Warning: this post mentions racism, anti-gay bias, violence against women, child abuse, and sexual assault.
Hollywood has long been dominated by powerful men — and, in far too many cases, men who abused their power. Here are some classic Hollywood stars who have been accused of extremely problematic things…
1. Bing Crosby was on of the many entertainers who performed in blackface more than once, including in movies like Holiday Inn and Dixie.
His children also accused him of being abusive, with his eldest son, Gary Crosby, claiming, “My father would come home at 6 O’Clock and by 6:05 he’d heard the news of what I’d done. Then I’d get bent over and my pants taken down, and beat ’til I bled.”
2. John Wayne’s onscreen work in Western films frequently featured stereotypes of Native American people, amongst other problematic things, and offscreen, he openly stated, “I believe in white supremacy until the blacks are educated to a point of responsibility. I don’t believe in giving authority and positions of leadership and judgment to irresponsible people.” He also expressed extremely anti-gay views. In 1960, he joined the far-right John Birch Society.
3. Three-time Oscar winner Walter Brennan was another Western star who joined the John Birch Society and expressed racist, bigoted views. He reportedly supported segregation and expressed “satisfaction” when Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.
4. Sean Connery repeatedly made statements arguing that hitting women is not “particularly wrong,” and suggesting that some women “want a smack.” His first wife, Diane Cilento, claimed in her autobiography My Nine Lives that Sean abused her both mentally and physically.
5. Cary Grant allegedly abused at least two of his wives – his first wife, Virginia Cherrill, and his fourth wife, Dyan Cannon, who claimed Cary would beat her and “laugh when I cringed in fear.”
6. Steve McQueen’s first wife, Neile Adams, claimed in her memoir My Husband, My Friend that the actor was unfaithful as well as physically and emotionally abusive. She alleged that he pressured her to do drugs, and, when she joked about having an affair, he held her at gunpoint and repeatedly hit her. He also allegedly pressured her to have an abortion.
Steve was also reportedly controlling of his second wife, Ali MacGraw. Most famous for her role in Love Story, Steve allegedly banned her from doing any more romantic roles, and she didn’t actually work again until after they divorced. “He was tremendously insecure and dangerous,” Ali said, describing how Steve’s son, Chad, would “come downstairs and find plates sailing past his head. It was a rotten family scenario.”
7. Peter Sellers repeatedly used brownface and yellowface onscreen, in movies likeThe Party, Murder by Death, and Revenge of the Pink Panther.
He was also reportedly cruel to those around him, including coworkers as well as his wives and children, even allegedly brandishing guns and smashing crockery in his fits of rage. When Peter had a heart attack in 1964, costar Billy Wilder apparently said, “What do you mean, heart attack? You have to have a heart before you can have an attack.”
8. Errol Flynn’s problematic behavior could fill a whole book — in fact, it did, penned by the man himself (well, his ghostwriter). In his memoir,My Wicked, Wicked Ways, Errol is open about his misadventures, including putting a dead snake in the underwear of his costar Olias an aphrodisiac. He also installed two-way mirrors in the guest bedroom and bathroom in his home to spy on guests
In 1943, Errol was charged and acquitted with the statutory rape of two 17-year-old girls. He later wrote in his memoir that they had “asked for it.” During his trial, he met 18-year-old Nora Eddington, who was selling chewing gum in the lobby. He soon married her. Later, when he was in his 40s, he “dated” 15-year-old Beverly Aadland.
9. In his autobiography, Brando: Songs My Mother Taught Me, Marlon Brandoadmits to enjoying manipulating and mistreating women. Rita Moreno, who was with him for eight years, described him as a “bad guy when it came to women,” and said she was suicidal as result of his treatment of her.
