With fame comes great responsibility. And a whole lot of unadulterated abuse.

That’s what pop star Justin Bieber learned when he subjected himself to a Comedy Channel ‘Roast’ session, in which various famous faces grilled the 21-year-old for his life decisions.

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While Bieber’s roasting was pre-planned and commercially viable, many celebrities face a level of cruelty that is both unexpected and jarring.

As evidenced in Jimmy Kimmel’s successful series ‘Mean Tweets’, a lot of the brutality comes from the general public.

Thanks to social media, it is now possible for a member of the public to insult the President of the United States.

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While everyday members of society may be vitriolic, by far the most engaging and riveting kind of celebrity slur comes from other celebrities.

A long-honoured tradition, in-fighting among the world’s rich, famous and powerful produces possibly the wittiest and most scathing insults ever witnessed.

Here are some of the best.

William Faulkner on Ernest Hemingway

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”

Sharon Osbourne on Nicole Kidman

“Her forehead looks like a f***king flatscreen TV.”

Christina Aguilera on Lady Gaga

“I don’t know if it is a man or a woman.”

Joan Rivers on Britney Spears

“I can’t wait for her career to be over so she can serve me coffee at a 7-11.”

Tina Fey on Quentin Tarantino

“The star of all my sexual nightmares.”

Elton John on Madonna

“She looks like a f***ing fairground stripper.”

Daniel Craig on the Kardashians

“What, you mean all I have to do is behave like a f***king idiot on television and then you’ll pay me millions?”

Taylor Swift on Amy Poehler and Tina Fey

(Quoting Madeleine Albright) “There’s a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.”

Ricky Gervais on Robert Downey Jr.

“Many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County jail.”

Charlie Sheen on Kim Kardashian

“Zero gratitude, zero awareness, zero talent, a pox on the face of entertainment she is.”

Barack Obama on Sarah Palin

“You can put lipstick on a pig, it’s still a pig.”