Getting a peek behind the veil of some of pop culture's most fascinating circles is
always intriguing.
But there are some tell-all stories that prove to be so controversial it changes everything
we know about the rich and famous.
Here are a few tell-all books, that were so scandalous that they completely altered the
way people thought about their subjects.
Confessions of a Video Vixen
Anyone who lived through the '90s knows how big the hip-hop scene was.
It wasn't just about the music; it was also about the lifestyle.
The world couldn't get enough, and when dancer Karrine "Superhead" Steffans wrote her behind-the-scenes
tell-all, the world couldn't get enough of that, either.
But Confessions of a Video Vixen wasn't entirely what people were expecting.
Sure, there were all kinds of juicy bits involving some of hip-hop's biggest names, including
Jay-Z and Dr. Dre, but it went to some dark places, too.
Her book — and her follow-up books — have focused not on the R-rated fun, but on the
industry's abusive atmosphere.
When she talked to the Huffington Post in 2015, she said the cycle of abuse in her life
started in her childhood and spiraled out of control.
She talked openly about self-harm, the cult of celebrity, manipulation, coercion, and
what she learned about relationships.
That revelation branded her one of the most controversial authors on the New York Times
bestseller list, but Steffans has no regrets.
Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words
The British are obsessed with their royals, but there was something about Princess Diana
that captured the attentions of the entire world.
The book Diana: Her True Story in Her Own Words promised a lot in its title, and it
delivered.
Author Andrew Morton knew Diana but did his research in secret.
They used an intermediary who asked her questions, then passed her recorded responses on to Morton.
"Well there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."
When the book hit the shelves, it wasn't glamorous.
It was a story of loneliness, thoughts of self-harm, and a woman heartbroken over her
husband's affair.
There was paranoia, too, and Morton wrote that Diana was constantly worried about "the
men in gray," shady figures linked to British security agencies.
At first, it was assumed the source of these personal details was various friends, family,
and other insiders.
It was only after Diana's tragic death that Morton decided to re-issue the book, along
with transcripts of the tapes she'd sent him, which shocked the world again.
Morton had been called a liar of the worst kind, been vilified and resented, and subjected
to some serious hate.
It wasn't until the tapes came out that everyone realized that these really were her own, heartbreaking
words.
Going Clear
Scientologists are free to be as weird as they want to, since they fall under religious
freedom protections.
But in 2013, Lawrence Wright kicked open the doors and published Going Clear, a tell-all
book about the organization that went on to be adapted into an HBO documentary.
He hit on everything, from the group's billion-year contracts and the fundamental writings of
L. Ron Hubbard to David Miscavige 's continuing work.
The book's influence meant all kinds of fingers were being pointed at Tom Cruise and John
Travolta because, as Scientology figureheads, their silence about the abuses coming to light
was unacceptable.
"If I was to join your cult, would I get…"
"We are not a cult.
We are a church."
"Same thing."
Cruise and Travolta didn't immediately jump ship, of course, but Going Clear did help
lead the way in exposing every oddity going on behind the closed doors in Scientology.
Then, Leah Remini piled on with her own tell-all series, further exposing Scientology for its
shady practices.
If I Did It: Confessions of the Killer
If you want to talk about an ill-advised tell-all, look no further than OJ Simpson's If I Did
It: Confessions of the Killer.
Canceled in 2006 and finally published in 2007, the book was met with national furor,
more than a decade after Simpson's acquittal for the brutal slayings of Nicole Brown Simpson
and Ron Goldman.
It described exactly what you'd expect from the title.
If he'd done it … this was why, and what "happened."
The book describes a nightmarish relationship and cast OJ Simpson as the victim.
He even wrote how, when an imaginary friend named Charlie spilled the beans about a hard-partying
Nicole, Simpson gloved up and went over to the house with only one thing on his mind.
Is it any wonder that this one was one of the most controversial, scandalous books to
hit the shelves in the 2000s?
Reviewers largely agreed that there was essentially no way someone could walk away from this one
thinking he was innocent, and even if he was, why revisit such a macabre incident at all?
What's the point?
Perhaps he just wanted to be back in the spotlight again.
LaToya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family
The Jackson family has always fascinated the public, from the earliest days of the Jackson
5.
But it wasn't until LaToya Jackson released LaToya: Growing Up in the Jackson Family that
the world realized the full extent of the damage done by success and a father who relentlessly
drove his children in the direction he wanted them to go.
In the book, she writes about how abusive he was, physically and emotionally.
She told the Chicago Tribune that her parents' refusal to meet with her and her siblings
and discuss what happened ultimately pushed her to write the book, as her way of moving
on and starting to repair the damage that was done.
"I wish that my heart could speak to your heart, if hearts could speak to each other
without us verbally speaking."
Since the shocking allegations in the first book, she's written several more, including
Starting Over.
That one shocked, too, as she detailed her escape from one abusive situation and her
involvement in another, with manager and ex-husband Jack Gordon.
Before these stories were released, it might've seemed like a turn of fortune to grow up Jackson,
but now the world knows otherwise.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Grunge icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!