From courtroom dramas to social media meltdowns, 2024 was a year of jaw-dropping celebrity scandals. Join us as we count down the most shocking moments that had everyone talking, from Hollywood to the White House. Prepare for a rollercoaster of controversy, legal battles, and unexpected twists!
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00:00What's life like married to a rock star? I have a pretty good life, I have to say.
00:04Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at celebrity scandals that kept tabloids in business
00:09and swarmed social media feeds in 2024. I take full responsibility for my actions in that video.
00:17It Ends With Scandal
00:18It Ends With Us was among the year's most profitable films,
00:21although several controversies loomed over its success.
00:24Blake Lively requested reshoots and rewriters for the theatrical cut,
00:36supposedly causing tension between her and co-star Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film.
00:42Baldoni and Lively weren't seen at many press junkets together, sparking rumors.
00:50Lively received further flak for launching her new hair care line
00:53while doing publicity and suggesting viewers attend screenings wearing flowery ensembles.
00:58Some found this in bad taste given the film's serious subject matter. Colleen Hoover,
01:02who wrote the source material, came under fire as well, being accused of glamorizing domestic abuse.
01:08None of this stopped the film from grossing 14 times its budget,
01:11although the PR team might deserve a bonus.
01:14Divorce
01:21Baby Reindeer's Real Martha
01:23While much of this Emmy-winning miniseries is based on Richard Gadd's devastating experiences,
01:28he made changes for storytelling purposes and to conceal the identities of various people.
01:44This didn't prevent viewers from trying to deduce who had caused Gadd such pain.
01:49Some theorized the abusive Darian O'Connor was based on director Sean Foley,
01:54which Gadd says isn't true. Meanwhile, Fiona Harvey insists she's the inspiration behind
01:59Martha Scott, who relentlessly stalks Gadd's character. Harvey
02:13pursued a $170 million lawsuit against Netflix, arguing there were falsehoods in this true story.
02:19There's a good case for defamation, a good case for the invasion of the right to privacy.
02:23Although the judge threw out a few claims, Harvey's defamation case was permitted to
02:27move forward. The lawsuit has ignited debates about fact versus fiction,
02:31and whether Harvey should be rewarded for her alleged behavior.
02:34Get out of my way, Martha.
02:35No! I've already given parts of myself away to you,
02:41so the least you can do is piece me back together with some bloody justification.
02:46Little Dirk Arrested on Murder for Hire
02:49In October of 2024, five individuals were arrested in an alleged murder-for-hire conspiracy
02:54that resulted in death. All five shared a common link with the hip-hop label Only the Family
03:00and its founder, Little Dirk. It wasn't long until Dirk was also taken into custody.
03:09Dirk allegedly ordered a hit on rapper Kwando Rondo, who was targeted in a 2022 L.A. shooting.
03:21While Rondo survived, his cousin, Savayé Lulpab Robinson, didn't. The shooting was
03:26supposedly retaliation for the murder of King Von. Dirk stands accused of offering
03:31his five colleagues money and career advancement to participate in the shooting.
03:40Denied bail, Dirk could face life in prison or even the death penalty if found guilty,
03:44although he maintains his innocence.
03:47Arrest Made in Matthew Perry's Death Case
03:49The world mourned a friend in October of 2023 when Matthew Perry tragically died.
03:57It appeared Perry drowned in a hot tub with high ketamine levels found in his system,
04:04although numerous unanswered questions remain. Over the following months,
04:08authorities investigated where this fatal amount of ketamine came from,
04:12tracing it to five individuals.
04:21The accused include Perry's assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa,
04:25who received the ketamine from director Eric Fleming, who allegedly got the drug from dealer
04:29Jasveen Sangha. Doctors Mark Chavez and Salvador Plasencia were charged as well.
04:39Of the five, Iwamasa, Fleming, and Chavez have pleaded guilty, while Plasencia and Sangha
04:45entered not guilty pleas. The ordeal has drawn parallels to Michael Jackson's death years
04:49earlier, again sparking conversations about medical professionals abusing wealthy patients.
04:55J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk's Comments on Iman Khalif
04:58The Harry Potter author and ex-owner added to their history of transphobic comments during
05:03the 2024 Summer Olympics when boxer Iman Khalif won a gold medal. Elon Musk and Harry Potter
05:09author J.K. Rowling are being sued by the Olympic boxing champion Iman Khalif.
05:14Musk and Rowling targeted Khalif in bigoted posts about trans athletes,
05:18the latter sharing a video of the gold medalist-facing opponent, Angela Carini,
05:22in a short fight. Not only were their words hurtful,
05:25but it's unlikely either bothered researching Khalif, who isn't trans.
05:35Khalif did fail a gender eligibility test at the 2023 Women's World Boxing Championships,
05:40supposedly due to high testosterone levels. However, Khalif was assigned female at birth
05:46and identifies as a woman. What should have been a victorious moment for Khalif
05:50was overshadowed by hateful misinformation, leading to a lawsuit naming Musk, Rowling,
05:55and others.
05:56Justin Timberlake's World Tour Ruined
05:59The Forget Tomorrow World Tour will be one to remember, but not necessarily for the reasons
06:03Justin Timberlake wanted. In June, Timberlake got pulled over in New York while under the influence.
06:09Justin Timberlake has been arrested for DWI in the Hamptons on Long Island,
06:12accused of driving through a stop sign and swerving out of his lane.
06:17Reflecting on how much time has passed since his NSYNC days,
06:19the cop was apparently so young, he didn't recognise the superstar.
