Affair Rumors That Have Plagued Sarah Palin's Reputation

Many politicians have been caught cheating over the years, but does that include former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin? Well, there has never been any actual proof that Sarah cheated on her ex-husband, Todd Palin, before their messy divorce in 2019. However, she definitely attracted affair rumors, which threatened her political career, about a decade earlier. In case you missed things (or were simply too distracted by Tina Fey's hilarious "SNL" impersonations of Sarah during the late '00s), we're gonna bring you up to speed.

So, back in 2008, when Sarah still had starry-eyed dreams of becoming the vice president, underneath John McCain, the National Enquirer published a story claiming that she'd betrayed Todd by sleeping with his best friend. The story spawned backlash so great, McCain's team was forced to intervene. "The smearing of the Palin family must end," said one of his reps (via Brisbane Times). "The allegations contained on the cover of the National Enquirer insinuating that Gov. Palin had an extramarital affair are categorically false." 

This story has never been confirmed, and Sarah has never addressed it. Three years later, another affair rumor popped up, giving her another chance to defend herself.

In 2011, author Joe McGinniss claimed that Sarah Palin had a fling with would-be NBA star Glen Rice before tying the knot. In his book, "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin," McGinniss wrote that Sarah and Rice hooked up way back in 1987 before either became the public figures they are today. According to the The Washington Post, Sarah was still working in the world of journalism at the time, while Rice was still honing his basketball skills at the University of Michigan. McGinniss also claimed that Sarah experimented with marijuana and cocaine.

Although Sarah decided not to address this rumor either, her then-husband, Todd Palin, made a blanket statement claiming that McGinniss's account of his wife was untruthful. "This is a man who has been relentlessly stalking my family to the point of moving in right next door to us to harass us and spy on us to satisfy his creepy obsession with my wife," he said in a statement( via BBC). "His book is full of disgusting lies, innuendo, and smears. Even The New York Times called this book 'dated, petty,' and that it 'chases caustic, unsubstantiated gossip.'"

If true, this fling would have happened before Sarah married Todd, so it probably wouldn't have affected their marriage regardless. Unfortunately, the couple still ended up splitting after more than three decades together a few years later.