Celebrities Who Got Caught Living Double Lives
By and large, living the life of an actor is pretty sweet. You get millions to play dress-up and then go pretend to be somebody else on TV or in the movies, and get paid millions of dollars and earn accolades and adoration for your trouble. However, most celebrities don't get to live a life unexamined, particularly unexamined by millions of strangers.
When the public loves a star, they want to know more about their personal lives, and in this age of the internet and constant information streams — not to mention social media and camera phones — it's easy to follow their every move. It's no easy task for a celebrity to have a fully private personal life, and hiding their secrets is especially difficult. And they never know who they can trust, as even close friends and family might be lured to spill secrets if the price from some gossip rag is right. Many stars have tried to live an off-screen life full of seedy and scandalous behavior ... and they almost got away with it, too.
Rock Hudson was 'hiding in plain sight'
Rock Hudson was one of Hollywood's biggest stars in the '50s and '60s. A handsome, clean-cut actor known for lighting up the screen in romantic comedies like "Strange Bedfellows" and "Pillow Talk," Hudson was heating up the sheets all along with men. According to a biography, "All That Heaven Allows" by Mark Griffin, Hudson "spent his life and career hiding in plain sight." When Confidential Magazine threatened to expose his secret, Hudson's manager arranged his client's marriage to Phyllis Gates in 1955.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Gates hired a private eye to spy on her husband and confronted him with the evidence. "Everyone knows that you were picking up boys ... thinking that being married would cover up for you." The sham marriage ended a few years later. In 1962, Hudson took up with film extra Lee Garlington. Even though they dated for three years, they could never be seen in public. "Nobody in their right mind came out," Garlington told People. "It was career suicide. We all pretended to be straight."
Hudson died in 1985 from AIDS at age 59, but when he was diagnosed, he decided this was one secret he wouldn't keep, becoming the first famous person to do so, per People. Renowned immunologist Michael Gottlieb, who was also Hudson's physician, said, "When I first met him, I never could have imagined he would be the pivotal person in the history of AIDS epidemic, the single most influential patient ever."
Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't run for husband of the year
Hollywood action star turned governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger ranked among the City of Angels' upper echelons of society. Married to veteran NBC journalist Maria Shriver (a niece of President John F. Kennedy) since 1986, the couple was undeniably a showbiz power couple. Then, allegations of Schwarzenegger's indiscretions came to light, and it all could have come tumbling down. In 2003, per CBS News, 15 women came forward claiming the gubernatorial candidate groped them.
In an interview with Peter Jennings from ABC News, the "Kindergarten Cop" star tried to shake off the accusations, saying, "No one ever came to me in my life and said to me when I did anything, 'I don't want you to do that, and you went over the line.'" He went on to suggest the timing of the complaints was suspicious. "Isn't it odd that three days and four days before the campaign, all of sudden all these women want to have an apology?"
"The Terminator" star likely annihilated his marriage with a stunning announcement in 2011. According to the Los Angeles Times, the actor had fathered a child with the family's housekeeper, Maria Baena, more than a decade before. The "Twins" star, in his book "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story," admitted he should have come clean to Shriver a long time before then. "But instead of doing the right thing, I'd just put the truth in a mental compartment and locked it up where I didn't deal with it every day."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Pop star George Michael hid a lot of things
"Wham" frontman George Michael started out his career with fun, upbeat hits like "Careless Whisper" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." In his 1987 hit, "I Want Your Sex," he wrote, "There's little things you hide ..." — and apparently there was quite a bit the singer was keeping under wraps. In a 2004 interview with GQ, the pop star said he realized he was bisexual at 19, but never really talked about it.
In 1998, after he was arrested for alleged lewd acts in a public restroom in Los Angeles, Michael came out as gay. "This is as good of a time as any," he told CNN. "I want to say that I have no problem with people knowing that I'm in a relationship with a man right now." He said he is attracted to women, but in a different way. "When I walk into a restaurant I check out the women before the men, because they're more glamorous .... I wouldn't pair off with a woman and stay with her. Emotionally, I'm definitely a gay man."
In 2017, looking back at the sudden loss of his partner Anselmo Feleppa to AIDS in the '90s, the Grammy winner told Page Six he thought he'd finally found someone to help him fully embrace his sexuality once and for all. "It's very hard to be proud of your own sexuality when it hasn't brought you any joy. Once it's associated with joy and love, it's easy."
Caitlyn Jenner lived a lie for most of her life
For decades, Olympic gold medalist Caitlyn Jenner presented herself as straight male, but in private, she identified as a transgender woman. Jenner reportedly came out to two wives, Linda Thompson and Kris Jenner, but according to Caitlyn's book, "The Secrets of My Life," Kris — momager to the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" tribe — allegedly pressured her to stay in the closet and pray away the issue.
