Note: This article touches on topics related to domestic violence and sexual assault.

By the dawn of the 2010s, the working relationship between Charlie Sheen and Chuck Lorre, the co-creator of the popular sitcom “Two and a Half Men,” had severely deteriorated. Sheen’s struggles with substance abuse and his contentious interactions with ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller were at the heart of this discord. Reflecting on Sheen’s arrest following an incident with Mueller, his third wife, Lorre remarked, “That was the first time I thought of leaving because I didn’t want to enable violence.” In 2011, Sheen launched a series of public attacks on Lorre, labeling him a “clown” and employing anti-Semitic slurs, which further strained their relationship.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, assistance is available through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. Additional information, resources, and support can be found on their website.

Sheen’s tirades were the last straw for CBS, and the network decided to cut ties with him. His exit from the show — over which he later filed a wrongful termination suit (which was ultimately settled out of court) — marked a strange moment in Hollywood. A few decades prior, the whole thing may well have been brushed under the carpet, but the size of the sitcom and Sheen’s erratic behavior made the story impossible to ignore. Lorre and Sheen have since ended their feud over “Two and a Half Men,” which was never the same after Sheen’s departure. The actor sought help for addiction following his firing and has since gotten sober.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Jared Leto made headlines with his role as a trans woman named Rayon in 2013’s “Dallas Buyers Club,” a biographical film about cowboy Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) and his struggles after being diagnosed with AIDS in the 1980s. Leto’s performance was lauded enough by critics and industry figures to earn him an Academy Award for best supporting actor, but many people were unhappy with his win. Leto’s casting received a lot of criticism, with people questioning why a cis-gendered man had been hired to play a trans woman in 2013. In a Time magazine op-ed, transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox wrote that trans actors would never have an abundance of interesting, positive roles in Hollywood if “no one dares to challenge the absence of trans actors and the unequivocal celebration of cis actors in trans roles.”

Leto argued that all actors should be able to play all roles, and that excluding cis actors from trans parts would set a bad example. “You would hold a role against someone who happened to be gay or lesbian — they can’t play a straight part?” he said after being heckled by an audience member at a film festival (via The Guardian), adding that this approach would mean “people that are gay, people that aren’t straight, people like the Rayons of the world would never have the opportunity to turn the tables and explore parts of that art.” Leto also attempted to authenticate his casting during promo interviews (He’s a method actor! He waxed his whole body! He lost weight!), but his Oscar didn’t go down well with a lot of people, and it’s unlikely that he would win the same award if “Dallas Buyers Club” was released today.

It might be shocking to many to learn that the first publicized allegations of sexual violence against comedian Bill Cosby did not arise in 2014. In fact, Cosby’s alleged predatory behavior toward women had long been rumored among actors in Hollywood, and he was accused as early as 2004, when former basketball player Andrea Constand came forward: She told police that Cosby drugged and molested her, but the state prosecutor didn’t press criminal charges. Cosby, a powerful and beloved Hollywood figure, managed to avoid scrutiny for a while after that — until comedian Hannibal Buress brought up his alleged behavior in a 2014 stand-up show.

His intention was to make a joke about Cosby’s moral hypocrisy, but Buress actually ended up serving as the catalyst for a long-delayed reckoning. A flood of shocking allegations followed (Cosby has been accused of sexual assault by as many as 60 women) and the Constand case was reopened just 12 days before statute of limitation rules would have made that impossible. Cosby was jailed for a maximum of 10 years in 2018, bringing one of the biggest Hollywood scandals of the 2010s to a close — or so people thought. Due to an overlooked deal he made with the previous state prosecutor, Cosby’s conviction was overturned and he left prison in 2021.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

Seth Rogan, his regular collaborator Evan Goldberg, and the higher-ups at Sony Pictures clearly rattled the regime in North Korea with their 2014 film “The Interview,” in which a pair of American journalists score a sit-down with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un (Randall Park). Before they go, they are recruited by the CIA to carry out an assassination attempt. Predictably, Kim Jong-Un was furious that Sony made the film. In November 2014, a hacker group called Guardians of Peace carried out a cyber attack against Sony Pictures, stealing and later releasing thousands of documents, emails, and other data belonging to the studio. It was a huge embarrassment for Sony, with one particular email exchange between producer Scott Rudin and senior executive Amy Pascal making headlines: Rudin called Angelina Jolie “a minimally talented spoiled brat.” Pascal resigned as Sony Pictures co-chair in early 2015.

