Behind the glitz, power, and fame, love doesn’t always play fair. From secret rendezvous to explosive breakups, history and Hollywood are full of eyebrow-raising affairs and betrayals that shocked the world — and sometimes changed it. In Scandalous Love: 50 Untold Affairs & Betrayals, we dive into the tangled webs of romance gone rogue, featuring royals, rebels, rockstars, and rulers who let passion override consequence. These aren’t your average love stories — they’re juicy, messy, and all too real. Let’s peel back the curtain.
1 Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair
When Carrie Fisher told Harrison Ford she planned to publish her journals and reveal their affair-despite Ford being married at the time of filming Star Wars (1977)-he simply raised his finger and said, “Lawyer!” Fisher assured him he could review the manuscript and remove anything he didn’t want published. She sent it to him but never heard anything back.
2. Marie Curie engaged in an affair with a married physicist, and when their private letters leaked, public outrage erupted. Consequently, the Nobel Committee pressured her to skip her second Nobel Prize ceremony. However, Albert Einstein encouraged her to ignore the critics, and she ultimately attended the event to accept her award.
3. Two women-Marguerite Georges and Giuseppina Grassini-had sexual affairs first with Napoleon and later with the Duke of Wellington. Notably, Georges expressed her preference, stating, “The Duke was by far the strongest.”
4. Lou Pai, a senior executive at Enron, had an affair with a stripper and, to settle his divorce, cashed out $250 million in Enron stock-just before the company’s value plummeted and it filed for bankruptcy.
5. Alexander Hamilton became the first major American politician publicly embroiled in a sex scandal. He carried on an affair with 23-year-old Maria Reynolds, whose husband not only knew about it but also likely orchestrated the situation to blackmail Hamilton for money.
6 Opera Spy’s Gender-Bending Romance
Shi Pei Pu, a Chinese opera singer from Beijing, worked as a spy and extracted secrets from Bernard Boursicot, an employee at the French embassy. Over a 20-year-long sexual affair, Shi convinced Boursicot that he was a woman.
7. A woman named Nan Britton claimed she had an affair with U.S. President Warren Harding and gave birth to his daughter. Although the court ridiculed her when she sued for child support, DNA testing by Ancestry.com in 2015 confirmed her story.
8. In 1989, Japanese Prime Minister Sōsuke Uno resigned after a geisha revealed their extramarital affair. Interestingly, the scandal focused less on morality and more on the fact that Uno had failed to support her adequately, earning him the reputation of being a stingy man.
9. Chris Hansen, host of NBC’s Dateline: To Catch a Predator-a show known for sting operations exposing online sex predators-was ironically caught in a hidden-camera sting cheating on his wife. NBC later laid him off.
10. After an assassination attempt, King Louis XV-believing he was dying-called for his wife, confessed to numerous affairs, and begged for forgiveness. Fortunately, his thick winter clothes had shielded him, and he survived with only a superficial wound.
11 Politician Mic’d Up Affair Boast
In 2009, a Californian politician named Michael D. Duvall accidentally left his microphone on during a meeting break and graphically boasted about two ongoing affairs. Less than 15 hours after the story broke, he resigned.
12. President LBJ was a competitive womanizer, and whenever people mentioned Kennedy’s many affairs, LBJ would bang the table and declare that he had more women by accident than Kennedy ever had on purpose.
13. In 1990, Marlene Warren opened her Florida home’s front door to a clown and was shot. Decades later, in 2014, investigators discovered a hair in the preserved evidence. A subsequent DNA test led them to Sheila Keen Warren in Tennessee, where they found her-now revealed as the clown-running a restaurant with Marlene’s husband. The pair had been having an affair before the murder and were married at the time of Sheila’s arrest.
14. William IX, the 11th-century Duke of Aquitaine and one of the earliest troubadours (medieval poet-musicians who composed and performed songs about chivalry and courtly love), famously displayed a portrait of his mistress on his shield. This bold and scandalous affair eventually led to his second excommunication from the Church.
15. President John F. Kennedy had an affair with a 19-year-old White House intern. In one incident, he even dared her-successfully-to perform oral sex on his special assistant, Dave Powers.
16 Comedian’s Driver Becomes Lover
Hattie Jacques, a 1950s British comedian known for pioneering self-deprecating “fat humor,” carried on an affair with her driver. With her husband’s consent, she even moved the man into their home. When they eventually divorced, her husband falsely claimed responsibility for the adultery to protect her public image.
17. In 2009, a 99-year-old Italian man named Antonio C. divorced his 96-year-old wife, Rosa C., after discovering she had an affair in the 1940s-despite their 77 years of marriage. The revelation, uncovered through old love letters, ended one of the world’s longest-known marriages.
18. In 1999, investigators discovered the mummified remains of a pregnant Hispanic woman inside a drum in the crawl space of a New York home. They identified her as Reyna Marroquín, who had vanished in 1969 after having an affair with her employer. He committed suicide before police could question him.
