When the public loves a celebrity, they usually want to know more about their personal life,
and in this age of 24/7 news, it's possible to follow their every move. Unfortunately
for some stars, however, this means their scandalous behaviour is easily exposed to
the whole world.
Back in 2009, Tiger Woods had it all: a model wife, two kids, and the kind of fame and fortune
that comes with being the top-ranked golfer in the world. He also had a reputation for
being a meticulously disciplined player, but one fateful morning would upend everything.
On November 27th 2009, two days after the National Enquirer accused him of having an
affair with nightclub manager Rachel Uchitel, Woods crashed his Escalade into a neighbor's
tree at 2:25 a.m. and was cited for reckless driving. It didn't take long for rumors to
start that his wife, Elin Nordegren, had learned about the affair and allegedly attacked Woods
in their home, leaving him too disoriented to drive. Soon enough, more women, including
adult entertainers, came forward with numerous allegations of affairs with the golfer. Put
short: Woods was toast.
In February 2010, the golfer issued a televised statement, admitting to being unfaithful to
his wife and to attending rehab for sex addiction.
"My failures have made me look at myself in a way I never wanted to before."
But it was too late. Woods' marriage was over and some of his biggest endorsements were
pulled because of the scandal. On top of that, Woods' golf game suffered, and his halcyon
days as the world's best player seemed to be long gone.
At the outset of his career, Justin Bieber and his people established the teen heartthrob
as not only a wholesome bubblegum pop sensation, but also a very good boy, one who parents
wouldn't mind their tweens obsessing over. The singer even cultivated an image as a devout
Christian, often making spiritual references in interviews and statements to fans.
But Bieber ran into trouble maintaining this idyllic status thanks to the two classic pitfalls
of music stardom: the chance to party and a swollen ego. Before long, the squeaky-clean
Bieber was starting fights, egging houses, getting picked up for DUIs, and even once
pondered whether Anne Frank would have been a belieber in the guest book of the Anne Frank
House in Amsterdam. Bieber was also banned from several countries, and acquired a habit
of storming off stage if audiences annoyed him.
But Bieber never stopped beliebing in himself and a higher power, and seemingly turned things
around. In 2017, he canceled a tour and decided to spend more time attending church. Two years
later, model Hailey Baldwin made an honest man out of Bieber, with the two marrying in
two separate ceremonies.
By the time Ben Affleck married Jennifer Garner in 2005, his career and private life were
in shambles, following a series of big-screen flops and the tabloid circus that was his
previous relationship with Jennifer Lopez. Affleck was considered one of the most overexposed
actors on the planet, and his break-up with Lopez was shadowed by messy rumors regarding
a number of wild nights spent at strip clubs.
After marrying Garner and embracing his role as a dad, Affleck rebuilt his career as an
acclaimed screenwriter and director of a number of films, including Argo, which won the Academy
Award for Best Picture in 2013. During his acceptance speech, he said of his marriage:
"It is work, but it's the best kind of work."
Amidst rumors that Affleck had been sleeping with his kids' nanny, the couple announced
a divorce in June 2015. Sources reported that Affleck and Garner had tried couples therapy,
having been separated for months already.
During all this, Affleck was fighting a powerful battle with the bottle. According to People
magazine, he completed a rehab program in 2017, and after employing a sobriety coach,
returned to a facility in 2018. Around Halloween 2019, Affleck was videotaped by TMZ seemingly
drunk, which he confirmed the next day. He later said:
"It happens, it's a slip, but I'm not going to let it derail me."
When Jon and Kate Gosselin rose to reality TV fame with Jon & Kate Plus 8, the couple
were lauded by evangelical viewers for their faith, and for making the decision not to
pursue selective reduction during Kate's pregnancy. As the show grew in popularity, the family
embarked on a number of lucrative speaking tours at churches and conferences across the
country. But it didn't take long to become clear that the Gosselins weren't exactly practicing
what they preached.
In 2009, reports surfaced that Jon was out partying with co-eds, and may have been in
a relationship with a 23-year-old teacher. Meanwhile, the tabloids suggested that Kate
was having an affair with a bodyguard, and that she had allowed Jon to see other women
on the condition that he show up for filming on their reality series.
The Gosselins divorced later that year, and the show quickly lost its family-friendly
feel. Beyond all this, there was also a rumor that Kate allegedly took fertility treatments
behind her doctor's back to increase her chance of having multiples, so she could leverage
the kids for fame and fortune. And that's definitely not in the Bible.
Despite his bad boy reputation through the '80s and '90s, Charlie Sheen did surprisingly
well at cleaning up his image, having reportedly suffered a stroke during an overdose that
scared him straight. He married actress Denise Richards and moved into a career as a network
sitcom star, first on Spin City and then on Two and a Half Men. He and Richards also welcomed
two daughters, seemingly cementing Sheen's transition from party animal to father figure.
