From Adam Levine and Dave Grohl, to Hugh Grant and George Michael, the rich and famous have always dabbled in scandal. 2025 may bring with it more DM slides and Instagram grovelling than TV interview apologies and award show trysts – but it certainly doesn’t make the drama any less spicy. With bedroom antics still the talk of the town, here’s nine of the juiciest celebrity sex scandals…
Hugh Grant
Cast your minds back to 1995, and Hugh Grant was still a reigning nineties heartthrob. However, his clean-cut English gentleman persona soon vanished after he was arrested in Los Angeles for receiving oral sex in his car. His fellow romper? Sex worker Divine Brown, who he’d picked up on the infamous Sunset Strip. The move left Hugh’s entire career – and his relationship with Elizabeth Hurley – up in the air. In true Hugh fashion, the actor faced the music, pleading no contest and owing up to his actions during an interview with Jay Leno. In the end, everything turned out fine. Not only did he stage a career comeback a couple years later, but he remained on good terms with Liz – now godfather to her son, Damian.
George Michael
In 1998, the world was rocked when George Michael was arrested after cruising for sex in a Los Angeles park. The ‘Faith’ singer, best known for being one half of the band Wham!, was caught by an undercover police officer while participating in a ‘lewd act’ in a public toilet. The move landed him three hours in jail before posting bail – but it certainly didn’t put him off. In 2006, the star was caught once again cruising, this time at London’s Hampstead Heath. Refusing to apologise for getting his kicks, George later said, ‘Sorry if people don’t like the fact I cruise on Hampstead Heath, but the police absolutely accept that it goes on at night. It’s the only place in London where that is so, so it’s generally a safe place.’
Dave Grohl
Celebrity sex scandals may have been a tabloid fixture in the nineties and noughties, but never fear – they’re still thriving today. Just last year, the seemingly wholesome Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl found himself at the centre of a mammoth scandal. The then father-of-two revealed that he had welcomed his third daughter. The problem? The mother was not his wife of 21 years, Jennifer Blum – although he did not name who the baby’s mother was. ‘I’ve recently become the father of a new baby daughter, born outside of my marriage. I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness,’ Dave wrote on social media.
Kim Kardashian
Before becoming the reality TV billionaire we all know, Kim Kardashian was simply a friend, stylist, and hanger-onner of Paris Hilton. But in 2007, the Kardashian brand boomed after Kim’s 2003 sex tape with then-boyfriend Ray J was released. While Kim initially filed a lawsuit against the distributor, she dropped it three months later and settled for $5 million, giving the company permission to sell copies. Fans have speculated whether the leak was a breach of Kim’s privacy or a promotional stunt for their upcoming reality show – but either way, the Kardashian’s wouldn’t be the Kardashians without Kim’s tape
Tristan Thompson and Khloe Kardashian
Kim isn’t the only Kardashian who’s faced some drama. When Khloe Kardashian kickstarted her romance with NBA star Tristan Thompson, it seemed she’d finally found her happy ending – but what would unfold was the stuff of nightmares. In April 2018, news broke that Tristan had cheated on Khloe while she was pregnant with their daughter, True. The Kardashian star gave Tristan a second chance, but by February 2019, he was back in her bad books after smooching KarJenner close friend, Jordyn Woods. The pair gave it another go, but third time certainly wasn’t the charm. In December 2021, reports surfaced that Tristan had fathered a baby with influencer Maralee Nichols. Apologising to Khloe – with the pair expecting their son, Tatum, via surrogacy – Tristan wrote, ‘You don’t deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you.’
Mel B and Eddie Murphy
When comedian Eddie Murphy met Spice Girl Mel B at a dinner party in 2008, they seemed a match made in heaven. According to Mel, the pair waited until six weeks into dating before having sex – later comparing their bedroom antics to poetry. Funny man Eddie was at one point so enamoured with Scary Spice that he got her name tattooed on his thigh! However, it quickly soured when Mel discovered she was pregnant. Mel returned to the UK to raise the baby girl, and while a DNA test proved that little Angel was Eddie’s child, their relationship never recovered.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods had it all: an upstanding, not to mention top-earning, sports career, with a picture-perfect home life with wife Elin Nordegren and their two children. But in 2009, tabloids began to circle when Tiger crashed his car outside of his home – with reports of numerous affairs beginning to emerge. One woman, Jaimee Grubbs, shared the explicit texts Tiger had sent her, encouraging other women to come forward with their own allegations against the golf champion. Addressing the scandal, Tiger said, ‘I was unfaithful, I had affairs, and I cheated. What I did was unacceptable.’
Adam Levine
In 2022, Adam Levine became the latest rockstar to add sex scandal to his CV after Instagram model Summer Stroh alleged on TikTok that she had an affair with the Maroon5 singer. Summer shared several alleged screenshots from Adam, including one where he asked if he could name his third child with model wife Behati Prinsloo after her. Of course, the internet did what it does best, and screenshots where Adam allegedly wrote, ‘Holy fucking fuck, that body of yours is absurd’ quickly became memeified. As for the ‘Moves Like Jagger’ singer? Adam denied that he had an affair, but he did admit that he ‘crossed a line during a regrettable period in my life’.
Marilyn Monroe
One of the most recognisable stars of all time, silver screen icon Marilyn Monroe was accused of having an affair with then-US president John F. Kennedy before her tragic death in 1962. Mere months before she died, the star performed a sultry rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for the president. At the time, JFK was married to Jacqueline Onassis. Historians have also theorised that Marilyn, who had been married three times at this point, also had an affair with his brother, Robert F Kennedy.