Caught on Film: Our 11 Favorite Sex Scandals

A-List c-lebrity, Reichen Lehmkuhl, was having a big week... figuratively speaking.

First some sex pictures surfaced, which got everyone comparing his chin, chest and lips to the half-headless figure in the photos. Then he admitted to having used sex cam websites and, upon seeing the images in question, commented, "Ah...yep. Wow. Nothing's sacred anymore I guess."

Because, you know, having webcam sex with a stranger online is totally a private, sacred act and those people's privacy should be respected.

Some thought this was a deliberate move to boost his fame. Others didn't really care. After all, he wasn't a big name like Kid Rock or Vanessa Hudgens, nor was he hated like former figure skater and career crusher Tonya Harding or homophobe and former Miss California Carrie Prejean. However, the incident did get us thinking about all the other celebrity sex tapes and nude photos that have popped up over the years—and we realized we loved many of them for various reasons. So here's our list of favorites.

Enjoy... in the privacy of your own home with no cameras running, please.

 

 

 

 

1. Vanessa Williams
Long before she was Wilhelmina Slater (or even Ebony Scrooge in A Diva's Christmas Carol) she was the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America. It happened in 1983, but then nude photos popped up and she had to relinquish her title. Everyone thought this was the end of an amazing story.

Not so! Despite the fact that she was one of the first celebrities to face such a scandal, and that conservatives were calling for her crowned head on a platter, Williams rebounded in a big way. She released a Grammy-nominated album, and showed up in movies, TV and on the Broadway stage. By the time she secured her role as the villain on Ugly Betty, most people had long forgotten the photos. And those who hadn't applauded Williams' success because despite the haters she found a way to move on and achieve great things.

 

 

 

 

 

 2. Rob Lowe
FAIL! Lowe taped himself having sex with two young women, one of whom was underage.
FAIL! The tape came out in 1988, long before sex tapes were common, so this really damaged his career even though it was pretty clear that Lowe didn't know the girl was underage (they'd met in a bar).
FAIL Round 2! Another part of the same tape showed Lowe and his friend Justin Moritt knocking it with a model in Paris. This part of the original tape was sold as one of the first commercially available celebrity sex tapes, damaging his public image further.

SCORE! Since this was 1988 and the internet wasn't popular, few people actually saw the footage.
SCORE! Lowe entered rehab for alcohol and sex addiction. And since this was the 1980s people believe that worked.
SCORE! Lowe mocked his own behavior during two post-scandal appearances on Saturday Night Live.

And now, with those years behind him, most new fans don't even recall that it happened.

 

 

 

 

3. Madonna
Unlike Vanessa Williams, no one seemed surprised when nude photos of the Material Girl popped up in Playboy and Penthouse. However, Madonna didn't shy away from the images, instead explaining she'd done it years before because she needed the money to survive. This "So what?" approach completely disarmed her critics.

Moving forward, Madonna published her Sex book, which consisted of sexually provocative and explicit images. Steven Meisel photographed the project, featured actress Isabella Rossellini, rappers Big Daddy Kane and Vanilla Ice, model Naomi Campbell, gay porn star Joey Stefano, actor Udo Kier, socialite Tatiana von Fürstenberg, and immediately sold 1.5 million copies at $50 each in a matter of days.

So much for the conservative backlash.

 

 

4. Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee
Say the words "celebrity sex tape" and everyone will mention this dynamic duo. Indeed, they seemed to get more media attention for their maritime excursion than any other couple. Initially that rocked the couple's world, but here's why they dodged any damage.

•She was a bombshell and gay men loved her, so she could do no wrong with men.
•Having made her money off her body, and he being a rocker, they were never considered big role models in the first place.
•He was hung like a horse so there was nothing for him to be ashamed of.
•Their sex looked pretty fun.

Post scandal, the only real gossip the tabloids could drum up were pictures of the couple, now separated, attending school functions and being pretty cool parents.

 

 

 

5. Verne Troyer
Best known as Mini-Me from the Austin Powers franchise, the tape of him with his former live-in girlfriend got leaked by TMZ in 2008.

Why would this be included on the list?

Dude! Little people sex! That's just funny/creepy no matter what your sexual orientation.

 

 

 

 

6. Paris Hilton & Kim Kardashian
These two ladies share a ranking because... well... we don't feel like they deserve their own entries.

Paris and Kim changed the game when it came to sex tapes. While they claimed to not know how their tapes got released—though gossip and legal documents for the sales of said DVDs say otherwise—they were able to keep their names in the press and use the footage to promote themselves.

But let's think about that for a second.

When you don't have any real marketable job skills and you love fame, isn't the best solution figuring out a way to manipulate your public persona and create "work" for yourself?

Perhaps they're not as foolish as we all think.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Colin Farrell
The 13-minute sex tape with Nicole Narain caused Farrell to take action (Hot!). He blocked the footage's distribution (Boo!) and shut down the site that was broadcasting it (Double boo!).

But by then it was too late: everyone had copied the footage and sent it off to friends. (YAY!)

And why not? This tape was so super dirty that it confirmed every suspicion we'd ever had about Farrell. This dude was hot sex from beginning to end, and even though he was poking (and licking and smacking) a lady's privates we could get off on watching that action over and over again.

 

 

 

 

8. Eric Dane
In 2009 a tape surfaced featuring the Grey's Anatomy star involved in a McSteamy menage a trois with his wife, actress Rebecca Gayheart, and former Miss Teen USA, Kari Ann Peniche.

Dane and Gayheart sued Gawker Media who released the footage, and Gawker settled in 2010. Video removed, all that seems to remain are fuzzy images on Google, so we're spotlighting a picture we like instead.

Can someone get a high-def camera, please?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Sam Jones III
Last fall, Vivid released a sex tape starring Sam Jones III, who played Pete Ross on Smallville, Chaz Pratt on ER, and Craig Shilo on Blue Mountain State—among other roles. There was some sort of scuffle about it at first but now the footage is legally out and the man is still working, so all seems well in the world.

But here's the thing... Clearly this guy had to get out of smallville because brother is HUGE! Seriously, big. So big we can't show you here, but you can go to OMG Blog and see the NSFW pics.

 

 

 

10. Dustin Zito
In a new twist on an old favorite comes Dustin Zito. He's a recent cast member of MTV’s The Real World Las Vegas, but prior to his legit appearance he could be seen having sex with men on adult websites Fratmen and Fratpad.

Two big reasons why we care: he's cute and gay.

Sadly, the footage has pretty much vanished and according to The Advocate, officials at Fratmen "suggested it was because the video was never on their site in the first place and one of the performers in the video may have been under 18."

 

 

11. Dustin Diamond
"Screech" from the Saturday morning show Saved by the Bell, authorized the release of a 40-minute sex tape in 2006 in the hopes that it would bring in profits and provide a boost to his career.

Seriously?

That's funnier than anything the guy did on that TV show. Hell, that's just comedy gold.