Top 30 Celebrity Rumors That Turned Out To Be True
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VOICE OVER: Phoebe de Jeu
These shocking celebrity rumors turned out to be true! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the gossip surrounding public figures that was proven correct. Our countdown of the celebrity rumors that turned out to be true includes Katy Perry Collected Celebrity Hair, Ben Affleck & His Nanny, Drew Barrymore's Wild Childhood, Taylor Swift & Jake Gyllenhaal's Entanglement, Diddy Parties, and more!
Top-30-Celebrity-Rumors-That-Turned-Out-To-Be-True
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the gossip surrounding public figures that was proven correct.
Alright, this one is straight up unusual. Katy Perry was always rumored to do odd things, but this is strange even for her. The word on the street was that Katy collected hair from her fellow celebrity BFFs. Well, as weird as this seemed to be, the rumor turned out to actually be true and it was confirmed by Katy herself. She said that she got to share a dressing room with Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift one day and just casually asked each of them for a lock of their hair. They agreed, and then according to Katy, she even put little bows on the locks and put them in her purse!
On November 29th 2021, rumors of Antony Ramos stepping out on his fiancée started to spread. Why? Because of a TikTok video that claimed he was spotted at a club with another woman. To top it off, the video included proof of the pair, although it seemed unclear whether it was actually them. No one was sure whether these were just TikTok rumors or rooted in truth. Regardless, soon afterwards a source claimed to US Weekly that Anthony Ramos and Jasmine Cephas Jones called it quits way before Anthony was spotted, and confirmed that the split rumors were indeed correct.
Around the time Schwarzenegger left office as Governor of California in 2011, there were reports that he had an affair with his longtime housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena, and even fathered a son, Joseph, who bore a striking resemblance to the action star. These rumors were later confirmed by Schwarzenegger himself, and it was also discovered that he secretly gave money to his maid to support his son. Prior to these revelations coming out in May 2011, Schwarzenegger separated from his wife, Maria Shriver, and Shriver later filed for divorce in July.
This is a shout out to our fave girl band ever. Little Mix breakup rumors were alive and well long before 2021. But then, Jesy Nelson decided to split from the group and Leigh-Anne and Perrie announced their pregnancies. And everyone started to get anxious. The girls ended up addressing their fans, saying they would still be going until at least 2031. However, just not long after, they announced they were taking a hiatus. And in true girl and boy band fashion, we all know that this means they’ve pretty much parted ways. Fans were absolutely devastated, but many believe — or hope — that the girls will eventually reunite.
Just a month after splitting from Jennifer Garner, Ben Affleck was rumored to be in a relationship with his children’s nanny. Of course, this sparked further rumors of cheating after the nanny was fired from her job. The tabloids referred to it as ‘Nannygate’. No one was able to confirm whether those rumors were true or not until Jennifer herself revealed that Ben did actually date his nanny. However, she clarified that she and Affleck were separated before she heard about the two dating, and Ben’s relationship with the nanny had nothing to do with the divorce. Jen did, however, say it was “bad judgment” on Ben’s part. Agreed.
In 2017, the Internet was full of rumors about a certain Instagram account called OnionRingsWorldwide. Many suspected that it belonged to Lorde, but no one was able to confirm for sure. After all, how random — and awesome — would it be if a celebrity had a secret account that reviews the deep fried food? But when Lorde stopped by “The Tonight Show,” she finally confessed she loves onion rings, and that’s when Jimmy Fallon asked the question. She finally admitted that she was the one behind the secret account! Unfortunately, she seemed to have stopped posting after she was outed, but we certainly hope this didn’t stop her love for onion rings.
While their paths may never have crossed, Cass Elliot and Keith Moon shared more similarities than they could imagine. Not only were they members of music groups, but they both met their untimely demise at age 32. Even weirder, this reportedly happened in the same apartment, only four years apart. The Mayfair, London flat belonged to Harry Nilsson, a singer-songwriter mutual friend of theirs who was mostly on the road and rented it out to his musician pals. Elliot died there on July 29th 1974, while in London for a concert. Four years later, Moon moved into the apartment, where he also passed away from a drug overdose. Unsurprisingly, Nilsson moved out of the flat and sold it off.
