ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on news of scandals involving film and television industry celebrities. It describes the “celebrities” as mediated, constructed personae of relatively durable fame, and whose private and off-screen life attract as much attention as their professional work. The chapter draws on the scandals involving actor and comedian Bill Cosby and the well-known and acclaimed film producer Harvey Weinstein. It explores the workings of power in celebrity, in terms of how secrets are maintained or exposed, who can meaningfully make such accusations stick, whose victimization gets taken seriously, and how journalists can cover interrelated issues turning on sex scandals. Celebrity stories, especially regarding Hollywood scandals, have long been regarded as guilty pleasures for both audiences and journalists. The concepts of public and private, including as opposites are modern inventions, but neither celebrity gossip nor celebrity scandal news. As news outlets’ major economic linchpin, sports and celebrity scandal reporting often or even usually avoids confronting problematic social issues.
