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Jussie Smollett -

In 2019, actor Jussie Smollett made headlines after reports that he had been the victim of a horrifying homophobic and racist attack. He had allegedly been beaten by two men who also tied a rope around his neck. He received an outpouring of support from the entertainment community as police investigated the crime.

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Jussie Smollett -

A week later, the investigation took a shocking turn and it was Smollett who was arrested. Evidence surfaced that he had orchestrated a staged attack with the help of two extras from his show ‘Empire.’ He was eventually charged with five counts of disorderly conduct for lying to the police, and sentenced to 150 days in jail, although he was released almost immediately pending an appeal.

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Joaquin Phoenix -

In 2009, actor Joaquin Phoenix shocked and confused the world when he announced that he was quitting the film industry to become a rapper. The deeply serious method actor claimed to be entirely serious about this new endeavor.

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Joaquin Phoenix -

In 2010, a 'documentary' directed by Casey Affleck called ‘I’m Still Here’ was released. In the film, Casey Affleck follows Joaquin Phoenix as he embarks on his new career as a hip-hop artist. After the release of the mockumentary, they revealed that the whole thing was staged. Phoenix had remained in character throughout the making of the film, with his career-change announcement serving as both an early scene in the movie and an effective PR stunt.

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Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake -

The 2004 Super Bowl halftime show was the setting for the most infamous wardrobe malfunction in history. Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake put on an epic performance and sang his song ‘Rock Your Body.’ It ends with the line "Gonna have you naked by the end of this song,” at which point Timberlake ripped away part of Jackson’s leather bustier, revealing her breast on live TV.

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Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake -

The backlash was harsh and immediate. Jackson claimed the costume reveal was only supposed to reveal a red bra, but that Timberlake accidentally removed too much. However, it seemed convenient that Jackson was wearing a decorative sun-shaped pasty on the exposed breast. Many believe the whole incident was a publicity stunt that completely backfired, as the public reaction was damning and Jackson’s career suffered irrevocably. Timberlake, however, escaped relatively unscathed.

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Kathy Griffin -

In 2017, comedian Kathy Griffin staged a sort of protest against the election of President Donald Trump. She shared a photo of herself holding up a Donald Trump mask covered in ketchup, which looked like she was holding his decapitated head.

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Kathy Griffin -

While many celebrities openly condemned Trump and his political views, Griffin certainly chose a more visceral way to convey her contempt for the new president. The comedian is known for her controversial and crass humor, but this time the public felt she went too far. Even her former friends and supporters, like Anderson Cooper and Chelsea Clinton, turned against her. Griffin says she wasn’t just canceled after the stunt, she was “erased.”

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Dustin Diamond -

Late actor Dustin Diamond was best known for playing the role of Screech on the hit ‘90s show ‘Saved by the Bell.’ Unfortunately, his career stalled after his early success and he struggled to find work. This led him on a sorely misguided venture to raise his profile and make some cash. Diamond had heard that Paris Hilton’s leaked sex tape made US$13 million, so he decided to make a racy video of his own.

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Dustin Diamond -

Diamond hired a well-endowed body double for certain scenes and got to work. However, when he 'leaked' the tape, all he gained was a bad reputation. It was misinterpreted and rumors circulated that Screech was now in the adult film industry! He later said it was “the thing that I am most embarrassed about."

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Anna Wintour and Kimye -

Vogue has always been a bastion of high fashion and good taste. As such, many questioned Anna Wintour’s decision to put Kim Kardashian and Kanye West on the cover in 2014. While the former couple are certainly style icons, their particular style isn’t what usually graces the cover of Vogue.

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Anna Wintour and Kimye -

Wintour revealed that the choice was a publicity stunt of sorts later that year. She explained that putting a couple with questionable taste on the cover would generate conversation and buzz: “If we just remain deeply tasteful and just put deeply tasteful people on the cover, it would be a rather boring magazine. Nobody would talk about us. It’s very important that people do talk about us.”

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The makers of ‘The Blair Witch Project’ -

The 1999 found-footage style horror film ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was perhaps the first of its kind, and the most terrifying. The makers of the film wanted the experience to be as authentic as possible, so they decided to stage real-life disappearances of the actors in the film. They claimed that the footage was real and that the participants were really missing.

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They even put up missing posters around the film’s shooting location and listed the stars as "missing, presumed dead" online. They didn’t reveal that the actors were alive and well until after the film’s release. ‘The Blair Witch Project’ cost US$35,000 to make, and earned US$248 million at the box office worldwide. This particular publicity stunt certainly paid off!