But behind closed doors, Sheen was out of control. His marriage fell apart and Richards
alleged that Sheen was not only verbally and physically abusive, but also mentally unstable
and addicted to sex workers. Needless to say, it was a nasty divorce. And that's to say
nothing of Sheen's infamous 2011 meltdown and subsequent attacks on Two and a Half Men
boss Chuck Lorre.
"Tell me about the last time you took drugs."
"Last time I took drugs I probably took more than anybody could survive."
Even his claims to have "tiger blood" that guaranteed a life of "winning" couldn't save
him from getting fired from his show. From there, the star's secret life became more
and more public.
Sheen proudly spent his days hanging out at his home with adult film stars, but in 2015
announced on NBC's Today that he was HIV positive. And as for the one-time family guy's dedication
to fatherhood, in 2019 Denise Richards filed legal documents demanding that Sheen hand
over the $450,000 he owed her in unpaid child support.
In 1998, Johnny Depp set aside his hotel trashing days and settled down with French model Vanessa
Paradis. The couple welcomed two children, and Depp relished the role of family man as
he embarked on his lucrative career as Jack Sparrow in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean
franchise. Even when Depp and Paradis separated in 2012, and he immediately began dating actress
Amber Heard, his reputation remained intact.
But all that changed in 2016, when Heard filed for divorce, alleging that Depp was violent,
abusive, and a heavy drinker. No charges were filed, a divorce settlement was reached, and
Depp later filed a $50 million defamation suit against his former wife, claiming she
had abused him.
With the door to Depp's private life flung irreversibly flung open, The Hollywood Reporter
published a lengthy feature detailing his ongoing money woes. Despite earning $650 million
over his career, Depp had apparently blown most of it on art, jewelry, wine, real estate,
and a large personal staff. Depp subsequently sued his money people at The Management Group
for $25 million, alleging they'd "mismanaged" his funds and "failed to file [his] taxes
on time." That suit was eventually settled out of court, although TMG also countersued,
seeking unpaid fees from the once-beloved actor.
Bill Cosby was famous for his clean brand of family comedy and his award-winning work
with children's programming. After the success of The Cosby Show, the veteran comedian's
reputation skyrocketed, and he became known to an entire generation as "America's Dad."
Cosby's public persona was so revered that in 2006, he essentially ducked accusations
of allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting several women, even after a detailed report
was published in People magazine.
The entire incident all but vanished from the media until eight years later, when Gawker
published a scathing story about Cosby's alleged history of mistreating women. After an assist
from comedian Hannibal Buress, the floodgates opened. More than 50 women came forward with
accusations of sexual assault spanning nearly five decades.
Though some defenders continue to support the fallen comic, Cosby's good reputation
hasn't held up this time around. An assault case ended in a mistrial in June 2017, but
in April 2018, an 80-year-old Cosby was found guilty of three counts of sexual assault against
Andrea Constand during a retrial. The former Temple University women's basketball director
claimed Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted her in his home in 2004. In September 2018,
Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in prison and fined $25,000.
Much of Terrence Howard's acting is rooted in a sense of brooding intensity, a quality
he certainly brought to his role as music mogul Lucious Lyon on Empire. Howard's ferocity
on the screen, however, underlines a genuinely violent streak in his personality. In 2009,
The Smoking Gun discovered that, eight years earlier, Howard had been arrested for assaulting
Lori McCommas, his estranged wife.
After a fight on the phone, Howard broke down the front door of the house, grabbed McCommas,
and punched her twice. While charged with simple assault and terroristic threats, Howard
eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. But this was far from a lone incident.
In 2000, Howard allegedly assaulted a flight attendant who asked him to return to his seat
because the seat belt sign was on. In 2005, the star allegedly attacked a couple at a
diner when they were seated before him. In 2012, he allegedly "choked," punched, and
threw his ex-girlfriend May Seng to the ground. In January 2011, his second wife, Michelle
Ghent, filed for divorce after suffering a year of alleged spousal abuse, including a
punch to the face, nearly being thrown off a balcony, and Howard threatening her with
a butcher's knife.
Incredibly, and in spite of a raft of apparent evidence to the contrary, Howard once declared
to Entertainment Tonight:
"I really can't harm a fly. It's completely against my spirit."
After co-founding Miramax, Harvey Weinstein became one of the most powerful people in
Hollywood. Weinstein produced films that made the '90s a boom period for edgy movies made
by visionary creators, including Trainspotting, Pulp Fiction, and Shakespeare in Love, which
won an Academy Award for best picture. Little did the general public know, however, that
Weinstein was allegedly a serial sexual predator, routinely abusing his status as a star-maker
to prey upon, abuse, and assault numerous women.
In October 2017, a New York Times report revealed that Weinstein had reached financial settlements
with eight women who had accused the mogul of sexual harassment and various acts of unwanted
physical contact.
Weinstein was then fired from his firm, The Weinstein Company, just before The New Yorker
published allegations of harassment and assault by 13 women. The revelations and allegations
against Weinstein continued to mount, with actress Rose McGowan saying in her book that
Weinstein assaulted her, too.
