When Fame Does Not Make Sexual Misconduct Disappear

 

I am genuinely exhausted by the endless cycle of famous men being accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, rape, coercion, grooming or other forms of sexual misconduct, followed by the predictable sequence of denial, public relations rehabilitation, loyal fans insisting that everyone is lying, and eventually some completely new version of the man appearing online as though his previous life has been wiped clean. I am not talking about treating an accusation as a conviction, because those are obviously not the same thing, and I think we should be capable of holding two ideas in our heads at once: women deserve to be heard when they report sexual violence, while criminal guilt is something established through evidence and due process. What bothers me is how quickly celebrity culture turns serious allegations into a temporary branding problem, particularly when the person involved has enough money, influence, devoted followers or ideological allies to reinvent himself.

I wanted to put together a list because I think women deserve to have the broader picture in front of them, rather than being repeatedly exposed to one scandal at a time until each individual story disappears into the news cycle.

This is not a list of people I am declaring guilty. It is a record of prominent public figures who have faced publicly reported allegations, lawsuits, investigations, criminal charges or convictions involving sexual misconduct, with the legal outcomes included where relevant. Some were convicted, some were acquitted, some settled civil cases, some were never charged, some had charges dismissed or investigations closed, and some cases remain ongoing. 

The names that became impossible to ignore

Harvey Weinstein became one of the central figures of the #MeToo movement after numerous women accused the Hollywood producer of sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape, describing a pattern of allegedly using his enormous professional power to obtain sexual access to women and punish or threaten those who resisted him. His New York conviction was overturned in 2024 because of trial errors, but he was subsequently retried, while his separate California case resulted in a rape and sexual assault conviction. He has denied sexually assaulting women.

Bill Cosby was accused by more than 60 women of rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, with many describing alleged drugging and sexual assault. Cosby was convicted in Pennsylvania in 2018 in connection with Andrea Constand's case, but that conviction was overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2021 because prosecutors had violated an earlier non-prosecution agreement. Cosby has denied the allegations involving sex crimes.

R. Kelly went far beyond the category of celebrity scandal and into a series of criminal convictions involving sexual exploitation and abuse. Federal juries convicted him in New York and Chicago on charges including sex trafficking and production of child sexual abuse material, and he received lengthy prison sentences. His legal team has appealed the convictions.

Sean "Diddy" Combs has faced numerous civil allegations involving sexual assault, rape, physical abuse and other misconduct, while federal prosecutors charged him with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. His legal proceedings have produced an enormous amount of public reporting, although allegations and criminal charges must still be distinguished from findings of guilt.

Danny Masterson, known for That '70s Show and The Ranch, was convicted in California of raping two women and sentenced to 30 years to life in prison. His first trial ended without a verdict, after which prosecutors retried the case and obtained convictions.

Kevin Spacey was accused by numerous men of sexual misconduct, including allegations involving Anthony Rapp, who said Spacey made a sexual advance toward him when Rapp was 14. Spacey was acquitted in a 2023 UK criminal trial involving four men and successfully defended a civil lawsuit brought by Rapp in New York. Additional allegations have nevertheless continued to receive public attention, including through the documentary Spacey Unmasked, and Spacey has denied wrongdoing.

Cuba Gooding Jr. faced multiple allegations of unwanted sexual touching, including accusations that he forcibly kissed women. He ultimately pleaded guilty to forcibly kissing a woman in a 2018 incident and received a plea deal.

Russell Simmons has faced numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and rape from women, including former music-industry colleagues. He has denied the allegations, characterizing himself as a womanizer while denying violent or non-consensual conduct.

James Franco was accused by multiple women of sexually inappropriate and exploitative behavior, including allegations involving students at his acting school. The Los Angeles Times reported allegations from five women in 2018, and Franco later settled a class-action sexual misconduct lawsuit for $2.2 million.

Louis C.K. was accused by several women of sexual misconduct involving masturbating in front of them or asking to do so. He acknowledged that the accounts were substantially true and apologized, after which he stepped away from the public spotlight for a period before returning to stand-up comedy.

