Transcripts:
You know what? I'd say I have nobody to blame but myself. You know, I really don't. And uh he sat behind me in the doorway and as I played with the toy train, I was assaulted. I did sleep with students. I didn't sleep with anybody in that particular class. But over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students. And that was wrong.
[Music] 23 scandalous actors, seven levels. From an actor openly confessing he infected multiple people with HIV to a TV star's inappropriate onset kiss. These are the most disturbing, troubling incidents committed by Hollywood stars. The deeper into the iceberg, the more disturbing the crimes. Let's start at the tip of the iceberg.
Disclaimer level one. Neil Patrick Harris. In July 2011, Amy Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning at the age of 27, shocking fans worldwide. Just three months later, actor Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Bertka hosted a Halloween party that would eventually become infamous for its disturbing centerpiece, a meat platter designed to look like Winehouse's decomposing corpse. I know the guests had no idea what to expect.
So, when they went to get food, you can imagine the surprise when they encountered this twisted platter featuring a gross fake body with gray skin, blood, and one missing eye. And just in case it wasn't obvious, the figure had Amy's signature beehive hairdo, visible tattoos, and a cigarette dangling from its mouth.
And in case that wasn't obvious, a handwritten card placed beside it read, "The corpse of Amy Winehouse." followed by a description of its contents. Beef ribs, pulled pork, chicken sausage, and a spicy barbecue sauce. Justin Makita, a guest at the party, shared a photo on Twitter with the caption, "Look who showed up at Neil Patrick Harris and David Burka's Halloween party last night." "Looking good.
" He quickly deleted the post, but by that point the screenshots had already circulated and nothing dies on the internet except this. Turns out nobody really knew who Justin Makita was, so it kind of passed for years. Then in 2022, the imagery surfaced when a Twitter user commented, "I cannot believe how many very online people over the age of 25 are just now finding out about Neil Patrick Harris's disgusting Amy Winehouse cake.
" Social media exploded with fresh outrage on basically every single platform. What was mostly upsetting people was the fact that they could have created a generic corpse for shock value without specifically targeting someone who had recently died. This just seemed cruel. Eventually, Neil Patrick Harris was shamed enough that he publicly apologized, tweeting, "A photo recently resurfaced from a Halloween themed party my husband and I hosted 11 years ago.
It was regrettable then and it remains regrettable now." Amy Winehouse was a once- in a generation talent, and I'm sorry for any hurt this image caused. Well, he tweeted it. I never said he wrote it. Ashton Coocher. In a 2002 interview on the Rosie O'Donnell show, Maunis and Ashton Coocher appeared together to promote that 70 show.
But after seeing the interview, nobody was thinking about the show, partly because of an incident that Mila recalled. When the show started shooting in 1998, Mila was just 14 years old, having lied about her age to get the role. Now, she was acting opposite the 19-year-old Ashton Kutcher. Their characters romantically involved.
Ashton had already raised his concerns that this whole thing was, in his words, slightly illegal. But the production team apparently had no concerns about the age gap or any illegality. Like for example, how Mila had her very first kiss on set. It was my first kiss. What a bet you made with Danny about our first kiss.
In the interview, she tells Rosie O'Donnell that she was a 14-year-old girl. Was extremely scared for my life. Sure. What she didn't know was that Danny Mastersonson had offered Ashton $10 to French kissa without warning or consent as her first kiss. Ashen has always insisted that there was no bet, that he used tongue because they were playing a couple, which arguably is just as bad, especially since Mila's discomfort throughout the interview is extremely clear to see.
Even more so when she insists that he never got his tongue in her mouth, and he is firmly claiming success. The whole thing was played as an amusing little story for daytime TV, but the implications are creepy. Mila and Ashton eventually got married. Dany, the man who put Ashton up to this bet, was convicted in 2023 of inappropriate conduct around and toward women, to put it politely.
When the interview resurfaced, it's safe to say nobody was thinking about how funny the story was, only how disturbing it was that nobody thought this was hugely inappropriate. [Music] Ellen Degenerous. In 2008, the gossip world was swirling with rumors that Mariah Carey was pregnant.
And while most of us had jobs and other things to deal with, daytime TV decided this was everything, especially Ellen. When Mariah came to the Ellen Degenerous show to promote her latest project, Ellen took the chance to ask her about the rumors. Obviously, Mariah politely dismissed it and hoped to move on to other things. Ellen, as always, did not take the hint.
Instead, she presented Mariah with champagne, a calculated move to force the singer to either reveal her condition to the world or lie. The audience watched as an uncomfortable Mariah attempted to deflect. When she barely touched the glass, Ellen triumphantly announced that Mariah was pregnant without a second thought. Let's toast to you not being pregnant. If you're not pregnant, then we should.
prompting the audience to cheer at the fact that they had just witnessed a woman be stripped of her right to reveal deeply personal news on her own terms. It was frankly cruel, especially because the public didn't know the truth. Behind the scenes, Mariah had experienced pregnancy loss, which left her reluctant to announce any new pregnancies prematurely in case they too led to a miscarriage, and she had to face the public once again with this devastating tragedy.
Sadly, not long after this forced revelation, Mariah miscarried again. The clip resurfaced in 2020 as allegations about Ellen's behindthecenes conduct came to light. Former employees described a toxic work environment that was a total contrast to her be kind mantra.
