Mark Wahlberg might not go down in history as a celebrity with a clean slate. While Hollywood has its fair share of entertainers with spotty records, the Uncharted actor’s history has been quite stormy, to say the least. Even though the actor has left his troubled years far behind, his haunted past will likely remain part of his career.
Wahlberg has a litany of scandals and controversies to his name. He participated in violent hate crimes during his teenage years in Boston, which gravely impacted his public image. When he was 15, Wahlberg attacked Black school kids with rocks and hurled racial slurs at them in Dorchester.
The reason for his attack was unknown. Things, however, did not escalate further when an ambulance driver arrived in time and stopped it. This incident earned Wahlberg a civil injunction as a teenager, meaning he would go to jail if he repeated his actions.
Mark Wahlberg on what never gets a day off in his life:
“I don’t take a day off from getting on my hands and knees, reading my prayer book, and my daily devotionals.”
He says prayer keeps him grounded:
• Expresses daily gratitude for blessings
• Asks for strength to use his… pic.twitter.com/VTF3a8pmDH
— Camus (@newstart_2024) February 17, 2026
The actor defended his actions by claiming those were of a lost teen who was unsupported and had drifted into drug abuse and other dangerous habits. However, the victims and even Wahlberg’s teacher said that it was a hate crime and should remain in his track record.
In 1988, he assaulted two Vietnamese men using a wooden stick. Wahlberg hurled racial slurs at them, which led to a full-fledged conviction and 45 days of jail time. Court documents revealed that the actor attacked one of the men because he wanted to walk away with the two cans of beer that the man carried.
Wahlberg launched a second attack on another man after the latter refused to hide him from the police.
Although the actor has repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions, many are still somewhat unwilling to buy it. Speaking to The Guardian in 2020, he had said, “I made a lot of terrible mistakes and I paid for those mistakes dearly. (I) did the work. I took it upon myself to own up to my mistakes and go against the grain and not be a part of the gang anymore — to say that I was going to go and do my own thing.”
MARKY MARK – MARK WAHlBERG IS GOING TO HELL AND THE BIBLE SAYS ALL RICH PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HELL IN “LUKE” THE BEGGAR & KING , SO GOING TO CHURCH & PRAYING ISNT GOING TO HELP YOU & MARK BEAT UP A OLD MAN & HE USED RACIST SLUR, THE DEMONS WILL DRAG HIM TO HELL pic.twitter.com/Ydl8phzD9Z
— 😺🦉🐬🐅🐆🐪🦘🐑🐇 (@news_now4u) February 18, 2026
However, Wahlberg never sat down face-to-face with his victims or issued a direct apology. In 1988, he applied for a Board of Pardons application so that he could acquire licenses for his fast food chain, Wahlburgers.
Wahlberg allegedly had a strong stance against LGBTQ+ representation, which fueled his refusal of a lead role in the film Brokeback Mountain. In a 2007 interview, he explained, “I met with (director) Ang Lee. I read 15 pages of the script and got a little creeped out. It was very graphic, descriptive…. It’s just not my deal.”
