Earliest Scandal You Remember?
I was only 7 when this happened, but I remember so clearly the big PTL Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker scandal. I had to watch the stupid show from as early as I can remember (thanks Mom). I was obsessed with seeing it all crumble in the late 1980s.
What's the earliest scandal you really remember?
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 138 | August 3, 2024 7:01 AM
|
Claudine Longet - The actress / singer who was married to entertainer Andy Williams (14 years her senior) from 1960-75. AFter her divorce, Longet was arrested and charged with fatally shooting her boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, at his home in Aspen, Colorado, on 21 March 1976. At the trial, Longet repeated the claim that the gun had accidentally fired when Sabich was showing her how to use it. The jury convicted her of negligent homicide.
I was 12 years old.
This was covered extensively in the media (newspapers, magazine, television). I remember my parents and older relatives were glued to the television as the nightly news reported on this each day. It was the 'big event' for a short while.
by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 21, 2024 2:49 PM
|
OJ Simpson. I was 7 years old when it happened. It was everywhere.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 21, 2024 2:51 PM
|
Assault of Nancy Kerrigan
by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 21, 2024 2:54 PM
|
Watergate, I was eight, & only had a vague understanding of it.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | July 21, 2024 2:54 PM
|
Was Jackie Kennedy marrying Onasis considered a scandal? I was pretty young but I remember my nonna calling her a "puttana" when it happened.
by Anonymous | reply 7 | July 21, 2024 3:03 PM
|
Watergate when I was nine or ten, but I had no idea what the scandal really was all about.
by Anonymous | reply 8 | July 21, 2024 3:19 PM
|
I remember Sonny and Cher breaking up and it being a scandal, at least for Rona Barrett.
Jackie O's marriage was a total scandal.
by Anonymous | reply 9 | July 21, 2024 3:28 PM
|
The Governor and the Stripper!
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 12 | July 21, 2024 3:55 PM
|
Finding out that Rock Hudson, Jim Nabors and Liberace were Gay
by Anonymous | reply 13 | July 21, 2024 4:28 PM
|
Queen Caroline being locked out of Westminster Abbey for George IV's coronation
by Anonymous | reply 14 | July 21, 2024 4:31 PM
|
Miss Piggy being snubbed for an Oscar nomination for "The Muppet Movie".
by Anonymous | reply 15 | July 21, 2024 4:32 PM
|
R7 OMG! Jackie marrying Onassis was a HUGE scandal. Front page news.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | July 21, 2024 4:41 PM
|
Michael Landon leaving his wife and marrying a younger woman, during the filming of LHOTP. Also, Elvis dying on the toilet, and a vague recollection of a People magazine cover with a story of John Lennon having an affair.
by Anonymous | reply 17 | July 21, 2024 4:43 PM
|
Born in 1963....Watergate, probably.
Before that, the biggest political scandal was Chappaquiddick, but I have no recollection of it.
I have a vague memory of my Mom telling my Dad that RFK was shot, as he arrived home with my older siblings from an outing. Same with a fuzzy memory os seeing MLK's funeral on a B&W television set.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | July 21, 2024 4:52 PM
|
^ I was at Rock's house when he started to fuck me as Jim Nabors sang "Love is a Many Splendored Thing" and Liberace accompanied him on the piano. I want to say that Paul Lynde was there doing stand-up, but it's all kind of hazy now
by Anonymous | reply 20 | July 21, 2024 5:35 PM
|
When Bill Clinton pulled out that cigar.
by Anonymous | reply 21 | July 21, 2024 5:37 PM
|
I remember hearing about the Iran-Contra scandal. Don’t know what it was about. I was 7 or 8.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | July 21, 2024 5:43 PM
|
I was five when the Watergate hearings were happening. I didn't get what was happening, but it was preempting my favorite TV shows.
by Anonymous | reply 23 | July 21, 2024 5:47 PM
|
Watergate. I hated it because the hearings bumped all my regular shows off their daytime schedule. I only understood that the president did something wrong and that there was a burglary.