Aziz Ansari was the subject of a widely reported 2018 account by a woman who said a sexual encounter became uncomfortable and that she repeatedly communicated that she wanted him to slow down or stop. Ansari said he believed the encounter was completely consensual and that he was surprised and concerned to learn that she felt otherwise. The case became one of the most debated examples of the complicated territory between criminal sexual assault, consent, communication and sexual misconduct.

Morgan Freeman was accused by multiple women of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment in a 2018 CNN investigation. Freeman apologized for making anyone feel uncomfortable while denying that he intentionally harassed women.

Ben Affleck faced public criticism after footage surfaced of him groping television host Hilarie Burton during an appearance on Total Request Live years earlier. Affleck apologized to Burton and said he acted inappropriately.

Charlie Rose was accused by multiple women of sexual harassment, including allegations that he exposed himself and made unwanted sexual advances. PBS and CBS terminated their relationships with him after the allegations became public.

Matt Lauer was fired by NBC after allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault emerged, with multiple women subsequently describing alleged inappropriate sexual behavior during his career. Lauer denied some of the accusations and said some encounters had been consensual.

Bill O'Reilly faced multiple sexual harassment allegations and settlements, with reporting revealing that Fox News had paid millions of dollars to settle complaints involving him. He denied wrongdoing.

Mark Halperin was accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior during his time in political journalism. He denied some allegations while acknowledging inappropriate behavior in certain contexts.

Les Moonves, the former CBS chief executive, faced multiple allegations of sexual harassment and assault from women, including accusations of unwanted sexual contact and professional retaliation. Moonves denied non-consensual sexual activity, while CBS ultimately removed him from his position.

Steve Wynn was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, including allegations involving unwanted sexual contact and coercive behavior. Wynn denied the allegations and denied that he had ever assaulted a woman.

John Lasseter, the former head of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios, faced allegations of unwanted touching and inappropriate behavior toward female employees. He acknowledged behavior that had made employees uncomfortable and subsequently left Disney.

Chris Savino, creator of The Loud House, was accused by multiple women of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct in the animation industry. Nickelodeon fired him following the allegations.

Gérard Depardieu has faced multiple accusations of sexual assault and sexual misconduct, including allegations from women in the French film industry. He has denied wrongdoing, and his legal situation has developed through both criminal proceedings and public accusations.

Marilyn Manson has been accused by multiple women, including Evan Rachel Wood, of sexual abuse and assault. Manson has denied the allegations and has described them as false. The allegations have resulted in lawsuits, investigations and significant professional consequences, although not every accusation resulted in criminal charges.

Armie Hammer faced allegations from multiple women involving emotional abuse, coercive sexual behavior, rape and cannibalistic fantasies. Hammer denied the rape allegation, and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department investigated but prosecutors ultimately declined to bring charges, citing insufficient evidence to prove a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. Hammer has repeatedly denied criminal wrongdoing.

Ansel Elgort was accused by a woman of sexual assault in a 2020 public account. Elgort denied the allegation, saying the encounter was consensual, and no criminal charges were brought.

Jared Leto is one of the most recent major names to enter this conversation. In July 2026, the BBC published a documentary detailing allegations from women who said Leto engaged in sexual misconduct and assault when they were teenagers, including allegations of sexual assault, statutory rape, sexually explicit communications and threats. The BBC said it corroborated the women's accounts, although the Associated Press noted that it could not independently verify the allegations. Leto has categorically denied sexually assaulting anyone.

Then there is Russell Brand, whose story is particularly interesting to me because it demonstrates something beyond the allegations themselves, which is the extraordinary ability of a celebrity to reinvent his entire public identity while serious accusations are still hanging over him.

Russell Brand and the religious reinvention

Brand was publicly accused in 2023 by multiple women of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse following an investigation by The Times, The Sunday Times and Channel 4's Dispatches. Brand denied the allegations and said his sexual relationships had been consensual. The allegations subsequently became a police investigation, and in April 2025 British prosecutors authorized five criminal charges involving four women, including rape, oral rape, indecent assault and sexual assault. Two further sexual-offence charges involving additional women were brought later, bringing the total to seven charges involving six women. Brand has pleaded not guilty and denies the accusations. His trial is currently scheduled for October 2026.