And this clip was seen as concrete proof of how mean she truly was right in front of the cameras the whole time. Even Mariah acknowledged how uncomfortable she felt in the moment. This incident was just one piece in a larger pattern that contributed to Ellen's downfall. Dakota Johnson's 2019 confrontation about a birthday invitation lie. The George W. Bush friendship controversy.
Staff allegations of intimidation and mistreatment. I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I am so sorry to the people who were affected. Each revelation chipped away at Ellen's carefully constructed public persona until in 2022, her once dominant show concluded its 19-year run amid plummeting ratings, running her out of show business entirely.
Level two, Woody Allen. In August 1992, a bombshell hit Hollywood like no other. Woody Allen, the 56-year-old iconic filmmaker, was romantically involved with Sununi Preven, the 21-year-old adopted daughter of his longtime partner of 12 years, Mia Pharaoh. The revelation came about after Mia discovered intimate photographs of Sunni in Woody's apartment in January.
Woody had no choice but to write a statement declaring, "Regarding my love for Suni, it's real and happily all true. She is a lovely, intelligent, sensitive woman who has and continues to turn my life around in a wonderfully positive way. My uh my relationship, yes, it's a very very it's very very sad.
It was very sad outcome and uh but I gave it my best shot. You know, there's nothing uh nothing really I could do about that. The public was shocked by the whole thing. Sure, Woody wasn't legally Sunni's father, but he had been a presence in her life since she was approximately 10 years old. There was no other way to see it than as creepy.
Sunni herself later claimed Woody was never any kind of father figure to her and that she never had any dealings with him during her childhood. In fact, court investigations determined their relationship began in December 1991. But it didn't make it any less creepy. Certainly, I never ever my daughter. There was no Then during the fallout, things got much, much worse for Woody.
Allegations emerged concerning his uncomfortable behavior with Dylan Pharaoh, his and Mia's 7-year-old adopted daughter. He sat behind me in the doorway and as I played with the toy train, I was assaulted. Allan vehemently denied these claims and continues to do so, suggesting they were fabricated by a vengeful Mia responding to his relationship with Suni.
A bitter custody battle ensued with the judge ultimately ruling against Woody in June 1993. Although the ruling did point out that allegations of improper behavior toward Dylan had not been proven. Either way, she would be raised by her adoptive mother. Woody and Sunsi married in 1997. 20 years later, she broke her silence defending her husband and saying, "What happened to Woody is so unjust.
Mia has taken advantage of the MeToo movement and paraded Dylan as a victim." Dylan, however, has maintained her allegations, writing in a 2014 open letter, "For as long as I could remember, my father had been doing things to me that I didn't like." The controversy has permanently altered perceptions of Allen's legacy, with many actors distancing themselves and studios withdrawing support, especially following the Me Too movement.
Some, however, continue working with him in Europe, unbothered by the whole thing. Johnny Depp and Amber Herd. In 2009, Johnny Depp and Amber Herd met on the set of The Rum Diary, falling in love and beginning what they hoped would be a Hollywood romance for the ages. Boy, were they wrong. They married in February 2015. They divorced 15 months later.
Amber filed for divorce in May 2016, obtaining a restraining order and making allegations that Johnny had harmed her. allegations that he firmly denied. Johnny Depp facing serious allegations. His wife Amber Heard gaining a temporary restraining order against Depp and that he was repeatedly abusive. But the accusations were disturbing to say the least.
Amber testified that Johnny struck her multiple times, performed an invasive search looking for substances, and threatened her life. There were 14 acts of physical and violence and three acts of before he got sober was was really violent and chaotic as well. Johnny, on the other hand, claimed Amber severed part of his finger with a thrown vodka bottle and extinguished a cigarette on his face.
My hand is on the edge of the bar, leaning over the fingers. She threw the large bottle and it made contact and shattered everywhere. And then I looked down and realized that the the tip of my finger had been severed. Their marriage counselor described their dynamic as mutual issues, suggesting that both contributed significantly to the relationship's toxicity.
It was not going to be a situation that would come and go. The saga peaked during a six-week defamation trial in 2022. Johnny sued Amber over a 2018 Washington Post oped where she described herself as a public figure representing domestic harm without naming him specifically. After the first trial in the UK determined there was substantial evidence to the claim that Johnny was a wifebeater, he brought a new lawsuit against Amber in the US, which quickly became a social media circus.
#up supporting Johnny garnered billions of views on Tik Tok, while Amber faced intense online criticism and deeply polarized opinions to say the least. The jury predominantly ruled for Johnny, awarding him $10.35 million while granting her $2 million on one counter claim.
As against Amber Heard, we the jury award compensatory damages in the amount of $10 million. As against John C. Deepep II, we the jury award compensatory damages in the amount of $2 million. She later settled paying Johnny $1 million. But even though both had won and lost in either case, both careers suffered massively.
Johnny lost his role in Fantastic Beasts, while Amber's part in the Aquaman sequel was apparently reduced. An entertainment consultant later testified that Johnny's lawsuit damaged his career more than Amber's op-ed, which would most likely have been overlooked had he not drawn attention to it. Charlie Sheen.
