The Mammoth Book of Hollywood Scandals

by Michelle Morgan

  After serving for a year in the Austrian Army (during which time he won the Junior Mr Europe contest), he went on to win several Mr Universe titles, which propelled him into fame. He used this opportunity to further his career by moving permanently to the United States, where he told friends he was going to become a huge movie star. He wasn’t wrong.

  Schwarzenegger continued with his bodybuilding and won the Mr Olympia title a staggering seven times. However, his adventures into film-making were slow, with his accent, body shape and long name becoming a major hurdle to success. One such example of this was when he was chosen to act in the movie Hercules in New York (1970): his name was changed to Arnold Strong and his lines were later dubbed after it was decided his accent was just too thick. This did not bode well for a successful movie and in the end it turned out to be a disaster, notorious with fans only because of its unintentional humour.

  However, things picked up when Arnold won a Golden Globe award for New Male Star of the Year after his part in Stay Hungry (1976), and his star continued to climb throughout the 1980s with films such as Conan the Barbarian (1982), Conan the Destroyer (1984) and the hugely successful The Terminator in 1984. The late 1980s and early 1990s even introduced the actor to comedy, and he scored hits with both Twins (1988) and Kindergarten Cop (1990).

  The coming years were just as successful, with True Lies (1994), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Junior (1994) all proving to be huge hits at the box office. However, by the time the turn of the century rolled round, Arnie was seemingly growing tired of acting and was ready to try his hand at another of his passions – politics.

  Schwarzenegger had always been interested in government business, and in 1977 had begun a relationship with Maria Shriver, a television reporter and niece of John F. Kennedy. Although she was a Democrat and he was a Republican, the two hit it off and in 1986 they married and went on to have four children together: Katherine, Christina, Patrick and Christopher. By the early 2000s, it was rumoured that the actor had plans to one day run for governor of California, though he denied this at the time, citing his successful career as an actor as the reason why he would not run.

  However, by 2003 he had made up his mind and after announcing his intentions on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Schwarzenegger was well and truly in the race to become the next California governor, and by November his dreams came true when the public voted him in and he finally took office. It all moved extremely fast, but that wasn’t the only thing that was fast if rumours are to be believed.

  Going into politics has always been a ticket for people to go delving into past affairs, and “The Governator” was not immune to this. By his own admission, Schwarzenegger is no angel and in 1977 he jokingly boasted about smoking marijuana and attending orgies as a young man. It perhaps didn’t come as much of a surprise, then, when during his campaign women began coming forward to complain that the actor-turnedpolitician was allegedly guilty of inappropriate behaviour. According to them, he had groped their breasts, put his hand up a woman’s skirt and asked one lady to flash him in an elevator. The stories were potentially damaging, but in good faith Arnold responded to the allegations by apologizing and admitting that while he had behaved badly at times in the past, a lot of the stories were simply untrue.

  However, while he was able to brush aside these particular rumours of sexual misconduct, he would not be so lucky in 2011 when his wife, Maria, began to suspect that Arnold had fathered a child – Joseph – by their housekeeper, Mildred “Patty” Baena. This wasn’t a recent event; instead, it was something that had happened fourteen years before, at the same time as Maria was pregnant with their child, Christopher. In fact, so close were the conceptions that the two boys were actually born just days apart, towards the end of 1997.

  According to Mildred, she was unaware that the father of her son was definitely Arnold until she started to notice a resemblance between the two. She later told Hello magazine that if Arnold noticed the similarity too, he most certainly did not mention it to her in the early days of the child’s life. It would seem that while Arnold tried to believe that the child was not his, it did play on his mind that there was a distinct possibility he could be his son. In spite of any suspicions he may privately have had, the actor still attended Joseph’s baptism with Maria in tow. He later spent time teaching him to play golf while he was playing with the Schwarzenegger children in their home.

  By the time Joseph hit school age, the actor had come to accept the fact that the child was his – there was just too much of a resemblance to deny it – and Arnold went about paying not only towards Joseph’s upbringing, but for that of the housekeeper’s other children too. The child himself was not told who his real father was until some time around 2010 – a year before the episode was finally revealed publicly – and until then had always believed his mother’s estranged husband Rogelio was his real father.

  At first, Maria knew nothing about either the affair her husband had enjoyed with Mildred or the possibility that she had given birth to his child. This was demonstrated by her taking part in such events as the baptism and various other social gatherings. However, as he got older and began to resemble the action-hero-turned-politician, rumours started to go around the staff that Arnold must surely have fathered the child. Maria heard these whispers and her suspicions were raised enough for her to become very concerned indeed, asking her husband if he had fathered the child and then halfheartedly accepting his answer that he had not.

  Arnold must surely have hoped his denial would put paid to any concerns his wife had, but of course this couldn’t be further from the truth. Rumours still continued to swirl around the household and what went through Maria’s mind as she saw the likeness herself can only be guessed at. It would be true to say, however, that it must have surely thrown her world into free-fall. Not wishing to cause a huge scandal and perhaps not wanting to hear the awful truth herself, Maria had no wish to ask the housekeeper about the truth of the rumours so instead started to drop small hints. When these did not elicit discussion, she eventually she got up enough nerve to ask Mildred directly, “Is my husband the father of your son?”