"He is a sociopathic predator. He thinks he's done nothing wrong. I wish just one person
would have stood up and said no more."
In May 2018, Weinstein turned himself in to New York City police to face criminal sex
act charges. The producer pleaded not guilty, and during the trial, actress Annabella Sciorra
testified that Weinstein had assaulted her at her apartment in the early '90s. In February
2020, a jury convicted Weinstein, and he was handed a 23-year prison sentence.
For two decades, Matt Lauer was one of NBC's biggest stars. In 1994, he joined the network's
enduring morning news magazine Today, and was promoted to co-anchor in 1998, where he
helped the show reign atop the ratings for nearly 20 years. He was so valuable to the
Peacock that, according to Variety, the network paid him upwards of $25 million a year.
But beyond a massive salary, Lauer also held tremendous power at NBC. He was viewed as
so vital to the continued success of Today that he could seemingly get away with almost
anything. That all came to an end, however, in late 2017, when Lauer was abruptly fired
after a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against him came to light.
It was an NBC News colleague who filed the complaint, alleging that Lauer brutally assaulted
her in a hotel room during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia. The same day Lauer was
fired over that incident, Variety interviewed three women who said the host sexually harassed
them. For his part, Lauer denied any harassment or assault, alleging that his extramarital
relations with his accusers were all totally consensual.
For a good 20 years, Kevin Spacey was one of America's acting icons. After breaking
through in a big way in 1995 with Seven and The Usual Suspects, Spacey could carry both
critically acclaimed awards-bait as well as broadly-targeted blockbusters. He won one
Academy Award for The Usual Suspects, a second Oscar for his work in American Beauty, and
received five Emmy nominations for his work as scheming politician Frank Underwood on
House of Cards. Meanwhile, he turned in a slew of entertaining performances in all kinds
of mainstream Hollywood releases. Spacey was even a stage performer, serving as artistic
director at London's Old Vic theater, and a memorable talk show guest, always good for
an uncanny impression or two.
But that was all just a successful cover for Spacey's secret life as a sexual predator.
Amidst the Me Too movement in late 2017, 15 men came forward, alleging extremely inappropriate
behavior on Spacey's part. Among the worst of it: actor Anthony Rapp said Spacey made
advances towards him when he was 14, a bartender claimed Spacey exposed himself to him, and
Richard Dreyfuss' son, Harry, alleged that Spacey had groped him.
Surprisingly, Spacey hasn't served any prison time, although he currently faces various
criminal and civil cases. But his career was punished plenty. He was immediately blackballed
by Hollywood, fired from House of Cards, and cut out of the film All the Money in the World.
It's unlikely Spacey's reputation will ever recover.
Stand-up comedian turned veteran daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is said to be so
nice she's literally been nicknamed "The Queen of Nice." And she's earned it with her many
on-screen giveaways, vocal support of numerous charities, and show sign-off that implores
audiences to "be kind to one another."
But in March 2020, podcaster Kevin T. Porter asked Twitter users to post stories about
DeGeneres' bad behavior, claiming that she is one of the meanest people alive. A former
server alleged that she was nearly fired after DeGeneres complained, in writing no less,
to the eatery about her chipped nail polish. A TV writer, meanwhile, claimed that DeGeneres
requires anyone who talks to her at work to chew gum from a bowl outside her office first
and will send people home to shower if she thinks they smell bad.
This explosive Twitter thread opened up when the U.S. was largely shut down during coronavirus
stay-at-home orders. While many other TV hosts opted to pay their staff members in spite
of production shutdowns, DeGeneres allegedly didn't. According to Variety, some of The
Ellen DeGeneres Show employees weren't told of their employment or pay status for more
than a month, before being told to expect a 60% pay cut, even though Ellen continued
to make episodes from DeGeneres' palatial home, which she infamously compared to a prison.
Maybe those rumors aren't all that surprising after all.
In the 2000s, Demi Lovato was among the Disney Channel's most popular stars. Unfortunately,
Lovato coped with the relentless demands of show business quietly and self-destructively.
After punching a backup dancer in November 2010, 18-year-old Lovato left her concert
tour and checked into the Timberline Knolls rehabilitation facility in Illinois, to address
a number of emotional and personal issues. Those issues included a previously undiagnosed
bipolar disorder, self-harm, an eating disorder, and an addiction to cocaine.
In the documentary Demi Lovato: Simply Complicated, the singer revealed that not long after leaving
rehab, she started using cocaine again.
"I went on a bender of, like, two months where I was using daily."
She came close to overdosing a couple of times, too, once on cocaine and Xanax and once on
another kind of pills. Lovato's management team threatened to drop her unless she went
into rehab again.
Lovato stayed drug-free for six years, only to relapse in 2018, as revealed in her song
"Sober." In July 2018, Lovato was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital after a drug overdose,
which TMZ said was likely a combination of oxycodone and fentanyl. The singer then entered
another drug rehabilitation program.
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration's 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. That's 1-800-662-4357.