19. Zelda Fitzgerald, the popular American novelist and socialite, believed her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, was having an affair with Ernest Hemingway. In a desperate attempt to prove he wasn’t gay, Fitzgerald bought condoms and visited a prostitute-an action that only fueled Zelda’s suspicions and pushed her into even deeper rage.
20. Most English and French kings openly maintained extramarital affairs. Their illegitimate children-often referred to as “Royal Bastards”-frequently received land, wealth, and noble titles.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Elvis, Sinatra Love Triangle
Actress Juliet Prowse, who was once engaged to Frank Sinatra, had an affair with Elvis Presley.
22. Before he became president, Grover Cleveland had an affair with a woman, which resulted in her becoming pregnant, and in order to cover up the scandal, he had her committed and her child sent to an orphanage.
23. Babe Ruth frequently cheated on his wives throughout his baseball career. During one trip to Chicago, a detective hired by the New York Yankees reported that Ruth had been with six different women in a single night. As another player once joked, “I don’t room with Babe-I room with his suitcase.”
24. Albert Einstein cheated on his first wife and once remarked that “most men are not monogamously endowed.”
25. Dr. Seuss’s first wife tragically committed suicide after discovering he had been cheating on her while she battled cancer.
RE: Fact #14 (Duke Excommunicated for Affair Art) – Getting kicked out twice should mean you’re back in, right? Seems fair to me.
So, this awesome story’s about John Hawkwood, a regular guy who joined Edward III’s army during the Hundred Years’ War. He ended up a knight and even led the White Company, a seriously notorious mercenary group. He actually tried to rob the Pope—while the Pope was paying off the French king’s ransom, no less! The Pope asked him nicely to stop (in a letter, of course), then excommunicated him (in another letter!), but Hawkwood just kept going. The Pope then sent a whole army, but a plague wiped out a bunch of their leaders. So, the Pope was desperate and offered Hawkwood a ton of cash to fight his enemies in Italy instead. Hawkwood took the deal, made a fortune fighting in Italy, and died rich in his own bed. Not bad for a middle-class mercenary, huh?
RE: Fact #33 (Parrot Outs Girlfriend’s Affair) – That’s messed up! He had to ditch his parrot after the parrot ratted out some cheaters? Seriously? WTF
RE: Fact #1 (Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair) – I just found out they were having an affair.
I figured most of the cast was sleeping around, especially that R2-D2.
They called him OUR2-D2. That little guy was everywhere.
RE: Fact #3 (Napoleon vs Wellington: Bedroom Battle) – So, between her flings with Napoleon and Wellington, she also had a kid with the Russian Tsar, Alexander I.
One was an actress, the other a pop star—and two hundred years later, it’s still the same old story. We’re good.
If movie stars and singers start going out with our leaders, that’ll be a bit unsettling.
RE: Fact #29 (Tour de Nesle Royal Scandal) – That much trouble made the Hundred Years War drag on for 116 years.
RE: Fact #1 (Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair) – So, she offered Harrison a chance to cut anything he wasn’t happy with, but he just ignored her and let her publish whatever – right?
He’s a bit of a cold fish, hard to reach, and not much of a talker. Sounds about right for him.
He was married, sure, but who cares, it was 2016! They’d been divorced for like, 35 years by then, right? He’d even been divorced from his next wife and married to Calista Flockhart for ages. Unless she had some seriously wild accusations, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
So I read the book, and it barely mentions them except for how they hooked up a lot during the filming of A New Hope. Mark Hamill even caught them once, but everyone just kinda ignored it, if I remember right. I think it all started during the London filming.
It was a bigger deal that she was 19 and he was 33.
Sending it back could mean he’s okay with her publishing it, so he loses any legal claim. Basically, by reviewing and sending it back, he’d be saying he approved it. If he sued, she could argue he gave her the go-ahead.
RE: Fact #8 (Geisha Affair Ends Prime Minister) – Sounds like a different take on right and wrong, huh?
Turns out, when the French found out President Mitterrand had a secret love child, his popularity soared! People liked that he was a good dad and took care of her financially.
It kinda shows a weird side of the whole “men are superior” thing. Basically, men are seen as more powerful, so they get more leeway, but they’re also expected to act responsibly.
I’d rather have someone in charge who doesn’t abuse their power.
RE: Fact #21 (Elvis, Sinatra Love Triangle) – Prowse was tall and had amazing legs. As a kid, watching those L’eggs ads, I totally wanted legs like that.
RE: Fact #27 (Macarena: Cheating Hidden in Dance) – Saying “don’t worry about my boyfriend” then adding “I can’t stand him, he was gone, and his friends were hot!” was a pretty obvious clue.
But seriously, all I can recall is this gibberish:
abboaobblbaobalb
alblaboalboaoballbobl
boablaoblaoblaobobab
And “Hey Macarena!”
RE: Fact #21 (Elvis, Sinatra Love Triangle) – Reminds me of something Grandpa Simpson would say. Best legs since Betty Grable!
RE: Fact #34 (Reality TV Destroys Loud Family) – They made a movie about the show, but it’s seen more as reality TV than a documentary because the guy who made it messed around in the people’s lives and only showed bits that fit his story.