  Unfortunately for Maria, she was met by the answer she most dreaded: yes indeed, Arnold Schwarzenegger was the father of Joseph Baena. According to Mildred, in an interview with Hello magazine, she then fell to her knees and cried while admitting the truth. She also claimed that Maria cried also, before they hugged and discussed how it wasn’t entirely Schwarzenegger’s fault; that it took two to get into the mess they were in.

  On hearing the admission by Mildred Baena, Maria could have been forgiven for firing her immediately, but she did no such thing. Instead it was actually Mildred who suggested she leave early, knowing that she was due to retire very shortly anyway. However, showing a great deal of self-restraint and compassion, Maria told the shocked woman that she should stay in the household until Christmas was over and the time came for her to retire.

  So now the secret was out between Maria and Mildred, and in his 2012 autobiography, Total Recall:My Unbelievably True Life Story, Arnold Schwarzenegger described how he too eventually had to come clean while attending marriage counselling with Maria. The session was scheduled for the day after he had left office in January 2011, and the former governor was led to believe that the purpose of the session was to help him make the transition from that of political dynamo back to “normal” family life. However, moments after he had sat down, the counsellor revealed the sole real reason for the meeting – to address the issue of whether or not he had fathered a child with the housekeeper way back in 1997.

  Schwarzenegger had no option but to admit to what his wife had known for some time, and ended up telling her everything, even going so far as to list a number of reasons why he had not ever wanted to come clean about his indiscretion. Once the truth was confirmed by Schwarzenegger, Maria moved out of the family home and into another property nearby, so that the children could easily have access to both parents. They
kept the scandal quiet for four months until finally the newspapers got wind of the story in May 2011, and the actor was forced to admit to the world and his children that he had fathered a child outside of marriage.

  The press went wild at the revelations and eagerly tried to snap a picture of Joseph Baena. Despite the boy being forced into hiding, the photographers were successful and it was revealed that the child most certainly had a clear similarity to Arnold. This news understandably did not please Rogelio, the man who had believed himself to be Joseph’s father for all those years. Rumours swirled round that he would be taking legal action against both his ex-wife and the former governor for falsifying the birth certificate, while it was hinted that Maria was doing her own investigations to see if Joseph was indeed the only child fathered by her husband.

  An active member of Twitter, the former news anchor took to the social networking site to release her statement on 13 May 2011. In it Maria thanked everyone for their kindness, support and compassion. “I am humbled by the love. Thank you.” She also released a brief statement, declaring, “As a mother, my concern is for the children”, before then asking for “compassion, respect and privacy” as both herself and her children set about healing and rebuilding their lives.

  Arnold gave his own short statement about why the marriage had ended, but decided to keep quiet about the full story until a year and a half later, during the publicity for his autobiography. In an interview with 60 Minutes he was asked about the affair and revealed that he believed it to be the stupidest thing he had done during his relationship with Maria. “It was terrible,” he said. “I inflicted tremendous pain on Maria and unbelievable pain on the kids.” He answered the questions candidly and without embarrassment, and to his credit the actor refused point blank to answer anything directly related to his children – either the ones fathered with Maria or the son by Mildred Baena.

  Although obviously estranged, the couple were forced to come back together briefly when their youngest son Christopher was involved in a surfing accident in July 2011. The poorly youngster suffered a collapsed lung and broken bones, which saw him being admitted to intensive care, much to the horror of his parents. Putting their differences aside for a moment, the ex-couple released a statement which described the episode as scary, though they did say that he was expected to make a full recovery. But if Arnold hoped that this time together would change his wife’s mind about the separation, he was wrong. While he did make it clear that he would happily rejoin the marriage, Maria had other ideas and finally filed for divorce in July 2012, though the two continue to co-parent their children.

  While it is clear that Maria may have been more than sympathetic to her husband’s rumoured indiscretions in the past, she seems determined to move on with her future and rebuild her life. It has also been said that she told friends she was not in the least bit happy about her former husband’s autobiography being released, with her concerns made more acute by the fact that Arnold refused to send her an advance copy.

  In fairness to Schwarzenegger, while he no doubt knew that the book would cause pain for his family, he had been placed in a difficult situation, primarily because he had been writing it for a very long time with the intention that it would be predominantly about his career achievements. Having his private life forced into the limelight in such a way changed all that, and he knew that the people buying the volume would be doing so not only to read about his career, but to get the dirt on his private life too. In September 2012 he told 60 Minutes that he just could not write an autobiography that centred on his triumphs – he had to share the negative parts too.

  Still, in spite of any concerns that the former couple may or may not have had, the book was published in October 2012 and went on to become a huge bestseller. Several months later, in January 2013, the actor made headlines once again when he was asked by a reporter about his family life. “I have four wonderful children,” he said, and then quickly changed his mind. “Well, actually I have five.”

  It is clear that with a bestselling book under his belt and several important movies due for release, Schwarzenegger’s acting career is back on track. It would also be fair to say, however, that with a divorce going through the courts and an illegitimate child now revealed, at the present moment his personal life can be described as nothing short of complicated.