Damn, r23, I was on the verge of posting!
I think my babysitter hated Watergate even more than me because she had to find something for me to do instead of planting me in front of the set to watch I Love Lucy.
by Anonymous | reply 24 | July 21, 2024 5:50 PM
|
Adam and Eve and something to do with an apple and being naked.
by Anonymous | reply 25 | July 21, 2024 5:52 PM
|
Nixon/Watergate scandal - it was on the black and white tv non-stop in our home when I was little.
by Anonymous | reply 26 | July 21, 2024 5:53 PM
|
In my neighborhood in East Falls, it would have to be Jackie Kennedy marrying Ari Onassis after RFK was murdered. All the "stay at home" moms predicted that would happen, they were saying Jackie was the #1 Kennedy to kill, plus the 2 kids. The EF wives said Onassis had more $$$ than God& could protect her.
by Anonymous | reply 27 | July 21, 2024 5:58 PM
|
Watergate, specifically Nixon's televised goodbye to his administration / staff on the day he left the White House. My mother was in tears.
by Anonymous | reply 28 | July 21, 2024 6:00 PM
|
I also remember Nixon getting on the Army One helicopter to depart the White House.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 29 | July 21, 2024 6:16 PM
|
When Friesland fucked Renfro
by Anonymous | reply 30 | July 21, 2024 6:23 PM
|
What Memories- remember all of these-they didn't affect me so it was a fun distraction to follow these stories.
by Anonymous | reply 31 | July 21, 2024 6:28 PM
|
When Elizabeth had her cousin Mary of Scots executed.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | July 21, 2024 6:31 PM
|
Not a really a political scandal, but I remember the Roseanne national anthem drama when I was 5.
by Anonymous | reply 33 | July 21, 2024 6:31 PM
|
I do remember my mother fussing about not getting to watch her “stories” while watergate was airing.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | July 21, 2024 6:43 PM
|
President Trump getting shot.
by Anonymous | reply 37 | July 21, 2024 6:44 PM
|
I remember my mom watching the Watergate hearings, assuming that counts.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | July 21, 2024 6:45 PM
|
r33 Definitely doesn't need to be political!
by Anonymous | reply 39 | July 21, 2024 6:45 PM
|
The Crédit Mobilier Scandal
by Anonymous | reply 40 | July 21, 2024 6:46 PM
|
Marvin Gaye being murdered by his father
by Anonymous | reply 42 | July 21, 2024 6:48 PM
|
[quote] Michael Landon leaving his wife and marrying a younger woman, during the filming of LHOTP.
Hilarious. Very DL answer. This type of stuff leaves an impression in the memory bank (of a young DLer).
by Anonymous | reply 43 | July 21, 2024 6:48 PM
|
[quote]Finding out that Rock Hudson, Jim Nabors and Liberace were Gay
Whatchu talkin' bout Willis ? They ain't gay.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | July 21, 2024 6:51 PM
|
Bill Clinton face fucking Monica in the oval office.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | July 21, 2024 6:52 PM
|
Biden dropping out of the presidential race.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | July 21, 2024 7:11 PM
|
The murder of Johnny Stompanato by Lana Turner's daughter (who took the rap for her mother.)
by Anonymous | reply 48 | July 21, 2024 7:19 PM
|
Watergate, though like the others, I didn't have a super clear idea of what was happening (I was 4 or 5).
