Top 10 Scandals That Defined Cinema
#10: Roman Polanski Flees From the U.S.
In 1977, director Roman Polanski was arrested on a sexual assault charge. Samantha Gailey accused him of drugging her at the home of actor Jack Nicholson, Polanski’s friend. He pled guilty to unlawful sex with a minor, but then fled the country when he caught wind that the judge was planning to reject his plea deal. His comments since then and accusations from several other women have been an ongoing point of contention, particularly since his career has remained intact. His 2020 win for Best Director at the César Awards was met with walkouts. However, Gailey has repeatedly said she wishes the case to be dropped, saying he’s endured enough in the decades since.
#9: Christina Crawford Publishes “Mommie Dearest”
After being cut out of Joan Crawford’s will, her adopted daughter Christina published a memoir. In this book, Christina depicts Joan as a cruel and insecure person with alcohol use disorder who committed horrendous acts of physical and emotional abuse on her children. Many of Crawford’s contemporaries, even known enemy Bette Davis, were skeptical of the book. Given how scandal often works in Hollywood, it’s hard to say if this is just a case of the industry protecting its own. Rightly or wrongly, “Mommie Dearest” destroyed the reputation of one of classic Hollywood’s greatest stars. 1981’s lambasted film adaptation became so ingrained in the culture that it’s the first thing people think of when they hear the name Joan Crawford.
#8: The Murder of Lana Turner’s Mobster Boyfriend
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When Lana Turner took the stand, it was said she gave the performance of her life. That was part of the problem. The scandal that ensued after the fatal stabbing of reputed mobster Johnny Stompanato in 1958 could have been a career-ender for the glamorous star. Her young daughter, Cheryl Crane, confessed that she stabbed the abusive Stompanato in defense of her mother. Rumors swirled from the beginning that Lana Turner had done it and that her daughter was protecting her. Contrarily, the responding officer actually reported that Turner tried to take the blame for her daughter. Despite skepticism among the press and the public, Crane was exonerated and her story has not changed in the decades since.
#7: Elizabeth Taylor & Eddie Fisher’s Affair
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Before Brad and Angelina, there was Liz and Eddie. In 1958, movie star Elizabeth Taylor and singer Eddie Fisher were part of two separate famous supercouples. Taylor was married to Oscar-winning producer Mike Todd, while Fisher was with the MGM star Debbie Reynolds. When Todd died, Fisher rushed to Taylor’s side. Ultimately, as Carrie Fisher, Eddie’s daughter with Debbie, would put it, he found an unusual way to console the grieving widow. The scandal ended Eddie’s TV show, but Taylor’s career would only grow over time. By the mid-1960s, Eddie and Elizabeth had divorced, and Debbie and Elizabeth had reconciled. The rest is Hollywood history.
#6: Ingrid Bergman’s Affair & Hollywood Exile
For a time, Ingrid Bergman was the very model of virtuous femininity. Her elegant performance style made her a go-to for characters who were repressed, romantic, and dignified. When the news broke that she was having an extramarital affair with her director, Italian neorealist filmmaker Roberto Rossellini, let’s just say the American public didn’t take it well. In fact, Bergman was effectively canceled. She was denounced on the floor of the Senate, she lost her brand sponsorships and radio deals, and she was all but forced to continue her career in Europe. She would not appear in another Hollywood movie for seven years.
#5: Jackie Coogan Sues His Parents
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Stories of wayward child stars are always in the news, but it’s a story that’s almost as old as the movie industry itself. Jackie Coogan made his name as a juvenile co-star of Charlie Chaplin before becoming a star in his own right. He should have been worth millions when he came of age, but he soon discovered his mother and stepfather had squandered all the money he had earned. With massive public support, his ensuing legal battle led to the passing of the Coogan Act, which protects child actors’ earnings and outlines their labor rights. The 1939 law has been amended since then, but it is still the standard in the business.
#4: The Death of Thomas Ince
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The death of filmmaker and producer Thomas Ince was so mysterious that it’s still hard to tell fact from fiction. He reportedly died of heart failure at his home in 1924. Rumors circulated that he had actually been shot by William Randolph Hearst on Hearst’s yacht. It was also alleged that the true circumstances surrounding his death were being covered up by Hearst, comedian Charlie Chaplin, actress Marion Davies, and columnist Louella Parsons. The story surrounding Ince’s death became a game of telephone, where each new detail hinted at something crueler and more grotesque than the one before it. Although the true details may be far less scintillating than the myth, Ince’s death was an example of the public’s growing suspicion of cinema luminaries.
#3: The Trials of Fatty Arbuckle
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The death of Virginia Rappe gave the film colony’s naysayers plenty of salacious details to spin conspiracy theories around. In 1921, Rappe fell ill and died of a ruptured bladder days after attending a rarefied hotel party thrown by silent film star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. A fellow party guest accused Roscoe of attacking Rappe, and the comedian was brought up on charges of sexual assault and manslaughter. Contradictory testimony, sensationalist journalism, and Rappe’s own fragile health before her death made the entire case all the more complicated. After three trials, Arbuckle was acquitted, but his reputation was in tatters. The bad press was just one of the reasons that Hollywood established its own code of conduct for its stars’ behavior on and off-screen.
#2: Harvey Weinstein Allegations & the
#MeToo Movement
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Initially started by Tarana Burke in 2006, the
#MeToo Movement caught fire in 2017 with the publication of two major exposés on Harvey Weinstein. The megaproducer’s decades of sexual misconduct was an open secret, played for jokes on late night and even by Oscar hosts. However, once the extent and violence of his crimes became public, it caused a firestorm. The story proved to be bigger than Weinstein, as women became compelled and empowered to share their own experiences with powerful, predatory men. In just a few short years, it has shifted the balance of power in Hollywood and brought awareness to misuses of power that went unchecked in the film industry. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. The Death of Natalie Wood Wood’s Mysterious 1981 Drowning is Still Being Investigated to This Day Rob Lowe’s Sex Tape The Megastar’s Leaked Video Became One of the First Sex Tape Scandals Jane Fonda Travels to Hanoi Fonda Became Forever Known as “Hanoi Jane” for Her Controversial Trip to Vietnam Marilyn Monroe’s Death Her Sudden, Tragic Death Left a Film Unfinished & Fueled Even More Toxic Gossip Charlie Chaplin’s Exile The Red Scare Forced the Controversial Comic to Leave America Completely in 1952
#1: “The Birth of a Nation” Revitalizes the KKK
D.W. Griffith’s “The Birth of a Nation” was a silent historical epic most infamous for its depiction of the Ku Klux Klan as a heroic force. As much as it overwhelmed audiences with its technical achievements, critics and the NAACP called for boycotts over it and its makers’ unrepentant racism. Lynchings and anti-black violence saw a notable uptick in its aftermath. Months after its release, the Ku Klux Klan returned after a near-fifty-year hiatus. There’s no doubt where they took their inspiration. The new Klan adopted much of the iconography that was actually invented by the story’s original author and mythologized on screen. It remains a sobering and disturbing reminder of how powerful Hollywood storytelling can be, for better or worse. How many of these Hollywood scandals had you heard of? Tell us which one shocked you the most.