In November 2015, Charlie Sheen sat across from Matt Lowauour on the Today Show and uttered words that shocked America. I am in fact HIV positive. You know, there are a lot of rumors out there right now and you would like to address them. I'm here to to admit that I am in fact HIV positive. The revelation came after years of hiding his diagnosis from the public and according to multiple women who shared his bed, from them as well.
Sheen was apparently diagnosed around 2011 at the height of his public meltdown and claimed he had always been forthright with intimate partners about his condition, painting himself as a victim of extortion. He soon admitted to paying upwards of $10 million to keep people quiet about his status.
You told me that a lot of people have actually demanded money to stay silent about this. That is true. I've paid those people. How many people have have you paid? Enough to bring it into the millions. But the story quickly unraveled. His former girlfriend, Brie Olsen, appeared on Howard Stern's show the very same day, contradicting Sheen's narrative.
She insisted that he never said anything to her about it, despite them having intimate relations almost every day for a year. When did you learn that he had HIV? He never said anything to me. I was his girlfriend. I lived with him. We were together. We had sex almost every day for a year.
Another former partner, Natalie Kenley, also denied knowing about his condition. Sheen kept talking, describing instances of blackmail, including one where a woman snuck into his bathroom, photographed his HIV medication, and demanded payment for silence. All of it built into resentment.
Is it true that at least one occasion you had a come over to your house, went into your bathroom, and with a cell phone took an image of your anti-retroviral medication. That is correct. Yeah. and then threatened to sell that image to the tabloids. Yes. After an interview with Piers Morgan in 2016, Sheen admitted that the only couple of times I didn't tell somebody was because the last 25 times I told somebody they used it against me.
It was a confession that directly contradicted his earlier claims of complete transparency and it opened him up to the threat of legal action in California. Knowingly exposing partners to HIV without disclosure could lead to 8 years imprisonment. At least five women reportedly contacted lawyers following his announcement. But despite the controversy, Sheen insisted, "No one has been infected by me. No one.
" What people need to focus on and need to understand is as absolute truth is that I've infected no one. He maintained he always practiced safe intimacy after diagnosis, though former partners have since more or less said that he is a total liar. But we can't lie to you.
We want to keep making more great videos like this one. So if you want to see more, hit that subscribe button. Level three, Ezra Miller. Ezra Miller first burst onto Hollywood's radar with their mesmerizing performance in We Need to Talk About Kevin, earning massive praise for their incredible ability to play a deeply troubled, psychotic young man.
Fans said they gave some of the best acting you'll ever see. A lot of roles followed, including a key role as the Flash in DC's superhero universe. Unfortunately, it seems that his role as Kevin was not entirely acting. In April 2020, a disturbing video emerged from Iceland, showing Ezra grabbing a woman's throat and throwing her to the ground.
Warner Brothers remained unusually quiet about the whole thing, despite this being a major star in their franchise. In fact, many just assumed that this was an isolated incident with context missing. 2 years later, all hope was lost.
Ezra was apprehended in Hawaii for disorderly conduct at a karaoke bar where they began yelling obscenities and lunged at a 32-year-old man playing darts. Days later, two Hilo residents filed for protection, claiming Ezra burst into their bedroom and threatened them with the word, "I will bury you and your wife." Within a month, the incidents multiplied at an alarming, insane rate.
Parents of young activist Dakota Iron Eyes sought protection orders, claiming Ezra had been controlling their daughter since she was 12, providing her with substances including alcohol and LSD, among many more deeply concerning allegations. Public pressure mounted on Warner Brothers regarding the upcoming $200 million Flash movie. Surely they could not release a movie where an on the-run criminal was playing the good guy. but they were.
Ezra eventually issued a statement citing complex mental health issues and announced they were seeking treatment. The Flash was released in 2023 after numerous delays, but the damage was done. It flopped on release, putting an end to any hope of the character moving forward. Just like Ezra's career, James Franco.
In 2014, James Franco founded Studio 4, an acting school in New York and Los Angeles. The academy promised students professional opportunities through Franco's production company while teaching the Mesner technique. However, it came at a cost. Former students alleged James created a course provocatively titled Masterclass Scenes, where participants were encouraged to perform intimate acts on camera that went way beyond industry standards.
According to legal documents, female students were pressured to perform without protective barriers while James simulated intimate contact. Those who refused understood they wouldn't be considered for substantial roles in his projects. Students described being made to audition in various states of undress and feeling intimidated into performing increasingly explicit scenes in front of other students.
But this wasn't his only inappropriate behavior. In 2014, he messaged a Scottish girl on Instagram after meeting her outside his Broadway show. Despite learning she wasn't yet 18, James asked which hotel she was staying at and suggested renting a room to spend a night together.
When the screenshots went public, Franco admitted on Live with Kelly and Michael that he'd used bad judgment. In 2019, two former students filed a class action lawsuit against James, alleging his academy sought to create a pipeline of young women for exploitation. allegations he initially denied. But two years later, he changed his tune, admitting that he did sleep with students and acknowledged the power imbalance he had created.
I did sleep with students. I didn't sleep with anybody in that particular class. But over the course of my teaching, I did sleep with students, and that was wrong. The fallout devastated his career. Longtime collaborator Seth Rogan publicly severed ties with Franco, stating he despises inappropriate conduct and would never cover or conceal the actions of someone doing it.