I’d never really thought about what separates reality TV from documentaries, honestly.
I don’t think your two points really cover it though. Lots of documentaries use a host who talks to people, and most documentaries pick and choose what to show to tell a story – I mean, you have to, right? You always choose what to include.
There’s definitely a difference, but it’s hard to say exactly what it is. It feels more like a scale.
Something like Planet Earth is obviously a documentary, and The Bachelor is clearly reality TV. But then there’s stuff like Tiger King that’s kind of both. Even the Kardashians – they’re just filming their lives, even if it’s super edited and a lot of the drama is fake. There’s no big game or anything, they’re just showing what happens.
I guess I don’t really have a point, it just got me thinking.
Yeah, you’re right, that’s it. It all goes back to early documentaries that just weren’t truthful; think *Nanook of the North*. That movie, even though it’s called “the first modern documentary,” was mostly staged. The guy who played Nanook, he actually had contact with white people, lived in a modern house, and used a gun! The filmmaker even said he died of starvation, when it was actually tuberculosis. He wanted to show how Inuit lived *before* modern times.
And while we now think it’s wrong to fake documentary footage, back then the filmmaker thought he was showing a way of life that was disappearing. The guy playing Nanook was actually showing how Inuit *used* to live. So, even though he used a rifle, he could still show older ways of life.
Basically, documentarians used to try to tell the truth. I guess the difference is documentaries try to *tell* a story, while reality TV tries to *create* a story.
RE: Fact #15 (JFK’s Intern Dare) – Too much power always leads to corruption.
RE: Fact #8 (Geisha Affair Ends Prime Minister) – That politician’s got a mistress!
Japan: “Yeah, that’s bad, but not exactly unheard of…”
“He didn’t even give her any money or help!!!”
Japan: “That’s a disgrace!”
RE: Fact #37 (Julia Roberts Flees With Friend) – Guy falls for a girl. She dumps him. He becomes a steer roper. Been happening forever.
RE: Fact #25 (Dr. Seuss Affair Ends Tragically) – That’s seriously messed up. Peggy, Ted’s niece, said Helen’s actions, whatever they were, came from her deep love for Ted. She even called Helen’s death the ultimate gift to him.
RE: Fact #19 (Zelda Suspected Hemingway Affair) – If you’re into Fitzgerald, check out Scott and Zelda’s life stories before reading their books. A lot of their writing is straight from their lives. And, sadly, Zelda got schizophrenia, and later died in a fire at a mental hospital after Scott passed away.
That’s awful.
That guy totally ruined the ending of her bio.
A fire started in the hospital kitchen on March 10th, 1948. Zelda was trapped in a locked room, waiting for electroshock. The fire spread fast, even the fire escapes burned. She was one of nine women who died.
RE: Fact #12 (LBJ Brags About Womanizing Record) – He was always flashing it, and everyone knew about it.
Yep.
He’d schedule meetings with cabinet members he disliked at the worst possible times—like while he was on the toilet, door wide open. He’d pretend he couldn’t hear them, making them lean in closer and closer until they just gave him what he wanted. The guy was a real jerk.
RE: Fact #8 (Geisha Affair Ends Prime Minister) – Seems like a difference in what’s considered right and wrong, then?
Yeah, I get it. It was about money, not sex. But it’s still a moral issue.
RE: Fact #10 (King Louis XV’s Deathbed Confession) – So, this guy who tried to kill the king? Brutal stuff. They crushed his legs with these things called “boots,” then tortured him with red-hot pincers. They burned his hand—the one that held the knife—with sulfur, and poured hot wax, lead, and oil into his wounds. Finally, they tied horses to his limbs to rip him apart, but it didn’t work right away, so they had to cut his tendons first. Then, they burned what was left of him—and the crowd cheered.
I’m blown away that this kind of torture was used so recently. I figured it was a medieval thing, but then I remembered it was the 1750s – smack-dab in the middle of the Enlightenment!
This still maybe goes on somewhere on the planet. That doesn’t shock me; what gets me is that it was government-approved torture in a country that would become so advanced.
RE: Fact #11 (Politician Mic’d Up Affair Boast) – Aww, remember when people quit their jobs over this kind of thing? We were so innocent back then.
RE: Fact #12 (LBJ Brags About Womanizing Record) – President Johnson, you might think you’re a ladies’ man, but seriously, stop assaulting the furniture.
Refrigerator-sempai’s gonna be sad.
RE: Fact #16 (Comedian’s Driver Becomes Lover) – Either he really, really loved her, or he was getting a cut of her earnings.
RE: Fact #7 (Harding’s Secret Daughter Confirmed) – Wow, she lived almost 70 years after he did! She passed away in 1991. And he was 30 years older than her.
It’s a real bummer the truth only came out way after she passed.
RE: Fact #7 (Harding’s Secret Daughter Confirmed) – Some interesting clues suggest Mrs. Harding might have done it.