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Nicki Minaj and DJ Khaled -

In 2013, rapper DJ Khaled shocked the world by proposing to Nicki Minaj on MTV. He presented Minaj with a ring reportedly worth US$500,000, and she enthusiastically accepted.

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Nicki Minaj and DJ Khaled -

However, shortly afterward, the pair revealed that the engagement was fake and simply a publicity stunt to promote their song ‘I Wanna Be with You,’ which was to be released around that time.

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Sacha Baron Cohen -

Sacha Baron Cohen is known for going all out with his characters, taking them into the real world to interact with public figures and unsuspecting citizens alike. His 2006 film ‘Borat’ is his best-known work. Cohen stars as the eponymous Kazakh hero, an inexperienced journalist traveling to the US to conduct interviews.

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Sacha Baron Cohen -

To promote the film, Cohen attempted to enter the White House in full character. He claimed that he wanted to personally invite “Premier George Walter Bush" to a screening of the movie, but he was stopped by Secret Service officers.

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The Sex Pistols -

In 1976, Queen Elizabeth celebrated her momentous Silver Jubilee, marking 25 years on the throne. The anarchic punk rock band the Sex Pistols decided it was the perfect opportunity to promote their upcoming single, ‘God Save the Queen.’ The song begins with the line "God save the queen / The fascist regime," and carries on in the same vein...

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The Sex Pistols -

The band took to a boat and sailed up the River Thames in London blaring the anti-monarchy anthem, hoping to interrupt the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations. They were promptly arrested by local police who boarded their boat and put an end to the stunt. It certainly raised their profile, but also negatively affected their careers, as the band faced boycotts and bans in England for quite some time.

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Morton Downey Jr. -

Morton Downey Jr. was a controversial talk show host popular in the 1980s for hosting 'The Morton Downey Jr. Show.' He is credited as being a pioneer of “trash TV” and is considered a precursor to some of the biggest right-wing political TV personalities of the future, such as Bill O'Reilly. However, his viewership was declining towards the end of the ‘80s.

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In 1989, news broke that Downey Jr. had been attacked by neo-Nazis in a San Francisco airport bathroom. According to the victim, they held him down, cut his hair, and drew swastikas all over his face and clothes. Police were suspicious of his story as the swastikas were all backward as if they had been drawn while looking in a mirror… They also found a black marker and a pair of scissors in the bathroom. It became clear that Downey Jr. had faked the attack. His show was canceled shortly after the incident.

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Old Hollywood's fake relationships -

Due to the studio system that existed in the early days of Hollywood, actors had very little control over their own lives. The studios told them what to eat, what to wear, and who to date. Many relationships, and even marriages, were orchestrated simply to promote films or raise the profiles of up-and-coming stars. Such relationships were also often arranged to hide the fact that a star was gay, such as in the case of Rock Hudson’s 1955 marriage to Phyllis Gates. These were known as “lavender marriages.”

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Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy -

Another example is the long-lasting affair between Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. The pair were a legendary cinematic couple, appearing in nine films together. They also reportedly had an affair while married to other people that went on for almost three decades, which was an open secret in Hollywood.

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Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy -

A relationship between the frequent co-stars with great on-screen chemistry suited their studio, MGM. It also served a private purpose for Tracy and Hepburn, who reportedly both engaged in same-sex relationships that were kept hidden from the public.

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Judy Garland and Vincente Minnelli -

It’s believed that Judy Garland’s six-year marriage to director Vincente Minnelli was a similar arrangement. Although they had a daughter together, the famous Liza Minnelli, it was widely known that Vincente Minnelli had openly lived as a gay man in New York before his move to Hollywood.

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They got married after working together on the hit movie ‘Meet Me in St. Louis’ in 1944. These kinds of relationships often coincided with film releases.

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Herostratus -

One of the earliest recorded publicity stunts in history actually occurred in ancient Greece. Around 550 BCE, the famous Temple of Artemis was built in Ephesus. It was considered the greatest architectural wonder to date, and was revered by all. However, by 365 BCE, it was sadly destroyed in a terrible incident.

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Herostratus -

A Greek man called Herostratus decided to burn it to the ground by setting fire to its wooden beams. When asked why he did it, he explained that he simply wanted to ensure that his name would go down in history. He was executed, and the Greeks put a ban on saying his name in an attempt to wipe him from memory. But his plan was ultimately a success. The phrase ‘Herostratic fame’ is still used to describe fame achieved through criminal acts.

Sources: (TheRichest) (History) (Nicki Swift) (BBC) (HowStuffWorks)

See also: Hollywood scandals that history forgot

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