What fascinates me is what happened to his public persona alongside all of this.

Brand had already reinvented himself from comedian and actor into an anti-establishment internet personality, but after the allegations became public he increasingly presented himself through Christian language and spirituality. In April 2024, several months after the allegations first became public, he was baptized in the River Thames and described the experience as an opportunity to leave the past behind and be reborn in Christ.

I want to be careful here because becoming a Christian is not evidence of criminal behavior, and religious conversion itself should never be treated as suspicious simply because the person converting has been accused of something. People genuinely change their beliefs, genuinely seek God, genuinely become religious and genuinely find comfort in faith, and I would never argue that Christianity should somehow be considered inherently connected to sexual misconduct.

What I find troubling is the way religious language can be turned into a public-relations strategy when it becomes a substitute for accountability.

Brand's baptism was explicitly presented as leaving the past behind, while serious allegations concerning that past were still being investigated. Academic analysis of Brand's public response has specifically examined how his religious reinvention and language of being cleansed, forgiven and reborn functioned alongside his response to the allegations, including the way Christian concepts of forgiveness can become part of a celebrity's attempt to rebuild public trust.

That is where I get uncomfortable with the whole "born again" celebrity phenomenon. Because Christianity does not mean that consequences disappear.

Forgiveness is not the same thing as exoneration, repentance is not the same thing as proving an allegation false, baptism is not a court ruling, and saying that God has forgiven you does not mean the women who accused you are required to forgive you, trust you, work with you or stop talking about what happened to them.

A person can sincerely believe that God has forgiven them while still needing to answer earthly questions about their behavior. A person can repent and still face legal consequences. A person can become deeply religious and still be required to take responsibility.

Those things are not mutually exclusive.

The religious grift is what bothers me

I think women should be particularly skeptical whenever a celebrity's response to allegations becomes less about the people who say they were harmed and more about the celebrity's spiritual transformation.

The story quietly changes from What happened to those women? to Look how much this man has changed.

Suddenly we are talking about his childhood, his addictions, his demons, his recovery, his spiritual awakening, his relationship with God, his new political beliefs and his supposedly transformed personality, while the women who made the allegations become a footnote in the man's redemption story.

I hate that.

A man's spiritual journey is allowed to be his own journey, but women do not have to become supporting characters in it.

Brand is an especially striking example because his Christianity became increasingly central to his public identity after the allegations emerged, and he has subsequently built a substantial online presence around religion, politics and alternative media. His baptism was even attended by Bear Grylls, and Brand had been associated with Christian organizations and platforms before some of those relationships changed after the criminal charges were announced.

I do not think the answer is to attack Christianity every time a famous person becomes religious, because that would be intellectually lazy and unfair to millions of ordinary Christians who have absolutely nothing to do with celebrity scandals.

I think the answer is to refuse to confuse religious branding with accountability.

If a man says he has found God, wonderful. If he says God has forgiven him, that is between him and God. If he says he has changed, then his behavior should demonstrate that change.

If women have accused him of serious sexual misconduct, those allegations should not magically become irrelevant because he now wears a cross, quotes scripture, talks about sin or has been baptized in a river.

Donald Trump and the Sexual Misconduct Allegations We Were Told to Forget

I cannot write about powerful men accused of sexual misconduct without talking about Donald Trump, because his story is one of the clearest examples of how celebrity, political power, wealth and an extraordinarily loyal political base can completely change the consequences a man faces after women accuse him of sexual misconduct. At least 18 women had publicly accused Trump of various forms of sexual misconduct by the time ABC News compiled its detailed list, including allegations of sexual harassment, unwanted kissing, groping and sexual assault. Other major media investigations have documented even more allegations over the years. Trump has denied the accusations.