Yeah, my college history prof said the theory is she poisoned him in San Francisco ’cause he was messing around with Ms. Britton’s poodle. And get this – Harding was rumored to be part African-American AND a closeted KKK member.
Nope. But Dave Powers got a blow job.
RE: Fact #18 (Affair Victim Mummified in Drum) – This case has been featured in tons of true crime shows, like “Broken Trust” (2004), “Flower Drum Murder” (2015), “Roll Out the Barrel” (from NYPD Blue), “A Voice from Beyond” (2000), “Beneath the Stairs” (Grave Secrets, 2017), and “Lady in a Barrel” (Buried in the Backyard, 2018). It’s a popular story.
RE: Fact #11 (Politician Mic’d Up Affair Boast) – There was a big conflict of interest—he was in charge of an energy company, and the lobbyist for that company was a woman who seemed ready to sue him.
What on earth could she sue him for? Is it because he spilled the beans about her little honey trap?
She said there was no affair, that he was just showing off to his buddies, and it totally wrecked her reputation. Maybe she’s right, but nothing ever came of it legally. Maybe they settled privately, or maybe the affair actually happened and she cooked up the lawsuit to save face.
RE: Fact #15 (JFK’s Intern Dare) – Not the Kennedy family’s biggest screw-up.
RE: Fact #4 (Enron Exec Blows Fortune on Affair) – People always mess this up when they share it.
Lou Pai didn’t have enough cash, so the judge made him sell his stock to pay for his divorce.
Since he was forced to sell—not because he knew something others didn’t—he wasn’t guilty of insider trading like the rest of them.
Wall Street wives are keeping a secret loophole from their husbands.
Anchor baby? Green card marriage? So last century. The hot new thing is liquidation marriage—get hitched so you can unload assets without getting nailed for insider trading. Sucks that it’s a 50% cut, but hey, at least you’re free.
Wow, his divorce made him a wealthy man.
His ex-wife’s loaded, too.
RE: Fact #10 (King Louis XV’s Deathbed Confession) – Did she let it go?
For the business stuff, sure. But for being a weak, indecisive crybaby who let his mistresses run him ragged? Absolutely not.
Seriously? That’s a new one on me.
Yeah, especially since she admitted to cheating and they both messed around with a lot of the same people.
RE: Fact #47 (JFK’s Endless Affairs Revealed) – I heard this story about Jackie Kennedy giving a French VIP a White House tour. They walked past an intern, and Jackie casually told the guy, in perfect French, “That’s the woman sleeping with my husband.” Apparently, JFK was a bit of a player, and Jackie knew all about it.
RE: Fact #40 (Affair Traps Kill Belgian Engineer) – Belgium finally gets a shout-out, and it’s about that crazy MacGyver guy! Pretty cool.
RE: Fact #10 (King Louis XV’s Deathbed Confession) – So, deathbed confessions? Not a great idea. I guess the guy was pretty religious, so he probably had his reasons.
France was pretty Catholic before the revolution.
RE: Fact #38 (Nazimova and the Sewing Circle) – Her star’s on the corner of Hollywood and El Centro. It just says Nazimova, no first name.
RE: Fact #14 (Duke Excommunicated for Affair Art) – His granddaughter Eleanor was a total medieval rockstar too! She divorced one king, married another, almost brought down an empire to get her way, and raised her favorite son to be Richard the Lionheart. What a life!
RE: Fact #28 (Affair Swapped Twain’s Spouse) – So, her best friend AND her personal assistant slept with her husband? Brutal betrayal. Seriously, you could get killed for less.
It’s like working at a super busy Burger King in Florida, short-handed.
RE: Fact #23 (Babe Ruth’s Wild Womanizing) – I remembered it from that John Goodman Babe movie. Makes me feel old!
Wow, they filmed that in my hometown! Part of it, at least—they used our minor league baseball field. Man, that makes me feel old, I remember them shooting it.
RE: Fact #30 (George IV’s Public Divorce Attempt) – From what I’ve learned studying family law, back then Parliament handled all divorces. This one was just a real headache, especially since the new King was involved.
RE: Fact #41 (Stephen Hawking’s Voicebox Love Triangle) – No offense, but how does he pull that off?
The actor who played him in *Theory of Everything* was on The Daily Show, and they showed a movie clip about it. Turns out, erections are automatic, so his condition didn’t affect them. I’m just happy at least someone is worried about him having sex.
RE: Fact #7 (Harding’s Secret Daughter Confirmed) – Ancestry.com wasn’t involved in proving who the father was. One of Nan’s grandsons and a great-nephew of Harding’s worked it out.
Britton, a local girl much younger than the President, was supposedly supported by Warren, but his death left her in a tough spot. She wrote a book, “The President’s Daughter,” to get money for herself and her child. People around here thought she was after his money and a bit crazy. She always told her daughter who her real dad was and though she remarried, she always saw Harding as the love of her life.
Harding also had a long affair with Carrie Phillips; you can find his love letters to her online in the national archives.