Tiger Woods’ cheating scandal became international news in 2009. But before then, these were nothing but rumors, as both Tiger and his wife Elin Nordegren refused to speak about the issue. Elin allegedly chased him out of the house with a golf club after she found out about the affair on Thanksgiving night after snooping through his phone. A few weeks later, Tiger confessed. Afterwards, many women came forward and claimed to have been involved with Woods while he was still married to Elin. Tiger confessed to serial infidelity and the scandal took a huge toll on his public reputation.
Shortly after the filming of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith,” Jennifer Aniston separated from Brad Pitt in January 2005 and filed for divorce in March. One month later, the media reported Pitt was dating “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” co-star Angelina Jolie, leading the public to believe an affair between the two actors broke up Aniston’s marriage. For years, Brad denied having an affair with Angelina during production, though Pitt admitted in a 2008 interview that he fell in love with her while they were making the film. However, one of their bodyguards told US Weekly in 2016 the two of them fooled around while on set.
We now know Jamie Foxx and Katie Holmes had a super secret romance that dated back to 2013. However, it was originally all hearsay, as no one could really confirm whether the two were actually together or not. They denied that they were dating for years while rumors ran rampant. They were spotted several times, but mostly kept their relationship private, In fact, they were secretive right until they announced their breakup in 2019. Since then, Katie has been spotted moving on while Jamie’s love life remains a question mark - though it appears he’s keen on staying a bachelor.
It’s heartbreaking when you hear reports that the cast of your fave show actually didn’t get along on set. Rumors of the feud between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall were running rampant for years. However, they were finally confirmed in 2018 when Kim addressed Sarah publicly after Parker reached out when Cattrall’s brother passed away. Kim posted on Instagram, saying she doesn’t need Sarah’s love and support. She warned Sarah to stop exploiting the tragedy and claimed she was only doing so in order to restore her nice girl persona. It was pretty clear that the behind the scenes of “Sex and the City” were full of drama.
Who doesn’t love Drew Barrymore? She’s had a decades-long career in Hollywood since her first film, “E.T.,” at age seven. But in the 80s and 90s, rumors swirled about her being the ultimate wild child. Drew published her memoir, “Wildflower,” in 2016, confirming many of the rumors. These included attending Hollywood parties with people triple her age, going to Studio 54 when she was only nine, and being addicted to drugs by 12. She even did a few stints in rehab as a teenager. Thankfully, Drew has cleaned up her act and her image over the years. She’s now sober, hosts a daytime talk show, and recently launched her own magazine. We’re rooting for you, Drew!
Heavy metal icon Ozzy Osbourne has admittedly done a lot of outrageous things throughout his long, storied career. But this one takes things to a new level of extreme. While on his “Bark at the Moon” tour in 1984, Osbourne stopped over at a Florida hotel alongside opening acts Mötley Crüe. The story goes that on one particular afternoon, the former Black Sabbath frontman took a straw and snorted a line of ants with it. While this may horrify the average person, it probably won’t be much of a surprise to anyone familiar with Osbourne’s antics. The rumor was confirmed in the band’s autobiography “The Dirt” and depicted in the same-titled Netflix film.
Before he founded and led the infamous Manson Family cult, Charles Manson was a struggling musician hoping for his big break. After leaving prison in the late 1960s, Manson made the acquaintance of the Beach Boys’ drummer Dennis Wilson, who hoped to sign him to a recording contract. Although that never came to fruition, Manson actually wrote a song titled “Cease to Exist” for the band. The lyrics were eventually reworked and released in 1968 as “Never Learn Not to Love”. This served as the B-side to their moderately successful single “Bluebirds over the Mountain”. In the end, Manson received no writing credit for the song, and a little over two years later, he was convicted of the Tate and LaBianca murders.