Then the Jonestown massacre and, a few months later, a local killing spree where two men killed a few people on a spree that lasted a few weeks. Very scary times. Not sure if that's technically a scandal but it felt like it to my approximately 10 year old mind.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | July 21, 2024 7:24 PM
|
For me it was probably Patty Hearst and Jonestown. I was young, but obsessed with both.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | July 21, 2024 7:25 PM
|
King Henry the Eight beheading his wives. What a time to be alive (pun intended) !
by Anonymous | reply 51 | July 21, 2024 7:26 PM
|
There is no indication of a pun in your post.
by Anonymous | reply 52 | July 21, 2024 7:30 PM
|
I think the first 'scandal' I recall was Sophia Loren getting in trouble for tax evasion...it was either that or John Lennon being shot...
by Anonymous | reply 53 | July 21, 2024 7:45 PM
|
R52 It's beyond your reach.
by Anonymous | reply 54 | July 21, 2024 7:46 PM
|
Superman committing suicide
by Anonymous | reply 55 | July 21, 2024 7:50 PM
|
I was a young teen at the time, but I definitely remember the Vanessa Williams/ 1st black woman to win Miss America/ nude photo scandal. Seems quaint now unfortunately. I also remember the Madonna nude photos scandal which happened shortly after and how well she handled that- it actually made her a bigger star.
by Anonymous | reply 56 | July 21, 2024 7:53 PM
|
Jonestown, being born in 1969.
by Anonymous | reply 57 | July 21, 2024 7:56 PM
|
R20 How sad. You think you know comedy. You don't. You think you are the funniest storyteller at the party. People ridicule you when you exit a room.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 58 | July 21, 2024 8:25 PM
|
Jonestown. I was 7 years old. I remember a lot of the footage of the dead bodies.
Not exactly a scandal I know.
by Anonymous | reply 59 | July 21, 2024 8:53 PM
|
As a non-American born in 1995, among of the earliest scandals I remember from American showbiz when I was a kid were the Madonna-Britney kiss at the VMAs, the Nipplegate, Paris Hilton's sex tape, Brad dumping Jen and marrying Angelina.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | July 21, 2024 9:00 PM
|
Watergate. I delivered the afternoon newspaper and read the stories as I walked from house to house. I was 9-10 years old.
by Anonymous | reply 61 | July 21, 2024 9:06 PM
|
@r58, I do think you are a very bitter stalker for whatever reason, but have another drink and forget about what a total loser you are
by Anonymous | reply 62 | July 21, 2024 9:48 PM
|
R62 Thankfully you didn't try comedy again. Thank you for that.
by Anonymous | reply 63 | July 21, 2024 9:51 PM
|
Lana Turner and Johnny Stompanato. Either she or her daughter stabbed him to death.
by Anonymous | reply 65 | July 21, 2024 9:53 PM
|
Sammy Davis, Jr and Kim Novak
by Anonymous | reply 66 | July 21, 2024 9:54 PM
|
Lana Turner (or Cheryl) knifing Johnny Stompanato. That and the real reason why Arthur Godfrey fired Julius La Rosa live on the air. Nana and her crew were still talking about it five years later.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | July 21, 2024 10:06 PM
|
Kennedy assassination, Jack Ruby killing Oswald (Im a patsy!) on live tv to shut him up.
by Anonymous | reply 69 | July 21, 2024 10:16 PM
|
Not the earliest but I remember seeing the shocking story of how late 40s June Lockhart was dating the young male lead of Jesus Christ Superstar. My grandmother said, "Has she lost her mind? She must be 'on drugs' with him!"
by Anonymous | reply 70 | July 21, 2024 10:17 PM
|
The Army McCarthy hearings at the HUAC hearings. I was a young kid and didn't understand it all but my dad was mad about The Hollywood Ten being blackballed.
by Anonymous | reply 71 | July 21, 2024 10:17 PM
|
Britney Spears shaving her head. I was 5 or 6 years old and saw her on the cover of a tabloid, and asked my mom why the "Oops" lady had no hair. This was followed closely by the Vanessa Hudgens nude photo scandal, which quickly spread around the playground as "High School Musical" was the biggest thing in the world at the time.
by Anonymous | reply 72 | July 21, 2024 10:37 PM
|
Matthew Broderick’s "Car Accident"
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 73 | July 21, 2024 11:00 PM
|
@r63, As if you had the IQ to understand comedy 😂
Why are you such a miserable piece of shit? Are you still mad that I won't fuck you?