Historians today are kinder to Harding’s legacy. He started the veterans bureau, oversaw the Washington Naval Conference which led to global disarmament after WWI, dedicated the Lincoln Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and is credited with a lot of the economic good times of the 20s. He was President from January 1921 to August 1923, when he died in San Francisco. He was incredibly popular – more so than anyone since Washington. The country wanted a DC burial, but his wife brought him back to Ohio.
His memorial was paid for by small donations from all over the US. It’s still the biggest presidential monument outside DC.
Despite his personal life, Harding was respected politically. His cabinet was his downfall. Interior Secretary Albert Fall went to jail after Harding died for the Teapot Dome Scandal—the illegal sale of land with naval oil reserves. It was so bad, the VP wouldn’t go to Harding’s memorial in Ohio; Hoover ended up doing it in 1931.
So, which modern historians are we talking about? Seems like most people still think he’s awful
Harding didn’t make a dime off it, but he also ignored his shady buddies. That heart attack might have been stress from all his problems catching up to him. He was in way over his head as President, but felt he had to see it through. His dad told him, “Warren, it’s a good thing you’re not a girl, ’cause you can’t say no.” Seemed like he just went with the flow.
RE: Fact #34 (Reality TV Destroys Loud Family) – I’m kinda old-school, but if he was cheating, that seems like a fair point.
That’s a pretty modern take, not old-fashioned at all. Think about it – women couldn’t even vote until recently! Getting away with cheating seems way more old-school to me.
I think cheating was a bigger deal in the breakup than the filming.
RE: Fact #31 (Cheating Wives Once Legal Targets) – Old laws are still around. I seriously doubt a Frenchman would’ve gotten away with that defense back in the early ’70s.
RE: Fact #19 (Zelda Suspected Hemingway Affair) – In *A Moveable Feast*, Hemingway said Zelda ribbed Fitzgerald about his, uh, manhood. After checking it out in a public restroom, Hemingway told Fitzgerald he was totally normal-sized, even bigger than some Louvre statues.
Maybe Zelda caught Hemingway looking down there and jumped to some conclusions.
RE: Fact #22 (Cleveland Hides Lovechild in Asylum) – Back in the day…
“I gotta keep my affair secret… Hmm… what’ll I do?
I know! I’ll mess up their life!”
RE: Fact #1 (Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair) – I finished the book. She spends ages talking about how clueless she was, and goes out of her way to not paint him in a bad light.
But even so, he still comes across as a total jerk.
He was 35, she was 19. He was married. He barely even spoke to her afterwards, probably to avoid making the affair seem like anything more than physical, which, at 19, she didn’t get.
Seriously, girl. Why would you blame yourself?
I totally get that! She was younger, and he was older and already married.
Seriously, playing those games with a teenager? That’s creepy.
People were hesitant to call Harrison Ford creepy because he’s so beloved—like Tom Hanks or Keanu Reeves. But we can still appreciate his films while acknowledging his questionable behavior.
RE: Fact #28 (Affair Swapped Twain’s Spouse) – Her family was crazy! Four parents, eight kids total—a real blended family situation. Weekends were nuts with kids going back and forth between houses. Some stayed put, others switched families. She had one brother, four step-siblings, and two brothers-in-law.
RE: Fact #2 (Marie Curie’s Scandalous Affair Leaks) – Einstein gave his first wife a list of rules, like, “Don’t talk to me if I ask you not to,” and “Get out of my room or study right away if I say so.” They got divorced, and then he married his cousin.
Einstein: Relativity rules!
He married his cousin; she was also his cousin on his dad’s side.
Don’t remind him he’s a jerk, or he’ll take another finger.
RE: Fact #3 (Napoleon vs Wellington: Bedroom Battle) – That lady is seriously strong.
Took down Napoleon before he took over the world.
RE: Fact #35 (AA Founder’s Infamous ‘13th Step’) – There’s a lot of that still going on in AA. Older guys, vulnerable women looking for help – it’s easy pickings for predators.
That’s why women’s groups get together.
RE: Fact #46 (Patton’s Niece Becomes Mistress) – Wow, his wife’s niece? That’s a whole different story than if it was his own niece.
RE: Fact #8 (Geisha Affair Ends Prime Minister) – Liza Dalby’s book *Geisha* says geishas often visited their clients’ widows, bringing gifts and comfort. The wives weren’t jealous; they appreciated the help.
Back then, a man went to a geisha to relax, drink, and flirt, while his wife was seen as a caregiver and mom. It’s not that wives were powerless – they controlled the money, and their word was law at home. Husbands often looked up to them like mothers. So, wives didn’t get jealous of geishas; they understood it was different roles. A man wouldn’t leave his wife for a geisha. His wife probably knew and was okay with it.
If he *didn’t* pay for the geisha’s kimonos, lessons, and such, then yeah, that would be embarrassing.
RE: Fact #27 (Macarena: Cheating Hidden in Dance) – Elementary school birthdays? Yeah, those look kinda weird now.
Check out Vengaboys’ Boom Boom Boom.
RE: Fact #1 (Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair) –
He showed her his lightsaber.
