6 Non-Rap Industries With Noteworthy Beefs

6 Steve Jobs vs. Steve Wozniak

Ask somebody the last name of the Steve who founded Apple, and there are plenty of people who won’t even know there’s two answers. There’s the world-famous Steve with the surname of Jobs. A name often spoken in hushed tones, sometimes out of respect, sometimes because the things being said are less than pleasant. Someone who was globally respected, despite wearing a turtleneck. 

Apple never could have been founded, however, without his lesser-known partner, Steve Wozniak.

Many people would argue that Woz, as he’s known, was the brains to Jobs’ marketing brawn. To Wozniak’s credit, there isn’t much explicit hate spewed from his side about Jobs, though no one would blame him. Their relationship was rife with manipulation and outright swindling, starting with Jobs stealing Woz’s cut of a game he designed, something he didn’t even have the kindness to confess before the details were published in a book. Money, shockingly, didn’t change Jobs for the better, according to Wozniak. Though fame was never Woz’s game, he still clearly had a lot of distaste for Jobs’ piloting of their company, even dipping into his own pocket to make early employees whole who Jobs refused to give stock options.

5 Nikola Tesla vs. Thomas Edison

A historical beef, one which left in its wake a wide variety of animals dead by electrocution. Thomas Edison, like Jobs, was a man whose success was only rivaled by the size of his head. Something that made a young employee of his, Nikola Tesla, a threat. Their most iconic competition came in the form of the “War of the Currents,” where Edison’s direct current electricity faced off against Tesla’s alternating current. What was a disagreement became a lifelong back-and-forth f-you when Edison welched on some money promised to Tesla. Tesla quit on the spot and made himself Edison’s biggest rival, a war that Edison, going by public knowledge, unfortunately won.

4 Adi Dassler vs. Rudi Dassler

The family feud between two boys in the Dassler family isn’t as well-known as what was created by their falling out. Together, brothers Adi and Rudi Dassler founded a German footwear company called Gebruder Dassler. Given that this was 1925, it was about to be thrust into some serious conflict with the start of World War II. In addition to, well, a lot of stuff, the war would also cause a rift between the two brothers. Not over support of the Nazis, however. They were both squarely on the “oh no” side of that.

The fact that Rudi was drafted into active duty while Adi received a deferment to operate the company created understandable tension. After the war, Adi gave testimony that put Rudi in prison for a year, which certainly didn’t help. Rudi then falsely claimed that the manufacture of Nazi weaponry by the shoe company during the war had been Adi’s idea, which pretty much put the cap on a happy reunion. In the end, Adi retained the company, changing its name to “Adidas.” Meanwhile, Rudi started his own company, the one we know today as “Puma.”

3 Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier

For anyone to get to the upper echelons of sports, they usually have to have a competitive streak that would be considered psychotic in any civilian. There’s one beef that’s regularly described as the “greatest rivalry in sports,” however, and that’s Joe Frazier versus Muhammad Ali. The legend only cemented when it came to a head in the greatest trilogy of fights in boxing history, and a single match that earned the title of the “Fight of the Century.”

The rift hadn’t always been so dramatic, but competition turned into true hate thanks to Ali’s attacks on Frazier’s character. Though Frazier hadn’t chosen this path, because of Ali’s conversion to Islam and stance on racial justice, those that leaned more on the “burning cross” side of things made Frazier their champion. Ali called Frazier stupid and ugly, but cemented a forever hatred when he called him an Uncle Tom. 

Unlike other celebrity beefs, this one required physical confrontation from the get-go, and it was clear none of the animosity was promotional. The hate never faded, either. Years later, in 1996, Frazier suggested that when Ali lit the cauldron at the Olympics, that someone “should have pushed him in.”

2 Gordon Ramsay vs. Marco Pierre White

Large personalities in the world of food have only become more prominent in recent years. One of the biggest being famous food celebrity and firebreather Gordon Ramsay. It’s not surprising that someone known for their insults would have some enemies, and when you consider the man on the other end is also known for invective, it’s less surprising still. Marco Pierre White might not have the same media footprint as Ramsay, but he’s a supremely famous chef in his own right, and again, has a similar reputation for shit-talking.

Something Ramsay knows intimately, given that early in his career, he worked for White, and was left crying after some particularly brutal lashings. When Ramsay left White’s restaurant to set out on his own, it wasn’t on great terms, and the beef apparently came to a head when Ramsay secretly filmed himself at White's wedding and used the footage on his TV show, which White discovered along with everyone else when the episode aired. 

They say time heals all wounds, however, which is often bullshit, but it applies in this case, and the two are on good terms now.

1 George Harrison vs. Neil Young

For whatever reason (we know the reason) rap beefs are often held up as the product of a “violent” genre, but it’s not like even the most oldies-station-approved artists didn’t have serious problems with each other. Even the Beatles talked shit, with one notable beef existing between George Harrison and Neil Young. Harrison didn’t mince words, either, seemingly also not a fan of the sneak-diss. He simply stated he wasn't a Neil Young fan in an interview, adding he “couldn’t stand” his guitar playing and “hated the sound of his voice.”