10 Scandals That Got EVEN MORE Disturbing Over Time
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VOICE OVER: Ryan Wild
These scandals started bad and got worse as time progressed. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're examining ten scandals that got progressively more unsettling as new details and developments emerged. Our countdown of scandals that got even more disturbing over time includes The Catholic Church Abuse Scandal, Diddy, Jeffrey Epstein, and more!
10 Scandals That Got EVEN MORE Disturbing Over Time
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining ten scandals that got progressively more unsettling as new details and developments emerged.
The Catholic Church Abuse Scandal
The issue of abusive Catholic priests goes back decades, but as is usually the case, victims were discouraged from coming forward and the problems were handled internally - which really meant that nothing much was done about it. However, the issue began receiving limited press in the 1980s, and a growing awareness spread the following decade thanks in large part to Sinéad O’Connor[a]’s infamous act of protest on “Saturday Night Live.” But we had no idea just how deep it went. By 2002, The Boston Globe had broken the story wide open, revealing a decades-long pattern of abuse and systemic cover-ups by the Catholic Church. Before long, reports and investigations were erupting in countries all across the world.
Anthony Weiner[b]
Everyone remembers the time that sexting brought down a Congressman. In May of 2011, he accidentally tweeted a lewd photo that was meant for a woman. He tried the whole “my account was hacked!” thing, but it didn’t work and Weiner eventually came clean. It gets worse. He also admitted to doing this with “about six [other] women over the last three years,” and he resigned from Congress. In 2013, Weiner attempted a political comeback but was caught yet again. Two more times, in fact. It gets worse. In 2016, he was accused of sexting an underage girl, and he pleaded guilty to “transferring obscene material to a minor.” He was given 21 months in prison and had to register as a sex offender.
Marilyn Manson
Controversy has always followed Marilyn Manson, but things took a turn for the personal in 2021. It started in February, when a number of women - including Manson’s ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood[c] - accused him of abuse. And with this, the floodgates opened. Further stories soon came pouring in, and before long, more than a dozen women had accused Manson of some kind of mistreatment. Five women also filed civil lawsuits against the musician, including one Jane Doe who claimed that she was groomed as a minor back in the 1990s. Some lawsuits were dismissed, others were settled out of court. And while Manson maintains his innocence - even going so far as to sue Wood for defamation - his reputation has been thoroughly tarnished.
Jeffrey Epstein[d]
This famous financier was rocked by a scandal in 2005, when a woman in Palm Beach, Florida accused Epstein of assaulting her teenage daughter. The accusation was bad enough for his public image, but police looked into it and uncovered an entire network of abuse involving dozens of women and young girls. He served one year in prison, but as we all know, even that wasn’t the end of the story. Fast forward to July 2019, when the FBI targeted Epstein and arrested him for sex trafficking. This arrest has spawned countless conspiracy theories, like the fact that Epstein was running an enormous underground sex ring involving the world’s elite. This theory was further bolstered by his curious death in prison.
Jimmy Savile[e]
Everyone knew that Jimmy Savile was a bit eccentric. But a few knew that he was downright evil. Savile died in October 2011, and the following year ITV released an episode of “Exposure” in which multiple women accused Savile of sexual assault. Following its release, London police were so inundated with further accusations that they launched Operation Yewtree and began extensively digging into Savile’s history. What they uncovered was nightmarish. They released a report in January 2013 detailing extensive abuse, with hundreds of women and young girls being attacked across the country over a span of fifty years. The scandal rocked Britain and beyond, leading to increased awareness of institutional abuse and a number of reforms to improve the safety of children.
Kevin Spacey
The MeToo movement brought about the downfall of many public figures, including Kevin Spacey. It began in October of 2017, when a man named Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of assaulting him back in the 1980s. Spacey issued a statement on Twitter apologizing to Rapp, but he also used the opportunity to come out as gay - a move that was widely criticized as an attempt at deflection. If only it ended there. In the following weeks, multiple people came forward with similar allegations, including many who worked on “House of Cards,” meaning his rash of inappropriate behavior was ongoing. And while Spacey has been acquitted in all criminal cases related to these allegations, he remains a controversial figure, and his career has struggled to regain traction.
Bill Cosby
While there were multiple warning signs, everyone ignored - even loved - Bill Cosby until October 2014, when comedian Hannibal Buress[f] alluded to Cosby’s sketchy history. These remarks allowed multiple women to come forward, and by the end of the year more than a dozen had accused Cosby of sexual assault, with the pattern of abuse stretching back half a century to the 1960s. But things got even worse in 2015. We learned that Cosby tended to drug women with Quaaludes by spiking their drinks, and many more victims were discovered - eventually totaling over sixty. America’s Dad eventually found himself in prison, and his case marked a major cultural shift in how accusations of abuse are perceived.