Franco has since claimed the experience forced him to change his whole way of life, but he's not been given any professional opportunities since. Bill Cosby. Throughout the 1990s, Bill Cosby reigned as television royalty. His groundbreaking sitcom, The Cosby Show, had been a ratings juggernaut, portraying the Huxables, an affluent black family headed by Cliff, a doctor played by Cosby himself.
The show broke viewing records from 1985 to 1987 with approximately 70 million viewers at its peak. And through it all, Cosby cultivated an image as America's dad, a moral authority who frequently lectured younger comedians about vulgarity and profanity. But for decades, rumors had circulated in Hollywood about Cosby's misconduct with women, with some claiming that they had their drinks laced with unknown substances before suffering unwanted encounters with Cosby while incapacitated. However, Cosby was so big that nobody went public. In October 2014, comedian
Hannibal Burus was performing standup in Philadelphia. As part of his set, he said the following. Pull your pants up, black people. I was on TV in the 80s. Yeah, but you do inappropriate things to women Bill Cosby. He then instructed the audience to Google Bill Cosby, followed by the allegations that would soon come to light. Google Bill Cosby right now.
A cell phone video of the bit went viral and suddenly the dam broke. Over 60 women came forward with allegations dating back to the mid 1960s. For decades they had been dismissed, their cases closed without investigation purely because nobody believed America's dad could do such a thing.
In 2006, deposition even revealed Cosby admitting to obtaining quaudes to give to women he wanted to have encounters with. A vital piece of information dismissed by authorities years before. In April 2018, Cosby was found guilty on three counts of aggravated improper conduct. The judge sentenced him to 3 to 10 years in prison, and countless organizations immediately severed ties, revoked honors, and pulled reruns of his shows from television. He was destroyed.
Then came the shocking twist. On June 30th, 2021, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court inexplicably overturned his conviction. The court ruled that an agreement with a previous prosecutor prevented Cosby from being charged. At 83, Cosby walked free, leaving his accusers stunned. Once again, a powerful got away with it. Kevin Spacy.
In October 2017, actor Anthony Rap revealed a disturbing encounter with Kevin Spacy that allegedly occurred in 1986. Anthony was 14 at the time. Kevin was over 10 years older. He claimed that Spacy invited him to a party at his Manhattan apartment, lifted him up, placed him on a bed, and climbed on top of him. You get the idea.
When they were performing on Broadway, Spacy invited him to his home, and tried to have sex with him. Spacy, then 26, says he is horrified, and he was most likely drunk and doesn't remember the encounter. The story quickly went viral and Spacy's response was catastrophically misguided. He claimed no memory of the incident while apologizing for inappropriate drunken behavior, simultaneously choosing that moment to publicly come out as gay, confirming years of speculation.
But this deflection strategy backfired spectacularly as the world roundly condemned him for choosing this moment of all moments to confirm his orientation. Almost instantly, dozens of young men around the world came forward with their own troubling encounters with Spacy. Netflix suspended production of House of Cards. The International Emmy Awards revoked Spacy's planned honor.
His scenes and Ridley Scott's All the Money in the World were completely reshot weeks before release with the late Christopher Plameumber replacing him. RAP filed a $40 million civil lawsuit in 2020 as UK authorities brought multiple charges against Spacy for alleged incidents involving four men between 2001 and 2013.
And yet in October 2022, a New York jury sided with Spacy in Rap's lawsuit. By July 2023, Spacy was acquitted of all charges in his UK criminal trial. Another UK civil case ruling went his way in 2024. He came out of the whole scandal legally innocent. Kevin Spacy emerged from a London court on Wednesday, having just been found not guilty of committing historical offenses against four men. But despite these legal victories, Spacy's career has remained largely frozen.
Forced to work in niche European movies while Hollywood iced him out. Shaun Diddy Combmes. At one time, Shaun Diddy Combmes parties were legendary affairs where A-listers gathered rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in Hollywood. People would do anything they could to get into his inner circle. Once they got in there, they regretted it.
Everybody knew about Diddy's violent streak. He had attacked executives with champagne bottles, threatened to cut other rappers throats if they didn't follow his demands. But all of those incidents made headlines and disappeared quickly. The entertainment world continued embracing him despite all of the red flags.
Then in November 2023, Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit detailing a decade of mistreatment while dating Diddy. She described being forced to participate in what Diddy called freakoffs, extended encounters with hired adult industry workers while he watched. Cassie said the embattled media mogul agreed on a $20 million settlement after hitting Diddy with physical and sexual abuse allegations. Diddy has denied all allegations.
The most damning evidence came from a 2016 hotel surveillance video showing Diddy attacking Cassie in a hallway. When it surfaced, he acknowledged his actions. I was disgusted then when I did it. I'm disgusted now. Yet, this was not the only crime he committed. Within a week, two more women came forward with allegations dating back to the 1990s.
By October 2024, lawyers announced over 100 additional cases, many of them talking about the freakoffs and they suffered at his hands. This morning, new disturbing accusations against hip hop mogul Shawn Diddy Combmes from a Texas attorney who says he represents 120 alleged victims, men and women, whose allegations span more than 30 years.