The allegations stretch back decades. Jessica Leeds said Trump groped her on a flight in the early 1980s, while Natasha Stoynoff said Trump forcibly kissed her at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. Jessica Drake alleged that Trump kissed her without consent and later offered her $10,000 and the use of his private jet in exchange for spending the night with him. Other women, including former beauty pageant contestants, described allegedly inappropriate encounters, unwanted touching or sexualized behavior. Trump has denied these allegations, and many of the accusations could not be tested in criminal court because of the passage of time and statutes of limitations.

Then there was the infamous 2005 Access Hollywood recording, in which Trump spoke about kissing and grabbing women without their consent and suggested that fame gave men permission to behave that way. After the recording became public during the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump apologized and characterized his comments as "locker-room talk," while continuing to deny the allegations made by women who said he had actually behaved inappropriately toward them.

What makes the Trump story particularly significant to me is that his own words became part of the evidence considered in the E. Jean Carroll litigation. Carroll accused Trump of sexually assaulting her in a department-store dressing room in the 1990s. Trump denied knowing her and repeatedly called her a liar, but in 2023 a federal civil jury found him liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her, awarding her $5 million in damages. The jury did not find him liable for rape under the specific legal standard presented to it, which Trump supporters have repeatedly emphasized, but the finding of sexual abuse was nevertheless a formal jury verdict.

The distinction became even more important after Trump's lawyers continued appealing the verdict. In August 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court declined Trump's request to reconsider the $5 million judgment, meaning that the jury's finding of sexual abuse and defamation is now final. Trump has continued to deny wrongdoing.

Carroll also received an $83.3 million defamation judgment in a separate case concerning Trump's later public statements about her, and Trump is still pursuing an appeal of that judgment.

I find the reaction to all of this revealing because we have watched an entire political movement transform a sexual-abuse verdict into just another piece of partisan warfare. Instead of asking whether a jury heard the evidence and reached a verdict, people ask whether they like the political party of the woman, whether they trust the judge, whether they trust the media, whether they believe the entire legal system is corrupt, whether Trump is being persecuted, or whether acknowledging the verdict somehow means they have to abandon their political identity.

It is another version of the same phenomenon I was talking about with celebrity men in general. The man's public identity becomes so enormous that the actual allegation gets swallowed by the mythology surrounding him.

Trump's supporters can believe he was treated unfairly, believe the legal proceedings were politically motivated, disagree with the jury or believe he did not rape Carroll, but none of that changes the actual legal outcome in the sexual-abuse case. A jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and that finding has now survived multiple levels of appeal, including the Supreme Court's refusal in August 2026 to reconsider it.

What I find especially depressing for women is how quickly accusations against powerful men become a referendum on whether the woman is sufficiently likable, attractive, politically acceptable, respectable or believable. We saw this with Carroll, just as we have seen it with women who accused other famous men, because people seem to think that if they can find one detail about a woman's life that they dislike, they have somehow disproved what she says happened to her.

I do not think women should have to be perfect victims. I do not think a woman has to behave perfectly after an assault. I do not think she has to report immediately. I do not think she has to remember every detail perfectly decades later. I do not think she has to be politically compatible with me. I do not think she has to be universally pleasant. I do not think she has to have an impeccable personal history.

I also do not think an accusation should automatically be treated as a conviction, which is why I keep coming back to the importance of evidence and legal findings. In Trump's case, we have something more concrete than an accusation alone because a civil jury actually found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation, and that judgment has now survived the Supreme Court's refusal to reconsider it.

That should be part of the conversation whenever someone tries to reduce the entire story to "women accused Trump."

No, a woman accused him. Then she took her case to court. A jury heard the evidence. The jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation. He appealed. The appellate process upheld the judgment. The Supreme Court declined to reconsider it.

That is a very different statement from simply saying that somebody made an allegation on the internet.

The other thing I find remarkable is how little Trump's political career has been affected by the allegations compared with the consequences faced by many entertainers and executives accused of sexual misconduct. His political supporters have essentially created an alternative universe in which every legal judgment against him is interpreted as proof of persecution rather than something that requires serious consideration.

When a powerful man has an enormous enough following, accountability can become another loyalty test. If you believe the woman, you are betraying him. If you acknowledge the verdict, you are attacking his political movement. If you discuss his history of allegations, you are supposedly participating in a conspiracy. If you criticize his treatment of women, you are told you hate him because of politics.