Harvey Weinstein[g]
For decades, rumors circulated in Hollywood regarding Harvey Weinstein’s abusive behavior, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the downfall truly began. In October of that year, The New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés detailing Weinstein’s history of abuse. Dozens of women had accused the movie mogul of assault, and the problem had been persisting for decades. But this was only the beginning. These exposés were the magic key, and it unlocked one of Hollywood’s darkest secrets. Dozens more came forward following the publications, including some of the most prominent industry figures. In total, over eighty women eventually accused Weinstein of misconduct, sparking the MeToo movement and uncovering a deep pattern of systemic abuse.
R. Kelly
In December of 2000, the Chicago Sun Times made a startling report on R. Kelly, claiming that the R&B singer had engaged in inappropriate behavior with a minor. We had no idea just how far this story would go. The newspaper broke a similar scandal just fourteen months later, leading to serious charges which tarnished the singer’s reputation. But because the alleged victim refused to testify, Kelly was infamously acquitted. Luckily, justice eventually came for the singer in the 2010s and early 2020s following even deeper and more disturbing revelations. Kelly was eventually nailed for many serious crimes, like producing illicit material, sexual exploitation, and racketeering, and sentenced to thirty years in prison.
Diddy
This is one of those stories where it seems like every day brings a new revelation. November 2023 was a bad month for Diddy, as three different people accused him of sexual assault, including his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. He acknowledged his transgressions with a quick Instagram apology, hoping that that would bury the story for good. But those allegations were only the tip of the iceberg. In October of 2024, The Washington Post reported that over 120 lawsuits against Diddy would be filed in the coming months, and attorney Andrew Van Arsdale[h] even admitted that approximately 3,000 people have come forward with allegations of abuse. Three thousand. Just when you think the story couldn’t possibly get any worse, it does.
Can you think of any other examples? Let us know in the comments below!
[a]shuh-NAID oh-CONNOR https://forvo.com/search/Sin%C3%A9ad%20O%E2%80%99Connor/
[b]anthony WEE-nur https://youtu.be/fjN15MkJV6s?si=ERPebt6LJjsX0Nes&t=40
[c]EVV-vin RAY-chull wood https://youtu.be/OywNc4yl1No?t=1
[d]EPP-steen https://forvo.com/word/jeffrey_epstein/#en
[e]jimmy SAV-ull https://forvo.com/search/Jimmy%20Savile/
YOO-tree https://youtu.be/q9nBFexwBUw?si=vYtzdyYAPhw5N34s&t=545
[f]hannibal BUR-iss https://youtu.be/q_-IH2Y6o2Y?si=I-gja15FPMb9JJPu
KWAY-loods https://forvo.com/search/Quaaludes/
[g]WINE-steen https://forvo.com/search/Harvey%20Weinstein/
[h]andrew van ARS-dale https://youtu.be/Jj2t9znSG5w?si=pAFAFAnSjJUsQEEw
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re examining ten scandals that got progressively more unsettling as new details and developments emerged.
The Catholic Church Abuse Scandal
The issue of abusive Catholic priests goes back decades, but as is usually the case, victims were discouraged from coming forward and the problems were handled internally - which really meant that nothing much was done about it. However, the issue began receiving limited press in the 1980s, and a growing awareness spread the following decade thanks in large part to Sinéad O’Connor[a]’s infamous act of protest on “Saturday Night Live.” But we had no idea just how deep it went. By 2002, The Boston Globe had broken the story wide open, revealing a decades-long pattern of abuse and systemic cover-ups by the Catholic Church. Before long, reports and investigations were erupting in countries all across the world.
Anthony Weiner[b]
Everyone remembers the time that sexting brought down a Congressman. In May of 2011, he accidentally tweeted a lewd photo that was meant for a woman. He tried the whole “my account was hacked!” thing, but it didn’t work and Weiner eventually came clean. It gets worse. He also admitted to doing this with “about six [other] women over the last three years,” and he resigned from Congress. In 2013, Weiner attempted a political comeback but was caught yet again. Two more times, in fact. It gets worse. In 2016, he was accused of sexting an underage girl, and he pleaded guilty to “transferring obscene material to a minor.” He was given 21 months in prison and had to register as a sex offender.
Marilyn Manson
Controversy has always followed Marilyn Manson, but things took a turn for the personal in 2021. It started in February, when a number of women - including Manson’s ex-fiancée Evan Rachel Wood[c] - accused him of abuse. And with this, the floodgates opened. Further stories soon came pouring in, and before long, more than a dozen women had accused Manson of some kind of mistreatment. Five women also filed civil lawsuits against the musician, including one Jane Doe who claimed that she was groomed as a minor back in the 1990s. Some lawsuits were dismissed, others were settled out of court. And while Manson maintains his innocence - even going so far as to sue Wood for defamation - his reputation has been thoroughly tarnished.
Jeffrey Epstein[d]
This famous financier was rocked by a scandal in 2005, when a woman in Palm Beach, Florida accused Epstein of assaulting her teenage daughter. The accusation was bad enough for his public image, but police looked into it and uncovered an entire network of abuse involving dozens of women and young girls. He served one year in prison, but as we all know, even that wasn’t the end of the story. Fast forward to July 2019, when the FBI targeted Epstein and arrested him for sex trafficking. This arrest has spawned countless conspiracy theories, like the fact that Epstein was running an enormous underground sex ring involving the world’s elite. This theory was further bolstered by his curious death in prison.
