It might not shock you to study that right here at Self-importance Truthful we love drama—the scripted form, in fact, but additionally the type that unfolds in breathless tabloid and commerce journal headlines. The sort that’s stunning, if not really prison, and supplies countless grist for the gossip mill. Fortunately for us, this was a 12 months stuffed to the brim with scandals—from the Gwyneth Paltrow courtroom efficiency that landed on our record of 2023’s greatest to the earth-shaking infidelity that rocked Vanderpump Guidelines and earned its personal salacious portmanteau: Scandoval.
What else earns a spot on our record of 2023’s most gripping scandals? Clutch your pearls and skim on to seek out out. (Only a word: We’re concentrating on Hollywood-adjacent scandals, which suggests you received’t discover George Santos or Donald Trump on this record. Higher luck subsequent 12 months, boys!)
Nonetheless from To Leslie.From Everett Assortment.
To Leslie, the Little Film With a Large Coronary heart
Stunned to listen to Andrea Riseborough’s identify introduced as a greatest actress contender when the 2023 Oscar nominations have been revealed in January? You weren’t alone. As Rebecca Ford famous on the time, loads of movie insiders hadn’t even heard of the film earlier than it scored that shock nod. But the film’s tiny profile had been raised at exactly the fitting time to get the Academy’s consideration, because of a coordinated effort that centered on grassroots promotion by high-profile actors like Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Edward Norton. Did To Leslie break any precise Academy guidelines with its unconventional marketing campaign? No, however the group did overhaul its marketing campaign tips this spring, as a direct results of the scandal. Seems like Leslie might stay considered one of a sort.
Sanderson v. Paltrow
Who knew {that a} minor accident on the slopes of the unique Deer Valley Resort in Park Metropolis, Utah may end in such gripping tv? Effectively, we did—contemplating the {accused} ski-crasher was none aside from Oscar winner and GOOP mogul Gwyneth Paltrow. From Paltrow’s courtroom vogue to her Clark Kent look-alike lawyer to her reply when requested by Terry Sanderson’s legal professional to elucidate what the collision had price her—“Effectively, I misplaced half a day of snowboarding”—each second of the battle felt prefer it had been written by White Lotus maestro Mike White. No marvel there’s already a musical about it opening this winter.
Scandoval
The place to start with the dishonest scandal that tore aside Vanderpump Guidelines—and made the long-running Bravo staple a must-watch as soon as extra? Attempt Chris Murphy’s detailed breakdown from March, which names the entire primary gamers—Tom Sandoval, his costar and longtime girlfriend Ariana Madix, and their costar Rachel Leviss (who, on the time the scandal broke, was going by Raquel)—and explains exactly why it was such catnip for actuality TV experts. Scandoval’s ripple results are legion, extending previous the present into unauthorized merch and an unopened sandwich store and podcasts and non-Vanderpump TV gigs for even essentially the most tangentially linked castmates. It’s Scandoval’s world; the remainder of us are simply residing in it.
The Jeff Shell Affair
Comcast shocked the trade in April when it fired Jeff Shell, the CEO of NBCUniversal, after an inner investigation corroborated an worker’s allegations of sexual harassment. Quickly, particulars started to emerge: For years, the married Shell had been having an affair with CNBC anchor Hadley Gamble. The connection led to 2021; this 12 months, Gamble discovered that her contract wouldn’t be renewed. As Selection particulars, she then filed a sexual harassment and discrimination grievance towards Shell. The sordid saga had a whiff of irony as nicely: The 12 months earlier than he and Gamble ended their entanglement, Shell had fired Common govt Ron Meyer over an identical sexually-charged scandal involving actor Charlotte Kirk. Some speculated that fixer Anthony Pellicano, an affiliate of Meyer, might have performed a task in Shell’s ouster as nicely; “I had completely nothing to do with it, though I’m very comfortable to see it happen,” the personal investigator informed Selection.
Chris Licht’s CNN Disaster
Chris Licht misplaced management of CNN the identical method Mike went bankrupt in The Solar Additionally Rises: regularly, then out of the blue. Only one 12 months after controversial Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav had chosen the newsman to move up the cable channel in 2022, Licht was booted from the job following a much-maligned city corridor occasion that includes Donald Trump and a damning profile in The Atlantic that painted Licht as a distant, out-of-touch boss whose solely objective gave the impression to be pleasing Zaslav’s each demand. “Particular emotions of widespread reduction within the constructing. It simply couldn’t final at this level,” one CNN supply informed Self-importance Truthful after the plug was lastly pulled.
