MUMBAI: The Prince Harry-Meghan Markle interview with Oprah Winfrey has thrown open a can of worms. It is but just one recent examples of celebrities using public platforms and forums to, as the saying goes, wash dirty linen in public.
While people are divided on the ethics behind the former royal couple's 90-minute interview, detailing the alleged horrors they went through behind close doors ever since their marriage in 2018, they are certainly not the first among the celeb set to use the public stage to voice private woes.
Here's a look at a few recent examples:
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard
Last year, details of Johnny Depp's defamation case against the British tabloid The Sun, which had accused Depp of being a "wife beater" after reporting that he had hit his girlfriend, and later wife (now ex-wife), Amber Heard. It had happened on "14 separate occasions", it was revealed. The suit, which was later rejected by the British High Court in November 2020, stated that it was Heard, who had "punched" Depp. The actor said that Heard "accused me of something she had done to me". Heard had filed for divorce, 15 months after her marriage with Depp in 2015, and the divorce was granted a year later. Recently there have been rumours suggesting that Heard would not return to play the role of Mera in Aquaman 2, following her public and bitter spat with Depp.
Woody Allen and Mia Farrow
Ever since American broadcasting network, HBO, aired the special documentary series, Allen V Farrow, the nearly three-decade-long feud between the former couple has become public again. Skyhorse Publishers, who have published Allen's autobiography, Apropos Of Nothing, have threatened to take legal action if the makers of the film are unable to prove that they had legally taken permission to use Allen's audio from the audio book of his autobiography. Furthermore, the film, which talks about alleged sexual abuse by Allen on Farrow's daughter Dylan , also created a controversy, when Farrow claimed that Allen fell in love with the couple's adopted daughter Soon-Yi, who is currently married to Allen, when she was in school. Allen, in his autobiography recalls falling in love with Soon-Yi when the latter was in college. Both Allen and Soon-Yi have slammed the documentary calling it a "hatched job riddled with falsehoods".
Britney Spears
A documentary on the pop star, Framing Britney Spears, which chronicles her life as a teenage pop star, a conservatorship, which allegedly gave her father, Jamie Spears, the means to control her career and her bank accounts, was aired in the US last month. Ever since, the Free Britney movement, which is a campaign run by Spears' fans for over two years, has gathered more momentum, and once again brought the topic to mainstream media. Several child stars, as a result of the documentary, came out and detailed their experiences of finding and grappling with fame at an early age, and narrated the horrors of being sexualised at a very young age.
Khloe Kardashian and Tristian Thompson
In an explosive interview, in 2019, Khloe Kardashian explained why she broke up with her boyfriend, basketball player Tristian Thompson. She said he was caught "making out" with Khloe's sister, Kylie Jenner's best friend Jordyn Woods. Woods, herself confirmed the news and called it "super real" which, as per reports, was the "final straw" that saw Khloe call off her relationship with Tristian, who was often clicked getting cosy to multiple women on multiple occasions by various celebrity websites.
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