Jimmy Savile[e]
Everyone knew that Jimmy Savile was a bit eccentric. But a few knew that he was downright evil. Savile died in October 2011, and the following year ITV released an episode of “Exposure” in which multiple women accused Savile of sexual assault. Following its release, London police were so inundated with further accusations that they launched Operation Yewtree and began extensively digging into Savile’s history. What they uncovered was nightmarish. They released a report in January 2013 detailing extensive abuse, with hundreds of women and young girls being attacked across the country over a span of fifty years. The scandal rocked Britain and beyond, leading to increased awareness of institutional abuse and a number of reforms to improve the safety of children.
Kevin Spacey
The MeToo movement brought about the downfall of many public figures, including Kevin Spacey. It began in October of 2017, when a man named Anthony Rapp accused Spacey of assaulting him back in the 1980s. Spacey issued a statement on Twitter apologizing to Rapp, but he also used the opportunity to come out as gay - a move that was widely criticized as an attempt at deflection. If only it ended there. In the following weeks, multiple people came forward with similar allegations, including many who worked on “House of Cards,” meaning his rash of inappropriate behavior was ongoing. And while Spacey has been acquitted in all criminal cases related to these allegations, he remains a controversial figure, and his career has struggled to regain traction.
Bill Cosby
While there were multiple warning signs, everyone ignored - even loved - Bill Cosby until October 2014, when comedian Hannibal Buress[f] alluded to Cosby’s sketchy history. These remarks allowed multiple women to come forward, and by the end of the year more than a dozen had accused Cosby of sexual assault, with the pattern of abuse stretching back half a century to the 1960s. But things got even worse in 2015. We learned that Cosby tended to drug women with Quaaludes by spiking their drinks, and many more victims were discovered - eventually totaling over sixty. America’s Dad eventually found himself in prison, and his case marked a major cultural shift in how accusations of abuse are perceived.
Harvey Weinstein[g]
For decades, rumors circulated in Hollywood regarding Harvey Weinstein’s abusive behavior, but it wasn’t until 2017 that the downfall truly began. In October of that year, The New York Times and The New Yorker published exposés detailing Weinstein’s history of abuse. Dozens of women had accused the movie mogul of assault, and the problem had been persisting for decades. But this was only the beginning. These exposés were the magic key, and it unlocked one of Hollywood’s darkest secrets. Dozens more came forward following the publications, including some of the most prominent industry figures. In total, over eighty women eventually accused Weinstein of misconduct, sparking the MeToo movement and uncovering a deep pattern of systemic abuse.
R. Kelly
In December of 2000, the Chicago Sun Times made a startling report on R. Kelly, claiming that the R&B singer had engaged in inappropriate behavior with a minor. We had no idea just how far this story would go. The newspaper broke a similar scandal just fourteen months later, leading to serious charges which tarnished the singer’s reputation. But because the alleged victim refused to testify, Kelly was infamously acquitted. Luckily, justice eventually came for the singer in the 2010s and early 2020s following even deeper and more disturbing revelations. Kelly was eventually nailed for many serious crimes, like producing illicit material, sexual exploitation, and racketeering, and sentenced to thirty years in prison.
Diddy
This is one of those stories where it seems like every day brings a new revelation. November 2023 was a bad month for Diddy, as three different people accused him of sexual assault, including his ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura. He acknowledged his transgressions with a quick Instagram apology, hoping that that would bury the story for good. But those allegations were only the tip of the iceberg. In October of 2024, The Washington Post reported that over 120 lawsuits against Diddy would be filed in the coming months, and attorney Andrew Van Arsdale[h] even admitted that approximately 3,000 people have come forward with allegations of abuse. Three thousand. Just when you think the story couldn’t possibly get any worse, it does.
Can you think of any other examples? Let us know in the comments below!
[a]shuh-NAID oh-CONNOR https://forvo.com/search/Sin%C3%A9ad%20O%E2%80%99Connor/
[b]anthony WEE-nur https://youtu.be/fjN15MkJV6s?si=ERPebt6LJjsX0Nes&t=40
[c]EVV-vin RAY-chull wood https://youtu.be/OywNc4yl1No?t=1
[d]EPP-steen https://forvo.com/word/jeffrey_epstein/#en
[e]jimmy SAV-ull https://forvo.com/search/Jimmy%20Savile/
YOO-tree https://youtu.be/q9nBFexwBUw?si=vYtzdyYAPhw5N34s&t=545
[f]hannibal BUR-iss https://youtu.be/q_-IH2Y6o2Y?si=I-gja15FPMb9JJPu
KWAY-loods https://forvo.com/search/Quaaludes/
[g]WINE-steen https://forvo.com/search/Harvey%20Weinstein/
[h]andrew van ARS-dale https://youtu.be/Jj2t9znSG5w?si=pAFAFAnSjJUsQEEw