North Korea praised the cyber attack as a “righteous deed” but denied any official involvement in it. Investigations Stateside found otherwise: The Department of Justice eventually concluded that a 34-year-old North Korean citizen named Park Jin Hyok (a member of the Reconnaissance General Bureau, which is basically the North Korean CIA) was behind the attack. Sony relented and opted against releasing “The Interview” in cinemas, a move that was dubbed “a mistake” by President Barack Obama. “We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary that they don’t like, or news reports that they don’t like,” Obama said (via The Guardian).

2014 saw the release of “Selma,” a critically acclaimed film about the 1965 civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. David Oyelowo turned in an incredible performance as Martin Luther King Jr. and prestigious filmmaker Ava DuVernay directed. It also featured a brilliant original song from Common and John Legend. “Selma” should have earned multiple Academy Award nominations across the top categories, but it only got two — one for best picture and one for best original song (which Common and John Legend did win, at least). 

The snubbing of “Selma” and other films featuring people of color was seen as the last straw for many Black actors and creators in Hollywood. In response to these glaring omissions, April Reign — a Black writer and activist — came up with the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite. This quickly caught on and became a scandal in Hollywood, with calls for boycotts growing. As Reign noted, not a single person of color was nominated for an acting award at the 2015 Academy Awards. The campaign was a success, leading to the Academy announcing reforms aimed at diversifying membership.

When Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie filmed “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” in 2004, Pitt was married to beloved “Friends” star Jennifer Aniston and Jolie had only just divorced her second husband, Billy Bob Thornton. They had crackling chemistry in the film, so no one was surprised when it came out that they’d been involved while filming. Tabloids dined out on Pitt leaving Aniston for Jolie for years. Then, in 2016, Jolie filed for divorce from Pitt, kicking off a new chapter in one of Hollywood’s most talked-about scandals.

It’s hard to say whether Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie is a bigger star, but together, they made one of the biggest Hollywood power couples of the modern era, so this was huge news. The fact that they had only actually tied the knot two years prior to the split made it extra intriguing for the public. Details of the alleged incident that apparently led to Jolie filing for divorce wouldn’t come out in full for some time — as their legal battles dragged on, Jolie accused Pitt of becoming abusive with her and their children on a private flight from Europe in 2016.

Jolie’s legal team submitted a cross-complaint that contained her side of what happened that day, with an argument apparently becoming physical. Per NPR, the document stated that Pitt “grabbed Jolie by the head and shook her” and that one of their kids . “The children rushed in and all bravely tried to protect each other. Before it was over, Pitt choked one of the children and struck another in the face,” the report went on to say. Vague reports about the incident came out at the time, though authorities found no need to take further action against Pitt.

In 2012, Hulk Hogan initiated a lawsuit against Gawker Media for invasion of privacy after the notoriously invasive website published a sex tape of Hogan with the wife of a friend. Hogan’s lawsuit was supported in large part by Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel, who had been outed as gay by Gawker. The company argued that, as a celebrity, Hogan wasn’t entitled to expect privacy, but the jury sided with wrestler-turned-actor and TV personality: Gawker was ordered to pay Hogan $140 million.

Hogan ultimately settled for $31 million, though the reduced amount still wasn’t enough to stop Gawker from going bankrupt. Hollywood was already done with Hulk Hogan by this point, but Tinseltown was no doubt watching the case closely: Gawker had already risked the wrath of the likes of Tom Cruise (the website posted his now infamous Scientology recruitment video) and Quentin Tarantino (who also sued Gawker for sharing a leaked script for his then-unmade film “The Hateful Eight”).

Over the decades, the Oscars have provided many jaw-dropping, unplanned moments. Back in 2017, a scandal unfolded when “La La Land” (a colorful, stylized musical for contemporary audiences depicting the relationship between two Hollywood romantics) and “Moonlight” (a beautiful and reflective coming-of-age film with a star turn from actor Mahershala Ali) went head to head in several categories. Both films won awards that night, but when it came to the big one — best picture — there was some never-before-seen confusion that pretty much ruined the experience for everyone.

Presenting the award, “Bonnie and Clyde” co-stars Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway wrongly announced “La La Land” as the best picture winner instead of “Moonlight” – though it wasn’t their fault. Beatty had been handed the wrong envelope (one containing the card that confirmed Emma Stone as best actress for “La La Land”), which led to the embarrassing blunder. It all came down to human error, yet the moment felt like a metaphor for Hollywood’s tendency to prioritize romanticized self-portraits and films with majority-white casts.