by Anonymous | reply 74 | July 21, 2024 11:19 PM
|
Does Nixon resigning count as a “scandal”? That’s the earliest big “real world” thing I remember. I didn’t fully understand what was happening, but my parents were watching him resign live and I knew something BIG was happening. They had voted for him but felt betrayed because he turned out to be a crook.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | July 22, 2024 12:06 AM
|
I lived in the Netherlands as a kid, so I remember hearing about two scandals involving the Dutch royal family. The first one was the "Greet Hofmans affair": Queen Juliana (who reigned from 1948 to 1980) had fallen under the spell of a kooky "faith healer," a woman who became the queen's confidante, was considered a 'Rasputin' type, and was eventually removed from the royal court. The second one was the Lockheed scandal involving Prince Bernhard, Queen Juliana's husband. It emerged that he had received a $1.1 million bribe in the early 1960s from Lockheed to ensure that the Lockheed F-104 would win out over the Dassault Mirage 5 for a purchase contract. These were obviously more innocent times, and scandals, in a small country like the Netherlands, tended to be big. You do tend to remember when you first become of the concept of a scandal, and that adults try to hide their nefarious actions. (Note that there have been several other smaller and bigger royal scandals in the Netherlands since.)
by Anonymous | reply 76 | July 22, 2024 12:23 AM
|
R66 I think you mean May Britt.
by Anonymous | reply 77 | July 22, 2024 12:24 AM
|
I remember local scandals more than national (US) scandals.
I lived in a town with an organized crime presence involving "dirty" cops & dirty politicians. When I was in maybe 6th or 7th grade, there was a sweep (arrests). My classmate's father (police officer) got arrested. It was highly-publicized. One of the items seized (search warrant) was a gun with a silencer (IIRC, my classmate's father was the owner). That part (the silencer) shook me up.
I was not paying that much attention to the news and my parents weren't, either.
However, when I got to school, it was a topic of gossip.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | July 22, 2024 12:30 AM
|
Liz and Dick. That's the print that was on all the magazine covers when Taylor and Burton got together, lol.
by Anonymous | reply 79 | July 22, 2024 12:32 AM
|
Probably Liz and Dick. But I was six when it happened. I only remember the adults talking about it.
by Anonymous | reply 80 | July 22, 2024 12:42 AM
|
Reagan getting shot, if that counts. Also Natalie Wood's death the same year.
by Anonymous | reply 83 | July 22, 2024 12:50 AM
|
I lost my Sonny&Cher viewing privileges because they were divorced. And the show inspired hyperactivity.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | July 22, 2024 12:53 AM
|
Probably the Lewinsky scandal, although I didn't really understand what was going on. I vaguely remember the kids at school doing impressions of Bill Clinton saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
by Anonymous | reply 86 | July 22, 2024 1:06 AM
|
I did think Jim Bakker was handsome back in the day-I apologize
by Anonymous | reply 87 | July 22, 2024 1:09 AM
|
That was quite a while ago r87. In all that time, I hope you have found a good ophthalmologist.
by Anonymous | reply 89 | July 22, 2024 1:13 AM
|
R50
I remember Patty Hearst, too - that was a huge story and a fascinating one.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | July 22, 2024 1:34 AM
|
Some racial thing involving a very young Lucille ball
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 92 | July 22, 2024 3:02 AM
|
Watergate and the Manson murders.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | July 22, 2024 3:37 AM
|
To be clear, I was born a few years AFTER Marilyn Monroe died, but as a small child in the early 70s, I remember her death was still being talked about some 10 years later, and the circumstances were considered shady. I remember one of the local news programs ran a week-long report, "Was Marilyn Monroe Really Murdered?"
by Anonymous | reply 94 | July 22, 2024 4:08 AM
|
[quote]Probably Liz and Dick. But I was six when it happened. I only remember the adults talking about it.
