NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams visits with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, June 12, 2008.
NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams visits with U.S. Special Forces in Afghanistan, June 12, 2008.
Subrata De—© NBC Universal

When Brian Williams was suspended by NBC this week following comments he made about being aboard a helicopter that was hit by enemy fire in Iraq, he joined a long line of public figures whose careers were thrown into jeopardy after they made inaccurate statements about their own pasts. Williams, who said he conflated his memory of the 2003 event with an attack on a different aircraft, will be off the air for six months, while NBC conducts an inquiry into this and other of the anchor's anecdotes that have been called into question.

While Williams is cooling his heels, here's a look at a half-dozen other CEOs, sports personalities, academics, and politicians who have embellished, exaggerated, or flat-out lied about their past professional experiences, and what happened to them afterward.