Things came to a head when Kris and Caitlyn divorced in 2014. Tabloid reports began trickling in that Caitlyn was transitioning into a woman. It was hard to know what to believe at the time. Jenner was no stranger to plastic surgery, and her long hair could have been an attempt to revive her famous look as a former decathlete. Not to mention, the Kardashians are masters at manipulating the press.
In July 2015, Caitlyn took control of her own narrative in a groundbreaking interview with Diane Sawyer, confirming that, yes, she is a woman. Caitlyn has since lived her life in the open, and her story has inspired many throughout the transgender community.
But Caitlyn is the exception. Most celebrity double lives do not end so well.
Tiger Woods' fall was as spectacular as his rise
In 2009, Tiger Woods seemingly had everything: a model wife, two kids, and the 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 we knew about Woods.
On November 27, 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 Tiger Woods' now ex-wife, Elin Nordegren, had learned about the affair and allegedly attacked the golfer in their home, leaving him too disoriented to drive. It also didn't take long for more women, including adult entertainers, to coming forward with numerous allegations of affairs with the golfer. Woods was toast.
In February 2010, he issued a televised statement, admitting to being unfaithful to his wife and to attending rehab for sex addiction. 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 days as world's best player seem to be over.
There was lots of losing behind Charlie Sheen's 'winning' lifestyle
Despite his bad boy reputation through the '80s and '90s, Charlie Sheen surprisingly managed to clean up his image after reportedly suffering a stroke during an overdose that scared him straight. He married bubbly 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 welcomed two daughters, seemingly cementing Sheen's transition from party animal to daddy.
But behind closed doors, Sheen was allegedly 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 prostitutes. Needless to say, it was a nasty divorce. This is to say nothing of Sheen's infamous 2011 meltdown and series of attacks on "Two and a Half Men" boss Chuck Lorre; even his claims to boast "tiger blood" that guaranteed a life of "winning" couldn't save him from getting fired from his show. From there, the "Anger Management" star's secret life became exceedingly 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. In April 2016, the LAPD investigated Sheen for threatening to murder estranged fiancée Scottine Ross. As for the one-time family guy's dedication to fatherhood, in 2019 Denise Richards filed legal documents (via People) asking for Sheen to hand over the $450,000 he owed her in unpaid child support.
Pop music's golden child found his inner bad boy
At the outset of his career, Justin Bieber and his people established the teen dream as not only a wholesome bubblegum pop sensation, but also a very good boy that parents wouldn't mind their tweens obsessing with because he was also a devout Christian. According to CBN News, the Biebs often made spiritual references in interviews and in statements to fans.
However, Bieber ran into trouble maintaining his status as a fine and morally upstanding member of the community thanks to the two transformative outcomes of music stardom: the chance to party hard and a swollen ego. Before long, the squeaky clean Bieber was starting fights, egging houses, getting picked up for DUI (and drag racing and resisting arrest), urinating into a restaurant's mop bucket, and writing "Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber" into the guest book at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. (You know, the kind of stuff kids do at youth group.) 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 time "being more spiritual and attending church," a friend told People. Two years later, model Hailey Baldwin made an honest man out of Bieber, with the two marrying in two separate ceremonies, according to People.
Kate and Jon Gosselin were no Ozzie and Harriet
When Jon and Kate Gosselin rose to reality TV fame with "Jon & Kate Plus 8," the couple was 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 also executed lucrative speaking tours at churches and conferences across the country, but it didn't take long to figure out that the Gosselins weren't exactly practicing what they preached.
"Everything changed," wrote Christianity Today in 2009. "Reports surfaced that Jon was out partying with co-eds and getting too friendly with a 23-year-old teacher. Shortly thereafter the tabloids claimed that Kate was having an affair with her bodyguard and that she had given Jon the go-ahead to see other women, as long as he showed up for filming. The truthfulness of all of these claims has yet to be established. But one thing is clear — the marriage is crumbling."
The Gosselins divorced later that year, and the show lost its family-friendly feel. There was also the 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. The new narrative suggested this supposedly faith-based couple is as slippery as it gets.
Ben Affleck's behind-the-scenes battle with sobriety and infidelity
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 about wild nights at strip clubs.