Marlon’s Last Tango in Paris costar Maria Schneider said she felt “raped” by him after being coerced into filming a rape scene where his character used butter as lubricant, which she said wasn’t in the script. “Marlon said to me: ‘Maria, don’t worry, it’s just a movie,’ but during the scene, even though what Marlon was doing wasn’t real, I was crying real tears. I felt humiliated and to be honest, I felt a little raped, both by Marlon and by [director Bernado] Bertolucci. After the scene, Marlon didn’t console me or apologize. Thankfully, there was just one take.”
10. Gene Kelly was famous for being a perfectionist — but ultimately, it seems, he used that as an excuse to abuse and torment his coworkers. Debbie Reynolds, who was 19 when she worked with the 40-year-old Gene on Singin’ in the Rain, said he was “cruel” to her, criticizing everything she did and pushing a kiss scene they filmed beyond what she was comfortable with, to the point that “it felt like an assault.”
Gene’s Take Me Out to the Ball Game costar Esther Williams described working with him as “pure misery.” Choreographer Stanley Donen, who worked with Gene over many years, described him as “unprofessional” and a “bully.”
11. Charlie Chaplin had numerous relationships with underage girls and was even accused of “rape” and “debauching” teen girls by the US Senate. On-the-record examples we have of Charlie’s problematic behavior towards girls include the fact that his first wife, Mildred Harris, was 16 when they got married, and was worried she was pregnant. Charlie met his second wife, Lita Grey, when she was 8 years old. They began working together when she was 12, including multiple onscreen kisses. By the time she was 16, Lita was pregnant, and Charlie married her. During their divorce, Lita accused Charlie of “cruel and inhuman treatment,” including infidelity and sexual coercion.
While Charlie’s third wife, Paulette Goddard, was in her 20s (but still two decades younger than Charlie), his fourth and final wife, Oona O’Neill, had only just turned 18 when she married 53-year-old Charlie.
12. Clark Gable was 34 and married when he starred in The Call of the Wild with Loretta Young, who was 23 at the time. They had what was once described as an “affair,” but in her later years, Loretta would come to classify what she experienced with Clark as “date rape.” She became pregnant from the encounter and had to hide it, pretending her own daughter, Judy Lewis, was actually adopted. Clark never acknowledged Judy as his child.
13. According to Natalie Wood’s sister, Lana Wood, Kirk Douglas allegedly sexually assaulted Natalie when she was 16 years old, and he was in his 30s. Lana named Kirk as Natalie’s attacker in her 2021 memoir, a year after Kirk had died. In response, Kirk’s son, Michael Douglas, released a statement that simply said, “May they both rest in peace.”
14. Finally, in 2022, multiple women — including Karen Sharpe, Hope Holida, Anna Maria Alberghetti, and Laine Kazan — spoke out about the abuse, sexual harassment, and assault they say they experienced at the hands of Jerry Lewis during the 1960s.
Jerry was also known for being “difficult” and “cruel,” and received backlash multiple times in his career for misogynistic and anti-gay comments he publicly made, including using slurs on live television.
Can you think of any other problematic behavior from the Old Hollywood era? Share in the comments or the anonymous form below.
Dial 988 in the United States to reach theNational Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365. Your conversations are free and confidential. Other international suicide helplines can be found atbefrienders.org.The Trevor Project,which provides help and suicide-prevention re
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger as a result of domestic violence, call 911. For anonymous, confidential help, you can call the 24/7National Domestic Violence Hotlineat 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) or chat with an advocate
If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call theNational Sexual Assault Hotlineat 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local centerhere.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text theNational Child Abuse Hotlineat 1-800-422-4453(4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.
If you or someone you know has experienced anti-LGBTQ violence or harassment, you can contact theNational Coalition of Anti-Violence Programshotline at 1-212-714-1141.
Your daily brain workout:I’ll Be SO Impressed If Anyone Can Score A 1,1,1 On Today’s Word Chain
Also in Celebrity:“53 Facts That Are As Random As They Are Interesting”
Also in Celebrity:“It’s Been Over Four Decades…But Can You Still Name All These ’80s Singers?”
