When you hear someone mention celebrity scandals, what do you think about? Most people imagine current drama, like Sydney Sweeney’s jeans debacle and Ezra Miller’s career-wrecking arrests. However, here’s a little industry secret: today’s modern celebrity scandals have nothing on the ‘70s!
At the time, far too many celebrities took the “free love” message of the earlier decade a little too literally. As such, they had messy affairs, some of which ended up destroying both lives and careers. And we’re not talking minor celebs, either…these were (and still are) some of the most famous people in the entire world!
What celebs are we talking about? Who did they hook up with, and what did the fallout look like? Keep reading to find out!
George Harrison and Eric Clapton’s love triangle with Pattie Boyd
George Harrison and Eric Clapton are both amazing musicians in their own right, and each left a permanent mark on the world of rock and roll. On top of that, they were great friends and often collaborated to create killer tunes. But there was a side effect to spending so much time together: Clapton eventually fell in love with Harrison’s wife, Pattie Boyd. He wrote her one love letter after another, and he even wrote a song (his iconic tune “Layla”) to express how deep his affections ran.
However, nothing happened between the two of them until Boyd and George Harrison got a divorce. They began dating mere weeks later and eventually got married, but that marriage also fell apart because Clapton kept cheating on her. Sadly, this was a common denominator in Boyd’s marriages…the primary reason she divorced Harrison is that she eventually learned about his affair with Maureen Starkey, the wife of fellow Beatle, Ringo Starr.
All of this just goes to show that you don’t always have to get along with someone in order to make beautiful music together!
Clint Eastwood and Sondra Locke’s affair went to court
Clint Eastwood is known for starring in some of the most legendary Westerns ever made. However, by the time his relationship with fellow actor Sondra Locke ended, she was ready to make like one of his old movie villains and try to shoot him, preferably at high noon! Originally, they had a beautiful relationship in the ‘70s and ‘80s, with Eastwood helping her to land roles in the movies he directed and starred in. And he even used his wealth to buy her a swanky Bel-Air home.
So far, so good, right? But when their romance went sideways, he kicked her out of that luxurious home, and she took him to court. As a result, Sondra Locke ended up getting one of Clint Eastwood’s homes, $450,000 for unpaid work, and even a sweet, $1.5 million production deal with Warner Bros. But after she found out Eastwood paid that $1.5 million (which allegedly caused the studio to reject 30 different project proposals from her), she sued her ex again. They ultimately settled out of court, but her career never really recovered.
Jack Nicholson just kept cheating on Anjelica Huston
Back in the day, Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston seemed like a very unconventional couple. She was 14 years younger than him, which raised more than a few eyebrows. However, that didn’t keep their relationship from moving very fast, and she quickly moved into Nicholson’s home. Even though the two never married, they were together for 17 years, which is far longer than any of their critics thought they would last.
It was a miracle that things lasted that long, though, as Jack Nicholson was famous (or more like infamous) for cheating on Huston with a number of different women. The longevity of their relationship was mostly due to Huston’s flexibility and her belief that the affairs didn’t necessarily damage what she had going on with Nicholson. Sadly, though, she always suffered from fertility problems, and after Nicholson got actress Rebecca Broussard pregnant in 1989, Huston finally ended their long-running relationship.
John Lennon’s tawdry affair with his secretary
Considering that George Harrison slept with Ringo Starr’s wife and the revelation of that affair killed his own marriage to Pattie Boyd, it’s fair to say the Beatles had plenty of romantic drama. However, many fans always assumed that John Lennon would stay fully and completely faithful to Yoko Ono, the woman that many mistakenly blame for breaking up the Beatles. But here’s a plot twist: not only did he have an affair with his secretary, but it was Yoko’s idea!
A woman named May Pang was John Lennon’s secretary, and Yoko Ono had previously suggested to the other woman to begin a relationship with her famous husband. Lennon apparently thought this was a smashing idea, taking Pang with him on what seemed like it would be just a quick trip to Los Angeles. But this ended up being an 18-month period (later referred to as the musician’s “Long Weekend”) where he tried to develop himself as a solo artist.
Beatles fans think this period of time is very important for Lennon, both creatively and personally. But given how many drunken controversies the Beatle was involved in during this time, some critics feel that his “Long Weekend” could better be described as a bender that lasted for a whopping year and a half.