Suddenly, the stars who were once thrilled to associate with him, Usher, Bieber, Ellen, started to distance themselves, publicly refusing to even acknowledge what was going on. But the internet was digging into their previous comments. Older interviews saw Usher discussing what he saw in Diddy's house as a teenager, describing that he saw very curious things, which was presumably code for illegal acts.
Other clips show Diddy saying that he didn't want Justin Bieber to talk about what he does with Big Brother Puff. He knows better than me talking about the things that he does with Big Brother Puff on national television. It made everything so much more suspicious and uncomfortable. Today, Diddy is sitting in a Brooklyn jail cell awaiting the verdict that could permanently erase his legacy.
Level four, John Travolta. In May 2012, John Travolta found himself embroiled in some unexpected controversy when two anonymous male massurs filled a $2 million lawsuit against him, alleging inappropriate physical contact during massage sessions. John Travolta has just been named in a criminal complaint.
According to reports, the 63-year-old actor is being accused of groping a male massur's bare buttocks and exposing himself during a deep body massage. The first Msure claimed Travolta hired him for a $200 per hour massage at the Beverly Hills Hotel on January 16th, 2012.
The Msur claimed Travolta touched him inappropriately, exposed himself, and attempted to initiate intimate contact. When he was rejected, Travolta reportedly offered to perform acts on the Msour instead, clearly not getting the hint whatsoever. A second Msure joined the lawsuit days later with similar allegations from an Atlanta hotel encounter on January 28th. He claimed Travolta rubbed his legs, touched his, and tried to initiate intimate activities during a private appointment.
It was becoming harder to ignore. After the first John Doe filed suit against John Travolta for $2 million on Monday, a second male Msour has come forward claiming that he too was harassed by the actor during a session. He states that Travolta grabbed his during a session on January 28th at an unidentified Atlanta spa resort. Travolta's attorney, Martin Singer, vehemently denied all allegations, calling them complete fiction and fabrication. They had evidence suggesting Travolta was in New York, not California, when the first incident
allegedly occurred, questioning why the accusers remained anonymous if their claims were legitimate. John Travolta is stacking up the evidence that this is not a true story. We got a hold of those photographs. Now, the photographs are in a New York City hotel room. They're taken as a part of costume design for the new movie that he's doing.
There's no possible way if that happened at 10:00 a.m. he would be able to fly to New York and be able to take these photographs in that hotel. Days after filing the lawsuit, John Doe number one withdrew his lawsuit entirely. But the second Msur's case remained active with Singer expressing confidence that Travolta would be vindicated there as well.
But then the controversy expanded when Fabian Zanzi, a former Royal Caribbean employee, filed his own lawsuit claiming Travolta engaged in non-consensual, inappropriate, extreme, and outrageous behavior during a 2009 cruise. Zanzi alleged Travolta offered him $12,000 for his silence.
Eventually, the cases moved behind closed doors to be resolved by a private judge away from public scrutiny, leaving the full truth unknown for the rest of us. Rob Low. It's 1988, and Rob Low, a 24-year-old rising star and Brat Pack member, was visiting Atlanta during the Democratic National Convention for a public endorsement.
During his stay, he headed to Club Rio, a popular downtown night spot frequented by major celebrities. There, he met two women, 22-year-old Terara Sibert and 16-year-old Lena Jan Parsons. According to court documents, they agreed to accompany him back to his room at the Atlanta Hilton. But what happened next became infamous. Low recorded their intimate encounter on video.
When he headed to the bathroom, the two girls robbed him and stole the tape. Suddenly, it was all out of his control. The tape circulating through Atlanta's party circuit before reaching the media. A firestorm immediately erupted when Parson's age came to light. But Lo insisted he had no idea about her age. But you know what? I'd say I have nobody to blame but myself. You know, I really don't.
And and uh you got to accept responsibility for what you do. After all, they met at an upscale nightclub where IDs are typically checked. Why would he suspect anything was off? Parson's mother, Lena Arlene Wilson, filed a lawsuit against Low, claiming that he had enticed Parsons into participating in the recorded encounter against her will.
Meanwhile, Lo's legal team claimed Wilson attempted to extract between $500,000 and $2 million from the actor. Fulton County authorities investigated Lo for potential violations carrying a 20-year prison sentence, but he reached an agreement with prosecutors. 20 hours of community service speaking about substance dangers. Though Lo avoided criminal charges, his career temporarily derailed.
To his credit, Lo didn't deflect or even try to shift to the blame for his actions, admitting just 2 years later that the mistake was entirely his. But surprisingly, decades later, Lo describes the incident as the best thing that ever happened to me. It forced him to confront his substance issues and get sober in 1990.
In 2019, he said, "Sober got me married. Been married 29 years, and I have two great sons." So, it seems like the scandal that nearly destroyed his career ultimately became his redemption, transforming him from a wild young star into a man with decades of sobriety and a stable family life. Pretty good outcome, all things considered.
Harvey Weinstein. For decades, Harvey Weinstein was the golden boy of Hollywood. As co-founder of Miramax and later the Weinstein Company, he wielded extraordinary power, turning aspiring actresses into stars and collecting Oscar after Oscar for films like Shakespeare and Love and The King's Speech.
But beneath the accolades lurked something sinister. His behavior toward women was whispered about extensively throughout the industry as what many called Hollywood's biggest open secret. Seth McFarland even joked at the 2013 Oscar nominations. Congratulations, you five ladies no longer have to pretend to be attracted to Harvey Weinstein. The audience laughed because they knew it was true.