In the 1970s, New York band KISS took rock music by storm. The original four-man lineup was known for their signature white-and-black make-up and comic book-style costumes. In 1977, at the height of their popularity, the group teamed up with Marvel’s Stan Lee to create a series of KISS comic books. Seemingly as a marketing ploy, each member of the band was reported to have drawn a bit of their blood, which was then mixed with the printing ink for the comics. Turns out this was in fact true, as confirmed by KISS founding member Paul Stanley, and Lee himself. If that’s not the most shock rock-esque thing to ever happen in the comic book universe, we don’t know what is.
Believe it or not, there was a time when Charlie Sheen wasn’t known for overindulging himself with sex and drugs. But when Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss was investigated by the feds on charges of tax evasion and money laundering, she was thought to have had a black book full of clients whom she had provided with sex workers, including Charlie Sheen. At first, Sheen had denied it, but then his name was found on checks made out to Fleiss. Sheen was later called on to testify at Fleiss’s trial, where he admitted to spending 50,000 dollars over a two-year period.
For the fourth season of her successful ‘90s sitcom “Ellen,” Ellen DeGeneres had something special planned. During a special two-part episode called “The Puppy Episode,” Ellen’s character was going to come out as a lesbian. Leading up to the episode, the media began to ask questions as to whether Ellen herself was gay. At first, Ellen played it coy when pressed on the subject, but a couple of weeks before “The Puppy Episode” aired in April 1997, Ellen gave a definitive answer when she told Time Magazine that, yep, she was gay.
Okay, Swifties, this one’s for you. Before Taylor released the 10-minute version of her popular song “All Too Well,” Swift fans had their own theories about who this song was about. While Taylor and Jake were in a relationship, neither of them spoke publicly about their dating life or their breakup. Well, that is until the 10-minute version was released and Swifties got to hear exactly what happened in their short-lived romance. And it’s safe to say that we all had a collective breakdown when the “I’ll get older but your lovers stay my age” line came on. A true heartbreak masterpiece.
The night Solange attacked Jay-Z in an elevator became the talk of every tabloid that existed in 2014. Reports emerged that the fight was about Jay-Z, Rachel Roy and their questionable relationship. The rumors didn’t stop there, and continued when Beyoncé and Jay-Z went on tour together. However, everything was just one big question mark that later got publicly and artistically resolved when Beyoncé released her hit album “Lemonade.” She essentially confirmed that their marriage had been on the rocks when Jay-Z cheated on her with “Becky with the good hair.” Jay-Z also later ‘fessed up, in the media and his music.
For many years, rumors circulated that famous musician, Liberace, was gay. Liberace fought this rumor the best he could by being seen in public dating various women. In 1959, when the Daily Mirror ran an article that suggested he was gay, the singer sued the tabloid for libel and won 8,000 pounds. However, even after ex-lover Scott Thorson sued Liberace for palimony, he still refused to admit he was gay. Though Liberace never came out during his lifetime, celebrities who knew him, such as Betty White and Debbie Reynolds, later confirmed what people had long suspected.
If you were a movie fan in the 90s, you couldn’t avoid seeing this child actor brightening a cinema screen. With his iconic role as Kevin in “Home Alone” and his traumatizing funeral in “My Girl,” Macaulay Culkin became a household name before he was even a teenager. Unfortunately, this successful career came with a price. Rumors soon began circulating that Culkin’s father was abusing his power and overworking his young son. In 2018, Culkin appeared on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast and confirmed his dad’s physical and mental abuse. Thankfully he successfully sued to remove his parents’ control of his trust fund. But he and his dad have been estranged ever since.
Lance Armstrong was once known as one of the most respected athletes in the world. However, many were suspicious of his dominating cycling victories. In 2002, the U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling Team was questioned on whether any on the team used performance-enhancing substances. However, the case was closed for lack of evidence. Fast forward to 2009 when rumors of doping began to circulate once more, after Lance was accused by a former teammate. After a long investigation, Lance finally admitted he began doping when he was just 21. The US Anti-Doping Agency eventually called the whole affair “the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen.”
In 2014, rumors started to circulate that the culturally prominent former athletic star was a transgender woman. These rumors were dismissed by close family members who assured the media it was all nonsense, but in April 2015, she came out as transgender through a highly publicized interview with Diane Sawyer. In the interview, Jenner told Sawyer about all of the struggles with gender identity she had to go through all of her life. After coming out, Jenner also changed her name to Caitlyn.
