Sex scandal

A sex scandal is a scandal involving allegations or information about embarrassing sexual activities, such as adultery, being made public. Sex scandals are often associated with movie stars, politicians, or others in the public eye, and become scandals largely because of the prominence of the person involved.

Sex scandals involving politicians can become political scandals, particularly when there is an attempt at a cover-up, or suspicions of illegality.

List of famous sex scandals

Entertainers

Paula Abdul: alleged to have engaged in a sexual encounter with American Idol contestant Corey Clark while serving as a judge for the talent competition in 2005. Abdul denied any affair. In August of 2005 Fox announced that a thorough outside investigation had cleared Abdul of all charges levied by Clark. ^*
Fatty Arbuckle: tried three times for the violent rape and death of Virginia Rappe in 1921. Though acquitted of the charge, Arbuckle's career never revived. This case and several other sex scandals led to a self-imposed production code by the studios and strict contractual demands by the studios on actors' private lives.
Woody Allen: In 1992 he left his long-term partner Mia Farrow after she discovered his secret affair with her adopted daughter, Soon-Yi Previn. Farrow accused him of being a pedophile (Previn is 35 years his junior) and of abusing their seven-year-old daughter Dylan.
Hugh Grant: hired a prostitute and was subsequently arrested by Los Angeles police.
Ty Herndon: Country music singer arrested in a Fort Worth, Texas park for allegedly soliciting an undercover male police officer for sex.
Michael Jackson: alleged to have engaged in sexual activities with a teenage boy in 1993 (a civil complaint that was settled out of court), and again with another one in 2003 (a felony complaint); in the latter case Jackson was arrested and released on bail. Jackson claims that there were never sexual activities, and defends nonsexual sleepovers as harmless. Jackson was found innocent of all charges in 2005.
George Michael: arrested in 1998 for "engaging in a lewd act" in a public restroom in a Beverly Hills city park.

Politicians

David Blunkett resigned as UK Home Secretary after it was revealed he had an affair with a married woman Kimberley Quinn and was alleged to have used his position to speed up a visa application by her nanny.
John E. Brownlee, a former Premier of Alberta, was forced to resign in 1934 after allegations that he seduced a young woman. His party was wiped out in the subsequent election.
Chu Mei-feng, a former Taiwanese female politician, could only cut off all relationships with Taiwan after a local magazine published a video CD showing her having sex with married businessman Tseng Chung-ming in 2001.
Gary Condit, a California congressman, was revealed to be having an affair with his intern, which was alleged may have also led to her murder.
Edwina Currie revealed in 2002 that she had had a four-year extramarital affair with John Major who would later become Prime Minister. Commentators were quick to accuse Major of hypocrisy, referring to his previous Back to Basics platform (a form of moral absolutism).
David Lloyd George the last UK Liberal Party Prime Minister and leader during the end of World War 1 maintained a mistress while in office. The later revelation of this combined with his offering honours in return for payment contributed to a decline in his historical reputation.
Boris Johnson resigned from Michael Howard's shadow cabinet after it was revealed he had lied about an affair with journalist Petronella Wyatt that resulted in her having an abortion.
David Mellor a Conservative MP and a member of John Major's Cabinet had a relationship with an 'actress' that was exposed by Max Clifford. Mellor had previously demanded that the British Press needed to improve standards of journalism. After initially denying reports and posing for photographs with his family Mellor resigned from the Cabinet and later lost his seat.
Cecil Parkinson resigned from Margaret Thatcher's Cabinet after it was revealed he had fathered a child with his Secretary Sarah Keays and reneged on a promise to marry her. The revelation destroyed Parkinson's political career.
Rob Oudkerk, alderman for the Labour Party in Amsterdam lost a vote of confidence in 2004 after it became known that he had sex with illegal prostitutes. Prostitution is legalized in the Netherlands mainly for the protection of prostitutes. Oudkerk is trying to regain a responsible position within the Dutch labour party in 2005 but this was not allowed. Prostitution is hotly debated in the Netherlands since the Oudkerk affair.
Segregationist Strom Thurmond, the late US Senator, had an African-American daughter out of wedlock. He fathered the child with Carrie Butler, then a 16-year-old maid in his parents' household. Six months after Thurmond's death on June 26 2003, a 78-year-old African American woman named Essie Mae Washington-Williams revealed that the former senator was her father, a fact that Thurmond's family confirmed. Her mother had been impregnated by the 22-year-old Thurmond at a time when miscegenation was illegal under South Carolina law.
The Lewinsky scandal, in which sitting American President Bill Clinton engaged in a variety of sexual activities with his intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton's denial under oath made it worse and created, apart from the embarrassment, a legal problem that led to his impeachment.
James McGreevey, former Governor of New Jersey, revealed that he was a homosexual and admitted an extramarital affair with aide Golan Cipel in 2004, making him the first openly gay state governor in American history.
The Munsinger Affair, 1960s scandal involving several Canadian cabinet ministers and Gerda Munsinger, a Soviet spy.
The Profumo Affair—British Secretary of State for War John Profumo attempted to cover up his affair with a showgirl.
Uno Sosuke, Prime Minister of Japan, resigned in 1989, after less than three months when a geisha revealed that she had an affair with him.
Dr.Lester Crawford, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, was accused of an extramarital affair with an FDA employee in 2005. An investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found no evidence of an affair. Source: Senate Panel Approves FDA Chief Nominee, Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition), Jun 16, 2005; Page 1
Alexander Wood, a magistrate in Upper Canada who was part of a gay sex scandal in 1810
Grover Cleveland paid child support to a woman with whom he had an affair with in 1874.
Drew Nixon, a sitting Texas State Senator, was arrested in 1997 for solicitation of an undercover police officer posing as a prostitute. He was convicted and served his sentence on weekends while continuing to serve in the Texas Senate.
John Prescott British Deputy Prime Minister, was revealed in to have had an affair with a female Civil Servant. Further allegations of harassment emerged in April 2006.