After marrying Garner and embracing his role as a dad, Affleck rebuilt his career as an acclaimed screenwriter and director of films like "Gone Baby Gone," "The Town," and "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," giving an early indication that things were perhaps on a downward trajectory. Amidst rumors he'd been sleeping with his kids' nanny, the couple announced a divorce in June 2015, per Page Six. Sources reported that Affleck and Garner had tried couples therapy and had been separated for months already.
During all this, Affleck fought a powerful battle with the bottle. According to People, 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. "It happens, it's a slip, but I'm not going to let it derail me," Affleck said (via the Los Angeles Times).
The Giudices' financial house of cards crumbled hard
From the moment they debuted on "The Real Housewives of New Jersey" in 2009, Teresa and Joe Giudice were eager to give off the impression that they lived an opulently wealthy lifestyle, complete with a mansion and summer home at the beach. However, the cracks in that foundation started to show when the couple filed for bankruptcy, which they allegedly attempted to shrug off by canceling a public auction related to the filing, and then claiming their finances were fine.
The Giudices' facade came crashing down when they were indicted on dozens of charges of tax and wire fraud, which carried a possible prison sentences of up to 50 years. The Giudices had apparently spent a decade either understating their income to defraud creditors and tax agencies or overstating it to secure massive loans, according to Us Weekly. Teresa and Joe pleaded guilty to fraud charges in 2014. She served 11 months of her 15-month sentence (and emerged $11 million in debt), while he did about three years behind bars, after which he was released into Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, awaiting deportation back to his native Italy. Teresa Giudice returned to "RHONJ," although she wouldn't be a "wife" for much longer — according to E! News, the couple split up in late 2019.
Johnny Depp: Lovable drunk pirate or angry drunk abuser?
In 1998, Johnny Depp set aside his hotel-trashing days, settling 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 (and Oscar-nominated) 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 sterling.
That all changed in 2016 when Heard filed for divorce — and a restraining order shortly after — alleging that Depp was violent, abusive, and a heavy drinker — not quite the whimsical Willy Wonka he played in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." 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 irreversibly flung open, The Hollywood Reporter published a lengthy feature detailing his money woes. Despite earning $650 million over his career, Depp had apparently blown most of it, according to his business manager, on art, jewelry, wine, real estate, and a large personal staff. Per CNBC, Depp 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.
As for how Depp's lawsuit against Heard shook out? Well ...
Were Amber Heard and Johnny Depp toxic from the start?
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard married in 2015, having dated for years after meeting on the set of The Rum Diary. A year later, Heard filed for divorce and asked for a restraining order against the Mortdecai star, citing violent tendencies and abuse. One piece of evidence provided was a video obtained by TMZ which depicted the actor "throwing a wine bottle and glass" at Heard. Heard also submitted to the court photographs of herself with a large bruise on her face, and alleged that Depp had pulled her hair and hit her. Heard agreed to a divorce settlement in August 2016, at which point she withdrew the restraining order. As previously mentioned, Depp subsequently sued Heard for defamation, along with several media outlets, which, according to Vanity Fair, unearthed even more sordid details of the exes' troubled relationship, including further abuse allegations from each, and towards the other.
While we're not questioning Heard's take on events, it's notable that Heard has her own skeletons, having been accused of domestic violence on more than one occasion. In 2009, per TMZ, Heard got into an argument with her partner, Tasya van Ree at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, then allegedly grabbed her and hit her in the arm. Heard was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor domestic violence. And in 2020, the Daily Mail published a recording from 2015 in which Heard reportedly admits to "hitting" Depp as well as "pelting him with pots, pans and vases."
America's Dad turned out to be a nightmare villain
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.
The entire incident all but vanished from the media until eight years later when Tom Scocca of 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 come forward with accusations of sexual assault spanning nearly five decades, according to the Los Angeles Times.
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, according to The New York Times.
This man of action's life is full of strange secrets
Tom Cruise is undeniably one of the biggest movie stars of all time. He still packs theaters with his blockbusters, but after an ugly divorce from Katie Holmes and a controversial relationship with the Church of Scientology, the action star's heroic reputation isn't what it used to be.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Holmes supposedly had to use a burner phone to escape her marriage and its ties to Scientology. TMZ alleged that Holmes left because Cruise planned to enroll their daughter Suri in Sea Org, a radical upper level of the highly controversial religion.
As if the divorce wasn't damaging enough, documentaries such as "Going Clear" and Leah Remini's public defection from Scientology have connected Cruise's church of choice — which allegedly views him as a "messiah"— to some highly bizarre and disturbing claims.
None of this is a good look for Cruise (We hope we didn't just ruin "Top Gun" for you.)