The pattern was known by more or less everybody in the business. Weinstein would invite young actresses or assistants to hotel rooms for supposed meetings. Once there, he would appear in his underwear, demand inappropriate physical contact, or force himself upon them.
Lauren Young testified that he trapped her in a bathroom, touched her body without consent while performing an intimate act on himself, telling her this is what all the actresses do to make it. The fact that he was so powerful is exactly how he got away with it for so long. His power silenced victims. One actress justified it to herself after an unwanted encounter, telling herself, "This is Harvey Weinstein. I'll never work again, and no one is going to care or believe me.
" Many who resisted found themselves blacklisted. Those who submitted to it were haunted by shame. The dam finally broke in October 2017 when the New York Times and The New Yorker published their extensive bombshell investigations. Over 100 women eventually came forward with accusations spanning nearly three decades.
The open secret was now there for the whole world. Weinstein's defense crumbled, unable to counter the pattern of allegations. In February 2020, a New York jury convicted him on two counts. The sentence 23 years. In 2023, Los Angeles added another 16 years for additional convictions. Even though New York's Court of Appeals overturned his original conviction in April 2024, Weinstein remains imprisoned on California charges, his legacy is forever destroyed.
Level five, Alfred Hitchcock. In 1963, Alfred Hitchcock discovered Tippy Hedrin in a commercial and cast her in The Birds, launching her to stardom. But behind the scenes, their professional relationship quickly deteriorated into something disturbing, like something from one of his own movies. Hitchcock had fallen deeply in love with Hedrin.
On set, he would obsessively control her interactions, warning male co-stars to keep their distance and monitoring all of her conversations with men. Believing he had isolated her enough, he invited Hedrin into his limousine and suddenly threw himself on top of her, trying to kiss her against her will.
Hedrin later called this moment awful and wished she could erase it from memory. Her rejection of him didn't help anything. During the shooting of the infamous attic scene, Hitchcock had promised to use mechanical birds for safety, but on shooting day, Hedin discovered real birds would be used instead.
She arrived to find trainers wearing protective leather gloves while she received no protection, trapped under a confined mesh with a camera pointed at her. For 5 days, live seagulls and ravens were thrown at her, causing numerous injuries. 12 crew members had already been hospitalized from bird attacks before her scene began. Despite the horrific experience on the birds, Hedrin was contractually obligated to work with Hitchcock again on Marne the very next year. Of course, his unwelcome advances worsened.
In Hedrin's dressing room, he grabbed her without warning, becoming more forceful when she resisted. After Hedin rejected him, Hitchcock explicitly threatened, "I'll ruin your career." As is common in Hollywood, he followed through. Despite her acclaimed performances, Hitchcock kept Hedrin under contract while refusing to cast her in anything. When directors like Goddard and Trufo attempted to hire her, Hitchcock blocked them.
Hedrin remained contractually trapped for years, watching opportunities disappear, all because she refused to sleep with a man she was not attracted to. Hedrin kept silent about these experiences for decades, saying that there was no dialogue to describe this behavior in the 1960s.
It is the worst thing to be the object of someone's obsession if you're not interested. It became unbearable. But now at 91, she tells her daughter and granddaughter, "You do not put up with that from anybody. No job is worth that kind of treatment." Roman Palanski. In March 1977, Roman Palansk's life changed forever.
The highly acclaimed director of iconic thrillers like Chinatown and Rosemary's Baby was arrested in Los Angeles after an incident involving Samantha Gaye. It was 8 years later that the director was accused of and the 13-year-old girl he was photographing. He plead guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse in 1978 and was sent to prison for 42 days of evaluation. The accusations were horrifying.
He allegedly pied the girl with alcohol and quaudes before forcing himself on her despite her protests. At first, Palansky faced six charges, but eventually agreed to a plea deal admitting to unlawful relations with a teenager. But after spending 42 days in psychiatric evaluation, he learned the judge might reject the plea agreement, potentially sending him to prison.
So hours before his sentencing in February 1978, he fled to Europe. In the almost 5 decades since, Palansky has lived as a fugitive primarily in France, which refuses to extradite him to the United States. Yet remarkably, his career didn't end.
He continued making films in Europe, even winning the Oscar for best director for The Pianist in 2003, though he couldn't collect it in person. In 2009, Swiss authorities arrested Palansky during a rare film festival appearance. But the Hollywood community decided that this was somehow wrong with many rushing to his defense. Martin Scorsesei, Woody Allen, David Lynch, Tilda Swinton, Wes Anderson.
These industry titans signed petitions demanding his immediate release, arguing that an international cultural event shouldn't be used by police to apprehend him. They insisted that the artist was separate from the art. Some of the actors have since expressed regret for signing the petition, including Natalie Portman and Emma Thompson, who requested the removal of her name almost as soon as she signed it.
However, the industry's inexplicably divided response to Palansky reveals Hollywood's blatant hypocrisy. They celebrated the Me Too movement while simultaneously defending someone who committed the very acts the movement condemns just because he was an artist. Level six, David Keredine. On June 4th, 2009, a chambermaid at Bangkok's Swiss Hotel Nyler Park, made a shocking discovery.