So, this guy, 35, married, and not exactly Mr. Communication, slept with a 19-year-old coworker who was totally intimidated by him? And later, she felt bad he might be embarrassed if people found out he cheated on his wife with a younger coworker he went after? What a jerk.
So, you’ve heard about his buddy Roman Polanski? I dig Ford as an actor – he’s hilarious and charming in interviews – but I’m not sure he’s a great guy, really.
RE: Fact #48 (Liv Tyler’s Real Dad Surprise) – So, this actress’s mom was a cheater, kept her baby daddy a secret from the guy who raised her, and her real dad looks like a grandma. Wow.
RE: Fact #6 (Opera Spy’s Gender-Bending Romance) – So, his diary says Boursicot was only ever with guys at school before, and he really wanted to find a woman and fall in love. I think he knew the whole time and got what he wanted.
Wadler really lays it out how Boursicot bought into the idea that Shi Pei Pu was a woman, even though they were close friends first, and he knew Shi was a man. He even tried to kill himself during the trial when Shi’s gender became a big deal. But, it seems like he’s made peace with it all and is doing okay now.
It’s tough to say if Shi played him or not, being the older one. They weren’t living together much anyway because of his job.
How could they be together like that for two decades and he never noticed?
Perhaps they were a gay couple, which was against the law back then, so he claimed he didn’t realize they were a man.
Their relationship wasn’t all that long, really. They started dating late 1964, didn’t get together until summer ’65, and then he was sent back to France by the end of ’65. Shi told him he was pregnant, and he promised to come back to China as soon as possible. Then it was three years of just letters.
He went back in 1969, but Shi had already gotten a Uyghur boy – it looked mixed-race enough to fool him. Shi just showed a picture and said the kid had to be raised in the countryside to avoid gossip. They were a family until 1972, when his job took him away. Five more years of letters.
From 1977-1978, he was in Mongolia, but took long train trips every few months to see his “son.” Then another four years passed. They finally reunited in France in 1982.
The whole thing blew up in 1983.
In the end, they probably only spent four or five years together, max.
He liked femboys.
He probably got tricked, but he also saw and heard what he wanted to at the time—a kind of self-hypnosis, I guess.
He’s a bit of a cold fish, hard to get ahold of, and not much of a talker. Sounds about right for him.
Ages ago, I saw him standing alone after a little speech—that was the whole feel. Hands on hips, taking it all in, like “this is chill.” Little me really wanted to meet the guy from all those old movies, but even back then, a little nod from Harrison Ford, twenty feet away, felt like plenty.
He lives near Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and I heard he’s saved a couple lost hikers in the Grand Tetons—a young woman and a young guy. Being rescued by Harrison Ford? That must have been awesome!
I’ll put it up.
Got it.
RE: Fact #1 (Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair) – He was 35, she was 19.
RE: Fact #3 (Napoleon vs Wellington: Bedroom Battle) – Between her flings with Napoleon and Wellington, she also had a kid with the Russian Tsar, Alexander I.
My buddy married a stripper he met on vacation. Fifteen years and two kids later—I figured they’d be divorced after a year, but she totally changed my mind after I met her.
You’re a pal, aren’t you?
RE: Fact #17 (99-Year-Old Divorces Over 1940s Affair) – I get it, cheating’s one thing, but lying for over fifty years? That’s a whole other level.
RE: Fact #42 (King George I’s Brutal Revenge) – I’m gonna sleep with the most powerful man in England’s wife. What could possibly go wrong?
RE: Fact #1 (Carrie Fisher – Harrison Ford Affair) – His marriage was different when the book was released, so this new info won’t affect his relationship now.
If your spouse cheated on their ex, would that be okay with you?
I get the feeling Callista Flockhart already knew about his cheating; it wasn’t exactly hush-hush.
RE: Fact #22 (Cleveland Hides Lovechild in Asylum) – He gave his kid up for adoption.
RE: Fact #13 (Clown Murder Tied to Affair) – Ran into a clown. There’s your problem.
I had no idea clown hair had DNA!
The wigs are made from the hair of past victims.
RE: Fact #32 (Womack Affair Ends Violently) – That life was one heck of a journey.
That was like a Jerry Springer episode, seriously.
Linda married Bobby’s brother, Cecil, and they became a really successful music act known as Womack & Womack. That’s crazy!
RE: Fact #9 (Predator Host Caught Cheating) – Chris, scoot over here.
Hey Chris, check these off:
[ ] I just wanted to tell her I wasn’t coming.
[ ] First time doing this, I didn’t even plan on doing anything.
[ ] Yeah, I knew it was a setup. I just wanted to see what happened.
[ ] Nah, you got it wrong. I met her to tell her adultery’s wrong.
[ ] I brought the booze and condoms ’cause she asked. We weren’t gonna use them, though.
RE: Fact #24 (Einstein on Monogamy: Skeptical) – Lots of guys aren’t naturally monogamous.
His second wife was a relative, so that joke’s extra funny.
We’re all family eventually, so let’s just go with it.
RE: Fact #12 (LBJ Brags About Womanizing Record) – Johnson was totally hitting on Jackie Kennedy—there are audio recordings to prove it.