Which Liz & Dick scandal? Hookup/marriage 1, divorce 1, marriage 2, or divorce 2?
by Anonymous | reply 95 | July 22, 2024 4:12 AM
|
Jim Baker...also everyone was pearl clutching over Madonna in the late 80s.
by Anonymous | reply 96 | July 22, 2024 4:17 AM
|
[quote]I think you mean May Britt.
R77 Nope. Sammy and Kim were a thing. She was 'forced' to give him up.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | July 22, 2024 6:53 AM
|
One of the earliest scandals I remember was the time the neighbor lady told me my mother was a whore and was fucking her boyfriend. She then shared the news with my dad. It was a whole thing.
by Anonymous | reply 98 | July 22, 2024 7:18 AM
|
The Killing of Sister George
by Anonymous | reply 99 | July 22, 2024 8:40 AM
|
The Killing of Sister George
—X rated
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 100 | July 22, 2024 8:41 AM
|
Amy Fisher/Joey Buttafuoco
by Anonymous | reply 101 | July 22, 2024 8:52 AM
|
R72, I still think that Brittney shaved her head to avoid hair drug testing in her custody case — not necessarily because of a breakdown.
by Anonymous | reply 102 | July 22, 2024 2:51 PM
|
Grandpa fletcher fucked grandpa sticks
by Anonymous | reply 104 | July 22, 2024 10:10 PM
|
Karl Schranz cheated out of the Olympic Gold Medal by that racist pig Avery Brundage.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 105 | July 22, 2024 11:20 PM
|
I was born in 1963; it was Watergate.
by Anonymous | reply 107 | July 23, 2024 3:37 AM
|
UK here.
The Jeremy Thorpe case had saturation coverage here, and I was fascinated and appalled. Nobody I have spoken to believes he was innocent, and it was the first time I realised how the Establishment protects its own.
by Anonymous | reply 108 | July 23, 2024 7:01 AM
|
I was really little, but Elvis's death was on tabloid covers at the supermarket checkout and their lurid headlines of ELVIS DEATH PICS imprinted themselves on my psyche. I think it was my first inkling that the world could be a pretty grubby place.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | July 23, 2024 7:46 AM
|
I was a kid. It was the mid '50's and mom n dad were having one of their wildass, drunken, pot smokin' Hollywood parties. It was shocking to find out all of these hollyweirdos were laughing about how Rock Hudson had just got married to (gasp) a woman. The gossip going around was weird for a kid that was kid-dumb, but I'd heard lots of their Hollywood friends before, laughing and talking about him and how he banged guys.
by Anonymous | reply 111 | July 23, 2024 9:22 AM
|
CDaN must read here they used this topic today
by Anonymous | reply 112 | July 26, 2024 5:30 PM
|
When my mother wore white shoes after Labor Day.
by Anonymous | reply 113 | July 26, 2024 5:41 PM
|
Pope Sixtus IV fucking his nephew and making him a cardinal with the lad later poisoned at age 28!
by Anonymous | reply 114 | July 26, 2024 7:42 PM
|
MADONNA/BRITNEY/CHRISTINA
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 115 | July 27, 2024 5:43 AM
|
UK here too. The first scandal I remember is Eastenders actress Gillian Taylforth’s court case against The Sun, which had published a story alleging she was caught giving her boyfriend a blow job in a lay-by.
Considering I grew up to be an excellent giver of blow jobs, this must have been a very formative encounter with current affairs.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 116 | July 27, 2024 7:13 AM
|
I was going to say Baby Jessica (not really a scandal, per se), but I see Iran-Contra happened first.