David Keredine, the 72-year-old star of Kung Fu and Kill Bill, was lifeless in his hotel closet. Now, the circumstances were bizarre. Keredine's naked body hung with hands bound above his head, the robes tied around his neck, and genitals forming a bizarre complex arrangement. He wore fishnet stockings and a dark wig with red feminine underwear on the nearby bed.
On the 4th June 2009, the Thai police have confirmed the death of US actor David Kedin who was found dead in his room at a Swiss hotel park, Bangkok. Initially, Thai authorities suspected self harm, but the absence of a farewell note and the peculiar positioning raised questions.
How could someone bind their own hands above their head like this? Even Keredine's family questioned why he would harm himself. They hired forensic expert Dr. Michael Baden for an independent examination, concluding he didn't die by intention, but through accidental esphyxiation. Former wives revealed startling details about Keredine's private proclivities. His third wife confirmed that he regularly engaged in self-binding practices, saying it was his way of relaxing. Another ex-wife had written in divorce papers that Keredine practiced deviant behavior which was potentially
deadly. Now she was proved right. Thai authorities ruled the death accidental, the result of a simple thrillseeking act gone wrong. Nathan Forest Winters. Nathan Forest Winters was just 6 years old when he met Victor Salva, a budding filmmaker.
Their paths crossed when Victor befriended Nathan's mother who made props for films. Victor gained the family's trust, offering to watch young Nathan, eventually turning weekend visits into overnight stays at his apartment. His intentions predictably were not pure. His grooming process was developing my love and trust and developing my parents' trust. And so essentially he became a close friend.
During one fateful viewing of the Jungle Book, Victor started talking about Mowgli's loin cloth, telling Nathan he would make one for him. As he tied the two bandanas together, he began taking advantage of the situation. Started talking about Mowgli's loin cloth and so that he could make me one. So he got two bandanas and tied them together and made this loin cloth. And as he's tying them, he's like fondling me. And that's like my first memory of when the started.
For six long years, Nathan endured inappropriate contact from the man who would later direct him. The whole time, Victor documented these violations on video, creating evidence that would eventually lead to his downfall. The truth surfaced during the filming of Clownhouse when crew members noticed troubling interactions between the two.
Some of the cast and crew came to my mom and said, "Nathan and Victor's interaction on set is not okay. There is something going on." Nathan's family, who apparently never questioned why this grown man would want to spend nights with their child, contacted authorities, leading to Victor's 1988 conviction on five felony counts.
Despite receiving a 3-year sentence, Victor served merely 15 months at a rehabilitation facility before being released. But in typical Hollywood style, justice was not served. Nathan found himself blacklisted from Hollywood while Victor's career flourished. Francis Ford Copala supported him and Disney hired him to direct Powder, a script Salva wrote while incarcerated.
Decades later, Nathan decided to transform his trauma into advocacy, saying his intention was and still remains to raise awareness and to educate, to shed light onto these darkest of crimes. Through speaking tours and a documentary project called Babysitter, Nathan continues fighting to protect others from experiencing what he endured.
Victor Salva hasn't made a movie since 2017, but it's sadly very likely that if he wanted to, he could. Fatty Arbuckle. Rosco Fatty Arbuckle was Hollywood's biggest silent comedy star in 1921. At his peak, he was earning $1 million every year. That's $15 million today. He discovered Buster Keaton, mentored Charlie Chaplain, and delighted audiences with his surprising agility.
Despite weighing over $260 lb, he was big in every way. On one Labor Day weekend, Arbuckle hosted a party at San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel. Among the guests was Virginia Rap, a struggling 30-year-old actress with chronic health issues. Nobody had any idea they were about to become part of America's very first celebrity scandal.
Rap became violently ill during the gathering. Her screams were heard through the party and she was found writhing in pain, allegedly gasping, "He did this to me." 4 days later, she died from a ruptured bladder. Accusations flew immediately about her cryptic words. One guest claimed Arbuckle had forced himself on rap, his enormous weight causing catastrophic internal damage to her tiny body.
Tabloid newspapers reported that he had to Virginia rap and the weight of his large body had crushed her bladder, causing her death. This, of course, was only wild speculation. William Randph Hurst's newspapers spread these offensive allegations nationwide with massive headlines. The story grew increasingly disturbing with false claims about bottles and ice cubes entering the narrative.
Overnight, this jovial, friendly movie star became a violent monster in the public eye. But none of it was true. Medical evidence showed Rap suffered from chronic bladder inflammation worsened by alcohol, but public opinion had already condemned Arbuckle as a physical offender. Three trials followed. The first two ended with hung juries. The third acquitted him after just 5 minutes of deliberation.
The jury even issued an unprecedented written apology for the psychological and career damage Arbuckle had suffered. It didn't matter. Throughout the trial process, Arbuckle received death threats, but Arbuckle's family and friends stuck with him. Charlie Chaplan and Buster Keaton both publicly stated that they believed he was innocent.
6 days later, Will Hayes, head of the movie industry's censorship board, banned Arbuckle from films entirely. His movies were pulled from theaters. His million-dollar contract vanished. Overnight, he was dead to Hollywood. One of the first things Hayes did was ban Arbuckle's films from being screened at movie theaters.