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  The Very Public Meltdown of Charlie Sheen

  Charlie Sheen is renowned for the various scandals in which he has been involved during his life and career, including being associated with the Heidi Fleiss vice case; rumoured domestic violence; very public divorces from Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller; and alleged drug addiction. However, his name really became synonymous with scandal during a very highly publicized few months in the early part of 2011.

  At the time, Sheen was the star of Two and a Half Men, which by then was into its eighth season. Sheen was earning a record a $1.8 million an episode for his role as Charlie Harper, the loveable, jingle-writing bad boy, but in January 2011 shooting of the programme was suspended while Charlie Sheen went into rehab. The programme makers were happy to wait for their star to get back to good health, but unfortunately for all involved, while Sheen was on hiatus he began making derogatory comments about Chuck Lorre, the series’ creator. The press went wild that the actor was biting the hand that feeds, and as the scandal built up and up, the studio took the massive decision of firing Sheen and banning him from the Warner Brothers lot, effective immediately. The actor retaliated by filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against his employers, though this was eventually settled on 26 September.

  Although the firing of Charlie Sheen caused headlines, as it turned out it wasn’t the biggest scandal. That came in the form of a very public meltdown during the months leading up to and after the firing, which was then seen live on the internet and on television by fans, foes and onlookers alike. Sheen’s remarks in public were outrageous and at times incomprehensible; interviewers swarmed to his home in order to speak to him, hopeful that his comments would be shocking enough to gain column inches around the world. They weren’t disappointed. To one interviewer he claimed that he was tired of pretending he wasn’t special: “I’m tired of pretending I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars.” He also made comments about being a warlock and tiger blood dripping from his veins, and – in an outburst that earned him the most notoriety – made the repeated declaration that, despite losing his job, he was “winning!”

  Sheen’s whole life seemed to play out in front of the cameras – either controlled by news teams or himself. He opened a YouTube channel where he posted films of himself in conversation with his girlfriends, the “goddesses” Rachel Oberlin and Natalie Kenly. Despite his claims of being clean and healthy, he appeared gaunt and underweight, and many worried that his life was spiralling out of control. He most certainly did not appear to be “winning” though he continued to use the slogan so much that it soon appeared on T-shirts and bumper stickers around the world.

  Sheen seemed to delight in uploading every aspect of his life on to the internet, from telephone calls to fake cooking shows, to even a disturbing video of his twin sons being removed from the family home by the authorities late one night. He also posted messages to his ex-colleagues on Two and a Half Men and took part in his own YouTube radio show, Sheen’s Korner, where he was surrounded by staff and friends, all cheering themselves on with chants of how “winning” they were, though few viewers actually agreed. The show was at times incomprehensible, extremely hard to watch and did not last long, though old episodes are still available on Sheen’s YouTube channel even now.

  Then came Twitter, where Sheen broke records for gaining the most followers in the shortest time, and this continued to grow until numbers had reached the very impressive total of 7.7 million in 2012. So addicted to Twitter was he, apparently, that his girlfriend later complained that he even tweeted while making love – although what he chose to share remains a mystery.

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p; Charlie’s rants on both Twitter and YouTube were quick to draw onlookers, anxious to see what infamous quip he would come out with next. He even began a Facebook page and shared news and his “‘winning” strategy with his 3.1 million “friends”. Through the social network he was inundated with support from fans, though in truth he also suffered with his share of internet “trolls” too. His reaction? “They all suffer from Sheenis Envy.”

  The climax of his months of meltdown came in March 2011 when Charlie Sheen announced that he was embarking on a nationwide tour. Entitled “My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option”, it kicked off on 2 April in Detroit. Unfortunately for Sheen, however, the trolls did not stay behind their computers and came out in droves, eager to pour scorn over the highly publicized appearance. As he sat slumped in a chair on stage, Sheen was heckled and booed by members of the crowd. “Maybe it’s more appropriate to sit up here and tell stories about crack,” he reportedly told the audience, though very few knew how to take the remark. Footage reveals the content of the show to be shaky at best, and uncomfortable at worst, though after some adjustments, it did have a better reception during later dates on the tour.

  Unfortunately for Sheen, the media spotlight and disappointing tour reviews did nothing for his relationship with the “goddesses” and by June 2011 they had both flown from his life, with reporters in hot pursuit, ready to hear their stories of life at Sheen’s home, christened, rather ironically, “Sober Valley Lodge”. But while his love life was on the rocks, by September 2011 Sheen seemed to have calmed down somewhat and, for the most part, his unconventional life was at last being played out behind closed doors.

  It was also rumoured that the actor had been asked back to Two and a Half Men, but it was not to be and he eventually made peace with the fact that his career on the show was over. Ashton Kutcher was hired to replace him and the rumour mill went into overdrive, predicting (quite rightly as it turned out) that the character of Charlie Harper would be killed off. People wondered what Sheen would think of this new development, and finally his feelings on the matter were made loud and clear when presenting an award at the Primetime Emmy Awards. During his appearance, he made a heartfelt speech to everyone involved in the show.