I watched so much of that damn Oliver North hearing without the faintest clue what they were talking about.
by Anonymous | reply 117 | July 27, 2024 5:46 PM
|
My bestie and I would throw a fit in the country club clubhouse upon discovering As The World Turns was preempted by the Iran-Conra hearings. Instead, I’d give him a blow job at the tennis court and we’d share a Salem afterwards. We were 11.
by Anonymous | reply 118 | July 27, 2024 7:09 PM
|
R117 with you about the Oliver North/Iran-Contra thing...I remember seeing his face all over the place but I had zero clue what all that was about, I was too young. But I definitely remember Baby Jessica.
by Anonymous | reply 119 | July 28, 2024 1:36 AM
|
[quote] What Memories- remember all of these-they didn't affect me so it was a fun distraction to follow these stories.
I'm glad my horrible death allowed you some happy moments of diversion.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | July 28, 2024 1:39 AM
|
1987 was the Year of The Scandal. Iran-Contra, Jimmy Swaggart , Jim Baker, and Gary Hart
by Anonymous | reply 121 | July 28, 2024 1:44 AM
|
Probably the infidelity and divorce between Charles and Diana. I’m Canadian so this shit was on the news and talked about amongst adults everywhere. It bored me. The first scandal that fascinated me was the Amy Fisher trashiness. .
by Anonymous | reply 123 | July 28, 2024 2:49 AM
|
Separation not divorce. I remember all these old British people were on tv reading the announcement and crying.
by Anonymous | reply 124 | July 28, 2024 2:56 AM
|
Watergate - The first sex & politics scandal I remember was Wilbur Mills and Fanne Fox in the Tidal Basin.
by Anonymous | reply 125 | July 28, 2024 3:20 AM
|
Might not technically be a scandal, but the Iran hostage crisis.
by Anonymous | reply 126 | July 28, 2024 4:31 AM
|
My aunt Pat getting pregnant out of wedlock and then Watergate.
by Anonymous | reply 127 | July 28, 2024 9:12 AM
|
Vanessa Williams being dethroned due to explicit photos
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 128 | July 29, 2024 1:55 AM
|
The pics were somewhat scandalous in their day
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 129 | July 29, 2024 5:34 AM
|
R128 My then somewhat elderly boss wanted to see those photos. I brought that month’s Penthouse into the office and must say he was very impressed. We never saw that issue again, either.
by Anonymous | reply 130 | July 29, 2024 3:55 PM
|
My cousin was on her second pregnancy when my mom took her in. She was 14, so that was 1984.
by Anonymous | reply 131 | July 30, 2024 2:29 AM
|
R128 R129 Nothing compared to the Melania pix.
by Anonymous | reply 132 | July 30, 2024 4:50 AM
|
R132 Williams went on to a successful career
by Anonymous | reply 133 | July 30, 2024 2:10 PM
|
Wasn't she sniffing the chicks butt in one of the pictures? That's what the blacked out images shown on the local news seemed to suggest. Also, I wonder what the other woman from the photos is up to these days?
by Anonymous | reply 134 | July 30, 2024 2:55 PM
|
At the time many comedians including Joan Rivers and David Letterman said that Williams should have been named Miss Congeniality
by Anonymous | reply 135 | July 30, 2024 7:23 PM
|
My siblings and I were scandalized when the Bionic Women cursed in one episode. We had thought she was so nice!
by Anonymous | reply 136 | July 30, 2024 8:16 PM
|
It was network television. What could she possibly have said R136 that was so scandalous?
by Anonymous | reply 137 | August 3, 2024 6:00 AM
|
The Fanne Foxe / Congressman Wilbur Mills scandal was huge in 1974.
Annabel Battistella, known professionally as Fanne Foxe, was an Argentine-American stripper best known for being involved in a 1974 sex scandal surrounding Arkansas Congressman Wilbur Mills. At the time, Mills was the chair of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means and a powerful Democratic politician. The scandal was one of the most reported political sex scandals of the 1970s. In 2009, Foxe was on the Time list of top 10 mistresses, and her affair with Mills was on the Bloomberg list of top 10 U.S. sex scandals.
Offsite Linkby Anonymous | reply 138 | August 3, 2024 7:01 AM
|