Though this ban would not last long, it lasted long enough for Fatty Arbuckle to be gradually forgotten as an actor and comedian. Broke from legal fees, Arbuckle worked behind the cameras under the pseudonym William Goodrich. In 1932, Warner Brothers finally offered him a comeback. The world was ready. Hollywood was ready.
The night he signed the contract in 1933, Arbuckle died in his sleep. He was 46. He never had a chance to make his grand comeback. [Music] Michael Jace. On a fateful evening in May 2014, April Jace was returning to her home in Los Angeles. Earlier in the day, she had asked for a divorce from her husband of 9 years, Michael Jace, an actor best known for a role on The Shield. When April arrived, Michael shot her in the back with a revolver.
As she fell to the ground, he wasn't finished. She realized their two sons were watching as he fired two more shots into her legs, leaving her to bleed out. Immediately after the shooting, Michael texted his father-in-law, "Come get the boys. I shot April. He also called 911 himself, calmly telling the dispatcher, "I shot my wife.
" Police arrived to find Michael standing in the doorway, unarmed and seemingly unfazed by the whole thing. Inside, they discovered April's body in the hallway. The couple's sons, traumatized by what they'd witnessed, were still in the home. During the investigation, authorities learned Michael believed April wanted to leave him for another man, though no evidence supported this claim.
He was broke with debts between $500,000 and $1 million and seemingly no way to pay them off. In May 2016, a jury found Michael guilty of secondderee killing after deliberating for less than 3 hours. The following month, he received a sentence of 40 years to life in prison. 5 years for taking April's life and an additional 25 years for using a firearm.
We the jury in the above entitled action find the defendant, Michael Andrew Jace, guilty of the crime of murder of April Jace. April's family now cares for the couple's sons. While Michael sits in Corkran State Prison, the boys must somehow move forward without their mother as well as their own trauma from what they witnessed. Level seven, Army Hammer. Army Hammer seemed destined for Hollywood greatness.
He was the great grandson of oil tycoon Armand Tammer and his small roles in Arrested Development and Gossip Girl led to his breakthrough role in 2010 with The Social Network where he impressively portrayed the Winklvoss twins and a challenging dual role. His career trajectory just went up and up.
He starred opposite Johnny Depp in The Lone Ranger, joined Henry Caval in The Man from Uncle and earned a Golden Globe nomination for Call Me By Your Name alongside Timothy ShalomΓ©. He seemed to have everything needed for lasting stardom. But in January 2021, an anonymous Instagram account called at House of Effie began sharing disturbing messages allegedly sent by Hammer to multiple women between 2016 and 2020.
These unverified texts contained graphic depictions of violent fantasies and cannibalistic desires. One message just said, "I am 100%." Another detailed wanting to tie up someone and incapacitate them. The messages described drinking blood and other disturbing activities that we can't quote here, but trust me, they're graphic and messed up.
More women came forward with similar stories. A 24year-old woman held a press conference in March 2021 alleging a traumatic encounter with Hammer in 2017. On April 24th, 2017, Army Hammer violent me for over four hours in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Police Department opened an investigation into his behavior. The professional consequences were immediate and devastating.
His agency, WME, dropped him. His personal publicist walked away. Hammer dropped out of Shotgun Wedding, a film with Jennifer Lopez, and was removed entirely from The Offer, a series about making The Godfather. By May 2023, the Los Angeles District Attorney declined to press charges, citing insufficient evidence, but the damage was done.
Hammer seemed to resort to selling time shares in the Cayman Islands, a far cry from his promising Hollywood dreams. When asked directly if he was a a 2025 interview, Hammer replied, "You have to actually eat human flesh." So, no. Michael Bray. On November 23rd, 2010, in a second floor apartment in the quiet Brooklyn neighborhood of Prospect Heights, something horrific was unfolding between actor Michael Bray and his mother, Yanick.
Michael had recently attended a Freemason meeting in Harlem. He returned home complaining of headaches, refused dinner, and went straight to bed, but he didn't actually sleep. At approximately 2:20 a.m., neighbors heard Yanuk's desperate cries, screaming out, "Help! He's going to kill me!" Michael was chasing her through the apartment with a three-foot ceremonial sword, cornering his 55-year-old mother in the bathroom. Heard a shriek, um someone yelling like, "Ah.
" And then, um after that, it was probably like a help me. And then probably not 5 minutes after that, the sound went away. As the horrific attack unfolded, neighbors heard Michael shouting biblical phrases. Repent, repent, sinner, sinner, he yelled, followed by references to the greatest architect of the universe, terminology associated with Freemasonry.
When police arrived, they found Yanick's body kneeling in the bathroom, suffering fatal wounds to her head. ESU officers used tasers to subdue the suspect who was taken into custody. The man's mother found dead in another room. Officers found Michael in a bedroom still clutching the bloodcovered weapon, insisting that he didn't kill his mother, but the demon inside her. Days before the incident, Michael claimed he began experiencing paranoid visions after joining a Masonic lodge.
He reported strangers on the subway telling him to eliminate his mother and he believed he received messages from God. In May 2012, psychiatrists diagnosed Michael with schizophrenia. He pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease.
Rather than facing trial, he was committed to a psychiatric facility for long-term care, where he remains to this day. If you're still in the mood for more disturbing TV and film content, why not check out this iceberg digging into the most disturbing moments in children's movies.