He was seriously creepy.
As long as he wasn’t bothering Rosemary.
Things might’ve turned out differently if she’d had a man around.
RE: Fact #18 (Affair Victim Mummified in Drum) – I just heard the My Favorite Murder podcast about this crime – way crazier than you’d imagine. He said he’d leave his wife for her, then killed her. Her drum sat in the crawl space for ages, even after the house was sold lots of times, nobody knew a body was inside. Her friends and family were clueless, and the cops didn’t believe her friend when she reported Reyna missing.
RE: Fact #23 (Babe Ruth’s Wild Womanizing) –
RE: Fact #3 (Napoleon vs Wellington: Bedroom Battle) – So that’s why it’s Beef Wellington, not Beef Napoleon.
Georges said it was called beef swellsaton.
That guy nearly took over all of Europe, but he couldn’t handle a few women.
RE: Fact #39 (Robin Williams Sued Over Herpes) – I still can’t bring myself to dislike him.
RE: Fact #2 (Marie Curie’s Scandalous Affair Leaks) – I think you should keep ignoring those losers. If they keep bothering you, just stop reading their garbage. Let the snakes who eat that stuff have it.
Einstein wasn’t exactly a relationship guru, but hey, it was the right decision. We need to separate what someone’s done from who they are as a person.
He totally nailed it.
It’s helpful to know he told his wife he’d be unfaithful.
Gaslighting, gatekeeping, girlbossing—that’s the trifecta, Einstein-style.
RE: Fact #37 (Julia Roberts Flees With Friend) – That article barely touches on how much of a jerk Sutherland was, all the Hollywood drama with the women, drugs, and booze. It especially skips over how that lifestyle and his bad behavior led Roberts to dump him at the altar and run off with his best friend, Jason Patric.
I don’t want anyone thinking the whole thing was Roberts’ fault, so I’m saying it straight: the article doesn’t cover all the tabloid craziness from back then.
The best part of the story—besides Sutherland’s life turning around and him getting into rodeo—is this quote from him: “I commend Julia for seeing how young and silly we were, even at the last minute, even as painful and difficult as it was. Thank God she saw it.”
Hollywood messes people up, and they were young. Kiefer was way more messed up than Roberts, though neither of them was perfect.
There are always two sides, and really understanding something takes looking at your side, their side, and the truth somewhere in between. Get the whole picture before you judge.
There are tons of ways to ditch a toxic person without, you know, the whole “altar-for-best-friend” drama.
Roberts has a terrible reputation with past coworkers, she’s been caught parking in handicapped spots, cheated on someone who was married after her divorce, and her half-sister’s suicide note mentioned her.
Roberts stayed toxic, but Sutherland seems to have grown up.
Hollywood’s big shots? Assume they’re jerks until you see proof otherwise.
RE: Fact #5 (Hamilton’s Sex Scandal Uncovered) – So, James Reynolds gets sent to jail for stealing money, and he tries to take Hamilton down with him. Hamilton cleared his name with a secret confession about his affair, but the story still leaked out over the next few years, which finally made Hamilton publish that famous Reynolds Pamphlet.
Hamilton blamed those leaks on future President James Monroe, and they almost fought a duel about it until Aaron Burr stepped in.
Who ended up killing Hamilton?
Most arguments fizzle out without anyone getting hurt.
Some historians think the whole thing was made up. He invented it, dragging an innocent woman into it to cover up a boring financial mess with James Reynolds.
Only Hamilton ever said it happened. Maria Reynolds said it didn’t, and no one ever saw the letters she supposedly wrote to Hamilton. The ones he showed everyone were copies, full of spelling mistakes that looked like someone trying to fake an uneducated person’s writing.
James Monroe, one of the guys who questioned Hamilton, probably didn’t believe it, even though he pretended to. After Hamilton gave him the letters, Monroe leaked them to Hamilton’s enemy, Thomas Jefferson, who spread the gossip. This eventually forced Hamilton to admit the affair in the Reynold Pamphlet.
RE: Fact #15 (JFK’s Intern Dare) – Jacqueline Kennedy must have been heartbroken. This guy was sleeping around constantly. Even her sister had an affair with him. He did good things, sure, but he treated his wife terribly—really, really badly.
Whoa, her sister? That’s crazy.
He didn’t really do all that much good for America, honestly. A lot of it’s just because he was assassinated.
RE: Fact #32 (Womack Affair Ends Violently) – I’m shocked Linda Cooke ended up marrying Bobby’s younger brother, Cecil, after everything!
So, get this: Before he married Linda, Cecil dumped his first wife, Mary Wells, because she cheated on him with his brother, Curtis.
RE: Fact #44 (Clapton’s Violent, Cheating Marriage) – Alcoholism isn’t an excuse for hitting women. I’m an alcoholic, and I’ve never hit my wife or kid.
Beating women is what abusive people do. And I bet even if he got sober, he’d still be abusive or want to be.
She really loved him. What a jerk.
