When to leave the limelight?

February 21, 2013, 4:20 PM GMT+0

For celebrities who have spent their lives working to become famous, knowing when to gracefully exit the spotlight can be difficult.

While washed-up celebs have been publicly embarrassing themselves since time immemorial to try to stay relevant, the task has become much easier with the internet. Today we look at several celebrities who kept themselves in the public eye thanks to the internet.

1. José Canseco

While the former slugger has tried his hand at both reality shows and a tell-all book, he has recently become known for his often confounding Twitter presence. Canseco recently attracted attention with a series of tweets showing his unorthodox views on gravity during the time of the dinosaurs. Canseco's proudly unconventional views even brought upon him the ire of Bill Nye, whose rebukes prompted, of course, more tweets from Canseco.

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José Canseco

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Juiced by José Canseco

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Bill Nye

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2. Billy Corgan

The lead singer of Smashing Pumpkins has continued a musical career since his mid-90s heyday. While his musical offerings have been respectable, Corgan made waves today when an artistic product of a different sort emerged: an over-the-top ad, starring him, for a Chicago furniture company. Corgan reportedly recieved no compensation for the ad, instead using it to hawk his wrestling company, a fact maybe even more astonishing than the ad itself.

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Billy Corgan

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Smashing Pumpkins

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3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

The basketball legend has been appearing in films since the 70s, though his schlocky appearance last year on NBC's Guy with Kids--which involved him dunking a baby--attracted mockery. Unlike Canseco and Corgan, he was able to use the internet to actually redeem his name and fame. Several week ago, the hall-of-famer garnered both praise and atonishment for his debut post as a television critique on the Huffington Post: it was a surprisingly trechant critique of HBO's Girls. Responses from both Abdul-Jabbar and Girls' Lena Dunham followed.

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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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Girls

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Lena Dunham

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What have we missed?

When is it time for a celeb to leave the limelight? And can you think of any other past-their-prime celebrities who have become (in)famous on the internet? Share your suggestions below!