Religious leaders

Jack Hyles was publicly accused of having an affair with a church member's wife.
The Roman Catholic sex abuse cases, in which the church came under intense criticism and scrutiny for covering up the sexual abuse of minors by priests.
Jimmy Swaggart was photographed in 1988 in series of meetings with prostitutes. When this was exposed his ministry was destroyed. He was later stopped by police officers in 1991 with a prostitute in his vehicle.
Bob Gray founder of Trinity Baptist College was accused of child molestation with over 20 victims in June 2006.^*

Television personalities

Marv Albert charged with biting a sex partner
Frank Bough reported to have had sex with prostitutes while using cocaine and dressed in female underwear.
Pat O'Brien (television) for leaving sexually explicit telephone messages with a colleague
Bill O'Reilly (commentator) was accused of sexual harassment, although complaint was withdrawn

Other public figures

Clarence Thomas, a Supreme Court justice accused of sexual harassment by Anita Hill during his confirmation by the senate. Senate hearings on the subject attacked Hill and confirmed Thomas.
The 2005 Minnesota Vikings boat cruise scandal, in which several players allegedly performed lewd acts on a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka.
The scandalous libertine existence of the sadistic Marquis de Sade in the 1700s.
The Cleveland Street scandal of 1889 in London, in which a homosexual brothel apparently had a clientele of highly-placed personages, including Queen Victoria's grandson, the Duke of Clarence.
The Margaret, Duchess of Argyll divorce case and the Polaroid photographs of the 'Headless man' from 1963.
After Stan Collymore admitted to engaging in dogging he was fired from his post as summariser on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Prominent attorney William N. Reed, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz Partner, acknowledged sleeping with the wife of his client Becky Seay while representing retired insurance agency owner Sam Seay. This wrecked Sam Seay's 21-year marriage. Source: Scorned Spouses Can Wreak Havoc With Mates' Careers, Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition), Jun 14, 2005; Page B.1.
James J. McDermott, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. CEO was convicted of insider trading. He passed nonpublic information about a potential 1997 merger involving Barnett Banks Inc. to adult film star Marilyn Star (Ms. Gannon), with whom he was having an extramarital affair. Source: Keefe Bruyette Ex-CEO Pleads Guilty on Charge In Insider-Trading Case, Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition), Jul 2, 2001.; Page B.6
Martin Hanaka , Staples CEO, resigned in 1997 after his subordinate Cheryl Gordon with whom he had had an affair alleged that Mr. Hanaka assaulted her in the course of an argument. Ms. Gordon called the police, who arrested Mr. Hanaka. Source: Many Companies Look the Other Way at Employee Affairs, Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition), Mar 8, 2005; Page B.1.
Robert J. O'Connell, MassMutual CEO, was terminated on June 2, 2005 because of his extramarital affair with Susan Alfano, a top female lieutenant. Source: Scorned Spouses Can Wreak Havoc With Mates' Careers, Wall Street Journal (Eastern edition), Jun 14, 2005; Page B.1.