RE: Fact #6 (Opera Spy’s Gender-Bending Romance) – Bouriscot would be surprised to find out he was having sex with a man all along.
Reporter Joyce Wadler, in her book *Liaison*, said Boursicot thought Shi was a woman because Shi could pull his testicles up inside himself. This, along with other tricks with his penis, made it look like he had a vagina, fooling Boursicot into believing he’d had sex with a woman.
That totally blew my mind! How do people even learn to do that?!
Sounds like they’re trying to hide the fact they’re gay.
So, the cheater? Albert Einstein. Boom.
RE: Fact #26 (Couple Catfished by Each Other) – If you’re into piña coladas…
RE: Fact #33 (Parrot Outs Girlfriend’s Affair) – I was glad to see the back of Suzy after all that, but losing Ziggy really gutted me. I loved that dog to bits and miss him tons. Hearing him say that name again and again was awful. I still can’t believe he’s gone. I’ll get over Suzy, but Ziggy? Never.
It feels like the world’s against me; I’ve lost my girlfriend and my best mate at once. Ziggy was one of a kind, a loyal pal who always had my back. He never liked Suzy, and she didn’t like him either.
He could have tried talking to Ziggy.
The five words that make grown men bust a move.
It’s not your kid!
In the next Arrested Development episode…
RE: Fact #19 (Zelda Suspected Hemingway Affair) – F. Scott Fitzgerald, a handsome, well-to-do guy from St. Paul, Minnesota, always battled self-doubt. Eastern schools weren’t kind to his “provincial” background. His first love, Ginevra King, a rich girl, was a no-go after her dad told him, “Poor boys shouldn’t marry rich girls.”
*The Great Gatsby* was, in a way, his payback to the upper class. Ginevra married into money, a match that ended in divorce. Her husband was just like Tom Buchanan—a jerk who felt entitled to everything. Ginevra even reminds you of both Isabelle Borgé from *This Side of Paradise* and Daisy Buchanan from *The Great Gatsby*.
Fitzgerald was blown away by Hemingway; Hemingway seemed like a real man, a minor war hero, happily married, and already a super talented writer. Hemingway saw Fitzgerald as a major literary figure, and Fitzgerald got access to a really cool group of writers— Sherwood Anderson, Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot, and Sylvia Beach. Stein called them the “lost generation.”
Fitzgerald told Hemingway to cut some parts from *The Sun Also Rises*; after the edits, the book was amazing. Hemingway gave Fitzgerald confidence and helped him navigate tricky social situations—something Fitzgerald struggled with. Hemingway himself had none of Fitzgerald’s insecurities.
Their friendship eventually soured, but there was still a connection between them. Hemingway sometimes put Fitzgerald down, even thinking Zelda was a bad influence. But Fitzgerald let Hemingway be the “sane” one in their relationship, even as Hemingway’s career overshadowed his own.
Fitzgerald’s personality really explains his writing. Hemingway’s, less so; but Catherine Barkley in *A Farewell to Arms* and his own writings show he wasn’t without his issues.
So, that story about Fitzgerald asking Hemingway to check out his penis? Probably made up, but knowing these two, it’s totally believable.
For more on this crazy friendship, check out *Fitzgerald & Hemingway: A Dangerous Friendship* by Matthew Bruccoli—he’s the go-to expert on Fitzgerald.
I read *A Moveable Feast*, and Hemingway totally paints Zelda as a paranoid weirdo who messed with Fitzgerald’s writing. The book’s full of stuff about Fitzgerald. Basically, if you were Hemingway’s pal, you’d better be careful – he spills the tea on everyone.
Like I said before, Hemingway eventually turned on everyone he knew. By the time he wrote most of *A Moveable Feast*, he was really worried about his writing skills drying up—his books weren’t selling well and critics hated them. Putting down other writers was his way of making himself look better.
He was married, yeah, but who cares by 2016? They’d been divorced for like, 35 years by then! He’d even been divorced from his next wife and had been with Calista Flockhart for ages. Unless she brought up something seriously bad, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
I read that book—they barely mentioned it except for saying they hooked up a lot during the filming of A New Hope. Mark saw them once, and everyone just kinda shrugged it off. I think it started during the London filming.
It wasn’t so much the gossip as it was that they’re friends. He’s a private person, keeps his work and personal life apart, you know? They likely just didn’t want to bother him.
Took down Napoleon before he could take over the planet.
The Dollop podcast says he was a real ladies’ man.
Games were simpler back in the day. People only saw the folks from their own town.
That’s what I figured from the title and the comment.
Georges said it was called beef swellsaton.
I’d have picked “swellington,” but you still get my upvote, you awesome person!
Who said otherwise?
He kinda looks like Shia LaBeouf.
What on earth could she sue him for? Is it because he outed her honeytrap on factrepublic, and now she’s upset?
She said it was all a lie, that he was just trying to impress people, and it really messed her up. Maybe she’s right, but nothing ever came of it legally. Either they settled quietly, or she made the whole thing up to protect herself.
That dude looks just like Borat! High five!
My wife, my other wife, and my cousin.