06:23Timberlake was heard commenting that his DWI would ruin the tour. When the officer asked,
06:28what tour? Timberlake replied, the world tour, gifting the internet the meme of the summer.
06:33As established by the cop's reaction, Justin is no longer the cultural powerhouse he once was.
06:39Eventually, after taking a plea deal, Timberlake was required to pay fines
06:43and commit to community service, with his license temporarily suspended.
06:47The tour would go on, but Timberlake probably should have practised the advice he gave Britney
06:51Spears years ago. Stop drinking, you know who you are, I'm speaking to you.
06:56Donald Trump From President to Potential Prisoner to President Again
07:01In any other political era, RFK Jr's brain worm would be the craziest news story.
07:06During the Trump regime, though, it's hard to compete.
07:09They're eating the cats, they're eating, they're eating the pets.
07:14One day, he's fighting multiple criminal indictments. The next,
07:17the Supreme Court is essentially granting him a get-out-of-jail-free card.
07:21Shortly after that landmark immunity ruling, Trump survived an assassination attempt.
07:25We are continuing to learn more about what happened in the lead-up to the attempted
07:29assassination of former President Donald Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last night.
07:35It wouldn't be the last attempt on his life throughout another chaotic presidential campaign
07:38that saw Trump spread false rumors about Haitian immigrants and turn Madison Square Garden into
07:43what some compare to a Nazi rally. Most controversially, Trump won a second term
07:49in the popular vote for the first time.
07:51We're going to make you very happy. We're going to make you very proud of your vote.
07:55Love him or hate him, we'll be discussing Trump for four more years. Maybe more.
08:00The Menendez Case Revisited
08:02Twenty-eight years after being sentenced to life in prison for the murders of their parents,
08:06Lyle and Eric Menendez were back in the zeitgeist, thanks in part to the miniseries Monsters.
08:11Okay. Okay. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this.
08:20We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this. We're gonna do this.
08:22The Menendez family condemned the series,
08:24saying it was riddled with mistruths and outright falsehoods.
08:27At the same time, the show helped fuel the argument that the brothers had been unfairly
08:32sentenced.
08:32This morning, for the first time since their trials in the 1990s,
08:36the Menendez brothers will appear before a judge.
08:38A year earlier, new evidence supported the brothers' claims
08:42that their father had a history of sexual abuse.
08:44In October 2024, weeks after Monsters debuted on Netflix,
08:48L.A. District Attorney George Gaskin announced that he was recommending a resentencing trial.
08:53We have a moral and an ethical obligation to review what is being presented to us.
09:00The trial is set to take place in early 2025, potentially giving the brothers a path to parole.
09:05Revelations from Quiet On Set
09:07Dan Schneider's reportedly toxic behavior during his time at Nickelodeon
09:11has been a talking point for several years.
09:13It was important to be on his good side, and he made it known who was on his good side.
09:19Watching Quiet On Set, audiences realized Schneider was only the tip of the iceberg.
09:24In addition to Schneider, the docuseries spotlighted predators
09:27like Jason Michael Handy and Brian Peck.
09:30Hi, I'm not just pickle boy, but I'm also a trained professional
09:34who works here on the set of All That.
09:36You can tell by my very important looking headset.
09:39While some might have heard of Peck before,
09:41the press largely overlooked his 2003 arrest and brief prison sentence at the time.
09:45The identity of Peck's accuser had also been sealed
09:48until after Drake Bell publicly spoke about his traumatic experiences for the first time.
09:53So Brian started integrating himself into my life pretty heavily.
09:57He would come to my concerts.
09:59And that's when it started to get a little bit,
10:07a little bit more extracurricular than normal.
10:09Quiet On Set has encouraged more former child stars to speak out.
10:13I'm unsure if there is a way to have hope
10:19when the system is designed to gain the maximum compliance
10:25from children who are performers for the maximum profit.
10:29Not just the ones employed by Nickelodeon, but across the whole industry,
10:33demonstrating how Hollywood has repeatedly failed to protect young talent.
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10:52The downfall of Diddy.
10:54If you follow WatchMojo regularly,
10:56you might have noticed a surge of videos concerning Sean Diddy combs in September 2024.
11:01Prosecutors painting a picture of the 54-year-old mogul who,
11:05behind his lavish lifestyle, allegedly hid a dark secret.
11:09Some might have called it excessive,
11:11but few celebrity scandals this year proved more shocking.
11:14And it's far from over.
11:16Diddy's downward spiral started in late 2023
11:20when Cassie Ventura filed a lawsuit alleging sex trafficking and other crimes.
11:24The plot thickened in 2024 as video evidence corroborated Ventura's claims.
11:29The incident appears to support allegations outlined in a lawsuit against Diddy last year.
11:34It didn't end with Ventura, as more than 100 individuals came forward
11:38accusing Diddy of abuse, culminating in his indictment.
11:42I can't take anything off the table. Anything is possible.
11:44Our investigation is very active and ongoing.
11:47As the incarcerated rapper awaits trial, a disturbing question towers over the industry.
11:52How many knew of Diddy's alleged freak-off parties?
11:55When you hear about so many other people having to participate for this enterprise to exist,
11:59the first thing that comes to my mind is, who's going to take a plea first?
12:03If true, it'd take a village to keep such a secret under wraps.
12:07Which celebrity scandal left you in disbelief? Let us know in the comments.
12:11My behavior on that video is inexcusable.