Given Bill Cosby’s wholesome image from movies and TV shows, the accusations against him were a horrifying shock in every way. It all started to come to light in 2014 when stand up comic Hannibal Buress brought up Bill Cosby’s alleged past behavior during a show in Philadelphia. When this stand-up segment went viral, it became a story in the public conscience. Soon after, more and more women started coming forward with terrible claims about Cosby. He was convicted of aggravated indecent assault in 2018, but then the conviction was later vacated in 2021.
In 1981, Prince Charles married Lady Diana when she was 20 years old, despite a 13-year age gap. On the outside, things looked pleasant, but secretly, Charles was having an affair with ex-girlfriend Camilla Parker Bowles. The alleged relationship was written about in the 1992 book “Diana: Her True Story,” but in 1994, Charles admitted his misdeed in a documentary. The marriage was also rocked with another affair, this one between Princess Diana and Major James Hewitt. Unable to put aside their differences, the two divorced in 1996, and one year later, Diana tragically died in a car crash.
She’s been dubbed the Princess of R&B. But Aaliyah’s influence hasn’t stopped her from being followed by a rumor for over 25 years. Did she really marry R. Kelly with forged documents when she was underage? Regrettably, the answer is yes. Aaliyah was 15, and Kelly was 27. The marriage was later annulled, and Aaliyah refused to talk about the relationship. Unfortunately, she was tragically killed in a plane crash without ever telling her side of the story. R. Kelly, on the other hand, is paying the price for his many misdeeds, serving 30 years for bribery, sex trafficking, and additional charges. Thankfully, we still have the legacy of Aaliyah’s music, which continues to inspire artists to this day.
In January 1998, scandal broke when President Bill Clinton was accused of having an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky from 1995 to 1997. This information was brought to light after secret recordings of Lewinsky talking to a close friend/coworker about the two were given to Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr. At first, Clinton denied any such relationship, but after a tough summer of investigation, he eventually came clean. In his attempt to cover up the matter, Clinton committed perjury, for which he was impeached by the U. S. House of Representatives.
While he’s now a household name, Jeffrey Epstein didn’t make mainstream news until the mid 2000s. For a long time, Epstein was a nondescript owner of a brokerage firm. But around 2005, rumors started spreading that Epstein was a sexual predator. They began in March of that year, when a Florida woman accused Epstein of targeting her stepdaughter. This accusation drew the attention of the FBI, who discovered that Epstein was running an extensive sex ring. However, Epstein only spent one year in custody, after agreeing to a plea deal negotiated by the infamous Alan Dershowitz with state attorney Alexander Acosta. Epstein was famously arrested again in 2019, but died in prison before he could be convicted.
Sean “Diddy” Combs rose to fame in the 1990s as a rapper and entrepreneur who played a hand in bringing some of the biggest hip hop and R&B artists of the decade to mainstream audiences. Of course, allegedly beyond these important accolades were extremely dark practices that were alluded to in interviews by various celebrities who have met Diddy over the years. In November 2023, an initial lawsuit filed by Cassie Ventura accusing Combs of sexual assault, trafficking and physical abuse led way to countless other lawsuits from other alleged victims. In the wake of these allegations, many have gone on record about the now infamous Diddy parties, which has thrown suspicion and concern at many of the celebrities who have attended these events.
For decades, producer Harvey Weinstein was a Hollywood titan. But in 2017, bombshell articles in The New York Times and The New Yorker reported dozens of accusations of sexual abuse and assault. More and more women courageous came forward, sparking the #MeToo movement. In March 2020, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years behind bars. But rumors had actually circulated for years. Gwyneth Paltrow alluded to Weinstein as being ‘coercive’ back in 1998. Other celebrities like Courtney Love and Seth MacFarlane dropped public references, and “30 Rock” included not-so-subtle jabs about it. It was less ‘rumor’ and more ‘open Hollywood secret.’ Justice eventually prevailed and Weinstein’s crimes were finally acknowledged and punished.
Which piece of celebrity gossip are you convinced is true? Let us know in the comments below!
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