There's darkness behind Jim Carrey's comedy
It would be hard to find someone who wouldn't argue that Jim Carrey is one of the funniest people on the planet. The rubber-faced physical comedian with a talent for impressions and funny voices has starred in one comedy smash after another since the mid-1990s. He's also shown a knack for drama, earning raves for his work in "The Truman Show" and embodying avant garde comic Andy Kaufman in "Man on the Moon."
There may be yet another side to Carrey — an undercurrent of darkness. According to People, Carrey and Irish makeup artist Cathriona White were off and on in the 2010s, breaking up for the last time in 2015, not long before White took her own life, leaving behind a suicide note reportedly addressed to Carrey.
A year later, Mark Burton, White's estranged husband, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Carrey, according to E! News, alleging that the actor had illegally furnished White with prescription drugs and "took steps to conceal and obfuscate his involvement and culpability." Weeks later, per People, White's mother Brigid Sweetman filed another wrongful death suit against Carrey, accusing the actor of being abusive and controlling throughout his relationship with her daughter. Carrey countersued, denying Burton and Sweetman's claims, calling the former a "heartless attempt to exploit [him] or the woman [he] loved." In February 2018, Burton and Sweetman "voluntarily dismissed" their cases against Carrey (via USA Today), although neither stated a reason for doing so.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
What really happened to Jussie Smollett?
At just ten years old, Jussie Smollett charmed audiences as Terry Hall in "The Mighty Ducks" and in the ABC family sitcom "On Our Own," alongside five other Smollett siblings. After more than a decade away from Hollywood, Smollett re-emerged to take on adult roles. Most notably, he played Jamal Lyon, a homosexual musician at odds with his music mogul father on Fox's "Empire," making him one of the few LGBTQ people of color on TV. Smollett later discussed his sexuality on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," and it seemed his racial and sexual identity made him the victim of an ugly hate crime in January 2019.
According to Chicago police (via BBC), Smollett said two masked assailants, approached him, poured a chemical on him, and hung a rope around his neck, all while spouting pro-Donald Trump political rhetoric. Smollett was showered with support while police investigated, and eventually arrested brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo, who worked on "Empire" as extras. But within the week, the Osundairos were released — and Smollett was arrested on the charge of filing a false police report and disorderly conduct. What allegedly happened was Smollett recruited the Osundairos to stage the attack, in an apparent effort to raise his profile and boost his career.
Many legal twists and turns followed, included all charges against Smollett being dropped, while new charges were later filed. As of this writing, Smollett's fate remains unclear, but one thing is for sure: His reputation is forever changed.
Terrence Howard's long history of violence
Much of Terrence Howard's acting is rooted in 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 violent streak. In 2009, The Smoking Gun discovered that in 2001, Howard was arrested for assault on Lori McCommas, his estranged wife. After a fight on the phone, which ended when McCommas hung up and dialed 911 after Howard threatened to "come over and hurt" her, 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. 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, according to Philadelphia magazine, the "Iron Man" star 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, according to the Daily Beast, including a punch to the face, nearly being thrown off a balcony, and Howard threatening her with a butcher 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."
If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.
The monster behind the movie mogul
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 the Academy Award for best picture. Little did the general public know that Weinstein was allegedly a serial sexual predator, routinely abusing his status as a star-maker to prey on, 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." According to Reuters, Weinstein was then fired from his firm, The Weinstein Company, just before The New Yorker published allegations of harassment and assault by 13 women, three of whom said Weinstein raped them. (The same day, Weinstein's wife, Georgina Chapman, left him.) The revelations and allegations against Weinstein continued to mount, with actress Rose McGowan saying in her book (via The Guardian) that Weinstein raped her, too.
In May 2018, Weinstein turned himself in to New York City police to face rape and criminal sex act charges. The producer pleaded not guilty, and during the trial, actress Annabella Sciorra testified that Weinstein raped her at her apartment in the early '90s. In February 2020, a jury convicted Weinstein on the charge of assaulting a production assistant and raping an actress. He was handed a 23-year prison sentence.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Matt Lauer went from anchor to accused
Matt Lauer was one of NBC's biggest stars for two decades. In 1994, he joined the network's enduring morning newsmagazine "Today" in 1994, and was promoted to co-anchor in 1998, where he helped the show reign near or 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 for interviewing movie stars and joking around with Al Roker, Lauer 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 in late 2017 when Lauer was abruptly fired, after a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against him came to light.