What is arguably the defining Hollywood scandal of the 2010s began unfolding in 2017 when The New York Times published an exposé with the headline “Harvey Weinstein paid off sexual harassment accusers for decades.” Actresses Rose McGowan and Ashley Judd were among the first women to go public about their experiences with Weinstein, and more women soon followed. By the end of 2010s, over 100 women had come forward and Weinstein was about to be put behind bars.

In February 2020, a New York jury found Weinstein guilty of sexually assaulting former production assistant Miriam Haley and raping aspiring actress Jessica Mann. He was acquitted of first-degree rape and two counts of predatory sexual assault, though he was still given 23 years in prison. Weinstein was later extradited to California to face additional charges. In 2022, he was found guilty of rape and given 24 years, and he received another 16 year sentence for rape in 2023.

#MeToo had been around for years when The New York Times published its Weinstein exposé, but the case against the movie mogul thrust the movement into the spotlight during the latter part of the 2010s. The flood of accusations against the disgraced producer led to the creation of the non-profit organization Time’s Up, which aimed to support women across Hollywood and help victims of sexual harassment.

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN’s National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

A few months after the first episode of the “Roseanne” revival aired on ABC to a tremendous 18.2 million viewers in 2018, the show’s star, Roseanne Barr, posted an openly racist tweet about a former aide to President Obama named Valerie Jarrett. The tweet was so inflammatory that ABC decided to fire Roseanne from her own revival, renaming the show “The Conners” and killing off Barr’s character by way of an accidental opioid overdose.

Barr blamed her post on the sleeping pill Ambien, which led to manufacturers Sanofi releasing a statement. “People of all races, religions and nationalities work at Sanofi every day to improve the lives of people around the world,” the company tweeted. “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication.” Barr apologized to Jarrett, but the scandal had already sealed the fate of her character and career.

Jussie Smollett was not a household name at the start of 2019, but his career was on the rise thanks to his role in “Empire” and various smaller parts in feature films like “Alien: Covenant” and “Marshall.” He was on the precipice of major stardom, and that’s what makes his 2019 scandal so disappointing. Smollett made his way to a Chicago police station on January 28 of that year to report that he had been verbally berated and physically beaten by a couple of strangers. The actor, who is Black and gay, claimed it was a hate crime brought on by his skin color and sexual orientation. The details of the alleged attack were horrific and many extended their sympathies.

About a month later, Smollett’s circumstances were very different. The police had noted that the physical evidence in the case didn’t match Smollett’s story, so they investigated and discovered that the two men who attacked Smollett were actually paid $3,000 to do so by Smollett himself. Police also speculated that Smollett had written threatening letters to himself in an effort to leverage a raise from Fox for his work on “Empire.” The actor was charged with 16 felonies that were dropped through a plea deal. Smollett ended up serving six days in prison after a grand jury re-established the charges with a special prosecutor, but his conviction was ultimately overturned by the Illinois Supreme Court.

If you or a loved one has experienced a hate crime, contact the VictimConnect Hotline by phone at 1-855-4-VICTIM or by chat for more information or assistance in locating services to help. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.

The world of higher education overlapped with the entertainment industry in 2019 when news of Operation Varsity Blues hit the public. This was the codename for an FBI investigation into corruption and bribery in college admissions. It was discovered that a man named William Singer was running a fraudulent operation in which wealthy parents paid him to ensure the acceptance of their children into certain institutions. Singer tampered with standardized test scores and bribed admissions officials to get underperforming students enrolled in schools like University of Southern California. He ultimately facilitated faulty admissions for more than 750 wealthy families over the course of his scheme. 

Actresses Lori Loughlin (“Full House”) and Felicity Huffman (“Desperate Housewives”) were both charged as a result of the investigation. Court papers have confirmed that Loughlin and her husband, fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, agreed to pay half a million dollars if Singer could get both of their daughters into USC. Huffman (whose husband William H. Macy made a staggering amount of money from “Shameless”) initially employed Singer to help her daughter get into college through legitimate means, but ultimately paid approximately $15,000 to have a proctor edit her SAT answers for better scores. She was sentenced to 14 days in prison. Loughlin got two months, while Giannulli got five months.