At some point, the conversation stops being about what women experienced and becomes entirely about protecting the man's status.

I refuse to participate in that kind of thinking.

A man's political ideology does not make him incapable of sexual misconduct, just as a woman's political ideology does not make her incapable of telling the truth. A man's wealth does not make him incapable of abusing someone. His fame does not make him incapable of abusing someone. His supporters do not make him incapable of abusing someone.

Being president does not make someone morally infallible. Being charismatic does not make someone safe. Being successful does not make someone entitled to women's bodies. That last point should not even need to be said, yet we keep finding ourselves saying it.

The Trump story belongs in any serious discussion about famous men accused of sexual misconduct because it demonstrates just how powerful reputation, political identity and tribal loyalty can become when they are placed between an accusation and public accountability.

I do not need every allegation against every famous man to result in a conviction before I am allowed to take women's experiences seriously, but I also do not need to pretend that every allegation has been legally proven when it has not. What I want is a culture mature enough to hold the difference between an allegation, an investigation, a criminal charge, a civil finding, an acquittal, a conviction and a dismissal without turning every uncomfortable fact into a team sport.

In Trump's case, however, one fact is no longer merely an allegation. A civil jury found him liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll, and as of August 2026, that $5 million judgment has survived his attempt to have the Supreme Court reconsider it.

Women should not be asked to forget that simply because the man involved has millions of supporters, enormous political power and a carefully constructed public identity.

The pattern I keep noticing

What gets me is not one individual celebrity. It is the pattern.

A famous man is accused. His supporters immediately insist the women are lying. He denies everything. His lawyers attack the allegations. His publicist reframes the story. The internet moves on. The man finds a new audience. A new podcast appears. A new political identity appears. A new religious identity appears. A new book appears. A new documentary appears. A new tour appears.

Then millions of people who never followed the original reporting discover the man through his new persona and have absolutely no idea why anyone might have reservations about him.

That is how reputational laundering works.

The person does not necessarily need to prove that the original allegations were false. He simply needs to become famous for something else. That is why I think people need to remember the history.

We do not need to obsess over every accusation forever, and we absolutely should not declare people guilty simply because somebody made a claim against them, but we also do not have to participate in collective amnesia just because a celebrity has successfully rebranded himself.

The legal system has its job. Journalists have their job. Investigators have their job. Courts have their job. Fans have their own moral judgment.

People have the right to look at a pattern of publicly reported allegations and decide that they do not want to support someone, even when that person was never convicted.

We are allowed to have standards for who entertains us, who gets our money, whose books we buy, whose podcasts we listen to and whose public persona we help amplify.

I also think we need to stop pretending that celebrity status somehow makes these conversations more complicated than they are for ordinary women.

When a woman says a powerful man sexually assaulted her, the first question should not be whether he is talented. It should not be whether he makes funny movies. It should not be whether he is politically conservative or progressive. It should not be whether he has millions of followers. It should not be whether he has found Jesus. It should not be whether he has apologized beautifully. It should not be whether he is having a career comeback.

The first question should be what happened, what evidence exists, what the legal system has established, what the accused says in response and whether there is a pattern that deserves serious attention.

That is a much more responsible way of talking about these cases than either blindly believing every allegation or blindly dismissing every woman who makes one.

I do not want a culture where accusation automatically equals guilt, but I also absolutely do not want a culture where fame automatically equals innocence.

I want women to be able to speak without being immediately destroyed for doing so, and I want accused people to have due process without that principle being weaponized as an excuse to ridicule survivors.

Most of all, I want us to stop allowing celebrity redemption arcs to erase the uncomfortable parts of the story.

A baptism can be meaningful. A person can change. A person can find religion. A person can recover from addiction. A person can become kinder. A person can regret things they did. A person can genuinely believe they have been forgiven.

None of those things, by themselves, answer an allegation of sexual violence.

Accountability is not something you can wash off in a river, bury beneath a new identity or outsource to God.

And women should not be expected to forget simply because the man has found a new audience.

Thankful for your presence, Neja