, but if he does, it’s not going to happen for quite a while — he has films backed up to 2016.

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Emma Watson

Watson claimed that she would move away from acting once the final Harry Potter film wrapped, but that’s not what happened. Post-Potter she starred in both The Bling Ring and Noah.

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Cher

Cher claims that every one of her “farewell tours” will be her last — but I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Chris Brown

Brown claims that his next album will be his last, but the singer doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

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Barbra Streisand

The singer took a page from Cher’s book told the world that she was done with music in 2000… and then came back again for a “farewell tour” in 2006. That didn’t stick, either, and she performed at the Barclays Center in 2012.

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Britney Spears

In her special I Am Britney Jean, Spears said that she often considers moving back to Louisiana and ditching Hollywood altogether to focus on her family life. Again: I’ll believe it when I see it.

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Eddie Murphy

Murphy has stated that he would retire at age 50. He’s currently 52 and has three films in development, including Beverly Hills Cop 4.

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Eden Wood

The former Toddlers and Tiara star retired from the pageant life at just six years old, but something tells me that this little girl will be back fighting for the crown in no time.

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Lily Allen

The “Hard Out Here” singer told the world that she was done with music in 2009. She released another album in 2013, stating that she missed the excitement of performing.

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Joaquin Phoenix

Don’t worry, guys — it was all a goof! Phoenix claimed to retire from acting to “focus on his rap career,” which turned out to be a gigantic hoax for his mockumentary I’m Still Here.

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