These days, it seems like everything is a ‘scandal’ in Hollywood. But if you think about it, a lot of it is sensationalized by the media, manipulated by PR people and utilized to do everything from bring attention to upcoming projects to selling more ad space.
While some events today are indeed legitimate, inappropriately hilarious or sometimes tragic, many may agree that they pale In comparison to some scandals in the past.
Lindsay, let these folk show you how it’s done.
Michael Jackson
MJ’s talent, and decades of entertaining generations of people, will most likely overshadow any controversies he endured in life. But in 1993, he suffered perhaps the most humiliating accusation when he was put on trial for allegedly molesting a young boy who had stayed at his Neverland Ranch. Other stories have surfaced over the years indicating his odd behavior with children (even his own), but with a supposed multi-million dollar out-of-court settlement behind him, we’ll never know about the veracity of this one.
Rob Lowe
So where were you when Rob Lowe’s sex tape with an underage girl leaked out in 1988? Not even born you say? Well let us introduce you to the doe-eyed, Hollywood heartthrob who started it all. Now every D-List star has a sex tape it seems, but when Lowe’s was released he was being paid millions per movie – his career has since flagged, but hasn’t been completely derailed. Too bad this was shot on VHS though… it doesn’t really make the leap to HD 1080p very well.
Rock Hudson
Things have changed (somewhat) for gay movie stars, but for generations the majority has been in the closet. And even today, many more have chosen to stay in (you know who you are). But when Rock Hudson, who was one of the brightest stars, came out to the public and announced that he was also dying of AIDS, this was a big eye opener for the world. It put a ‘real’ face on a new epidemic, and is still one of the most haunting images from the 1980’s.
Roman Polanski
No Hollywood scandal list ever leaves this one out, and while it’s no revelation to you perhaps, we have to include it. In 1978, film director Roman Polanski fled the United States after spending the previous year dealing with charges that he sexually assaulted a 13 year old girl. Since then, he has admitted his complicity, the girl (now in her late 50’s) has forgiven him, and they have even settled financially. But to this day, he is still not allowed to travel to the U.S. without risk of being thrown in jail. We’re sure that his period of house arrest in Switzerland in 2009 (coordinated by the U.S. of course) served as a reminder of that.
Ingrid Bergman
These days, when stars falling and out of love, cheat, have passionate affairs or simply ‘hook up’, we tend to roll our eyes. ‘Been there, done that.’ But when Ingrid Bergman – one of the greatest movie stars of all time – was found out to be pregnant by not-her-husband-director Roberto Rossellini in 1950, her career was all but ruined in the US. It is virtually unimaginable that something like that could happen today. And we’re looking right at you, Angelina.
Fatty Arbuckle
This one is significant, as it shows that the media has been a pivotal player during scandals since the beginning. When one of Hollywood’s biggest silent movie stars of the time, Fatty Arbuckle, was accused of raping and killing a young starlet in 1921, the newspaper coverage was so aggressive that even when he was acquitted, Arbuckle’s career could not be revived. But it did fuel the hunger for more scandal coverage, and some may even consider this to be the genesis of the endless gossip we see on in print, on TV and on the Internet today.
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