According to Ronan Farrow's "Catch and Kill" (via Variety) an NBC News colleague filed a 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. "Catch and Kill" (via Refinery29) also details incidents in which an NBC on-air host said Lauer treated her like "a hanging piece of meat" with his sexual advances, and a producer to whom Lauer allegedly exposed himself. For his part, Lauer denied any harassment or assault, alleging that his extramarital relations with his accusers was totally consensual — which is, uh, still very bad.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Kevin Spacey's house of cards colossally collapsed
For a good 20 years, Kevin Spacey was among our most precious natural resources: celebrities. After breaking through in a big way in 1995 with "Se7en" and "The Usual Suspects" (for which he won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), Spacey could carry both critically acclaimed awards bait as well as broadly targeted blockbusters. For example, he won another Academy Award for his work in "American Beauty," received five Emmy nominations for his work as scheming politician Frank Underwood on "House of Cards" ... while also turning in entertaining performances in stuff like "Horrible Bosses," "Baby Driver," and "Superman Returns." Spacey was even a stage guy, serving as artistic director at London's Old Vic theater, and a memorable talk show guest, always good for an uncanny impression or two.
That was all apparently 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 toward him when he was 14, a bartender claimed Spacey exposed himself to him, and Richard Dreyfuss' son, Harry, alleged that Spacey groped him. Surprisingly, Spacey hasn't served any prison time, although he faces various criminal and civil cases, as of this writing. His career, however, 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."
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).
Casey Affleck's quiet misconduct
For many years, Casey Affleck was known as a talented actor, albeit one who lived and worked in the shadow of his more famous brother, Ben Affleck. In 2008, the younger Affleck received an Oscar nomination for his work in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," setting him on the road to standalone success. Like his actor-writer-director brother, he gave filmmaking a shot, too, with the 2010 pseudo-documentary "I'm Still Here."
It was on the set of that film where tales of Affleck's untoward non-artistic endeavors surfaced. "I'm Still Here" producer Amanda White filed a civil suit against Affleck over various misdeeds. According to the suit, Affleck's workplace behavior included calling women "cows," detailing the bedroom behavior of himself and other celebrities that he claimed to have witnessed, and ordering a crew member to expose himself to White. After Affleck asked her to "spend the night" with him and she refused, he reportedly withheld "her producing fee." Days later, cinematographer Magadalena Gorka filed a civil suit of her own. According to Courthouse News, Gorka alleged that a scantily clad, inebriated Affleck got into her bed with her and "caress[ed] her back" while she slept. She also says she was ousted from the film, "verbally attacked" for refusing Affleck, and wasn't properly paid or credited for her work on "I'm Still Here." According to the AP, Affleck later settled both cases and apologized for allowing and contributing to "an unprofessional atmosphere on set."
What's really behind Ellen DeGeneres' sunny facade?
Stand-up comedian turned groundbreaking sitcom star turned veteran daytime talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is 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." She won't stop dancing, which totally indicates she's got a light heart, right? Well, maybe not.
In March 2020, podcaster Kevin T. Porter asked Twitter users to post stories about DeGeneres' bad behavior, claiming that she is "notoriously 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 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 "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 compared to a prison. Some found that quite distasteful.
Wendy Williams' tea was the messiest spill of all
The chatty host of "The Wendy Williams Show" is charmingly confessional, and there's not much she doesn't share with viewers. But on a few occasions, she uncharacteristically tried to keep things private.
According to The Washington Post, Williams fainted on the air in 2017, then took a three-week break from the show, later revealing that she suffered from a serious autoimmune disorder called Graves' disease. In 2018, Williams slurred her way through an interview with rappers from The Lox, an incident she blamed on powerful pain medication she'd been taking for a shoulder fracture. But then in March 2019, she dropped a major bombshell on the air that only her son and husband knew about. "For some time now, and even today and beyond, I have been living in a sober house," said Williams, an admitted "functioning addict" to cocaine during her radio days.
A few weeks later, Williams made viewers privy to another no-longer secret: She was divorcing her husband, Kevin Hunter, just after his supposed mistress gave birth to a child. Later that year, Andy Cohen interviewed Williams on his satellite radio show (via Rolling Out), asking if she was aware of Hunter's "double life." "I knew a lot of things for years," she said, adding that because she had a son at home, she "had to get [her] ducks in a row" before she could leave the marriage.
Demi Lovato's Disney image is long gone
In the 2000s, Demi Lovato was among the Disney Channel's most popular stars and a successful singer, too. 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, according to Refinery29, checked into the Timberline Knolls rehabilitation facility in Illinois, to address "emotional and personal issues" (per a statement, via E! News). Those issues: a previously undiagnosed bipolar disorder, cutting, 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 was sneaking it on planes, sneaking it in bathrooms, sneaking it through the night — nobody knew," Lovato said. 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 (via Entertainment Weekly) 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 anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).